Inside a narrow alley in the city of Xiang Yang, two children found themselves surrounded. On both ends of the street, a pair of adult men were closing in on them.

One of the boys with an abnormally large head was currently trying to break through on one end. After having exchanged a round of blows with one of the adult assailants, he realized his punches were too weak despite having a higher cultivation. He wasn’t to be blamed, as the difference between the beginning stages of the Energy Gathering realm was marginal. This was especially so when their body size was factored into the equation.

The adult ambusher and his companions were completely confident they had everything under control. The allies of the man whom Li Lang was fighting watched the fight with a grin or were leisurely sauntering over from the other end of the alley.

However, after exchanging a few moves with the boy, the attacker realized what he thought was an easy target had more teeth than he thought. Unfortunately for the children, the man wouldn’t back down from just that.

The attacker had the boy’s back against the walls and was prepared to finish this farce and stop playing around.

His friends had received news that these kids had been going around their area, carrying a large sum of money around them, so he thought it was inevitable they would be targeted. He thought it was better that he did it rather than the more ruthless thugs around.

Combined with the prospect of an easy payday, the grown man jumped into action. He lunged out at the boy, who had gotten passive since his tiny fist had proven ineffective against him.

Just like before, Li Lang dodged out of the way with awkward and unpredictable movements that surprised everyone with how he could still maintain balance. Despite having seen this before, the man couldn’t help but be caught off guard.

Taking the opportunity offered to him, Li Lang stepped into his attack range again. Instead of preparing a punch this time, he turned around while pivoting on one leg. As he turned, he raised his other leg and prepared to kick out.

Li Lang had practiced this technique for the past week, and it was his first time using it against a real person. He executed the move exactly as he had done in training and soon felt his feet come into contact with something solid.

It didn’t last long as he sent the full-grown man flying into the wall behind him.

It did send him flying, so I guess the Skysoar Kick lives up to its name…

Everyone in the narrow alleyway froze for a moment at the unbelievable scene. A small boy around the age of ten had managed to launch a full-grown man.

Li Lang and Wei Ping recovered from this shock immediately. They exchanged a quick glance before sprinting past the remaining man who stood in their path. Luckily, the man hadn’t recovered from the shock, letting them run by while he stared dumbfounded at his companion.

The two children ran away at full speed, weaving through the narrow streets to break the line of sight. Unfortunately, Li Lang wasn’t particularly fast and was dragging back Wei Ping. His abnormally large head affected his balance too drastically for him to have the speed needed to outrun their adult pursuers.

Once they caught up, it wasn’t difficult for them to tackle down the two out-of-breath children. The man whom Li Lang had kicked caught up to the group last.

So it wasn’t powerful enough after all…I can’t use the excuse I’m a noncombatant anymore if I want to survive in this world. I need to train up my fighting skills a lot more.

“Don’t think you’ll be getting away from this in one piece after that stunt you pulled,” the man said as he nursed his chest.

He grabbed Li Lang by the hair and winded up his arm to punch the brat when suddenly, a figure leaped down from the roof. The sound of robes fluttering drew everyone’s attention as the newcomer landed squarely on the man holding down Li Lang.

The adults stared at the young girl, who had abruptly appeared with their mouths agape. She appeared no older than Li Lang and had a petite figure that complimented her straight black hair. The girl exuded a powerful aura that made it unquestionable that she had the highest cultivation among the people present.

“Scram! Unless you guys want me to take action,” the young girl declared as she kicked over the man at her feet.

The other men exchanged glances with each other before quickly turning tail. With the assailants escaping with their tails between their legs, the girl then turned to Li Lang and Wei Ping.

“Pathetic people like you make me regret having joined the same sect.”

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Right after she spoke, she vanished as abruptly as she had appeared. Li Lang wasn’t even able to react before she swiftly climbed back onto the roof.

Seeing they were now alone in the alleyway, the duo awkwardly exchanged glances before getting up.

Meanwhile, the young girl who had just saved them was quickly moving from roof to roof. She then leaped into a sea of people on the main road and entered a lavish restaurant. She navigated through the building without hesitation toward one of the private rooms.

She didn’t bother to knock and went straight into the room, where a portly man who was dressed like a rich merchant was eating alone. The man didn’t bother glancing toward the newcomer taking a seat beside him, and continued enjoying his food.

“Senior Brother Jian, your disguises look especially ugly this time.”

“Come now, don’t bully me, Junior Xue. Quickly make your report so I can head back.”

