Journey to the West: Signing in for 500 Years-Chapter 494 - 488: Boundless Greed [Seeking Subscriptions and Monthly Tickets]_1

Zhenyuanzi believed that by hiding within Tianpeng’s mind and occupying a space there, he would go undetected. Indeed, Jin Chanzi and Jinzha, among others, discovered nothing out of the ordinary. But Sha Chen did.

With Sha Chen’s current strength, it was impossible for Zhenyuanzi to deceive him. After all, Sha Chen’s Primordial Spirit had been enhanced by the Nine Nether Purple Orchid and had already reached perfection, achieving the Establishment of Primeval Chaos. Compared to Zhenyuanzi, he was not far behind. And Zhenyuanzi had made a huge mistake by hiding within Tianpeng’s mind and communicating with him.

If he had not communicated with Tianpeng, he might not have been discovered. After all, Sha Chen wasn’t one to pry into Tianpeng’s inner thoughts or probe his mind. But he spoke up. Even though the conversation took place in Tianpeng’s mind, it allowed Sha Chen to catch the sound. At such close proximity, if Sha Chen couldn’t hear it, he truly wouldn’t deserve his reputation for being so perceptive.

Beyond that, Tianpeng also gave hints, which served to confirm the matter.

When Tianpeng came calling, he didn’t sound very affectionate but rather called Sha Chen by name. Previously, whenever Tianpeng came calling, he was as warm as could be. Especially when addressing Sha Chen, he always called him Old Sha; calling him by his name indicated anger. But ever since Tianpeng had been unable to defeat Sha Chen, he had not directly called him by name.

Now that he came calling and directly used his name, there was definitely something amiss, which corroborated Sha Chen’s deductions. Besides that, when Tianpeng was kept outside, if he called for more than a short while, he would erupt in a torrent of curses, directly confronting heaven and earth. If Sha Chen dared not to open the door, Tianpeng would curse for three days and nights. Then, if the door still wasn’t opened, he would concede and start speaking kindly.

Now, having called for a long time with no response from Sha Chen, Tianpeng should have already been cursing if it had been the past. But there was no such outburst now, which was abnormal.

It’s just a pity that Zhenyuanzi didn’t understand the situation and simply thought that Sha Chen’s cautiousness in not opening the door was normal. After all, no matter how formidable he was, he didn’t know how Tianpeng would call at the door. Tianpeng had never mentioned it before. He hadn’t been paying attention all the time, only knowing that Tianpeng had come calling and that Sha Chen had let him in previously.

Now, when Tianpeng came again, Sha Chen was cautious and didn’t open the door. Zhenyuanzi assumed that Sha Chen probably thought there were still people outside, so he refused to open the door.

Zhenyuanzi furrowed his brow with vexation. At that moment, he even considered killing Jin Chanzi, Jinzha, and the others. But if he acted, he would reveal himself and offend Buddhism. The last thing he wanted was to offend Buddhism, especially since he was seeking to ingratiate himself and build a good relationship with them.

Zhenyuanzi, feeling extremely helpless, could only say, "Continue to call at the door as you used to, remember to act naturally, and don’t be reckless. If I notice anything amiss, I will make sure you beg for life in vain and beg for death in vain."

Tianpeng snorted coldly, "You old thing truly have no shame, utterly despicable. If you kill me, don’t even think about entering the Flowing Sand River, and you’ll be doomed to never advance in cultivation."

He wasn’t afraid of Zhenyuanzi. When he had been captured before, Zhenyuanzi spoke to him kindly, but as Tianpeng took a firm stance, Zhenyuanzi bullied him. Later, he gave in. However, now that he was at the Flowing Sand River, if anything happened to him, Zhenyuanzi would certainly expose himself and Sha Chen would undoubtedly discover it. As a result, Zhenyuanzi would lose his chance. Therefore, Tianpeng grasped this point firmly, which emboldened him to retort and show no respect for Zhenyuanzi.

Zhenyuanzi was filled with indignant rage, but he still held back. He couldn’t even speak harshly, for if Tianpeng turned against him or did something inappropriate, it could indeed spoil his plans.

Tianpeng continued to call at the door while Zhenyuanzi stayed silent this time, letting Tianpeng shout. He just needed to watch the surroundings and be vigilant against Tianpeng sending any messages.

「Inside the cave abode.」

Marshal Tianpeng’s shouts were still too loud, disturbing the White Bone Demon, who had once again entered seclusion. She was somewhat angry, but then she realized it was Tianpeng. With a face full of astonishment, she looked at Sha Chen and said, "Master, Marshal Tianpeng has returned; why not let him in?"

Sha Chen said indifferently, "There’s something fishy." 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

The White Bone Demon looked bewildered, sizing up Tianpeng outside, while also forming hand seals, trying every method to see what the problem was. But she couldn’t detect anything. However, she did not doubt Sha Chen’s judgment.

