Lin Wei still stood before the stone wall, his eyes fixed on the patterns above, unmoving.
Old Daoist Xiao said, "His self-preservation instinct is very strong. We need to subdue him first before we can take him away."
Old Daoist Xiao reached out to grab Lin Wei, but another powerful force emanated from Lin Wei's body. Old Daoist Xiao's hands moved, deflecting all the force Lin Wei unleashed.
With a boom, the force Lin Wei emitted struck a stone pillar, one thicker than a man's waist. The pillar swayed, and a pile of rubble fell.
Seizing the moment after the force was unleashed, Old Daoist Xiao quickly pushed Lin Wei away, diverting his gaze from the patterns on the stone wall.
"Quickly cover the patterns on the stone door!" Old Daoist Xiao shouted.
Without suitable items, Xiao Ming and Mei Ling could only stand before the stone wall, using their bodies to shield the patterns.
Unable to see the patterns, Lin Wei began to look around. Old Daoist Xiao hurriedly guided Lin Wei toward the outside of the cave.
Xiao Ming threw all the bags on the ground to Mei Ling, saying, "You take the bags, I'll carry Brother Long."
Mei Ling picked up the four large bags, and Xiao Ming shouldered Long Xiao. They followed Old Daoist Xiao out of the dragon cave.
When they reached the place where the small boat was parked, the three of them were dumbfounded. None of them knew how to row.
Old Daoist Xiao looked at the two children, who were looking at him.
"Master, don't look at me, I don't know how to row," Mei Ling said.
Xiao Ming said, "I can swim. Why don't we swim out?"
Mei Ling glared at Xiao Ming. "Swim out? You going to tow two people?"
Xiao Ming shook his head. "I can barely swim by myself, I can't tow anyone."
Since they couldn't get out, they had to rest where they were. Old Daoist Xiao looked at the dazed Lin Wei, while Xiao Ming and Mei Ling looked at Long Xiao.
Five hours passed quickly. Long Xiao opened his eyes and found himself by the river. He asked, "Xiao Ming, when did we get out?"
Xiao Ming explained the situation to Long Xiao. Long Xiao sat up and looked at Lin Wei, who was standing by the water, staring at the river in a daze.
Long Xiao knew that Lin Wei would not wake up easily if he didn't act.
"Xiao Ming, do you have paper and pen?" Long Xiao asked.
Xiao Ming shook his head. He looked around and only found some broken wooden strips, left over from previous visitors who used them to make torches.
"If we burn this, we can write," Xiao Ming said, picking up a wooden strip.
Long Xiao and Xiao Ming gathered some wooden strips and lit them, quickly creating a few charcoal sticks.
Finding a relatively flat section of the stone wall, Long Xiao had Old Daoist Xiao bring Lin Wei over, and he began to draw.
Xiao Ming illuminated the area with his emergency light. Although the light had not been used constantly, its battery was running low, and the light was dim.
Old Daoist Xiao led Lin Wei to the stone wall. Lin Wei was immediately captivated by the drawings, and stood there looking at them.
Old Daoist Xiao's expression grew increasingly serious as he observed the drawings Long Xiao was making. He realized that Long Xiao's drawings were similar to the patterns on the stone door.
When Long Xiao finished drawing, Old Daoist Xiao asked, "Long Xiao, you understood the patterns on the stone door just now, didn't you?"
Long Xiao knew he couldn't hide it from Old Daoist Xiao and nodded. "Yes, I understood. That's not a stone door, it's a stone wall. The inheritance of the 'Nine Yang Divine Needle' is within those patterns."
"Did you obtain the 'Nine Yang Divine Needle'?" Old Daoist Xiao asked.
Long Xiao nodded. Old Daoist Xiao then asked, "Besides medical skills, are there any cultivation techniques?"
"Yes," Long Xiao replied truthfully.
Old Daoist Xiao suddenly became excited. "It really exists? That's wonderful! It seems Old Man Ge didn't lie to me."
Long Xiao told Old Daoist Xiao that there were indeed cultivation techniques, and he had memorized them all. As for whether Old Daoist Xiao could practice them, he wasn't sure.
Long Xiao chose one of the simpler cultivation techniques from the three and recited it to Old Daoist Xiao.
