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The Science of Cultivation - Chapter 263: Endings and Beginnings
🕑 Added 2025-03-19 22:30:02 +0000 UTCExiting from his room, Li Lang didn’t have to search very long until he found Wei Ping and Long Yi surrounded by their students exactly where he last saw them, by the main hall where people first set foot when entering the pocket realm.
Long Yi appeared to have made a complete recovery, chatting with everyone with a strong voice that he could hear long before he turned the last corner.
The group noticed Li Lang’s arrival immediately, with the students clasping their fists toward him while Long Yi grinned. Without a word, the large man charged toward the newcomer, bringing him into a bear hug.
“Thanks, Li Lang. I heard you had to make a tough choice for my sake.”
The smaller man groaned as he fruitlessly tried to push his passionate companion away.
“Get off of me. Your robes are still soaked with sweat. It’s unhygienic.”
The large man listened, only to heartily slap Li Lang in the back in exchange. A resounding thud sounded out as if to assure the listeners that a red handprint had been freshly marked on target.
“Enough with this,” Li Lang managed to wearily squeak out before a sigh came. “I have something I wanted to go over with you guys. Something that will probably affect all of us, so everyone should listen in as well.”
All his students looked around at each other, searching for any clues among their comrades, but they soon settled down when Wei Ping cleared his throat.
“Then l-let’s sit down in the dining hall,” he urged.
The group briskly walked by the thick red pillars in the main lobby and arrived in the spacious hall with multiple tables spread across the room. It was a familiar place for the trio, as they had spent a decent amount of time there during their first time in the pocket realm. Back then, they were accompanied by various members of the Luminescent Realm, but this time, only their students were in attendance.
There was no problem finding a table that sat them all, and soon, eyes were turned to the one who had initiated this formal meeting.
“Just to update everyone in case you haven’t heard yet. I am acquainted with the party that is currently attacking the island.” He took a pregnant pause to let that fact sink in before continuing. “And by acquainted, I mean I want her dead for kidnapping my friends, but unfortunately, there’s no way for me to be able to handle her as I currently am. And I don’t see that changing anytime soon.”
Surprisingly, the usually timid Ouyang Jie was the next to speak up.
“You mean the Abductress, right? Teacher Wei had briefed us about her.”
“That’s right,” Li Lang frostily replied, unable to keep his calm when talking about his hated enemy.
“Umm,” Long Yi interjected, seeing some of the students cowed by Li Lang’s harsh tone. “You don’t happen to be trying to convince us to launch a sneak attack on her or something, right? You said it yourself. We’re not really in the position to directly oppose her.”
“No, I am agitated, but I’m not dumb enough to let that affect my actions. I only carry out plans with a reasonable chance of success.”
“Then what do you want to do? You’ve seen those clouds outside. With those around, we won’t even be able to tail them to where your friends are being kept.”
“No, I agree that we can’t oppose her directly, so I plan to do so indirectly. Just like my original plan, except we’ll be carrying it out sooner than we thought.”
“I’m still not getting what you’re saying. Can you say what you want us to do and how it will affect us?”
Upon hearing the mention of how his plan would affect everyone here while in their presence, Li Lang faltered. He slowly glanced around the room at each person, engraving them into his mind. He wanted to clearly understand whose lives he would be risking by carrying out his latest plan. After going through everyone, he took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.
“The risks involved are hard to measure. It depends on how far we have to go. At worst, we would be captured and put into a cage for the foreseeable future. At best, we would have to start getting involved in—politics.”
This got Long Yi to raise an eyebrow. He had a feeling whatever Li Lang was about to tell him was going to be big, and there would be no going back.
***
Hundreds of cultivators ranging from the late stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm to the peak of the Violet Core Realm were floating above the seas, waiting with bated breaths to see who had won the confrontation between the Abductress and the Sword Saint.
The blinding light that robbed them of their vision faded away slowly for some annoying reason despite their deep cultivation. Still, those with the higher cultivation recovered first and shocked gasps could be heard when they did.
A chill spread through the spines of anyone who laid eyes on the result. That was because the figure that was hovering high above them was not the Sword Saint, but the attacking party of this battle.
