Lao Tzu is Ji Gong

Master Yuding felt much more at ease and asked, "Then what do you plan to do with me?"

Having reached this stage of cultivation, almost every cultivator harbors a fear of death. After all, having experienced the joys of being an immortal, who would willingly return to the mundane world?

Chapter 472 Sealing Magic Power

Li Xiuyuan said, "Although I dare not kill you, I can seal the magic power within your body."

"Seal the magic power within me?" Master Yu Ding was taken aback.

Just then, a strange fluctuation appeared between Li Xiuyuan's eyebrows on his forehead, revealing a black and white vertical eye the size of an ordinary eye.

As soon as that eye appeared on Li Xiuyuan's forehead, a complex aura, seemingly from ancient times and unknown to all, permeated the entire space.

"Three eyes?"

Master Yu Ding looked puzzled. He was quite familiar with the concept of a third eye; his disciple, Yang Jian, who was known as the foremost disciple of the third generation of the Chan Sect, also had a third eye on his forehead.

However, the third eye on Yang Jian's forehead was formed because of his unique background—a combination of a deity and a mortal—and the divine power within the deity's body overflowed and condensed on Yang Jian's body.

The Chaos Divine Eye on Li Xiuyuan's forehead was obtained by spending one million merit points in the Holy Buddha System's merit shop, making it extremely expensive.

Although expensive, it was also very cost-effective. Li Xiuyuan's Chaos Divine Eye was far superior to Yang Jian's third eye. At least in terms of sealing the magical power within the human body, Yang Jian's third eye did not have this effect.

As the Chaos Divine Eye emerged from beneath Li Xiuyuan's skin, a beam of white light shot out from it, illuminating Jade Cauldron True Man.

"what!"

Master Yuding screamed in agony, his face filled with terror, "Why can't I use my magic power?!"

Master Yu Ding felt as if the magical power within his body had turned into lead and mercury, becoming incredibly heavy. Countless grayish-white, earthworm-like things twisted and turned within his dantian, tightly binding all the magical power within him.

The magical power within him, already incredibly heavy due to its transformation into lead and mercury, became completely unusable.

He tried his best to circulate the magic power within his body, wanting to break free from the entanglement of those grayish-white earthworm beams of light, but no matter how he mobilized the magic power within his body, it did not budge an inch.

"ah!"

With his magical power sealed, the auspicious clouds beneath Jade Cauldron Immortal's feet dissipated, and without the support of the clouds, Jade Cauldron Immortal's body plummeted to the ground.

With his magical powers sealed, he naturally became a mortal, and it was no longer possible for him to fly through the clouds.

The moment Yu Ding Zhenren's body began to fall, Li Xiuyuan blew a breath, which condensed into a white cloud that landed beneath Yu Ding Zhenren, supporting his body.

Li Xiuyuan said, “Master, the great prosperity of our Buddhist sect is the will of Heaven. Even the three sages were helpless against it. Your attempt to stop it is like a mantis trying to stop a chariot—utterly overestimating your own strength. I am now sealing your magical power, turning you into an ordinary person, so that you will never get involved in this matter again. Rest assured, this seal will only be in place for a thousand years. After a thousand years, the seal will naturally be broken. By then, our Buddhist sect will have surely prospered. If you try to stop it then, you will only be courting death.”

Li Xiuyuan's voice grew softer and softer until finally, when Master Yuding looked up, Li Xiuyuan had long since disappeared from the sky.

However, although Li Xiuyuan was not visible in the sky, he had not left; he had simply used an invisibility spell to hide himself.

As for Jade Cauldron Immortal himself, supported by auspicious clouds, he slowly descended to the ground.

Without the help of this auspicious cloud, he would probably have been seriously injured in the fall.

Originally, Li Xiuyuan only sealed the magic power in his body, but did not seal his physical body. If he had cultivated a body-refining technique and his physical body was strong, even without magic power, his strength would not have been reduced too much.

However, he had never practiced the Body Refining Technique, and his magical power was sealed. Apart from having a longer lifespan, he was practically no different from an ordinary person.

The two saints, Jieyin and Zhunti, had already planned to cultivate Sun Wukong hundreds of years ago. Yu Ding Zhenren wanted to kill Sun Wukong to hinder the rise of Buddhism, which can be said to have touched the sore spot of the two saints, Jieyin and Zhunti.

