Chapter 130: Reward Settlement
Meanwhile, Tang Sanzang and his disciples smoothly passed through the Black Water River.
Ao Tu accordingly received the rewards.
【Rewards settling, total obstruction of three hundred ninety-two days.】
【Received reward: Jade Lotus Root.】
【Received reward: Jade Lotus Golden Elixir.】
【Received reward: Great Demon Blood.】
【Received reward: Spiritual Root Bitter Bamboo.】
【Received reward: Purple Ribbon Immortal Robe.】
【Received reward: Ancient Buddha Sarira.】
【Received reward: Zhou Tian Xing Dou Great Formation Diagram.】
【Excess days of twenty-seven days automatically carry over to the next side quest; next side quest: Chechi Kingdom Dharma Battle.】
Seven different rewards appeared in Ao Tu’s hands.
Among them, the Jade Lotus Root and Jade Lotus Golden Elixir were relatively ordinary; the Jade Lotus Root was a type of immortal object, palm-sized, as if carved from a piece of blue jade; mortals eating it could strengthen their bodies, prolong life; the Jade Lotus Golden Elixir had even better effects compared to the Jade Lotus Root.
The Great Demon Blood was a drop of bright red blood; Ao Tu could sense very strong power contained within it.
Ao Tu used his heavy pupils to observe it, and through the essence blood, peered into the past, seeing a strange beast dwelling on a stone mountain, with five tails and one horn, resembling a red leopard, named Zheng.
This was the essence blood of the ancient strange beast Zheng.
Ao Tu stored away the essence blood without absorbing it. For him, although this drop of essence blood was very strong, he had already absorbed Demon Emperor Essence Blood before, so absorbing this drop of Great Demon Blood would no longer have any effect.
It would be better to keep it for later use in refining medicine, alchemy, or rewarding his subordinates.
The Spiritual Root Bitter Bamboo was a three-foot-long spiritual bamboo.
As a spiritual root, the effect of the Bitter Bamboo was slightly weaker compared to the previous Three-Grade Golden Lotus and Three-Grade Black Lotus.
Eating the Bitter Bamboo could lead to enlightenment; for alchemy, it was the top choice; for artifact refining, it could be used for swords, staffs, and other objects.
However, consuming it all at once directly was the most wasteful practice.
If possible, it was best to cultivate it for long-term benefits.
The Purple Ribbon Immortal Robe was an extremely strong defensive spiritual treasure.
Mortals wearing this immortal robe could be unafraid of blades and weapons, impervious to all spells.
Buddha Ancestor Tathagata had once granted Tang Sanzang the Brocade Monk’s Robe, known as a Buddhist treasure that could avert disasters, avoid reincarnation, but its actual effects were not satisfactory.
If Tang Sanzang had worn the Purple Ribbon Immortal Robe on the journey for sutras, he could probably have gone all the way to Western Heaven, with most monsters on the road unable to harm him in the slightest.
The last two rewards: Ancient Buddha Sarira, Zhou Tian Xing Dou Great Formation Diagram.
These were the two most important treasures of this time.
Ao Tu first looked at the Ancient Buddha Sarira.
It was a golden sarira, roughly round, not very regular, with some black dirt on it.
Ao Tu tried using his heavy pupils to observe it and investigate its origins.
In an instant, Ao Tu’s mind fell into the river of time, ethereal and gone, not knowing how much time passed, then seeing a holy land with Buddhist temples everywhere, an ancient buddha sitting cross-legged in the midst, his figure covering the sky and blocking the sun, standing tall in the void.
Before Ao Tu could observe carefully, the ancient buddha let out a long sigh and said, “The great trend is hard to change…”
As his words fell, a giant hand stretched out from the sky, holding a scripture, smashing down from above, shattering the ancient buddha into countless pieces, blood rain falling from the sky, with one piece of bone and flesh flying straight toward Ao Tu.
In the blink of an eye, Ao Tu awoke and closed his heavy pupils.
Looking at the sarira in his hand, Ao Tu decided not to investigate further.
The sarira itself was a very strong treasure for aiding cultivation; as long as it was kept nearby, it could increase cultivation speed and improve comprehension.
What he should do now was only to become stronger.
Finally, Ao Tu looked at the formation diagram of the Zhou Tian Xing Dou Great Formation.
The palm-sized formation diagram had an ancient material, and its exterior looked unremarkable.