Old Daoist Xiao became more and more excited as he listened. "Wonderful! This is indeed the Yang Gathering Technique. With this technique, cultivation speed can definitely double."
After Long Xiao finished reciting, he looked at Old Daoist Xiao and thought to himself, It seems you haven't encountered any truly remarkable cultivation techniques, to treasure this one so much.
After listening to the cultivation technique Long Xiao recited, Old Daoist Xiao repeated it for fear of forgetting. Long Xiao listened and nodded, confirming it was correct. Only then did he relax.
Old Daoist Xiao sat aside, contemplating the cultivation technique. Long Xiao looked at Lin Wei, who was still studying the drawings on the wall.
With nothing else to do, Long Xiao felt hungry and took out some food from his bag to eat.
Long Xiao tore open the packaging and casually tossed it aside. He had just eaten a chicken leg and picked up another one that had just been opened when he felt something approaching him.
He turned his head and saw two pairs of glowing green eyes in the darkness, like two lanterns. Just as Long Xiao was trying to figure out what animal these eyes belonged to, he heard Old Daoist Xiao shout, "Long Xiao, move quickly!"
Long Xiao flew backward, landing near the cave wall about ten meters away. With a boom, stone debris and dirt flew everywhere, hitting Long Xiao with a clatter. Something had crashed down where he had been sitting.
The emergency light in Xiao Ming's hand, its battery nearly depleted, was also shattered by a stone.
Without time to think, Long Xiao quickly released his Qi to scan and identify the creature.
His five-elemental Qi swept over, and the image of a giant creature appeared in Long Xiao's mind.
This creature was much larger than an elephant. Its rough skin was covered in scales, it had a single horn on its head, and its two eyes were long and horizontal, appearing very large when open.
"Daoist Xiao, what is this thing?" Long Xiao exclaimed, his voice filled with alarm.
Old Daoist Xiao's Qi swept over, and Long Xiao quickly withdrew his own.
"This is a蛮龙 (máng lóng), a brute dragon. It's extremely powerful," Old Daoist Xiao said.
The *Dragon Treasury's Record of Exotic Beasts* mentioned brute dragons, but this one differed significantly from the description.
"What era is this? There are still dragons. Brother Long, you haven't eaten dragon meat before, have you?" Xiao Ming shouted.
Old Daoist Xiao quickly retreated to Long Xiao's side and said, "Long Xiao, if I get this brute dragon for you, will you cover the expenses for our apprenticeship trip to the East Sea?"
Long Xiao nodded. "No problem. I haven't eaten dragon meat. We don't need it alive, let's take it back to eat its meat."
Old Daoist Xiao nodded, took out a dagger from his懷 (huái - bosom/pocket), and leaped towards the brute dragon.
Long Xiao dared not use his five-elemental spiritual energy to observe the situation. In the darkness, he only heard the sounds of fighting and the brute dragon's roars. Soon, these sounds disappeared.
When Old Daoist Xiao dragged the brute dragon's corpse in front of Long Xiao, Lin Wei, who was still standing by the stone wall, asked, "Long Xiao, what happened?"
"Grandpa, it's nothing. We got a dragon. We're going back to eat dragon meat," Long Xiao shouted loudly.
Long Xiao did not tell Lin Wei about the problem with the drawings on the wall. He was worried that Lin Wei might ask about the pictures he had drawn on the wall.
The brute dragon's corpse was too large to fit in the boat, so they had to dismember it, taking some meat back and discarding the rest.
Xiao Ming specifically extracted the brute dragon's heart. He wanted to go back and treat everyone to a dragon heart feast.
As they rowed the small boat away from the dragon cave, everyone was in good spirits. Long Xiao and Old Daoist Xiao had obtained what they desired, and the two foodies had brute dragon meat to eat.
It seemed Lin Wei hadn't gained anything, but he was also very happy.
He had looked at the drawings Long Xiao had made on the stone wall, and the difficulties he had encountered in his cultivation over the years were finally resolved.
He had gotten married and had children decades ago because he had encountered insurmountable obstacles in his cultivation. He had to experience the mortal world and its ups and downs to find a way to overcome these challenges.
Now that the problem was solved, his cultivation, which had stagnated for decades, could continue. Although he was older now, it did not affect his cultivation.