The Science of Cultivation [Xianxia]

Chapter 163: Retreat

Having heard Yun Ming shouting to Li Lang for him to continue with their combination attack, the mysterious assailant couldn’t help but erupt into laughter.

“Hahaha, you two seriously want to continue with a plan that doesn’t work? Even pigs have more brains than you two!”

In response, Yun Ming charged in once more. He would get sent flying around by earthen pillars erupting from the ground, while he tried to close the distance. His remote blades and needles soared through the air in retaliation, but none of them could do much damage. The stone layer of skin had proven too powerful for the early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator to cut deep enough to inflict meaningful damage.

Many would say this was only a desperate resistance by Yun Ming. However, Li Lang, who had been standing atop the colossal wall, noticed something.

While Yun Ming continued to close the distance again and again, only to be pushed back, he was actually getting closer after each attempt.

On his fifth charge, he had actually forced his opponent to block with his sword. As they locked swords, he grinned while the assailant frowned.

“Don’t think you can fool me with your provocations,” Yun Ming said. “That poison-warding technique must be keeping you too occupied to fight normally, right?”

Hearing this, Li Lang finally realized why Yun Ming had told him to continue their plan despite his poison no longer working. Their enemy must’ve employed some Qi art to actively defend against poisons.

Even a beginner at cultivation techniques like Li Lang could immediately think up a simple way to do so. One simply had to constantly course a wave of Qi throughout their body to immediately destroy any foreign elements entering the body. While there may be more complicated techniques to do it more efficiently, it undoubtedly took some concentration and energy to maintain.

This distracted their attacker enough to allow Yun Ming to gain an edge. As a close-range expert against a preoccupied opponent, it evened the playing fields brought on by their gap in cultivation.

Still, that wasn’t enough for them to win the fight. As their assailant was in the middle stages of Foundation Establishment, his only advantage wasn’t in pure strength. He also had a vaster pool of Qi to rely on. In a battle of attrition, he would definitely win.

Thankfully, Yun Ming wasn’t alone.

As their fight became a drawn stalemate, Li Lang kept manipulating his needles to assist in the fight. However, his role was to simply force the other party to keep up their poison-warding technique. Other than that, he was mostly ignored. Not even Yun Ming bothered to take control of his needles anymore as he focused on his own fight.

This made every needle Li Lang controlled only bounce uselessly off their attacker’s defenses.

I just need to tip the scale however I can.

While the other two cultivators were preoccupied with their fight, Li Lang sneakily recalled his projectiles before sending them back out. The other two thought he simply needed to reapply his Qi art or needed to rest, so they didn’t pay it any mind. That was why they were both caught off guard when those needles once again made contact assailant’s back.

A tiny mote of silverish-blue light rapidly expanded in size. Within a split second, it enveloped the entire needle. With the size of the flame increasing, so too did the heat.

It caused the mysterious attacker’s stone layer of defense to crack and fracture before it crumbled into tiny pieces. As it peeled off, it left only a thick layer of Qi protecting his back.

The Primordial Star Fire had proven to be effective even despite the cultivation gap!

As a heavenly fire, it naturally was a deadly force that could threaten cultivators. However, a Foundation Establishment cultivator’s defenses should be able to fend off the amount of heat that someone in the Energy Gathering realm could maintain.

The reason why it had managed to work against the stone layer of armor was because Li Lang didn’t obsess over pure firepower. Instead, he played into the unique properties of his Primordial Star Fire.

The Primordial Star Fire could burn at different temperature levels within its flames. It could even defy the laws of physics, allowing the object being burned to be perfectly fine despite there being a large discrepancy in temperature. Normally, when such a large difference in temperature was present, it would result in thermal shock,

That was when the parts that were rapidly heated, expanded while the colder parts did not. It results in internal stresses within the material from the uneven expansion.

While the objects being burned by the Primordial Star Fire could avoid this fate somehow, it didn’t apply to the things it didn’t directly burn.

Through Li Lang’s tests with the fire, he discovered a few properties about it. First, the user had to be within close proximity to burn something. He could send the flames flying as a projectile itself, but it moved slowly, and would only burn if the target wasn’t protected by Qi.

