Pursuing Immortality

Last year was the first open enrollment of the local temples, and only 538 pupils were recruited nationwide.

The pupils were either extremely well-endowed like He He, or, like Lin Junlong, they might not be as perceptive, but were physically more capable, which was considered a specialty.

In comparison was Phoenix Mountain’s first enrollment, during which 1008 pupils were admitted. Among them were definitely some with great cultivation potential, but more were mediocre ones that barely reached the benchmark.

At this moment, these 1008 people had gathered in the small square on the mountain, unsure of what to do. The pretty sister was nowhere to be seen now, and Old Shui and the other three were still outside in the big square, which remained crowded.

They then heard the voice from up in the mountain, announcing, “…the talisman to pray for rain to celebrate the occasion!”

Wow!

Everyone both inside and outside the mountain was overwhelmed with great excitement at those words.

Modern technology could already to some extent change the weather, but there was much limitation to the actual practice. Hence, floods, droughts, hurricanes, and cold-air outbreaks were still affecting people all over the world.

If cultivators could have the weather completely under their control, they would doubtlessly gain much more credibility among the common people.

Meanwhile, not only were the officials in the capital city following the progress closely, the specialists of Shengtian observatory were also on the alert and “combat-ready”. Everyone was waiting for the miracle to happen.

***

“Aaaaaaah! Quickly! Quickly!”

After leading the new pupils into the mountain gate, Xiaojin ran up the mountain herself, and reached the eastern slope in a few jumps, arriving at a peak named Yanbie Peak.

The peak remained in its undeveloped state, covered by luxuriant trees and grotesque stones, and without a single trail. Xiaojin activated the Rising Manual, which took her over sixty meters away in one single stride. Tapping successively in the air, she was soon halfway up the slope like a soaring eagle.

“Why, Jin Jin, is your task down there done?” Just then, Long Qiu’s voice came from behind. Xiaojin turned around. She was not happy about what she saw, for Long Qiu had her own pet—she was flying up standing on the back of the Golden Silkworm.

“Make room for one more passenger!” Xiaojin tried to squeeze onto Golden Silkworm’s back.

“There’s no room! Golden Silkworm can’t take two people at the same time!”

“Ouch…”

Long Qiu could never defeat Xiaojin in such things, and in the end, she had to get off Golden Silkworm to run together with the latter.

Before long, they reached the top of the mountain, where Gu Yu and Xiaozhai were already making preparations.

A level ground reached out over the cliff at the mountain top, which was not a very large area, and faced north. Beyond that platform was the rolling sea of clouds reflecting the evening sunlight; below, rows upon rows of woods were painted golden-red by the setting sun.

Standing on the edge of the cliff, one felt they would be carried away by the wind, casting aside all worldly cares and becoming immortals right there and right then.

An altar had been set up on that platform: a carpet of the Eight Diagrams had been laid over the ground, and the table was wrapped in a plain and neat altar cloth.

On the table were candleholders, offering plate, five grains, eight treasures, and a censer, in which stood three incense sticks. That purple Five-transformation Rain-praying Talisman was set right in the center of the table.

“Are you sure you’re not burning a memorial text?” asked Xiaozhai.

“The memorial texts are for the gods to read, and we don’t know if there is any god so far. Why should I burn it?” Gu Yu paused a little, then said, “Actually, I have always found the ‘god-inviting’ procedure of Zhengyi more of a formality. I can use this opportunity to see exactly how that works.”

According to the traditional rituals of Zhengyi, before performing any ceremony, one had to take a vow with a memorial text, which was to restrain oneself and make connection with gods. The text was then burnt.

After that was the reading of the summoning text, which was used for inviting, summoning, and holding back the gods. The text would also be burnt.

Gu Yu found all those procedures pointless. It had been 500 years since anyone succeeded in rain-praying, and no one knew how accurate those rituals were anymore. Looking into the distance, he saw the pale sky, the setting sun, and the unwaning heat. The evening glow was blending into the cold gleam of the rising moon, and the two sources of light were each taking a side of the sky.

