Chapter 25: Cultivation Techniques


    <span style="font-weight:400">With a decision made, Li Lang quickly decided to check out the basic cultivation technique he found.


    <span style="font-weight:400">He took out his sect token and ced it on the counter by the entrance, along with the book. The olddy at the counter took hold of the items for a few seconds before returning them with a smile.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“I have deducted five contribution points. You have ny-five left.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Thank you, Senior.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">The olddy raised an eyebrow at the strange kid.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“There is nothing to thank me for. Work hard, child.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">Li Lang nodded, and wasted no time, heading straight back to his room where he could read in silence. While there was a lot more to explore and various ways he could spend his contribution points, his thirst for knowledge had won out.


    <span style="font-weight:400">His lifelong obsession was to find a way to attain immortality. Having found such an oundish method to reach his goals, he was determined to dissect its mechanics using the scientific method.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The room he was assigned wasn’trge enough for him to pace around, so he shifted and turned while reading on the bed. The Spirit Grove Basic Cultivation Technique wasn’t particrly long, just like all the other cultivation techniques at the library, so he quickly finished it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">A lot of the content was filler text that went on about nature and the cycle of life, and the main point was simple. It taught the reader that the cultivation techniques in the Energy Gathering realm simply affected how cultivators absorbed Qi.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The absorption of Qi relied on the power of imagination, and Spirit Grove’s manual went into detail on how to do so by picturing yourself as a tree, absorbing nutrients from the ground.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The simplicity of it was the reason why cultivation techniques weren’t that valued in the Energy Gathering realm. Cultivators didn’t spend much time absorbing Qi as they reached their limit quickly, and if they persisted, they would feel sharp pain, followed by other, more serious conditions.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Having a top-ss cultivation technique in this case would only save several minutes of time during each session at most unless you were a genius with shockingly high aptitude.


    <span style="font-weight:400">While the contents weren’t that helpful to Li Lang personally, they rified a lot of insights Li Lang had umted in the matter of cultivation.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">That was well worth the contribution points.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, just learning about the cultivation technique wouldn’t satisfy Li Lang. Every respectable scientist had a thirst for knowledge and the habit of testing out new knowledge to verify them and Li Lang was no different.


    <span style="font-weight:400">He immediately crossed his legs, got into a lotus position on his bed, and began cultivating using the new technique. Imagining himself as a tree that sucked the nutrients and water out of the earth.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Qi entered into his lower body before he willed it to merge with him. The flow was slow and steady. It was especially difficult to increase its speed, as it felt like he was trying to force an overfilled suitcase closed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">He wasn’t able to stay in such a state for long as a sharp pain rang throughout his body.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Li Lang had cultivated already this morning, so he was already close to his limit. Still, he attained the results he desired, having gauged how effective Spirit Grove’s technique was. Once he was done, he took his red gem and ced it against his forehead.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Ruby, were you able to observe my cultivation session just now?” Li Lang eagerly asked, as he wanted to digest his findings by conversing with someone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Yes, master! I was able to feel the flow of your Qi. Is something the matter?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“No, but I wanted to confirm that the intake of Qi this time was much slower than usual, right?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“That is correct, master. Your intake was less than half of your usual speed.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Hmm…”


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">I had been using the concept of ck holes to draw the ambient Qi in, so I guess it’s a given that it isn’t the norm. I doubt people here even know what ck holes are.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">With the investigation into basic cultivation techniques done, Li Lang shelved all matters pertaining to it for another time as it wasn’t vital to his current progress. What he needed the most right now was test subjects to do cultivation experiments with. He wasn’t sure how exactly he would find these subjects, but he knew getting lost in several research directions wasn’t the right way.


    <span style="font-weight:400">He left his room when the sun was high in the sky and continued his tour of Spirit Grove, his new sect.


    <span style="font-weight:400">On his way out, He spotted one of the young boys from the previous day who had questioned him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Hello again. I am Li Lang. Do you remember me?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">He looked up from his book for a second before giving Li Lang a slight nod.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Yuan Quan.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“So, Yuan Quan, I was wondering if you have any suggestions about where I should go?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Where you should go? You’re free to go wherever you please.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Yes, I know, but I’ve been told I should take a tour around the sect and learn all the ways I can make use of my contribution points.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">He looked up at Li Lang as if he was stupid, but just as he was about to say something, he shook his head and sighed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“If you are serious about cultivation, you should only spend your contribution points on things that would either help you earn more points or aid you in cultivation.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“I see. Any idea where I should start?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“If you know a craft, then work on that to earn points. Otherwise, go to the mission hall. Once you have enough, spend them on what you need to cultivate, whether it be Qi stones, pills, talismans, artifacts, or new techniques you would like to learn.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">Having mentioned crafts, Li Lang was instantly reminded that his auto-analyzer was currently idle.


    <span style="font-weight:400">He had previously used it to examine his blood samples to see his condition after cultivating. However, the results remained consistent, where he needed to rest for about half a day, so he had stopped.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was a vast waste of his resources, so his next destination was set.


    <span style="font-weight:400">He headed for the alchemy building that Elder Wang had led him to before and went straight to one of the idle counters.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“I would like to buy a pill. Can I see the list of what you have for sale?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">The disciple wordlessly took out a piece of paper and ced it on the counter. It only took Li Lang a second to read through the list of mortal pills. The most expensive of them cost a hundred contribution points, while their cheapest cost five.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It wasn’t challenging for Li Lang to decide on which one to buy as his needs were clear. He nned to analyze the pill so he could refine it himself, so he picked the ones that were mostmon and had a steady demand.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Give me one Qi Replenishment Pill,” Li Lang said as he ced his token on the table.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Qi Replenishment Pill was just as popr as the Recovery Pill. Thetter was for wounds, while the former was for quickly recovering Qi. Both were essential to any cultivator’s survival, and it was safe to assume any cultivator would keep some on them for emergencies.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After losing another ten contribution points, Li Lang decided to finish what he started earlier. He traveled back to the sect library and browsed through the various martial arts and Qi arts he previously set aside.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After a whole hour of skimming through the titles of numerous manuals, he settled on three martial arts.


    <span style="font-weight:400">He knew he was aplete nk canvas in terms of fighting, but he needed to at least be able to defend himself. That meant he must learn how to defend, dodge, and retaliate. The Qi arts techniques were passed over as they all required at least a cultivation of the fourth stage of Energy Gathering or higher.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Each of the martial arts had cost five contribution points, so he was now left with seventy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">By the time he finished checking out the books, he was starving, so he returned to the same food hall from the day before returning to his room.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Instead of diving straight into his new techniques, Li Lang first ced the Qi Replenishment Pill into his auto-analyzer within Ruby’s artifact space before working on devising a new schedule for himself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“I can’t just spend all day cultivating or I’d just be another forgettable outer disciple except worse, with my grade one aptitude. If I want to excel with my talent, then…I need to start testing out my theories on cultivation. I should try to umte more wealth to hire willing subjects…if those even exist.”