The Elixir is for You, The Poison is for Me

#607 - Test and teach

“I can set up the great array, but it's still missing something to function properly.”

“What's missing?”

“Since this is an array for releasing vitality, it naturally needs vitality,” the one-eyed Daoist said. “Help me find something with abundant vitality and place it at the array's core.”

“Most abundant vitality? Wouldn't it work if I just went in myself?” Lu Jing pondered.

Humans are the spirit of all things. Naturally, humans have the most vitality.

However, the one-eyed Daoist said, “You can't. This array extracts vitality from the inside and releases it to the outside. If you don't want to be drained of your vitality, you'd better stay away from it.”

Lu Jing could sense that the one-eyed Daoist's request was a test.

Otherwise, after setting up the array, he could find something to put in himself without any delay.

So, Lu Jing looked around and asked the one-eyed Daoist, “Senior Wu, does your array extract all the vitality at once, or does it extract it little by little, releasing and extracting simultaneously?”

“Not all at once,” the one-eyed Daoist said. “I can adjust the array's extraction speed. Once it's all extracted, the array can no longer function.”

“What if something is thrown in halfway during the array's operation to replenish the vitality?”

“I know what you're thinking,” the one-eyed Daoist shook his head. “But that won't work either. My array can only extract vitality from one thing at a time. It can't be mixed. Even if it's the same thing, it won't work. For example, if you put a sheep in the array's core, and you see that the sheep is dying, throwing in another sheep won't help.”

After a pause, he glanced at Lu Jing, “So, can you find something that meets my requirements? It doesn't need to last too long. As long as your thing can last for the time it takes an incense stick to burn, the living corpses in this forest should all be attracted.”

Lu Jing pondered again, but this time he didn't say anything. He turned and went straight into the forest.

After a while, the one-eyed Daoist saw someone carrying a small tree out, and he couldn't help but feel disappointed.

He knew his requirements were a bit high, but he wasn't deliberately trying to make things difficult for Lu Jing. There were at least three things in that forest with enough vitality for his array to use.

However, Lu Jing didn't find any of them. Instead, he carried out the most common hawthorn tree in the forest. This adaptability… The one-eyed Daoist couldn't help but shake his head inwardly.

“That won't work.”

Seeing Lu Jing intending to place the tree in the array's core, the one-eyed Daoist finally spoke to stop him.

“It will work,” Lu Jing said.

As he spoke, he began digging a hole, seemingly intending to plant the hawthorn tree back.

The one-eyed Daoist was speechless, “The vitality contained in plants is far less than that of humans and beasts. Putting it in my array, it probably won't last even half a cup of tea's time. Moreover, their growth rate is very slow. Even if you plant them, it won't be much better.”

“It's okay, I still have spells I can use.”

“What spells?”

“Luxuriant Growth.”

The one-eyed Daoist was stunned, “Isn't that a farming spell? You've only been in the academy for less than a year, why are you learning such useless spells?”

“…”

“Oh, I didn't mean the spell is useless, I meant you can't use it yet,” the one-eyed Daoist realized he had misspoke, so he added, “Everyone's time and energy are limited, especially for newcomers like you who have just entered the world of cultivation. You should learn something more useful first.”

“However… your idea is quite clever. So, I was wrong about you before.” The one-eyed Daoist's gaze towards Lu Jing softened a lot. “But are you overlooking something?”

“What thing?”

“This isn't the academy. Spells that were easy to cast in the academy aren't so easy to cast here, and they consume much more energy.”

“It doesn't matter, I have a perfect foundation.” Lu Jing said.

“I forgot about that.”

Although the one-eyed Daoist said so, he didn't seem to believe that Lu Jing really had enough mystic power to waste like this.

But he didn't say anything more. Young people are like this. They will never know the immensity of heaven and earth until they hit a wall and bleed.

The one-eyed Daoist waited for him to retreat two zhang away before activating the great array.

The hawthorn tree, which had already lost most of its leaves, shuddered, and the remaining leaves on the treetop withered and fell off at a speed visible to the naked eye. In a short while, it became completely bare.

Without the one-eyed Daoist's reminder, Lu Jing had already cast a Luxuriant Growth spell on it.

Then, new buds sprouted from the branches of the tree, which was as bare as a social worker's head.

The one-eyed Daoist remained outwardly calm, but in reality, his heart was stirred up with stormy waves.

Although he himself had not cultivated this “useless” spell much, he had seen others use it a few times, so he could now see that Lu Jing's mastery of this spell was probably very deep.

Perhaps no one in the world could use it better than him.

But precisely because of this, the one-eyed Daoist became even more puzzled. Such a good talent, not honestly cultivating serious spells, but wasting it all on farming, isn't this purely nonsense?

However, he had to admit that with Lu Jing's Luxuriant Growth spell, the vitality within the array immediately increased, and the hawthorn tree visibly became vibrant again.

But the one-eyed Daoist didn't want Lu Jing to be too proud, so he secretly increased the extraction speed of vitality within the array.

The hawthorn tree was about to wither again soon after it had just become firm, and the newly sprouted buds were about to wither and die before they could grow into leaves.

Seeing this, Lu Jing's response was also very simple, he cast another Luxuriant Growth spell.

The one-eyed Daoist was not to be outdone, and once again urged the array, desperately absorbing the vitality of the cherry tree.

And this time, before the hawthorn tree showed any signs of trouble, Lu Jing cast the third Luxuriant Growth spell.

Although it was almost winter, the hawthorn tree, after Lu Jing's chaotic replenishment, actually grew new green leaves.

The one-eyed Daoist didn't believe in this evil anymore. He had put away his previous contempt and began to go all out. Although Lu Jing couldn't see it, he could feel a terrifying vitality rising into the sky, and then constantly radiating in all directions.

Not only the forest behind him, the quarry, but also the area outside the quarry could feel this abundant vitality.