“Such a nice view. It deserves a good rainfall!”

He wasn’t wearing the so-called “celestial master robe”, and only stood in front of the altar in his usual outfit. After looking ahead for a moment, he made an extremely complicated finger gesture with his left hand, which represented mountains and fields, and was a praying gesture.

He then picked up the talisman between two fingers of his right hand and chanted the spell. “Five emperors and five dragons, bless us with light and wind. Spare your mighty power and aid the Thunder Lord…”

Whoosh!

At this first sentence, the purple talisman burst into flame on its own. It rose up from between his fingers, and floated in mid-air, wrapped in a circle of light.

Gu Yu’s facial expression changed slightly, for instead of the frantic drawing-out of his spiritual essence to activate the power of the talisman, a miraculous energy was flowing into his body from the talisman. It immediately blended in with his own spiritual energy, and began to slowly circulate inside him following a special route.

“I hereby summon the god of water so that rain will come out of the Wall Mansion. Leopard of he Winnowing Basket rises and Flood Dragon of the Neck dances…”

Gu Yu dared not stop, and went on chanting. As he spoke the second line, that energy, together with his own spiritual essence, ran directly into the Liver Palace, where they circulated for seven times; the energy of Wood was in full bloom.

They then moved onto the Heart Palace, where the fire of heart was lit; the energy of Fire was in full bloom.

After that, they reached the Palaces of Spleen, Lung, and Kidney in turn, where they turned the Yang energy on first, then the Yin one so that Fire generated Earth, Earth generated Metal, and Metal generated Water. In the end, they circulated nine times in the Kidney Palace, and the energy of Water was prospering.

“Five stars rise up from the court, staying high above in the dwelling of the water. God of wind shakes water, the goddess Axiang turns to Ox Mansion; the essence of water comes from the Bond Mansion, and Metal of Ghost Mansion generates Fire.”

Gu Yu set his wits to work as he chanted, and the epiphany came—so, that was it! That was it!

Knowing where the spell was going, he held back no more, and let the power of the talisman run freely inside him. “The timely rain falls in Dantian, filling Qihai. The demon of drought is revealed at the might power of thunder and lightning… obey at once!”

Boom!

When the last word of the spell left his tongue, the energy of Water surged, subduing that of Fire, and extinguishing the latter. The burning talisman seemed to have integrated with Gu Yu as an inexhaustible energy began to pour out of them both.

The internal energy was circulating inside Gu Yu, while the external energy spread out instantly. Centering around Yanbie Peak, an enormous transparent air cap rose up into the air, covering an area of hundreds of square kilometers.

“That’s a lot of water in the air!”

Xiaozhai was greatly surprised, for she could sense the energy of Five Elements changing rapidly around her. Metal, Wood, Fire, and Earth all disappeared temporarily, giving way to the surging Water.

“Why, the wind is blowing!” Xiaojin then saw from the corner of her eyes that the smoke rising up from the incense sticks was leaning to one side. She then cried out in surprise at the rustling sound of leaves. “Wow! It’s a cool breeze! It’s been a while since we had such a cool wind in the mountain!”

Long Qiu was also delighted. She grabbed at the air like a child, then turned to look admiringly at that man standing at the altar.

“Holy sh*t! The wind is really rising!”

Those in the square at the foot of the mountain reacted to it with much hubbub—it sounded like a seething cauldron down there.

Quite a few people ran out of the square and into the distance as if they had lost their minds; they ran back waving their hands and yelling, “It’s not hot out there any more. The temperature has dropped! The temperature has dropped!”

“Hahahaha!”

Such a change of mood was happening almost everywhere, from the square and the downtown area all the way to the surrounding villages.

Even if some obtuse fellows had not realized what was happening by now, it would come to light at the next part. As the cool wind grew stronger, the last bit of the evening sunlight was suddenly wiped out of the sky, replaced by a thick and dark cloud.

