Chapter 9: Calling Each Other Brothers

  Everyone's support is appreciated.

  Junbao Town is not far from Yanggu Chang either. The convoy left the town and arrived soon after.

  The little boy ran to the front of the old way, bowed down and said: "Xian Chang, according to your instructions, I have gathered all 7963 boys and girls for you, and brought them all to you."

  The old man opened his eyes, which had been closed for several days, and a ray of light shot out from his pair of eyes that were like shining black lacquer.

  The nearby Rizhchang was swept by this ray of light, as if it had been stared at by a wild beast, and suddenly shuddered violently, stumbled underfoot, and retreated several steps with a thud. Rizhchang was frightened out of his wits, his heart racing like it was going to jump out of his chest.

  The old man swung his sleeve and stood up, walking towards the vehicle fleet outside the drying field.

  He calmed down and followed closely behind.

  The old man's gaze swept over the entire fleet and quickly counted the number of boys and girls, neither more nor less, exactly sixty-three.

  The old Taoist nodded in satisfaction, and Li Chang secretly let out a sigh of relief. He was afraid that the old Taoist would dislike Li Wenjun and others for being too old, not meeting the standard of young boys and girls. If the old Taoist blamed him, he could only give up his face and attack Ben Town people.

  The old Taoist walked to the front of the first horse carriage, stretched out his hand, grasped a child's wrist, and placed his fingers on the child's pulse. After feeling the pulse for a while, the old Taoist shook his head, then began to feel the pulse of the next child, shaking his head again.

  The old Taoist shook his head again and again, and the sweat on his face came down again. He spoke cautiously: "Immortal Master, I dare to ask a question, are you looking for someone with abundant Qi and blood? If so, we have prepared several people for you. You can try to choose one from them."

  "Prepare for me? Do you know what it means for one's vital energy and blood to be flourishing?" The old Daoist hummed.

  Li Chang rubbed his hands together, smiling slyly and saying: "Xian Zhang, according to my understanding, having abundant qi and blood should mean being strong and healthy, with a lively spirit. The several candidates we've prepared for you all meet these conditions. Among them are those who can kill wolves bare-handed, those who have escaped from seven or eight strong men surrounding and chasing them, and those who lost their parents at a young age but have managed to survive until now."

  "Oh, it's interesting, take me to see." The old Taoist ordered.

  Li Chang hastily brought Lao Dao to the rear of the horse team and pointed at the last two horse carriages, "Xian Chang, it's all here."

  The old man's gaze swept across the several young men in the car, and his eyes fell on those who were tied up with ropes. He waved his hand and let Lichang untie the ropes from these young men.

  The village elder did not dare to make any more moves and hastily ordered his subordinates to follow the old man's instructions.

  After Li Wenjun and others had their ropes untied, Lao Dao came forward and felt their pulses one by one.

  The old man cuts one, and Li Chang will be by his side, introducing their basic situation.

  As he watched, several young men on the second-to-last carriage were about to finish their cuts, but Lao Dao still didn't show a satisfied expression.

  The more he spoke, the lower his voice became, and the more he spoke, the less breath he had.

  At this moment, the old Taoist suddenly inhaled a breath of cool air, released his grip on the wrist of a young boy he was holding, rolled up his sleeves, and re-grasped the boy's wrist to take his pulse again.

  This time, the pulse-taking took an unusually long time. Li Tong stood tensely beside him, not even daring to breathe loudly, fearing that he would disrupt the old man's work.

  After a moment, the old Taoist let go of the young man's hand, twirled his whiskers, pondered for a while, expressionless, and went to take the pulse of the next young man.

  When it was Li Wenjun's turn for pulse feeling, Lao Dao repeated the process of rolling up his sleeves and feeling the pulse again.

  Li Wenjun was the last of the sixty-three boys and girls, after he finished cutting his pulse, the old Taoist pointed at him and the young man just now, and said to Li Chang: "Take them with you, come with me."

  Lao Dao turned around and walked towards the drying field, while Li Chang hastily called two people to escort Li Wenjun and another young man, also heading towards the drying field.

  Li Wenjun was surprised to find another young man, who turned out to be the same boy from two days ago, who had kowtowed to Lao Dao and begged him to take him on as a disciple.

  Arriving at Shai Gu Chang, Li Wenjun saw Lao Dao standing with his hands behind his back, looking up at the sky.

  Inside, Zhang pressed Li Wenjun and the two of them arrived in front of Lao Dao.

  The old man said calmly, "You two, we have a predestined relationship, especially you, who once asked me to accept you as my apprentice. At that time, your destiny had not yet arrived, so I refused you. Now, I am facing a difficult situation and need your assistance. I don't want to force you, but hope one of you will voluntarily come forward to help me complete this task. Once it's done, I won't say anything else, but I will definitely accept the person who takes on the responsibility as my apprentice and impart all my immortal skills to them. You two think carefully about it, and I'll ask you again in half an hour."

