Journey to the West: Signing in for 500 Years-Chapter 503 - 497: Anger Born of Shame [Seeking Subscriptions and Monthly Tickets]_1
Zhenyuanzi was furious beyond measure.
He hadn’t expected that even after making such significant concessions, Sha Chen still wouldn’t budge an inch.
It was excessive. Utterly excessive. Unforgivable, absolutely unforgivable.
Zhenyuanzi angrily said, "Sha Chen, don’t go too far. I’ll compromise once more: I’ll give you three—no, four—ginseng fruits, and I will expound on the Dao for ten—no, twenty—years.
"If there’s anything you don’t understand in the future, I’m still willing to explain it to you.
"If you like, I can even become sworn brothers with you. If you don’t, I’m still happy to teach you."
Sha Chen laughed heartily.
He laughed until tears nearly formed in his eyes.
Zhenyuanzi’s face was as dark as water, his eyes as cold as ice.
He could tell that Sha Chen’s laughter was full of mockery, an irritating sound to the ears.
He had already made such great compromises, offering up four ginseng fruits and even willing to explain the Dao for decades, with the promise to answer any future inquiries. Furthermore, he had condescended to offer brotherhood to Sha Chen. Yet Sha Chen still rejected him! Any one of these conditions would be impossible for anyone else in the world to refuse, and Sha Chen had turned them all down. Not only that, he had laughed in scorn. Despicable. Simply unforgivable.
He angrily said, "Sha Chen, don’t push it too far."
After laughing loudly, Sha Chen replied, "Great Immortal, these conditions are too generous. I truly don’t feel worthy of such offers. The secret you seek, I cannot tell you, and even if I did, you wouldn’t believe it."
Zhenyuanzi angrily said, "What can’t you tell? Just speak, and I will believe you."
Sha Chen smiled and said, "I hear ginseng fruits can change one’s potential and talent. If the Great Immortal would share the ginseng fruits from Wuzhuang Temple with his disciples, no doubt many powerful beings could be cultivated."
Zhenyuanzi immediately said, "Impossible. Their performance is so poor, giving it to them would be a waste."
Sha Chen chuckled and didn’t waste any more words. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚
He had, in fact, almost revealed some secrets—namely, suggesting Zhenyuanzi distribute ginseng fruits to cultivate the talents of his followers. Although Zhenyuanzi’s ginseng fruits were not as good as Sha Chen’s, and relying solely on the fruit would certainly not be particularly effective. But still, Zhenyuanzi wouldn’t part with even that. If he also obtained the Pantao Trees and Mengmeng Willows, along with other heavenly treasures, would he be willing to part with those? Impossible. He’d be even less willing.
If he can’t part with them now, he won’t in the future. The more he gets, the less willing he is to part with them. Don’t think that becoming wealthier would make it easier to give away. The wealthier one is, the less willing they are to share, believing that human nature is greedy. If he gives in this time, others will ask next time, and they’ll want even more. So, does he give or not? And if he gives to one person now, what about another who asks later? If he keeps giving, where does it end? The only solution is to give nothing at all or to choose recipients based on high standards.
However, what constitutes high standards, and who is suitable to receive? Zhenyuanzi might believe that only someone who could become a Quasi-Saint is worthy of cultivation, but how many in the world are qualified to become Quasi-Saints? Even those followers around Sha Chen—like the Spider Demon, Black Bear Demon, and Lady Di Yong—could they guarantee with absolute certainty that they would become Quasi-Saints? Perhaps if they continued to struggle along with Sha Chen, given their current progress, spending some tens of thousands of years, they might just have the chance to step into the Quasi-Saint Realm. They already possess the talent and potential to become Quasi-Saints, not to mention the Dao techniques and cultivation methods provided by Sha Chen, and their own divine powers are enough for them to comprehend the Quasi-Saint Realm. Yet even so, they couldn’t assure that they would truly reach the Quasi-Saint Realm in this lifetime. Because they only have a chance, with no guarantee of breakthrough.
