The Science of Cultivation-Chapter 276: Ruby
Time slipped by as Ruby remained unresponsive. No matter how hard Li Lang pressed the Origin-grade artifact against his forehead, the excruciating silence remained.
“Ruby? Are you there? Answer me!” Li Lang bellowed.
He then took off his hat and swiftly ripped Ruby out of it. The brightly glowing gem appeared unblemished, no matter how carefully Li Lang examined it. Calling out didn’t work, so he tried entering the artifact space, to no avail as well.
“Blue, Green, Orange, get over here now!”
Thankfully, his cries were answered this time. The three artifact spirits of the Crucible materialized without a moment of delay. They transformed into their human forms, donned in robes befitting their names.
“Master!” the three said with a bow.
“Do you know what’s happening to Ruby? They’re not responding, and I can’t enter their artifact space!”
“Umm, I have no idea,” Orange fearfully answered. “But it shouldn’t be dangerous. Her presence is as strong as ever, and in fact, growing stronger.”
“Yeah, Orange is right,” Green concurred.
“That doesn’t assure me of anything! Are you saying this is something you’ve never witnessed after living for so many years? Surely, one of the talented geniuses had artifacts that reacted similarly before.”
Orange and Green exchanged glances, hesitant about how to respond. Their gaze quickly turned to Blue, betraying how much they normally relied on her.
“Master,” Blue called out firmly. “You should know better than any of us that Ruby is incomparable to any artifacts that had stepped foot into our territory before. Ruby is—much more powerful and complete.”
“Then what could possibly affect such a powerful artifact?!”
“Master, you should have some idea of the answer.”
He did. Despite Li Lang’s panic, he understood that there weren’t many things that could threaten an Origin-grade artifact. A level so high that he had never once heard of its existence outside Ruby’s mouth. To the inhabitants of Violet Isle, the greatest level an artifact could reach was Divine-grade, which corresponded to the Heaven Link Realm.
The most likely suspect for Ruby’s predicament was Ruby themself. The second most likely suspect was himself.
Li Lang knew his low cultivation was holding back Ruby from showing their full capabilities. It was why he was panicking. He blamed himself for being so hasty with testing his cultivation technique out. He feared his actions could have negatively impacted his trusted artifact spirit and companion.
Stay calm. How much damage could someone in the Foundation Establishment Realm possibly do to Ruby? This should be something else. Orange even said Ruby’s presence was growing stronger.
Wait, stronger?
Li Lang rapidly tapped on his forehead a few times, reprimanding himself for forgetting. After he had achieved his breakthrough, he remembered Ruby talking about how they were becoming stronger, but needed some time.
He pondered if the current event would happen with such coincidental timing, during a time when he had just finished his five-element cultivation technique.
His musing didn’t last long when the lights coming from Ruby began to fade. A voice then resounded within his mind, snapping him out of it.
“Master, sorry to have worried you, but I’m fine!” Ruby said with her familiar child-like voice.
“Ruby? Are you back to normal? What was that?”
“Good things! Very good things! And it’s all thanks to you, Master!”
“So it was because of me, after all?”
“Yep! It turned out that the last push I needed was for Master to settle on an Earth-grade cultivation technique. I shall now be a lot more capable of assisting you, Master. I feel like a heavy vest was lifted off of me, though I still have a mountain’s worth of clothes weighing me down. Hahaha, regardless, I still feel so good!”
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
“Calm down, Ruby. What is this about your new capabilities? What new things can you do?” Li Lang asked with a tinge of excitement in his voice.
Instead of a reply, the powerful artifact spirit began giggling to herself. Just as the sound of laughter hit its crescendo, a cartoony explosion noise rang out beside Li Lang. A red puff of smoke obscured his vision for a moment before revealing a young girl around ten to twelve years old. It made Li Lang and the three artifact spirits of the Crucible stare with wide eyes.
The little girl continued to giggle, lightly jostling her auburn hair that was tied into double buns. It took a good minute for her to calm down, where she finally noticed her new environment and curiously looked around.
As soon as Blue, Green, and Orange made eye contact with the newcomer, they abruptly got down on their knees and kowtowed.
“Greetings, Honorable Ruby,” they politely called out together. “We are at your service.”
