Now, after Ao Tu left Mount Ling, he followed the route west for the scriptures, traveling all the way to the Guanyin Temple region.
Looking down, two figures came into view—a man and a monkey. They were none other than Tang Seng and Sun Wukong.
At this moment, the system's voice rang out.
[Entering the Great Tribulation of Journey to the West]
[Main Quest: Roadblocker of Journey to the West (Activated)]
[Content: Block the scripture-seekers and prevent the great rise of Buddhism.]
[Current Side Quest: Calamity at Guanyin Temple]
[Quest Requirements: Block the scripture-seekers in the Guanyin Temple region. Rewards will be calculated based on the duration of the obstruction.]
[Quest Rewards: Three days/Mountain-Moving Technique; Seven days/Six Revolutions Golden Pill; Half a month/True Dragon Pearl; One month/Post-Natal Spiritual Treasure·Five Flames Divine Flame Fan; One season/Divine Ability·Five-Colored Divine Light; Half a year/Ancestral Dragon Essence Blood; One year/Pre-Natal Spiritual Treasure·Soul-Scattering Gourd; Three years/Pre-Natal Spiritual Treasure·River Map and Luo Book; Twelve years/Chaos Bell; Sixty years……]
[Current Progress: Zero days]
[Note: If the obstruction duration is insufficient to obtain the next stage reward, the excess days will be carried over to the next side quest.]
A look of pleasant surprise appeared on Ao Tu's face; he hadn't expected the system's rewards to be so generous!
Setting aside the various supreme treasures further down the list, even the relatively easier-to-obtain rewards at the front were each extraordinary.
The Mountain-Moving Technique was extremely practical.
The Six Revolutions Golden Pill could greatly increase one's cultivation.
The True Dragon Pearl was a supreme treasure of extreme usefulness to the dragon race.
Among the dragon race, to be called a True Dragon, one had to be at least at the Golden Immortal cultivation level, and the dragon pearl was the essence of a dragon's entire cultivation.
If Ao Tu could obtain this True Dragon Pearl, not only would his combat power increase greatly, but it could also allow him to quickly advance to the Golden Immortal realm. At that time, he would possess a certain degree of ability to protect himself.
As for the Five Flames Divine Flame Fan further back, it was even more powerful.
This treasure was also known as the Five Flames and Seven Fowls Fan, synthesized from the plumes of seven fowls—phoenix, azure luan, great peng, peacock, white crane, swan goose, and owl—along with five flames: fire from the sky, fire from stone, fire from wood, samadhi true fire, and fire from the mortal world.
Though it was a Post-Natal Spiritual Treasure, its power was in no way weaker than some Pre-Natal Spiritual Treasures. During the Investiture of the Gods era, it had incinerated countless disciples of the Jie Sect. Even though Sun Wukong possessed an indestructible vajra body, he could not withstand the might of this divine fan!
The only flaw was that obtaining this treasure required blocking Tang Seng and his disciples for one month. With Ao Tu's current cultivation, this was still rather difficult—likely impossible to accomplish in a short time.
However, while obtaining the Five Flames Divine Flame Fan was rather difficult, obtaining just the True Dragon Pearl would be much simpler.
Blocking Tang Seng and his disciples in the Guanyin Temple region for half a month—if he planned it carefully—shouldn't be difficult.
A dragon can be large or small, ascend or hide. Ao Tu concealed himself in the clouds, watching the situation below and pondering a method.
Over here, Tang Seng and his disciples entered Guanyin Temple, wishing to request lodging for a night. The abbot, Elder Jin Chi, saw that Tang Seng was no ordinary person and struck up a conversation with him, inquiring about treasures from the Eastern Lands. Tang Seng demurred, saying the journey was long and he hadn't carried any treasures.
Sun Wukong couldn't stand Elder Jin Chi's boasting, so he took out Tang Seng's brocade kasaya and showed it off to him.
Upon seeing the brocade kasaya, Elder Jin Chi was immediately captivated. Greed arose in his heart, and with tears streaming down, he begged Tang Seng to let him view the kasaya for one night. Tang Seng couldn't refuse and could only hand the kasaya over to Elder Jin Chi, exhorting him a thousand times over that it must be returned tomorrow.
That night, Elder Jin Chi hugged the kasaya and wept bitterly, unwilling to return it. He wanted to keep it as a family heirloom.
By Elder Jin Chi's side were two grand-disciples, one named Guangzhi and one named Guangmou. The two were greatly favored by Elder Jin Chi. Upon hearing the weeping at this time, they both came to offer him ideas.
