Journey to the West: Treasure Vase of the Great Dao

A terrifying and piercing voice emanated from the seal, "Zhoāng!"

The voice contained immense power, reducing all aquatic tribes around it to blood, with no living creature within a thousand miles surviving.

Inside the North Sea Dragon Palace, the Dragon King had already received the report from the patrolling Yaksha of the aberrations at the Eye of the Sea. The anxious Old Dragon King paced back and forth in the great hall, muttering to himself, "These are truly troubled times.

The Eye of the Sea has now undergone changes, I should report to the Heavenly Court as soon as possible, for the one imprisoned within is no ordinary figure."

He looked up anxiously at the sky and sighed, "Ah! When will these nerve-wracking days come to an end?"

Since Master Zhenyuan achieved enlightenment, it was like a pebble had been dropped onto the surface of a still pond, causing ripples to spread outwards, gradually evolving into huge waves that would ultimately sweep through the whole world.

Yet Lu Yu was completely oblivious to the tidal wave of the era, his main focus now entirely on how to deceptively obtain the Mutton Jade Bottle.

His Great Dao Treasure Vase had hit a bottleneck in refining for quite some time, and only by observing the Supreme Old Lord's Treasures could he find new inspiration and methods.

However, Golden Horned King and Silver Horned King, having just descended to the lower realm, greatly valued the Magical Treasures in their possession, keeping them close day and night, leaving Lu Yu no opportunity to approach his dream Treasure.

But Lu Yu was patient. With memories from his previous life, he knew that as soon as Golden Horned King and Silver Horned King secured their position, they would soon relax their vigilance over the Treasures, after all, these were the Elder Lord's Magical Treasures, and if this great power was unwilling, no one could privately hoard these treasures.

And it was this opportunity that Lu Yu was waiting for. His task now was to earnestly earn the trust of Golden Horned King and Silver Horned King, so as to obtain the role of guarding the treasure vault.

As time went by, persistence paid off. Golden Horned King and Silver Horned King gradually got accustomed to the life among humans and established their authority in the Flat Top Mountain, with all the Demons around submitting to them.

Hence, they placed their treasures into the vault and left them under the watch of Little Demons, while the brothers reveled in the joys of life, utterly carefree.

Therefore, Lu Yu managed to achieve his wish of guarding the vault. Even though such behavior might seem unambitious to other Demons, Lu Yu found joy in it.

He gladly assumed his new post, and when Golden Horn handed over the keys to the vault, Lu Yu almost cried. He was an Immortal on the brink of the Five Qi Toward the Yuan, mingling with Little Demons all day, being bossed around; it was not easy.

Upon opening the vault, Lu Yu's eyes immediately caught the radiant Mutton Jade Bottle deep inside, his eyes filled with obsession.

From that day on, Lu Yu became known as a strange Monster on Flat Top Mountain, living a reclusive life, often holed up in the vault counting the treasures, which made him the butt of jokes among all the Flat Top Mountain Demons. However, this greatly pleased Golden Horned King and Silver Horned King, and Lu Yu's attitude gave them confidence to leave the Treasures in the vault.

And while all the Little Demons were unaware, Lu Yu opened his Dharma Eye, with thunder shooting out from his eyes, striking the Purifying Vase and producing blue electric sparks.

The Purifying Vase suddenly blazed with Treasure Light; countless Runic Inscriptions flickered on its surface, all marks of its refinement. Lu Yu watched intently at the activated Purifying Vase, not daring to even blink, worried he might miss something important.

Meanwhile, seated in the Thirty-Third Heaven Tushita Palace, the Grand Supreme Elderly Lord also opened his eyes, glanced at the roaring Eight Trigrams Furnace before him, and revealed a knowing smile.

Lu Yu had no idea that his stealthy learning actions had, in fact, already caught the attention of Grand Supreme Elderly Lord. Even had he known, he wouldn't have cared, since he was aware that the esteemed Elder Lord practiced the philosophy of non-action and wouldn't deliberately target him.

With cultivation oblivious to the passage of years, Lu Yu, immersed in his secret studies, might well be described as forsaking sleep and food. Whenever he had time, he would sneak into the treasure vault to observe the treasures brought by Golden Horned King and Silver Horned King.

In his eyes, the most valuable aspect of these treasures was their refining ideas, embodying the experience of a master of evolution and one who represented the world's advancing capabilities. Being able to learn from them was indeed like burning high-quality incense.

As his learning deepened, Lu Yu gained increasingly profound insights into refining magic treasures and developed a clear direction for refining his own Treasure Vase. He had long lusted after the calling ability of the Purple Gold Red Gourd and the Mutton Jade Bottle, and he took this opportunity to strenuously deduce, hoping to glean the techniques.

While Lu Yu was engaged day and night in secret studies of the path of artifact refining, Monkey and Tang Monk's group arrived at White Tiger Ridge.

The first time Tang Monk laid eyes on the woman who came to bring them food, his heart began to beat fiercely, as if images were about to leap out from its depths.
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The woman, dressed in red and claiming to be a village girl, hardly seemed believable given her beauty and presence, especially how dazzling her bright red clothes were.

"Benefactors, are you hungry? This humble one has brought lunch," the woman offered, holding out a food basket, her eyes fixed steadily on Tang Monk, seemingly waiting for his response.

However, Tang Monk was already in inner turmoil, his eyes tightly shut, not daring to even lift his head, silently reciting the Heart Sutra taught by Master of the Black Nest.

Usually, just by reciting the Heart Sutra, Tang Monk would reach a state of still mind, starting to achieve great enlightenment, but today the sutra seemed to have lost its power. The more he recited, the stronger his heart's palpitations grew. His eyes were tightly closed, his eyebrows were furrowed, and beads of sweat the size of soybeans fell incessantly from his forehead.

Bajie, seeing Tang Monk's behavior, seemed to comprehend something and showed a hint of pity on his face. He gently suggested, "Master, since this lady Bodhisattva is so kind, why don't we have the meal first?"

His words were soft, yet they seemed to give Tang Monk a different kind of courage, enabling him to at last open his eyes and take a careful look at the woman before him.

The woman in red wore a strange smile, her bright, beautiful eyes fixing Tang Monk with a piercing stare.

For some reason, Tang Monk let out a sigh of relief; he slowly approached the woman, as if to welcome something.

The smile on the red-clad woman's face became more unrestrained, and a chill gleamed in her eyes, a chilling intent to kill aimed at the venerable monk before her.

Just then, the air was split by Monkey's loud shout, "Monster, dare not harm my master, take this!"

Monkey whipped out his Jingu Bang, striking the woman squarely on the head. A shrill scream followed, and the woman fell to the ground, her blood staining the earth red.

Tang Monk's heart seemed to lurch, and a wave of inexplicable sorrow washed over him.