Second, once ignited, it could continue to burn as long as he still had a Qi connection with it.

And third, the physic-defying nature of his flames didn’t apply to objects in the surroundings.

Some of these properties made it unsuitable to be used as a range weapon by itself, but when combined with other objects, it still had its uses.

It resulted in Li Lang successfully peeling away the layer of protection from his attacker. While the heat was kept at bay by the Qi layer, it undoubtedly weakened its victim’s defenses.

The abruptness of this new variable on the battlefield had caused the mysterious man to overreact. He split his attention to remove the burning needles, only to give Yun Ming an opening to land a sword strike.

He didn’t forget to target the now exposed back of his opponent, causing another stream of blood to stain the battlefield. Nevertheless, the gap in cultivation meant he didn’t have the power to deal a decisive blow in only one attack.

The injured cultivator in the middle stages of the Foundation Establishment managed to create some space. His breathing was labored and a rush of blades and needles flew to catch up to him.

Seeing the situation, he frowned. Then, for the first time in the conflict, he decided to use a completely defensive technique. He erected a dome of stone around him as his figure disappeared into view.

The earth then trembled, putting Yun Ming on full alert. However, after some time, nothing happened. Still, fearing any follow-up attacks, Yun Ming quickly brought his thumb and index finger next to his mouth and unleashed a high-pitched whistle. It caused Glimmer, the giant cicada on the other side of the wall, to fly over to him.

“Quickly, get on!” he shouted out to Li Lang.

Even throughout the time it took Li Lang to scale down the wall, nothing happened in the vicinity. It was eerily quiet, as the sound of their intense clash had deterred wild Qi beasts from drawing near.

Soon, the two young men boarded the cicada and took to the skies as they surveyed the area.

Neither of them talked as they cautiously observed their surroundings. Both of them knew there was a possibility of their enemy having retreated, but an equal possibility of him laying in ambush existed. Neither of them dared to lower their guard.

“Should we fly at full speed to Polarity?” Li Lang suggested. “If he’s really lurking around, he would definitely try to stop us.”

Before Yun Ming could answer, they both snapped their attention to the stone dome their assailant had formed. Parts of it crumbled before the entire thing fell apart. Nothing rose from the debris, with no signs of anyone trapped underneath.

“You’re right. Let’s get going,” Yun Ming stated.

At the command of its master, the giant cicada soon picked up speed. The tension remained all the way until they could finally see Polarity City.

“Phew, I can’t believe we escaped,” Yun Ming muttered. “I was almost certain I had to use my trump card to survive.”

“A trump card? Is the drawback so great that you would choose to go with a plan that relied on an Energy Gatherer like me instead of using it?“

“Let’s just say if I used it, you would’ve certainly died.”

“...Still, if my poison didn’t work at all, you could’ve been seriously injured.”

“Ha, we didn’t have that much time back then, but a quick inspection with my Qi sense told me how devious your needles were. If it was only smeared with poison, I don’t think I would agree. Though I was surprised at how fast it took effect.”

As the duo recounted their experience, they soon arrived at the gates of the city.

“What will you do now?” Yun Ming asked.

“We may have gotten away, but my friends are still missing,” Li Lang said with a sigh. “That guy mentioned attacking the black Skyrunner our friend was in, too. I think I’ll have to contact someone from Nightmoon Valley for assistance. Anyway, thank you so much for your help. Is there anything I can do to thank you?”

“Hmm, don’t mind me. I’m just traveling around the world to gain experience. Exciting encounters like those are all part of that.”

Their mount landed beside the gates and the two disembarked. With another whistle, the giant cicada flew off into the distance by itself.

“You don’t bring it with you into the city?”

“No, there’s a stable outside the city that will take care of mounts. Glimmer is smart enough to head there herself.”

“I see. Well, it seems like it has its advantages compared to Skyrunners. Speaking of, I’ll need to go buy a new one. I left behind the one I just bought back in the forest somewhere.”

Seeing Li Lang shake his head, Yun Ming patted his shoulder.

“At least you got your space ring back.”

Before Li Lang could respond, a jubilant voice called out to them.

“Li Lang! You’re okay!”

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