The Science of Cultivation - Chapter 27: Skyrunner (Patreon)

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Glancing around at the scenery of the Sky Berth, Li Lang had to take a moment to recollect himself. He found it shockingly similar to the air lots from his old world, where flying vehicles filled the skies except the familiar vehicles became replaced by wooden carriages.

He watched as one of the Skyrunners landed straight down like a helicopter, and another took off speedily, like a fighter jet. However, as expected of carriages, there weren’t any loud engine noises.

When Li Lang focused Qi in his eyes, he was able to see each vehicle contained an immense amount of Qi.

How in the world do these carriages work? I am so curious about them…I almost want to go dismantle them to see how they work... Contain yourself, Li Lang! Don’t let the urges win out!

As Li Lang closed his eyes and fought an intense internal battle against himself, one of the sect disciples responsible for managing the Sky Berth spotted the strange child with an abnormally large head just standing in place.

“You there. Are you okay? Are you in need of the bathroom?” 

Li Lang opened his tightly shut eyes at the sound of the voice. He found a teenage disciple looking at him worriedly.

“Err…apologies. I was just looking for where I‌ need to go to report in.”

“I see. In that case, you can simply call out to any one of us here with the yellow armbands who are responsible for managing the Sky Berth. Where do you need to go for your mission?”

“Around Xiang Yang. Here is my token.”

The older disciple received the token and examined it before nodding.

“Understood. Head to berth seven in thirty minutes. Inner disciple Hei is heading in that direction, so he will pick you up in his Skyrunner.”

“...And where can I find the counter for exchanging metal coins?”

“Right over there at the pavilion in front of the entrance to the berths.” He pointed at a hollowed-out tree refitted as a pavilion.

“Thank you for your assistance, Senior.” Li Lang clasped his fist toward the man.

“Just doing my job. Good luck out there, Junior.”

Leaving the helpful guide behind, Li Lang swiftly made his way to the pavilion and couldn’t help but feel up the exterior of the building. It felt exactly as it looked, a dry and coarse bark.

He peeked inside and found a few people there.

Few sect cultivators bothered to carry these metal coins anymore because, at their level, they traded with Qi stones instead. However, the people Li Lang planned to deal with were sectless commoners.

Time flew by quickly after Li Lang had exchanged some of his precious contribution points for coins used by the outside world. Exactly on time, a Skyrunner landed on berth number seven, and Li Lang boarded it along with two others.

He found the carriage a lot more spacious than it appeared, with a total of six seats inside, and room for two more beside the driver. When he stepped in, he found three other disciples were already inside. They all had their eyes closed, and they meditated in silence, so Li Lang and the other newcomer silently took their seats.

The driver, a young man who was the supposed inner sect disciple, wore an olive-green robe that was distinctively darker than the outer disciples. He gave an annoyed look at the back before commanding the Skyrunner to take off.

The trip was exciting for all of the first ten minutes, as the Skyrunner accelerated into the sky, but then quickly settled at a pace. Li Lang made use of the idle time by holding up Ruby to his head, so he could delve into his lab to perform some experiments with all the materials he had gathered thus far.

The auto-analyzer was still in use for the Qi Replenishment Pill, but he settled for mixing various herbs and materials he had access to, and to see if there were any interesting results. 

After half a day of traveling, Li Lang arrived back on the outskirts of Xiang Yang. He quickly disembarked after receiving instructions on where to wait in a week time for his return trip. However, Li Lang wasn’t too scared of missing the deadline, as Spirit Grove had a branch office in the city that he could contact as well.

Instead of heading to the small villages where his mission was located, he didn’t hesitate to make his way straight into Xiang Yang as soon as he got off the Skyrunner.

The gate guards swiftly left Li Lang once he presented his sect token, and he was once again back on the bustling streets. He immediately glanced around for the gang of kids who sold sodas for him.

