The Science of Cultivation [Xianxia]

Chapter 246: Friendly Chat

The next morning, Li Lang headed out early to browse the marketplace for various materials and cultivation manuals. Wei Ping accompanied him, while Long Yi stayed behind to focus on brushing up on his skills for the upcoming event.

There were many things they missed the last time they were at the marketplace due to the lack of time. Now they could leisurely go through the greater parts of the market, chatting as they walked.

“Wei Ping, I have a request I want to ask of you.”

“Hm? N-no problem, I can do that Qi attribute test of y-yours.”

“No, not that. It’s something else, and it will unfortunately take up more of your time. At least while we’re still here.”

“What i-is it?”

“Can you start teaching me woodsmithing?”

Wei Ping turned to face his friend fully upon hearing the request. He hadn’t expected it, but eventually nodded slowly.

“I can, b-but why not wait until we return? You’ll be a-able to find a proper mentor once we get back or at l-least reach a city with a guild.”

“It’s related to what we talked about last night. I want to learn all five of the main crafts as soon as possible so I can verify something.”

“Well, I won’t be m-much of a mentor, but I can go over the basics.”

The two young men walked as they went over the basics of woodsmithing. There were plentiful resources around them, where they could easily purchase all the tools they needed for this craft as well.

Woodsmithing was quite different when compared to the other crafts Li Lang had learned so far. It was the only one where years could be spent for the sake of one work. Of course, this profession naturally had ways to speed up its production, but those all involved expensive materials.

So far, Wei Ping was only capable of performing repairs to their Skyrunners and creating simple materials that were used in various other crafts, such as the handle for brushes in brushweaving. Even after having practiced the craft for so long, Wei Ping was still in the middle of nurturing his first Skyrunner.

“Doesn’t that mean it’ll take me at least years to master anything useful?” Li Lang said with a frown.

He had heard about the nature of woodsmithing, but now that he had an urgent need to learn it, the wait became unacceptable.

“B-Boss, that is only for complicated items like a Skyrunner. You can l-learn all the basic skills by just focusing on the sm-smaller scale items.”

“Oh, that’s fine then. I’ll do that. My objective is to experience and increase my affinity with wood element Qi. Speaking of which, have you experienced any improvement in your ability to manipulate wood Qi?”

“Um, maybe? The more I-I practice, the better my woodsmithing skills are, but I don’t have any other techniques t-to test it out on.”

“You should look into that before you settle on a cultivation technique. I know you may be leaning toward the wind attribute, but wood shouldn’t be a bad option for you either. You may even consider picking up both elements.”

Li Lang didn’t want to definitively state anything yet. His research into the combination of attributes hadn’t even started. From what he observed, the synergy between them wasn’t entirely compliant with the scientific principles he was familiar with. The five elements themselves were the perfect example. If he touted that the synergy between these basic elements could unlock limitless energy, he would be called crazy. Even a high schooler would know about the laws of thermodynamics.

That was why he suspected many more artistic conceptions of synergy between attributes were likely effective as well. In the case of wind and wood, the relationship between how seeds and pollen of plants spread, set up a plausible synergy between the two.

The rustling of leaves or swaying of trees, plant life was often inseparable with nature—or more specifically, wind itself.

By the time Wei Ping conveyed all the basics of woodsmithing, the sun had almost traveled to its zenith. The two made haste toward a restaurant on the outskirts of the market area. The reason they were in a hurry wasn’t because of their grumbling stomachs, but because they didn’t want to be late for their meeting.

Arriving on the third floor of the restaurant, the waitress opened the doors to the private room, revealing a figure already sitting inside, sipping on some tea.

“Senior Ri Xin, it’s good to see you again. I didn’t expect you to agree to meet so soon. I have to say it is a pleasant surprise,” Li Lang greeted as he made his way to the table.

The young man smiled in response. His appearance hadn’t changed at all compared to the time Li Lang had met him in Spirit Grove, still appearing as youthful as ever.

“Independent cultivators like me don’t exactly have many responsibilities I need to attend to. I’m relatively free, and I could tell you wanted to meet with me. Anyway, please feel free to speak casually. It feels weird being all stuffy when there aren’t even any elders around.”

“Sure. Oh, I brought one of my friends with me. I hope you don’t mind. This here is Wei Ping.”

