Who Let Him Cultivate Immortality

When the four woke up, they felt completely refreshed and invigorated, thanks in part to the formation Lan Ting had set up.

“Let’s go out and have fun, I haven’t had enough!” Meng Jingzhou, the most energetic, practically dragged Lu Yang out of bed like herding a pig.

Lu Yang kicked Meng Jingzhou before getting up unwillingly.

Barbarian Bone went to the market early to buy groceries, as he was the earliest riser.

Barbarian Bone made a pot of dumpling soup, added four eggs, a few drops of sesame oil, filling the entire hall with a fragrant aroma.

Lu Yang, who liked vinegar, added a small spoonful to his bowl of dumpling soup. After eating their fill, the four set out, feeling refreshed and energetic.

They left home relatively early, yet the streets were already filled with tourists. Lu Yang heard that inns had been booked solid, and many chose to stay in guesthouses.

People’s faces were filled with joyful smiles, and children wore tofu masks just like Lu Yang’s, holding big pinwheels and jumping around. Parents held their children’s hands tightly, fearing they might get lost.

“It’s as lively here as at a temple fair.”

“Have you heard? Someone brought a huge creature from the south of the continent. It’s by the river, let’s go check it out!” someone excitedly told their companion.

Hearing this, Meng Jingzhou couldn’t suppress his curiosity and led the three to the river to see the huge creature.

The four arrived at the familiar big stone bridge, only this time they stood on top of it, and small flags filled both sides of the bridge.

Seeing the huge creature, Meng Jingzhou was somewhat disappointed: “I thought it was something else, turns out it’s just an elephant.”

By the Yinchuan River, this area was already a popular spot for visitors every year. Now, with someone bringing an elephant from the south of the continent to show off, even more curious onlookers gathered.

Lu Yang, needless to say, had seen elephants before. Meng Jingzhou and Lan Ting, coming from noble families, had seen more exotic and strange things since childhood than Lu Yang had ever heard of. Barbarian Bone, living in the wilderness, had even hunted elephants before.

Ordinary people didn’t have the experiences of Lu Yang and his friends, and were very interested in such a large animal as the elephant.

Visitors marveled: “Is this a demon beast? It’s so big, and it has such a long nose and tusks?”

The elephant’s owner, a Foundation Establishment cultivator, explained: “It indeed is a demon beast. It’s difficult to assess the realm of demon beasts, but it’s roughly equivalent to the sixth level of Qi cultivation. However, its size has nothing to do with being a demon beast. Creatures like this are called elephants and grow this big when they reach adulthood.”

Visitors continued to ask, “How heavy is such a large creature?”

The owner of the elephant laughed, who would know? There’s no scale large enough to weigh it.

Another visitor suggested, “We’re right next to the river. We could put the elephant on a large boat, make a mark where the boat touches the water, then load the boat with stones or something. When the marked spot touches the water again, we weigh the stones to find out how heavy the elephant is.” (TL Note: This is based off a story called Cao Ceng Weighs the Elephant, it’s more of a children’s story, I remember seeing it in my textbook as a kid lol. /watch?v=RHB2hDKj5rE)

The owner, curious about the weight of his spiritual pet, happily agreed.

Under the owner’s command, the elephant was driven onto the boat. The elephant was too heavy, and the boat in the shallow area couldn’t carry it, so the owner rowed to the middle of the river. Taking out a knife, he made a mark at the waterline.

Just as the owner was about to swim back, the elephant, by chance, glanced up and saw Barbarian Bone, which scared it tremendously.

Demon beasts are most sensitive to aura, and the ancient barbarian tribes often hunted elephants in the wilderness. This ferocious killing aura flows in their blood, and though the elephant does not understand the meaning behind it, it feels an inherent chill in its presence around Barbarian Bone, a suppression stemming from their bloodline.

The elephant panicked and with a splash, fell into the water, sinking to the bottom.

People on the shore exclaimed, urging the elephant’s owner to quickly save it. However, the owner calmly made a mark where the elephant fell into the water, saying, “This is where the elephant fell in.”

The people on the shore were puzzled, and the owner did not explain further until they were close to the shore. Then, pointing at the mark, he explained, “My elephant fell in here, and it’s still here!”

Everyone laughed, thinking he was joking, but then the river surface churned, creating a whirlpool, and the elephant truly emerged, flapping its large ears, flying up from below the mark.

A special product from the southern part of the continent, the Flying Elephant.

Barbarian Bone witnessed this scene, his brow furrowed, then suddenly realized, hitting his palm with his fist, “I remember now, we learned this idiom in class, this is called ‘Mark the Boat for a Dropped Elephant!” (TL Note: The original idiom is 刻舟求剑, which is “Mark the Boat for a Dropped Sword” it’s a story where the exact same situation happens but with a normal sword instead of a flying elephant. While on a moving boat, the owner drops his sword and marks the spot where he dropped it, thinking to retrieve it after which doesn’t work since the boat has since moved on. This is a link to an explanation /ke-zhou-qiu-jian-idiom-about-silly-solutions/)

He now had a profound understanding of this idiom.

Lu Yang: “……”

What exactly did you learn in class?

Meng Jingzhou laughed, “I still remember when we found the first Life-Draining Talisman under the bridge. When we first learned about the existence of the Life-Draining Talisman, it really shocked us. Luckily, the person was already reported by us.”

Just as Lu Yang was about to joke along with Meng Jingzhou’s words, he suddenly saw the small flags in front of him, his smile fading as if he remembered something. He pulled out a small flag, frowning, and examined it closely in the sunlight.

When Lu Yang saw what the small flag looked like in the sunlight, he felt a chill in his heart.

“What’s wrong?” Meng Jingzhou noticed Lu Yang’s expression. He had been waiting for Lu Yang’s banter, only to find Lu Yang acting unusually.

Lu Yang, with a grave expression, pointed at the faint pattern on the flag, “Look at this pattern, what does it look like?”

“A Life-Draining Talisman?!” Lan Ting was the first to react, as she was most familiar with the pattern.

Meng Jingzhou’s eyes widened. The pattern on the flag was very faint, invisible unless seen against the sunlight. Even if it could be seen, the tourists would just consider it a Spring Harvest Festival specialty. How many people would recognize the pattern of the Life-Draining Talisman?

“Don’t panic, maybe the Life-Draining Array hasn’t been completed yet!” Meng Jingzhou tried to convince himself not to panic.

Lu Yang analyzed calmly, “Impossible, don’t forget, it’s not just one or two flags, the entire Yanjiang County is filled with these flags!”

The flags with the Life-Draining Talisman pattern hidden among ordinary flags, who could have thought of that?!

Lu Yang continued, “In other words, the Life-Draining Array is already completed, blatantly displayed in front of everyone, but no one noticed!”

“Why hasn’t the Life-Draining Array been activated then?” Meng Jingzhou recalled the conditions for activating the Life-Draining Array. Besides arranging the Life-Draining Talismans into a formation, it also required blood as a sacrifice.

The person daring to set up the Life-Draining Array could easily kill a few people; what is he waiting for?

Lu Yang said coldly, “He’s waiting for more people. The number of people during the Spring Harvest Festival isn’t enough yet, and more and more people are continuously heading towards Yanjiang County!”

The Life-Draining Array, plundering the lifespan of mortals to enhance the cultivator’s own cultivation. The more mortals plundered, the greater the boost to cultivation!

Meng Jingzhou also remembered, “According to tradition, on the second night of the Spring Harvest Festival, people gather in the streets to sing, converge by the river for feasts, and hold singing competitions!”

Today is the second day of the Spring Harvest Festival!