As soon as these words were spoken, the journey to the West was completely confirmed, and the next one finally officially began.
Tathagata took out the brocade robe, the nine-ring staff, and three golden hoops, a total of five treasures, and gave them to Guanyin Bodhisattva.
"These robes and staff are the most precious treasures of my Buddhist sect. They can be used by the one who seeks the scriptures. If you are determined to come here, wear my robes and you will not fall into the cycle of reincarnation. Hold my staff and you will not be harmed by poison."
"As for these three golden hoops, they are called 'tightening hoops' and come with three tightening spells. If you encounter a powerful demon on the road, you can use these to persuade him to learn well and become a disciple of the pilgrim. If he refuses to obey, put these hoops on his head and he will feel flesh taking root. When he recites the spell, his eyes will swell and his head will ache, and his forehead will crack. Then he will be forced to join our sect!"
Guanyin Bodhisattva took the treasure, bowed to the Buddha three times, and then left with his attendants on the lotus platform.
When the treasure was presented, all the immortals and Buddhas were watching, but when the tight-fitting curse was passed down, only Tathagata, Guanyin, and a very small number of people with great supernatural powers present could hear it.
Lin Zhongtian's heart moved, and he silently memorized the entire tight hoop curse in his heart.
There was also another person with great powers who also heard the tight-fitting curse.
Lin Zhongtian seemed to sense something and suddenly turned his gaze to the opposite side, looking at the disciple of Yuanshi Tianzun who was wearing a green robe.
Jade Ding Zhenren also noticed Lin Zhongtian's gaze, and immediately smiled and nodded, seeming to have nothing unusual.
When the Buddha's light from Guanyin Bodhisattva disappears into the horizon, the Ullambana Festival officially comes to an end.
With Lin Zhongtian's support, Tathagata's goals for holding this grand event have basically been achieved.
A group of immortals witnessed the beginning of the Journey to the West with their own eyes, and they all decided to leave. They said goodbye and wanted to report the matter to the forces and backers behind them as quickly as possible.
Zhenren Huanglong, Zhenren Taiyi and Zhenren Yuding are no exception.
They said goodbye to Tathagata himself, and then left Lingshan in their own ways.
When they were thousands of miles away from Lingshan, the three immortals revealed their figures, riding on the auspicious clouds, and flying side by side.
Taiyi Zhenren's face was solemn, and he asked in a voice transmission: "Junior brother, what do you think?"
Jade Ding Zhenren put his hands behind his back, stepped on the auspicious clouds, and said in a fairy-like manner: "Of course, I will stand and watch!"
"Two senior brothers, don't worry about it. Before you and I left the mountain, didn't our master tell us that this great catastrophe in the Journey to the West is the will of Heaven and cannot be stopped. It is destined that the true scriptures will spread to the East and Buddhism will flourish..."
Taiyi Zhenren said somewhat unwillingly: "So we are just going to do nothing?"
Jade Ding Zhenren smiled slightly and did not answer.
Huang Long Zhenren glanced at him and chuckled, "How do you know that we didn't do anything?"
"……oh?"
Taiyi Zhenren raised his eyebrows and looked at them in surprise.
Huang Long Zhenren coughed and changed the subject: "Okay, let's not talk about this anymore, let's talk about the Zhongtian Emperor!"
"I have heard that he has a small force under his command, but I didn't expect that he could find a prehistoric beast that even I don't know. That hornless black dragon that is as big as Kunpeng does have an extremely strange dragon aura, but I don't understand. What kind of dragon is he?"
Huang Long Zhenren was full of doubts and couldn't help asking, "Two junior brothers, do you have any clues?"
Jade Ding Zhenren and Taiyi Zhenren looked at each other and shook their heads.
Taiyi Zhenren said softly: "That hornless black dragon is indeed magical, with rich blood and vigorous Qi and blood, comparable to the legitimate son of the Ancestral Dragon, but in the final analysis, he is just a Golden Immortal, harmless."
"Compared to that, I care more about the Great Emperor Zhongtian."
"The aura of this person is consistent with the Tao, and his Tao rhyme is incomparably strong. Excuse me, but I even feel that he is closer to the Tao than Master and Uncle Master and others..."
Jade Ding Zhenren nodded and said solemnly: "The most peculiar thing is that this situation is not caused by cultivation, but a kind of identity and status, just like the great god Pangu before the creation of the world, and the master who has not appeared in the world for a long time!"
Huang Long Zhenren couldn't help but ask: "What is his origin?"
Jade Ding Zhenren shook his head: "Who knows, but I finally understand why the Heavenly Court and the Buddhist sect want to win him over..."
"Yeah, I finally understand!"
Taiyi Zhenren nodded with emotion, then was slightly startled and looked at the Jade Tripod in surprise.
"Wait, Junior Brother Yu Ding, when did you change into an external incarnation? Where is your real body?"
"Shh!"
Jade Ding Zhenren quickly explained through voice transmission: "Two senior brothers, I have something else that I need to take care of. Please don't make it public, just take me back to Yuxu Mountain to report!"
"……here we go again!"
Huang Long Zhenren shook his head helplessly and sighed, "It's so mysterious."
…
…
In the southern continent, at the foot of the Five Elements Mountain.
