The Science of Cultivation [Xianxia]

Chapter 179: Weave Press

After a brief moment of thought, Li Lang simply decided to call his new printer artifact, Weave Press. He never liked overthinking names, so he didn’t hesitate and moved on to other matters.

There was still a lot waiting for him to do. With the creation of the Weave Press, he needed to run multiple tests on it. He needed to examine the talismans it produced to see how it compared to the ones he handcrafted. Then, he wanted to study the nascent artifact spirit, so that in the future, he could evaluate if the programming method he used produced any differing results from the traditional methods.

The first thing on the list didn’t take long, as the mimeograph artifact only took a dozen seconds to print its first talisman. To those familiar with modern printing, it was on the slower end, but Li Lang wasn’t too concerned about that at the moment.

When he was designing the artifact, there were many challenges he had to overcome in order for the end result to be able to produce working talismans. Taking the extra few seconds to properly lay out the Qi channels on the talisman wasn’t anything to be concerned about.

The crux that solved his issues was the ink that had once saved him in his brushweaving trials. His research had shown that every attempt to incorporate the usual multi-element ink into the design had failed. He chalked it up to the operating system, the artifact spirit, not being able to separate the useful bits of energy like a human cultivator could with their will during the creation process.

That’s why every single stencil on his mimeograph machine had to come with a unique drum that had multiple compartments for various inks. Different parts of it were filled with a variety of inks, with the required elements in the relevant section of the talisman.

Li Lang found all that extra work he put into its creation had paid off when he found a seemingly average talisman coming out of the machine.

For the first talisman he planned to print, he decided to pick one he often used. It naturally led to the Warding Talisman being selected.

The freshly printed talisman was slightly darker in appearance compared to the regular ones, but Li Lang had enough experience with working with the tree sap inks to find it normal. Still, he didn’t hesitate to have Ruby take in the talisman for further examination. It wasn’t much of a loss at all, as a new one would be printed a dozen seconds later. He could try to activate the next one to observe its efficiency.

Like this, Li Lang continued deep into the night, testing out his new supply of talismans. He ran every test he could think of, recording every result, so he could compare it to the regular Warding Talismans.

Early the next day, he called out to his companions during breakfast.

“You’re up early,” Long Yi noted as he ate.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

“Umm, d-did you sleep at a-all, boss?” Wei Ping asked worriedly.

“Yes, I’m fine. I’m planning on heading out of the city for a bit this morning. Do any of you want to join?”

Li Lang gave Wei Ping a meaningful look. The young man could understand that this was about another experiment. He had been with Li Lang since that start, when they first recruited their subjects for these tests. What few people knew was that Wei Ping was just as eager to participate in these experiments.

To be precise, he wasn’t obsessed with any experiments, other than ones related to the advancement of cultivation. He, too, had grade-one aptitude. His thirst to break free from the shackles of his natural aptitude could be said to be even greater than Li Lang, who had the fortune of being accepted by the Zi family. He knew exactly what it was like to be powerless.

It was why Wei Ping was motivated to study like the newly recruited kids. He wanted to be capable enough to handle his role as a research assistant.

“Y-yes, I can come.”

“Sure, why not? I could use the exercise,” Long Yi chimed in.

“You boys are going to miss the start of the second day of the auction!” Sima Xue cried.

Li Lang shrugged in response, eliciting a sigh from the young Nightmoon Valley girl.

“You guys go do what you want, then. I’ll stay and summarize what you missed for you.”

“You can come too if you’d like,” Li Lang offered. “It’s not like you need to be at the restaurant to watch. Anywhere in the city works, right?”

“It’s my duty as a Nightmoon Valley disciple to see this through properly. Besides, I’ll watch over the kids for you guys.”

“Suit yourself.”

Li Lang’s little trip to the outskirts of Polarity City was a short one. He mainly went outside to confirm the effects of his newly printed talismans.

At the same time, with Sima Xue and the kids absent, he took the opportunity to freely share the details regarding his latest creations with his two companions.

