The Science of Cultivation-Chapter 260: Island Incursion Pt.2

The wooden puppet’s behavior didn’t change despite being encircled by three people now. It continued to do a straightforward charge to its closest target, Long Yi. As a result, it ran head-first into a Terra Moon Slash, but the wooden chassis surprisingly came out on top with the collision with the earthen Qi art. The hardened stone of Long Yi’s attack shattered into little fragments and the puppet continued its charge.

It swung its arm down and locked it against Long Yi’s green broadsword. Before either party could make any headways, Li Lang and Wei Ping closed in from its blind spots, forming a triangular formation around their foe.

The wooden puppet didn’t respond to the two ambushes, allowing a spear and claws to land on its body. Li Lang cloaked his weapon with his Primordial Star Fire, but it quickly fizzled out when it made contact with the puppet. A thin layer of purple smoke could be seen for a moment while Wei Ping’s attack didn’t fare any better.

Both strikes barely penetrated its defenses, leaving a shallow wound behind. Before they could back away and retry, the puppet swung its other arm in a full circle. It was such an unnatural movement it caught the three human cultivators off-guard. Their robes were torn apart as they leaped back to make some distance.

Shit, my poison isn’t effective against inanimate opponents like this one, while my fire is presumably too low level. I really need to expand my toolbox to be able to handle different types of opponents.

Realizing his lack of offensive capabilities in this fight, Li Lang made a quick tactical decision.

“Let me hold it off! You two try to damage it!”

His two companions just nodded as he threw himself back into the fight. The three of them continued with this triangular encirclement. With them being more aware of their opponent’s capabilities, the fight slowed them as they made use of their numbers to accrue damage to the puppet’s body.

They got into a rhythm, allowing Wei Ping and Long Yi’s technique to come into the spotlight. The largest man among the trio had hyper-focused on one technique. It allowed him to punch above his weight now. He could freely shape his Terra Moon Slash to the point it couldn’t even be called a slash sometimes.

The puppet had approximately the strength of a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, but not even that could allow it to remain unharmed after taking on a sharp spike of hardened stone.

As for Wei Ping, his mastery of the Lingering Impact Technique rapidly increased every second. He quickly learned that using it normally didn’t do enough damage, so he began delaying the activation of his first few attacks. He then tried to time multiple strikes to explode at the same time. The first few attempts failed, but his success rate climbed up the longer the battle went on.

After only a dozen exchanges, the culminating Lingering Impact Technique showed a devastating effect, ripping off a chunk of wood from the chassis.

Being chunked and pierced, the wooden puppet soon ceased activity.

“Is no one in the inn? How has no one come to check on us after all this time?” Long Yi muttered to his teammates, who were trying to recover their breath.

“Must be this smokescreen, cloud, or whatever it is,” Li Lang replied. “Either way, let’s head inside and we can confirm if that is true or if there truly isn’t anyone there.”

The other two nodded and turned toward the inn. With Li Lang in the lead, he only took two steps before he heard cries of pain from behind. The scent of something being burnt quickly spread. He turned around to find a person lying sprawled on the ground. Li Lang was astonished when he realized that the person was Long Yi!

Before he could say anything, he felt something prick his left calf, then a jolt spread throughout his body within an instant. He buckled and was brought to his knees.

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Shit! We’re so screwed, an expert of the metal and—lightning attribute?

The only reason he could recognize the imminent danger was because he could see what happened to Wei Ping. He had met the same fate before him, allowing him to see the metal needle sticking out of his leg.

“Is anyone in the inn?!” Li Lang cried out in a desperate attempt to call for reinforcements. “There are people at your doorstep!”

“Umm, I wouldn’t bother if I were you. The people inside put up a barrier, so I doubt they could hear you,” a voice sounded out from the main street.

While injured, neither Wei Ping nor Li Lang were people who gave up so easily. They swiftly pulled up the needle stuck into them and stood up to prepare for a fight. They positioned themselves in front of Long Yi, who was likely unconscious. Li Lang stole a peek and found he had taken a bad hit with the needle embedded near his spine. He quickly removed it for him while their new enemy slowly approached.

When the two parties came close enough to see each other, they both balked at the same time.

“You—” Li Lang barely managed to get out after being stunned for a full second. “—Yun Ming?”

“Umm, this is awkward,” the man replied. “If it isn’t my first customer. I—umm, didn’t expect to see you here.”

“What?! That’s my line! I thought you were a righteous cultivator. You’re working for the Abductress of all people?!”

“I am an orthodox cultivator,” Yun Ming corrected. “Teacher is—misunderstood. Her actions may sometimes be bad, but she means well.”

“'Means well' equals to launching an assault on the island here and indiscriminately attacking everyone on it?”

“Well, there’s a good reason for this, umm—”

The young man, who was the creator of Li Lang’s Tracing Origin Art, froze as he glanced away to the side.

“Yun Ming! No need to come up with excuses, just tell me this!” Li Lang’s bellow caused even the mid-stage Foundation Establishment expert to flinch. “If you work for the Abductress, then do you know Zi Xi and Zi Xiaomei?!”

The young former scientist was now seething upon finally coming into contact with someone who was connected to his hated enemy. He had thought he was still years away from being able to make an attempt to save his childhood friends. It had come as a surprise the infamous Abductress had shown herself to him before he could go find her.

“Umm, yes, I’ve heard—”

“Tell me where they are!”

Yun Ming blinked blankly a few times before glancing around as if he was about to commit a crime. He then took a few steps toward Li Lang and leaned forward, bringing a hand to the edge of his mouth, and whispered.

“I assume you know them—from before?”

Li Lang saw red and recklessly grabbed Yun Ming’s collar, pulling him even closer. Beside him, Wei Ping was getting into position to cut in at any time.

“Just tell me. Where are they? Is the Abductress still keeping them locked up somewhere?”

Surprisingly, Yun Ming didn’t mind being grabbed and yelled at. He held his hands up in an attempt to calm Li Lang down.

“Calm down, Li Lang. The Zi siblings are safe and they aren’t here. Their situation isn’t exactly bad, but I can’t reveal their location to you. If you just leave them be, I’m sure they’ll be able to find you someday.”

“After being brainwashed into being a minion of the Abductress, like you? No way I’m letting that happen!”

“Umm, I can’t reveal much, but I can assure you none of us who serve our teacher are brainwashed. The only reason we’re here is because the people of this island harmed one of our people. Teacher likes to lash out when that happens, and none of us wanted to let her do that alone.”

“So instead of watching her, you’re here participating in the attack?”

“I was watching Teacher’s puppets, to ensure they don’t go too far. I didn’t do anything but stun your companion there, right?” Yun Ming explained as he gestured toward Long Yi.

“Either way, I’m not letting you go until you tell me where the Zi siblings are. You’re coming with me inside and we’re having a long chat.”

Li Lang pulled the young man by his collar, but he didn’t even budge, straining the fabric of his clothes.

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“Sorry—I can’t. It’ll become even more troublesome if you do that. Please listen to me, I have to go. You should head inside with your friends and you’ll be safe. Otherwise, you’ll be in danger if you stay out here any longer.”

“No! Not until you tell me what I want to know.”

The two locked eyes for a tense moment as neither side looked like they were going to budge. They only stopped when Wei Ping held onto Li Lang’s hand that was pulling on Yun Ming’s collar.

“T-This isn’t the time. We should g-go inside.”

Li Lang snapped his eyes to his friend. It was with an intensity Wei Ping had never seen from him before, but he remained resolute.

“Long Yi needs to get some rest i-inside. Now.”