The Science of Cultivation [Xianxia]
Chapter 311: Niu Ben

“I’m Li Lang. Have you spoken with any of my students already?”

The former deviator frowned as he eyed the newcomer up and down, as if trying to see through him. His unkempt facial hair and scar that ran down from his right temple all the way down to his chin made it quite intimidating.

“Yeah, so you’re the one in charge?”

“You can say that. It seems you’ve recovered quite well since I last saw you. Do you mind if I ask a few questions to ensure everything is okay?”

The man slowly nodded, never taking his gaze off Li Lang.

“Okay. First off, what’s your name?”

“Niu Ben.”

“Nice to meet you, Niu Ben. Do you know where you are?”

“No.”

“Hmm, do you remember where you’re from?”

“Luminescent Domain,” he replied as his eyes narrowed warily. “And yes, I’m a demonic cultivator.”

Li Lang shrugged and proceeded to sit down next to the table nearby.

“Were you a member of any organizations? If so, do you know what year it currently is relative to its founding?”

Cultivators didn’t share a unified calendar, and each force had its own. Li Lang found it quite awkward at times, but there wasn’t anything he could do about it.

“No,” the man slowly replied as he crossed his arms, slowly tapping a finger in annoyance.

“No worries, let’s move on. Can you name three unrelated objects for me? Anything would do.”

This time, Niu Ben raised an eyebrow instead of answering.

“Please, Niu Ben. It won’t be long. I promise.”

“I don’t care about how long this’ll take, but I don’t like being treated like a child!”

“I assure you, that’s not my intention. I just need to assess how you are.”

Snickering to himself, the man finally looked away but relented.

“Sword, wine, mountain.”

“Can you repeat that?”

The former deviator breathed in heavily through his nose before complying.

“Sword, wine, and mountain! Happy?”

“Yes, very. Now, what is one hundred subtracted by seven?”

“Ninety-three.”

“Subtracted by another seven?”

“Eighty-six.”

Striking the iron while it was hot, Li Lang unleashed a barrage of questions. It ranged from various mathematical questions to writing sentences. He would even get him to recite a poem, only to have him repeat it again backwards. Then, he brought out various items from his space ring, asking him to name each of them.

Sensing Niu Ben’s irritation growing, Li Lang promptly wrapped up the questioning.

“Repeat the three unrelated words you mentioned earlier.”

It seemed Niu Ben was really reaching the limit. He shot up from the bed, walked over to sit across from Li Lang, and leaned in.

“Sword! Wine! Mountain!” he yelled. “Did I speak loud enough for you to hear me?”

“Very good. I think that’s all for now. If you have any questions for me, I’d be happy to answer them, but it seems I only have time for a few.”

“So you’re finally willing to entertain a prisoner like me, eh? Or are you going to say that you only permitted me to ask, but didn’t promise an answer?”

Tilting his head, Li Lang glanced toward the entrance to this apartment, wondering just what had his students said to the man.

“Um, I’m not sure what my students told you, but you’re not a prisoner.”

“Not a prisoner? That’s rich! How come they won’t let me go, then?”

“It’s—for your own safety. I don’t know if they told you this already, but when we found you, you were a mindless deviator already. Do you remember anything about that?”

“What?!” This time, Niu Ben was truly stupefied. His mouth was left agape for a few moments before denial kicked in. “You’re lying to me! There’s no way that’s true. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be speaking to you right now. I’d be ripping you to shreds!”

“Calm down,” Li Lang placated, gesturing for him to sit down. “We’re not here to lie to you. We—”

“Nonsense! You orthodox dogs know nothing but to scheme and lie. Stop with the games and execute me if you wish.”

Niu Ben’s Qi began rising rapidly, as if he were about to attack. It caused the door to the room to burst open as Xiao Dong rushed in.

“We’re not in the orthodox sects’ territory!” Li Lang yelled, ignoring the questioning gaze from his student, asking him if he could take action. “We’re still in the Luminescent Domain, albeit on the outskirts. You can leave if you want, but what we did to cure you was only temporary. You may relapse if you leave!”

