The Science of Cultivation [Xianxia]

Chapter 231: Introductions

The world around the mountain range constantly flickered between total darkness and bright flashing lights. It was accentuated by the occasional sound of metal clashing. Li Lang and Long Yi couldn’t afford to look back at the scene of battle as they rushed away.

They had received the signal to retreat. While every fiber of their being wanted to ignore it and rush into the stronghold of the demonic deviators, they still complied in the end. They knew just because they wanted something didn’t mean they could accomplish it. Being blinded by emotion was one of the easiest paths to downfall in both combat and cultivation.

They knew their chances were slim without the help of the two late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators from Nightmoon Valley, so they had to work with them. These experts decided that they should retreat. The only smart thing to do was follow their lead.

Having planned out this possibility prior to their arrival, the two young men knew just where to go. They retreated in the same direction they had come.

Since they were running away, none of the deviators around bothered with them. They were too busy dealing with the two exceptionally powerful intruders.

The two got away without any incident, but the same couldn’t be said for Zhu Yi and Ma Kong. Their opponents realized their formidable strength and wisely called for backup to abuse their numbers’ advantage. Every second, the pressure they faced grew as more deviators joined the fight. Eventually, dozens of demonic deviators responded to the intrusion and surrounded the two.

“Ma Kong, this is enough. Let us retreat,” Zhu Yi called out.

“Do you really think we’d let you come and go like this?” one of the deviators scoffed. “Especially after you discovered our hideout? Dream on!”

The two didn’t bother replying to their foes and began a fighting retreat.

No matter how much the deviators wanted, they could only do so much, despite their numbers. The two from Nightmoon Valley were just too strong. They may not be able to overcome the numbers difference, but there was no way to prevent them from leaving.

The nearby landscape changed as Qi arts were exchanged, and the deviators desperately tried to kill them. If they allowed these two to retreat with information about their hideout, they would be forced to leave and find another place. While that didn’t sound like a big deal, it was undoubtedly a life-threatening ordeal for these deviators.

The wilderness had plenty of dangers. Qi beasts, cultivators from both the demonic and righteous paths, and even other deviators. Without a place to retreat to, their chances of survival upon any encounters dropped significantly. This was especially so if they had made any enemies.

Zhu Yi and Ma Kong didn’t care about any of these considerations. They continued to retreat while fighting them off. They eventually neared the rendezvous point, where Li Lang and Long Yi were waiting.

Instead of regrouping with them, they indiscriminately unleashed their Qi arts all over the place. One such attack happened to land near the spot where the duo was hiding. A wall of darkness impacted the ground beside Li Lang before sinking beneath the earth. In its wake was a small piece of paper.

Wasting no time to pick it up, Li Lang found a message written on it. It told him to go rescue Wei Ping inside the stronghold and that Ma Kong would follow suit soon. Having both read the message, Li Lang and Long Yi nodded to each other.

“We likely don’t have much time before those deviators give up on their chase,” Li Lang commented. “Make sure you use the Wave Dampening Art to hide your cultivation, so we can surprise them. We’ll take every advantage we can get.”

“I still can’t maintain it for long, but it should be enough until we encounter whoever is still standing guard inside. I’m going to need your help if it’s anyone in the same realm as us.”

“I’ll try my best to help, but I don’t know how much I can do.”

After confirming the cultivators chasing after their allies had flown by them, the two raced back toward the hideout.

During the short trek back, Li Lang thought hard about how he could help in the upcoming fight. They knew the other party must’ve left somebody to defend their base, and Li Lang wasn’t confident in confronting any Foundation Establishment cultivator.

While he was also in the same realm, he had yet to cultivate any Earth-grade cultivation technique. It was a commitment that he didn’t want to take lightly. Selecting one of these powerful techniques could provide a huge power boost, especially when working with Qi of the respective affinity, but it weakened the mastery one had of other attributes. The last thing he wanted was to regret his decision.

All this meant Li Lang lacked the same enhancements that other Foundation Establishment cultivators would have. He would have to rely on Long Yi for any upcoming battles.

The two soon returned to the area where the deviator base was located. They had witnessed them emerging, so they immediately went to investigate the area they had come from.

They soon found a hole in the ground. It was strangely dark, preventing them from clearly seeing what was below. If they didn’t know better, they would’ve believed it was the burrow of some wild animal or Qi beast.

Taking a deep breath, the two plunged into the opening. They landed on a stone-tiled clearing. It was completely different from what they expected before jumping down. They thought they would land on cold damp earth, not neatly laid tiles.

“There is some sort of illusion formation obscuring this place,” Li Lang muttered.

“Come on, we don’t have time to analyze anything,” Long Yi rebuked. “There’s a staircase here. Let’s go!”

“Wait. We’re going to use a talisman now.”

Hearing this, Long Yi didn’t rush down the staircase right away. Li Lang came up to him, placed a hand on his shoulder, and took out a talisman from the space ring. The talisman quickly disintegrated, but its effects were immediate. Their figures quickly disappeared from view.

It wasn’t the first time they used such a talisman. It was their trump card that allowed them to escape from dangerous foes, the Concealment Talisman! This time, they used it offensively instead of defensively. Its duration was short, but its ability to remain concealed was top-class. They didn’t dawdle and sprinted down the staircase.

They previously weren’t sure when to use this trump card of theirs, but upon noticing the illusionary formation that protected the stronghold, Li Lang decided to use it right away. He hadn’t had the chance to study formations yet, but he knew they were capable of doing many things. He would be a fool to believe these deviators wouldn’t include a detection function in the formation that protected their residence.

Just as he suspected, two sets of footsteps could be heard coming up the stairs as they descended. They carefully maneuvered around them and continued their way down. They soon arrived at the bottom of the stairs, where a small camp could be seen nearby. One man sat there by a fire, occasionally stealing glances at the staircase.

The two intruders didn’t have time for any sightseeing and treaded past this checkpoint as fast as they could. With the Tracing Origin Art as their compass, they made their way deeper into the tunnels.

The entire place was like a maze. Numerous side tunnels split off to their sides. Many of them had drapes covering the entrance, but the place was eerily quiet for its size. Evidently, a majority of its occupants had gone outside to chase after Zhu Yi or were hunkered down in the chambers at the end of these side tunnels. Either way, it worked out for the two intruders as the duration of their Concealment Talisman quickly ran out. No one was there to see them appear out of thin air.

Racing down the main corridor, they eventually came to a stop when Tracing Origin Art pointed them down one of the side tunnels. Just as they pushed past the cover at the entrance, a voice suddenly called out to them from behind.

“I don’t believe we’ve met before. I am Xie Zhi. Do you care to introduce yourselves?”