More and more cultivators looked up in shock as they recovered. They had a rare chance to lay eyes on the Abductress before them, but none were happy about it.
The old woman wearing black robes was currently frozen still in the air, with an eerie smile that flashed her teeth for all to see. However, before the cultivators could gawk for too long, the cultivators who had been accompanying her rushed to her side. They swarmed around her, blocking her from view. Soon, dark smoke was once again realized among their ranks, but it was noticeably of a lighter shade this time.
Instead of the pitch-black core, it was now a light purple. Its range barely encompassed their group as well.
Nevertheless, many of the younger defenders grimaced at the scene. Many of them prepared themselves to fight to the death, while others tugged on their treasures, assessing avenues of escape.
For a while, the two opposing forces simply stared at each other without taking any action. It lasted until two figures from among the defenders flew slightly ahead of their peers. They each wore beige robes with an extraordinary bearing about them. Seeing what they were doing, two additional figures in pale orange robes quickly moved to join them.
Without waiting for the newcomers to catch up, the two in the beige robes quickly turned to face their allies.
“People of the Luminescent Domain, this battle is over. Follow us back to the island.”
Immediately afterward, the people in orange robes repeated the same spiel but directed it to the orthodox cultivators.
Two leaders of their respective factions had spoken, and the crowd quickly did as told, despite the obvious confusion from the younger members.
“Umm, what’s going on, Slithering Shadow?” Wang Yongjun asked upon catching up to the speaker in beige robes. “Is this some official organization stuff that you keep from independent cultivators?”
Jian Beiyun shook his head as he leisurely flew back toward Sword Saint Isle.
“Just look back and you’ll understand.”
Wang Yongjun was never one to underestimate his enemies. His Qi sense had been locked onto the Abductress’ faction this entire time, and they were still unmoving. When he turned back, all he saw was the purple fog struggling to maintain its area of control.
A look of realization hit him, and soon things became even clearer. The purple mist began retreating in the opposite direction, growing smaller rapidly.
“She must be quite injured if she decided not to finish us off. Or maybe she thought the Sword Saint’s life was enough,” the dignified member of the Eight Demon Pillar dejectedly muttered.
However, his gloominess wasn’t allowed to spread as a paper fan whacked him on the head.
“Don’t be foolish, the Sword Saint wouldn’t lose so easily,” Jian Beiyun said.
“What do you mean?”
“Did your master not teach you about the powers of a Spirit Divide Realm cultivator?”
“No—I don’t dare ask him about it, seeing he’s been stuck at that bottleneck for who knows how many years.”
Hearing this, Jian Beiyun sighed. He took a moment to evaluate what he wanted to reveal before continuing.
“It shouldn’t be much of a secret that Spirit Divide Realm experts can survive without their bodies. As the name of their realm implies, they had to divide their spirit from their bodies in order to achieve their breakthrough. What you saw back there wasn’t the Sword Saint’s loss, but a draw. Both sides are equally injured. It’s just that the Sword Saint suffered—more bodily injuries while the Abductress suffered from damages to her spirit.”
Wang Yongjun frowned as he processed the new information. He didn’t say a word as they arrived back at the island. Seeing this, Jian Beiyun patted him gently on his back.
“These matters are not for us, who haven’t even reached the Violet Core Realm to worry about. Go rest. The Sword Saint should be summoning everyone to talk soon, and you shouldn’t present yourself poorly before the orthodox sects.”
“Thank you,” Wang Yongjun replied with an appreciative nod. “I’ll do just that.”
With that, the battle concluded, leaving both sides with wounds to lick. It wasn’t a particularly rare scene for cultivators. Adversity was an everyday thing they faced. However, those with a knack for politics sensed yet another battle was about to unfold. They rested their bodies as their minds prepared for a different kind of battle.
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Comments
Scrutinizer
Exiting from his room, Li Lang didn’t have to search very long until he found Wei Ping and Long Yi surrounded by their students exactly where he last saw them, by the main hall where people first set /on/->[foot] when entering the pocket realm.
Scrutinizer
Oh no. Politics. I wonder if the Sword Saint's spirit might take up the Crucible as a nice vacation home while he recovers/grows a new body. Having four artifact spirits (plus a secret Divine-grade one) would be an interesting dynamic.
