Several days had gone by since Li Lang had settled on his new routine as an outer disciple of Spirit Grove. He would cultivate during the morning and nights, while he split his time between training his martial arts and alchemy in between.

With three martial arts to train, he would spend the latter parts of the morning training the movement art called ‘Earthbound Steps’. It allowed the practitioner to maintain balance while dodging out of harm’s way. Li Lang selected this so he could run away without fear of tripping when he encountered any threats.

Then, after lunch, he would head over to the underground crafting rooms to produce Recovery Pills. He had gotten to the point of using several furnaces at once to produce several batches at once, but the most he could handle were three furnaces at the same time.

In the afternoon, he would alternate each day between training his defensive martial art and the offensive one.

It was a day when Li Lang was training in the defensive martial art called ‘Ironhide Art’, that he received a visitor.

“Li Lang, have you gotten settled into the sect yet?” A woman in olive green robes asked emotionlessly.

“Elder Cao! Yes, I have, all thanks to you. To what do I owe the visit?”

“As I promised, I will guide you when I have some time. Are you done with alchemy for the day already?”

“I have refined a batch, but we can go back anytime. I think the refining rooms are rarely full. I’d be honored to have your guidance.”

“No need. We can do that another day. I don’t have that much time today… so why don’t we go over what you’re already working on instead? I believe you have quite a shallow background in cultivation due to your aptitude, correct?”

“Yes, Elder. I didn’t have many opportunities to come into contact with cultivation-related material besides the basics.”

“Understandable. Cultivation knowledge is the pillar of any sect. Tell me, do you know why sects normally only recruit people with grade two aptitude or above?”

“Because those with lower aptitude would take too long or cost too many resources to break through to the next realm…”

“That’s correct. Even discounting demonic cultivation, it is still very possible for those of lower aptitude to advance, but the cost would be much higher. Cultivation is to go against heaven’s will, even if it seems insurmountable. However, the resources required for those of lower aptitude to produce the same results are just too wasteful.”

“If I may be so bold to ask. Then why do Ascension Pills exist? They must be wasteful of valuable materials to help someone break through to the Foundation Establishment realm.”

“They are, but they are also an example of a cultivator accomplishing what seems impossible. A talented alchemist created the recipe a long time ago to help his loved ones live longer. As you say, they are too wasteful to employ on a large scale, and also have many detriments for their users.” She glanced at Li Lang to give him a chance to answer, but continued when he just blankly stared.

“Cultivators who used an Ascension Pill are defective. They may have the cultivation, but they cannot exert their powers. That means they are useless in combat and find it almost impossible to advance to the next realm themselves unless they ingest a higher-quality Ascension Pill.”

“So they produce useless cultivators that only have the benefit of a long life-span…”

“Not quite. They may be useless in combat, but they can still be somewhat effective in crafting professions such as alchemy. That is the reason why I decided to recruit you to the sect. You may not have the talent as a cultivator, but you do as an alchemist.”

“So…You’re willing to give me an Ascension Pill?”

While that is great, I’d rather not take a defective solution myself, but I’d love to study how it works to see if it could be applied to the orthodox method.

“Not yet, maybe in the future. You need to earn it first, and it is too wasteful to expend multiple Ascension Pills on you as you are now. Even the lowest quality Ascension Pill is an Earth-grade pill, after all. It is better for you to cultivate to the peak of Energy Gathering first, so you only require a single pill.”

Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

“...And how long will that take?”

“For someone of your aptitude, it is hard to say. The commoners generally say each stage takes double the time from the previous level, but the reality is different. From the third stage to the fourth stage of Energy Gathering, you must first learn to control your Qi on top of absorbing enough of it into your body. Then, from the sixth stage to the seventh stage, you must be able to control Qi even when it is no longer in contact with your body. These bottlenecks may stump people for months, years, or decades.”

And I only have a limited lifespan, so it’s not like I have unlimited time…

The two continued to chat about the intricacies of cultivation. Elder Cao kindly explained each bottleneck he would encounter and the methods to overcome them.

“That is a lot to digest…I will have to work hard at cultivation, then.”

“Yes, we all must.” Elder Cao then glanced up at the sky for a moment. “It is time I return. I will visit you again, but it may be weeks before that happens. Hopefully, next time, we can talk about the basics of alchemy instead.”

The Elder then vanished in a blink of an eye as if she had never been there.

With her gone, Li Lang went back to his training for the next few days. His routine was only broken when he overheard the other disciples talking.

“...I don’t dare dream of first place, but the reward for the top ten that allows me to choose any mortal-grade pill doesn’t sound bad. It wouldn’t hurt to prepare a Dao Foundation Pill for my eventual breakthrough once I reached the peak of Energy Gathering!”

“Are you kidding? Might as well aim for the top three for a chance to become an inner disciple!”

Li Lang continued to walk by them but was stopped when the young boy named Yang Quan, who had given him advice on his first official day, called out to him.

“Li Lang, correct? I see that you’ve been working hard over the past week. Would you like to train with me for the upcoming sect competition?”

“Sect competition?”

“What? You don’t know about it yet? It’s the annual test where we have a chance to become an inner disciple! If you are talented enough for Elder Cao to personally induct into the sect, then this will definitely be your chance to shine.”

“...”

Li Lang remained silent as his mind raced to account for the new variables.

From what he overheard, there was a chance to win an Ascension Pill which he was eager to put into his auto-analyzer. However, unlike what Yang Quan had thought, Li Lang wasn’t a talented genius, and he doubted he could place well in the competition.

Li Lang knew if he wanted the prize, he would need to make drastic adjustments and accelerate his progress.

“When is the competition?” Li Lang abruptly asked, startling everyone.

“...In two months.”

Having heard his answer, Li Lang sprinted out of the door and went straight for the Alchemy Hall. He rushed inside and searched for the Deacon Yu who was nominally in charge of him.

“I need a way back to Xiang Yang quickly, and exchange for some coins as well!”

“...Come again?” The young man stared blankly at the sudden request.

“I…need to make preparations for the upcoming sect competition, so I have to go to Xiang Yang.”

“...Li Lang, you will require the permission of an elder or take a mission from the sect to leave. In this case, I think it would be better for you to take on a mission from the Mission Hall.”

“Why?”

“I doubt the elders will respond well to your request…Even if they do, it may take some time as it isn’t an urgent matter to them. There should be a few simple requests in the Mission Hall that will save you some trouble.”

“...Understood. Thank you!”

Li Lang ran off to the unexplored part of the sect without hesitation.

He came into a spacious hall where a large wooden board was placed in the back, where several fellow disciples gathered. He joined them in inspecting the contents of the board. With a destination in mind, Li Lang was able to skim through the majority of the requests until he settled on a few in the area of Xiang Yang.

Copying as the other did, he was able to take on the request by talking to the disciples manning the counter.

“Outer Disciple Li Lang, you have officially taken on the request. Please report to the Sky Berth outside with your sect token. There will be a Skyrunner heading in that direction in the next hour.”

“Thank you. Oh, and how can I exchange contribution points for money?”

“For Qi stones, you can go to that counter over there.” He pointed off to the side. “For mundane currency, you can exchange it at the Sky Berth.”

Having heard all that he needed, Li Lang wandered out to the large open clearing next to the Mission Hall. There was nothing there but wooden platforms, but it only took a few minutes until he realized what they were for.

He looked up as a wooden carriage sailed through the air at surprisingly high speeds. It circled around Li Lang as it slowed down until it landed perfectly on one of the wooden platforms nearby.

If you ignore their working principles, they’re almost the same as the flying cars from my world…