The Science of Cultivation-Chapter 272: Jade & Home

As the staring contest between Jun Ziyan, a disciple of the Sword Saint, and Sima Xue continued, a voice of reason broke the deadlock.

“Little Xue, don’t be rude. The Valley Master has gone over about something like this happening, hasn’t he?”

“But Senior Zhu,” she whined. “We still have the arrangement with Li Lang and his Crucible. It’s not unreasonable for us to tag along with him as well.”

“That is something for the Valley Master to decide. If you want approval, you better have a chat with him first before arbitrarily taking action and being reprimanded for it.”

“That’s right. You should listen to your senior,“ Jun Ziyan added fuel to the fire.

Before the argument could continue, Li Lang quickly cut in.

“Speaking of your esteemed Valley Master, I believe Senior Jian wanted to talk to me after he had a chance to speak with him. He’s also not the only one who wanted to speak with me today, so why don’t we get a head start and go find Jian Beiyun first?”

Playing along, Zhu Yi nodded with a smile.

“Very well. I’ll lead the way.”

“Thank you, Senior,” Li Lang clasped his fist to the older woman and turned to his students. “Unfortunately, you will all have to choose between joining me or staying in the Crucible.”

With the big move Li Lang had recently made, it was safer for them to stay together. The last thing he needed was someone trying to interrogate his students or capture them to threaten him.

Within a few minutes, everyone was prepared to depart, and the students made their choice. A majority of them decided to return to the Crucible to continue their training.

After a morning of yet even more meetings, the group arrived at the venue of the Dark Sea Arena for the third official day of the event. Despite the Sword Saint declaring the continuation of the event, its atmosphere had noticeably taken a hit.

The shadow of the attack and loss of lives still loomed over some people. The majority of people were still there, as they belonged to forces that couldn’t show any weakness, but they mostly stopped trying as hard. It was as if they were conserving their energy and concealing their techniques in case there was another attack.

Despite this, Li Lang was still far outmatched by the majority of other participants. In fact, after some consideration, Li Lang withdrew from the event. He believed he had already gotten far enough with his capabilities, and there was nothing left to prove. If he insisted on participating, it may just embarrass him during a time when he had to put on a strong front as the leader of a nascent organization.

That meant everyone in Li Lang’s group was now spectators. They spent their time watching the various geniuses from both the demonic and orthodox paths. Paying special attention to what people hailed as the Eight Demon Pillars and the Four Enlightened Ones.

“Can’t believe that acquaintance of yours is one of the Four Enlightened Ones,” Long Yi muttered. “Elder Nong, was it? I don’t know about you, but he seems like the type I’d never want to fight, even if I caught up to him in cultivation.”

The audience watched on in fascination as Elder Nong defeated his opponent without making any physical moves. It seemed as if his foe just started randomly screaming and self-destructed in some demonic cultivation deviation, despite being an orthodox cultivator. The match was called soon after that.

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“Hmm, yes, Elder Nong from the Clear Heart Sect. They’re first on the list of factions I want to visit—once we get everything set up, of course.”

“Why? You suspect the Abductress is hiding in their territory? Aren’t they also located in the Yellow Qilin province? We could visit Spirit Grove if that was the case.”

“No, but it’s better to start off visiting the places more likely to be friendly first. I don’t like playing politics, but even I know making friends is vital. Well, it’s just an idea for now. Who knows if our plans will change? We may even end up sending out our new students to them instead.”

With them no longer participants, time seemed to pass by at a much faster rate. Before they knew it, another few days had passed, and the Dark Sea Arena was over.

During that time, they continued to spectate and take part in the gatherings where cultivators exchanged information. They learned a lot as a result, but compared to what awaited them once they left the island, Li Lang couldn’t get that excited about it.

After all, his timetable had to be moved up and not just by a little bit. He would need to find a place to settle down and recruit more students. He now had more to worry about, but he couldn’t neglect any of his previous responsibilities.

That was why he didn’t plan to stay on Sword Saint Isle any longer once the Dark Sea Arena ended.

However, on the morning of his departure, he had a meeting with the Sword Saint once more. To be precise, the powerful Spirit Divide Realm cultivator had suddenly appeared before their Skyrunner as they were flying over the island.

His disciples, Da Feng, Da Xing, and Jun Ziyan, were the first to greet him.

“Master!”

“Just here to see you off and wanted to give something to Li Lang before he left.”

Poking his face out of the Skyrunner upon hearing his name, Li Lang quickly greeted the powerful cultivator.

“Senior, you didn’t have to bother. There’s no need to give me a gift or anything.”

“No need to be polite. Just take it. It’ll work out better for me and the other organizations and sects if you have this.”

Casually throwing over a small pouch, Li Lang carefully peeked into its contents before his eyes widened as he recognized the item. It was a small piece of jade with a cloudy green color. It was also something he had been meaning to get his hands on, but he never came across one in his travels so far.

“A transmission jade?”

“Yep. Communication jade, transmission jade. It goes by a lot of names,” the Sword Saint explained. “But its effects are the same. Barring any interference, it should allow you to communicate with others over a great distance. You’ll need to take ownership of it first, but it should be no problem for you if you managed with a Spirit-grade artifact, right?”

Li Lang stared at the jade in amazement. It naturally piqued his curiosity as this item was able to replicate the function of a telephone. While he didn’t study telecommunications, he still understood its basic principles. It made him more intrigued by how Qi could replicate such a feat.

It didn’t take long for him to notice that the quality of the jade was exceptional, with an aura that was definitely above that of an Earth-grade artifact.

“It—should be no problem," Li Lang carefully answered.

“Great. The artifact spirit will teach you how to use it then. I made sure it remembered all the Qi signatures of everyone who came to this year’s Dark Sea Arena, so feel free to test it out once you’re ready. You’re always welcome to call me at any time.”

“Thank you, Senior!”

“Okay, no need for long-winded farewells. Have a safe trip. We’ll be in touch soon.”

Even without needing to be told, Li Lang knew a lot of things were happening behind the scenes. Too much had happened in the past week. Despite the various forces of Violet Isle entrusting him with the task of tracking down the Abductress, he knew numerous machinations were being set into motion.

He would be a fool to believe none of these schemes would involve him or, worse, target him. If he wanted to survive what would eventually come, he would need to prepare well.

Whether I like it or not, I need to at least gather enough allies who have it in their best interests to keep me alive. It’s simply the price of being so high profile. Good thing I have quite a few trump cards in reserve. I’ll just have to play them carefully.

With Sword Saint Isle behind them, Li Lang’s group set off on their long journey back into the Luminescent Domain.

Their first stop? Emberglow City.

They hadn’t been explicitly told to leave the place yet, but they would do so anyway. However, first, they would have to close off any loose ends in their old home before they could set off in search of a new one.