The Science of Cultivation [Xianxia]

For the students selected for demonic cultivation within Star Gem Academy, they had a plethora of choices in terms of techniques. Their teachers had already created a shortlist based on what they had accessed and presented it to them after a few classes that went over the foundational knowledge about demonic cultivation.

Li Lang stayed throughout each lesson despite his busy schedule. For one, he wanted to keep an eye on Niu Ben to assess when or if he needed another dose of Neuraflex. Second, he wanted to collect the samples of these new students from before and after they start practicing demonic techniques.

Almost all the students had a possession-type technique, absorbing the power of Qi beasts. It was the result of the young children hearing about the heinous crimes of demonic cultivators from childhood. None wanted to become the villain that hunted down the innocent.

It was a comforting sight from what would be the first pioneers of demonic cultivation from Star Gem Academy. They were the ones who would allow Li Lang to study their experiences. It would aid in his goal of creating a demonic cultivation technique that didn't have any of its infamous side effects.

With over a dozen specimens and exclusive access to their transformation, it didn't take long for Li Lang to spot some significant changes once they began practicing demonic cultivation.

"This—mutations were introduced to the NRG1 gene, NRG3 gene, and many others! None of the results are consistent with each other, even if they absorbed Qi from the same type of Qi beast!"

Li Lang wasn't too worried about the variance right now, but he was startled by the consistent mutations that were brought onto his student's DNA by simply cultivating for a few days. The number of changes was staggering, with its results unpredictable. They could be completely benign or fatal. The only saving grace was the information that demonic cultivators rarely suffered fatal accidents from cultivating. It wasn't like orthodox cultivators who could lose their lives if they got too ambitious with their training.

He didn't know how this was possible, now that he saw all the mutations before his eyes, but demonic cultivation seemed to have found a way to stabilize its practitioner despite all the invasive transformations.

To Li Lang's relief, these changes settled down after the initial phase, but he didn't relent in his careful monitoring of their condition. Still, he had other things to attend to, so he slowly delegated his role to his peers or older students more and more as time went on.

"Li Lang?" Long Yi muttered with a frown upon seeing him leisurely walking around the main lobby area within the Crucible. "Something the matter?"

"No, it's just that I think it's time for me to head out to finish that matter regarding the guest we have."

"Guest? Oh, that."

"That's right, but now that you're here, I think I'll visit the Voracious Mire first. Lead the way."

"Umm, okay?"

With the role as a guide suddenly thrust on him, Long Yi just shrugged and got on his way, opting to ask his questions while they were walking.

"So, what did you finish this time for you to have spare time to come out of your room?"

"The entertainment formations. Should be good enough now to sell. I wanted to test the market, so might as well go out with our guest to handle that matter as well."

"Aren't the delegation from the Rolling Tide Sect coming soon, though?"

"In a week. I won't take long, and if anything, Wei Ping can handle them while I'm gone."

That got a chuckle out of Long Yi, who immediately glanced around to check if the person in question was near. He let his grin widen after confirming they were alone.

"He's been busy operating the formation for willpower training and the immigration efforts into the new city, so give him some slack."

"Hmm, did you maybe want to take some of the load off his—-"

"But he's always been a diligent one who gets things done. I'm sure he'll manage."

Li Lang gave him a look for a brief moment but chose not to say anything. The two arrived in one of the forests with strange colors next to the mountain where all of the Crucible's facilities were located. They suddenly stopped in the middle of the forest as Long Yi summoned his fragment of the Voracious Mire. It hovered around him for a few seconds before jumping straight into the ground beneath them.

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Moments later, a huge torrent of sludge burst forth as though they'd struck a geyser. However, there wasn't any debris being scattered around from the eruption, as if the sludge had phased through the earth.

"Umm, are you sure you want to do this before heading out?" Long Yi gingerly asked as he recalled how weak Han Zemei from the Rolling Tide Sect had gotten upon failing to subdue the heavenly earth. "It'll sap you of your strength if you fail."

"Don't worry," was all he said before reaching out for the sludge.