The little girl barely paid attention to them before settling her eyes on Li Lang.
“Master? Um, hello. It seems like I can manifest myself physically now!” The young girl, who was supposedly Ruby, quickly recovered from her confusion and excitedly announced to her master.
I guess that confirms Ruby's gender or at least how they perceive themself. Well, it shuoldn't be surprising, considering Blue, Orange, and Green's avatars, so I need to start treating Ruby as a girl instead of—whatever I thought before.
Many things raced through Li Lang’s mind, but the matter of Ruby’s new appearance was almost instantly swept aside. He didn’t find it surprising that such a superior artifact spirit would be able to accomplish the feat of human transformation when he knew many Saint-grade artifact spirits could do the same.
Rather, Li Lang found it much more urgent to inquire about Ruby’s other new abilities. He had high hopes that they would blow the boring cosmetic changes out of the park. Few could blame him for his eagerness when placed in such a position where he was teased by the abilities of such a powerful artifact. Not many people could resist the allure—especially when it came from an Origin artifact.
“Yes, yes. Your appearance is very cute and fits you. Now, what was that about your new abilities? Please elaborate.”
“Hmm,” Ruby held her murmur for a few seconds, lost in thought. She massaged her head with both hands as she tried to recall something, but soon gave up. “I don’t know for sure—”
“What? You don’t know?” Li Lang asked as he knitted his brows.
“Hmm, sorry, Master. I just have some vague feelings. Nothing with details. I think I can maybe simulate Qi better now? Yes—no longer am I only restricted to emulating the energies from materials recorded in my knowledge repository. I think this will allow Master to be able to practice his cultivation techniques while inside my artifact space!”
“Are you sure?”
Li Lang’s firm tone made Ruby flinch for a split second before she slowly nodded three times.
Without being able to stand it, Li Lang reflexively sent the mental command to enter Ruby’s artifact space. He blinked and then found himself inside his laboratory. Just a brief glance around showed him nothing different, so he urgently pushed aside some desks and equipment in a corner to clear space so he could begin executing one of his Qi arts.
He chose the Gossamer Knife Dance, as the technique that allowed him to remotely control needles was the easiest to spot among his repertoire. If he chose something like the Veiling Shroud art instead, all he would see would be smoke.
Wait a second, Li Lang. You were just beating yourself up for being too reckless earlier. Should I really jump straight into it? Hmm, but it’s not like you can get hurt in here, right?
It took less than a breath of time for Li Lang to throw all his misgivings to the side. The possibilities were just too mesmerizing. Cultivating inside Ruby’s artifact space meant absolute safety when practicing risky techniques.
It previously wasn’t possible, as Ruby could only replicate things she had consumed. To be precise, Ruby could simulate various Qi techniques, but any impact these techniques would have on a living person like Li Lang would be entirely ignored. It was why he could practice various crafts, where the focus was on the objects Ruby had full control over. The gentler life profession techniques weren’t likely to cause any internal damage to the user, while combat techniques did. It made cultivating combat techniques within the artifact space completely useless.
“Ruby, since you say you can simulate the effects of Qi within my body now, does that mean it’s possible for you to absorb living things now?”
“Hmm, I don’t think so. I’m not entirely sure, but I believe that restriction has nothing to do with my newfound powers. To put it in terms of your old world, it is like my hardware and software for creating simulations getting an upgrade, but its core functions remain the same. It just so happens that my connection to Master has increased enough to replicate what’s going on in your body now. It also means everything that happened in my artifact space will remain just an illusion. You won’t be actually able to advance your cultivation. Just get the experience.”
“Well, I got to say this is perfect timing,” Li Lang said. “I just finished refining my five-element cultivation technique. This is just the thing that can help me spot any shortcomings before I am fully committed to it.”
Like that, Li Lang once again got carried away. Thankfully, not before setting an alarm. He couldn’t even remember how many days it had been since he had isolated himself. He was determined to check in with his group today to stay on top of things.
“Ruby, it’s morning right now, right? Set an alarm for—four hours,” Li Lang begrudgingly muttered. “I will at least eat lunch with the group.”
“Easy-peasy, alarm set. I hope my new ability will prove useful to you, Master!”
