Mysterious mirror hanging high

The ape demon moved in response, but suddenly thought of the man in front of him who was able to bypass the protective formation and quietly sneak into his own quiet room for cultivation. It was obvious that his cultivation level was far higher than his own. Looking at the other person again, there was not a trace of spiritual pressure leaking out. His true cultivation level was impossible to see at all. He couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat. He suddenly threw away the iron rod in his hand and knelt down with a "thump".

"I, the humble cultivator, greet you, sir! I wonder which sir you are here to see? Although I am a demon, I usually eat wind and drink dew, and never take blood. I beg you to show some mercy..."

"Oh?"

Jing Yu swept his mind around the ape demon and saw that it was indeed surrounded by pure energy, free from any resentment or grievances. Knowing that what he said was true, he nodded and said, "You are quite good... It seems that you have been doing your duty well these years. When did Yuan Chen die?"

When the ape demon heard the word "Yuan Chen," he shuddered and suddenly looked up at Jing Yu. The gray-robed young man before him gradually overlapped with the already vague image in his memory...

"You are...you are Master Xuan Jing?"

"When I captured you, you were only two or three years old, right? You should not have been able to develop your intelligence yet. It's amazing that you still remember me." Jing Yu said with a smile.

The ape monster in front of him was none other than the spiritual pet [Spiritual Golden Lion Ape] that Jing Yu had begged for from the owner of Wushan Market [Cangsong Taoist], and sent it to protect Zhao Yuanchen on his journey west. Unexpectedly, Youyou met it here.

"It's really Master Xuan Jing!"

The bright golden lion ape prostrated himself on the ground, kowtowed and wept, "I never thought I would be able to see you one day..."

"After leaving Wushan Market, my master and I traveled a long way, enduring many hardships along the way, before finally arriving in Zhao State. This journey took several years. By the time we arrived in Zhao State, my cultivation had already reached the second level of Qi training, which was enough to protect my master's safety."

"However, the master is indifferent to fame and fortune. Although he is a very senior figure in the Zhao royal family, he does not like the politics of the emperor. He did not disturb the Zhao royal family. Instead, he took me on a journey of sightseeing and exploring the mountains and rivers, seeking out famous places... When he grew old, he occupied this [Lingtai Mountain] and lived in seclusion there."

The ape demon said, "Thanks to the master's favor, I was given the surname [Zhao], the generation name [Yuan], and finally the character [Kong]."

"I will call myself Zhao Yuankong. I am sorry to make you laugh, sir, by calling myself Taoist Yuankong."

Jing Yu was silent for a moment, then slowly asked, "How long is Yuan Chen's life span?"

The ape demon Zhao Yuankong said respectfully, "Master has made great progress in his physical training and is in good health. He also has some spiritual objects left by the adults that are useful for prolonging mortal life. He has lived to the age of ninety-one, which is an extremely long lifespan for a mortal!"

Zhao Yuankong then turned and walked to a row of bookshelves, took out a thread-bound book from one of them, handed it to Jing Yu with both hands, and said:

"When our master was alive, he compiled our experiences and observations from our travels over the years into a book. I would like to ask Your Excellency to review it."

Jing Yu took the book and saw the words "Yuan Chen's Journey to the West" on it. He flipped open the book, scanned it with his mind, and finished reading the entire book in almost an instant. He couldn't help but shake his head and laugh:

"It's quite interesting, but the writing is just average."

"Since Yuan Chen wrote this book, why hasn't it been circulated?"

Zhao Yuankong was furious when he heard this, "Your Excellency, you don't know that after the master wrote this book, he asked several bookstores to print it, but most of the scholars and writers there didn't know the value of it, so there were only a few buyers."

"Later, a scholar named Wu, who was friends with the master, read the book and said the stories were interesting. He asked the master to let him revise it and publish it."

"The master was also very generous and simply allowed the scholar surnamed Wu to make changes as he pleased. Later, the scholar wrote another version of the travelogue, which he named Journey to the West."

"But the story has been distorted beyond recognition, with things like the Peach Festival, Havoc in Heaven, and the Journey to the West... It's all a mess, a fabrication. And yet, it's surprisingly popular, becoming a classic that's still passed down to this day. The original work, which the author painstakingly wrote, has become a poor imitation. It really infuriates me."

"My master didn't take it seriously. Instead, he told me not to cause trouble for that scholar named Wu. What did you say about this incident..."

Jing Yu shook his head and laughed, suddenly remembering something: "Oh, when the State of Zhao was destroyed, didn't Yuan Chen intervene?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Yuankong said, "This matter... When the Liang family replaced the Zhao family, the master was already on his deathbed. I wanted to deal with the rebels who usurped the throne of the Zhao court, but was stopped by the master on his deathbed."

"My master said at that time—[Life is full of calamities and tribulations, and ultimately, death is inevitable. The same is true for a nation... Now that I am nearing death, forcibly extending my life would be against the will of heaven. Yuankong, you don't need to worry about me anymore, and naturally, you don't need to prolong the life of the State of Zhao either.]"

"Now that the Zhao Kingdom has reached its end, why should we continue to let it linger? The country has existed for hundreds of years, longer than even a Foundation Establishment cultivator. What else is there to be dissatisfied with?"

Jing Yu had already activated a lie-detection technique. The thoughts of the ape demon, a mere Qi-cultivating cultivator, were naturally untraceable under his technique. Confirming that Zhao Yuankong hadn't lied, he remained silent for a long time, then said with a look of satisfaction, "Yuan Chen's character... has surpassed many cultivators!"

It's strange to say, when the brother and sister Yuan Chen and Yuan Xi were born in their early years, perhaps because Yuan Xi had a destiny and Yuan Chen was just a mortal, and before the spiritual root test, Zhao Mingyu always favored Zhao Yuanchen, Jing Yu began to have rebellious thoughts and was more inclined to Zhao Yuanxi.

Later, when the two siblings grew up, Zhao Yuanxi was far superior to her brother in terms of intelligence, appearance, and conversation. Zhao Yuanchen was a good-for-nothing and had done many ridiculous things when he was young, which made Jing Yu's prejudice against him even deeper.

But as time went by, Zhao Yuanchen left home and headed west, while Zhao Yuanxi practiced with Jing Yu all the way. Seeing that the fairy Yuanxi's mind became deeper and deeper, and she had more or less the sinister appearance of Zhao Mingyu in the past, Zhao Yuanchen, on the contrary, was just an ordinary person, and finally let go of the thoughts of gains and losses, and indulged himself in mountains and rivers, visiting famous places, and had a bit of a free and easy taste.

Unconsciously, Jing Yu felt that she seemed to like Zhao Yuanchen, whose fate had already been decided, even more.

He lamented the strangeness of his fate and asked again, "I see that you have already reached the ninth level of Qi training. To have reached this level in such a place with poor spiritual energy, you are considered to have excellent aptitude... Why don't you leave here and go to a place with rich spiritual energy to plan to build your foundation?"

Zhao Yuankong should be less than 150 years old at this time. Ordinary Qi-cultivating cultivators would have died long ago, but the lifespan of the demon race is much longer than that of humans. 150 years old is still considered a prime age for the Spiritual Golden Lion Ape, but it can't withstand many more years of wasted time.

Zhao Yuankong smiled and said, "I have to thank you for the magic power you injected into my body back then."

"That magical power is truly tenacious. It has remained within my body for a hundred years without dissipating. I have painstakingly worked year after year to slowly refine and erode this magical power. Surprisingly, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Not only has my cultivation reached perfection in Qi training, but the magical power within me has also become a little more tenacious than that of ordinary monsters."