Moreover, when the Investiture of the Gods was held, the Primordial Heavenly Venerable had already promised to do this when he invited the two saints, Jieyin and Zhunti, to break the Immortal Slaughtering Sword Formation. Yu Ding Zhenren's actions can be said to be entirely his own initiative.

However, this is also because a great calamity is about to befall the world, and the Daoist heart of Jade Cauldron True Man is obscured, so this calamity is inevitable.

With his magical powers sealed, he became an ordinary person. Master Yu Ding stood there blankly for a moment, looking up at the sky, as if waiting and hoping for something.

After looking for a while, Yu Ding Zhenren realized that this was a man-eating monster in Huaguo Mountain. In his current state, he probably wouldn't be able to resist those monsters at all, and might even be captured and eaten by them.

Finding a dense thicket of bushes, Master Yuding slipped inside.

The Journey to the West world is divided into three realms: the Human Realm, the Underworld, and the Heavenly Realm. Within the Heavenly Realm, there are thirty-six heavens.

At this moment, in the Jade Void Palace of the Thirty-Sixth Heaven, a figure sat cross-legged on a futon.

The figure was ethereal and elusive, seemingly both real and illusory, making it impossible to grasp. It emitted five-colored light, surrounded by swirling clouds, and had a vast auspicious cloud above its head. The cloud was so wide that it seemed as if the entire sky was being held atop the figure's head.

Suddenly, the figure opened his mouth and said, "White Crane Boy, the Antarctic Immortal has arrived. Call him in."

"Yes, sir," replied the chubby, white-haired boy with two braids on his head.

The White Crane Immortal went straight out of the Jade Void Palace and saw the Antarctic Immortal standing outside the palace gate, saying, "Uncle-Master, the Master wants you to come in."

The Old Man of the South Pole asked, "Master wants me to go in? Do you know why Master summoned me?"

The White Crane Immortal Child shook his head and said, "Uncle-Master, I don't know about that."

Chapter 473 The Antarctic Immortal

The Old Man of the South Pole nodded and said, "In that case, let's go in."

The fairy boy turned and entered the palace gate, with the Antarctic Immortal following behind. Upon reaching the steps, the Antarctic Immortal kowtowed and said, "Master, your disciple Antarctic is here. May I ask what orders Master has summoned Antarctic for?"

The Primordial Celestial Venerable instructed, "Nanji, go to Flower Fruit Mountain and bring back the Jade Cauldron. Remember, once you arrive at Flower Fruit Mountain, you are only allowed to save people; you are not allowed to do anything else, understand?"

"Disciple understands." Nanji nodded, but his heart was full of doubts: "Why is Junior Brother Yuding on Flower Fruit Mountain? And why does Master want me to bring Junior Brother Yuding back? Is it possible that Junior Brother Yuding's cultivation level is not enough to fly back to Jade Void Palace?"

Although he was full of questions, the Antarctic Immortal dared not ask. He got up to take his leave and headed down to Flower Fruit Mountain after leaving Jade Void Palace.

They sped along at breakneck speed, and in no time at all, the Old Man of the South Pole had already arrived at Flower and Fruit Mountain.

The entire Flower Fruit Mountain is over two hundred miles in size, making it quite difficult to find a person with the naked eye. The Antarctic Immortal released his divine sense in an attempt to locate the Jade Cauldron Immortal.

As soon as his divine sense was released, the Antarctic Immortal let out a soft exclamation. Under the probing of his divine sense, seven enormous demonic energies soared into the sky, each representing a great demon with profound cultivation.

"What are these monsters doing gathered together?" He probed with his divine sense.

Inside the Water Curtain Cave, Sun Wukong continued his feast with the Bull Demon King and others, completely unaware of the Antarctic Immortal's divine sense.

The Antarctic Immortal was far stronger than Sun Wukong and his companions, possessing the cultivation of a quasi-saint. It was quite normal that Sun Wukong and his group did not notice him.

"Back during the Investiture of the Gods, I heard my senior uncle say that Buddhism would flourish more than a thousand years later, and the key to all of this probably lies with this monkey."

"This world belongs to our Taoist sect. How can we let those bald monks from the West take it over? I'll kill this monkey and make sure this world belongs to our Taoist sect again!"

Antarctic Immortal's killing intent surged.

"Who's spying on me, Old Sun!"

Inside the Water Curtain Cave, Sun Wukong suddenly roared and slammed the stone cup in his hand onto the table, splashing the wine inside all over the floor.

"This monkey spotted me!"

