The Science of Cultivation [Xianxia]

Chapter 229: Recklessness

Wei Ping didn’t lose himself in his memories for long. He was short on time. He had to act soon or else his captor, Yuan Kai, could return at any moment.

Even if his friends were currently fighting outside, Wei Ping doubted they would be able to fight their way through in time before he had his life force stolen from him.

“It m-may be scary, but I have to p-press on!” He turned to the portly woman in the neighboring cell. “Can you help me get out of these restraints?”

“Hm, roll over here. I’ll loosen them, but you have to remember to place them back on yourself when the owner returns.”

Wei Ping didn’t bother to reply and rolled his body over to the edge of the cell. The woman reached over and helped loosen his bindings, so he could break free himself. Without a word, he rushed back to the center of his cell.

Purging any hesitation from his mind, Wei Ping got into the lotus position and began executing a technique he had grown quite familiar with. It required him to move from his starting position, going through various stances, causing him to appear as if he was performing some strange dance.

It caused confusion among all his cellmates, but they’d seen enough people going crazy to bother with it too much. However, that soon all changed. That was because they began to realize what this newcomer was attempting to do.

Any sane cultivator would have the same reaction. Even Li Lang’s eyes would likely bulge upon seeing the crazy stunt his friend was trying to pull. It wasn’t because he was using the Ascension Technique he devised. That was something he had seen hundreds of times now among all his students. What would have truly surprised him was Wei Ping’s audacity to attempt his breakthrough without consuming a Foundation Pill!

Few ever dared to do something so crazy. It was simply crazy to do so when a well-proven safeguard, like the Foundation Pills, existed.

When one tried to break through into the Foundation Establishment Realm, they were taking on a lot of risks. Huge amounts of energy gathered into one spot. The quantities involved were not something Energy Gatherers could ever hope to contain for long. If they slipped up, all the built-up energy would be released at once, causing a violent explosion to take place within their body!

Foundation Pills were the only tried-and-true method to mitigate this scenario. It allowed the gathered Qi to dissipate at a reasonable rate that wouldn’t harm the user.

By attempting to break through without consuming the pill, Wei Ping had set off on a path of no return. He would either succeed or die. It was a trial he couldn’t afford to lose. It was as if he chose to climb a towering mountain without any equipment. Any slipups would cost him his life.

“Are you crazy? I didn’t free you just so you can get us all killed!” the portly woman in the adjacent cell cried out in terror.

While few modern cultivators witnessed the aftermath of a failed breakthrough, they could speculate how terrible the explosions would be. Even with optimistic estimates, they would definitely still be in the epicenter of it all. None of them wanted to die for Wei Ping’s crazed attempt.

“You said t-these cell doors are enchanted,” Wei Ping slowly muttered. “They should be able t-to handle most of the impact if I fail.”

His words evidently didn’t ease any worries, but he couldn’t afford to bother with that anymore. They continued to cry out, trying to convince him to stop his suicidal attempt. He ignored them and refocused on his task at hand, to execute the specific moves of the Ascension Technique that were catered to his constitution.

He soon felt the familiar feeling of Qi rushing toward one point in his body. The number of spiritual roots he had was on the high end, among grade one aptitude, at fifteen. His meridian channels had four main pathways that converged at his dantian. On paper, his chances were much higher than Li Lang’s, yet he had failed every single attempt so far while Li Lang had succeeded.

At times, he couldn’t deny he had some doubts. He wasn’t sure if it was really possible for him to succeed. While he knew Li Lang was in an even worse position than him, he always thought his boss had a special quality to him that made him different from regular folks. The lack of success from the other grade one aptitude students only gave more credence to this claim.

But right now, he didn’t dwell on any of these details. His mind was only filled with the next steps he needed to take in order to complete his breakthrough. In no time, the Qi within his body had reached the critical point where it began to qualitatively change.

His stomach felt bloated. It only grew worse as time passed.

Light shone from his dantian, horrifying his cellmates. They all knew it was too late for Wei Ping to stop now. They all ceased their attempts to persuade Wei Ping right away, and the dungeon became deathly silent. Now that it happened, no one wanted to disturb Wei Ping.

Many of them believed they would get caught up in the explosion if he failed, so they could only do everything in their power to prevent that from happening. Those who feared death silently prayed. There was nothing else they could do.

The time it took for breaking through varied from person to person. Many took an entire day, while some took the same time one would need to make a cup of tea.

The only constant was how draining the ordeal was. Wei Ping’s consciousness slowly but surely slipped away.

Just as Li Lang had theorized after his own breakthrough, Wei Ping eventually fell into a dream-like state. Li Lang had explained it as the response of the human body during dire situations. The surge in stress hormones enhanced brain activity, particularly the areas involved in memory and perception. It allowed one to recall past experiences to evaluate possible actions that could help escape the current predicament.

However, with the presence of a large amount of Qi, a substance he believed to be highly responsive to one’s will and thoughts, Li Lang believed these dream-like states were a vital part of the breakthrough.

Unfortunately for him, his own recollection of the event was hazy at best. Like most dreams, one soon forgot about it after waking up.

Rubbing his eyes, Wei Ping found himself riding on a carriage through a forest.

“Tired? W-Why don’t you lie down in the back?” a kind voice called out beside him.

“If anyone needs to take a break, it’s you, Dad.”

It only took a split second for Wei Ping to remember they were on a trip to a neighboring town to conduct trade. He was happy to accompany his father and help him with his job. However, he had a strong feeling he had forgotten something. As their carriage continued to trek across the forest, he tried his best to remember it.

He never stopped until their carriage came to a stop due to the fallen tree in the distance blocking the road.

“What do we do now, Dad? Do we head back?”

“Hmm, no. We c-can still take the longer path that goes around the mountain in the south. I haven’t t-taken it in many years, but it s-should still be usable.”

“An old and secret route? So cool!”

The young Wei Ping suddenly froze up about uttering those words. His father failed to notice it as he busied himself with turning the carriage around, but he would likely fail to notice anything amiss even if he did.

That was because Wei Ping suddenly remembered everything. This was all a dream. The father sitting beside him should be dead, so he was only a figment of his imagination.

No, even if this is a dream, I can’t let this play out!

“We h-have to head back to town! We can come back o-on another day once the road is cleared!”

His sudden outburst surprised his father. His son was not one to usually state his opinion so strongly, but the most surprising part was his stutter. Only he had a speech impediment in the family. His son had never shown signs of it in the past. He also wasn’t the type of person to make fun of him, so he found the entire outburst particularly strange.

“W-What has gotten into you, son?”

“Just listen to me! Return to town right now!”

Unfortunately, Wei Ping was not in the right state of mind to explain. That was because this was the day he lost his father. Even if he was only reliving that memory, he didn’t want to let it happen again.