Rebirth in Journey to the West: Sun Wukong-Chapter 722 - 723: Crossing Lingyun Ferry (Second Update!)

"Hoo~!"

Atop a mountain peak ten thousand miles from Spiritual Mountain, Jiang Liu’er, who had been standing motionless, finally moved and opened his eyes, revealing a hint of an unprecedented, ancient look. freeweɓnovel.cѳm

Sun Wukong knew that Jiang Liu’er had recovered his memories from when he was the Golden Cicada Child.

"Recovered? Not bad, not bad!"

Sun Wukong nodded at Jiang Liu’er, "Should I call you Jiang Liu’er now, or should I refer to you as Golden Cicada Child?"

"The Golden Cicada Child is now a thing of the past; in this world, there is only Jiang Liu’er, Jiang Liu’er from the Flower-Fruit Mountain Demon Cult!"

Jiang Liu’er’s eyes slightly narrowed before he broke into a smile and said.

"Good! Old Sun here truly didn’t misjudge you!"

Sun Wukong burst into laughter, "Jiang Liu’er, you have already merged with the memories of Golden Cicada Child. Although not completely, you should be able to find the method used by the Buddhist Sect to snatch away Merit and Destiny, right?"

"Indeed, it’s not entirely complete, but fortunately, the crucial memories aren’t lost!"

Jiang Liu’er also laughed, "The method the Buddhist Sect uses to snatch Merit and Destiny is by sending those with Merit and Destiny into the Buddha-viewing Pagoda in the shattered realms of Xupuoluo, where the innate Merit and Destiny will be absorbed by the Pagoda."

"The shattered realms of Xupuoluo? Buddha-viewing Pagoda?"

Sun Wukong raised an eyebrow, "There is a Buddha-viewing Pagoda in the shattered realms of Xupuoluo? How come Old Sun has never seen it before?"

"Of course, the Great Saint has never seen it,"

Jiang Liu’er shrugged, "That Buddha-viewing Pagoda is like the Ascend to Heaven Platform in the Heavenly Court or Flower-Fruit Mountain’s Heaven-Piercing Tower. However, it is usually hidden within the shattered realms of Xupuoluo, only revealed under special Dharma Decrees."

"No wonder!"

Sun Wukong nodded in understanding, then snickered with a mischievous grin, "The baldies from the Buddhist Sect are really cunning, definitely plotting to lure you into the shattered realms of Xupuoluo under some pretext, then ascend the damned Buddha-viewing Pagoda and suck out all your Merit and Destiny! But heh, they never dreamed that Jiang Liu’er would recover the memories of his past life as the Golden Cicada Child. As long as you don’t enter the shattered realms of Xupuoluo, they won’t be able to do anything to you!"

After pausing, a devilish smirk flashed in Sun Wukong’s eyes, "Perhaps, we could turn their scheme against them and make those baldies from the Buddhist Sect swallow a huge loss!"

Jiang Liu’er and the others beside him didn’t know what Sun Wukong meant by turning their scheme against them, but seeing the sly smile at the corner of Sun Wukong’s mouth, they couldn’t help shivering inwardly, silently praying for Buddha and others. If they were targeted by Sun Wukong in such a state, it meant big trouble for them!

Now that Jiang Liu’er had regained the memories of his past life as the Golden Cicada Child, Sun Wukong wasted no more time, once again whipping up a wild wind to send them back to the foot of Spiritual Mountain. He then entered the mountain stealthily, following them with his aura completely withdrawn, tightly concealed.

When it came to hiding, Sun Wukong would acknowledge himself as second, but no one in the Three Realms would dare claim to be the first. Let alone the Buddhist Sect’s Vajra guardians of the mountain, even if Tathagata Buddha were to confront him, he might not notice his presence.

Jiang Liu’er and his companions had not walked far when they were about to ascend the mountain; they encountered the Golden Summit Immortal of the Jade Purity Temple at the foot of Spiritual Mountain, who was there to meet Jiang Liu’er and his disciples on behalf of Tathagata Buddha’s decree.

