"Congratulations, Boss, on your promotion to Daluo Golden Immortal!" the six brothers said with beaming smiles.
They were just ordinary loose cultivators, and although serving under Yang Jian didn't earn them any official titles from the Heavenly Court, it made them Grass Head Gods.
As Yang Jian grew stronger, they truly rejoiced from the bottom of their hearts.
Nodding his head, Yang Jian said to them, "Since you have taken the Golden Cores, go into closed-door cultivation. Take advantage of the medicinal power before it fades, and advance to Taiyi Golden Immortals as soon as possible."
"Yes, Boss!" The brothers responded in unison and returned to their cave abodes.
"Brother, how did you become a Daluo Golden Immortal so quickly?" Back at the mansion, Yang Chan couldn't wait to ask.
Hearing this, Yang Jian was stunned, "Don't you know?"
"Know what?"
"The beef noodle soup you gave me made me a Daluo Golden Immortal, that's how!"
Yang Chan: !!!
Impossible!
"Wasn't it just an extremely delicious bowl of beef noodle soup? How could it make you break through to a Daluo Golden Immortal? I ate it too!" Yang Chan was flabbergasted. Why didn't it work for her?
"It not only made me break through, but it also helped me to cultivate a tenth-grade Lotus Body and allowed me to comprehend new divine skills," Yang Jian furrowed his brows and continued, "Maybe it's just a matter of luck."
Luck?!
Yang Chan was so exasperated by his words that she was speechless. Luck played a part in buying beef noodle soup, and now breakthroughs relied on luck too?
"By the way, sister, where did you get that bowl of beef noodle soup?" Yang Jian couldn't contain his curiosity.
Yang Chan said with a huff, "It was from a little restaurant in the Mountain of Mind and Heart."
Upon hearing this, Yang Jian was astonished. As a high-ranking member of the Heavenly Court, he naturally knew what the Mountain of Mind and Heart signified—it was a place designated by the Buddhists specifically to raise monkeys!
"How did you go there? Didn't I say that place was off-limits!" Yang Jian rebuked her instinctively.
"Hmph, if I hadn't gone, would you have become a Daluo Golden Immortal, could you have slain Lingji!" Yang Chan retorted with a cold snort.
A good deed taken for granted.
Yang Jian's face turned awkward, indeed, he had no right to criticize. Otherwise, how could he have stumbled upon such an incredible stroke of luck?
Thinking about that bowl of noodles, Yang Jian's heart grew even more restless.
So, he asked Yang Chan to recount what had happened.
"Chaos Residence? Getting food depends on luck? And it cost you one-tenth of your mana?" Yang Jian was immediately astonished.
From the name of the restaurant and the way it charged, Yang Jian could sense its uniqueness, but what shocked him even more was yet to come.
"Are you saying there was a monkey that could speak human language there?"
Yang Chan naturally nodded her head, not finding it strange at all. After all, even dogs could talk.
And as long as it didn't cause trouble in the human world, that monkey was a good monkey.
Monkey...
Yang Jian's brows knitted tightly. Could it be the monkey that the Buddhists were searching for? The more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed. Probably only such an extraordinary being could have kept even Saints in the dark.
But Yang Jian didn't dwell on it. After all, with the monkey gone, it was all harm and no benefit to the Mysterious Gate. However, if its location was indeed Mount Fangcun, that would complicate matters.
Having just killed Lingji, his relationship with the Buddhists had actually worsened.
It was better to wait until things cooled down; later on, he would definitely pay a personal visit to this senior!
Poor Yang Chan still didn't know that, her heart filled with joy at coming to report her merits, only to have her effort disrupted by Lingji, and now she had even brought back a confinement order.
At the Zixiao Palace.
"Younger brother, you have a fine disciple there!"
Laozi suddenly said while looking at the chessboard before him, "Yang Jian has achieved a twenty-eighth-grade Daluo Golden Immortal and slain Lingji."
Primordial Celestial Lord heard the words and paused with the black piece in hand, a look of astonishment in his eyes.
"Is what elder brother said the truth?"
