The Science of Cultivation [Xianxia]

Chapter 292: Criterion

“Li Lang, you’re finally awake!” Jun Ziyan urgently called out as soon as she saw her charge come out of his room. “You should hurry up. Everyone is likely waiting for you by now.”

“Relax,” the young leader of the Star Gem Academy replied as he tried to contain a yawn. “If they can’t even be bothered to wait a little, then they likely aren’t the type of people we want to recruit.”

“Of course, you have a million ways to deflect, but don’t say I didn’t warn you. It’s your Star Gem Academy’s reputation that is at stake, not my Sword Saint Isle.”

Li Lang shrugged as he leisurely went over to the dining hall for breakfast. He wasn’t doing it to spite Jun Ziyan, but because he really meant what he said. One of the more promising methods of training willpower was extremely close to what he was having the potential recruits endure. No matter how much pain and suffering an exercise he devised could bring, knowing when it started and ended allowed many people to persevere. He believed that keeping people in the dark about when an ordeal would start and end was a great whetstone for willpower.

By making them wait, it was only giving them a small glimpse of what was to come.

Li Lang made his way over to the central plaza of Changjiao City once he had leisurely enjoyed his breakfast. He found the plaza quite crowded, but divided into two main groups. Those who were toward the center and those hanging around the perimeter. Naturally, those towards the center were the young children who were eager to be recruited and begin their cultivation journey, while the latter group was those who were here to watch the show.

“Look how many people you had waiting for you. Are you proud of yourself?” Jun Ziyan couldn’t help but dig upon noticing Li Lang’s sneer.

“Actually, quite so. I’m happy to see the residents of Changjiao City are so receptive to joining what should be an unknown sect to them. It means my efforts yesterday weren’t wasted.”

“You may have quantity here, but I doubt many will decide to stick around once they learn of their aptitude. They’re merely using you to test for their potential.”

“That I’m experienced with. It doesn’t matter, though. Aptitude isn’t the main criterion I’m looking for.”

“Yeah, yeah. Good luck peddling demonic cultivation to a bunch of kids that were taught how horrible it is for their whole lives.”

“Hm, you’ll see,” Li Lang lazily replied. “Once they learn orthodox cultivation isn’t a path they can take, they’ll settle for the alternative. “

Without bothering to elaborate, Li Lang rose up into the skies to fly over the crowd. He was noticed almost instantly, causing everyone to stare and whisper. Some memories flashed through his mind, reminding how far he had come since the last time he had recruited students. He was now a mighty cultivator in the Foundation Establishment Realm, and to most mortals, he was someone of legendary status. That realization really hit him when he saw the crowd’s reaction to him simply flying.

Once he was hovering around the center of the plaza, he descended enough for the children below to make out his features before speaking to them.

“Thank you for coming, children of Changjiao City. I know many of you are impatient to find out your aptitude, while others may be curious about the opportunities I have announced for those with only grade one or two aptitude. I can spend half the day explaining what these opportunities entail, but that would be quite dry. So instead, we’ll get started right away on assessing your aptitude while I speak at the same time.”

A dozen disciples wearing pristine white robes of the Radiant Wing Sect quickly materialized an aptitude assessment orb in their hands. They were helpers the sect lent to Li Lang for the day, along with their tools. It didn’t take a lot of convincing, either. The Radiant Wing Sect would occasionally organize recruitment drives in a similar fashion, as well as the other sects that operate within the Vermillion Dragon province. That meant such events were nothing unusual for them, and they could recruit new blood and answer Li Lang’s request at the same time, killing two birds with one stone.

Under the Radiant Wing Sect disciples’ experienced instructions, neat lines quickly formed, and the testing ramped up in full force. Flashes of red and orange constantly lit the plaza as they mechanically tested the children there.

Li Lang spent the time barely monitoring the results, as it was mainly to reveal those who had no intentions of joining him. More than a few who showed to have grade three or higher aptitude chose to resign, opting for the more well-known sects.

Time passed by quickly, and all the participants soon learned their aptitude. Some cheered while some stood crestfallen, their faces shadowed with bitter disappointment. Li Lang expertly chose this moment to throw some hope their way.

“Congratulations on learning your aptitude,” his voice resonated throughout the plaza. “Some of you are understandably ecstatic, while others are not. I want to remind you all that aptitude isn’t the main thing I’m looking for. There will be a few more tests that I consider much more valuable, but for those who do not plan to join my Star Gem Academy, you’re free to leave now.”

