Sap could tell you a lot about a tree. While the sap of different species of trees differed in appearance, it could still give hints about their physiological state or health conditions.

Upon seeing the blue sap, various thoughts raced across Li Lang’s mind. The blue color could be due to the presence of pigments like anthocyanins or other plant-based compounds. However, Li Lang knew better than to blindly analyze using the methods devised in his world when he was no longer there.

Qi added a perplexing variable to everything. Nevertheless, he wanted to study this new material.

This was because of the knowledge he had learned from his brushweaving trial rewards. After completing the third round with overlapping runes, he received the text, The History of Brushweaving.

Within it told a story of how the art of brushweaving evolved over time. It started off with using the blood of Qi beasts as ink and then transitioned into more accessible and sustainable forms. Their predecessors experimented with various other alternatives, including plant-based ink that the modern version was based on.

In the current age, woodsmiths cultivated special kinds of trees to be used as the base material for brushweaving ink. It could hold a perfect copy of a person’s Qi, with all its properties, and free from any contamination. Before they had reached that development, they had experimented with tree saps as well, which got Li Lang curious.

While the modern ink was all-encompassing and had little room for improvement, at the end of the day, it was still an all-rounder type of product. Specialized items usually produced better results in certain situations, which was exactly what Li Lang wanted to investigate.

He had currently given up on the fourth round of the brushweaving trial because it was too difficult to accomplish with the materials at hand. Talismans that contained three runes normally required Earth-grade materials which only Foundation Establishment cultivators could properly wield. It did so by increasing the capacity of Qi the talisman could hold.

In theory, it wasn’t impossible for an Energy Gatherer to inscribe a three-rune talisman. They would have to use other less efficient methods to surmount the requirements. That meant using rare materials that were at the peak of the mortal grade. Rare materials like these had better uses elsewhere and were normally too expensive to be worthwhile for brushweavers to create consumables like talismans.

That was why Li Lang began to have ideas when he read about the history of brushweaving. He wanted to experiment with various plant-based materials. However, that wasn’t something he had on hand, so he had relegated it for later.

Now that he had spotted an interesting material, he was dying to investigate it.

Blood differed from beast to beast. Plant-based materials are a much better alternative for my experiments because of their consistency. While they won’t be able to hold the full properties of my Qi, it should also work to my advantage by omitting the properties irrelevant to my inscription.

While Long Yi continued his fight with the chameleon Qi beast, Li Lang inched closer to the nearby trees. He thrust out his spear and began to draw sap from them.

The surrounding forest had a colorful selection of trees, and Li Lang wanted to go through all of them. Li Lang’s eyes widened when he realized the sap from each tree was always a shade lighter than the color of the bark.

He immediately ordered Ruby to absorb some, to be placed into the auto-analyzer.

As much as he wanted to watch over the process in the artifact space right away, it wouldn’t be wise for him to do so when he was right next to an active battlefield.

He made his time productive and continued to collect various samples while steering clear of the clash. He didn’t forget to break off some branches and the soil underneath.

By the time he was done, he found Long Yi still whittling away at his opponent. The chameleon had surprising regenerative abilities. Marks of its freshly closed wounds could be seen all over as it leaped all over the place.

It would futilely try to counterattack after receiving Long Yi’s attack. Unfortunately for it, Long Yi was well prepared and could dodge its attempts with ease.

The battle wouldn’t last forever, as both sides would tire eventually. With the chameleon constantly taking damage from Long Yi’s attack, it proved to be the first one to run out of steam. With it came the end of its life.

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Seeing the fight was over, Li Lang and Wei Ping approached their friend.

“A-are you okay?”

“Yeah. It was more annoying than challenging, but I’m sure an adult Fearful Wyrm would be able to put me to the test.”

Li Lang took a moment to glance over at the corpse of the chameleon. It was already quite large, almost the same size as them. He could only imagine the size of an adult.

“How big do they grow?”

“The ones I’ve seen were almost two times larger than this one. This should just be an adolescent.”

While Li Lang wouldn’t mind studying these Qi beasts as well, he already had a full plate. There wasn’t anything pressing he could gain from studying these beasts. That was why he didn’t bother asking any more questions and followed Long Yi’s lead. He was the only one among the three who had been there, and also their most capable fighter. The only drawback was that he had to refrain from taking the corpses into Ruby, as he didn’t want to reveal his secret yet.

