The Science of Cultivation-Chapter 278: The Wilderness Plan

A few weeks passed where Li Lang had been in closed-door cultivation. He only came out once a week to check in with his companions, but otherwise remained within Ruby’s artifact space.

This was all made possible thanks to all the Nourishment Pills he had refined in the past. Though he hadn’t been refining as many of them recently, as he had plans to share the pill recipe with any of his students interested in alchemy. For now, he wanted to wait until they settled down in a more permanent residence first.

There were various steps one must take in order to establish an organization. It wasn’t simply gathering enough people, building a place, and calling it a day. Well, one could do that, but it wouldn’t be a proper organization that could stand up to the scrutiny of the rest of Violet Isle.

That’s why, besides learning and polishing his techniques, Li Lang had been preparing everything before they departed Emberglow City. These things included a standardized curriculum for his current and future students and how their organization would function.

Whether he liked it or not, an organization or sect wasn’t a charity. To operate, they needed funding, rules, traditions, and everything that allowed a group to function smoothly.

One of the most crucial pieces to his preparations was completed, thanks to Ruby’s new abilities—a method to increase willpower. The accelerated time gave him more leeway to test out various methods to find what was most promising. It still needed long-term study to verify the results, as the artifact space reset his progress after reentering. A day or two of progress could only get him so far, although it did enable him to observe without other methods polluting the results.

However, despite all his progress, there was one important aspect he couldn’t make any promising headways in—the subject of demonic cultivation.

Having promised the organizations of Luminescent Domain to include demonic cultivators into his ranks, he would soon need to train some of his new students in demonic techniques. The issue was that his entire group consisted of orthodox cultivators. None of them could practice demonic cultivation techniques, which meant he was reduced to an armchair theorist.

That’s why he consulted with the experts before they finally departed from the city.

“Thank you for making the time to see me, Senior Tai,” Li Lang greeted.

“I heard your group is leaving tomorrow? Are you here to say goodbye?” the Bloodwave Conclave disciple asked in return.

“Yes, but we can still remain in close contact through the communication jade. Or we can also visit. We don’t plan on relocating anywhere too far from here.”

“That is fine. On behalf of Bloodwave Conclave, you’re always welcome back at anytime.”

“Thank you, Senior.” The two fell silent for a few moments before Li Lang continued. “Anyway, there was something else I wanted to ask you.”

“Go ahead.”

“Umm, as you know, I will soon have to recruit some demonic cultivators, so I wanted to ask a few questions.”

“Right.” Tai Xilin frowned. “You sure are taking this seriously. I heard some people suspect you will simply throw a few cultivation techniques you can get your hands on and leave your students to their own learning.”

“I see,” Li Lang thoughtfully replied. “The stipulation only says I must have one-third of my members practice demonic cultivation techniques, after all. I can see why people think that, but that would be dishonest on my part. The point is to prove my neutrality so I’ll properly train my students, no matter the technique they will practice.”

“Oh, so you plan on guiding others in ways you are unfamiliar with?” the man in black and red robes replied with undisguised amusement. “I’m not one to doubt others, but I must say I look forward to seeing the results.”

“Anyway, Senior. About my questions. Can you tell me all you know about how various demonic cultivation techniques affect the practitioner’s mind?”

For the rest of the day, Li Lang stayed within the grounds of the Bloodwave Conclave. Before he left, he even brought as many demonic cultivation techniques as he could find.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Now that he had finished the curriculum for orthodox cultivation, he was determined to switch gears to figure out the demonic discipline.

***

The next day, Li Lang’s group flew out of the underground city first thing in the morning. There wasn’t any fanfare as all his students were within the crucible, so the party only consisted of the usual trio and the three minders from Sword Saint Isle.

They headed north until they came across the towering mountain ranges that acted as a buffer between orthodox territory and the Luminescent Domain.

Before venturing off into the wilderness where Qi beasts ruled, Li Lang had a meeting with his protectors.