The Antarctic Immortal was filled with murderous intent, which leaked out and was noticed by Sun Wukong.

"What was wrong with me just now?" Sun Wukong shouted, and the Antarctic Immortal immediately realized what he had been thinking and felt a surge of fear.

Given his quasi-saint level cultivation, it's impossible for him to lose control of his thoughts. Moreover, even if he really had murderous intent, it's impossible for him not to be able to hide his killing intent.

The inability to conceal his killing intent indicated that the Antarctic Immortal's condition had reached a very unbearable level.

With murderous intent rising, just as the Antarctic Immortal was about to go and kill Sun Wukong, a sudden thought struck him, and he remembered the instructions of the Primordial Heavenly Venerable in the Jade Void Palace.

“My master told me that I am only allowed to save people and not to do anything else. If I were to kill that demon monkey and my master found out, he would blame me, and all my cultivation would probably be for naught.”

In an instant, all of Antarctic Immortal's thoughts vanished. Only then did Antarctic Immortal realize that he had broken out in a cold sweat without even noticing.

With his quasi-saint level cultivation, he had already undergone a complete transformation and could fully control all his physical abilities, so he wouldn't sweat at all. The Antarctic Immortal found this somewhat strange.

"So this is where Junior Brother Yu Ding is."

The Antarctic Immortal flashed and landed on Flower Fruit Mountain. His divine sense had already detected the figure of Jade Cauldron Immortal during his previous probe.

Yu Ding Zhenren was seen curled up in a bush, seemingly hiding from something. His aura was very strange, with no fluctuations of quasi-saint level cultivation, as if he were just an ordinary person.

The Antarctic Immortal said, "Junior Brother Yu Ding, what are you doing hiding here? With your cultivation level, is there anything you could possibly be hiding from?"

Master Yuding showed a hint of embarrassment and said, "Senior brother, it's a long story. Let's not talk about him, let's not talk about him."

He couldn't very well tell the Old Man of the South Pole that he was hiding here to avoid the little demons on Flower Fruit Mountain, afraid that they would capture and eat him, could he? He, Jade Cauldron True Man, was a famous figure in the Three Realms. If this got out, he would probably lose all face.

Since he began cultivating, when has he ever been in such a sorry state?

"Junior brother, what's going on with your cultivation? I can't sense any fluctuations in your magical power anymore. Could it be that you've already reached the stage of returning to simplicity?" asked the Antarctic Immortal.

Master Yu Ding sighed and said, "Senior brother is joking. My magical power has been sealed by someone."

"He's been sealed away?" An old man from the South Pole looked shocked and said, "Who else in the Three Realms could seal my junior brother's cultivation? Could it be the remaining saints who did it? Let's go back to Jade Void Palace and let Master stand up for you."

Master Yu Ding shook his head and recounted the whole story. Then he asked, "Senior Brother, what brings you here?"

“My master sent me here.” The Antarctic Immortal murmured, “So it was the Great Sun Heavenly Dragon Bodhisattva who made the move. I never expected that he would cultivate to this level. He has already severed his good and evil corpses and is only one step away from becoming a saint.”

After saying that, the Antarctic Immortal sighed and said, "Let's go, junior brother, let's go back to the Jade Void Palace and have Master remove the seal from your body. This seal is very powerful, and I can't even remove it myself."

Just now, the Antarctic Immortal tried to break the seal placed by Li Xiuyuan's Chaos Divine Eye on Jade Cauldron True Man, but those gray beams of light were already connected with the magic power in Jade Cauldron True Man's body, and with his strength, he was simply unable to break the seal.

To break the seal, the only way is to disperse all the magical power within Jade Cauldron Immortal's body and force him to start cultivating again.

Chapter 474 Reap the Heavenly Seal

However, in doing so, Master Yuding's thousands of years of cultivation would all be in vain.

The two talked on the ground for a while, and then the Antarctic Immortal rode on auspicious clouds, taking Jade Cauldron Immortal with him as a shooting star, flying straight towards Jade Void Palace.

"This Antarctic Immortal should also have the cultivation of a quasi-saint, but I wonder if he has severed the evil corpse?"

After the Antarctic Immortal left with Jade Cauldron True Man, a spatial fluctuation emanated from the sky, and Li Xiuyuan appeared. He hadn't actually left; he had been hiding in the void.

In cultivation, a cultivator must first sever their good corpse, then their evil corpse. If the Antarctic Immortal also severed his evil corpse, his cultivation level would be the same as his.