Laojun Creates the World, Journey to the West World

Seeing that Xuan Yin had gained some insight, Duobao Daoist continued, "The core doctrine of our Jie Sect is to seize a sliver of survival for all sentient beings! Thus, although our Teacher is the most skilled in slaughter among the Sages, his divine abilities often leave room for mercy and contain the principles of yin and yang, creation and destruction!"

"As for the killing power of lightning, Martial Brother has already mastered it, so I will not say much more!"

"To comprehend the life force within lightning, the best method is to draw upon the power of the Nine Heavens' thunderbolts and use it to temper the spiritual herbs on Mount Kunlun. Observe their withering, flourishing, birth, and death, and perhaps... you may gain something!"

Xuan Yin and Duobao had entered Sect Master Tongtian's tutelage at the same time, but Duobao was already a Taiyi. His understanding of lightning arts naturally stood at a far loftier level. Just a few words from him left Xuan Yin suddenly enlightened.

For a moment, Xuan Yin felt as though the Heavenly Dao Sound had exploded beside his ears. The fog that had clouded his mind was blasted away completely by endless divine lightning.

"Thank you, Martial Brother!"

Xuan Yin bowed once more.

Had Duobao Daoist not awakened him to it, he would likely have taken many more detours in his cultivation of lightning arts.

"We are fellow disciples. Why be so polite?"

Duobao Daoist smiled, looking unconcerned. As the senior Martial Brother of the Jie Sect, it was only natural for him to guide the sect's disciples in their cultivation.

Having cleared up the doubts in his heart, Xuan Yin did not linger. Among the nine Direct Disciples of the Jie Sect, his cultivation was currently the lowest. Others might not care, but he could not afford to lack ambition.

However, on his way back to his Cave Abode, he noticed Sage's Dao Charm manifesting within the endless void around distant Taiqing Peak.

"Is this... a Sage preaching the Dao?"

Xuan Yin was no stranger to this phenomenon. Not long ago, when Sect Master Tongtian had preached the Dao, all the Jie Sect Disciples had experienced it.

Why not go listen in?

A bold thought suddenly arose in Xuan Yin's heart. Long ago, when he had been among the Human Race, he had met that Grand Pure Sage.

However, cultivating the Taiqing Great Dao required a tranquil heart that embraced non-action.

Xuan Yin did not meet those requirements!

After the Grand Pure Sage passed down the Golden Core Great Dao, he had accepted only Xuandu as a Direct Disciple, precisely because Xuandu had been born with a Childlike Heart.

A Sage's Great Dao encompassed all things in the vast world. If he could listen in, it would naturally save him much effort. Perhaps it might even allow Xuan Yin to break through directly into the True Immortal Realm.

After all...

The last time Sect Master Tongtian had preached the Dao, Xuan Yin had mastered several divine abilities and raised his realm from the initial Heavenly Immortal stage to the Heavenly Immortal Perfection Realm.

Now, only an opportunity for a breakthrough separated him from the True Immortal Realm!

"Perfect. I can go see Xuandu as well!"

Xuan Yin immediately found himself a reasonable excuse. Back at the Human Ancestral Land, he had dealt with Xuandu quite often!

Before long, he arrived at Taiqing Peak!

Yet the instant Xuan Yin stepped into the bounds of Taiqing Peak, a majestic Dao voice exploded beside his ears like World-Opening Divine Thunder.

"Dharma shall not be passed to the six-eared!"

Immediately afterward, the world spun around him. Endless power of space and time enveloped him, dragging his consciousness directly into the Taiqing Realm, Great Scarlet Heaven.

"Martial Uncle, please show mercy!"

Xuan Yin hastily shouted. He truly feared that this power of space and time would crush him to pieces.

"Very well!"

An aged voice sounded by Xuan Yin's ear. "Back when you were among the Human Race, you and Xuandu once offered me fruits. Now, you have entered the tutelage of my third brother, so we may be considered fated. Today, this old Daoist will grant you an opportunity, thus settling the karma of the past!"

Xuan Yin was overjoyed upon hearing this.

Back at the Human Ancestral Land, although Taishang Laojun had not thought highly enough of him to accept him as a disciple, Xuan Yin had still shown his face before this Sage quite often.

Though Taishang Laojun practiced tranquility and non-action, some things still had to be fought for. His actions back then had borne fruit after all.

At the very least, he had made himself familiar!

Dazzling Taiqing immortal light transformed into a massive white cocoon. When Xuan Yin opened his eyes again, an entirely new world had appeared before him.

