Fifty Discoveries of New Lifeforms

After probing the two of them with his spiritual sense, the assailant seemed to vanish into thin air, making no further moves.

Qin Yue pondered for a long time before suddenly turning back to look at the array’s core. Luo Yu followed his gaze. The heart of the formation floated midair, its surface inscribed with flowing patterns. The center of the sphere was a transparent void, empty and clear.

Luo Yu found this odd. Why was Qin Yue staring at it for no reason? Did he suspect the attacker was hiding inside the core? That was possible—the fluctuations of the array could mask one's own magical aura… But how could anyone enter the core of this formation? Even he couldn’t break into it! Unless the person was an unparalleled master of arrays.

While Luo Yu was lost in speculation, Qin Yue had already started walking towards the core. The two of them stood beneath the floating sphere. Luo Yu was about to ask what he was doing when Qin Yue spoke to the array’s heart.

“Come out. You’ve been discovered.”

Hearing this, Luo Yu extended his spiritual sense to probe the core. Sure enough, he sensed a fluctuation of power within. Yet, this wave was identical to the array’s own power. Could it be… the array had gained sentience? Could an array become a spirit?

Still reeling from shock, Luo Yu watched as the array’s center gradually revealed a tiny figure: a small child with chubby hands and feet, fair and tender, a bare little bottom—utterly infantile.

Luo Yu asked in amazement, “Was it you attacking us?”

The little one tilted its head, frowning, and replied in a babyish voice, “Was it you attacking us?”

Luo Yu was speechless. It really was a baby, still babbling and learning to speak!

Qin Yue said calmly, “So it is an array spirit.”

Luo Yu asked, “What’s an array spirit? Has the array become sentient?”

Qin Yue replied, “That’s not a bad way to put it. Like the artifact spirits in magical treasures, it’s a postnatal spiritual being.”

Luo Yu was alarmed. “Even an array can become a spirit? I’ve written so many arrays—will a bunch of little babies pop out one day?”

The little one, finding Luo Yu’s expression amusing, suddenly burst into giggles.

Qin Yue glanced at Luo Yu. “Array spirits are not easily born. It’s said that arrays with a spirit cannot be broken.”

Luo Yu muttered, “Impossible to break? An array that can’t be solved must be flawless… Does that mean that if I design a perfect array, it will produce a spirit? Even a basic array, if perfected, could form a spirit? That can’t be right… There must be something special about this one.”

Inside the array, the little creature pointed at Luo Yu and mimicked, “Something special!”

Luo Yu was at a loss. He said blankly, “What now? With this little one who doesn’t understand much, what if it attacks people again?”

Qin Yue replied, “Who knows how many years this fellow has existed. Its cultivation is still at the peak of Qi Refining, yet its spiritual sense rivals that of a Golden Core cultivator—on par with us. Clearly, it doesn’t know how to cultivate properly; it simply absorbs spiritual energy and uses its senses instinctively, yet it’s already so powerful… We might as well coax it out and take it away.”

The little one laughed gleefully, “Take me away! Take me away!”

Luo Yu was speechless.

The next morning, when everyone got up, they saw Luo Yu holding a baby in his arms, with Qin Yue beside him, trying to teach the child to speak.

Luo Li was shocked. “Big brother and Brother Qin had a baby before getting married!”

Father Chu turned and scolded the vampire, “Lampez! Is this how you raise children? Go get her registered and make sure she goes to school to learn some basic knowledge!”

Grandpa came over, picked up the little one, and asked, “Where did you find this baby?”

The baby said, “I’m an array spirit.”

After they recounted how the child was found, Grandpa teased the baby, “Tell Grandpa, why did you attack your brother?”

The baby thought for a long time, then replied, “Brother—eat. Baby eats!”

Everyone was baffled, but Luo Yu and Qin Yue immediately understood: the child was defending the spiritual energy within the array! When it encountered someone competing for its food, it instinctively attacked.

The two were deeply relieved: thankfully, last time they had only taken pills inside and hadn’t meditated. Otherwise, with their Qi Refining-level cultivation at the time, they might have died miserably! This also explained why, despite the abundant spiritual energy here, no spirit beasts had ever appeared—this fellow had wiped them all out without meaning to. Such a dangerous entity—they really couldn’t bring it home. Fortunately, they discovered it early. Had they left and returned later, they might have come back only to find the corpses of the ginseng dolls.

Having figured this out, they discussed it with their family and decided not to take the child back for now. If it accidentally killed someone, that would be a disaster. So, the task of looking after the child was left to the ginseng dolls, who were told to teach it not to harm people and to build a good relationship with it, so that in future training sessions within the array, they wouldn’t be hurt by it. Besides, with a being whose spiritual sense rivaled a Golden Core cultivator watching over them, their safety was much more assured.

Grandpa gave the baby a name: Luo Ling, and adopted another grandchild—though he couldn’t tell whether it was a boy or girl yet, since without forming a foundation and remaking its body, it was impossible to know. The child couldn’t be taught cultivation methods at this stage, for it was one with the array; as long as the array remained intact before foundation establishment, its lifespan would exceed even the ginseng dolls’, so there was no rush to advance.

The family spent their holiday in the array, giving the little one plenty of instructions before reluctantly leaving.

After returning home, the adults began designing their ideal palace, planning the spiritual herb garden at the same time. The children busied themselves preparing to open a shop and earn spirit stones. Gong Jingqian had come back with them at last, wearing new clothes.