“You mean to say that this stack of talismans here is something you created overnight?” Long Yi skeptically muttered as he examined the large stack of talisman paper. “This stuff is worth at least ten Qi stones each, right? No, the store sells them for like fifty. Doesn’t this make you rich!?”

“It doesn’t work like that. There is the cost and supply of the materials to worry about. Plus, if we’re to flood the market with all these Warding Talismans, the prices will come down. We’ll also draw the wrong kind of attention if we don’t distribute them discreetly. However, first things first. We need to verify how effective they are compared to traditionally crafted talismans.”

“B-boss, we should still look for a s-safe place to live before you print t-too many talismans. It’s inevitable people w-will find out if you’re looking t-to profit from this.”

“Hmm, we’ll work out the logistics and business aspect of it later, but you’re right. It hurts to know we have the perfect place already, but it’s just that it’s too dangerous to reach it as we are currently. We need to speed up our cultivation progress once we get back.”

“I k-know. I’ve been lagging behind as well.”

Even after all this time, the trio’s cultivation hadn’t changed that much since they exited from the pocket realm. Long Yi was still at the peak of Energy Gathering, in the ninth stage, while Li Lang and Wei Ping were in the eighth and seventh stages respectively.

“Hmm, the timing lines up perfectly,” Li Lang voiced. “We’ll need to start researching ways for us to safely breakthrough to Foundation Establishment as well. Long Yi is one thing with his grade three aptitude. For us, we’ll have to rely on the kids to test various methods.”

“Do you h-have any direction to look into, boss?”

“Not exactly yet. We still haven’t looked into Foundation Pills or the Ascension Pills. Hopefully, we’ll find something when we do. However, I think I’ve recently felt my bottleneck loosening with the creation of an artifact. Looking at how crafts assist in cultivation should be a good direction, as well.”

“You two sound like you’ll be busy,” Long Yi commented. “I can help with taking care of the kids, but not much else. After we return, I plan to focus all my time on tackling the final step to Foundation Establishment, if you don’t mind.”

“That’s what we want. I did say we’ll be focusing on our cultivation next. It’s better to have you step into the next realm sooner rather than later. There’s plenty of useful information to derive from your breakthrough.”

“Hey, come on now. I’m not going to be trying out any of your untested ideas when the time comes.”

“Don’t worry. I’m not that reckless. I wouldn’t propose anything to you that I don’t think would work.”

“Mhmm, sure.”

Li Lang’s words earned him a skeptical glare from his giant of a friend. The trio didn’t dwell on the matter too much, as they curiously inspected the result of the talisman. While they didn’t exactly have a Qi beast on hand to test its effectiveness, they had the capability of observing the distant Qi beasts and how they reacted.

There was a lot to find out, but their tests didn’t last too long. By noon, the trio returned to the city and reunited with Sima Xue, the children they left behind, and the bunch of Nightmoon Valley disciples at the restaurant from the previous day.

Additionally, there was one new party. It was the white-haired genius, Liang Po.

His eyes shone as soon as he saw Li Lang.

“You personally delivered the letter, correct?”

“Yes, and as I suspected, it was plenty of trouble. Next time—”

“Then you were able to see Ruolan?” the white-haired youth interrupted. “Did she write a reply?”

“She sure did. Only verbally, though. However, before I relay it to you, I want to make it clear I won’t be delivering any replies for you. This was a one-time thing.”

Li Lang had accomplished what he needed in the righteous territory. He had recruited students and gained some clues on how to find the Abductress. There was no reason for him to travel there anymore within a short period.

For the foreseeable future, he planned to hole up in the Luminescent Domain, accumulating wealth, and building up a stronghold to carry out his experiments in.

“Yeah, yeah. I understand. Just tell me her message already!”

Seeing the fervor from the normally carefree Liang Po, Li Lang began to realize something was amiss. He still dutifully recited the message he had been entrusted. It resulted in Liang Po unleashing a creepy smile as he chuckled to himself.

It was only then that he began to make a realization.

Wait? Is he in a relationship with that Yan Ruolan? Does that mean this dumb couple got me to relay their love letters?

Li Lang was stunned speechless upon arriving at that fact so late.