The Science of Cultivation-Chapter 268: Getting Involved

The break was over, and everyone settled into their seats. Without any fanfare, Sword Saint Jun Heng kick-started the discussion. This time, instead of allowing the strongest orthodox sect to speak first, he amiably nodded at Jian Beiyun of the Nightmoon Valley.

“You have the first word, Young Master Jian.”

“Thank you,” Jian Beiyun politely clasped toward the host before stealing a glance at his peers sitting around the table. “Our Nightmoon Valley has heard all your proposals. In the end, we found all of them lacking.”

His words made everyone uneasy. While the dignitaries could contain themselves, the audience in the stands couldn’t. Before things got too rowdy, Sword Saint Jun Heng quickly asked a question that was on everyone’s mind. freeweɓnøvel.com

“Does that mean Nightmoon Valley will be abstaining from voting?”

“Not exactly. It depends on how things go,” Jian Beiyun replied as he scanned his gaze across the crowd.

It settled on Li Lang’s group.

“B-Boss, still not yet?”

Li Lang simply shook his head.

“Very well then,” the master of Sword Saint Isle continued. “Next up is Sunset Peak.”

“Thank you, Sword Saint. I, Song Leiguang, will proudly declare our support for the retaliation option as long we can get a guarantee that the most influential sects will be in charge of the task forc—”

“That’s impossible!” an elder of the demonic path shouted.

“—Otherwise, we believe the endure option will be the best. We believe it is better to let things go rather than forcing something that obviously isn’t going to work.”

Both cries of support and opposition could be heard, and the next representative was selected to speak. Some of them gave their preferred option along with some type of condition, and if they couldn’t be met, they opted for the endure option. Another decent portion of them supported Polarity City taking charge of the retaliation option, but they were outnumbered by the former.

Before long, every notable force had an opportunity to speak, and the discussion devolved into a free-for-all, where people started to force their opinion onto others through the sheer volume of their voice.

“You old fools are so conservative that you’re willing to just let this attack be swept under the rug? Three people from my sect have perished during this incident! Some of you suffered even more. How can you just let this be?!”

“Zhong Dong, you must understand. The stability of Violet Isle is more important than petty revenge. Remove your emotional attachment to the matter and think it through again.”

What was left unsaid was how many factions didn’t want to risk tipping the delicate power balance that kept their home relatively peaceful. There were a few skirmishes every so often, but overall, all-out wars were avoided. The only retaliation plan they could stomach just happened to have the potential to mess with the status quo in the form of empowering Polarity City.

The longer the discussion went on, the more it became clear which option would be chosen.

“Hmm, should be about sixty to sixty-five percent of forces will be voting for the endure option,” Li Lang muttered along with a heavy sigh. “It seems it’s inevitable we get involved.”

As Li Lang stood up from his seat and stretched his back, he noticed several eminent figures below looking over at him. The one from the Sword Saint made his skin crawl, but it was now or never.

Inside the venue, where there were tens of thousands of cultivators gathered, Li Lang leapt down from his seat, slowly floating toward the donut-shaped table. It was impossible to hide his actions. It could be said that Li Lang had one of the shallowest cultivation within the entire island. There was no way these stronger cultivators wouldn’t notice his actions.

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“Who is that?” more and more among the crowd wondered.

“Is that kid really trying to join the conversation between the representatives? The audacity!”

“Hmph. He’s nothing more than a firefly trying to compete with the moon.”

“You got that right. Why in the world did this kid, who is only in the early stage of Foundation Establishment, believe he has the qualification to join that table? Anyone know where he is from?”

“Is no one seriously going to stop him?”

Under the scrutiny of everyone in the venue, Li Lang soon landed at the edge of the table at a spot between two dignitaries, one of whom he was familiar with. He had purposefully chosen to be near a friendly face, so he had selected the spot beside Jian Beiyun.

While the audience was in an uproar, the esteemed guests around the table all fell silent. They carefully examined the newcomer and deferred to the Sword Saint to take care of it.

“Sword Saint Jun, Junior Li Lang pays his respect to your eminence,” Li Lang greeted with a bow. “I hope you magnanimously allow me to say a few words.”

“Of course, of course. I meant it when I said anyone is allowed to speak their mind. Please have a seat.”

Almost immediately, a wooden chair materialized right behind Li Lang. Going with the flow, Li Lang found himself sitting among people who far outclassed him in almost every single aspect. Due to that contrast, he was painfully aware of the unfriendly gazes directed at him from every single direction. He felt like a heinous murderer facing a public trial.

The entire arena was deathly silent, waiting for his next words. The quietness was clearly the calm before the storm. Li Lang knew he was about to face reprisal, as he believed many among the audience were just waiting for him to misspeak so they could rip him apart.

Taking a deep breath, Li Lang went through the words he wanted to say one more time.

“Thank you for your time, everyone,” he spoke with his chest. “I’ll be direct. I believe I have a solution that’ll allow us to move forward with the retaliation plan with peace of mind.”

The unfamiliar elders at the table with him could be seen exchanging glances with their peers in confusion. They were polite enough not to interrupt him, but the younger cultivators in the audience weren’t.

“Who do you think you are?” a more passionate member bellowed. “Do you even realize what you’re talking about? These matters affect the entirety of Violet Isle. You’re too young and inexperienced to be chiming in. Whatever you thought of, the elders would’ve as well!”

“Yeah, stop wasting our time! This isn’t the place to be vying for attention!”

Before it could get out of control, the Sword Saint softly tapped his bamboo sword against the ground, and the sound of it impacting the stone soothed everyone who heard it.

“Now, now, my dear guests. I may be injured, but please still give me some face and not cause a scene, okay?”

No one replied, but they all understood the message. With order returned to the venue, the Sword Saint nodded toward Li Lang. “Please continue.”

Li Lang took a moment to calm his racing heart before speaking.

So this is the feeling of having the whole world against you.

“Well, everyone sure has made it known their time is valuable,” Li Lang chuckled to himself to hide his nervousness. “It seems many here question my qualification to speak on this stage, so I guess I’ll address that first. In the interest of time, I believe the fastest way will be explaining through action.”

Without missing a beat, Li Lang pointed a hand at the clearing behind him. A moment later, the miniaturized version of the Crucible floated out and landed on the ground. Then, it rapidly grew in size. Four pillars soon rose to great heights that eclipsed the stands all around it, and gasps could be heard all around, especially from those hailing from the Luminescent Domain.

“That’s The Great Trial of Water Crest!” an elder wearing dark brown robes of the Drenched Earth Sect yelled. “Why is it here?”

All the gazes from the demonic cultivators shifted from Li Lang to Jian Beiyun. The last they heard, this Spirit-grade artifact was under the control of Nightmoon Valley, so they were naturally looking for answers from their representative.

“Well, my valley only said we had control of the pocket realm. Never did we once say we owned it. So, as you can see, our basis of control hinged on an agreement we have with the owner, Li Lang, here.”

Jian Beiyun cleared his throat while everyone was stunned at the revelation and winked meaningfully at Li Lang. It only took him a second to realize what it meant. All the demonic cultivators knew about the Crucible, but that wasn’t the case for the orthodox cultivators. He promptly proceeded to introduce his artifact.

“As the honorable experts of Violet Isle can see, what I present before you is a genuine Spirit-grade artifact! I hope having this in my possession will convince some of you to hear me out.”