The Science of Cultivation-Chapter 253: Desert Survival

Just as Li Lang began concentrating on his Tracing Origin technique, he suddenly found everything darkening around him. When he glanced up toward the sky, an ear-piercing screech assaulted him as he made eye contact with a golden brown falcon of some sort, with a wingspan that could easily wrap around him and his companions if they were together.

It was plain to see that the falcon was a powerful Qi beast, and it swooped down toward Li Lang.

The lone man hastily dodged out of the way, but there was no chance he would be faster than an aerial-type Qi beast. Its talons easily pierced through the sleeve of his robe, leaving a long gash starting from the top of his shoulder and down to his midsection.

The beast didn’t have any plans on relenting as it quickly turned around to face its target, ready to dive in again. It only hesitated when it noticed the glint from the spearhead pointed its way.

During this short standoff, Li Lang’s mind raced for a solution.

I doubt my needles could penetrate its defenses when all I have are Mortal-grade techniques. My only shot at doing any damage is unleashing everything I have with this spear artifact in a counterattack.

This sucks. I can’t test the new poisons I’ve been preparing at all until I have better power over Qi of the metal element.

As if sensing Li Lang’s hesitation, the falcon didn’t give him too much time to brainstorm. It recognized the threat from its foe and began dashing around in a zig-zag pattern. It made it especially hard to track its movements.

With blood drenching his clothes, Li Lang focused on his enemy as hard as he could. The bird charged toward him every so often, managing to leave a small cut every time. New wounds appeared all over his body every few seconds and the only thing Li Lang could do was slowly lower his elevation. The goal was to reach the ground, limiting the falcon’s attack angles by deterring it from diving straight down, lest it wanted to take a plunge into the sand.

I guess there’s no way for me to test my poisons for now.

When Li Lang shelved any thoughts of testing his poisons, his mind wandered to the next more important thing. His safety.

The organizers hadn’t explained much before dropping everyone into their formations. They had expected every participant to be familiar with one of the five major crafts. This left Li Lang wondering if everything before his eyes was real or not.

Given he had heard the event rarely produced any casualties, he’d rather not incur any serious injuries if everything around him was real and not an illusion. Unfortunately for him, there was no way to tell. The formation was employed by powerful experts at the Violet Core Realm. He didn’t expect to see through the illusions produced by such powerful masters.

If Foundation Establishment were respected cultivators of talent, then Violet Core Realm experts would be considered seasoned veterans. They unquestionably held the qualification to establish a proper sect or organization, albeit being only a local power.

Li Lang soon made it back onto the ground—or, to be precise, sand. It had cost him a dozen wounds, but he was getting better at tracking the Qi beast, and his latest wounds were each shallower than the previous one.

With his feet on the ground, Li Lang gained a sense of comfort. One of the earliest techniques he practiced was the Earthbound Steps. It allowed him to retain enough balance to maintain an upright position even while pulling off high-intensity maneuvers.

After the long years of cultivation, this martial art seemed so simple now. It paled in comparison to the flashier techniques he had witnessed. Earth-grade techniques could allow their practitioner to move at speeds the mortal eye could barely see. Then there were outliers like martial intent, which could freeze up their target. Regardless, Li Lang still believed there was some merit in maintaining his mastery of these seemingly basic techniques.

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Right now, it paid off in spades. Being on the ground meant the falcon had to fly parallel to the ground or slow down its speed when swooping in from above. This gave Li Lang even more leeway to dodge out of the way, and his Earthbound Steps kept him on his feet despite the unstable terrain. The leeway he received was exactly what he needed to overcome this Qi beast.

After getting used to the bird’s movements, Li Lang finally counterattacked. On its eleventh attack, Li Lang was able to thrust his spear directly at it as it flew at him. His cultivation, combined with the Mortal-grade artifact and the oncoming force of the Qi beast’s charge, allowed his spearhead to break past its skin and embedded itself into its torso.

Another loud screech assaulted him as the beast cried out in pain.

The falcon panicked and flapped its wings relentlessly. The gust kicked up all the sand near them. Seeing how violent its movements were, Li Lang quickly retrieved his weapon, ready to attack again.

To his relief, the falcon had no intention of continuing the fight. Having incurred an injury, it swiftly flew away in retreat. Li Lang found no reason, nor did he have the ability to stop it. He was just glad he managed to drive it away.

Once it disappeared from view, Li Lang sighed and plopped himself onto the sand. He then took out a bottle of Recovery Pills and consumed one. While he waited for it to take effect, he pressed his hat against his forehead.

“Ruby, can you detect if I am under an illusion or are the things around me actually real?”

“Hmm, I think it’s a little bit of both, Master. Your injuries are real, but I’m not so sure about that Qi beast. Try to have me consume its blood and you’ll know.”

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Li Lang did just that and soon got his answer. Ruby completely rejected the blood-stained sand. No part of it could enter his precious artifact. It could only mean some advanced measures were taken, or it had been an illusion. The latter was more likely to be true, but in that case, how did he incur the injuries? That question got Li Lang wondering again.

Too bad he would have to wait to study formations.

***

Wei Ping found himself in an intense fight before he knew what was going on. He blinked, and he found himself in the middle of a desert. and the next second, some type of thick mucus was shot at him. He had to dodge out of the way several times before he spotted who his attacker was, some kind of carriage-sized slug.

The fight was not going in his favor. He was in a similar situation to Li Lang, in that he didn’t have the firepower to overwhelm any of these Foundation Establishment level creatures. He didn’t even have an artifact weapon, but even if he did, his claws would have the same penetration power as a spear.

As a result, it didn’t take long before Wei Ping was on the run. Unfortunately, the slug was not slow. The scene of a man running across the desert, with a giant slug closing in on him and occasionally spraying mucus in his direction, soon unfolded.

When it was getting dangerously close to him, he didn’t hesitate to slam a palm into the Qi beast in an effort to push it back. Upon impact, it caused the slug to stagger, and then a second later, it sent it back several feet!

Wei Ping didn’t wait to see how the slug liked his move and resumed sprinting away, but before he could pick up any speed, the sound of someone chuckling caught his attention.

“Heh, is that you, Senior Uncle? It looks like you need a hand!”

A young woman, who seemed no older than eighteen, rushed into the scene, riding a skysword close to the ground. She was holding open a folding fan in front of her face to shield her from the sand.

From a distance, it appeared as if she was riding on a fast sled. Within an instant, she reached the oversized slug and tapped the tip of her fan at the beast.

Perhaps a mortal would gawk at the ridiculousness of the scene. A paper fan, even when reinforced with metal guards on its exterior, couldn’t possibly do much damage. However, cultivators knew not to question such things. There were numerous exotic weapons even stranger than that.

As she tapped the slug, she turned her back to the Qi beast immediately, causing Wei Ping to want to call out to her about the danger, but it immediately proved unnecessary. The light tap exploded out with tremendous force, blowing the entire slug apart.

“It’s been some time, Senior Uncle. I can’t believe you broke through and are here!”