He naturally knew of Yang Jian, who was the foremost among their Chan School's third generation disciples, with a mighty reputation in the Three Realms; he was quite pleased with that disciple.
But to blossom into twenty-eight levels of enlightenment, a Saint's aptitude, did he really have such potential?
Acquired potential, according to common sense, meant that blossoming into a full twenty levels was an extremely difficult barrier to break through.
"This matter has the attention of the Three Realms!"
Laozi nodded, sighing inwardly. As a fellow third-generation disciple, his own disciple was nothing but lazy and gluttonous, without proper comportment, truly worrisome!
Hearing Laozi's response, Primordial Celestial Lord let go of his concerns.
Nowadays, with five of the Six Saints restricted by Hongjun and Zixiao Palace further isolated from the outside world, if not for precise prognostication, they, as Saints, wouldn't know of the events transpiring in the Three Realms.
Therefore, the Three Pure Ones had left behind Taishang's good corpse, Lord Taishang, to serve as a bridge for communication with the Three Realms, while the Two Sages of the West had left behind Zhunti's good corpse, Subhuti.
To blossom into twenty-eight levels, ah!
Primordial Celestial Lord's eyes narrowed slightly, unable to believe that the most promising of his Chan School was Yang Jian, a third-generation disciple; Primordial Celestial Lord favored those with excellent aptitude!
Good, very good!
The Chan School must definitely cultivate him with great effort in the future. As for killing Buddhism's Lingji, Primordial Celestial Lord brushed it off, regarding it as the death of mere Western trash.
"Second brother, stop rejoicing; it's your turn to move!"
However, in stark contrast to the joyous and spirited Primordial Celestial Lord, the West's Two Sages, in the secret chamber of Zixiao Palace, were utterly disconsolate.
In the West, where talent was already scarce, one had fallen even before the Journey to the West had begun.
"We cannot let this slide!" Zhunti said, seething with anger.
Jieyin wore a bitter expression: "But our Buddhism has already agreed not to pursue this further."
"Elder brother, I didn't say we should seek trouble with Yang Jian," Zhunti said, a harsh glint appearing in his eyes.
He had initially thought to delay his scheming against the Jade Emperor, but now it seemed the time had come to switch targets. Unbeknownst to you, Yang Jian, how will you choose between the heavenly mandate and your sister!
Seeing his junior brother like this, Jieyin nodded; it seemed another plot was in the making.
In Spirit Mountain, Great Thunderclap Monastery, compared to the grand and solemn atmosphere of a month ago, it now carried a layer of gloom.
"Buddha Ancestor, should we continue our search for the monkey's whereabouts?" Guanyin stepped forward, speaking with a solemn voice.
She had thought overseeing the Journey to the West would be a straightforward task, yet unforeseen troubles had arisen. The mission hadn't even started, and she had already been injured by Golden Spirit Mother, while Lingji had met his end.
As the main person in charge, she couldn't shirk her responsibility; she indeed found her situation very difficult.
"No need to search any further," Tathagata sighed heavily; who knew what else might happen if they continued.
No more searching?
Everyone was astonished.
"I have my own plans. As for the Journey to the West, proceed as per usual!"
A few days later, Buddhism announced they had found the monkey in the Western Continent and had sent him to the Mountain of Mind and Heart, Three Star Cave.
"You look rather like a macaca that feeds on pine cones, remove the radical, and the surname Sun suits you well. My disciples' names follow a twelve-character sequence, and it's just your turn for the character 'Wu'."
"As the saying goes, 'In the primal Chaos with no surnames found, break through stubborn rock to enlightenment bound', henceforth, you shall be called Sun Wukong," Patriarch Bodhi said with a flick of his sleeve, his expression calm.
"Yes, this disciple understands," said a six-eared monkey standing respectfully in front of Patriarch Bodhi.
All proceeded in an orderly fashion.
On the other side of Mount Fangcun.
"Wukong, do you wish to cultivate immortality?" Chen Nuo, watching Sun Wukong who was dusting the table, recalled the reward from the Great Celestial Decision, and asked.
Upon hearing this, the monkey's eyes flickered, and he scratched his head and laughed, "Master, I... Old Sun just wants to master cooking skills!"