This caused Niu Ben to calm down immediately. He himself knew best about his condition. Every recent attempt he had to absorb the essence from Qi beasts to further his cultivation was met with difficulties. There was no doubt he had been dancing around the line toward deviation, but it wasn’t something he was willing to admit.

It was a common way of thinking among many demonic cultivators who had seen rapid progress and no elder there to properly guide them. They thought themselves to be special, an outlier to the rules that could push it further than anyone else.

“Did I truly deviate, and you somehow cured me? That’s—ridiculous! Deviators don’t just come back!”

“They may one day, if my research makes good progress. I can’t speak for those who had turned many years ago, but there’s a good chance for those who only deviated in recent years to be cured. It’d take years for me to come up with a permanent solution, though, and time isn’t exactly a resource I have much of. Still, I need you to cooperate to make it happen.”

Niu Ben’s bloodshot eyes peered over at Li Lang. A flurry of emotions flickered across his face.

“You better not be lying to me, or you’d wish you killed me.”

Li Lang nodded with a small chuckle escaping from him. “Of course.”

“Then—what do you need me to do?”

“That can come later. For now, just rest. Soon, there will be more like you. I’ll need you to explain to them about their situation then, as it’d be much more convincing coming from you. Feel free to wander around our island here and learn about the current situation of Violet Isle. I’ll come get you when I need you.”

***

With the matter regarding the demonic deviators settled for now, Li Lang raced into the Crucible to make use of the three days of free time he had earned himself. There were numerous heavenly resources and pills from Kan Wuji’s crypt, waiting for him to analyze. Then, there were also all the various plans he had with the crafts that would supplement their economic situation.

Now that there were so many Foundation Establishment cultivators in their midst, the sales of Mortal-grade resources weren’t enough to support them and their research. It was about time he got started in establishing Earth-grade ventures and trade routes from their new home.

As the auto-analyzer worked furiously in analyzing the contents of his recent spoils, Li Lang began working on more ways to make a profit.

He created more Weave presses to create a larger variety of Earth-grade talismans. Following that trail of thought, artificer skills were utilized to create production equipment. Through his countless attempts at creating artifacts, he still found more success creating something that had little size constraint and had a clear purpose. That meant various machinery from the modern world were his current best bet. The weave press was just one example of it.

Having been enlightened, various new artifacts started popping up. The only constraint was his lack of beast cores, so he focused on the most financially lucrative machines first.

As pills were what earned him his first pot of gold, it was natural that they would be one of his main focuses. Li Lang pulled out the design software in his lab and was entirely absorbed in designing a new, specialized pill furnace, much like the Weave press.

That meant it would no longer be a single furnace, and more of an assembly line, with various sections dedicated to a process of the production. While pills used a variety of materials and techniques to create different results, there were a few ingredients that were almost always used. For example, the Jade Leaves were the most used medium to bind other ingredients together.

As Li Lang lost himself in Ruby’s artifact for days, he soon came up with the blueprints for something that could simplify the process for creating Earth-grade Recovery Pills. It was chosen over the Nourishment Pill because of its perpetual high demand.

Nourishment Pill became less and less of a necessity as cultivators broke through each major realm. Their physiological needs lessened, and the difference in value between a Mortal-grade and Earth-grade Nourishment Pill wasn’t as much as that of Recovery Pills. Unlike the need for sustenance, healing became more difficult as a cultivator’s cultivation deepened. A Mortal-grade Recovery Pill was less effective for Foundation Establishment cultivators, which meant the demand for high-tier healing pills was always high.

Three days easily became six days under the influence of Ruby. Li Lang emerged from his closed-door session with the satisfaction of completing a lot, but his glee was quickly robbed away by the panicked report he got from his students.

“Teacher Li, there’s a high-priority message coming from the Rolling Tide Sect! They say it’s about Long Yi!”