One said, call a few men, take knives, and kill Tang Seng.
The other said, that hairy-faced monk looks hard to provoke; it's not good to act directly. Better to set a fire and burn them all—master, disciples, and horse—together.
Elder Jin Chi was overjoyed to hear this. Immediately he gathered the monks, carried firewood, and set the fire.
Tang Seng had already fallen asleep and was completely unaware of the outside situation.
Although Sun Wukong had lain down, he was merely practicing qi and preserving his spirit. Hearing the commotion outside at this time and seeing that these monks intended to harm them, he immediately wanted to grab his Golden-Hooped Rod and strike. But after thinking carefully, he feared Tang Seng would recite the tightening curse. So with one somersault he leaped to the Southern Heavenly Gate, found Heavenly King Virupaksa, borrowed the Fire-Avoidance Mantle, and covered Tang Seng with it.
Sun Wukong stood on the eaves, formed a seal with his fingers, and recited a mantra. With a whoosh, a violent gale swept forth, reversing the fire's direction. The wind aided the fire's might; the fire took advantage of the wind's momentum. In an instant, the entire Guanyin Temple blazed with scarlet flames.
Ao Tu concealed himself in the clouds, observing the conflagration below.
Suddenly, a black wind blew from a mountain not far away, quietly sweeping away the kasaya amid the fire.
Ao Tu guessed—this must be that Black Bear Demon.
This demon also had some skill. Possessing no magical treasures whatsoever, relying solely on brute strength, he fought several battles with the monkey without being defeated. Later, Guanyin also took a fancy to this black bear's abilities, used the circlet given by Tathagata to subdue him, and made him a Mountain-Guardian Divine Officer.
Could he join forces with this Black Bear Demon?
Ao Tu thought for a moment, then shook his head.
Though the Black Bear Demon was strong, he was still no match for Bodhisattva Guanyin.
In the original story, after the Black Bear Demon stole the kasaya, before a few days had passed, Sun Wukong invited Bodhisattva Guanyin to come and subdue him. Even if he joined forces with the Black Bear Demon, the two of them couldn't hold out for long.
His current strength was meager. If he wanted to block Tang Seng and his disciples from traveling west, he couldn't rely on a forceful attack—only strategy.
Ao Tu pondered. Suddenly, he saw the burning Guanyin Temple below and the many monks crying out, and an idea came to his mind.
This time, without needing to fight Sun Wukong himself, he only needed to employ schemes in secret to block Tang Seng and his disciples' path to obtain the scriptures. At the very least, he could obstruct them for half a month.
However, for his scheme to be fully implemented, he had to wait until after Sun Wukong settled the matter with the Black Bear Demon. Only then could it produce maximum effect; otherwise, it might be affected.
When the next day arrived, Tang Seng rose and opened the door to come out. Where were there any towers, pavilions, halls, or palaces? All that remained were broken walls and scorched ruins.
Sun Wukong then told Tang Seng about the previous night's events.
Upon hearing this, Tang Seng immediately blamed Sun Wukong for acting this way, chattering on and on. He also worried that the kasaya had been burned and ordered Sun Wukong to quickly retrieve it.
Sun Wukong then went to find Elder Jin Chi.
That Elder Jin Chi had lost the kasaya and burned down the temple. Overcome with regret, he threw himself against a wall and died on the spot.
With Elder Jin Chi dead, Sun Wukong dug three feet into the earth but still couldn't find the kasaya. He rounded up all the monks of the temple, great and small, and searched them one by one, but there was still no trace of the kasaya.
Seeing that the kasaya was lost, Tang Seng secretly hated Sun Wukong deeply. Thereupon he recited the Tightening Fillet Mantra.
Sun Wukong collapsed to the ground, clutching his head in unbearable pain, crying out repeatedly, "Master, stop reciting! Master, stop reciting! This old monkey will definitely find the kasaya!"
The monks, fearing they would be implicated, trembled with fear one by one and knelt to plead for mercy. Only then did Tang Seng stop the mantra.
Sun Wukong interrogated them further, and the monks recounted the entire sequence of events in exhaustive detail.
Sun Wukong asked if there were any demons nearby.
The monks reported that twenty li away there was a Great King Black Wind.
Sun Wukong immediately guessed that the kasaya had been stolen by Great King Black Wind. Thereupon he urgently mounted his somersault cloud and hurried to Black Wind Mountain.