Pursuing Immortality

“I’m not going to claim that we have achieved everything we hoped for from the lectures, but it was still a great success. I’d like to thank you all for your contribution.”

“That’s an overstatement for such a small task. We were only doing what we could.”

That night in the main hall, Gu Yu bowed solemnly at the priests of the monastery, while Lu Yuanqing and the others bowed back. When they took their seats again, the atmosphere had never felt so amicable. The credit of the very first public event of the cultivation community in the country should go to them all.

“We have imposed on your hospitality for long enough. Now that the lectures are over, we will be heading back to the monastery tomorrow,” said Lu Yuanqing.

“Why the rush? How about staying for a few more days to wait until the whole thing is finished?” said Xiaozhai.

“Thank you, Laywoman, for your kindness. But as you may realize, the longer we stay here, the more restless those above will become. We’d better leave you in peace so that we can all have the peace.”

“Well, in that case, we have a lot at hand tomorrow, and won’t be seeing you off. I’ll substitute wine with this tea and bid you farewell here!”

With that, the couple raised their cups, at which the 35 priests raised theirs as well, and they all took a sip in unison.

They did not chat on for much longer before Lu Yuanqing rose to his feet and bid them farewell. Gu Yu was gazing after their departure when something dawned on him, and he said, “Priest Shouyang, Priest Chao, please wait a moment.”

‘Hm?’

Zhang Shouyang and Chao Kongtu paused at this. They waved at Lu Yuanqing, and returned to the hall. “Anything else, Layman?”

“Nothing, really. It’s just that I’ve noticed that of the 35 members of Qiyun, apart from you two, Priest Zhong Lingyu, and Priest Bai, all the rest have taken up Dan methods. I’m only curious that if a second essence-consuming method is never discovered, are you three all going to give up pursuing immortality for the rest of your life?”

“…”

The question weighed on them right away.

Since the two did not answer, Gu Yu went on, “I hope it won’t concern you too much, for I have made a promise to Celestial Master Zhang: after the Celestial Master Temple gave me the talismans and lent me the Dan furnace, I will find another essence-consuming method for you.

“I might have enough time to wait, but you don’t. With the circumstances nowadays, the earlier you can get your hands on it, the more opportunities you will have in the future. Therefore, I’d like to know about your thoughts on this.”

At those words, Zhang Shouyang did not speak until some time later. “Junior Brother Lu proposed to integrate the two schools into one and make the skills of all sects into a comprehensive subject to study, which is a good thing. We’re wholeheartedly happy for our fellow Taoists who have made achievements in Dan methods and reached the innate state. As for we three, it is purely an issue with our own heart—having been following the teachings of Zhengyi for twenty years, we cannot break free of this fetter.

“Of course, that was the old thought. The environment is becoming all the more complicated since the beginning of this year, and we people of the cultivation community still value capability over anything else. If we do not reach the innate state soon, we will be left behind. We have all seen Old Priest Tan’s unfortunate state, and to be honest, we have been wavering.”

“The monastery will officially open up for the selection of pupils next year; we have made our plan, setting the next year as our deadline. If there is no hope of finding the essence-consuming method by then, we will switch to the Dan method,” said Chao Kongtu.

“In that case, I will hurry up with my search and see if anything will come up.” Gu Yu nodded understandably.

All three were extremely talented cultivators no less capable than Lu Yuanqing. It would be such a pity if they wasted this life away without even reaching the innate state. It was almost the same with Bai Yunsheng, who did not switch to the Dan method, and would have ended up like these three had it not been for the great fortune of that Sword Seed that had fallen upon him.

“Brother-in-law, Brother-in-law, the altar is ready. Do you wanna take a look?” They were still talking when Xiaojin and Xiao Qiu ran into the room. They were surprised to find the two priests. “Why, you’re still here?”

“We’re just about to leave. Since we’re going back to the monastery tomorrow, we thought we should wait here to say goodbye to you.” Chao Kongtu cupped his hands with a chuckle, then left the hall promptly, dragging Zhang Shouyang behind him.

“What’s wrong with that man?” Xiaojin had no idea what was going on. She then turned eagerly to Gu Yu. “Brother-in-law, we worked so hard on it! You have to thank us!”

