Vol 5 Chapter 93: Star Longevity Crane
"Hey..."
The Wood-attribute Pine Leaf Mouse was dragged out by Lin Jing. It rummaged around before producing a crane feather fan.
"What's this?" Lin Jing asked.
"Eh eh eh," the mouse indicated that this was a gift from the sect master's wife. Though not particularly valuable, it was handcrafted by the sect master's wife herself, brimming with sincerity.
"." Lin Jing's face darkened. "Is it appropriate to use someone's gift as sacrificial material?? Find something else."
The Pine Leaf Mouse rummaged again for a long while—it clearly had quite the collection. After much searching, it pulled out a barrel of arrows whose fletching appeared to originate from some crane-type demonic beast.
"Leftover spoils from battle?" Lin Jing recognized these arrows as trophies obtained from the Origin Realm. Together with the bow, they formed a matched set of supreme magical artifacts—though supreme artifacts meant little to Lin Jing now. If they could serve as sacrificial offerings for practicing the Great Summoning Art, they'd be put to good use.
Crack.
Lin Jing plucked a feather and tossed it into the summoning diagram. Instantly, subtle changes began occurring within the diagram's billions of interwoven patterns—changes so minute they were nearly imperceptible. Staring at the diagram, Lin Jing's perspective seemed to shift to a bird's-eye view, where countless cranes flew past beyond measure.These cranes included ordinary beasts and demonic beasts, even any bird demons with crane lineage—their terrifying numbers flooding Lin Jing's consciousness, making it difficult to proceed.
"What next?" Lin Jing sought the Star Longevity Crane. He estimated he'd need to employ something like Qi Observation Art to locate traces of the Star Longevity Crane amidst this ocean of crane figures.
"The Star Longevity Crane emphasizes longevity—perhaps I can filter targets by lifespan potential."
Lin Jing only had rudimentary knowledge of arts like Qi Observation, never having devoted much effort to them before. But now, to master the Great Summoning Art, he had no choice but to begin learning observation techniques.
The summoning diagram had captured an overwhelmingly vast population of cranes. Lin Jing couldn't even tell how many cultivation realms or how much cosmic space this encompassed. Unless one's observation skills were extremely advanced, it would be incredibly difficult to pick out a specific target from such an enormous group.
"No time for that now, but reaching this stage counts as marginal success. I'll accumulate experience through practice."
This was Lin Jing's first attempt at the Great Summoning Art—a technique requiring immense spiritual power. Only by merging with his incarnation and maintaining peak condition could he perform it. If executed at the Nascent Soul Transformation Stage, he'd likely exhaust himself and die after completing just a fraction of the summoning diagram.
Some unknown cultivation realm.
Upon a spiritual mountain, a white-haired but youthful-looking elder leisurely fished. This person was one of the realm's great demonic cultivators—the Longevity Crane. Having luckily consumed a Longevity Body in his youth and being of a naturally long-lived race, he'd cultivated a body of longevity. In this realm, he was reputed as the Crane Immortal, his lifespan said to rival that of true immortals.
"What's this?" The Crane Immortal frowned at the spatial vortex suddenly appearing above him. The next instant, his expression changed as tremendous spatial suction tried to yank him away. Though he resisted fiercely, he couldn't withstand the Great Summoning Art's power.
This Great Summoning Art sacrificed many capabilities—like suppression and taming—to strengthen its teleportation force. What it summoned were merely unruly demonic beasts that the beast tamer had to deal with personally. If the summoned beast surpassed the tamer's strength, the "Great Summoning Art" might as well be called the "Great Suicide Art."
"Why an old demon? Where's my Star Longevity Crane?"
Lin Jing panted as he regarded the summoned crane demon elder with disappointment, while the Crane Immortal burned with rage at being inexplicably summoned to this godforsaken place. Where even was this?
"Young man, you—"
Just as he began to rage, the Pine Leaf Mouse saw the guest off—reversing the minor summoning art to emulate the Imperial Horse Overseer by sending the crane demon back. Keeping him would risk conflict, and Lin Jing needed to continue practicing the minor summoning art without distractions.
Even if the other party showed signs of having consumed a Longevity Body, Lin Jing paid it little mind.
"Wrong one! That crane demon elder did have formidable vitality, but he wasn't the Star Longevity Crane I seek... Continue."
Lin Jing took a deep breath. The Great Summoning Art's consumption was enormous—that summon-and-return had drained nearly ninety percent of his spiritual power. Fortunately, Lin Jing carried high-grade Origin Sources as energy reserves.
By converting immortal energy into spiritual energy to replenish his power, he could recover quickly—though extremely extravagant, it was currently his fastest method. Even consuming pills couldn't match absorbing immortal energy's speed.
After adjusting, Lin Jing attempted a second time.
Yet again, it wasn't the Star Longevity Crane.
Instead, it was a phoenix with crane lineage from who-knows-which cultivation realm. Phoenixes were also long-lived, causing Lin Jing to mistake it for the Star Longevity Crane. That alone would've been fine...
"Seeking death..." This phoenix demon had human form—and crucially, when summoned, it seemed to have been soaking in a medicinal bath, arriving completely naked. Upon seeing Lin Jing, its eyes immediately shone with murderous intent to execute him.
"We're both men—what's the big deal after seeing me? Why the life-and-death reaction?" Lin Jing hurriedly sent the male phoenix back, averting another battle.
"Wrong again."
"At this rate, I might accidentally summon the sect master's wife next..."
Lin Jing sighed and continued practicing. Thus, another three months passed in the blink of an eye.
By then, he'd exhausted his sacrificial materials. Thankfully, everything summoned had been cranes—plucking some feathers from them provided new offerings.
Unfortunately, after countless wrong summons, Lin Jing still hadn't found his Star Longevity Crane. He even began doubting whether any existed within the summoning diagram's reachable range!!!
However, perseverance pays off.
Two more months later, as the three-year deadline approached, the summoning diagram flashed—and before Lin Jing appeared a spiritual beast resembling a mountain crane. Lin Jing's heart leapt, for its eyes... sparkled like stars, as though containing an entire cosmos.
The Star Longevity Crane?!
After numerous attempts, Lin Jing had finally summoned the Star Longevity Crane!
"Why does it look so old? Not a fledgling. Whatever—success at last. I'll pluck a few feathers before sending it back for another try."
Star Longevity Crane: ?