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Time passed by in the blink of an eye, and Li Lang’s time in Xiang Yang was running out.

Over the past week, he and Wei Ping had brainstormed various methods to reach out to candidates for the first round of experiments. They visited many areas of the city, searching mainly for terminally ill patients or others who had a high tolerance for risk. They made slow progress, but any progress was still better than none.

Before heading back to the sect, Li Lang first needed to complete the request he took on from the Mission Hall or risk taking the contribution points penalty.

“I’ll leave recruiting to you, Wei Ping. I’ll probably be back in a few weeks, so we’ll start our first round of experiments, then.” Li Lang fetched out his money pouch. “Here, keep this as well, in case it takes me a while to return.”

Wei Ping took a quick look at the contents of the pouch, and his eyes widened.

“T-that’s a lot of m-money. Are you sure?”

“Yes, it’s no use to me in the sect, anyway. I’ll bring more the next time I come, so recruit as many people as you can find.”

“...Understood!”

Li Lang kept the parting brief as he began leaving the city of Xiang Yang. He headed in the direction of a nearby village and refreshed himself on the task at hand. Despite being called nearby, it still took Li Lang a few hours of walking to reach his destination.

“Investigate what destroyed the fields of Yong village,” Li Lang muttered.

What am I, a detective? This better not lead to a Qi beast because that’s way more than what I can currently handle.

Li Lang’s mind was preoccupied with the experiments he would be doing with his new subjects. He wasn’t interested in the mystery of the mission at all. As a result, he rushed into the village and did the bare minimum required of him by mechanically following the guidelines set by the mission hall.

He spoke to the villagers and inspected the fields. His auto-analyzer was busy with the Replenishment Pill, so he simply sketched down the prints found around the scene.

His body was mechanically completing the task, while his mind was elsewhere. The mission passed by in a blur and he soon found himself on a Skyrunner returning to the sect.

When he returned to the sect after an entire week, the atmosphere had drastically changed. Everyone was busier than ever, as they all busied themselves with the preparations for the upcoming sect competition.

“Did you hear? There’s this freak among the independent cultivators that made it past the qualifiers that have been constantly beating people with higher cultivation. I heard he only has a grade two aptitude like me too!”

“Really!? Are we sure he isn’t a demonic cultivator then?”

“Well…The elder in charge allowed him to proceed to the main competition, so probably not.”

While the name of Spirit Grove’s sect-wide competition may imply it was exclusive to their disciples, that wasn’t the case. Sectless independent cultivators were welcome to join after passing through a preliminary round. It gave them a chance to show off their skills for a chance to join a sect or win rewards.

Occasionally, they would be upstarts that surpassed everyone’s expectations as well. When this happened, the news would make its rounds, which naturally meant Li Lang caught wind of this as well.

“Is that true? You say there’s a young independent cultivator around my age in the seventh stage of Energy Gathering who is easily defeating others who are one or two stages above him? He even has a grade two aptitude?” Li Lang tightly held onto one of his dorm mates when he overheard their conversation.

The outer disciples that Li Lang ambushed were completely stunned at the sudden interrogation and at a loss for words.

Thankfully, coming to their rescue was the nearby Yang Quan, whom Li Lang had previously spoken with.

“That’s right. Calm down and let him go first. I’ll tell you what I know.”

Oops, I lost control of myself again. But the news of someone making such progress with low aptitude sounds like great research material!

“...Oh, sorry. I lost control of myself there. Please excuse me.”

As Li Lang retreated, Yang Quan stared at his back the entire time.

However, Li Lang was completely oblivious to this, as he was in a rush to go about his schedule. He had to cultivate his martial arts techniques and then refine pills. Every time he turned in a batch of pills, he would gain a contribution point for every pill.

In contrast, the mission Li Lang had completed only netted him ten points.

He steadily built up his points as he prepared for another outing to Xiang Yang to finally begin his experiments.

“I’m sorry, but the Mission Hall will temporarily stop issuing non-urgent missions,” the disciple in the Mission Hall replied.

“What? How long will this last for?”

“Until the sect competition ends. This is to ensure no issues arise during this important event as all disciples are required to participate in some fashion.”

“...I see.”

Li Lang was immediately dejected at hearing the news. He had been thinking long and hard about his experiments, but now he was forced to wait for over a month.

…In a way, it’ll give me more time to refine my ideas some more. Maybe I can take some inspiration from the event as well…