The Science of Cultivation

Chapter 269: Qualifications of Neutrality

Li Lang’s words truly stunned the crowd into silence. His critics were flabbergasted. Those who had openly spoken out against him wanted to crawl into a hole and hide. The significance of owning a Spirit-grade artifact was just too great.

To those who reside on Violet Isle, it could be said that Spirit-grade artifacts were mythical. Only a handful were known to exist. It meant many Spirit Divide Realm experts didn’t even possess one!

As much as some people wanted to dismiss this as a dream, where some random kid in the early stage of Foundation Establishment possessed something that ridiculous, the aura exuded from the artifact was unmistakable. Auras could be faked to a lower level through suppression, but it didn’t work the other way around. Only a fool would refute the facts presented before them.

“Who in the world is this Li Lang? Hurry up and look into him!”

“Councilman Sheng, what did you say? Li Lang had quit our organization earlier today?!”

“Lin Ou, oh Lin Ou. Why did you have to act so rashly and offend this Li Lang? How am I supposed to answer to our Sect Master or worse, the ancestor? They will definitely task me with befriending him once they hear my report. What am I supposed to do with you?”

Various forces panicked at the news about a new owner of a Spirit-grade artifact. It symbolized the rise of a new power that could affect the power balance. The people present understood that many forces would try to make a connection with this new figure after today.

“Is this—Is this really okay?” Long Yi muttered upon feeling the atmosphere around him. “A Spirit Divide Realm expert won’t just happen to show up now and steal the Crucible, right?”

“It sh-should be fine,” Wei Ping calmly replied. “The difficulty of taming a-a Spirit-grade artifact is well known. Even if they know th-they can overpower Boss, the artifact itself co-could still easily escape from their grasp. Not t-to consider their rivals won’t allow them to do as they please. It wou-would be foolish to try to rob Boss.”

After letting the crowd calm down somewhat, the Sword Saint once again tapped his bamboo sword against the ground to restore tranquility to the arena.

“Interesting stuff, Li Lang. I’d love to share a drink with you. After this meeting, of course. For now, please carry on.”

“Thank you, Senior,” Li Lang nodded to the Sword Saint before turning his attention to his peers around him. “As I was trying to say. I believe I have the solution that will allow everyone here to accept the retaliation plan.”

This time, no one interrupted him. They all tilted their ears toward him, anticipating his next words.

“Many clever minds here should’ve guessed it already, but the solution I have is to simply use Polarity City’s plan. However, instead of troubling them with the matter of tracking down the Abductress, I believe I am the most suited for the task!”

A plentiful array of emotions could be seen on the faces of every dignitary at the table. Song Leiguang from Sunset Peak uttered a reply first.

“Young man, while I applaud the cleverness of your suggestion, do humor me how exactly you’ll accomplish such a challenging task. The Abductress is not an easy foe to go up against, and—Violet Isle is quite large. I don’t suppose you plan to conduct the

“That should be no problem, though you’ll have to forgive me if I don’t elaborate on the details.”

“Wait,” Song Leiguang, who had been deep in thought, rejoined the conversation. “While I believe you may be capable of conducting the search, but what about the other vital requirement? The only reason we considered Polarity City and Sword Saint Isle is because of their neutrality. Are you saying someone from the Demon Cultivator Territory, like you, is a neutral party?”

Here it comes. This guy has been pretending to be the worried elder guiding a youngster this entire time. He’s definitely targeting me because of his prejudice against demonic cultivators.

“Yes,” Li Lang answered as he narrowed his eyes.

“Hahaha, are you trying to tell this old man that anyone can just declare neutrality whenever they want when it suits their needs? In that case, I believe we’ll have a few more Polarity Cities popping up in the next few weeks.”

The old man’s guffaw resounded across the entire venue. His words caused the representatives from the righteous sects to put on thoughtful looks.

“With all due respect, Senior Song,” Li Lang continued without waiting for the older gentleman in pale orange robes to settle down. “I—”

Suddenly, before he could say another word, the sound of someone clearing their throat rang out loudly in everyone’s mind. They all turned to the source of the disturbance: the Sword Saint, Jun Heng.

“Forgive me for interrupting, but I thought it’d be more convincing if I was the one to inform everyone. Li Lang here may reside in the Luminescent Domain, but my senses tell me his cultivation is one hundred percent pure. I am completely convinced he practices techniques of the orthodox path.”

Another bomb was set off within the Dark Sea Arena. This time, the impact on the demonic cultivators’ side was much greater. Li Lang wasn’t particularly well known, but he still had a few acquaintances. While he had hinted at doing a big reveal in today’s meeting, he had yet to admit the nature of his cultivation techniques to anyone.

The first thing that came into his associates’ minds was suspicion. They reflexively thought Li Lang was a spy sent by the sects. It was the most natural conclusion for them when they heard about someone hiding the fact they were an orthodox cultivator. After all, they didn’t discriminate against them like the other party did. They even had the Peerless Gate for those who chose the orthodox way in their domain. What was his purpose in hiding this information?

However, thinking back to their interaction with Li Lang, his acquaintances soon realized the truth. The man in question had always kept a certain distance from everyone; all the signs were there. They weren’t blind to the fact that orthodox cultivators not bound to any organization were prime targets for rogue demonic cultivators.

“Senior Sword Saint is correct,” Li Lang clarified. “My allies and I do practice orthodox techniques despite residing in the Luminescent Domain. I believe that should convince both sides about my qualification to become a neutral party?”

“That—” Song Leiguang tried to formulate another excuse, but to no avail. “—Very, well. I am happy to see the birth of a Young Hero like you. My Sunset Peak Sect and I would love to get to know you a little better after this is over.”

Li Lang swallowed hard to prevent himself from grimacing at how quickly the old man before him changed his tune. He directed his gaze to the other dignitaries to assess their thoughts.

This should be enough, right?

Just as he was about to breathe out in relief at passing through this ordeal, a new voice reached his ears.

“Li Lang, it’s been some time. I am Elder Ji. Do you recognize me?”

Turning to the new old man, a few unpleasant memories surfaced in Li Lang’s mind. It wasn’t because Elder Ji had personally done anything to him before, but he didn’t have the best impression of the Drenched Earth Sect from which he hailed. After all, he had gotten along with Gui Hong and Ning Fei from the Eroding March Pavilion, and they had nothing good to say about this persistent organization.

“Of course, Elder Ji. The last time was at Polarity City, correct?”

“Yes, yes. Well, anyway, as a representative hailing from the Luminescent Domain, this new information about how you were deceiving my fellow demonic cultivators is quite concerning. I fail to see how you can be a neutral party when you are so blatantly aligned with the righteous sects.”

“That—I believe you are mistaken, Elder Ji. Do remember that I am a resident of the Luminescent Domain. If I am so aligned with them as you claim, why would I choose to live somewhere so—politically different?”

“Because you are a spy! A lap dog of one of the sects!”

The new accusation almost caused every other representative from the Luminescent Domain to facepalm. They all yelled the same thing in their minds.

“Does he not have a brain? Why in the world is he forcing the issue like this? How does this benefit us or him?”