The Science of Cultivation [Xianxia]
Chapter 296: Absolute Dome Art

Li Lang continued to solve the riddles one after the other while contemplating whether there was something he was missing. No matter how many he conquered, it felt like a never-ending loop. Not only was it mentally taxing, but they also involved channeling his Qi into certain pillars or gems. It was a strain on his Qi reserve.

Thankfully, he didn’t need to take any breaks in order to replenish his stores. The perk of practicing a technique invoking all five of the main elements offered him certain benefits. While he still only had five spiritual roots, limiting his throughput and power he could exert, the generation cycle of the five elements increased his recovery rate greatly, even when not actively cultivating.

Of the Foundation Establishment cultivators he had encountered so far, it was a feat none of them could match. It could be said that Li Lang’s strong suit was now prolonged battles of attrition. Unfortunately, he still needed to shore up his mastery of a lot of techniques and learn new ones before he could consistently force his peers into such battles.

The doors before him soon opened as he poured the precise quantity of Qi into the right pillars. When he saw what was on the other side, he became hesitant to step through. That was because another dojo-like room awaited him.

Surely, they won’t use the exact same trap again, will they?

Glancing back at the way he came, the urge to backtrack was stronger than ever. His goal wasn’t to make it to the end. He just needed to buy time until a rescue team arrived.

Right as he came to terms with a decision, the walls behind him trembled. Two chunks popped out and slid up to reveal a cavity behind. Two earthen golems, twice his height, slowly emerged before snapping to him with their red eyes.

They took heavy and steady steps toward him.

Okay, it can’t get any more obvious that they’re here to force me forward. Who am I to say no to the Violet Core expert who built this place?

Sighing at his misfortune, Li Lang stepped into the dojo-like room, and the doors quickly closed behind him.

He was instantly on guard, expecting to face an onslaught of wooden puppets again, but he soon realized the writing on the sign was different this time. Instead of some spiel about defending yourself and others, this one only said ‘adapt’.

Before he could dwell on its meaning for long, he sensed an enormous force of Qi accumulating for a split second before it immediately shot his way. He could tell it would engulf the entire room. With nowhere to run, he swiftly conjured a barrier using the technique he learned from his previous encounter.

A second after it came online, a storm of fire rushed into him. His surroundings were immediately covered in flames. Only the area within arm’s reach of him was protected by his barrier. However, he could feel it groaning under the pressure of the attack. It felt like his muscles supporting the barrier were about to fail. He gritted his teeth, forcing himself to endure every agonizing second.

Thankfully, he persevered for long enough, and the flames soon dispersed. He immediately cancelled his Qi art and hunched over while breathing heavily. Everything that took place had only spanned a couple of seconds, but the strain of using an unfamiliar technique against such overwhelming flames rightfully tired him out.

He only managed to rest for a dozen breaths before he sensed another attack building up.

After waves of puppets, I get an onslaught of Qi attacks now? This Kan Wuji is more like a demonic cultivator rather than an orthodox one, given how much he’s trying to kill the people who enter!

Soon, another fire blast assaulted him, forcing him to put up his defense again. It repeated for a third and final time before it ceased, and an exit appeared. Just the same as before, there were some scrolls that served as a reward as well. A quick skim let him know it was a supplementary chapter to the Absolute Dome Art, the technique he had previously received. Specifically, it focused on adapting the barrier to defend against fire elemental Qi arts.

Li Lang swiftly allowed Ruby to consume the scrolls and entered the artifact space. He wanted to take advantage of the time before the place forced him forward. He had recognized the pattern by now, and he would be a fool to let it rush him into making a mistake.

“Okay, Ruby. What do you think? Am I trapped in some artifact again, where some artifact spirit is manipulating things behind the scenes?”

“Hmm, I don’t think so, Master. Now that I’ve recovered some of my strength, my senses can reach much further than before, and I don’t feel anything. This place is just within some kind of special barrier.”

“Barrier, so we’re talking a formation of some sort, then. So it’s more like the first round of the Dark Sea Arena. Wait, does this mean this place is made with illusion formations?”

“I’m sorry to say that isn’t something I can tell, Master.”

“Hmm, well, if it was that easy to notice, there wouldn’t be a point to it.”

As they continued their discussion, Li Lang made his way to the little courtyard outside of his lab. He resumed practicing the barrier technique he obtained from the crypt. With the discovery of the fire chapter, he learned that the initial technique was the core. He speculated that there were many other chapters that focused on maximizing the defensive properties of the shield against specific elements and types of damage.

“Hmm, if what I’m perceiving is only an illusion, then maybe this entire situation is also a test, just like the fire one just now. The problem is that I don’t know any illusion-breaking techniques. Though I do have extra time to explore, thanks to you, Ruby.”

“Hehehe, no need to thank me. I’m just doing my job. I’m sure master will get out of this place in no time!”

At first, Li Lang thought the Absolute Dome Art technique was quite simple relative to what he had seen in the past. It was a straightforward use of non-attributed Qi, surrounding the user to form a protective dome. It was flexible in the sense that it defended against all threats, but was generally weak for the amount of Qi it consumed. Only with the additional volumes would the user master how to tune their barrier to be effective against specific attacks.

Li Lang only had one of these additional volumes so far, but he now had a clue about how it worked. Within the first hour of reading it, he tried to extrapolate how the one to defend against illusions would work.

He quickly found it wasn’t an easy task. The difference between fire Qi arts and illusions was just too great. There were too many aspects he was missing.

Illusions were of the mind. It wouldn’t be suitable to just shield himself from all external stimuli, like he would do against fire, as that would only cut off all senses.

Normally, when you were missing such a critical chunk from the technique, trying to fill in the gaps yourself would be foolish. However, Li Lang wasn’t normal. He had basic knowledge of how the brain could be fooled.

It wasn’t unheard of for exotic plants in the universe to secrete potent hallucinogens with similar effects, and he planned to fill the gap in knowledge with his own. While it may not be the same as what cultivators used, he believed the theory shouldn’t stray too far.

If I am under an illusion of some sort outside the artifact space, it would mean my occipital lobe is being tampered with to distort my visual input. Everything I heard would be a result of my temporal lobe producing phantom sounds, and my somatosensory cortex was manipulated to fake the sensation of touch. The prefrontal cortex would likely be compromised as well to increase suggestibility. I’ll also have to be careful of my neurotransmitter levels, too.

How can I prevent these tamperings if I don’t know the delivery method?

With a place to start, Li Lang quickly lost himself to the research of the illusion variant of the Absolute Dome Art.