The spiritual energy of this world was far inferior to that of the Primordial True Realm, yet it was still filled with immortal spiritual qi.

"What is going on?"

Just as Xuan Yin was about to inspect his surroundings, he discovered that his hands were covered in golden monkey fur.

Using his Magic Power, he condensed a water mirror. Looking into it, he saw that he had turned into a monkey, with six ears growing from his head.

"Six-Eared Macaque?"

Xuan Yin felt like weeping. "A Sage's words are manifested as law. Though Dharma shall not be passed to the six-eared, surely that does not mean... you had to truly turn me into a Six-Eared Macaque?"

Still, it was not entirely a bad thing. The Six-Eared Macaque was born with a Golden Immortal Physique. In terms of talent and foundation, it far surpassed Xuan Yin's original roots!

Furthermore, the Six-Eared Macaque's innate divine ability allowed it to eavesdrop upon the Three Realms and Six Paths. Among the many innate beings of the Primordial True Realm, such a gift ranked among the finest and could be called favored by the Heavenly Dao.

Skilled at hearing sounds, able to discern principles, knowing what came before and after—nothing in creation escaped its understanding. Such was the Six-Eared Macaque!

At that moment, he stood atop an unnamed immortal mountain, facing the sea. Not far away, an immortal stone with nine apertures and eight holes was erupting with boundless immortal light.

"An immortal stone?"

Xuan Yin's heart jolted. He raised his gaze and saw that the immortal stone stood three zhang, six chi, and five cun tall, secretly corresponding to the number of the heavenly cycle. Its circumference measured two zhang and four chi, perfectly matching the twenty-four solar terms. The nine apertures and eight holes it possessed naturally complemented the principles of the Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams.

Rumble!

Endless essence of heaven and earth poured into the immortal stone. The stone exploded, giving birth to a Stone Monkey whose eyes shone with golden light that pierced straight into the celestial palace.

Yet what shocked Xuan Yin most was the sense of familiarity emanating from the Stone Monkey.

"No way, right?"

Looking at the Stone Monkey before him, Xuan Yin found it hard to believe. "Where the hell have I been sent?"

He was now the Six-Eared Macaque, one of the Four Mixed Monkeys. The only beings capable of making him feel even a trace of familiarity could naturally be the other three spirit monkeys.

And at that moment, his innate divine ability caught some sounds.

It was those very sounds that confirmed he was currently at Flower-Fruit Mountain.

"Flower-Fruit Mountain, Stone Monkey..."

Xuan Yin's body could not stop trembling, and his heart was filled with shock. "The wars of the shamans and demons, and the Investiture of the Gods, have not even ended yet. No matter how powerful a Sage's methods are, surely they could not have thrown me directly into Journey to the West?"

He remembered that only a quarter of an hour ago, he had still been at Taiqing Peak on Mount Kunlun, watching the Great Scarlet Heaven of the Taiqing Realm condensed from the Grand Pure Sage's Great Dao!

"No!"

Xuan Yin instantly came to his senses. "This may be Journey to the West, but it absolutely cannot be the Journey to the West of later generations! This must be a world evolved by a Sage!"

The Taiqing Realm, Great Scarlet Heaven!

In myths of later generations, while many regarded Journey to the West as a continuation of the Investiture of the Gods, there were also tales claiming that the Journey to the West World had been created by Laojun.

"Li Lao Jun is the ancestor of World Creation, yet he still sits to the right of Taiqing; Buddha Tathagata is the honored ruler who governs the age, yet he still sits beneath Great Peng; Sage Confucius is the honored master of Confucianism, yet he is merely called 'Master.'"

For a moment, countless thoughts surged through Xuan Yin's mind. He then tried to use the Primordial Origin to sense Yu Yu Heaven, which his own Teacher had opened.

Once one attained Great Luo, one would remain Great Luo forever. Sages were even imperishable through myriad tribulations. If this truly were the world of later generations, he would definitely be able to clearly sense Yu Yu Heaven of the Shangqing Realm.

But now...

He found nothing at all!

There was only one possibility: he was within another Sage's Great Luo Heavens, and the Sage's Great Dao had cut him off from the outside world!

He suddenly recalled the last words he had heard at Taiqing Peak.

"Opportunity, karma..."

Xuan Yin's turbulent Dao heart immediately calmed. He looked around and said, "The so-called opportunity should lie within this world!"

"Whether I can obtain that opportunity... will depend on my Karma and Destiny!"