But this was the Zhou Tian Xing Dou Great Formation Diagram, comparable to an innate spiritual treasure.
Ao Tu prepared to use magic power to open the formation diagram for a close look, but feared that opening it outside would cause Buddha’s Light to alert Heaven, so he stored the formation diagram in the Five-Colored Divine Light, then used magic power to open it.
Just as he opened a corner, the formation diagram shone through the Five-Colored Divine Light, forcibly drawing the stars, causing the great sun to shift east and the bright moon to rise; Ao Tu was startled and quickly stored away the formation diagram.
At that time, the master and disciples had just walked not far past the Black Water River.
Wukong looked toward the sky and said, “Strange! Strange! The sun rises from the east and sets in the west; now is the end of the shen hour when it is sinking in the west, yet just now it seemed like I saw the sun wheel rising in the east?”
Ba Jie said, “Senior Brother, what do you care about east rising or west rising? The sky is getting dark; let’s quickly find a safe place to camp for the night. Junior Brother Sha and I will watch Master; you go to a kind household to beg for a vegetarian meal, so we can eat our fill and hurry on tomorrow!”
Wukong said, “You idiot, Old Sun saw the sun acting abnormally and feared there might be a monster?”
Ba Jie said, “What monster has that kind of ability? Probably you were seeing things.”
Wukong couldn’t figure anything out and said, “Fine then, there’s a hillside ahead; let’s rest in the wind-sheltered spot under the hillside for the night. You watch Master; Old Sun will go beg for food.”
Tang Sanzang and his disciples arrived at the wind-sheltered side of the hillside to rest.
Wukong took the alms bowl and rode clouds to beg for food.
On the other side, Ao Tu stored away the formation diagram, did not linger, and rode clouds toward the capital city of Che Chi Kingdom.
【Entered mission area】
【Current side quest: Chechi Kingdom Dharma Battle】
【Mission requirement: Obstruct the pilgrim in the Che Chi Kingdom area; rewards settled based on obstruction time.】
【Mission rewards: three days/Three-Revolving Golden Elixir, seven days/Kunlun Immortal Tea, half a month/acquired spiritual treasure Fly Whisk, one month/acquired spiritual treasure Alchemy Furnace, one season/Breath Soil, half a year/Ancient Buddha’s Vow Power, one year/Zhou Tian Xing Dou Great Formation flags, three years/innate spiritual treasure River Diagram and Luo Book, twelve years/Chaos Bell, sixty years…】
【Current progress: twenty-seven days】
Ao Tu looked at the refreshed rewards; what caught his attention most was naturally the Ancient Buddha’s Vow Power.
Ao Tu himself knew some Buddhist Dharma.
Buddhism emphasizes: “Guide actions with vows, prove vows with actions.” Vow Power is the most core power among them, but Ao Tu was not a proper Buddhist disciple, so he had not tried it.
He did not know what would happen when he obtained that reward.
Ao Tu rode clouds all the way to the capital city of Che Chi Kingdom; looking down from the clouds, he saw auspicious lights everywhere over the capital city, five-colored clouds, flourishing national fortune, thriving populace; truly a good place.
Ao Tu descended from the clouds and shook his body to transform into the appearance of a Taoist priest.
He was seen:
Wearing a dark cloud crown on his head, purple ribbon robe on his body.
Black hair in a Daoist bun, secured with a jade hairpin.
Right hand shaking a fly whisk, left hand tapping a fishing drum.
Waist girded with a pure gold belt, feet in worry-free shoes.
Arriving at the city base, it was getting late, the city gates about to close, with many common people coming and going in and out.
People from the city going outside for business wanted to return to the city; people from outside going into the city for business wanted to enter.
Thus they were all crowded together.
Ao Tu queued at the back.
The soldiers on the city wall saw Ao Tu’s attire from afar and called:
“Make way, please let the Taoist priest enter first.”
The common people heard and saw Ao Tu behind them, all respectfully making way.
Thus Ao Tu was able to enter the city.
After entering the city, Ao Tu saluted and thanked the guarding soldiers and the common people who had made way.
The soldier said, “Taoist priest, you are too polite. May we ask from where the Taoist priest comes?”
Ao Tu said, “This poor Daoist is a wandering Taoist priest. I heard that your kingdom has three Taoist priests with profound Daoist magic, holding the position of National Preceptor, so I have come specifically to discuss Dao with the three Taoist priests.”
