Seven years passed in a flash.
For seven years, Flower-Fruit Mountain remained peaceful and uneventful.
The other nine demon kings also did not come to harass them, contrary to Su Qing's expectations.
It seemed the Old Dragon King truly had some effect.
Seven years later, Gongsun Zhixue's cultivation had improved significantly.
Although she was a plant spirit and usually seemed rather dull compared to Su Qing...
Her natural talent was actually quite good.
Now that she had obtained cultivation methods, her cultivation naturally advanced greatly.
Though still a considerable distance from the Divine Immortal Realm.
But at this rate, she should be able to reach the Divine Immortal Realm within a hundred years.
Over these years...
Ao Ying never brought up the matter of repaying kindness by offering herself again...
She just came to chat and play with Su Qing whenever she was free, deepening their bond.
Leng Xiang also grew closer to Su Qing...
But her skin was ultimately a bit thin... making it hard to take another step forward.
As for those Little Sparrows...
They were as carefree as ever.
It's just that with more people around... these fellows seemed even happier.
They were always bothering Gongsun Zhixue here and pestering Leng Xiang there.
Their lives had never undergone much change.
One day, Su Qing sat on her meditation mat, cultivating as usual.
Half a day passed in a blink...
By noon, Su Qing exhaled a breath of clear air, ending her half-day of cultivation.
However, as Su Qing looked at the sunlight streaming into the courtyard...
She couldn't help but think of the Stone Monkey, the future Great Sage Equal to Heaven.
"Counting carefully, it's been six or seven years since the Stone Monkey became a disciple. I wonder how his cultivation is progressing."
After several hundred years, Su Qing's memory of many details of the Journey to the West had faded.
But she still remembered that the Stone Monkey stayed in his master's Daoist Academy for eighty or ninety years.
And now... it had been six or seven years since the Stone Monkey became a disciple of Patriarch Bodhi.
If the world line hadn't changed too much...
Presumably, the Stone Monkey would soon be expelled from the Daoist Academy by his master.
Lost in thought, Su Qing couldn't help but rub her chin:
"It's a pity that the changes brought by my variable are too many... it's really hard to say what the future will hold."
"However, since he is now a disciple of Bodhi, if he can become the Great Sage Equal to Heaven in the future, it means that the crucial nodes have not changed because of me."
"In that case, causing havoc in the Heavenly Palace should not have any major changes either."
"I just don't know what might happen during this period."
Su Qing thought, sighing helplessly.
Thinking so much now didn't have much meaning...
After all, Su Qing couldn't foresee every single thing that would happen in the future.
All she could do was wait.
Wait for things to happen, then deal with them as they came.
And while ensuring her own safety... also guide everything in the direction she hoped for.
Su Qing shook her head slightly, hearing Leng Xiang call her for dinner.
So she went to enjoy her lunch.
This day.
Patriarch Bodhi lectured as usual on the platform.
He sometimes spoke of Confucian Rites, sometimes of Daoist Magic, and sometimes of Buddhist Teachings.
He lectured on all three doctrines and was proficient in all three methods.
Sun Wukong, listening today, seemed to have heard something profound, and happily scratched his ears and cheeks, his eyes beaming with joy, unable to resist dancing with excitement.
However, Patriarch Bodhi, seeing his behavior, couldn't help but feel annoyed.
He stopped him and asked, "Why are you dancing wildly and not listening to my lecture in class?"
Sun Wukong heard this and quickly told the truth...
Patriarch Bodhi then asked, "Since you have gained a wonderful understanding, let me ask you, how many years have you been in the cave?"
Wukong said, "This disciple is ignorant and doesn't know how much time has passed. I only remember that there is an open space in the Daoist Academy where a patch of good peaches grows. I have eaten my fill of peaches there seven times!"
Patriarch Bodhi heard this, stroked his beard, and nodded slightly.
In seven years, this Stone Monkey had changed quite a bit; he now understood much about etiquette and shame.
