The Science of Cultivation [Xianxia]

Vengeful Leaf Compendium. That was the name of the manual Li Lang had copied down to his computer.

It was exactly what Li Lang had asked for. He had been given a choice between one that went into more detail about how Qi poisons were created as opposed to a singular, powerful technique. The latter would likely only include the production method for a single specific type of poison. It would have been the choice if short-term gain in strength was his goal.

As expected of a zealous researcher like Li Lang, he went with the choice that would feed him the most information. From there, he could unravel the mechanics himself, and hopefully create his own poisons.

The compendium went in-depth on the topic, and took Li Lang days to read over it once, and weeks to really comprehend the contents.

Having received multiple manuals from the pocket realm, Li Lang knew they all came from different authors. Their quality varied, as well as their way of explaining. There were no academic guidelines for how they organized the contents. In fact, the theories each author used were wildly inconsistent. That meant there was a lot of junk mixed in with the tidbits of information, which was why Li Lang took so long.

In a way, Li Lang had felt like he was deciphering ancient herbal remedies.

Phew. Hopefully, I got everything right. Time for the exciting part of testing my findings.

From the compendium, Li Lang had gained new insight into the nature of Qi poisons. The texts went into detail about the properties of various plants one could use in brewing poison. It also went into detail how they interacted with other material in order to produce the desired effect. It was this mumble jumble of the author that tried to explain how poisons worked in their own made-up framework.

The reason why Li Lang knew it was garble was because he learned that Qi poisons weren’t so different from the mundane poisons he knew, after all. They simply had an extra component that Li Lang didn’t know how to handle.

Previously, the toxins he formulated were simply infused with Qi. In the context of the Vengeful Leaf Compendium, he simply employed the simplest form of empowering. It gave Qi energy to the poison, but didn’t include any methods of utilizing it. It was as if a boxer with amnesia was sent into the ring. He had a well-trained body, but no idea how to even throw a punch.

This allowed the defensive mechanism in living creatures to walk all over the poison, weakening its effects.

“So Qi poisons, true to their name, simply combine Qi techniques with poison,” Li Lang muttered. “That means I can create the poisons I know about…as long as I have the materials on hand. No, most of the active ingredients from the samples I have on hand are entirely different from what I’m familiar with. I’ll need to formulate entirely new poisons with the native Qi plants. If what the book says is true, powerful Qi plants produce deadlier toxic substances than anything I knew. Plus, it synergized with the imbuement of Qi.”

Just like the tools used in creating Moon Brushes or weapon artifacts, different poisons had varying properties. It was more important to find one that allowed for a larger capacity of Qi and worked well with the technique, rather than relying on the poison itself. That was because Qi poisons comprised two parts, and their synergy together dictated its effectiveness.

One part was the mundane poison. The second part was the Qi infiltration system. It was like a spy team that delivered the payload. It snuck poison past the defense systems of its target, allowing the effects to persist longer and be more effective.

The compendium said it was akin to sending out tiny Qi soldiers to fight off the enemy. The various infiltration systems were how one trained their agents. The better it was, the more free rein the poison had to do its thing.

For Li Lang, he believed it was similar to computer viruses and antivirus software.

With that said, he still needed to perform a lot of testing to learn how to ‘code’.

Right now, he only knew how to employ the existing poisons recorded in the texts. The manual was dated, with numerous materials he had never heard about, so his selection was severely limited.

He didn’t mind though, as what he needed was a stable poison to perform tests with. He would further analyze how it worked after confirming the things he learned.

While Li Lang had plentiful materials for refining pills, his catalog was lacking for poisons. Many of the things he lacked were things he had seen before, but didn’t see a reason to stock up on.

It made Li Lang rely on his companions once more.

During the evening, he found his acquaintances gathered as usual.

“Hey guys, I don’t suppose you have these materials listed here, do you?”

The group gathered around the paper Li Lang placed on the table.

“Nima Roots, Cavandar Leaves, Branches from a Baleful sapling, and more?” Huang Si frowned. “Those are some unusual items you’re looking for. I think only alchemists with a specific area of interest would have those on hand.”

“Do you want me to ask around?” Sima Xue offered. “I have a few juniors that are alchemists.”

“Yes, please. Thank you.”

While Li Lang waited to hear back, he objectively analyzed his current standpoint and planned how to proceed.

He knew the artifact spirits of the pocket realm wouldn’t let him stay forever. They told him Ruby was disturbing the energies in the realm, and they were a ticking time bomb. There was still a lot he wanted to get done.

In Brushweaving, he had yet to start learning how to enchant artifacts. Without his mentor, Yi Lin, he knew his progress would be slow, so he had put it off for the moment.

In Alchemy, he was tasked with refining a variant of a Qi Replenishment Pill that was of a specific element. It wasn’t something he knew much about. He had failed every attempt so far without knowing why. As a result, it was placed on the lowest priority compared to the other trials.

As for the martial trials, it wasn’t something he wanted to force. He would only take it when he was confident about completing it. After all, Li Lang wasn’t a fighter, and he’d hate to get hurt. It would result in him having to rest instead of researching. That meant he would likely wait for his breakthrough to the seventh stage before proceeding.

Li Lang was confident in being able to juggle these three topics without losing any trial points for a long time, but alas, that was no longer the concern. He needed to wait for Blue, Green, and Orange’s decision before he knew if he was welcome to stay. Either way, he would need to make plans for when things went awry.

To the onlookers, Li Lang had appeared no different from usual, completely ignorant of his woes. After coming up with some contingency plans, he continued like any other cultivator in the realm. He diligently worked on the techniques the trials had awarded him.

For a time, the pocket realm appeared to have quieted down. Everyone had their heads down, focused on their own training.

While Li Lang occasionally checked in with Blue to get an update, he was always met with the response that they needed more time.

It made Li Lang start to suspect that their perception of time was different from his. After all, the spirits lived for who knows how long. For those who were hundreds or even thousands of years old, months may just feel like minutes to them.

Lost in the flow of time, a month passed, then another. Before anyone knew it, two years had passed since the opening of the pocket realm.

Things only got more peaceful as time went on, as the unqualified were ejected from the place. There were fewer and fewer people left to lash out at others, which meant things were quiet. Everything was nice and fine until it was not.

In the early morning of a seemingly normal day, the skies suddenly rumbled, scaring away every Qi beast within the realm. The sun that had illuminated the place every day had begun to move backward, setting right after dawn.

The unnatural phenomenon caused all the cultivators to panic. It was nothing they had ever seen before, nor was it recorded in their organization’s texts.

Only one person among the cultivators had any inkling as to what was happening.

“Ruby, does this mean those three are running out of time?”

Before the Origin artifact spirit could answer, three lights seeped into his room. They swiftly formed into three young humans. Each looked crestfallen.

“I’m assuming you guys have made a decision?” Li Lang asked, steeling himself for what was to come.

Either they accepted Ruby’s offer to submit to him or they didn’t. In the latter’s case, there were several ways it could play out. They could turn violent, attempt to eject Ruby along with him, or even simply beg them to leave. Regardless, it would be a pivotal moment of his life.