The Science of Cultivation

Chapter 200: Various Cultivation Techniques

“The test for the new technique is put on hold for now until I figure out why it caused you to bleed all over. For now, I want you to focus on breaking through the traditional way.”

“But it was only my first attempt! I’m sure if I get to make another attempt, I’ll—”

“Enough. This isn’t up for discussion. Go back and stabilize your cultivation. You trying to break through the traditional way is still able to provide us with a lot of insight by identifying the differences in your experiences.”

The boy could only accept his mentor’s words, not being able to rebuke him. He shook his head and walked out of the room, leaving only Li Lang and Long Yi remaining. Seeing how Li Lang stubbornly decided to put the test on hold, Long Yi decided to say a few words.

“You know, no one could’ve expected practicing a technique could cause such harm. You shouldn’t worry too much about it.”

“No, I knew a lot could go wrong. Cultivation mishaps aren’t uncommon, and I failed to see my technique was actively trying to incorporate all the worst practices.”

“Then will you just give up on this direction already?”

“Of course not, but I’ll need to reevaluate it before getting anyone to test it for me.”

“I could do it. As a cultivator in the Foundation Establishment Realm, it shouldn’t be too dangerous for me to test it out.”

“You wouldn’t serve as a good tester. How someone in your realm is able to practice a technique to focus your Qi into your dantian has no meaning in figuring out a way to break through. It’s not the time to re

“Hmm, not particularly. Playing it safe is great and all, but sometimes, risks have worthwhile rewards as well. Many hidden techniques that are trump cards of cultivators take these risks. In exchange for some internal injuries, they are able to exert a lot more power.”

“So it inevitably injures the user, then,” Li Lang muttered, his eyes downcast.

“Hmm, most of them, yes. Some techniques made by geniuses may reduce that drawback to the minimum. These techniques are particularly valuable, though. Often part of a family inheritance.”

“How can they accomplish that? They get to have the best of both worlds of power without any costs?”

“Well, these techniques still exhaust the energies of the user and are especially hard to learn. When Qi within one’s channels clash or merges, the cultivator will undoubtedly suffer some damage unless they are in perfect equilibrium. That means they will have to manage their Qi perfectly, which is a colossal ask amid combat.”

Councilman Sheng Zhaoming then explained the intricacies of these powerful secret techniques. It basically boiled down to ensuring the clashing flows of energy were equal in strength so they would cancel each other out.

Once Li Lang had gotten all his questions answered, he raced back home and locked himself in his room. He quickly reviewed the incident with Xiao Dong the previous day and spotted what had gone wrong.

By using particular movements chained together like a dance, the different streams of Qi converging in Xiao Dong’s dantian arrived at different times. The imbalance from this delay was where the problem lay.

I see, so I just have to make a model to calculate the strength of the Qi flowing in each section of the meridians. I can start with Bernoulli’s principle as the base and refine it to be more specific to Qi. Then, I just have to make sure the timing is right.

Having a challenging problem wasn’t anything to be afraid of for Li Lang. It was not having direction for his research that scared him. Now that he believed he grasped the last piece he had been missing, Li Lang worked relentlessly through the night.

The next morning, he barged straight into Long Yi’s room without knocking.

“Wake up! I need you to help me with some tests.”

The sleeping Long Yi slowly opened his eyes in confusion.

“W-what?”

“You said yesterday that you’ll help me test out the technique first to verify its safety, right? Let’s get to it!”