The Science of Cultivation
Chapter 304: Kan Wuji’s Inheritance Pt.3

The two attacks clashed against Li Lang’s shield, draining his Qi reserve as the opposing forces struggled. Thankfully, Li Lang wasn’t trying to completely negate the attacks, but just to buy time. It made it much more bearable.

After a few seconds, he stopped feeding energy into the barrier, allowing the attacks to shatter his defenses. With nothing left in the way, the firestorm and stone pillar ran through Li Lang, ripping his charred body apart.

The two wooden puppets didn’t rest, though. They swiftly shifted targets, aiming at the new Li Langs that had appeared! To be precise, two Li Langs materialized before they knew it, both standing between the two puppets. They had their backs against each other, with their Absolute Dome Art ready to receive any attacks. They didn’t have to wait long to receive them.

A familiar scene replayed itself, as two powerful Qi arts assaulted the two humans. This time, the barriers barely lasted a second before they gave out. The two attacks pierced through the humans easily, but they didn’t stop there. The two puppets' Qi arts punched through their targets and inadvertently struck each other, shattering into pieces.

Watching the scene from the ceiling, Li Lang nodded at his handiwork. He successfully made the two enemies take each other out.

That’s how you’re supposed to use this technique! I think it would go even better if I had some concealment Qi art. For now, I can use Concealment Talismans instead if I go up against other cultivators.

The improved Absolute Dome Art worked as intended, and Li Lang couldn’t help but want to pat himself on the back for a job well done. However, he didn’t get the chance, because soon, more puppets emerged.

He sighed at the tedious challenge ahead. He knew it would only get more difficult from here, but it was also a good chance to hone the new technique he learned in a more practical manner. As much as he found the waves of enemies annoying, he couldn’t deny that it was a good opportunity to limit test and observe flaws to be worked on.

Let’s get this over with quickly.

***

Mu Hanyue tried her best to keep it together. She was prepared for adventures like this, she told herself. The elders had adequately trained her to explore these inheritances.

It was only by repeating these lines to herself that she stayed calm when she found herself all alone after walking through the displacement door.

Shoving her anxiety aside, she focused her mind on the task at hand. The important guest of her sect was the one who had found the correct technique, which meant she had only taken a glimpse of it. Thankfully, her memory had always been good, and she could recall all the details about the Absolute Dome Art.

Unfortunately, she barely had any practice with the technique, resulting in a clumsy execution of the Qi art. The halls of the inheritance place didn’t care, though. The use of the Absolute Dome Art activated the wooden puppets hidden in the walls, and Mu Hanyue found herself under assault before she knew it.

Having been caught off guard, she barely managed to dive out of the way of the first wave of attack. Just as she got her bearings straight, the second volley crashed into her, sending her flying—or that was what should’ve happened. Instead, she found the scenery before her had suddenly changed. She was back in the library filled with different variations of the Absolute Dome Art.

The cloudy displacement door was still there, at the center of the room. Glancing around, she found two of her fellow disciples beside it, huddled around a book.

“He Bin, Lu Fei, you two are here, too?” she asked as she approached them.

“Hanyue, did the puppets get you too?”

The supposed leader of their group wearily nodded.

“I honestly didn’t expect that. I believe I managed to put up our sect’s Wind’s Embrace in time, but the next thing I know, I’m here again.”

“That’s how it was for us, as well. We believe we are only allowed to use the Absolute Dome Art there, or we are disqualified. That’s why Lu Fei and I are studying up on this Qi art before we go back in.”

As the Radiant Wing Sect disciples conversed among themselves, more and more of their members were sent back to the library. It didn’t take long before their entire group was assembled, all studying the Absolute Dome Art together.

“Wait, has anyone seen our guest, Li Lang?” Mu Hanyue suddenly called out as she took a glance around. “He Bin? You were the first one out, right?”

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

The man in question scratched his head, shaking his head to himself as he replied.

“I haven’t seen him. He’s probably still fighting against the puppets, right? He was the one who activated the door, and the one with the most practice with the technique.”

“That should mean we should hurry,” Jing Song chimed in. “We can’t let an outsider beat us to the inheritance.”

“Relax, Jing Song,” Mu Hanyue placated. “He said he was willing to yield the majority of anything found to our sect.”

