Now, on this day, at the borderlands of Wusizang, lightning flashed and thunder roared.
Within the clouds, one could faintly make out a golden divine dragon, soaring amid mist and vapor.
Officials and commoners alike, seeing this sight, all came out of their homes to kneel and worship, crying out, “Dragon God!”
After Ao Tu claimed his reward, he first refined the true dragon essence blood, then consumed the immortal pills and Flat Peaches. His cultivation loosened, and with one dragon’s roar, he was about to cross into the realm of the Golden Immortal.
A Golden Immortal was undying and not subject to the Three Calamities; thus Heaven and Earth sent down tribulation lightning to strike him.
Legend had it that in the ancient primordial era, the dragon race was born sacred. From birth, they possessed Golden Immortal cultivation, and there was no such thing as a lightning tribulation to transcend.
Unfortunately, the dragon race of today was no longer what it had once been.
Thirty-six bolts of tribulation lightning descended one after another upon Ao Tu. Halfway through the tribulation, Ao Tu gradually felt the magical power within his body failing to hold out. His cultivation had been forcibly raised by eating immortal pills and Flat Peaches, so his foundation was not particularly firm.
Ao Tu was decisive as well. He directly took out the true dragon dragon pearl from within his belly and refined it in one gulp.
In an instant, Ao Tu’s magical power surged, fully revealing the bearing of a true dragon.
That dragon pearl had belonged to a Golden Immortal-level true dragon. It was the crystallization of who knew how many years of bitter cultivation and how many hardships endured.
Within it was contained the embryonic form of a small world. If one slowly comprehended it, the benefits would be immense. Now that Ao Tu had refined it in a single gulp, that enormous power allowed him to break through the tribulation lightning in one go and attain the Golden Immortal Dao Fruit.
Amid cloud and mist, old scales shed away, and new golden scales were born.
His dragon horns wound and twisted, his dragon pearl shone brilliantly, and a fifth digit grew between his claws—also known as a five-clawed golden dragon.
From then on, Ao Tu completely cast off his old body and transformed into a true dragon. The dragon pearl beneath his neck also became like that true dragon dragon pearl, with the embryonic form of a small world evolving within it. Truly it could be said: From the heart-source of wondrous Dharma is born the Great Dao; with boundless divine abilities, one roams free and unfettered.
After breaking through to the Golden Immortal realm, Ao Tu was in excellent spirits. After roaming freely through Heaven and Earth, he whistled through the air and flew toward the region of Yellow Wind Ridge.
When he reached the skies above Yellow Wind Ridge, he encountered a bhikshu monk in midair.
The bhikshu monk saw Ao Tu and flew over, saying:
“You wicked beast, where have you been? You made me wait here for so long!”
Ao Tu narrowed his eyes and said, “Who are you?”
The bhikshu monk said, “I am an attendant monk under Venerable Ananda. The Venerable sent me to tell you that there is no need to create any more ordeals. You are to be taken back here at Yellow Wind Ridge.”
Ao Tu said, “What else did the Venerable say?”
The bhikshu monk said:
“The Venerable also said that you wicked beast do have some ability. He originally thought that with a single ordeal, Sun Wukong would capture you, but he did not expect you to create two ordeals and still remain unharmed.
“However, the Venerable said one must not be too greedy in carrying out affairs. The merit from obstructing them for three ordeals is already enough. After you submit to the law at Yellow Wind Ridge, you will certainly be heavily rewarded upon your return.”
Ao Tu said, “No, no, no. What I wanted to ask was whether the Venerable told you that this Yellow Wind Ridge is extremely dangerous, or gave you a few treasures to protect yourself?”
Hearing this, the bhikshu monk shook his head and said, “That, he did not…”
Before his words had fallen, a streak of golden light swept over and instantly blasted the bhikshu monk into flying ash. Even his true spirit and soul were scattered.
Ao Tu opened his mouth and inhaled, sucking the shattered true spirit and soul into his mouth. After swallowing them, he said:
“You dared to act so arrogant without even having treasures to protect yourself. What a waste of my time!”
He flew down to Yellow Wind Ridge.
[Ding. Entered mission area.]
[Current side mission: Wind Rises at Dusk.]
[Mission requirement: Obstruct the scripture pilgrims within the Yellow Wind Ridge region. Rewards will be settled according to the duration of obstruction.]
[Mission rewards: Three days / Three-Thousand-Year Flat Peach; seven days / Divine Weapon—Dark-Gold Iron-Shafted Spear; half a month / Spell—Golden Light Traversing the Earth; one month / Ten Absolute Formations—Red Sand Formation; one season / Divine Ability—Five-Colored Divine Light; half a year / Ancestral Dragon Essence Blood; one year / Innate Spiritual Treasure—Soul-Scattering Gourd; three years / Innate Spiritual Treasure—Hetu Luoshu; twelve years / Chaos Bell; sixty years…]
[Current progress: three days.]
