The Science of Cultivation [Xianxia]

Chapter 259: Island Incursion

“Is that everyone?” Li Lang cried out, no longer caring if anyone overheard them. It was no longer the time to care if people found out about his students. They were just as likely to assume they were his acquaintances as well. Either way, the growing intensity of the fighting happening in the distance made the situation too urgent for Li Lang to care.

“Yep, Wu San was the last one.”

The mentors and students looked to inspect their own group for a few moments.

“Okay, everyone in! It’ll be cramped, but bear with it.”

Everyone rushed in as instructed, but instead of cramming into the Skyrunner as onlookers would expect, they were entering into the Crucible one by one. Li Lang had the entrance up inside. He was the last to board and instantly stowed his Spirit-grade artifact away.

As they gained in altitude, they got a better view of the battle in the distance. It was hard to miss. Half the sky was covered in dark clouds that were slowly but surely encroaching toward the island. A colorful array of Qi arts could be seen on display, as they nimbly twirled around in the air, trying to bypass enemy defenses. Occasionally, explosions could be heard as well.

From the sound alone, I can almost mistake this for a scene in a historical war movie.

Li Lang, Wei Ping, and Long Yi were the only ones remaining on the Skyrunner, and they all silently stared at the ongoing clash. None of them said anything as they swiftly flew back to the city. It was where the Sword Saint instructed his guests to go, and who were they to do otherwise?

There was a nonzero chance they would be intercepted if they tried to escape from the island. It would depend on what the objective of the attackers was, but they didn’t know that either. Trying to flee was literally gambling with their lives, especially when a powerful Spirit Divide Realm cultivator saw fit to take control of the scene. The trio had visited enough cultivator cities to know hidden fortifications in the form of formations likely defended them.

With their current strength, all they could do was wait out the storm.

“Lighten up, guys,” Long Yi suddenly declared as he smacked each of his friends on the back. “Last I heard, representatives from almost every single notable faction within Violet Isle are here. What could possibly beat them?”

“Maybe main-mainlanders? Or a large coalition o-of feral demonic cultivators? It c-could even be members of the hundred races.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Li Lang said as he shook his head and directed his attention back to steering the vehicle. “From the reaction of all those experts back there, it’s undoubtedly a very real threat. We just need to survive this without getting caught up in it.”

“Shit!” Long Yi yelled.

“What?”

“It seems like surviving may not be as easy as we thought.”

Li Lang and Wei Ping turned their heads back to the battlefield and their eyes quickly widened.

The flashy fight up in the air was still ongoing, but the clouds had managed to wrap around the Sword Saint Isle cultivators. Not only were they getting surrounded, a notable portion of the dreary clouds headed straight for them, ignoring the defenders. It cleared the battlefront in no time and picked up speed rapidly. To be precise, it wasn’t only increasing in speed, the clouds were also multiplying at a terrifying rate. Even to the untrained eye, it was obvious it would soon engulf the island in a matter of minutes.

“You don’t suppose that’s some poison death cloud, is it? The type that’ll kill cultivators of a lower realm with ease?” Long Yi presented his nightmare scenario.

He didn’t receive an immediate answer. Li Lang was frowning as he stared at the looming clouds. As they drew closer and multiplied further, its color lightened to a deep purple.

“Those clouds—shouldn’t be fatal to touch. It will probably obstruct your senses, though,” Li Lang hesitantly replied.

“How would you know that?”

“I hate to say it, but those look awfully similar to something I encountered before. And that something was employed by a Spirit Divide Realm cultivator.”

“Well—if that’s the case, may I suggest retreating into the Crucible once we get back to our rooms?”

Li Lang simply nodded as he redoubled his efforts to accelerate their vehicle. He had already been doing his best, but being swallowed by some purple mist again was not something he was looking forward to for the remainder of his life.

God damn it. Is it really the Abductress? If it is, I really hope the Sword Saint can finish her off. That’ll save me the trouble. Wait, I’ll need to find out where she took Zi Xi and Zi Xiaomei, first. What are the chances a mighty Spirit Divide Realm cultivator gets captured?

Li Lang was beginning to regret not tagging along with Nightmoon Valley’s group right now. Not only would it be a lot safer, he knew they had emergency communication artifacts of some sort.

It didn’t matter what the cost was, whether it was to get down on his knees and beg or give up the Crucible. He wouldn’t hesitate right now if he could request the help of the Valley Master or someone of similar strength. No matter how impressive the Sword Saint’s reputation was, he didn’t think his chances of capturing the infamous Abductress to be that high. If it was that easy, she wouldn’t be considered such a menace to society.

“Umm, Li Lang, I don’t mean to complain, but those clouds just hit land! It’s going to engulf us any moment now!” Long Yi exclaimed.

Their black Skyrunner was just on the outskirts of the city now. They cleared the sword-shaped mountain and some houses could be seen below. Their lodging was just up ahead, but none of them were confident they would make it back to their room in time and enter into the pocket realm.

“Hold on to my shoulder or something! I’m going to land us as close to the inn as possible. These clouds or whatever it is shouldn’t do any harm to us, but we could easily get split up.”

Neither Wei Ping nor Long Yi complained. It was more like they couldn’t complain. The giant wall of purple mist was close to their tail now, desperately chasing after them. It was gaining on them and they understood what Li Lang meant. His landing was not going to be gentle. They could all agree that damaging their Skyrunner was worth getting out of the danger even one second sooner.

Li Lang aligned his vehicle above the street where the main entrance to their inn was and dove straight down. He was coming in hot, like a plane landing on a runway. Unfortunately, their vehicle didn’t have any landing gears. A loud crack sounded out as their Skyrunner crashed into the ground. It skidded for a few seconds, but as soon as it slowed down to manageable speeds, they leaped out of the carriage. Almost immediately, Li Lang stowed his vehicle away even while it continued to slide across the ground.

As all three of them were in the Foundation Establishment Realm, they could fly for a short time, albeit at a high consumption of their Qi. Jumping out of a moving vehicle was no danger to them. They safely landed on the ground, but by the time they regained their bearings, the purple clouds had already consumed everything around them.

It limited their vision so badly that they couldn’t even see the gates to their inn despite having landed just before it.

Still, they could go on from their memory.

“This way,” Li Lang said as he gently tugged toward a direction.

His two friends had a hand on each of his shoulders, and they tightened their grip to convey that they were ready.

Step by step, they cautiously walked further through the thick purple fog. Thankfully, they were only a dozen steps away from their entrance. Despite the short trek, the three cultivators couldn’t help but relax upon spotting their destination.

Stepping past the gate, a huge gust of wind swept in from behind. They turned in time to see a figure dashing out of the smokescreen. Long Yi was the fastest to react, intercepting the shadow with a slash of his green broadsword. He locked swords with the newly emerged wooden puppet and used his brute strength to shove it back.

“Not our luckiest day, huh?” he muttered. “This is the wooden puppet you saw during your friends’ kidnapping, right, Li Lang?”

“Save the talking for later. We have to go! There are ones that are a lot stronger and we don’t want to meet—”

Another gust of wind interrupted their conversation. The puppet relentlessly charged in again.

“Umm, maybe you guys go ahead?” Long Yi suggested.

“That sounds like the worst possible plan in this situation,” Li Lang quipped then turned to his masked friend. “Wei Ping, let’s help him beat this thing quickly.”

With no time to waste, they began fanning out to encircle the puppet. It was eerily quiet, without any clacking noise, and completely unarmed. Through its clash with Long Yi, it proved it was anything but fragile.