The Science of Cultivation

Chapter 54: Cleansing Toxins

As one of the premier Biodefense re

“What?! Won’t you make a fortune if you registered that to the guild? It’ll also give a chance to all the low-aptitude people in the world to cultivate, right? The ramifications are massive!”

Li Lang stared at Long Yi until he calmed down.

“Exactly. The ramifications of this could be enormous. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather not draw that much attention when I’m only an Energy Gathering cultivator. If we want to cultivate in peace, we’ll need to keep quiet about this matter. Do you understand me?”

Long Yi peered down at his feet and after a while, he nodded.

“But b-boss, couldn’t our t-test subjects leak t-the news?”

“I never told them what the drug they were taking was used for, so they should be fine. They’re also all going to pass on within a year or two, anyway. As long as no one investigates during that time, we’ll be fine.”

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Seeing how both Wei Ping and Long Yi nodded along with his words, Li Lang continued.

“So anyway, our next step is to use this new antidote—”

“You should come up with a name for it first, now that it’s complete. You’re the inventor of it!” Long Yi interjected.

“...Fine, it’ll be easier to refer to that way, anyway. We can call it the…Cleansing Drug. Moving on, we’ll be using the Cleansing Drug to cultivate faster than before. This will also be another experiment in a way, but with only us three. We need to see if this will allow us to catch up to those with higher aptitudes.”

“What do you mean? Haven’t we already achieved that by being able to cultivate more often?”

“That is just one part of the equation. Those with higher aptitude like you absorb fewer toxins for the same amount of Qi. They also often can make use of more Qi at a time and have other advantages in the other realms of cultivation, or so I heard. The Cleansing Drug only addresses a symptom, not the root of the differences between aptitude.”

“S-so what do you n-need from us, b-boss?”

“Every day after cultivating, I’ll just need some samples from you. Just a bit of your flesh and blood.”

“Blood? You’re not practicing that blood technique we saw before, are you?” Long Yi squeamishly yelped.

“...You really think I have time to learn fancy techniques like that?”

“Haha, I was just kidding. But seriously, I hate the idea of losing any blood.”

“You’ll be fine…Anyway, let’s go receive our test subjects and announce to them that the experiments are over.”

“Hey, don’t gloss over my fear so easily!”

Ignoring the overgrown child behind him, Li Lang made his way out of their room.

Inside a dim cave where the only light source was a glowing pool of reddish water, a lone man in black and red robes meditated by the water. His eyes snapped open and stared at the lone entrance. After ten minutes, sounds of footsteps could be heard.

A teenage man entered, wearing the same red and black robes, and took a knee before reporting to the man.

“Senior Tai, I have news of another murder that happened in the twenty-seventh district.”

“Junior Di, is it? Another murder…? Take me there.”

The two cultivators swiftly exited the cave and materialized a sword before them. They both stepped atop their respective swords in unison and quickly zipped across the skies on them. They soon found themselves directly above Emberglow City. They landed on the main street, where a small crowd had gathered.

Immediately upon landing, several people in the same red and black robes cleared a path to them.

“Senior Tai, you’re here just in time. We just finished analyzing the wounds.”

“Was it the same as the previous cases?”

“Yes, senior. Except…” The furrowed his brow as he hesitated if he should continue or not.

Seeing this, Tai Xilun tightly grasped the man’s shoulder.

“Out with it!”

“Of…of course, Senior Tai. It’s just that we found a packet with some strange powdery substance on the deceased’s body, and no one knows what it is. We’re not sure if it’s related to the case.”

“Did you already get an alchemist to analyze it?”

“Yes, senior. They couldn’t make heads or tails of it either, but it shouldn’t be poisonous, is what they said.”

“Give it to me. I’ll bring it to Huang Jingyi. Anything else?”

“No sir, we’re ready to clean up the crime scene. We’ve already identified the victim and will also be informing their families.”

“Very well. You guys take care of the body. I’ll go inform the family myself.”

“Senior Tai, allow us to—”

“I have already spoken. Go do a proper job.”

“...Yes, senior.”

Tai Xilun let out a sigh upon seeing his juniors disappear into the streams of people within their city. He knew it had been hard for them recently with the continuous cases of murder that they struggled to put an end to.

It wasn’t because they couldn’t solve the case. In fact, they could solve it every time and find the suspect. However, even after they dealt with the culprit, another one would spring up, and with the same modus operandi too.

It was a matter that had been plaguing their Bloodwave Conclave in recent months.

Should I really bother the master with this case?

Tai Xilun soon found himself in the neighborhood where the recently deceased victim lived. The other people on the road gave him a wide berth when they recognized his robes, and he soon walked into a narrow alley.

He glanced down with a hand on his chin as he walked further in, still contemplating how he should handle the case. It was only when a voice called out to him that he returned to reality.

“Senior Tai, I think it’s this house!”

“Junior Di, I thought you went to help the others?” Tai Xilun looked back at his junior in surprise, as he didn’t expect him to still be following him.

“Senior…I have been following you this entire time. You never gave me any instructions, so I apologize if that wasn’t what you intended.”

“... Never mind, let’s go.”

They two knocked on the door of their destination and waited for a few moments. A middle-aged woman answered the door, and she instantly frowned upon seeing their robes.

“What do people from the Bloodwave Conclave want from our humble abode? I don’t believe we have committed any crimes.”

Tai Xilun stepped forth and cleared his throat as he prepared himself to be the bearer of bad news.

“Apologies for disturbing you, but I have some unfortunate news about Chen Laozu.”

“My father? What about him?!”

“He…has been found murdered this morning.”

“What?!” several voices cried in unison.

Hearing the extra voices, Tai Xilun peeked behind the door. He found three boys standing dumbfounded a distance behind the middle-aged lady.

The boy on the right had quite a robust physique, despite having such a youthful face. While the one on the left was a small brat wearing a strange mask. The one at the center had the most unique feature. His head was a few sizes larger than his body.

“Are those your kids?”

“Umm…No. They just showed up a few minutes ago asking about my father as well,” the lady replied.

Hearing the response, Tai Xilun immediately directed a suspicious gaze at the three boys.

The three boys immediately straightened their spines, and a chill coursed through their bodies upon being glared at by a powerful cultivator.