“Of course not. I’m always happy to make more friends. It’s the only way people like me can survive and thrive without any large backing.” Ri Xin clasped his fist toward the young man in the wooden mask. “Cheers to our meeting!”

The young man held up the small teacup with both hands, prompting Li Lang and Wei Ping to raise theirs in return. The three toasted before settling down as the waitress returned with their food.

“So what did you want to talk about?” Ri Xin asked as he casually started eating the exquisite dishes made from Earth-grade ingredients.

“Nothing specific. I just wanted to have a good discussion with you about your experiences navigating through the Foundation Establishment Realm.”

“Hmm? The Foundation Establishment Realm and not my experience in breaking through?”

“Oh, sorry, I forgot.” Li Lang exhaled deeply as he released his Wave Dampening Art. His aura slowly increased in vigor until it crossed the mortal threshold. It elicited a gasp from Ri Xin, who was visibly taken aback.

“You’ve broken through already? Th-that is quite fast.”

Seeing this, Wei Ping did the same, opting not to deceive their acquaintance. They were here for advice, so it was disingenuous to deceive a friend like that. Besides, it won’t be a secret for long. They planned to participate in The Dark Sea Arena despite their lack of combat prowess. It was just too good of an opportunity to test themselves and make new connections. Their cultivation would be revealed as soon as the event started.

Ri Xin quickly settled down from the surprise. He wasn’t privy to the duo’s situation, nor did he realize they only had grade one aptitude. The talks quickly moved in the direction of cultivation.

Many things Ri Xin talked about were old information to Li Lang, but there were also plenty of tidbits of new information or perspectives to glean from the conversation.

The three quickly hit it off quite well. The harmonious atmosphere was likely fostered when Ri Xin didn’t mind at all when they revealed themselves as residents of the Demonic Cultivator Territory. As a result, even after exhausting all the topics about cultivation, they naturally broached more personal subjects without any hesitation.

“Your martial intent is impressive, as always. How do you think you stand compared to everyone else participating in the arena this year?”

“I’m not sure. It’s why I’m here to find out, but according to my master, I shouldn’t have any trouble with most people, barring the few who are expected to be the new generation of the Eight Demon Pillars or the Four Enlightened Ones.”

“Four Enlightened Ones?”

“Right. Those guys are said to be even more skilled than the Eight Demon Pillars you’re familiar with. The orthodox sects’ territory is a lot larger than the Luminescent Domain. The Four Enlightened Ones are titles awarded to winners of various regional competitions. They’re just like this Dark Sea Arena here, but more exclusive for sects and more focused on winning rather than exchange.”

“So you’re saying even with all your strength, you still aren’t near the top of those in our stage? That’s hard to imagine,” Li Lang muttered.

“Haha, it doesn’t really matter at our level. The early stage of the Foundation Establishment is only the beginning. What you should pay attention to are those near the top level. They may be in the same realm in name, but they’re all monsters with over a hundred years of experience under their belt. In their eyes, we’re still nothing but children. While they may look down on our strength, we shouldn’t squander the chance to learn from them.”

“Well, I’m sure there’s a lot to be seen during the upcoming event. We are especially clueless about most orthodox cultivators. I heard many of those from the provinces up north will be in attendance, and I’ve simply had no contact with them before.”

“Hm, you should travel more to broaden your horizons.”

“I would love to, but our—identity makes it a bit tricky.”

“It shouldn’t be an issue. You’re likely not well-known outside your home province. If you would like, you can even join me and my master after the Dark Sea Arena is over. We’re heading to the northernmost part of Violet Isle next, so you’ll be able to tour a good part of the island on the way there.”

“That, I’ll have to consider. Thank you for the offer, though.”

“Um, m-may I ask what’s there in the north?” Wei Ping interjected. “Isn’t it the same as the sects n-nearby? Why take the trouble to travel so far?”

“Oh, for the most part, you’re right, but the northernmost sects are said to be the most powerful in the entirety of Violet Isle. They have the benefit of being in contact with the mainlanders the most often, after all. We’re traveling up there this time to see if we can get a chance to speak to one of these envoys visiting from the mainland.”

Mainlanders and more powerful sects? Does this mean the techniques up there will be more powerful and sophisticated as well? I’d love to study them, but should we really spare the time to travel to such a distant place?