The Science of Cultivation [Xianxia]

Long Yi scratched his cheeks as he awkwardly directed a smile at his companions.

“I don’t have a unique physique… it’s just that…I’ve gotten into a lot of fights since I was young. Ha ha…”

“No kidding…You moved like a veteran of a hundred battles.” Li Lang muttered.

“...A hundred is too much, maybe like sixty or so?”

“...”

Li Lang and Wei Pang exchanged a quick glance before both shrugging. They then directed a skeptical gaze at their capable companion.

“Come on… Don’t look at me like that. It’s not like I purposefully look for trouble or anything…it’s just sometimes I can’t avoid interfering if I see injustice happening before my eyes. They’re an eyesore and it ruins my mood if I let it be.”

“B-boss, these types of p-people are what w-we call trouble magnets!”

“Hey! I swear it—”

Before Long Yi could further explain himself, the innkeeper had returned and cleared his throat.

“Ahem, thank you for waiting, boys. I can process your rooms now.” The man looked around sneakily before leaning toward the boys to whisper. “Between you and me, I’ll give you guys a big discount for your help.”

“Thank you! We’ll take three rooms!” Long Yi immediately answered for his group.

“I thought you didn’t have any coins.” Li Lang said emotionlessly, immediately pouring cold water on Long Yi’s excitement.

“What! I don’t. If you don’t pay for me, then…Can I stay in one of your rooms?”

Seeing the boy with a figure comparable to an adult’s, pleading them with eyes like a puppy, both Li Lang and Wei Ping couldn’t help but burst out in laughter.

“I’m just kidding. Innkeeper, we’ll trouble you to give us three rooms.”

“Of course, of course.”

The three young kids soon retired for the night. As always, Li Lang completed his nightly cultivation session and spent some time in Ruby’s artifact space first before going to bed.

However, he allotted a little extra time to explore a new technique he had been curious about ever since he heard about it.

Qi sense…does it work just by pouring Qi into something?

Having heard all his fellow alchemists talk about how important Qi sense was for refining pills, he wanted to try it out himself. A lot of stuff had happened since he broke through during Spirit Grove’s sect competition. It was only now that things had calmed down he had a chance to explore it.

He took out one of the Recovery Pills he refined and began to envelop it with his Qi. As soon as his Qi made contact with it, he felt like it had become a part of his body. With a bit of focus, he was able to peer into the pill, as if he had a camera that could phase through objects.

“What a strange feeling.” Li Lang muttered.

Next, he tried to do the same with some of the alchemy materials. He found that the Qi sense technique was only really good for monitoring the real-time condition of what his Qi had come into contact with. Other than that, it was quite hard to tell what the materials were by the feeling alone, which wasn’t much different from physically touching the materials.

I’m also supposed to envelop a weapon to reinforce it too. Is it the same technique? Wait. I need a weapon in the first place! I didn’t get one since I’m so used to fighting unarmed…Oh well, I guess that’s one extra thing added to my shopping list for once I settle down in Polarity City.

The next morning, the trio didn’t see a trace of the triplets from the Violet Sword Sect and smoothly resumed their journey.

They retrieved their Skyrunner from the inn’s stables and took to the skies.

“So…What do you guys plan to do once we arrive at our destination?” Long Yi asked as he stared around in boredom.

“...I told you what I’ve been doing while we were locked up. I’m trying to restart my experiments in Polarity City.”

“Umm…As long as it isn’t demonic cultivation, I’m down.”

“That’s the plan.”

“I p-plan to restart our s-soda business as well to e-earn more funds.” Wei Ping added.

“Hmm…I don’t think that’s needed. I can still refine pills to fund us, so you should focus on recruiting test subjects for me. I think I’ll make a breakthrough soon regarding how to remove the toxins accumulated from cultivating.”

“What toxins?” Long Yi yapped with eyes shining in curiosity.

“...I guess I didn’t go over any details on what my experiments were for, did I?”

“Nope, you just told me how you’re searching for a way to compensate for your grade one aptitude.”

“Right. We’re currently working on improving our cultivation speed and we’ve identified some toxins that build up in our bodies when we cultivate. I believe I can find a way to deal with these toxins soon.”