A good half of the candidates left, making their numbers much more manageable. They then proceeded through various tests that Li Lang had decided on with his friends. It consisted of unending marathons, written tests, learning how to play new sports within the hour, and a face-to-face interview. Li Lang had refined these tests further, so it flowed more smoothly even when there were a large number of participants. These tests were purposefully kept unassuming in order to avoid attracting attention.

After almost an entire day of testing, the number of potential recruits dwindled to nineteen. The only remaining test ahead of them was the interview, which Li Lang was looking forward to the most.

It wasn’t because he was eager to learn more about these young talents, but more so due to finally having people who could test a theory of his.

“Name?” Li Lang asked the nervous boy who sat across from him.

“Cai Ze, ten years old.”

“The record on file here says you have grade one aptitude, correct?”

The boy gingerly nodded, losing energy with each motion.

“Give me your hand.”

Without caring for his mood, Li Lang took his pulse while inspecting the Qi foundation of the young lad before him. It was the same method once used against him in order to inspect his potential in detail. It told the practitioner a lot of information, including how many spiritual roots one had.

“What do you think about demonic cultivation?” Li Lang asked as he continued his inspection.

“Um, I’d rather avoid it.”

“And why is that? Perhaps you don’t want to practice evil techniques?”

“No, I’m not one to buy that. Techniques shouldn’t dictate whether you’re a good or bad person. Mom says it’s a person’s actions that count.”

“Then why?”

“Demonic cultivation seems short-sighted? How am I supposed to become the strongest if I have to absorb power from others?”

“Ah, that can be a problem, yes. You need an external source of power to progress, but there are numerous powerful Qi beasts that can fill that role.”

“Still, I don’t want to become entirely reliant on people. Mom says I should aim to become a strong and independent man.”

“Not the worst reason I heard. I understand where you’re coming from.”

Young Cai Ze’s hands fidgeted around as he peered up at Li Lang.

“Does this mean you won’t be able to recruit me? If so—I may reconsider demonic cultivation.”

Seeing the boy muster his resolve, smartly realizing his limited future if he turned away from the demonic arts, Li Lang chuckled. No matter how serious Cai Ze was, his actions only appeared cute in Li Lang’s eyes.

“No, there’s still a path for you to become a cultivator, but I won’t be able to reveal much until later. For now—” Before Li Lang could finish, the results of his inspection of the young man stunned him into silence. He quickly directed his Qi to reexamine his findings, only to receive the same results.

“Interesting, the first one, and already shows promise of being able to test my theory. Cai Ze, was it? If you’re willing, I’d like to extend an offer to recruit you into the Star Gem Academy. I will have to warn you that your path forward won’t be smooth sailing. It’ll be filled with dangers, as you will be working hard and pioneering new paths to compensate for your low aptitude.”

Cai Ze’s eyes lit up at the proposition.

“I’m willing, Teacher! I promise to do my best and keep up with all my studies. Please teach me everything!”

Li Lang immediately held up a hand before the kid got too ahead of himself.

“That will have to wait. As someone with only eight spiritual roots, you’ll need to do a lot of studying to prepare for what you will have to overcome.”

Li Lang quickly sent the boy out and called for the next. While he waited, he fantasized about the moment when he could finally put his theory on how the number of spiritual roots affected the number of affinities a cultivator could have.

After all, he could master the five elements for some reason, while others with grade one aptitude couldn’t. After assessing all the data he had, his theory was that his extreme lack of spiritual roots made it easier to command Qi of different affinities.

Each spiritual root acted as a filter and muscle for Qi, so they were what allowed cultivators to specialize in specific elements. Li Lang suspected that humans were only capable of micromanaging these spiritual roots up to a certain point. Because he had so few, he had full control of each root, while others who had dozens found it hard to split the control anymore than just half and half. To put it into perspective, it was as if humans gained the ability to control their hair, and he only had five strands. He was naturally more conscious of each one, giving him more manual control over each one, while others had thousands of strands. They found it difficult to command such large numbers of roots to do separate tasks.

It wasn’t something he could put to the test until now, when he had people to test it on. With such a strong motivation, he would surely recruit more people with an extremely low number of spiritual roots.

Cai Ze’s prospects were almost guaranteed.