He said, "That peach grove was once the residence of one of your senior sisters. After your senior sister graduated, I left that courtyard to her, so that land became vacant, and peaches were planted there."
"You have eaten peaches there seven times... so it must have been seven years."
Wukong asked, "Are our senior brothers and sisters not all?"
"Naturally not all! Your senior sister graduated a hundred years ago! She is one of the disciples I am most satisfied with to this day."
"Then that senior sister must be truly amazing."
Patriarch Bodhi chuckled and did not delve deeper into the matter, but said:
"Since it has been seven years, have you decided what Dao you want to learn from me?"
"Whatever my esteemed master teaches, as long as it has some Daoist essence, this disciple will learn it."
Patriarch Bodhi heard this, nodded slightly, and then asked him one by one what he wanted to learn.
But each time he asked, Wukong would retort with 'Can I attain immortality?', and if he was explicitly told he couldn't, he would say he wouldn't learn it.
This back and forth annoyed Patriarch Bodhi.
He stepped down from the platform, held a disciplinary ruler, struck Wukong on the head three times, then put his hands behind his back and left, abandoning the crowd.
This made the disciples listening complain about Wukong, saying he was impolite and refused to learn the Dharma his master imparted.
Wukong, hearing this, wasn't annoyed at all, and just smiled apologetically.
Wukong had already solved the riddle in the plate and secretly memorized it, so he didn't compete with others, only endured in silence.
That night.
Flower-Fruit Mountain's small courtyard.
Su Qing somehow had a nightmare and suddenly woke up in the middle of the night... losing her sleep.
She was now sitting in the courtyard looking at the moon.
"Strange, I haven't had a nightmare in hundreds of years, why tonight?"
Su Qing gently rubbed her brows, feeling quite puzzled.
She felt that this nightmare might be some kind of premonition, but when she tried to recall it, she couldn't remember any details of the dream.
As she pondered, she suddenly heard a voice in her ear.
This voice was not Gongsun Zhixue's.
It was an old man's.
"The Ancestor's voice? Why would his voice come from here?"
Su Qing raised an eyebrow, suddenly understanding much...
It wasn't sounding in the courtyard, but in her mind.
Su Qing concentrated and listened, only to hear the Ancestor recite:
"The true wondrous incantation of profound and perfect understanding, cherishing life's cultivation, there is no other way.
All comes down to essence, qi, and spirit; guard them firmly, hide them well, let nothing leak.
Let nothing leak, hidden within the body, you receive my transmission, and the Dao will flourish.
Remembering the incantation brings much benefit, dispelling evil desires brings coolness.
Attaining coolness, pure and bright, it is good to admire the bright moon on the elixir platform.
The moon hides the Jade Rabbit, the sun hides the crow, naturally the tortoise and snake intertwine.
Intertwining, nature and life are firm, able to plant golden lotuses in fire.
Gathering the Five Elements, using them in reverse, when the technique is complete, one becomes a Buddha and an Immortal."
After listening, Su Qing felt even more confused.
"Isn't this the incantation of the nameless cultivation method my master taught me back then? Why is he saying it again today?"
Su Qing silently recited the incantation, and suddenly, inspiration struck her heart. She turned and left the courtyard.
A moment later, dark clouds gathered, and thunder rumbled.
The aura of the Lightning Tribulation and the continuous thunderclaps scared Gongsun Zhixue in the courtyard so much that she dropped her leaves.
"What's going on? Big Green Snake is too good at undergoing tribulations, isn't she? Why is she undergoing tribulation again today? Doesn't it hurt to be struck like this?"
Gongsun Zhixue watched the lightning flashing in the sky, swallowing a mouthful of saliva.
Fortunately, she wasn't undergoing tribulation in the courtyard...
If she were to undergo tribulation with her in this manner.
She would probably be struck until not even a tree stump remained.
"But what's wrong with Big Green Snake? She just underwent a Lightning Tribulation last month, why another one today?"
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