Incredible Insight: Cultivating Immortality at Eight, Astonishing Zhang Sanfeng

Chapter 42: Daoist Boy Jin Ling

The spiritual monkey’s eyes filled with disbelief, followed by visible excitement. The open doors of the Scripture Pavilion indicated the intention of its owner. The monkey scratched its ears and cheeks in excitement, then knelt and kowtowed several times before carefully stepping into the pavilion, its eyes filled with a sense of reverence.

There, inside the pavilion, was the figure it had yearned to follow for a lifetime.

As it walked in slowly, the spiritual monkey curiously looked around and soon saw a young Daoist in a white robe sitting on a meditation cushion, eyes slightly closed, exuding an ethereal aura. Filled with respect and admiration, it didn’t know how to speak; it simply knelt before Ning Changge and kept kowtowing.

Ning Changge slowly opened his eyes and looked at the spiritual monkey before him. Compared to a few days ago, the monkey’s condition had undoubtedly worsened, but his spiritual sense quickly noticed that its bones were even stronger than after its transformation in the forest.

“Your aptitude is indeed excellent. No wonder out of so many beasts, only you could develop spiritual intelligence and gain spiritual power,” Ning Changge thought to himself, nodding slightly.

He had no idea how many such spiritual beasts existed in this world. However, the spiritual monkey in front of him had gained its intelligence because of him. Now, its determination to seek the Dao was strong, and it had never shown any aggression towards humans. Therefore, he didn’t mind guiding it a bit, seeing it through to the end.

With a smile, he raised his hand and infused a stream of Evergreen spiritual energy into the monkey’s body. The fatigue and weakness of the past days vanished instantly. The Eternal Evergreen Technique, which focused on longevity and vitality, had top-notch healing abilities.

The monkey regained its vigor, extremely excited, but it still respectfully kowtowed to Ning Changge. Having secretly observed the Wudang disciples every day, it had learned some manners, which it now displayed impressively.

Ning Changge chuckled.

“Why did you kneel outside my Scripture Pavilion for seven days?”

The monkey’s eyes showed longing. It suddenly became very solemn, pointed to the sky with its right hand, and then carefully pointed to Ning Changge.

“You want to learn my arts of flying and traversing the earth?”

The monkey nodded repeatedly.

Its instincts told it that if it relied solely on this opportunity to survive in the wild, it could later fight tigers and dominate other beasts. But that was the extent of it. Becoming the king of beasts was not its desire. Having awakened its spiritual intelligence, it sought more. The opportunity before it was its chance.

Therefore, after Ning Changge left that day, it resolved to find him.

Ning Changge said, “The immortal arts cannot be lightly passed on. Seeing your sincerity, you can follow me in cultivation and serve as my attendant. In the future, you will need to protect Wudang’s safety. Can you do that?”

The monkey’s eyes filled with immense excitement, and it nodded vigorously.

“Since that is so, you must curb your arrogance and impatience, learn to read and write, and study the Daoist classics with me,” Ning Changge pondered for a moment, then continued, “You were born in the wild and have now gained spiritual intelligence with a heart for the Dao. This is a new beginning for you. Your fur is golden, so I’ll name you Jin Ling (Golden Spirit)!”

The monkey was so excited it couldn’t help but flip a few somersaults. Realizing it had been a bit too exuberant, it quickly knelt and kowtowed again.

Ning Changge laughed.

“In the future, you will learn to restrain your wild nature.”

With a wave of his hand, a gray Daoist robe appeared. Spiritual energy swirled around, transforming it into a brand-new, fitted robe, which Jin Ling respectfully received and put on.

A spiritual monkey Daoist boy now stood before Ning Changge.

He couldn’t help but laugh heartily.

“Excellent!”

…

The next day, some third-generation disciples came to the Scripture Pavilion to borrow Daoist classics. From a distance, they saw a small figure sweeping the ground, with a round, furry head.

They were surprised to see a new sweeper in the Scripture Pavilion and were about to approach.

The small figure turned around, and the disciples were shocked.

It wasn’t a small boy but a monkey!

Covered in golden fur, with round eyes, pointed ears, a face full of hair, a thin body, a sharp mouth, and a shrunken chin, it wore a gray Daoist robe, appearing quite peculiar.

“What is this? Where did this wild monkey come from? How dare it scare people!”

The disciples were first shocked, then angry, and couldn’t help but shout.

The golden monkey bared its teeth in response, showing a fierce expression.

At this moment, Ning Changge’s calm voice came from the Scripture Pavilion, causing everyone to bow respectfully.

“Don’t be alarmed. This is Jin Ling, my newly accepted attendant. He has gained spiritual intelligence, so you must not treat him as an unintelligent beast. He is your junior brother.”

The disciples were taken aback. This was the voice of their little martial uncle.

Looking again at Jin Ling, they saw clarity and intelligence in his eyes. The disciples, being reasonable, immediately realized their previous thoughtless words had angered the monkey.

“Ah, so it’s Junior Brother Jin Ling under Little Uncle’s tutelage. We were ignorant and spoke rudely. Please forgive us, Junior Brother!”

The disciples’ eyes showed apology as they bowed to apologize.

Jin Ling, feeling a bit embarrassed, returned the bow repeatedly before moving to another area to continue sweeping. However, a strange feeling rose in its heart.

This was something it had never felt while reigning in the mountains and forests.

Seeing that Jin Ling could indeed understand human speech and even knew manners, the disciples were even more amazed. They couldn’t help but marvel at their little martial uncle’s ability to take a spiritual monkey as an attendant.

It didn’t take much thought to realize that such a spiritual monkey was no ordinary creature.

Ning Changge watched all this, smiling and shaking his head.

This was a necessary process. Jin Ling would eventually need to integrate into Wudang, and the Wudang disciples also needed to adapt to having such a unique junior brother.

After the disciples finished borrowing the Daoist classics, they left one by one. However, the news that their little martial uncle had taken in a spiritual monkey as an attendant quickly spread throughout Wudang.

Soon, third-generation disciples came to the Scripture Pavilion under the pretense of borrowing Daoist classics. Ning Changge, finding the situation both amusing and frustrating, eventually waved his sleeve, driving out the curious disciples.

Subsequently, he arranged a time to publicly teach the Dao. During this period, Jin Ling served as an attendant, officially entering the view of all Wudang disciples.

Jin Ling, being intelligent and knowing manners, quickly learned whatever he was taught. Feeling the goodwill of the Wudang disciples, he soon integrated with them, and the disciples were thrilled to have such a unique junior brother.

With this, the Scripture Pavilion finally returned to its peaceful state.

…

The bright moon hung high.

Ning Changge, eyes filled with surprise and contemplation, watched Jin Ling absorbing the essence of the moonlight. He hadn’t taught Jin Ling any immortal arts yet, only human knowledge and basic martial arts with the Wudang disciples. However, Jin Ling, being extremely intelligent and gifted, learned everything quickly.

As for absorbing the essence of the moonlight, Jin Ling had figured it out by himself.

Of course, in Ning Changge’s eyes, this technique was very crude and inefficient.

While it did absorb some essence of the moonlight, it was merely breathing deeply towards the moon, occasionally resonating with the strands of moonlight energy and the spiritual energy within Jin Ling, allowing a bit to enter his body and strengthen his bones.

At this rate, if Jin Ling relied on such rudimentary techniques to cultivate, he would never achieve the Dao. At most, he would become a steel-boned monkey king. As for transforming into a demon or achieving immortality, even a thousand years of such cultivation would be futile.

Ning Changge observed for three days and gained some insights. He began contemplating how to tailor his teachings to Jin Ling’s unique circumstances.