The Science of Cultivation-Chapter 245: New Stipulations
Noting down his observations, it didn’t take long for Li Lang to form a theory.
“The three elements that cannibalized the other two are fire, water, and metal,” he muttered as he stared at the computer screen in his lab. “Prima facie, these elements are all ones I’ve often been using for the three crafts I practice.”
Li Lang recalled the time when he was being tested by Tie Qian, his artificer mentor. He was almost rejected because of his lack of metal affinity. When he readjusted his mindset, that changed. His artificer mentor also talked about how working with metals more often would increase his affinity. It wouldn’t be surprising he had better control of the attributes he was familiar with.
He naturally began suspecting the reason for the five elements failing was because his mastery of the five elements was uneven.
He was significantly better with Qi of the fire, water, and metal attributes. It explained why those orbs of Qi grew quicker, causing the other two elements to lag behind.
“Master, are you okay?” a soft voice asked.
“I’m fine, Ruby. Just let me note down my findings and you can let me out.”
“Understood!”
It wasn’t long before Li Lang opened his eyes, and the first thing he saw was the figure of Blue, Orange, and Green staring at him. To his side was Wei Ping, sitting with a perfect posture next to him.
“My test is done. Thanks, everyone.”
The three artifact spirits bowed politely while Wei Ping stood up.
“Care t-to explain now? You said you wanted m-me to do the same test next, right?”
“Hm, all I have are theories based on many presumptions right now, so if you don’t mind that, I can.”
Wei Ping nodded, urging Li Lang to elaborate. Li Lang did just that, retelling everything he had experienced and the reason why he had called him over to stand guard.
Having heard Li Lang’s retelling of his reckless actions, Wei Ping didn’t have any words to reprimand him with. He only sighed. It simply wasn’t surprising, considering who he was dealing with.
“Anyway, it’s getting late,” Li Lang continued. “There’s no need to rush this. You can take a shot at it tomorrow or something.”
“B-Boss, just because it went okay for you does not mean it will for me.”
“I haven’t heard of anything that can go wrong when it comes to this kind of test. I’m sure our fine friends from Nightmoon Valley will tell us if there are really dangers to these tests, with their long history and all that.”
The conversation was soon cut short as the hour got late. As excited as Li Lang was about his new discoveries, even he knew to take a break from time to time. All the low-hanging fruits had been plucked. Any further progress he would make required more testing and observations.
The next morning, he sent one of the inn’s errand boys to set up a meeting with Ri Xin, the independent cultivator, before rounding up his students.
“It’s been decided. We’ll start letting those of you who have reached the Foundation Establishment Realm out of the pocket realm starting next week. You’ll be released individually or in pairs to avoid attention. I hope you’ll all take this last bit of time to train as hard as you can. That goes double for those yet to break through. This event is the perfect place to gain insight from those who have tread the path you’ll be taking in the future.”
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As much as the trio wanted to let everyone out, it was too dangerous to permit the Energy Gatherers to move about unsupervised. With so many experts gathering, the chances of conflict arising were too great. Without enough strength, they wouldn’t be able to even defend themselves until help arrived.
When the young students were done shouting affirmations to his instructions, his eyes landed on the group of Energy Gatherers. Like him, they all had grade one aptitude and thus, were the closest match to him.
They had been trying their best to break through, and with the insights of both Wei Ping and himself, they should be crossing the vital hurdle at any time now. When they did, they would be the most representative test subjects for Li Lang. That’s why he urged them over and gave them additional guidance.
“You guys have been working hard, I know, but in order to stimulate you even more, I’ve decided on a new system for our resource distribution.”
The half a dozen kids looked puzzled at Li Lang’s sudden declaration.
“Resource distribution?” Wu San repeated.
“So far, I’ve been giving you Foundation Pills whenever you needed it, but I believe that is having a negative effect on you all. From what we observed from Teach Wei’s breakthrough, having more at stake should have a positive effect on your willpower.”
“You want us to replicate Teacher Wei’s feat of breaking through without using a Foundation Pill?” Ouyang Jie shouted out excitedly.
He was usually timid, but he idolized Wei Ping. He was crazy enough to want to follow in his idol’s footsteps, but had always been denied the opportunity by his saner teachers.
“Of course not. That is too dangerous,” Li Lang mercilessly shut his overzealous student down. “What we’ll be instating is the method to earn the Foundation Pill. If you haven’t realized, this pill is valuable to even the biggest sects and organizations. While I can afford to supply them to you now, that may not always be the case. Especially if we’ll be taking on more students in the future.”
Li Lang scanned his students as he allowed them some time to process his words before continuing.
“From now on, you’ll only be given a Foundation Pill if you manage to defeat ten Qi beasts whose powers are on par with you. That means Peak Energy Gathering beasts. You can do so at your discretion. The artifact spirit of the Crucible will keep track.”
“What?!”
The students cried out in disbelief. Since they had little combat training, for them, the task of facing off against a Qi beast of the same cultivation was a herculean task. They could barely beat one if they relied on hit-and-run tactics, using the terrain to shield them from harm. Even then, it was a war of attrition, where they had to grit their teeth and endure a long fight.
Having heard they had to complete this task not once, but ten times, the young cultivators grimaced.
“Don’t complain. You’re fortunate enough to be able to obtain Foundation Pills already. Many disciples in big organizations have to work for years to be afforded this opportunity.”
None of the kids argued against their teacher. They simply looked at the ground and accepted the new terms. All except for one person, Wu San, who raised a hand up.
“Question? Let’s hear it.”
“Teacher Li, may I ask what kind of tests you have in mind for us once we break through?”
“Hm, what do you mean?”
“Teacher, if you’re urging us to break through, it can only mean you have a need for us right now, right? I’m willing to help, but I’m also curious. Are our seniors not enough or do they not meet your requirements somehow?”
Hearing these questions, Wei Ping and Long Yi, who were off to the side, couldn’t help but chuckle. Even one of the young students could read Li Lang like a book now. They took joy in how even kids could see right through him.
Li Lang couldn’t even say anything to shut them up. He simply ignored his two friends and dutifully explained what he had in mind. He couldn’t wait to get this over with, so he could head out and procure more cultivation manuals for his study.
After all, he now had an inkling as to what kind of Earth-grade cultivation he wanted. However, he suspected a technique involving the five elements wasn’t so easy to find. Even those with two or three attributes were rare, one that had to do with such a powerful concept like the five elements was likely to be a legendary secret technique, if they even existed.
He had a feeling that he would have to create the technique himself if he wanted to obtain one within the next century. To do so, he would have to study as many samples as possible.
At the same time, he would also have to consider starting to dabble in the art of formations and woodsmithing soon. His mastery of the earth and wood elements was lagging behind the other three. If he wanted to dabble with the five elements, he was confident it was necessary to shore up these shortcomings.
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