As always, there was a large crowd on the main road, with numerous hawkers and vendors around. He spotted a few kids running around here and there, but to his surprise, even after half an hour of searching, he couldn’t find any familiar faces.

Where did those kids normally hang out around again?

The kids had always come to him, so he had no clue where to find them. Left with no choice, he navigated his way back to the inn he had stayed at to get settled first. The mission had a time limit of ten days, so he planned on making full use of it.

Li Lang was met with the familiar middle-aged lady, who was the innkeeper, as soon as he entered the establishment.

“Hi there. Can I get a room for six nights?”

“Oh, welcome back! Yes, of course. Here is the key. Oh, and your friend left a letter for you as well.”

Li Lang quickly snapped up the letter and opened it there on the spot as he fell into his bad habits, and allowed his curiosity to take over. Inside the letter was a brief message from Wei Ping, with an address included.

“Umm…Sorry, can you tell me how to get to this address here?”

“Of course, son.”

Li Lang immediately headed out after receiving his room.

The place listed on the address wasn’t far, but it was on one of the narrow streets in a rundown residential area. Arriving before a decrepit shack, Li Lang cautiously knocked on the door. A few seconds later, he could he someone running around on the other side. He could hear the wood creak as someone stood behind the door, peeking out before it suddenly swung open.

“...B-boss, you’re back a-already?” A familiar voice came out from the mask-wearing boy with a stutter.

“Yeah, for a week or so. I had something I wanted your help with. How is the business, by the way? Can’t you afford to find a better place than this?”

Wei Peing looked to the ground and shook his head as he answered.

“Boss, c-come in first.”

He closed the door behind Li Lang and led him to a modest living room area and took seats around a flimsy table. Wei Ping waited for Li Lang to get fully settled before speaking.

“Boss, t-the business with the s-sodas is gone. Some of the y-young master stopped us from doing b-business because we o-offended them. They w-wanted to know how to make the s-sodas, but I didn’t g-give them the recipe, though. Rest assured.”

I guess that was a forgone conclusion sooner or later when a bunch of kids began raking in the cash. They’re defenseless and easy targets of jealousy… 

If I was a hot-blooded youngster, I would definitely go seek revenge, but there’s no point as it’s no longer important to me. My priority is my research.

“It’s fine. I have another…job for you, anyway. And if it works out, you may be able to start cultivating, too. You’ll gain the power to protect yourself.”

“C-cultivating? I have grade one aptitude. It w-would be a waste of resources for us.”

“Don’t worry about it for now. It won’t be right away. I’ll need you to start gathering people so I can test out these methods first.”

With the allure of an Ascension Pill on the line, Li Lang had been motivated to take action. He would proceed with his plan of experimenting around with cultivation, so he may produce some results for himself to perform better in the upcoming sect competition.

“You w-want me to kidnap people?”

“No, I need people willing to cooperate with me.”

“Boss…that’s n—not an easy request. People won’t agree s-so easily to help you out.”

“Here, I’ve got just the right incentives.” Li Lang slammed down a bag full of coins onto the table.

Wei Ping swiftly moved to inspect its contents. He had masterful control of his facial expression, but Li Lang could see his eyes had glowed for a moment when he saw the coins. 

The money in the bag had cost Li Lang a total of thirty contribution points, but it had enough money for several regular families to live free of worry for a decade. It really highlighted how the difference in value between cultivators and regular folks was when the disparity in wealth was so high.

“A-are your e-experiments dangerous, boss?”

Li Lang looked him straight in the eyes. 

“Yes.” 

“Then it w-will still be hard to find a-anyone unless we lie to them a-about the r-risks.”

“If you went up to a normal person in their prime, then yeah, but I’m thinking of something a little different. The first few experiments I do will be the most dangerous, so I’m thinking of finding the group of people who are most unafraid of these risks if sufficient reward is on the table.”

“W–what kind of people are you talking about, boss?”

“People with nothing to lose.”

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