Long Yi never got a chance to stop him. He barely lifted his arm, and Li Lang had already made contact with the Voracious Mire. Seeing this, he sighed and shook his head.

"Don't blame me," he muttered.

"Hmm? Why would I blame you?"

"Because I couldn't help with subduing the—wait, what? You're done?"

He looked up to find his friend casually standing as a globe of sludge floated before his hands.

"Yeah. Let's go visit our guest now."

"As long as it ends well, I guess."

The two then went further away to the periphery of the artifact space, toward a stone-strewn area. There, they came across a tranquil small lake.

Before they even got close, a ball of water rose from its depths and flew straight towards the two humans. It didn't stop even when it reached them, choosing to circle around Li Lang as it contracted and expanded.

"Yes, it's time for us to go find your main body. I'm glad you're excited about it."

***

During Li Lang's journey back to Starpoint Island, he had been accompanied by the fragment of the Thousand Change Sea Breath. It gave him a good idea of where its main body could be. It wasn't anywhere on the way back and was actually somewhere down the south-west.

Starpoint Island was always in the south-west corner of Violet Isle, on the border between the Luminescent Domain and the Azure Mist province, so anywhere even more south of that was literally on the very edge of Violet Isle. The edge wasn't that far off, which was why he was so confident in making it back to the island within a week.

"I thought having you with me was enough trouble for you. Why did you agree to let Long Yi tag along as well?" Li Lang asked his minder, Jun Ziyan, as soon as they lifted off.

"In a fight, he has better survival instincts than you. He's not as much of a burden as a certain someone."

"There is strength in numbers," Long Yi heartily proclaimed. "I have experience with the Voracious Mire, as well!"

"And I'm sure Wei Ping bribed you somehow to ensure we returned within the week. Isn't that right?"

"No comment," he replied with a mischievous smirk.

"Some headmaster I am," Li Lang grumbled.

He settled down quickly as he retreated into the interior of the Skyrunner and began meditating. Of course, he was doing so to enter Ruby's artifact space. The time dilation was just too valuable not to utilize whenever possible.

Now that he had obtained a heavenly earth as well, he needed some time to assess the changes it brought to his spiritual sea.

It appeared calm as usual, with a ring of light floating near the top, constantly flickering. The Qi flowing into his dantian was all pulled into it before it was allowed to fall into the sea. It represented the delicate balance that the five elements within his body held as they entered into the generative cycle, constantly filling his sea of Qi.

His consciousness commanded it to slow, and the spinning rapidly decelerated. Within mere moments, the ring of light was broken as it broke off into five pieces. As soon as that happened, the blueish-silver flame grew in intensity, as if stretching after having held itself back for so long.

The other four elements were less animate, just simply floating there. They represented that relatively higher quality Qi Li Lang had absorbed to kickstart the generative cycle. However, they were obviously outmatched by the Primordial Star Fire in every aspect. Now, that would no longer be the case.

With only a thought, a ball of gooey sludge materialized beside Li Lang. He gently shoved it over toward the globe of earth affinity Qi. As soon as they collided, the blob of energy instantly dimmed before being completely consumed by the Voracious Mire within a second.

Once it seemed to have settled, Li Lang had the five sources of energy restart the generative cycle. They quickly lined up in a pentagram before beginning to chase each other, fueling and feeding each other, reforming the ring of light.

Hmm, its output is still around the same. The heavenly element still has to hold back to uphold the delicate balance. I'll need to find more powerful sources of wood and metal Qi if I want to increase my rate of improvement anytime soon.

Not long after he was done managing his spiritual sea, he was abruptly awakened by someone shaking him.

"Jun Ziyan? What is it?"

"We've arrived at the most south-western tip of Violet Isle. Is this our destination?"

Li Lang was momentarily caught off guard, as he didn't expect to arrive so soon. He quickly probed the fragment of the heavenly water with his mind, causing it to emerge from his body. It wiggled in the air for a few moments before turning back to Li Lang.

"What?!" the young headmaster shouted. "It's even more south-west from here?"

The three cultivators craned their necks out the front and stared at the expansive ocean before them, blinking blankly for a few moments before turning to each other.

"It's out at sea somewhere?"