Chapter 324: Legwork
With Li Lang going into closed-door cultivation, Wei Ping and the rest of the older students were forced to tackle the tasks at hand. The one on everyone's mind was naturally building a mortal city. It was a huge undertaking, to say the least, and could be quite disruptive if not done well. That was why they had all come together to outline the requirements and formulate an action plan.
"The fir-first question we need to answer is wh-where are we going to build this city," Wei Ping opened, choosing to break the task into more manageable pieces.
"Where?" Xiao Dong repeated with a frown. "Aren't we just going to be sectioning off a part of the island for it? We still have quite a bit of unused space, and Teacher Li can use the Crucible to expand if we need more room."
Before Wei Ping could respond, his unofficial protege, Ouyang Jie, beat him to it.
"Teacher Wei is obviously concerned about the separation between our academy and the mortal establishment, of course. There's a reason why most sects and organizations have their headquarters located somewhere away from the major cities. It keeps the prying eyes away and prevents any factionalism from spreading."
"Ouyang Jie is right," Wu San supported. "I've heard about small sects in the past that lived in the city with mortals, causing chaos because the mortals were divided to curry favor with the disciples. Without constant oversight of the mortals, things escalated rapidly as they targeted their patron's rivals, causing those rivals to invite other mortals into the conflict. It literally caused a war among mortals and worsened the relationship between fellow disciples because of these short-sighted actions."
"So if we're not prepared to constantly monitor and manage the mortals, it's better if there's some separation between us," Xiao Dong summarized as he nodded. "The choice is clear, then. I doubt any of us want any more distractions when we could be cultivating."
"Shouldn't the proper procedure be to confirm with Teacher Li first, though?"
"Wu San, what point is there to ask something when you know what the answer will be?"
"That—we can't just presume Teacher Li will—"
"Ha!" Xiao Dong interrupted with a liberating cry. "On the off chance he chooses to have the mortal city constructed nearby, you'll just be giving us more work. There's no way Teacher Li will bother with something as mundane as upholding the security of a city. He'll definitely throw that responsibility to one of us, which I doubt any of us would want."
For a moment, no one said a word. They tacitly understood they were all in agreement regarding this matter. Even for those who weren't fully on board, they didn't want to rock the boat either.
After some time, Wei Ping cleared his throat to catch everyone's attention before pushing the conversation forward.
"So let's have everyone voice any possible candidates for the site of the new city. It doesn't have to be specific, as we can go scout the nearby areas later, but having a list of desirable qualities will be helpful."
Several hands shot up as if they were in class, and one of them was much more eager than the others.
"Go ahead, Ouyang Jie."
"Teacher Wei! Since we're on an island, isn't the most natural conclusion to create another island? That way, there won't be any dispute that it is neutral territory, as opposed to building on the shore of the Luminescent Domain. Boats will be more efficient for mortal traders anyway, so it's not like they're missing out on much without the land routes."
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"Yes, that is a likely candidate, but you have to remember, building an island isn't something we can do lightly. There are numerous underwater Qi beasts. Without a cultivator maintaining a formation around this proposed island, what would happen if one of these Qi beasts decides to strike?"
"That—is true," the young man's fervor was visibly doused as he weakly agreed with his idol's assessment.
"I'm not saying it's impossible," Wei Ping continued, "but the selection of the location is critical. We'll have to find a place where there will be minimal Qi beast activity."
"Again, that makes things simple, then," Xiao Dong chimed in. "If we can't find a suitable spot out at sea, we will build on the shore."
"You can't forget the possibility of building it underground," Wu San suggested. "We should know, seeing how we've lived in Emberglow City before."
With that, various suggestions began to flow, as Wei Ping dutifully noted down each one. By the end of the meeting, he hung up the results for all to see.
"There y-you have it. The things we're looking for ar-are all here. Let's spread out an-and look for locations that fit as many of these requirements a-as possible."
***
"Haha, I've done it. This should do just fine!" Li Lang manically laughed to himself within Ruby's artifact space.
"Yay, as expected of Master!" the small girl hovering nearby cheered as she circled Li Lang.
Satisfied with himself, Li Lang walked back into his lab and began updating his notes. As he typed away, his mind was already focused on the next task to tackle.
"Ruby, can you ask either Blue or Green to check in with the fragment of the Thousand Change Sea Breath? I think it's about time we head out and find its main body once I install the new formations."
By his estimation, Long Yi would be back soon, along with the valuable heavenly earth. If he could find the heavenly water as well, he would have gathered three out of five of the main elements. The sooner he found them all, the better. It was his key to accelerate his cultivation speed. Otherwise, he would have to suffer the fate of someone who only had grade one aptitude, taking decades to fill his spiritual sea.
After all, Star Gem Academy was too weak. Every bit of advancement was huge for them. It would make their search for the Abductress that much safer and garner more respect from the forces of Violet Isle.
"Of course I can do that, Master!"
"Thank you. In the meantime, I can focus on learning some Earth-grade techniques. Let me know when Long Yi returns."
"Um, are you sure about that, Master? Wei Ping is still waiting outside your door. Hasn't he waited long enough? Maybe I should get Blue to tell him to return for now?"
"What? He's been waiting for me? Since when?"
"I believe I informed the master about it ninety-four minutes and thirty-two seconds ago while you were testing the formation with all the p—"
"I see. I must not have heard you. I'll go meet him right away."
With that, Li Lang instantly exited the artifact space, returning to the reality of his private room within the Crucible. He rushed over to the door only to find Wei Ping sitting down on the floor with his legs crossed, deep in meditation.
"Sorry, Wei Ping. I was a little caught up with something," he said as he brought his two palms together and bowed.
"No pr-problem, boss. But we should get going. The o-others are waiting for you."
"Everyone's gathered? Good. I have something to show them, so that works out."
"The majority of th-them are, with the exception of t-the newcomers and their caretakers. Chu Qinghe an-and Shi Yan helping them st-study the basic materials right now."
Li Lang nodded along as Wei Ping continued his report. It didn't take long before they arrived at the stadium, where everyone was gathered. Having heard of all the legwork they had done prior to his arrival, Li Lang stepped forward to commend them.
"Good job, everyone. I'm proud of your work ethic and efficiency. Since you have all done such thorough planning, please don't hesitate to order me around when we get started in a moment. I will follow your instructions as best I can."
His students simply clasped their fists toward him. Their silent gaze seemed to be urging him to be quick with it, so Li Lang jumped into the next topic without delay.
"Before we go, I would like to take this opportunity to present my latest work to you all. It'll be something you'll be working with a lot in the future, as I plan to have you help me spread it to all the cultivators across Violet Isle."
The first part of his speech made the students dread. They thought there would be more work for them, but the last part caught their attention. It caused the same question to linger in their minds.
What could possibly necessitate mobilizing all of them to spread far and wide?