Journey to the West: Treasure Vase of the Great Dao-Chapter 694 - 343: Apprenticeship
The gentle, scholarly voice that came from beside him carried a reassuring power. Liu Chenxiang turned his head and saw a man in a green robe standing by his side, not far from the tumultuous sea. The man seemed to merge with the ocean as he stood there.
Chenxiang remembered that this was the man who had taught him the nameless technique in his dreams. Feeling blessed, he immediately knelt down to pay his respects, "Disciple Liu Chenxiang greets Master!"
Seeing this, Lu Yu softly sighed and said, "The journey here has indeed been arduous."
Upon hearing these words, Chenxiang nearly shed tears. For someone of his age, the challenges and perils he had faced were far from trivial. If not for his exceptional talent and the constant strengthening of his body by the nameless technique, how could he have traveled thousands of miles to reach Huaguo Mountain?
"I beseech you, Master, to teach me your spells!" Chenxiang earnestly bowed and pleaded for instruction.
"For what purpose do you seek to learn spells?"
"To save my mother!" Chenxiang replied with a resolute decisiveness in his voice that demanded attention.
"Do you know what you will face?"
"I know!" Chenxiang responded, his uncle's stern and handsome face, never given to smiles, flashed across his mind. He felt the weight of responsibility and the long path ahead. How would he ever defeat such a formidable man?
"No, you don't know." To his surprise, Lu Yu said such a thing, casting doubt in his mind.
Lu Yu waved his sleeve gently, and a watery screen appeared out of thin air, displaying the towering Mountain Hua, which Chenxiang had once visited. The familiar perilous peaks were instantly recognizable to him.
"Look carefully at what's above!" Lu Yu's words echoed in Chenxiang's ears, compelling him to inadvertently raise his head. Only then did he notice a golden pillar reaching for the heavens atop Mountain Hua, exuding a mystical aura that made him feel an irresistible urge to kneel. But his determined nature and stubborn defiance meant that even as the aura made him tremble, he did not bend his knees.
Seeing this, Lu Yu inwardly nodded his approval. Without such courage, the dream of saving his mother would be as insubstantial as a castle in the air.
"Master, what is this?"
"Heavenly Stripes!" Lu Yu answered lightly, yet it struck Chenxiang's ears like thunder.
Although Chenxiang was an ordinary human, he often heard tales involving the transgression of Heavenly Stripes, but he had never imagined they could be seen.
Not just him, even Lu Yu had not anticipated that the Sages could make the intangible Heavenly Stripes take physical form, turning the abstract into the concrete, a feat beyond his own imagination.
"Your mother appears to be trapped under Mountain Hua, but in reality, she is beneath the Heavenly Stripes. These Heavenly Stripes are a collection of the Great Dao's rules. If you cannot break them, you cannot save your mother!" Lu Yu explained further.
At these words, despair washed over Chenxiang's face. These were the Heavenly Stripes, capable of binding immortals; how powerful did he need to be to break through them? It sounded like nothing more than a fanciful tale.
"Could it be that my mother will be forever trapped under Mountain Hua?" Liu Chenxiang seemed to be asking Lu Yu, yet also seemed to be searching his own heart, this sudden piece of news was somewhat hard for him to bear.
However, he quickly regained his composure, since his master had spoken thus there must be a reason for it, perhaps it was not without a solution.
"I implore you to teach me, Master!" Liu Chenxiang pleaded once again.
"If the Heavenly Stripes are formless, then there is nothing to be done, but now that the Heavenly Stripes have taken a tangible form, there must be a way to break them since they are tangible."
"How can it be broken?" Liu Chenxiang hastily asked, hope reigniting in his heart.
"To break the heavens with humanity, ever since Nuwa created humanity, our human race began to appear in the Three Realms, enduring countless hardships, a multitude of predecessors and noble spirits went forth one after the other, ultimately allowing the human race to stand tall among the Three Realms, becoming the true protagonists of heaven and earth. The Sages exhausted their minds to forge the Great Dao, causing the Human Path to prosper greatly, and now, as the human race grows stronger, the Power of Humanity is ever more formidable. If we can borrow this power, we can break the Heavenly Stripes," Lu Yu explained the method to break the heavens, listening to which Liu Chenxiang's eyes shone brightly.
"However, this Power of Humanity is not so easily borrowed," Lu Yu gently said.
"I ask Master to teach me the Technique. Even if it takes my entire life, I must borrow the Power of Humanity to break the Heavenly Stripes and save my mother," Liu Chenxiang insisted with a resolute will and piercing gaze as he looked at Lu Yu.
Seeing this, Lu Yu's face showed a gratified smile, and he helped Liu Chenxiang, who was kneeling on the ground, to his feet, speaking softly, "Very well, with such determination, I shall impart all I know to you. However, currently your mana is too weak, even if you borrow the Power of Humanity, you wouldn't be able to withstand it. During this period, first follow me in cultivation. I will solidify your foundation, and afterward, I will teach you the Technique of borrowing the Power of Humanity."
After their teacher-disciple relationship was established, Lu Yu then took Liu Chenxiang down the mountain. At this moment, the monkeys in the mountains and the Rakshasa Princess and others had long been drawn over by the earth-shattering spectacle of Liu Chenxiang. They had just rushed to the summit when they saw a gentleman in a green robe, Mr. Lu, slowly walking down the mountain with Liu Chenxiang.
The Rakshasa Princess slightly frowned. Having never traveled far from home since she was a child, she didn't know who this green-robed gentleman coming towards them was, but she could feel an overwhelming presence emanating from him, one she had never experienced before. It was like an ordinary person seeing the ocean for the first time, astonished by its vast and magnificent scale.
"Mr. Lu!" Sun Shier, who was standing by, recognized Lu Yu and exclaimed with surprise. But he quickly lowered his head and quietly stepped back a few paces. If the master knew he had run away from home, he was likely to get disciplined. It was all because he acted impulsively, and now Sun Shier could only hope that Lu Yu had not seen him.
However, as things tend to go in the worst direction, the moment Sun Shier was hoping Lu Yu wouldn't see him, like an ostrich burying its head in the sand, the voice of Lu Yu came to his ears, "At such a young age, you've already learned to run away from home. When you get back, copy the Tao Te Ching fifty times for me!"
Upon hearing this, Sun Shier immediately made a pitiful face and said, "Master, please spare me. If it comes to it, you can beat me, but please don't make me copy books. I feel dizzy just looking at those characters."
"This is your punishment, you'd better start writing quickly. If you don't finish, it will become a hundred times."
Upon hearing this, Sun Shier immediately jumped up and shouted, "Don't worry, Master, I will definitely finish copying."
After saying that, he ran down the mountain like a shot, as if a fierce tiger were chasing him. Little did he know, at this moment, Sun Shier's eyes were brimming with tears. How long would it take to copy fifty passages? He was just a little monkey; why must he read and write? This was surely the greatest punishment in the world.
Watching Sun Shier's hasty retreat, everyone showed knowing smiles. Marshal Ma apologized to Lu Yu, "Mr. Lu, I am sorry, these little monkeys are simply too mischievous. When I get down there, I'll make sure to discipline them severely."
"No matter, this is their time of innocence and vivacity. As long as they hold true to their nature, that is enough."