  When he finished speaking, the old Taoist picked up a bundle that was placed on the ground. The cloth bundle was not big, bulging and swollen, it seemed that there were only one or two pieces of clothing stuffed inside.

  The old Taoist reached into the bundle and pulled out a circular disk over a foot in diameter, as well as a dozen or so triangular flags of five colors. Afterwards, the old Taoist also pulled out a pile of bottles and jars from the bundle.

  Li Wenjun and another young man, as well as the village elder, widened their eyes in amazement. If they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, they wouldn't have dared to believe that such a small bundle could hold so many things. This must be another magical skill of the immortal family, just looking at it made people admire it endlessly.

  The old man took out a large ceramic basin and carefully poured the contents of several bottles into it. These things included powders of different colors, two kinds that emitted a pungent smell, but what caught people's attention was a bottle of blood, dark red in color, with a strong bloody smell that made one feel nauseous.

  The old Taoist stirred the mixture with a serious expression, and after a moment, the contents of the ceramic basin had transformed into something resembling ink. There was an eerie feeling emanating from it, making one's head spin just by looking at it.

  The old man took out a piece of cloth and covered the ceramic basin, then looked up at Li Wenjun and another young man, "How's your consideration going?"

  Li Wenjun shook his head. He always felt that the old Taoist had an air of evil about him, and no matter how great his divine powers were, he was not willing to follow this kind of person to learn skills. Of course, the most important thing was what kind of ceremony the old Taoist wanted to perform? Would there be any harm to him in this ceremony?

  If the old man really wanted to take on apprentices, he should have answered these two questions first, but he didn't even intend to explain them. From this, it can be seen that the old man's sincerity in taking on apprentices is greatly discounted.

  Seeing Li Wenjun shake his head, a hint of gloom flashed across the old Taoist's face. He looked at another young man and asked, "How is your consideration going?"

  The young man's face changed several times, and he knelt down in front of the old Taoist, saying: "I am willing to worship the immortal as my master."

  The old man burst out laughing, "Alright, alright, I won't waste my efforts on you. It seems there's still someone who knows how to appreciate things. Fine, I'll give you a little sweetness first and take you in as a nominal disciple for now. After I've set up the Seven Stars Nine Palaces Formation, we'll have a formal ceremony and then you can become my official disciple."

  "Thank you, Master! Master is above, please accept a bow from your disciple." The young man showed a few points of joy.

  The old man stroked his beard, nodded and said: "Alright, get up. By the way, I haven't asked your name yet. What's your surname and given name?"

  Young man said: "Master, my name is Cao Yu, I am from Dingfeng County, Guangning Prefecture, fifteen miles away. Since childhood, both parents have passed away, and I make a living by eating at people's homes. My hometown suffered a severe drought, and I had to flee everywhere, fleeing here..."

  Lao Dao didn't have the patience to listen to Cao Yu's self-introduction, he cut him off before he could finish speaking and said: "You help me complete this array setup and spellcasting process, after it's done, I'll teach you all my Taoist skills. With me guiding you, you'll definitely go far on the path of immortality."

  "Yes, Master." The young man said respectfully, his mouth corners carrying a joy that he couldn't hide, but upon closer inspection, there was a hint of calmness in the depths of his eyes that shouldn't be present at his age.

  Lao Dao beckoned Cao Yu over and instructed, "Bring that ceramic basin and follow me."

  "Sir, is there anything else you would like to instruct?"

  The old man looked at Li Wenjun with a cold expression and said, "Keep an eye on him, don't let him run away. This seven-star nine-palace array of mine still has to rely on him. If he runs away, I won't be able to set up the big array, it's not just a small matter, when the time comes, even Junwu Town will suffer from a hundred years of drought, and it will be your own fault."

  The temple master's expression changed, and he hastily said: "Please rest assured, Sage, he won't be able to escape." The temple master waved his hand, and two burly men rushed over, tying Li Wenjun up with five knots again.

  Lao Dao didn't even glance at Li Wenjun, who had been tied up like a rice dumpling. He took out a brush, dipped it in the ink he had personally mixed, and began to paint on the sun-drenched threshing ground.

  After spending more than half a day, under the old Tao's hard work, the drying field with an area of over one mu was filled with crisscross stripes and strange symbols. What do they mean? Except for the old Tao, no one else is clear.

  With a flourish, the old Taoist carelessly tossed aside the brush in his hand, looked up at the sky and muttered to himself: "The time is almost ripe. Success or failure will be decided in this one move. I hope Heaven will lend me a helping hand so that I can succeed in prolonging my life and live for several more decades."

  Lao Dao turned his head, looked at Li Chang who was waiting outside the sun-dried rice field, and instructed: "Go! Get a sumptuous meal ready, let these sixty-three little brothers and sisters have a good meal."

  Inside, a chill ran down his spine. The old Daoist was indeed a godly being, yet he actually referred to the young boys and girls as brothers and sisters. No matter how he listened to this, it felt awkward, and he only felt a cold air rising from the bottom of his heart. However, he didn't dare question the old Daoist's words, and hastily ordered someone to prepare.