Chapter 83: Lanting's Growth

Lan Ting began to deeply doubt her teaching ability. She had heard that Lu Yang entered the Asked Dao Sect as the top student, and his spellcasting talent was undoubtedly first-rate.

His previous Elephant Fist technique proved this, demonstrating extraordinary spellcasting talent that transformed the ordinary into the extraordinary.

How could it become like this once she started teaching him?

Did she teach incorrectly? That shouldn't be the case. Her senior sister taught her this way, and she taught Meng Jingzhou and Man Gu the same way without any issues.

Could it be that she underestimated Lu Yang's spellcasting talent, and that a genius surpassing ordinary talents required special teaching methods?

While doubting herself, she also felt a sense of guilt.

Lu Yang, blithely absorbed in studying his talismans, was completely unaware that a talisman genius was falling into self-doubt because she couldn't teach him: "Do you think there's a talisman that can make other talismans invisible? That way, my invisibility talisman would disappear."

Meng Jingzhou pondered for a moment before saying, "I find it hard to imagine why anyone would research the kind of talisman you're describing."

Lu Yang, dejected, put on his clothes and continued practicing drawing the invisibility talismans. The results were the same as before: his body would become invisible, but his clothes would not.

In contrast, Man Gu's drawings were more standardized each time, giving Lan Ting a great sense of accomplishment.

Meng Jingzhou gloatingly mocked Lu Yang: "Haha, just give up. You'll never be able to draw a proper invisibility talisman."

Enraged, Lu Yang pinched an invisibility talisman with two fingers and slapped it onto Meng Jingzhou's forehead: "Hah, demon, take this talisman!"

Meng Jingzhou's body disappeared, but his clothes remained.

Not to be outdone, he also pulled out an invisibility talisman and threw it at Lu Yang: "Daoist, don't think you're the only one who can draw talismans!"

An invisibility talisman was also stuck to Lu Yang's forehead, making his body and clothes completely disappear.

The two attacked each other with invisibility talismans, exchanging blows harmlessly.

Man Gu, caught between them, focused intently on drawing talismans, undisturbed by their antics.

"Finished," Man Gu said, picking up a stack of successful invisibility talismans with satisfaction. Through continuous practice, his success rate for drawing them was now almost one hundred percent.

Meng Jingzhou and Man Gu successfully completed their training.

Lu Yang, holding the invisibility talisman drawn by Lan Ting, also successfully completed his training.

"By the way, Lan Ting, do you know how the Reverse Lifespan Array is set up?" Lu Yang asked. He wondered if the hidden individuals were indeed using Reverse Lifespan Talismans to set up the array, but hadn't completed it yet.

If that were the case, then once a dozen or so Reverse Lifespan Talismans were found, the positions of the other talismans could easily be deduced based on their locations.

Lan Ting nodded. Using her spiritual energy as a thread, she outlined an extremely intricate array in the air, with over a thousand nodes. "The Reverse Lifespan Array is large-scale and has many nodes," she explained. "If the hidden individuals are only a few people, and considering they need to place talismans in secretive locations, they wouldn't be able to complete it in a short time."

"Understood. Then, could you please look after the shop? The three of us are going out to see if we can help," Lu Yang said.

"Huh? Me, watch the shop?" Lan Ting felt a little uneasy. At the Moon Palace, she had always followed her senior sister's arrangements and didn't have much initiative. Now, being asked to look after such a large shop made her feel somewhat unsure.

"It's fine, nothing will happen. Just make your own decisions if anything comes up," Lu Yang said, not seeing any problem with it, and then he left.

After Lu Yang and the others left, Lan Ting felt restless, thinking about temporarily taking over such a large shop.

"I should set up a Spirit Gathering Array," Lan Ting murmured to herself, finding something to do.

The Spirit Gathering Array was a fundamental array for cultivators' practice. She noticed that the barbecue shop didn't have one yet and wondered how Lu Yang and the others cultivated.

"Everyone lives on the second floor, so I'll set it up there."

The Spirit Gathering Array was the most basic array, and Lan Ting set it up with ease. She took out spirit stones from her identity jade token and meticulously arranged them according to what she had been taught in class.

"I'll also set up a Meditation Array to quickly enter cultivation state."

"And a Soundproof Array, for more quiet."

Lan Ting was meticulous in her work. Considering that the Spirit Gathering Array's effect might be too strong and attract other cultivators' attention, she also set up an array to conceal spiritual energy fluctuations.

"Now it's foolproof," Lan Ting said, pleased with her carefulness.

"Hello, is anyone here?" a voice called from downstairs, startling Lan Ting. It sounded like a woman.

Lan Ting went downstairs and saw a fair-skinned woman standing at the doorway, seemingly contemplating whether to step inside.

"Hello, may I ask who you are...?"

"I run the tofu shop on Front Gate Street. My name is Wen Xiangyu. Is the young shopkeeper Lu around?" Wen Xiangyu's voice was gentle, almost intoxicating.

"He's out. Do you need something?" Lan Ting recalled that Lu Yang had mentioned her when he was describing how to find the Reverse Lifespan Talismans.

"Oh, well, the Harvest Spring Festival is approaching, and I thought our barbecue shop could collaborate on an event."

Lan Ting invited Wen Xiangyu in, serving her tea and water. "What kind of event?"

"Not to boast, but my tofu shop has many customers on weekdays, and during the Harvest Spring Festival, we get even more."

"I was thinking, could we set up an event like this: customers who buy tofu at my shop get a ten percent discount on barbecue here, and those who eat barbecue here also get a ten percent discount at my tofu shop."

"We could also have a 'Lucky Wheel' and masks."

"Masks?"

Wen Xiangyu took out a few masks. They were square, white, and soft-looking, resembling blocks of tofu.

"These are masks based on my tofu shop's mascot. They sell very well."

Lan Ting thought about it and decided that Wen Xiangyu's proposal was good, beneficial and harmless to the barbecue shop's business. Remembering Lu Yang had told her to make all decisions while watching the shop, she agreed.

Wen Xiangyu was delighted that Lan Ting agreed to her idea. The two women began discussing various small details of the event, from what the wheel prizes would be to what universal gravitation was.

"There's an invisible force that pulls everything in the world together. Lu Yang also agrees with my view and named this force 'universal gravitation'..."

"However, Lu Yang believes this invisible force is naturally occurring, while I believe someone set up a massive array that attracts us."

"Oh right, you don't know about arrays. Let me tell you, arrays are fascinating. This book, 'True Interpretations of Arrays,' describes them in a simple yet profound way, making them easy to understand..."

Wen Xiangyu had arrived with a heart full of gratitude for Lu Yang, but she left with her mind brimming with array principles.

After seeing Wen Xiangyu off, Lan Ting noticed the ghoul stringing skewers in the corner, and an idea popped into her mind.

Lu Yang's ideas were wild and imaginative. To teach him well, perhaps she needed to learn his way of thinking.

For example, could she design an automatic barbecue array based on arrays like the levitation array or the fire gathering array?

Hmm, that actually sounds like a very good idea.