“What? Are you some type of genius? I have grade three aptitude, by the way. But do you think your new methods would work on me as well?” Long Yi immediately asked, not doubting the words he heard for even a second.

Li Lang inwardly let out a sigh as he began to explain the basics of what his research entailed and the progress they’ve made so far.

On their second night after they left Xiang Yang, they camped out in the woods as they hadn’t reached any towns or villages.

On the evening of the third day, they finally spotted their destination.

A giant wall stood menacingly in the distance. If one looked carefully, one could see a soft yellow glow of the barrier surrounding the city as well.

A notable amount of Skyrunner traffic filled the skies just outside the city. The city looked way larger than Xiang Yang, thanks to its tall walls.

There was only a short line to enter the city, and the three children soon rode their carriage up to a pair of guards. From the way they carried themselves and their demeanor, it wasn’t hard to notice they were all Foundation Establishment cultivators, worthy of being deacons in large sects.

It was entirely different from Xiang Yang, which employed mortal guards who had shallow cultivation.

“Length of stay?”

“We’re planning to stay here for the foreseeable future.”

The guard glanced up at the strange kids with a frown.

“It costs ten spirit stones per month for each person to stay in the city. You can either pay monthly or pay for the entire year now.”

“...We’ll pay for the month first, then.”

Li Lang gingerly fished out twenty Qi stones while Long Yi brought out his own.

Qi stones hadn’t been cheap to redeem from the sect. They cost ten contributions each, but thankfully, the kind Elder Cao had given him a whole one hundred and fifty stones. There was a whole fifty extra that she added, which made Li Lang’s money bag quite heavy despite each stone being approximately the size of a coin.

The guard handed over a thin metal plate in exchange for the toll fee and the three boys were quickly waved on through.

After paying the toll and coupled with the stones they had used to power the Skyrunner, Li Lang counted a hundred and seventeen left since the Skyrunner had used up approximately one Qi stone every two hours.

“Isn’t the cost to stay in the city exorbitant for regular folks?” Li Lang asked as soon as they were out of the guards’ earshot.

His two companions simply shrugged, as none of them had been to the city before.

They aimlessly drove their Skyrunner down the street as they surveyed their new city.

Everyone they saw carried themselves confidently and seemed well-off. There weren’t as many food stalls compared to Xiang Yang, as most businesses around operated out of a proper storefront.

“I d-don’t see any g-gawkers or the u-usual back alley d-dwellers.” Wei Ping whispered.

“Maybe this is a wealthy district…no we’re by the entrance. Perhaps they force all the unsavory elements into somewhere out of view, like their slum district?” Li Lang wondered.

“We can ask someone later. Let’s go find someplace to stay and grab some food first!” Long Yi excitedly declared.

“Hmm…Let’s find an inn first. We can look for more permanent residence once we are settled.”

Thankfully, it wasn’t too hard to spot a sign depicting a sun and moon that all inns had. Li Lang took some time to examine the building and the people who frequent it to judge if it was a suitable place to stay.

After inspecting three inns, he found one that seemed right and quickly acquired rooms. Just like at the tollgate, the inns only accepted Qi stones, costing two stones for each room for a night.

Once they unpacked in their rooms, the three swiftly gathered inside Li Lang’s room.

“It’s going to cost us sixty Qi stones each month just to stay here, without accounting for food. That’s one hundred and eighty between us.” Li Lang turned to Long Yi. “How much do you have left?”

“I only have twenty left.”

“S-shall we all s-share a room, then? It s-seems pretty b-big.”

The three surveyed the room in unison. It had space for two beds and a long bench. There was enough room for the three of them without being crowded.

“Sure, we can share a room starting tomorrow, then.”

“That would be great for me as well! Could I stay with you too, Li Lang?” Long Yi cried.

“...Sure, if you don’t mind the bench. Let’s go speak to the innkeeper now and also ask them where the Alchemist Guild and slums are.”

The party didn’t dawdle and immediately went on their way. However, they were stunned by the innkeeper lady’s reply.

“Slums? There are no slums in Polarity City. Is this your first time here?”