“Don’t rush to all the thanks. Let me take a look first.” Gu Yu grinned. With a wave of his sleeve, he vanished from their sight and headed for a certain peak in his invisible form.

“That ungrateful bastard!” Xiaojin stomped her foot, snarling in the direction where Gu Yu disappeared.

Long Qiu remained as good-tempered as always. “There, there, Brother is just playing with us. Let’s join him.”

“Join him all you want! I’m going to play with Sister!”

‘Tsk!’

Long Qiu could not do anything about her, and had to fly towards that peak with the Rising Manual.

Over on the other side, Zhang Shouyang and Chao Kongtu were going down the mountain along the trail. Dots of light scattered around in the dark woods on both sides, which did not look ghastly at all, but had an obscure beauty about it.

“Senior Brother, what do you think that altar is for?” Chao Kongtu could not help but begin to gossip.

“When there’s an altar, there must be a prayer ceremony. Phoenix Mountain is not part of the Taoist community, so there’s no need for that, but they did receive some talismans from the Celestial Master Temple. Of those, the only thing that requires an altar as well as a Human Immortal himself…”

Zhang Shouyang paused a little before concluding, “It must be the Five-transformation Rain-praying Talisman.”

“The Five-transformation Rain-praying Talisman?” Chao Kongtu was a little speechless, apparently being familiar with the name of that purple talisman. He said with amazement, “Sigh, don’t you sometimes feel everything is so pointless? Some people are just superior in everything!”

“Your Taoist mind is shaken!” Knowing Chao Kongtu too well with his uninhibited and lively personality, Zhang Shouyang made a dry and sarcastic comment.

The two soon went back to the manor at the foot of the mountain. Lu Yuanqing naturally did not ask about their conversation, for it was a private matter. Chao Kongtu, on the other hand, was as brisk as he always was, and gossiped about the altar.

Before long, everyone of the monastery knew about the rain-praying tomorrow. Surprised as they were, they did not think much of it, for to them, it was just another type of Taoist skill.

However, they had forgotten about all the staff in the manor.

People talked!

“Did you hear what the master priests said just then?”

“Of course. They said they’re praying for rain up on the mountain.”

“For real? Can cultivators nowadays fill their perk chart that fast? How long has it been now… they can pray for rain already?”

“I don’t buy it. Just think about it: ‘praying for rain’ means they have to pray to someone, right? So, who is it gonna be? Zeus? Thor? Or Storm from the X-men?”

“You know what? Buy it or not, we have to keep it among ourselves. This cannot get out.”

“What? Sh*t! I’ve just posted it!”

“What were you thinking? Delete it!”

“Too late, someone’s replied.”

Now that was done! The fellows hurriedly tapped open the New Classic of Mountains and Seas with shaking hands and checked the forum. OMG!

The administrator had reacted promptly, making the post a sticky topic with a big red title: in celebration of the selection of pupils, Phoenix Mountain is setting up an altar to pray for rain tomorrow.

Only two minutes had passed, and there were dozens of comments below.

“LOL! Cultivators are finally doing some actual work for mankind!”

” Rain God Hsiao ¹ is over! It turned out he was just the forerunner of the real king! Now that the new world had arrived, his aura is taken. Phoenix Mountain is the real dragon!”

“Do you think the dragon kings of four seas will show up?”

“That’s not scientific at all. What’s the theoretical basis for rain-praying?”

“It’s cultivation time, dude. Forget about science already. I’m in Bai Town right now, and I have listened to six days of lectures. The immortals all sounded so young, like post-90s young.”

“I second you on that. The eldest post-90s are cultivators now! No more looking down on us!”

All in all, this message had gone viral at an unbelievable speed, becoming more exaggerated and bizarre as it reached out, soon becoming the topic of all conversations overnight.

Then, it finally reached the capital city—the old man was ready to go to bed when his assistant hurried into his room.

“What’s wrong?”

“Um, there’s breaking news.” The look on the assistant’s face made one wonder if he was having problem with his bowel movement. “It is said that Phoenix Mountain is setting up an altar to pray for rain tomorrow, and they will use tokens as their signals. Wind will come at the first sound, clouds gather at the second, lightning flash and thunder rumble at the third, the rain come down in a deluge at the fourth, and the sky clear up and rain stop at the fifth. And we’re expecting to see the four gods of wind, rain, thunder, and lightning!”