After Ao Tu entered Yellow Wind Ridge, the rewards for the earlier stages were updated.
The reward for three days became a Three-Thousand-Year Flat Peach. Its effect was still fairly good.
The reward for seven days was a divine weapon. Its exact strength was not very clear, but since it could be placed in the seven-day tier, it should not be too weak.
The reward for half a month was quite impressive: Golden Light Traversing the Earth.
This was a spell that allowed one to travel by transforming into light.
During the Investiture of the Gods era, the Twelve Golden Immortals of the Chan Sect once had the Three Flowers atop their heads cut away and the Five Qi within their chests scattered by Lady Sanxiao’s Nine Bends Yellow River Formation. Yuanshi Tianzun bestowed upon the immortals the art of Golden Light Traversing the Earth, allowing them to protect themselves.
This spell was not particularly fast for long-distance travel. Its true use lay in withdrawing during combat. With a pinch of the spell seal, one would transform into a streak of golden light in an instant and vanish without a trace.
As for the following reward after one month, the Red Sand Formation, that was even more famous.
The Red Sand Formation was the formation of Heavenly Lord Zhang of Jinao Island from the Jie Sect.
The formation was filled with red sand. It seemed ordinary, but in truth it was formed from innate baleful qi. Touching it would dissolve flesh and blood. Hidden within were three layers of tribulation baleful force—wind, thunder, and fire. There was a poem that said:
Three pecks of red sand confound an immortal’s soul;
Enter the formation, and in moments you turn to bloody water.
Pity the body cultivated to immortalhood;
Encounter red sand, and in an instant all is ended.
King Wu, Nezha, and Lei Zhenzi had once come to break this formation, only to all be trapped within it for over a hundred days. They were not rescued until the Old Immortal of the South Pole broke the formation. King Wu even died, and in the end was revived with an immortal pill.
When Ao Tu saw this formation, he immediately thought:
There weren’t any truly formidable ordeals on this Journey to the West. Why not place this formation right on the scripture pilgrimage route, leaving that monkey with no road to Heaven and no gate into Earth? Even if he invited down all the divine generals of the heavens, Ao Tu would trap them all inside the formation and properly raise the difficulty for this Great Sage Equal to Heaven.
Ao Tu landed on the ridge.
He saw that Yellow Wind Ridge was filled with layer upon layer of steep peaks and towering cliffs, all jagged precipices and deep ravines. Rolling white clouds coiled around the mountaintops; at the foot of the mountains stood rows of rugged, grotesque rocks. Everywhere the eye could see were soul-stealing cliffs thousands upon tens of thousands of ren high, and behind the cliffs lay winding, twisting Hidden Dragon Caves.
Suddenly, a gust of demonic wind swept over. From below the mountain slope, a mottled fierce tiger leapt out.
It had a pair of hard, glaring golden eyes and four white, gleaming steel-like fangs, and shouted:
“Hey! You traveler there! I am the vanguard under Great King Yellow Wind. By the great king’s strict command, I patrol this mountain. Who are you, to dare intrude here?”
Hearing this, Ao Tu thought to himself, So it’s Vanguard Tiger.
He said aloud, “You little demon! You don’t recognize me! I am an old acquaintance of your great king from his time at Spirit Mountain. Today, I have specially come to visit and bring him a good opportunity. Hurry and report to your great king at once. Do not waste words here and delay my important business.”
When Vanguard Tiger heard this and saw that Ao Tu possessed an extraordinary bearing, sensing that he was no ordinary mortal, he said, “Wait here for a moment. Allow me to return to the cave and report.”
With that, he stirred up a foul wind and returned to the cave.
Ao Tu waited for a while, only to see a yellow wind blow over. A demon king appeared within the wind.
He wore a golden helmet and golden armor, with a goose-yellow silk robe; a heart-protecting mirror hung before his chest, and a coiling-dragon sash was tied around his waist. On his feet were deerskin boots, and he wore an embroidered apron, holding a three-pronged steel fork in his hand that flashed with cold light.
It was none other than the Great Sage Yellow Wind of Yellow Wind Ridge.
“Hey! Who are you? I never had any old acquaintance on Spirit Mountain. How dare you come here and pretend otherwise?”
Hearing this, Ao Tu laughed and said:
“You sable rat, don’t you recognize me? Back then, I was in charge of the bell at Spirit Mountain, and you came to steal oil. If I hadn’t turned a blind eye, you would long ago have been seized by the Vajra guardians!”