Journey to the West: Tang Monk Conquers Everything

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As the sky turned completely dark, Qingfeng and Mingyue, the two Taoist boys, prepared a room for Jiang Liu to rest and then left.

"What a treasure, this truly is a marvelous treasure!" Sitting alone on the bed, Jiang Liu took out the Ginseng Fruit again, looking at it with great joy in his heart.

With the Ginseng Fruit in hand, even a mortal who simply smelled it could live up to three hundred and sixty years—an incredible treasure indeed.

Moreover, the thought of increasing lifespan by more than forty thousand years was enough to make anyone's heart race.

Having consumed one already, even if he couldn't become immortal or achieve Buddhahood, wasn't he virtually indistinguishable from the Immortals and Buddhas?

It's true that, as Tang Monk, a piece of his flesh also had the effect of bestowing longevity life; but surely, he couldn't eat himself, could he?

"This Ginseng Fruit, aside from extending life, seems to also have the Changing Marrow ability? I wonder how that works?" Compared to the matter of lifespan, Jiang Liu was more curious about the other effect of the Ginseng Fruit.

Although it seemed to not be mentioned much in the original story, and so might not seem as significant as the increased lifespan of forty thousand years, for Jiang Liu's current situation, additional lifespan was less important than strength.

Looking down, he quietly thought to himself: "Character Panel."

ID: Jiang Liu (Blue).

Gender: Male.

Profession: Compassionate Bodhisattva.

Level: 21 (86500/700000).

Equipment: ...

"Eh!?" Observing his own character panel, it seemed there were no changes, yet Jiang Liu distinctly noticed that his name had changed from the ordinary white panel to the blue of an Elite Level panel.

Although he did not know the specific effects of the panel turning blue, it looked like a good development in any case, right?

"Are Wukong and the others eating? After eating a Ginseng Fruit, I feel halfway full already, so no need for me to go eat!" After checking his character panel, Jiang Liu shook his head and continued with his cultivation practice without delay.

Sitting in the lotus position, he once again practiced the Heavenly Dragon Zen Sound cultivation technique. His Cultivation Level stirred within, slowly circulating. Meanwhile, the system notification sounds continuously echoed in Jiang Liu's mind.

Notification: Gained 6 Experience Points.

Notification: Gained 6 Experience Points.

Notification: Gained 6 Experience Points.

...

With the system notifications unceasingly ringing in his mind, Jiang Liu opened his eyes. Something didn't seem right but at the same time, it didn't seem wrong. Or did it?

Wait, what was that last notification? Experience Points 6!?

Wasn't the experience gain from the fourth level of Heavenly Dragon Zen Sound supposed to be 4 points per practice interval? Why had it increased to 6 now?

Heavenly Dragon Zen Sound (Fourth Level 1+2+2+2): The sound resembling a dragon's roar emitted from the mouth, capable of pushing back all targets in the vicinity, Attack Power +1250, Cooldown Time 300 seconds; ordinary cultivation state, gain 4 (+2) Experience Points every 10 seconds, next upgrade requires Level 41.

Upon checking his skill panel, indeed, there was a new change in his Heavenly Dragon Zen Sound skill.

There was no enhancement in attack power; the only change was in the acquisition of experience points, which had indeed increased from 4 to 6 points.

"Changing Marrow, in simple terms, means enhancing a person's aptitude, right? So, after my aptitude improved, does that mean cultivating Heavenly Dragon Zen Sound has become more efficient, reflected by faster acquisition of experience points?" Seeing the change in his skill, Jiang Liu murmured to himself.

This development filled his heart with ecstasy.

Although defeating monsters to level up gave him experience points much faster than cultivating, monsters were not always available to be fought—after all, this world was not a game where monsters would endlessly respawn for him to defeat.

Therefore, the most frequent way for Jiang Liu to gain experience points was still through his own meditation and cultivation.

Now that his Heavenly Dragon Zen Sound cultivation technique was acquiring experience points at a faster rate, didn't that mean that his present and future cultivation sessions would lead to even faster growth?

"This Ginseng Fruit truly is a renowned Spirit Root!" With one Ginseng Fruit consumed, its effects surpassed receiving several Epic Level pieces of equipment—Jiang Liu was thrilled. Indeed, the best treasures were always in the hands of great powers.

"Eh? Why is there the sound of arguing?" Just as Jiang Liu was internally reveling in his joy, he suddenly heard some distant arguing, causing his heart to tighten.

No way, had trouble brewed just after he consumed their Ginseng Fruit?

There's wisdom in the saying, "One who partakes of a man's food becomes indebted to him," right?

What's more, if a dispute really broke out, could it potentially be another calamity, aligning with Guanyin's intention of creating the eighty-one trials?

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Privately or publicly, this was not a good situation, so Jiang Liu was not in a rush to cultivate and hurriedly left.

It turned out that in the dining hall of Wuzhuang Temple, Sun Wukong and the others were arguing with Qingfeng and Mingyue.

"You monkey, you're so unreasonable! We kindly offered you lodging and cooked vegetarian meals for you. You're ungrateful, to say the least, yet you even dare to criticize our food as awful? Heartless creature!" Qingfeng, the Taoist Boy with a fiery temper, shouted at Sun Wukong.

