The Science of Cultivation

Chapter 243: Interview and Test

Returning to their rooms, Li Lang spared no time and entered the Crucible. Their two-day tour of Sword Saint Isle was over, so he had to quickly get his students situated before they came out of the pocket realm.

While Nightmoon Valley knew about the existence of the Crucible, the same could not be said for the others on the island. Once they came out, they would have to rely on themselves and feign being strangers to their teachers should they cross paths. Posing as independent cultivators was the best way to avoid drawing attention to their group overall.

However, despite how important this was, Li Lang rushed through this briefing. It was because he was enamored with the study of Earth-grade cultivation techniques. At the arena today, he had witnessed numerous impressive techniques and was eager to study them further. The best interview candidates around were his students. They were already used to his antics, so he could barrage them with as many questions as he liked.

After going over the things they needed to pay attention to while staying at Sword Saint Isle, Li Lang asked his Foundation Establishment Realm students to come speak to him in private. They were forced to line up outside his room, as he spoke to them one by one.

The first person invited into his room was Xiao Dong, the first among their students to have broken through.

“Tell me about the technique you chose to cultivate. I believe it’s called Metal—something?”

“Metal Heart Mantra, Teacher. It’s not anything special, quite a typical technique of the metal affinity that can strengthen my sword techniques. It also touts making the practitioner more resistant to illusions and other harmful techniques that target the mind.”

“I see, well why did you choose it?”

“I simply wanted to focus on using the sword. I know we haven’t learned many Qi arts before and that I can work to catch up now that I have broken through, but I don’t see myself being talented enough to close the gap with even the more average cultivators. I’d rather focus only on one thing—-martial arts-focused on swordplay.”

“Well, I won’t say much if that is the correct decision or not. It’s your own choice. You’ll find out eventually. If it doesn’t work out, you can always find a new technique from the Crucible here. We have control of it now, so you don’t have to stick with what you found in the bazaar. Now is the time to explore techniques before you finalize your foundation. Otherwise, if you wait until you’ve already broken through to the next stage, you’ll have to return to the early stage of Foundation Establishment if you change techniques. Anyway, I’m more curious about any changes you’ve felt since you practiced this technique.”

“Changes? Well, it’s become easier to infuse Qi into my sword. Is there anything specific I should have noticed?”

“Hmm, how about when you cultivate? Feel anything changing regarding how you absorb Qi into your body?”

“Not really? Nothing out of the ordinary has happened. Following the instructions of the cultivation manual, most of the Qi I absorb is of the metal element now. It’s been a slow and steady process, just like the others are experiencing.”

“That’s a given.” Li Lang nodded. “Foundation Establishment cultivators have a lifespan of approximately five hundred years. While that sounds like a lot, it takes a long time to make any progress in this realm. We can’t afford to be complacent.”

Li Lang had done some preliminary information gathering relating to how one progressed in his new realm of cultivation. The bottleneck for Energy Gatherers was cultivation overdosing, where they had to take breaks to prevent toxins from accumulating too much. In the Foundation Establishment Realm, this was no longer the case. The main bottleneck in this realm was the quantity of Qi one needed to fill the ocean within their core.

Other than that, they also had to construct structures within the core. There was no outline of what to construct, and the decision was mostly based on what the cultivator found suitable for themself. This part wasn’t something Li Lang had figured out yet. It wasn’t something he had to do in the early stages yet. For now, he was focused on gathering more techniques to re