“Li Lang, do you have a destination in mind?” Jun Ziyan asked. “You can’t possibly be heading in without a plan, right? In case you don’t know, there are powerful Qi beasts that lurk in these mountain ranges. While I can handle most of them, it isn’t unheard of for Saint-grade beasts to appear.”

“T-True. I even heard there w-was a beast somewhere that i-is comparable to a Spirit Divide Realm cultivator,” Wei Ping added.

“Does using Concealment Talismans count as a plan?” Li Lang said, causing his audience to balk.

Jun Ziyan swiftly recovered by shaking her head vigorously.

“Unless you have an unlimited supply of Saint-grade Concealment Talismans, it isn’t a great idea. You’re gambling with your life here. That is, unless you plan to settle somewhere that isn’t directly on top of the ley lines. The chances of strong Qi beasts being elsewhere are much lower.”

“The wilderness is dangerous, yes,” Li Lang agreed. “However, it doesn’t have to be us who brave the dangers.”

“You want to hire an expert to help find a suitable location?”

“Maybe. That’s a good last resort, but I’m thinking of sourcing locally first.”

That lit the fire under Jun Ziyan even more.

“You can’t! Polarity City or our Sword Saint Isle is one thing, as we’re neutral, but having a member of any other faction present when you set your foundations is not a good idea. It’ll give them leverage in your future dealings! And trust me, they’ll push if it’s to one-up their rivals.”

“No, no. I’m not talking about the official organizations around here or the sects on the other side of the mountain ranges. I’m talking more local. The people who live here.”

The group took a second to process his words before Long Yi suddenly clapped his hands in realization.

“Ah, you’re talking about the feral demonic cultivators!”

“That’s right.”

“What?” Jun Ziyan said with a frown. “You plan on cooperating with those psychopaths?”

“No. Just because I want someone else to brave the danger doesn’t mean I need their cooperation.”

“Those are the words I feared ever hearing from you, Li Lang.” Long Yi sighed. “I hate to imagine what an experimentation addict will resort to when they no longer care about consent.”

“Hey! Stop making it look like I’m a psychopath, too,” Li Lang bellowed. “Clearing out feral demonic cultivators is a good thing for the entirety of Violet Isle. It just so happens I have uses for them instead of just taking them out—and who knows, maybe I’ll find a way to bring them back to their senses?”

Both Long Yi and Wei Ping shook their heads. They both had a pretty good idea about what was to come next.

“What are you guys planning?” Jun Ziyan couldn’t take it any longer and asked directly.

“Li Lang here happens to have a history of experimenting with matters affecting the human body. Things like alchemy pills and cultivation techniques,” Long Yi answered in a weary voice.

“What? That’s blasphemous—to the orthodox sects, at least. Is this how he became an alchemist? Through trial and error using other people’s lives?”

“No,” Li Lang defended. “I knew what I was doing, but tests are needed to verify my results. Now that I’m researching demonic cultivation, I find it prudent to see if there is a way to reverse, or at least mitigate, the effects of cultivation deviation. Otherwise, I can’t in good conscience teach my students demonic techniques.”

Jun Ziyan’s companions, Da Xing and Da Feng, each placed a hand on her shoulders to calm her down. She exchanged glances with them and took a deep breath.

“Apologies. I’m not here to judge your actions, but I will report it to the Sword Saint.”

“No need to apologize. I understand how the perception of one as young as I, playing with lives, can seem, but I assure you, I’m likely the best person for the task.”

Li Lang wistfully thought about the possibility of someone being more proficient than him in the study of the human body. He couldn’t discount an old cultivator having spent thousands of years researching the human body, but he doubted their approach was anything like his.

The training he received was a result of weak mortals struggling against their fate. Their approach to the same subject would likely be tremendously different. As a biodefense expert, Li Lang was confident in his abilities to unravel the mechanics behind demonic deviation.

In his opinion, he was the feral demonic cultivator’s best chance at recovery, if they even had one at all. And if they didn’t, then at least their demise would contribute to something meaningful while stopping them from causing further harm.