The Quasi-Saint Realm is a threshold that has stopped countless prodigies throughout history. Either they die on the way, or they collapse on it. Those who truly step into the Quasi-Saint Realm rely not only on talent, cultivation techniques, and Dao techniques, but also on many other influencing factors. For instance, heart-state, Dao heart, opportunities, and one’s own enlightenment. After all, even if you have potential and Dao techniques, without sufficient enlightenment and that moment of epiphany, it is all but flowers in the mirror, the moon in the water. The Quasi-Saint Realm is one in ten thousand; the Da Luo pinnacle realm has stymied many, who were the favored children of Heaven, also one in ten thousand. Yet, very few truly cross over.
Sha Chen dared not claim he could cultivate all of them into Quasi-Saints, but Zhenyuanzi’s mindset was: if they cannot become Quasi-Saints, are they worth cultivating!? Yet he didn’t consider, if they could become Quasi-Saints, how much of a role would his cultivation play? Adding to luxury is less impactful than providing aid in dire straits. If you help out when others have already achieved success, the effect is greatly diminished.
Take Sun Wukong from the original work, for example. He possessed strength that could shake heaven and earth and was the protagonist of the great calamities of the Journey to the West. He also became a Quasi-Saint in the later stages, possessing boundless mana. Zhenyuanzi went to become sworn brothers with him, partly due to the influence of the Two Sages of the Western Sect, but Zhenyuanzi was of the same generation as them. The consideration of ’face’ was rather minor. The main factor was Sun Wukong’s role as the protagonist of the great calamities of the Journey to the West; Zhenyuanzi hoped to benefit from this association and gain merit. Later, during the calamities of Lingjiu Mountain, when Wutian, the great devil, ravaged the entire mountain, Zhenyuanzi also participated with all his might. Wasn’t it all for that one-in-ten-thousand chance to achieve sainthood through merit? However, it was Sun Wukong who ultimately emerged as the leader. He turned the tide and attained sainthood through merit. Although he was only a Sub-Sage, he still snatched Zhenyuanzi’s opportunity.
This means that those truly qualified to become Quasi-Saints are exceedingly rare, one in ten thousand, and they have little desire for Zhenyuanzi’s possessions. Zhenyuanzi couldn’t see through this, not because his vision was insufficient, nor because his magnanimity was lacking, but purely due to human nature. Having lived for countless years, he had acquired so many valuable items only upon reaching his peak state, and his Dao techniques were the culmination of a lifetime’s accumulation. He was not at ease passing on his trump cards lightly to others. He was unwilling to hand over the wealth accumulated at his pinnacle to others. Such is human nature; it is unsurprising.
Sha Chen was willing to part with his resources, purely for the sake of gaining more. He cultivated followers to use them as shields, to dispel calamities and solve troubles, allowing him to remain untainted by karma and avoid disturbances. In the end, Sha Chen was not pure, nor was he a good person. He could even be considered a bad person, but not entirely so. It could only be said that he and his people had a relationship of mutual benefit, where one was willing to give and the other willing to take what was offered. Strictly speaking, his relationship with those followers was more akin to employment: he invested in cultivating them, and in return, they risked their lives for him. For both parties, it was simply a matter of fulfilling their respective needs.
But as the saying goes, ’plant a willow unintentionally, and it grows into shade.’ What he gave out was mostly what he himself had become immune to, but for these followers, it was a great nourishment. His Dao techniques were already second nature to him, and teaching others could enhance his own understanding of them. This benefitted him too, while for the followers, it was an invaluable opportunity. Thus, the current situation arose.
Zhenyuanzi, on the other hand, was different. When he taught his disciples about the Dao, he himself did not gain more insight. Each time he distributed the ginseng fruit, he had less of it. Even though the ginseng fruit had minimal effect on him, he could use it to exchange for other heavenly treasures. For that reason, Zhenyuanzi was unwilling to part with the ginseng fruit, nor did he want to devote himself to truly teaching the Dao. The teachings he usually gave his disciples were common knowledge and did not contain much substantial content, especially not his own most profound, reserved techniques. Just these points already made him different from Sha Chen.
Hence, even if Sha Chen told Zhenyuanzi his secrets, Zhenyuanzi wouldn’t act on them, even if Zhenyuanzi’s disciples were more talented than beings like the Black Bear Demon and had more hope of advancing further. Zhenyuanzi still wouldn’t do it. Such is human nature. Even as a Quasi-Saint, even as exceptionally intelligent, Zhenyuanzi could not escape these human calculations.