The cloud covered the sky over Bai Town, even blocking out the moon. Beneath it, the area looked like a small room with its curtains drawn close, and all lights were dimmed.

From residential buildings, offices, shops, factories, farmhouses… people were running out and rushing to the streets, the main roads, the fields, and the side of ponds.

Most people joked about the breaking news when they heard it yesterday, but now that it was coming true, they couldn’t help but go around telling everyone else.

“Are you seeing this? There’re clouds!”

“Oh my goodness! Is it really the Immortal’s doing?”

“Hey, listen! What’s that sound?”

Rumble!

Rumble!

A brief silence fell over the crowd as they tilted their heads to listen. There was a strange muffling sound in the sky, which was moving closer and closer, but remained hidden behind the clouds.

“It’s the thunder!”

“The rain is coming! It’s not a joke! It is really going to rain!”

***

Up on Yanbie Peak.

Gu Yu stood in front of the altar, carefully controlling the power of the talisman.

The principle of the rain-praying talisman was complicated and simple at the same time. It was to transform all energy of Five Elements into water first, then make a connection with the weather using the body of a Human Immortal as the channel.

Gather all energy in Huangting, then raise it to Fengchi; wind would blow.

When the energy rose to Shanyue and exited through Shenlu, cloud would move.

With the help of thunder, lift the energy to the forehead, then inhale and exhale; thunder would ring out.

Move the energy further up and into the mouth, then spray with divine water; the rain would come.

Finally, circulate the energy to Heart Palace and blink, then the rain would stop and cloud disperse.

The five transformations of the talisman was the wind, the cloud, the thunder, the rain, and the clearing up, which was also the interaction between Nature and men the ancient cultivators had talked about!

He had figured it out from the very beginning: the purple talisman worked on the practitioner first, then on the weather. No wonder it was so demanding on the practitioner, for anyone less than a Human Immortal simply did not have the capability to carry it out.

Right now, the thunder was rumbling, and black clouds gathered overhead. His spiritual essence was being consumed at a crazy speed, spreading out together with the energy of the talisman. One more step, and a heavy rain would be falling.

Gu Yu dared not take this lightly. Closing his eyes, he went on adjusting his energy.

All of a sudden, he frowned, feeling his mind shaken slightly. The energy gathered at his middle Huangting, then ran all the way up his spine; it shot out of his crown, and flew into the air.

He had a glimpse of a shapeless and blurry thing floating in mid-air, which disappeared almost instantly.

There was no time to think. He immediately settled his mind and activated his spiritual essence…

Rumble!

Lightning ripped through the sky; the dark clouds rolled, and the sky seemed to crack open. Splash! The rain was finally here!

***

Southeast, Bianmen Town.

It was a tiny town with a population of 28 678, of which 26 593 were farmers, making it a typical farm town. Before, with the surrounding mountains and lakes, they were able to run a tourism industry. But now, the mountains and lakes were no longer friendly, nor were the fields of any use.

There was basically no hope.

Qian Huai was in his seventies and an ordinary farmer. His wife passed away the year before last, leaving the childless old man behind.

He had spent his whole life as a farmer, with no other skills. Earlier, with the government subsidies, he could still get a modest living by working very hard in the fields. However, everything changed when the new world arrived.

The country had drawn plans for over 30 planting bases, and Shengtian was not one of them. Naturally, few resources were allocated here after that.

Moreover, with the successive droughts of the past few years, the yield of Bianmen Town had dropped sharply. The officials had decided to give up on the farmlands here and turn the town into part of the small urban agglomeration after some development and upgrading.

Qian Huai had received a generous amount of money from the sale of his land, and would be given priority in the housing allotment. However, his land was his life’s work. How could he leave it just like that?

The construction would officially start tomorrow, and the machines had been set. Crouching down at one end of the farmland he was so familiar with, Qian Huai watched the workers nearby with a blank look on his face; he didn’t even notice the cool wind.

