Chapter 13 - A Journey of a Thousand Miles Begins with a Single Step

Twenty days after Li Lang had visited the various guilds in Xiang Yang and spent most of his fortune on a talisman, his plan was finally coming to fruition.During this entire time, he had closed himself off at his inn, cultivating, eating, and sleeping. He kept a low profile and avoided trouble. It would have been exceptionally boring if he didn't have Ruby to talk to and the research results of the various plants he had previously harvested."Ruby, I can feel it. Today should be the day!""You can do it, master!" the child-like voice excitedly cheered on.The timer in his lab rang, marking twelve hours since his last cultivation session, and he immediately exited from the artifact space and stowed Ruby away.He got into the lotus position and began absorbing the surrounding Qi by invoking the image of black holes. As he had done throughout these twenty days, he ushered the Qi to carve out a space that could hold it within his body, working on his feet this time. He had already done so to the rest of his upper body to his limit, and only his left foot remained.His flesh resisted the invasion of Qi, but he applied more force, increasing the level of pain. For someone with only grade one aptitude, it didn't take long before he soon felt himself approaching his limit.A sense of urgency welled up when he thought back to that old hag, The Abductress's words. He couldn't help but be skeptical of her promise to not harm his friends. She was apparently a famous demonic cultivator, and one didn't earn that title by being a trustworthy and upstanding human being.Not wanting to waste even a second, he continued melding the Qi with his flesh to his utmost limit. Just as the sharp pain that signaled his limit began to spread, it abruptly ceased. He felt his body radiating an air of strength and filled with energy.The energy coursed through his veins with no escape, and he couldn't help but shoot up from his seat and stretch out his hands, with his two palms facing the sky. The bed strained from his sudden movement but luckily held as he recollected himself."Have I broken through to the first stage of the Energy Gathering realm?" he muttered as he examined his body.There wasn't any outward difference, so he brought out Ruby and held it against his temple."Ruby, can you tell if I have broken through?""Congratulations, master! Yes, you have! I can now use slightly more of my power, so your auto-analyzer's processing speed should increase accordingly.""Great! By how much?""Umm, it's hard to say. Maybe around 10%?""...That isn't that much.""Master, the first stage of energy gathering is just the beginning of cultivating. Almost anyone could reach this stage, so it shouldn't be surprising that it doesn't give you that much of a power boost.""...You're right. Elder Nong did say that early Energy Gatherers have only become slightly stronger physically. What I really care about is if the auto-analyzer can now work on the pills I bought!""Of course, as long as they have around the same quality of Qi as you. Most Mortal-grade pills should work, only Earth-grade pills and above are beyond you."Li Lang swiftly fetched out the pill he had purchased from the Alchemy Guild and laid it in front of him. It was inside a bottle that was properly labeled."Let's start as planned. Bring the pill into your space, Ruby.""Yes, master!"The entire bottle faded out of existence and Li Lang impatiently entered into the artifact space after it.Without hesitation, he took the yellow-brown pill out of its container and threw it into the auto-analyzer. He glanced over at the new timer displayed on the screen and yelped."What? 169 hours?""Master, the auto-analyzer is already working faster than before. It's just that items with Qi take much longer than the mundane items you've scanned so far.""...A whole week. Whatever, I can wait that long."Shaking his head, he exited the artifact space and began to enact his plan. He still had enough funds to pay for another month at the inn, but that was it, so he didn't have any time to waste.After a quick breakfast, he headed out of the inn for the first time in a while and retraced the path the town guard had used to guide him there from the gates. If there was one thing Li Lang could be proud of, it was his memory that aided him greatly during his academic days.The way out of the city was filled with crowds of people going about their lives. More than a few people gave him strange looks as he left the gates, wondering why such a strange child would be heading out alone, but no one called out to him.Most of the other groups that left the city traveled in groups or rode carriages. They all headed down the well-traveled paths, and Li Lang took the one that headed west of the city. The travelers kept some distance between each other, and their paces were different, so the further they got, the more spread out they became.Having walked down the path for almost an hour, Li Lang noticed a group of rough-looking men with sabers at their hips, veering off the road toward the treeline that was also his destination.Material gatherers with the same goal, perhaps? Hmm…Being a beginner, Li Lang made a split-second decision on the whim to follow after them. He wanted to see professionals at work, and their proximity made it safer for him too with all the Qi beasts that may be lurking about.While they likely wouldn't like it if they noticed him, he didn't believe they would treat a kid like him as a threat, even if he was caught. It was worth the risk if he could hold on to his trump card for even a second longer.The trek across the uneven terrain of the forest drastically slowed down the pace of the group. It slowed even further when they came to a stop as they discovered a gathering spot.Li Lang was mindful to keep a distance away, but there was a limit to how far he could be without losing track of them through all the bushes around. He was just close enough to listen in on their conversation."Leader, allow me to keep watch this time! I recently succeeded in practicing Clear Jade Farsight!" A young teenager proudly declared to a man with grizzly hair.Before the leader could reply, one of the men who was crouched down harvesting herbs loudly asked the person beside him."When did our group get hold of something as valuable as a cultivation technique?"Having heard their companion's question, they all erupted into laughter."Hahaha, don't let the name fool you, Wang Quan. It's just the basic technique to enhance your eyes with Qi. Yi Wen over there came up with some grand name when the kid asked him about it while he was drunk!"The kid who was so proud just a second before blushed in embarrassment at the revelation, and the group only erupted into another round of laughter, but the leader quickly put a stop to it."Focus on your work! If your hands stop, then your mouths stop. We're no longer in the city, so lookouts, be on your guard. Kid, you've already been assigned your role for this trip. We can talk about it next time."The men soon resumed their harvesting, and Li Lang didn't miss a second of it. The material gatherer's guild had a detailed description of how to properly harvest the herbs, but it still paled in comparison to a live demonstration, albeit from a distance.However, he wasn't able to watch in peace as the lookouts did their jobs and managed to spot the child with an abnormally large head."You there! What are you doing sneaking around us?"The group of men all turned over in his direction at the same time, and one of them kicked off the ground and dashed toward him in a blur. He was so quick that Li Lang only had time to fall flat on his butt before the man arrived right before him."Brat? What are you doing? You lost?" the leader of the group said with a frown as he towered over the strange child.His men quickly caught up to him and one of them exclaimed in surprise when he saw Li Lang."Boss, that's the weird kid with the big head I was talking about before. The one who boldly signed up at the guild.""...So you're trying to gather up herbs like us? You think you're clever trying to hang around us for protection? There are rules in this business, brat, and you'd do well to learn them.""...Boss, he's just a kid.""You think I don't know? I started in this business when I was just—"The leaves suddenly rustled violently and the entire group tensed up and looked all around them. The expression of the entire group quickly became tense as their leader shouted out his commands."Gather up around and prepare the—"He didn't have a chance to finish when a dark brown leopard abruptly jumped down from a tree and bit down on the captain's shoulder. The leopard pinned the man down with lightning speed.Everything happened within an instant. Blood splashed onto Li Lang's face and the only thing he could hear were the cries of the man before him.