As one of the premier Biodefense researchers in his past life, Li Lang was right in his ballpark when researching the new drug he had made to remove toxins.

The drug trial was something he had done hundreds of times. Coupled with the advanced technological analyzer, thanks to Ruby, he was quickly able to verify the effectiveness and safety of his new drug within a few weeks.

If only I could do the same with things imbued with Qi…

Li Lang had collected the samples from his subjects every day since the first day he handed the experimental drug out.

“Ruby, can you compile the report for me from all the samples we’ve recently analyzed?”

“Of course, master.”

The artifact spirit took on the role of the AI inside Li Lang’s lab and swiftly organized all the data they had recently gathered into a proper report with charts and graphs.

Li Lang sat back in his office chair as he leisurely browsed the report on a tablet.

He only needed to skim it to realize there had been no adverse effects from his new drug so far. Over the course of experiments, he had each subject take two pills a day. Based on the data, the average human could consume six of these pills without issue each day.

The main problem he was now considering was the cost of production. The Radiant Bloodstones required in the new drug weren’t cheap and cost an entire Qi stone for each portion required for a pill.

Once a working formula was discovered, efficiency was what came into Li Lang’s considerations. By removing the toxins, it should give someone an ‘extra’ cultivation session, but that was on the assumption he had sufficient materials for the new drug. The only cap was the daily limit of six dosages a human could safely take. According to Li Lang’s theory, if one could cultivate extensively like this, it could exert enough stress on the spiritual roots to improve them, like muscles.

He had tried to study what spiritual roots actually were, but none of his scans ever turned anything up. This was true even when he tried putting corpses of animals and bodies he found in a morgue. That was why he could only base his hypothesis on the unique physique he had encountered with Ri Xin.

As for the cost of producing the toxin-clearing drug, there were still numerous combinations of materials he could substitute for his new formula. That was why Li Lang had been continuously working hard on perfecting his new drug.

Soon, the alarm in his lab rang, signaling for him to return to reality.

He slowly got up from his bed and took a sip of water before sitting in the lotus position. Beside him, both Wei Ping and Long Yi were doing the same, completing their morning cultivation session.

Once they were done, they would nibble on the food they had bought the previous day, as their inn didn’t include meals.

“I’ve got something to report to you guys,” Li Lang declared. “After analyzing all the results, I believe my new drug is both effective and completely safe to use.”

“It’s about time! It’s already been a month, and I don’t think I heard anything wrong with your testers at all.” Long Yi quipped.

“C-congratulations, boss!” Wei Ping celebrated.

“Thank you. I had to make sure they were entirely safe because we will be using them next.”

“W-will, you b-be registering your n-new pill with the a-alchemy guild?”

It’s not exactly a pill, but I could make it into pill form if I have to. Whatever, it doesn’t really matter.

“That is the other thing I wanted to discuss.” Li Lang gave each of his companions a serious look. “No, we will be keeping this new drug to ourselves. We should keep it a secret, too.”

“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.”

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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.