"Now you're being funny, aren't you? If the food you cook tastes bad, shouldn't we be allowed to say so? The dishes are as salty as if you poured half a jar of salt into them, and the rice is half-cooked—shouldn't we speak out!?" Sun Wukong bared his teeth, equally displeased.

"Even if the food was not to your taste, it was still prepared with our good intentions. How can you act like this!?" Hearing Sun Wukong's words, Qingfeng looked somewhat embarrassed.

Indeed, he had only thought of using this excuse to get rid of the three for a while, so the prepared meal was a bit rough and lacked attention to detail. But after all these years, this was the first time he cooked. Hadn't he already shown them great face?

"Right, if you find it unpalatable, you could simply not eat it. I'd like to see what sort of meal you can make. You monkey probably can't cook at all, right?" Mingyue chipped in, supporting Qingfeng.

"Hmph, I, Old Sun, may not know how to cook, but my master does, and his cooking is absolutely top-class in both the three realms and six paths. I can guarantee that you've never tasted anything like it in your lifetime!" Sun Wukong jumped onto the table, his hands on his hips, boasting proudly.

"I've lived for over a thousand three hundred years. What kind of meal haven't I eaten? Your bold claims are foolishness!" Qingfeng scoffed, sneering in return.

"All right, you go ahead and argue, but why drag me into it?!" Hearing the squabble between Sun Wukong, Qingfeng, and Mingyue, Jiang Liu's mouth twitched slightly.

Master Zhenyuan knew they were coming but went to debate cultivation with Yuanshi Heavenly Venerable instead. Of his forty-eight disciples, only the hot-tempered Qingfeng and Mingyue were left to entertain him, and they even deliberately offered him ginseng fruit to eat?

This was clearly Master Zhenyuan stirring up trouble, wasn't it?

Sun Wukong was already hot-tempered, and with the fiery Qingfeng and Mingyue, it was indeed as explosive as Heaven's Thunder meeting Earth's Fire, ready to ignite at the slightest spark.

"Master, their food is truly awful. Why don't we cook for ourselves?" After enough arguing, Sun Wukong turned and spoke to Jiang Liu.

"Yes, master, I, Old Pig, am not even full yet. Look how thin I am getting!" Zhu Bajie, upon hearing this, also nodded in agreement and spoke to Jiang Liu.

"Humph, I really want to see what so-called best delicacies of the three realms and six paths look like, or are you just risking a gust of wind to boast about it?" Qingfeng and Mingyue, hearing this, were skeptical.

Sun Wukong wanted their master to cook to show up the prestige of Wuzhuang Temple, while Zhu Bajie perhaps simply had a hungry stomach and wanted to eat their master's cooking. As for Qingfeng and Mingyue? Naturally, they were skeptical.

Regardless of everyone's attitude, they were all looking at Jiang Liu, waiting for him to cook.

After hesitating briefly, Jiang Liu nodded in agreement.

If there was a way to eliminate the barriers between them and stop the arguing, perhaps cooking a meal was a good choice?

After all, in his previous life, the culture of the dining table was already taken to the extreme; a dining table could indeed be a good means to nurture relationships, which was why in the previous life people always invited others to dine out to handle affairs.

"Alright then, since everyone hasn't eaten their fill, let's continue with a pot of firepot meal today!" Jiang Liu said with a nod after pondering for a moment.

It also served as a celebration of his increased aptitude and gaining more Experience Points from the Heavenly Dragon Zen Sound.

"Great!" Hearing Jiang Liu's suggestion of firepot, Sun Wukong and the others happily nodded in agreement.

Soon, the ingredients were laid out, and the disciples busied themselves like experts, preparing various meats, vegetables, and mushrooms in no time at all.

"What kind of delicacy is this? It looks just like a bunch of messy things thrown into the pot to boil? This is almost like pig feed!" Watching Jiang Liu set up the firepot and all the ingredients being carelessly thrown in, Qingfeng and Mingyue secretly sneered, questioning this way of cooking.

"Taoist Boys, you haven't eaten yet, have you? Come and join us!" Jiang Liu invited the nearby Qingfeng and Mingyue to eat.

"No thanks, this kind of meal looks messy and unappetizing just by looking at it!" Qingfeng glanced at the pot's tumultuous contents, shook his head, and spoke disdainfully.

"Indeed, the messy appearance does not look appetizing at all!" Mingyue also nodded incessantly, thinking the so-called firepot looked utterly chaotic.

Mixing a hodgepodge of items together—how could that be edible?

"Just give it a try, and if it's not tasty, then forget it!" Jiang Liu continued to invite them.

Qingfeng and Mingyue still wanted to decline, but just then, the pot began to boil, the broth bubbled, and a strange fragrance wafted through the air.

Qingfeng and Mingyue slightly twitched their noses.

After the time it took an incense stick to burn…

Qingfeng and Mingyue, the Taoist Boys, got into another dispute with Sun Wukong.

However, this time it was not an argument but a competition to eat the food in the pot. Experience exclusive tales on empire

Delicious!

(PS: Happy National Day everyone! It wasn't easy, but on this National Day, this book finally received the quality badge. Since the third day of release, the average orders have been stuck just shy of 3000, stagnant for over half a month. We finally broke through 3000 and got the quality badge. Getting the badge on National Day feels like a good omen, hehehe…)