Chapter 88: Lan Ting’s Growth
Why did it turn out like this when she taught?
Did she teach incorrectly?
That shouldn’t be the case; her senior sister taught her this way, and she taught Meng Jingzhou and Barbarian Bone the same way without any issues.
Could it be that she underestimated Lu Yang’s spell talent, and that a genius beyond ordinary geniuses required a special method of instruction?
While doubting herself, she also felt guilty.
Lu Yang, oblivious to the inner turmoil of a talisman genius caused by not being able to teach him, was engrossed in studying his talisman: “Do you think there’s a talisman that can make other talismans invisible? That way, my invisibility talisman would disappear.”
Meng Jingzhou thought for a while before saying, “It’s hard to imagine why someone would develop the kind of talisman you’re describing.”
Lu Yang, disheartened, dressed himself and continued practicing the invisibility talisman, with the same result as before: his body became invisible as it should, but his clothes did not.On the other hand, Barbarian Bone’s drawings became more standardized with each attempt, giving Lan Ting a sense of accomplishment.
Meng Jingzhou mocked Lu Yang gleefully: “Haha, give up, you’ll never be able to draw a genuine invisibility talisman.”
Angered, Lu Yang pinched an invisibility talisman and stuck it on Meng Jingzhou’s forehead: “Fiend, take this talisman from me!”
Meng Jingzhou’s body disappeared, but his clothes remained.
He, not to be outdone, also pulled out an invisibility talisman and threw it at Lu Yang: “Taoist, don’t think you’re the only one who can draw talismans!”
An invisibility talisman was also stuck on Lu Yang’s forehead, and both his body and clothes completely disappeared.
The two attacked each other with invisibility talismans, back and forth, without any aggression.
Barbarian Bone, caught between the two, focused on drawing talismans, unaffected by their antics.
“I’m done.” Barbarian Bone picked up a stack of successful invisibility talismans, his success rate nearly perfect after continuous practice.
Meng Jingzhou and Barbarian Bone successfully mastered the skill.
Lu Yang took an invisibility talisman drawn by Lan Ting and “successfully mastered” the skill.
“By the way, Lan Ting, do you know how the Life-Draining Array is set up?” Lu Yang asked, pondering whether the person in the shadows was really using Life-Draining Talismans to set up a Life-Draining Array but hadn’t completed it yet.
If that was the case, then finding a dozen or so Life-Draining Talismans and based on their positions, it would be easy to deduce the locations of other talismans.
Lan Ting nodded, using her spiritual power to outline an extremely intricate array in the air, with thousands of nodes: “The Life-Draining Array is large in scale and has many nodes. If the person in the shadows only has a few people, considering they need to place talismans in hidden locations, they wouldn’t be able to set it up quickly.”
“Got it, then you’ll watch the shop for us. We’ll go out for a bit and see if we can help with anything,” Lu Yang said.
“Ah? Me, watch the shop?” Lan Ting felt uneasy. In the Moon Laurel Immortal Palace, she always followed her senior sister’s instructions and didn’t have much initiative. Now being asked to manage such a large shop, she was somewhat apprehensive.
“It’s fine, nothing will happen. Just make decisions on your own if anything comes up,” Lu Yang reassured, seeing no issue before leaving.
After Lu Yang and the others left, Lan Ting, tasked with temporarily managing such a large shop, felt restless.
“Let’s set up a Spirit Gathering Array.”
Lan Ting muttered to herself, finding something to do.
The Spirit Gathering Array is a basic formation for cultivators’ practice. She realized that the barbecue shop did not have a Spirit Gathering Array and wondered how Lu Yang and the others practiced their cultivation.
“Everyone lives on the second floor, so I’ll set it up there.”
The Spirit Gathering Array is the most basic formation, and Lan Ting set it up effortlessly. She took out spiritual stones from her identity jade card and arranged them meticulously according to what she was taught in class.
“Let’s also set up a Concentration Array to quickly enter a state of cultivation.”
“And a Soundproof Array for some quiet.”
Lan Ting worked meticulously, considering that the effectiveness of the Spirit Gathering Array might attract the attention of other cultivators, she also set up an array to isolate the fluctuation of spiritual energy.
“Now it’s foolproof.” Lan Ting was satisfied with her attention to detail.
“Hello, is anyone there?” A voice from downstairs startled Lan Ting, sounding like it belonged to a woman.
Lan Ting went downstairs and saw a fair-skinned woman standing at the door, contemplating whether to step inside.
“Hello, may I ask who you are…”
“I run a tofu shop on Qianmen Street, my name is Wen Xiangyu. Is Shopkeeper Lu here?” Wen Xiangyu’s voice was gentle, causing a tingling sensation.
“He’s out. Do you need anything?” Lan Ting remembered Lu Yang mentioning her while discussing how to find the Life-Draining Talismans.
“Ah, it’s like this. With the Spring Harvest Festival approaching, I was thinking of holding a joint event with your barbecue shop.”
Lan Ting invited Wen Xiangyu in and served her tea: “What kind of event?”
“Not to boast, but my tofu shop has many customers on regular days, and even more so during the Spring Harvest Festival.”
“I was thinking, we could set up an event where customers who buy tofu from my shop can get a 10% discount at your barbecue shop, and vice versa.”
“Also, there could be a lucky spin wheel, masks, and so on.”
“Masks?”
Wen Xiangyu took out a few masks, square and fair, resembling a piece of tofu.
“These are masks made based on the mascot of my tofu shop, and they sell very well.”
Lan Ting thought about it and felt Wen Xiangyu’s proposal was good, beneficial to the barbecue shop’s business. Remembering Lu Yang said she had full authority to make decisions while he was away, she agreed to it.
Wen Xiangyu was delighted that Lan Ting agreed with her idea, and the two women chatted about the various details of the event, from what the spin wheel prizes would be, to what is gravity.
“There’s an invisible force that attracts all things in the world. Lu Yang also agrees with my view and has named this force gravity…”
“However, Lu Yang believes this invisible force is naturally occurring, whereas I think someone has set up a huge array that attracts us.”
“Oh right, you don’t know about arrays. Let me tell you, arrays are very interesting. This book ‘True Interpretation of Arrays’ describes arrays in a way that’s easy to understand and accessible…”
When Wen Xiangyu arrived, she was grateful to Lu Yang, but when she left, her mind was filled with the principles of arrays.
After seeing off Wen Xiangyu, Lan Ting noticed the ghosts skewering meat in the corner and an idea popped into her head.
Lu Yang’s ideas are wildly imaginative; to teach him well, should she learn his way of thinking?
For instance, could she design an automatic barbecue array based on the Levitation Array, Fire Gathering Array, and other arrays?
Hey, that seems like a great idea.
(End of the chapter)