Chapter 77: The Demon Hunting Festival

Ink Painting originally thought Zhang Lan's sentence, "Come find me when you have free time," was just a polite remark, but he didn't expect Zhang Lan to be serious.

After that day, whenever Zhang Lan had nothing to do, he would head to the food shop. He'd order a pot of wine and a dish of meat, watch the people come and go on the street, and eat away the entire morning. Occasionally, he'd see Ink Painting and even complain to him, saying:

"You little kid, where do you go every day? I've come here several times and haven't seen you at all."

Ink Painting said with a serious little face, "I'm not like you, I'm very busy."

"What can you be busy with?" Zhang Lan didn't believe him.

Ink Painting broke out his fingers and counted for him one by one:

"Every day there's routine cultivation. When I have free time, I need to draw arrays. When I'm tired, I look at array books. I squeeze in time to send some food to Mister and ask some questions conveniently. I also help the neighborhood uncles and aunts repair a few arrays..."

Zhang Lan listened until his head felt big. "Okay, okay, I surrender."

An eleven or twelve-year-old young cultivator like Ink Painting was so busy every day, while he, a cultivator from the Dao Court Division, was drinking wine here in broad daylight. Compared to that, Zhang Lan even felt a little guilty.

To think that when his dad pointed at his nose and cursed him to a bloody mess, he remained completely unperturbed.

"Oh right, are there any fun places in Tongxian City?" Zhang Lan asked.

"I'm a good child, and I don't crave amusement, so how would I know?"

Ink Painting refused to answer. Who knew what kind of "fun" he meant? He was still a child, and things not suitable for children should not be touched.

"Then, how about lively places?" Zhang Lan retreated and sought the next best option.

"The east side of South Big Street is a bit livelier."

"I've been there, there aren't many cultivators, and not many markets either, it's not interesting." Zhang Lan wasn't too interested.

"Of course it's not lively if you go in broad daylight. Not everyone is idle like you and doesn't attend to proper business. Everyone needs to earn a living," Ink Painting said.

Zhang Lan was speechless. After thinking about it, Ink Painting was actually right. He was indeed not attending to proper business. Well, if he wasn't attending to proper business, so be it.

"Then when is it lively?" Zhang Lan asked.

Ink Painting thought for a moment and said, "The day after tomorrow, I think. The day after tomorrow is the Hunt Demon Festival, which happens once a year and is the most lively."

"What festival is the Hunt Demon Festival?"

Ink Painting explained, "It's just a holiday where hunt masters celebrate their harvest. October is the peak season for hunting demons. After that, the activity of demon beasts decreases, and the income from hunting demons isn't high. Hunt masters generally hunt more demon beasts in October and sell them during the Hunt Demon Festival. After selling them, they rest for a while. At that time, the market has everything, it's very lively."

Zhang Lan said in surprise, "You know quite a lot."

"That's natural," Ink Painting patted his chest, "I'm also considered a little local expert."

Zhang Lan laughed, but he was quite interested in the Hunt Demon Festival. "Alright, then I'll go wander around the day after tomorrow." With that, he brushed his sleeves and prepared to leave.

Ink Painting looked at him curiously and said, "Haven't you paid the bill yet?"

"I deposited several dozen spirit stones at the counter, they'll deduct it directly."

Ink Painting smacked his lips, thinking that Zhang Lan's behavior still had the makings of a soft touch.

Then he continued to lower his head and look at the array book. He thought he would learn a few more arrays these two days, then he could take a break during the Hunt Demon Festival and play with Da Hu and the others for two days.

Bai Zi Sheng heard that Ink Painting wanted to go to the Hunt Demon Festival to play and was so envious he almost drooled.

The Bai family had strict rules. Even when they weren't in the family, Aunt Xue still required them to cultivate every day. Besides that, refining pills, arrays, refining tools, and other subjects were all arranged clearly, not one less.

Perhaps precisely because they weren't in the family, Aunt Xue was afraid they would fall behind other disciples in the family, so her requirements were even stricter. Many books on refining pills, refining tools, or cultivation, Ink Painting only glanced at once or twice, feeling they were extremely profound and obscure, completely incomprehensible.