“Wolf in sheep’s clothing. That guy showed his true colors when he vied for the heavenly water against me. Since I promise not to interfere with him directly, we need to hurry up and pass this stupid puppet trial before he does. Who knows how many tests are left until the inheritance!”

The usually arrogant man’s words stirred the urgency in many of his fellow disciples. Despite not wanting to get involved with these disputes, every Radiant Wing Sect disciple present wanted to be the one to obtain the inheritance.

Producing results in sects mattered. It proved their value, and the merit meant more resources were funneled to them. Seeing that the next trial was an individual event, there wasn’t a need to hide their capabilities, either. It was the perfect stage for them to produce results.

Fired up by various motivations, the half dozen orthodox cultivators redoubled their efforts in dispatching the Absolute Dome Art. Unbeknownst to them, a certain guest had proceeded much further than they thought.

***

Just like in the illusion Li Lang had been caught in, the wooden puppet trial only lasted for three rounds. Each round had doubled the number of puppets from the previous one, and things got quite chaotic by the last one.

His mastery of the Absolute Dome Art only allowed him to make three clones so far, but his ability to deploy the right kind of shield improved rapidly.

By the time he was done with the third wave, a new door appeared on the other end of the hall. When he stepped through, he found himself in a dark stone chamber.

The first thing that came into view was the sarcophagus pinned to the wall on the far side of the chamber. It had fine engravings all over it and thrummed with Qi. On the walls around it were artworks that depicted various scenes, with a similar character throughout all of them. They spanned across the room. Li Lang suspected it was the life story of Kan Wuji, whose tomb should be the one lying right before him.

As uncomfortable as the place was, Li Lang boldly strode toward the center of the room, where a pedestal lay. On it was a thick book bound in green leather, accentuated by golden threads.

This room sure is designed to make me feel like I’m being judged by a dead person, of all things.

Sensing no danger, Li Lang proceeded to open the book. He quickly skimmed through its contents, finding it to be a more complete version of the Absolute Dome Art than the one he had seen. It was likely Kan Wuji’s final iteration before his demise.

Li Lang wasted no time in transcribing it into his lab.

When he was done, he couldn’t help but bow before the sarcophagus.

“Thank you, senior.”

Li Lang had never believed in ghosts and afterlives, but having seen all the miraculous things since his reincarnation, he couldn’t completely discount these existences. In the first place, it was already strange enough that he had been born into a new world with his memories intact. Ghosts, in comparison, were quite tame.

Once he paid his respects, he made his way out the way he came. When he passed through the door again, he found himself back in the library, where he had parted with the group. He quickly spotted his companions, but before he could call out to them, the entire structure rumbled.

All the surrounding bookshelves violently shook, alarming all the cultivators. Their eyes widened when they saw the shelves retract backward before abruptly disappearing into a cloudy space of nothingness. A split second later, new shelves emerged, but the contents were no longer the same.

Thousands of cabinets emerged. The cultivators didn’t even need to investigate and already had a good guess of its contents. That was because the fragrant aroma of heavenly herbs was spreading across the room.

“Is this the inheritance?” Li Lang wondered out loud as he casually slotted himself among the Radiant Wing Sect disciples.

“Li Lang? Where did you come from?” Mu Hanyue cried as the representative of her group.

“No idea. It’s where this place brought me after finishing the trial, or whatever the puppets were.”

“Does that mean you passed all the tests and obtained the inheritance?”

“I only got to read another book with a more updated version of the Absolute Dome Art. I think what’s around us is the inheritance you’re looking for.”

Mu Hanyue nodded sternly and turned to her peers. She swiftly cried out a few orders for them to start taking stock of the inventory around them.

“Do you want me to copy down the Absolute Dome Art I found?” Li Lang gingerly asked.

“No, it’s fine. We’ve recorded enough versions about it, and I doubt our elders care that much about a Qi Art. Our ancestor can easily devise better techniques. We’re more interested in these material resources.”

“Well, as promised, I only want a small share. I only take a small sample of everything here and then go alert your team standing guard outside.”

“That’d be great. Thank you.”

With the matter settled, Li Lang darted around the room, racing to collect his loot. Material wealth was optional, but obtaining a sample of precious pills was invaluable. The prizes he particularly valued were naturally the Core Formation Pill and the next tier of the Ascension Pill. One was the key to safely reaching the next major realm, while the other allowed him to investigate the mechanics behind the breakthrough.

He could barely wait to decipher their pill recipes.