They discussed Gong Jingqian’s cultivation plans. After inspecting the old house, he found its Yin energy quite suitable and dispersed his spiritual power to become a ghost cultivator. He felt his talents were poor, his path to immortality fraught with obstacles, and he lacked ambition, so ghost cultivation seemed safer.

With Gong Jingqian there, the weapons shop finally had a manager, and the old house an owner.

Besides seeking a palace designer, the vampire was busy recruiting zombies for pre-job training before construction began. To assist, Qin Yue and Luo Yu handed him a jade token to activate the array, giving him Jiuyin Mountain as his base.

When Luo Yu and Qin Yue finished organizing the shop and stocking the shelves, the vampire returned with good news: he had discovered a wasteland full of ghostly fires in the Netherworld, collected a significant amount of Yin fire, and planned to use it as nourishment to cultivate true fire. He also trained a team of little ghosts to gather Yin fire for him.

True fire was a treasure to them all. After a discussion, the vampire and Luo Yu each provided a portion of Yin fire seeds. Qin Yue purified one portion with true fire to remove toxins, and they began cultivating the two fires separately. To this end, Luo Yu and Qin Yue chose a weekend to accompany the vampire to Jiuyin Mountain again, sealing the magma fissure with an array and moving the golden asbestos platform into the Yin energy area to set up an array for cultivating true fire.

In the months that followed, Luo Yu was actually the least busy. The vampire was run off his feet and dragged Qin Yue along as labor. The two of them disappeared without a trace.

By day, Luo Yu attended classes; by night, he idled alone in the old house. Everyone had their own matters: his father was busy revising and supplementing design drawings for the house; Gong Jingqian had been recruited by Grandpa as a design consultant; even Luo Li was preoccupied with drawing strange talismans and ignored him.

Luo Yu lay idly on the shop counter, lost in thought: Why is there no business? He’d had Qin Yue post advertisements all over Luofeng Town, printed a huge stack of posters, even in both simplified and traditional script… When would Qin Yue be back? Upgrading was so hard, and the vampire kept dragging him off to help—how inhumane!

Time slipped by amidst Luo Yu’s complaints. Before he knew it, summer vacation had arrived, and Qin Yue and the vampire finally returned.

The moment Luo Yu saw Qin Yue, he couldn’t help complaining: “Why were you gone so long? What were you up to?”

Qin Yue gazed at him steadily, his voice softer than ever before: “I went to find building materials.”

Luo Yu felt his face burning and his heart racing. He hurriedly shook his head. “Business is bad at the shop, and you’re always out. I’m here alone…” As he spoke, he realized how much this sounded like a wife reproaching her husband. Embarrassed, he couldn’t continue.

The family gathered joyfully for a reunion dinner, ready to rest well and build their new house in the array the next day.

That night, Luo Yu lay in Qin Yue’s arms, head buried low, feeling oddly unsettled. Deep inside, he was conflicted: What was going on? Why did sharing a bed, which always felt normal and comfortable before, suddenly feel so strange now? Had he become…? It was all this guy’s fault—why hold him so tight in the middle of summer? Even though he was now immune to cold and heat, didn’t men still have inner fires? Ever since he advanced in cultivation, his little brother had been quiet, but tonight it was restless… Did he want… to do something to this guy?!

Luo Yu was horrified, and his little brother immediately calmed down. Qin Yue stroked his waist. “What are you thinking? You’re shivering.”

Embarrassed and angry at being exposed, Luo Yu snapped, “I want to jerk off! It’s a man’s rite of passage! Have you ever done it? I bet you have no idea!”

Qin Yue paused, then smiled faintly: “I’ve never seen you… I thought you didn’t…”

Luo Yu bristled and pounced on him. “Who says I haven’t! It’s just not convenient living with you!”

Qin Yue grabbed him and pulled him back into his arms.

“Do you want it badly?” His voice was soft and gentle.

Luo Yu stiffened instantly, his little brother perking up at those words. He scrambled up, face red, stammering, “I’m going to the bathroom!” He fumbled for his slippers, muttering, “Damn fox spirit! Always seducing me, you’d better watch out or I’ll have my way with you one day!”

Qin Yue said calmly, “It’s not beauty that beguiles people, but people who beguile themselves. It has nothing to do with me.”

Luo Yu fled in embarrassment, locking himself in the bathroom until he’d handled the problem. He let out a long sigh. Damn, how humiliating! Getting turned on by his own buddy. Must be because he’d been holding back too long. That guy was simply too beautiful—touching him was like touching a woman, no wonder it triggered his male instincts. As for actually being gay… as a joke, maybe, but if it ever came to that… well, it wouldn’t be a big deal? Still, even if he did want to, it couldn’t be with someone like Qin Yue. Would he ever let Luo Yu top him? Clearly, that would be a challenge! He’d have to find someone weaker… Maybe finding a girlfriend was still the best option!

Having sorted out his orientation, Luo Yu swaggered back to the room, lifted Qin Yue’s chin, and declared grandly, “Don’t worry, beauty—even if I get married, I’ll never abandon you.”

Qin Yue’s lips curled in a faint smile. “Idiot.” With a wave of his hand, he dragged Luo Yu into the covers and held him tight. “Sleep.”

The Tale of Cultivating Immortality with a Bro, Chapter 50—New Lifeforms Discovered, Update Complete!