Tap!

He shuddered at the coolness at the tip of his nose. When he wiped it, his hand felt something wet.

Before he had time to react, there was another drop, and another… momentarily, the rain was pouring down.

“…”

Qian Huai was dazed for a moment before slowly rising to his feet.

Looking up into the sky, the emaciated old man shivered in his soaking wet shirt. It seemed forever before he cried out bitterly, “Why didn’t you come earlier? Why? Sob…”

***

North, Dalishu Village.

The village was quite close to the downtown area. It used to be a fully equipped agricultural park with its own ecological system. After the massive breakout of mutated creatures, the government of Shengtian decided to keep the place and make it a local supply station.

Oh, it was also where Dai Han was raising his softshell turtles.

As someone from a family raising softshell turtles for two generations, Dai Han had all the experience and techniques needed. Of course, his pond looked a little miserable at the moment with only one male and one female turtle inside. Right now, he was squatting down by the pond, lost in his thoughts while staring at the water—he was trying to come up with the proportion of ingredients of this new fodder.

Gurgle!

‘Hm?’

His thoughts were interrupted as the water rippled, and the two turtles stuck their heads out as if they were eager for something.

He was still confused when ripples filled the surface of the water as the rain began to drop. It turned into a downpour in no time.

“Sh*t! It really is happening!” Dai Han exclaimed despite himself. It then dawned on him that this had to be the work of the Immortal. He ran out of the shed in a hurry and hopped around in excitement.

When he finally calmed down, the chubby fellow looked into the distance at the Phoenix Mountain blurred by the rain, and clenched his fists. ‘I WILL make a name for myself here!’

***

The rain reached out to a hundred kilometers on four directions from Bai Town, which was just enough to cover all the towns and villages under its jurisdiction. At the westernmost corner, even an outer district of Shengtian was lucky enough to be partially included.

It was also were Shengtian Observatory was located.

“We have the cloud chart. Measure the covering area!”

“Yes. The result is obtained!”

“The rainfall remains steady without any sign of abating!”

“Data of all villages and towns are basically identical. No obvious difference is detected!”

“Measurement! Measurement! I need detailed data!”

The deputy director was holding a stack of files filled with worthless conclusions. He roared, “The precipitation! I need the exact number of the precipitation! Now!”

Precipitation was the depth of rainwater falling to a level ground within a certain period. It was measured in millimeters, and usually every six hours.

The deputy was probably too anxious over the order directly from the central government that he had forgotten about the basic concept, which his men dared not remind him about. He was about to urge the men again when a hand landed on his shoulder—the director had arrived.

“Old Zhang, all that anxiety is not good for a heart of your age. The measurement takes time; you can’t rush that.”

“But the bosses, the bosses are pushing for it!”

“Pushing for it? Hoho, come here…” The director took his deputy to the corridor, and pushed a window open with a chuckle. “See for yourself!”

“…”

Confused, the deputy leaned over a little. The moment he stuck his head out of the window, the clear and dense tapping sounds filled his ears, which soon attracted all his attention like the exciting sound of war drums.

Splash!

Patter!

“Dab… flutter!”

Outside, the rain fell down like a curtain onto the streets, the sheds, the rooftops, the windows, and the pedestrians. The sound reminded one of the most wonderful music.

Countless people had run out to the streets, cheering loudly for reasons they did not know. The rain had nothing to do with them, nor could it solve the drought all over the country.

But they simply wanted to cheer.

Maybe because they could finally give vent to the frustration brought to them by the long-lasting heat.

Maybe this rain was so out of their imagination that they could not fight the impulse of wanting to jump around.

Maybe they could now see the possibility of a bright future that cultivation might bring them, which, slim as it might be, was a comfort against this goddamn world that was suffocating them.

‘We men will without a doubt break all the shackles, and defeat them all in the end. How can we allow those disgusting things take our homeland and our loved ones? How can we allow them to break us?’

“What do we need the measurement for? It is a downpour!”