As Long Yi had suspected, his fights against the larger chameleons proved to be more challenging. It made his companions struggle to judge when they should intervene. The action was fast. Decisions had to be made quickly.

The two did believe in Long Yi’s capabilities, so in the end, they didn’t have to intervene even once.

That didn’t mean Long Yi had won every fight. Sometimes, the reptiles would flee after a short exchange, and Long Yi failed to catch up. Still, Long Yi was able to complete his objective of gaining valuable combat experience.

It didn’t magically help him with his breakthroughs or anything, but the stimulation it gave was the most popular method among cultivators wanting to take that next step. Perhaps after some time to digest this experience, it may loosen his bottleneck.

Before the artificial skies began to darken, the trio decided to call it a day and make their return.

Long Yi was tired from the physical exertion, and Li Lang was busy in his head, thinking up ways to set his brushweaving ink experiment. That was why Wei Ping was the first one to notice the approaching threat.

“There’s s-someone over there c-coming toward us!”

The three glanced over slightly left of where they were walking toward and found the figure of a person.

It didn’t take long for them to spot the silver hair, informing them exactly who it was.

Instantly, memories of their time in The Orchid Covenant’s competition arose. During the first round of that competition, the man before them had effortlessly defeated multiple fellow competitors. It left a lasting impression of how strong the young man was, and that he wasn’t shy about using force.

“What should we do?” Long Yi asked with a tinge of panic. “You don’t think he’s going to fight us, is he?”

“I d-did hear rumors of p-people fighting each other o-out here.”

“It’s hard to say. I want to say he means no harm if he’s openly walking toward us like that, but in Liang Po’s case, it’s impossible to read his intentions. Get ready to use our trump card.”

“Shouldn’t we just run?”

“You think we can outrun someone that can fight against a Qi beast equal to a peak Energy Gathering expert?”

Long Yi was speechless at Li Lang’s retort. The three could only tug on the talismans within their robes. They knew about the martial intent ability Liang Po had, so each of them was ready to deploy their talisman at any sight of danger.

“Relax, boys. Why are you all so tense? You were way more relaxed when you were spectating my battle, right?” the silver-haired boy shouted as he briskly made his way toward the trio.

As the one with the most contact with the young powerhouse, Li Lang stepped forward.

“We didn’t mean to intrude on your fight.”

“Oh, I didn’t mean to place any blame on you guys. I don’t mind. I just got curious about you guys.”

“Curious about us? We aren’t doing anything interesting. Just fighting Qi beasts in the forest.”

“No, not about what you’re doing, but you guys, in general. I heard you guys are on good terms with the people over at the Nightmoon Valley. You never mentioned that during our last chat. I’m a big fan of them.”

Li Lang briefly exchanged looks with his companions.

“We are just in debt to a senior within their ranks. We don’t have any special relationship with them. If you want to speak with someone from Nightmoon Valley, you can come to the mess hall in the evenings.”

While Li Lang would’ve been more hesitant to direct this man to his friend before, he felt a lot more comfortable doing so now that he knew of Tang Yulian’s breakthrough. Despite the strength Liang Po had showcased, it wasn’t realistic for him to best someone in the Foundation Establishment realm. Especially one who was hailed as one of the top geniuses of the same generation as him.

“So that’s how you see it. Well, whatever. It seems like this place doesn’t let me take it easy. I’m being hurried along with my cultivation, so I’ll catch you all later.”

The three watched as Liang Po proceeded to walk deeper into the forest they had just exited from. There wasn’t long until nighttime, so he would likely be spending the night there. None of them bothered to give him any advice and only resumed their journey once his figure disappeared from view.

“Well, that went well,” Long Yi muttered.

Wei Ping nodded, while Li Lang didn’t even bother to respond as he got on his way.

Now that he had filled up on a promising material, he was eager to look into their properties. The instant Liang Po left, he had swiftly forgotten about him. He felt perhaps the tree saps he harvested would be suitable for brushweaving. His gut feeling told him it would be the key to allowing him to make further progress.