Journey to the West: Tang Monk Conquers Everything

Sun Wukong and White Dragon Horse, within the Guanyin Hall, were having a conversation, let's not elaborate about that for now, Jiang Liu, after finishing his vegetarian meal, under the cheerful and excited lead of two monks, returned to his Zen Room where he was resting.

As monks bearing twelve Scars of Precepts, these two felt immensely honored just to lead the way for Jiang Liu.

After all, for monks, the number of Scars of Precepts sufficed to determine everything.

Jiang Liu's expression was calm, yet his mind was filled with myriad thoughts. Today's banquet hosted by Jinchi treated him to a lavish vegetarian meal, complete with fruits and vegetables, but there were no signs of the flaunting of wealth mentioned in the original story.

Even his attempts to steer the conversation that way were futile; the story was completely different from what he had imagined, they even offered money and kasayas enthusiastically.

"Master Xuanzang, this is the best Zen Room in our Guanyin Zen Temple. You can rest here tonight. We won't disturb you any further," the two monks, each carrying a lantern, escorted Jiang Liu to the Zen Room and spoke.

"Thank you both," Jiang Liu nodded his thanks.

"Not at all, Master Xuanzang, you are too polite. This is what we should do," a simple thank you seemed to these two monks like a tremendous accolade; they were visibly thrilled.

"It seems I have underestimated the significance of bearing twelve Scars of Precepts, haven't I?" Seeing the excited expressions on the monks' faces, Jiang Liu inwardly reflected.

If all the monks in the world were likened to students, then the number of Scars of Precepts would resemble academic scores; what's most important to a student? Naturally, it's the scores in exams.

And indeed, scoring full marks in all subjects and being the undisputed top scholar of the nation felt like being admired by all monks across the world, which was within reasonable expectations.

Watching the two monks, staring at him like fans, even as they led him to the Zen Room and spoke about letting him rest properly, they hesitated to leave. Jiang Liu smiled inwardly and said, "Do you want me to give you my autograph?"

"Autograph? What's that?" hearing Jiang Liu's question, the two monks looked at him curiously.

"Prepare the ink and brush," without explaining, Jiang Liu spoke.

Naturally, the two monks quickly fetched the four treasures of the study, even quarreling over who got to grind the ink for Jiang Liu.

Once everything was ready, Jiang Liu stepped forward and wrote down his dharma name, "Xuanzang," passing it to each of them, "I'm giving you these two autographs."

Writing one's dharma name to give to oneself? This might be commonplace in the modern era, but for the people of this era, it was an utterly novel concept.

Each of the monks eagerly accepted Jiang Liu's autographs, treasuring them like supreme treasures; they carefully tucked them into their garments and hastily nodded their thanks, "Thank you, Master Xuanzang."

Though they were starstruck and wished to stay longer with Master Xuanzang, the night was already getting late, and having received the autographs, they were impatient to show them off to their fellow disciples; therefore, the two monks made no attempt to linger, "It's getting late, we won't disturb Master Xuanzang's rest any longer."

"Ah, wait a moment," just as the two were about to leave, Jiang Liu stopped them and asked, "By the way, I heard that Elder Jinchi has collected many kasayas. He usually just keeps them in the Treasure Room and doesn't bring them out, does he?"

"You are mistaken, Master Xuanzang," hearing Jiang Liu's question, the two monks shook their heads, then whispered, "Our abbot loves to show off his treasured kasayas. Sometimes, he even changes them several times a day; it's just that in front of you, Master, it surely isn't appropriate to boast."

"Ah, I see…," the monks' response enlightened Jiang Liu.

What monks value most is their depth of connection with the Buddhist Sect, simply put, the number of Scars of Precepts on their heads determines everything, after all, whether a temple thrives can be seen by the number of Scars of Precepts on the abbot's head.

While Jinchi likes showing off his collected treasures, he couldn't flaunt them in front of Jiang Liu.

After all, the twelve Scars of Precepts on his own head rendered any attempt at boasting pale and futile.

The two monks had left, and Jiang Liu sat inside the Zen Room, secretly pondering in his heart.

Seeing the enthusiasm of Jinchi, with both money and kasaya being offered, he felt embarrassed to make a forceful move, didn't he?

In the original story, the main conflict arose from the flaunting of wealth, leading to calamity. Now, having revealed his twelve Scars of Precepts, Jinchi no longer flaunted his wealth in his presence. Could it be that this calamity had no chance to even begin?

"Ah, well, since the situation from the original story will not occur, I still need to find another excuse to linger in the Guanyin Zen Temple for as long as possible."

Shaking his head, Jiang Liu helplessly sighed internally, temporarily suppressing his thoughts about the plot of the original story.

"Eh? Right, where's Wukong?" As Jiang Liu came back to his senses, he then realized in surprise that Wukong had been missing since he had left during the banquet. Where had he gone?

However, although Sun Wukong had not yet returned, causing surprise, Jiang Liu of course did not worry about the monkey's safety. Since he had not returned, it was fine to let him wander outside, as long as he did not cause any trouble.

Sitting cross-legged, Jiang Liu began to practice the Heavenly Dragon Zen Sound cultivation technique, intensifying his cultivation, and soon calmed down; game system prompts continuously appeared in his mind.

Prompt: Gained 3 Experience Points.

Prompt: Gained 3 Experience Points.

Prompt: Gained 3 Experience Points.

...

The Heavenly Dragon Zen Sound, for each major realm ascended, an additional layer can be practiced.

The Qi Cultivation Realm allows the practice of the first layer, the Meridian Unblocking Realm allows the second layer, the Body Tempering Realm allows the third layer, and so on.

Jiang Liu, now at level 23, had naturally invested 2 Skill Points into the Heavenly Dragon Zen Sound technique, raising it to the third layer.

For Jiang Liu, the Heavenly Dragon Zen Sound was not just a means of group attack and control; more importantly, the experience points gained during meditation were what he truly needed.

With the cultivation technique elevated, naturally, more experience points were obtained during meditation, which was great news for Jiang Liu.

Although the experience points required for leveling up increased, the actual gains in cultivation were substantial. From another perspective, the power gap between each level was also continuously widening.

At lower levels, perhaps with slightly sophisticated equipment and stronger skills, challenging higher levels was not difficult.

However, as the levels increased, the disparity in cultivation between levels grew larger, making challenging higher levels progressively more difficult.

With a creak, as Jiang Liu's meditation gradually wound down, the door to the Zen Room was pushed open, and Sun Wukong walked in.

He did not care that Jiang Liu was in the middle of cultivation and said, "Master, I, Old Sun, have discovered that Xiaobai has other motives for wanting to go to Western Heaven..."n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

(PS: Asking for recommendation tickets, seeking lots and lots of recommendation tickets…)