An old man with a wooden stick, fluttering white beard and a youthful face was walking on the road, moving step by step towards the high mountains ahead.
At this moment, a young woodcutter caught sight of him, stopped him, pulled him to the side of the road, and told him not to go any further.
The old man looked at him in surprise and asked in confusion: "Why?"
The woodcutter smiled and said, "Old man, you don't know that this mountain was originally called Wuxing Mountain. A few years ago, when the Khan of the Tang Dynasty conquered the Western Ding Kingdom, the army stopped here and it was renamed Liangjie Mountain."
"I heard from my elders that this mountain fell from the sky when Wang Mang usurped the Han Dynasty."
"There is a divine monkey under the mountain. He is not afraid of hunger or thirst, heat or cold, and is guarded by the mountain god."
"If a mortal approaches easily, disaster may befall him!"
"Oh?" the old man asked with great interest, "Where did this rumor come from?"
The woodcutter hesitated after hearing this. After a moment, he sighed and said, "To be honest, there was no such saying before. It was only about half a month ago that something strange happened here. Then the mountain god appeared and warned us not to get close to the Five Elements Mountain."
"I see!"
The old man suddenly realized something, and immediately took out five bright red dates, and said with a smile: "Thank you for your kindness, little brother. I have five dates I picked on the road, and they taste quite sweet. I will give them to you as a return gift!"
The woodcutter was slightly startled, then burst into laughter: "How can this be possible!"
The old man shook his head and stuffed five dates into the woodcutter's arms.
"It's just a few dates, not gold or silver or jewelry."
“…That’s true.”
The woodcutter thought about it and accepted the dates.
The old man stroked his beard with his hand, smiling, and instructed: "Five jujubes, just enough for the five people in your family. Remember to give each person one when distributing the profits. Don't eat too much, as it will not benefit you."
The woodcutter smiled and jokingly bowed and said, "Thank you very much, old man!"
After saying this, he suddenly realized that something was wrong. How could this old man, whom he had never met before, know that there were five people in his family?
Thinking of this, the woodcutter widened his eyes, and quickly looked up, wanting to ask.
But at this moment, the old man holding the wooden stick had disappeared from his sight, and no matter how he looked, he could not find any trace of him.
It was not until then that the woodcutter realized that he had encountered an immortal.
He stood there in a daze for a while, then knelt down and kowtowed in all directions. Then he hurriedly stood up, carefully put away the five dates, turned around and hurried home.
On the other side, Sun Wukong was pressed under the Five Elements Mountain. He seemed to be staring at the sunset in the sky in a daze, but in fact, all his attention was focused on a very special monkey hair on the back of his head.
Ever since he met Lin Zhongtian, this monkey hair has been stuck in his head and has also pierced into his heart.
If we were to ask what Sun Wukong missed most at this stage, it would definitely be the carefree days as an apprentice in Lingtai Fangcun Mountain and Xieyue Sanxing Cave.
The person he misses most at this moment must be his teacher, Patriarch Bodhi.
Therefore, when Sun Wukong discovered that a powerful being who seemed even more terrifying than Buddha Tathagata was targeting his master, his heart became difficult to calm down.
He tried to study the monkey hair on his head, but the Buddha's seal was still there, and Sun Wukong could not use all his magic power and supernatural powers.
For more than half a month, not only did Sun Wukong not gain anything, he was even unable to shake the monkey hair and see its true appearance.
"Wukong--Kong--"
At this moment, a familiar and long voice sounded in his heart.
Sun Wukong was startled for a moment, then he couldn't help but feel excited and his eyes filled with tears.
“…Master!”
Tears welled up in Sun Wukong's eyes and he excitedly shouted out those long-lost words in his heart.
The voice sighed and replied, "Today, the world is in turmoil, and the destiny is in chaos. I will keep my words short and will not exchange pleasantries with you."
Sun Wukong calmed down his excited emotions and said in his heart: "...Master, you say!"
The voice said calmly, "Tathagata has convened the Yulanpen Festival at Lingshan and has set the plan for the journey to the west. Wukong, your time to escape has come, but this journey will be filled with countless difficulties, dangers, and conspiracies."
"I do not want to see you suffer injustice, so I will give you a scripture to help you solve your problem."
"When the pilgrim arrives, you will know the purpose of this sutra!"
Having said this, the voice began to teach spells and scriptures to Sun Wukong.
Sun Wukong listened carefully and engraved it in his heart, remembering it exactly.
After the teaching was finished, the voice sighed and said, "The situation is chaotic today, and I am not sure whether it is good or bad to teach you this sutra. When disaster strikes, how to choose is up to you!"
After saying this, the voice disappeared completely and never appeared again.
Sun Wukong called out "Master" several times in his heart, but got no response.
Helplessly, he had to put away his thoughts and silently recalled the scripture that solved the problem.
At the same time, in a place where the land god and the mountain god and the Five Directions Jie Di were completely unaware, an old man with white hair and a youthful face, a white beard and a wooden stick in his hand, stood under a pine tree, looking at the monkey under the Five Elements Mountain and sighed softly.
He turned around and was about to escape quietly.
At this moment, an unexpected figure appeared in front of him.
"Good evening!" The handsome young man looked at the old man with a half-smile, "Master Yu Ding~"