"Holy Monk, I have been waiting here for quite some time!"

After exchanging greetings, the Golden Summit Immortal asked Jiang Liu’er and his group about their previous experiences: who had swept them away with a whirlwind and what they had gone through.

In response to the Golden Summit Immortal’s inquiries, Jiang Liu’er and his disciples told nothing but tall tales, without a single word of truth. Seeing that he could not get any clear answers, the Golden Summit Immortal had no choice but to let it go. He provided lodging for Jiang Liu’er and his disciples at the Jade Purity Temple for one night, preparing vegetarian meals and arranging for baths and a change of clothes before they rested.

Early the next morning, Jiang Liu’er changed into new clothes, donned a colorful kasaya, took up the golden staff, and after bidding farewell to the Golden Summit Immortal, he continued on the mountain path through the back door of the Jade Purity Temple. Sun Wukong followed quietly behind all the way to the Lingyun Crossing.

The Lingyun Crossing is actually a narrow, slippery log bridge, extending from one bank of the river to the other some eight or nine miles away. To reach Spiritual Mountain and seek the True Scripture, one must cross this bridge, as cloud-riding is not permitted. Of course, there is another option: to be ferried across by the Guiding Buddha on his bottomless boat, who has inherited the title of the Guiding Daoist.

However, if one boards the bottomless boat, unless they have already attained the cultivation of a Da Luo Golden Immortal, they would be stripped of their original physical body and given a Buddha body formed from Buddha Primordial Force, thus coming under Buddhist Sect control. Sun Wukong had already explained this to Jiang Liu’er and the others before, so naturally, they would not choose to take the bottomless boat.

"Master, I’ll go in front; the rest of you follow behind. Take it slow; there’s no need to rush. It’s just eight or nine miles across, and we can definitely make it!"

Yuan Hong spoke, leapt onto the log bridge, and began to run unstably towards the other side. In a short while, he had crossed the bridge and started waving to Jiang Liu’er and the others from the opposite bank.

"No, no! The bridge is so slippery; there’s no way to cross without falling. I, old Pig, won’t go, won’t go!"

Zhu Bajie climbed onto the log bridge to give it a try and nearly fell flat on his face. Shaking his head like a tambourine, he was firmly against the idea.

"You fool! The log bridge isn’t meant to be crossed directly; you have to activate your own Law Power to stabilize your body and then you can pass!"

Sun Wukong, watching anxiously from the shadows, couldn’t help but telepathically scold Zhu Bajie, telling him the method to cross the bridge. He also informed Jiang Liu’er, Sandy Monk, and the White Dragon Ao Lie of the same method.

Though Zhu Bajie always seemed sly and cunning along the way, his cultivation was by no means slow; he had reached the Da Luo Golden Immortal Realm. Sandy Monk had also peaked at the Taiyi Golden Immortal level, and the White Dragon Ao Lie, now in human form, astonishingly matched Zhu Bajie’s cultivation as a Da Luo Golden Immortal. With some understanding of the Great Dao, each of them managed to cross the bridge, one after the other.

Now, only Jiang Liu’er was left!

"Holy Monk, cross the bridge, cross the bridge!"

Jiang Liu’er was still hesitant. Although he had also reached the Taiyi Golden Immortal Realm and had some comprehension of the Merit Great Dao Law, if he crossed the log bridge, his true level of cultivation would be impossible to conceal. At that moment, a ferry approached from a distance, the very bottomless boat that Sun Wukong had mentioned earlier, steered by the Guiding Buddha, coming to take Jiang Liu’er across the river.

"To hell with hiding; I don’t believe Buddha would trouble me before the descent of Merit and Destiny!"

Gazing at the log bridge, then at the Guiding Buddha and the bottomless boat, Jiang Liu’er gritted his teeth, made his decision, somersaulted onto the bridge, and began to walk across, activating the Merit Great Dao Law Power to stabilize his body.

Revealing his cultivation might bring misfortune, but compared to being forcibly stripped of his flesh and forever controlled by the Buddhist Sect, Jiang Liu’er preferred to expose his cultivation!