Fortunately, Ink Painting could still understand the books for the array class, and they didn't seem too difficult to look at.

However, Ink Painting always had one doubt: What exactly were the Bai family siblings nominal disciples of Mister Zhuang for?

Up to now, Mister Zhuang didn't seem to have specifically taught them anything, did he?

The things they learned, Ink Painting could also learn. The things they asked about, Ink Painting also listened in on. Some things, although obscure, didn't require Mister Zhuang's guidance.

And even if Mister Zhuang didn't teach them anything, their cultivation was arranged perfectly by the family; there was fundamentally no need for Mister Zhuang to interfere.

Only Ink Painting often went to Mister Zhuang's book room, bringing some food and asking some questions.

The Bai family siblings only cultivated and studied in the small pavilion. In Ink Painting's impression, besides routine greetings and inquiries, they didn't separately seek out Mister Zhuang.

This made Ink Painting very puzzled.

Or rather, were there some things that Mister Zhuang wouldn't teach to nominal disciples, only to direct disciples?

Were they so persistent because they wanted Mister Zhuang to take them as disciples and learn more profound things?

There was a big difference between nominal disciples and direct disciples. Nominal disciples could only call him "mister," while direct disciples could call him "master."

Cultivators took the master-disciple inheritance very seriously. It was not an exaggeration to say that "a day as a teacher is a lifetime as a father." Da Zhu was just taken as a disciple by Master Chen. Master Chen treated Da Zhu like a half-son and would rely on him for old age and burial in the future.

Because the favor between master and disciple was very heavy, betraying one's sect was also considered one of the greatest acts against the heavenly way in the cultivation world.

Ink Painting touched his chin and couldn't help but have a doubt: "Will Mister Zhuang take me as a direct disciple?"

Ink Painting compared his own cultivation, spirit root, talent, and family background with the Bai family siblings. Suddenly, he calmed down a lot.

It's good not to aim too high.

Ink Painting thought, silently dismissing this unrealistic idea.

Two days later was the Hunt Demon Festival.

The Hunt Demon Festival was one of the biggest festivals in Tongxian City, bigger than the Lianhua Festival.

The cultivators in Tongxian City, whether poor rogue cultivators or wealthy family cultivators, prepared for the Hunt Demon Festival early on. From morning onwards, Tongxian City had a festive atmosphere, and by evening, the lights were even brighter.

During the Hunt Demon Festival, there were many people, and the food shop would be very busy. So, Liu Ru Hua would stay at home and manage the business with Aunt Jiang and several temporarily hired aunts.

Mo Shan needed to contact buyers and sell the fur, bones, or inner cores of the demon beasts hunted by the Hunt Demon Team in the past month. Because the next few months would be the off-season for hunting demons, the income would be low. Many cultivators relied on this sum of spirit stones to get through to the next year.

Ink Painting then only strolled the streets with Da Hu and the other two.

However, Da Hu and the others had one more thing to do: participate in the Hunt Demon Rite.

Every year during the Hunt Demon Festival, a Hunt Demon Rite would be held. The Hunt Demon Rite was a ceremony held for young cultivators at Qi Refining six layers and above to become hunt masters.

Qi Refining six layers was a watershed for the rogue cultivators in Tongxian City. It was both the peak of the middle stage of Qi Refining and the hope of breaking through to the late stage of Qi Refining.

At the middle stage of Qi Refining, one could learn some simple spells or martial arts. Their own spirit power and body were not weak, and they had a certain level of self-protection against demon beasts.

Taking one step forward from the middle stage of Qi Refining was the late stage of Qi Refining. In Tongxian City, where the Qi Refining period was the main focus, the late stage of Qi Refining was what many cultivators pursued.

But this step had more variables. Many cultivators were unable to take this step in their lifetime due to reasons such as spirit stones, spirit roots, and cultivation methods.

So, for rogue cultivators, reaching Qi Refining six layers meant they could become true hunt masters. And becoming a hunt master meant making a living by hunting and killing demon beasts.