Sha Chen’s strength was far above hers; being able to detect what she couldn’t wasn’t surprising at all. It was just that she couldn’t see any problem.

"Master, I can’t see any problems at all; what has happened? Could it be that Tianpeng has been impersonated? But such transformative prowess would be too incredible; I can’t see through it at all," she said.

Sha Chen glanced at her and said, "It’s not that your strength is insufficient, but rather that Tianpeng is indeed real and not an imposter."

On hearing this, the White Bone Demon became angry and said, "Could it be that Tianpeng has had a change of heart? Master, let me go out and kill him. We must not let him reveal the situation of the Flowing Sand River."

Sha Chen said indifferently, "It’s not exactly a change of heart, but rather that he has been taken hostage."

Taken hostage!?

The White Bone Demon looked left and right, exerting her Divine Powers, and even took out Sha Chen’s Wanli Soul Chasing Mirror to inspect the surroundings. Yet, she found no abnormalities. Now she was perplexed. How did Sha Chen detect the problem when she couldn’t see anything at all?

Sha Chen smiled and said, "Don’t waste your efforts. If I’m not wrong, Zhenyuanzi is within Tianpeng’s body, perhaps even in his mind’s spiritual platform."

HISS. The White Bone Demon took a sharp intake of breath and exclaimed, "Master, are you saying that the person holding Tianpeng hostage is Zhenyuanzi? The one known as the progenitor of earthly immortals, who has lived longer than the Saints, that Zhenyuanzi? He, he, he still isn’t giving up, still wants to enter here?"

Sha Chen sneered, "A person who has lived for countless years, whose wish in this lifetime is to achieve sainthood through merits, looking for that one-in-a-million chance. How could he willingly give up any opportunity to enter here?"

The White Bone Demon shook her head, puzzled, "But, we don’t have the chance for sainthood here. Moreover, as everyone says, we are secluded and do not interact with others, which means we have no opportunity for achieving merits and sainthood. Why would he want to come in?"

Sha Chen said, "They too are aware of this, but everyone has curiosity. My place can make you all stand out; they want to know the secrets and also hope to cultivate a group of their own. If they truly managed to cultivate a batch of Daluo Golden Immortals, that power would be enough to sweep across all Three Realms. If there were to be an opportunity for merits and sainthood by then, they would almost certainly succeed."

The White Bone Demon suddenly understood. So that’s how it is. Indeed, having a group of Daluo Golden Immortals would allow one to dominate the Three Realms. When the time comes for merits and sainthood or other opportunities, the person in control of so many Daluo Golden Immortals would undoubtedly have the greatest chance.

The White Bone Demon then said, "But we managed to become Daluo Golden Immortals purely because Master imparted Taoist magical powers to us and even changed our innate potentials. They can do the same, so why bother entering?" With a disdainful face, she added, "Zhenyuanzi, known as the progenitor of earthly immortals, if he were willing to impart the Dao Techniques he has comprehended, his disciples would have already stood out long ago, instead of there being so few renowned immortals today."

Sha Chen laughed and said, "People are selfish. How could Zhenyuanzi easily pass down the Taoist magical powers he’s comprehended for countless years? Even Saints only truly pass on their mantle to their direct disciples, and a Saint has no more than a handful of such disciples. How much more so for someone like Zhenyuanzi?"

At the end of the day, it’s still a matter of sectarian bias and selfishness. One doesn’t wish for too many people to grasp their capabilities.

Sha Chen was somewhat the same. He didn’t impart everything to his followers, yet he could treat them all equally. Followers could all learn the same thing, then choose what suited them best and wholeheartedly cultivate it.

Sha Chen continued, "Actually, you were mistaken about one thing earlier. Even if Zhenyuanzi were to pass down his Taoist magical powers, he might not necessarily be able to cultivate so many Daluo Golden Immortals."

He smiled and said, "Your arrival to this day, besides your own innate talents already being excellent, owes much to my help in defying fate and changing your destinies."

He was confident that even if outsiders obtained his secrets, they would not be able to cultivate so many Daluo Golden Immortals. Because he was willing to distribute things like ginseng fruits, flat peaches, and osmanthus wine, but individuals like Zhenyuanzi were not.

Looking at Zhenyuanzi’s disciples, Qing Feng and Mingyue, serves as an example. They guarded the Wuzhuang Temple for thousands of years and had access to dozens of ginseng fruits, yet they never tasted a single one. Zhenyuanzi had long become immune to ginseng fruits. He saved them for favors and emergencies. Yet he never let his newly beloved disciples consume them, showing just how severe his selfish hoarding was. Even if they obtained everything inside the Flowing Sand River’s cave, they would not be generous enough to distribute it; instead, they would plan to use it all on themselves. For example, they would rather trade some items with other powerful entities for things they lacked than share with their disciples. A person as unselfish as Sha Chen, willing to distribute resources to his followers, could not be found anywhere else under the heavens.