The Science of Cultivation [Xianxia]
Chapter 295: Defending Wave After Wave

With eight wooden puppets that all had overwhelming speed, all Li Lang could do was run. Just because their numbers were doubled didn’t mean they had twice the combat potential. Melee combat didn’t work like that, especially when against a lone target. There was limited real estate around Li Lang that the puppets all had to share. It meant they couldn’t just all attack at once.

Still, their additional numbers allowed them to cover more ground. Fewer spaces for Li Lang to escape to, less time to react. It didn’t take long before a few hits slipped through his guard. The only saving grace was that the puppets weren’t armed, so there was no risk of bleeding out anytime soon. However, stamina was another issue.

What the hell kind of test is this? Are the challengers supposed to survive?

Li Lang cursed at the supposed benign trials of the orthodox sects. Even with a sharp blade, blunt trauma was plenty enough to kill.

With him being pushed to the brink, he naturally began looking for escape paths. Unfortunately for him, the entire dojo seemed enclosed. It was literally like a box, with no windows or exits anywhere in sight. A perfectly empty room save for the wooden puppets, Li Lang himself, and the sign hanging on the wall.

The only hint is ‘Defend yourself, defend others?’ How in the world is that even remotely helpful? This truism garbage has gone too far!

Despite the lack of details provided, Li Lang still tried his best going through the options with the little he had. His body continued to dive around while his mind desperately tried to decipher what the phrase on the sign hinted at.

Does it have a similar meaning to emergency protocols on starships? Help stabilize yourself in case of incidents before helping others, like children?

The next time he dove out of the way, he took the split second while rolling around to scan the room for anything to protect. There were no hidden crevices or obstructions. Li Lang failed to find anything that came remotely close to needing help besides him. Before he could deliberate on more possibilities, a wooden missile was sent flying toward his head. The punch narrowly missed and only forced Li Lang to relocate, but the pressure was building up fast.

That doesn’t make as much sense from a combat perspective. Defending others is exponentially harder than just fending for yourself. Your movements would be restricted when guarding someone, dodging becomes unviable for the majority of situations, and being too passive would just give them the leeway to intensify their assault.

Another strike broke him from his musing; this time, Li Lang rolled between two nearby puppets, trying to corner him off. The puppets prioritized keeping stability at all times, which kept them from making any drastic moves necessary to catch up to their foe. It meant they were one step slower when it mattered, a difference born out of the need to stay on guard against attacks and dedicating their all to escaping.

This delay caused the pursuing puppet to crash into two of its peers that tried to close in on their prey. All three of them collided, entangling their limbs, knocking them out of the fight for some time.

It naturally didn’t escape Li Lang’s notice. His eyes brightened at the scene as a mischievous glint formed.

That’s right! In the end, these things are just inflexible puppets. There doesn’t seem to be anyone controlling them, so they must’ve been programmed, or whatever the equivalent is in puppet crafting, to carry out specific preset tasks.

With this new discovery, the fight became a lot simpler for Li Lang. A predictable opponent wasn’t much of an opponent at all. He purposefully induced the puppets to collide with others before dousing them in a healthy dose of Primordial Star Fire.

The new tactic worked and worked well. The second round soon ended, and peace returned to the room. However, it didn’t last long.

A third wave appeared soon after, with double the number of the previous wave. Thankfully, they had the same vulnerabilities as their predecessors.

The dojo was soon filled with a dozen mounds of white ash and a few chunks of charcoal. A lone man was breathing heavily in the center of it all, lying listlessly on his back. His breathing was labored, but there was a smile on his face.

Before he could recover, the room trembled. A small light flashed from the sign and faded as quickly as it came, but what it left behind was evident. It was a simple sliding door with a wooden frame and window paper plastered over it. There was just enough visibility for Li Lang to get a good look at what was on the other side. From the color and composition of the passageway, he could tell it led back into the greater parts of the crypt somewhere.

At the same time, the wooden sign disappeared, revealing a small hole in the wall behind where it was once hung.

Li Lang only moved to investigate after he had waited for several pills to take effect to restore his body and eliminate the fatigue.

Investigating the hidden cavity first, he found several scrolls wrapped in some oily cloth. He didn’t hesitate to peruse them, finding them to be a Qi art manual of some sort.

Is this part of Kan Wuji’s legacy? Can’t say I’m impressed, though. Just some affinity-less Qi art to form invisible shields. It works decently across a broad range of threats, but doesn’t do enough to protect the user entirely.

Li Lang noted down the technique and learned its basics anyway. With Ruby’s time dilation, he had more than enough time to get started, but nowhere near proficient enough to entrust lives with.

He hoped it was from a series of techniques that needed to be learned in sequence, but at the same time, it added a useful tool to his kit.

It helped that talking to Ruby allowed him to relax after all the excitement he had experienced.

“Master, you have to leave! The room outside is shaking. I think it’s trying to force you to move!”

Heeding his artifact spirit’s warning, Li Lang immediately snapped out of his meditative trance. He got to the exit in time, only to turn back to observe the dojo beginning to collapse. It wasn’t just the walls and ceilings that crumpled down, but the ground beneath him as well.

Li Lang waited until the total collapse was halfway toward him before he leaped to the exit. Instantly, he found himself back in the middle of nowhere within the crypt, before he suddenly found himself in the dojo.

Having at least rested somewhat, Li Lang slowly continued his journey. He made his bed, and now he had to lie in it. Being on the move was the safest option.

His journey into the depths of the crypt didn’t go that much better after his first encounter. Instead of being whisked away to some strange space again and again, the path forward was mostly clear. The only issue was the occasional sophisticated roadblock that required solving riddles to bypass.

It tested his patience and critical thinking abilities, but that was still bearable. What was unbearable was how unending these trials were. They came one after the other, with no sign of it slowing down.

It soon became clear that he would never get anywhere, no matter how many challenges he overcame.

This never-ending ordeal is ridiculous. How big is this crypt for there to be hundreds of them?

Li Lang could whine or grumble, but it didn’t change the fact that he was slowly being whittled down by these challenges. However, upon reflection on what he had gone through, Li Lang got an icky misgiving about something, but he just couldn’t put a word to it.

All these trials are defense-themed, and there are just too many of them.

No wait. There must be a purpose to it. Think, Li Lang. How did a defense theme transition into eternal torture by limitless trials?

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