The Science of Cultivation [Xianxia]

Chapter 141: Cyanogenic Glycosides

Li Lang struggled to contain his excitement as he stared down at the auto-analysis report. It had an exhaustive list of names, including amygdalin, prunasin, and sambunigrin. They were all cyanogenic glycosides and were exactly what Li Lang wanted. That was because they were the ingredients for making cyanide. It was a poison with an onset time measured in seconds rather than minutes or hours and would be his first choice if he had access to any material he wanted.

He couldn’t be happier at having attained a natural source of these cyanogenic glycosides. Extracting these cyanide compounds from raw materials was much easier than synthesizing them from simpler substances. This was especially so for Li Lang, who did not have access to any industries.

As Li Lang analyzed the details of the report, his excitement died down. The unnamed branch he found contained very small traces of these precursor materials to cyanide. With the concentration too low, it became a problem to produce useable quantities. It simply wasn’t realistic to harvest the vast portion of the forest for a small supply that he would struggle to replenish.

“Ruby, bring out samples of this tree branch for me.”

“Right away, master!”

Blinking once, Li Lang could see the branch he had harvested during his adventures out in the pocket realm. Its appearance wasn’t anything special. It had a rough texture and a particularly dark shade of brown. Taking a sniff, the tree had a faint almond-like scent. Other than that, it appeared like a branch from any regular tree.

Hmm, too bad the tree was withered. There aren’t any leaves or anything else to examine. How should I proceed to extract sufficient hydrogen cyanide?

With one question answered, Li Lang was rewarded with several new ones. It became the new topic that would occupy most of his free time.

Thankfully, plants and faunas were something Li Lang had dealt with all his life. It didn’t take long for him to come up with several ideas to increase the concentration levels of the cyanogenic glycosides.

As always, the easy part was done in Ruby’s artifact space. The difficult part was to do the same in reality.

One evening, when Li Lang’s group gathered once again in the mess hall, everyone surprisingly discovered that Li Lang was the first one there. He stood over their usual table, which now had several clay jars. He was wrapping them with large pieces of cloth.

The second person only frowned at the scene for a split second before greeting his friend.

“H-hey boss. What a-are you doing?”

Li Lang continued to busy himself with the jars, answering with his back turned to the person he was conversing with.

“Hmm, just preparing to ferment something nice,”

“What? D-don’t tell me you’re making f-food,” Wei Ping cautiously glanced around for any eavesdropped before leaning in to continue his next part in a whisper. “Even i-if you have c-control of the artifact spirits now, shouldn’t y-you avoid doing something so e-eye catching?”

“No, it’s nothing like that. This isn’t food, but something I will use to aid me in combat.”

Before Wei Ping could ask for further clarification, another person entered the hall. They turned to find Long Yi walking in, staring at them with a curious gaze.

“What are you two doing, whispering away in the corner like that?”

“Just preparing to ferment something nice,” Li Lang answered once more.

“What? Don’t tell me you two are making food of all things. How can you leave me out like this?! And didn’t we say not to draw any attention to—”

Wei Ping cut him off with a raised palm as Long Yi was getting riled up.

“Boss s-said it’s not f-food.”

“If not food, then what? Is it some alchemy material then?”

“Nope. It has nothing to do with alchemy, either. As I was saying, it’s for—”

Another person walked in, cutting Li Lang short.

“What are you three doing, whispering like you’re deviously plotting something? And what’s that?” Sima Xue pointed toward the jars on the table.

“...It’s to ferment something. Don’t worry too much about it.”

“What? You three are taking it so easy that you’re fermenting food now? How—” Sima Xue stopped mid-sentence on her own initiative. It was because the trio were all giving her a strange look. “What?” she repeated.

Li Lang used every fiber of his being to suppress a sigh.

“Don’t worry, it’s not food. We’re not leaving you out. And before you ask, it’s not for alchemy, either.”

“Then what? Don’t tell me you’re coming up with some new ink for brushweaving? I’ve been—”

As if Li Lang was stuck in some nightmarish loop, yet another person walked in with impeccable timing. It made Li Lang particularly irritated. So irritated that he didn’t even stop to consider the status of the other party. He simply yelled out the reply he had been repeating.

“Before you ask, these jars are for fermenting something. And it’s not food, alchemy materials, or brushweaving ink!”

Tang Yulian, a high and mighty Foundation Establishment cultivator, was stunned at the sudden outburst. She tilted her head slightly and looked toward her close friend, Sima Xue. Unfortunately, the group was not fated to have a proper conversation, as the last regular in their usual group walked in.

“What is all the commotion about fermenting? I could hear you guys all the way out in the hallway. I was conversing with a junior out there,” Huang Si indignantly bellowed. “If you guys are so curious, then stop playing word games and just go take a peek. Why are you guys raising your voices over it?”

As the Bloodwave Conclave disciple spoke those words, he walked straight to the table and stretched out a hand to uncover the mystery. Everyone watched on curiously. Everyone except for one person.

Without any hesitation, Li Lang instinctively reached and grabbed Huang Si’s hand, stopping him from touching the lid. The sudden move had taken Huang Si aback.

“Umm, sorry? Is this something you want to keep to yourself? I was just curious. I didn’t want to take any. I’m not much of a glutton.”

“No,” Li Lang interrupted. “It’s not that…it’s just that opening it could ruin all of it.”

Having some time to calm down, Li Lang realized he had acted on impulse. It was a normal reaction considering the dangerous substances he was handling. His mind failed to consider how harmless mundane poison was to cultivators, which made him embarrassed about his overreaction.

However, it was too late for him to explain.

All his companions gave him looks before they collectively dropped the issue. They each had their own thoughts as to why Li Lang was being so secretive about his actions, but they didn’t want to agitate him any further.

It wasn’t for another few weeks until the group found out what was in those jars. Then he would be terrorizing the Qi beasts of the pocket realm with its contents for a good part of the year.

Having finished a trip down memory lane, Li Lang massaged his temples. While his journey of synthesizing his new poison by using Qi techniques recorded within the Vengeful Leaf Compendium combined with his cyanide was not a short ordeal, the result more than spoke for itself.

He had created a poison that was truly combat-worthy. He had yet to test it on any cultivators, for obvious reasons, but knowing it worked against Qi beasts was good enough for the moment. Five years had already passed by while he trained in the pocket realm. The more time that went by, the less likely his childhood friends from the Zi family would be in one piece.

There was also his lifespan to consider. After all these years, he was still in the same major realm of Energy Gathering. While it would appear he still had a long life ahead of him, the delays added up. As someone who began at such a low starting point, there was even less time for him to waste. While breaking through could extend his lifespan, it wasn’t something to get complacent about.

It was one of the major reasons why Li Lang forwent recreating any major technological tools from his own world. The plethora of innovations in his mind would take too long to implement. He didn’t have access to any familiar materials. All electronic devices hinged on the support of an entire industrial nation. As one man alone, it would take too long.

Even a steam engine would take months of testing and fine-tuning. Just because you knew how something was made didn’t mean you could easily recreate it from scratch. In fact, steam engines were so out of date that few people in Li Lang’s old world would have memorized any blueprint designs, adding to the delay.

As technology advanced, people slowly forgot many older skills. It was like how no common person would know how to be a blacksmith. They may have heard that it involved ores, a forge, and some hammering on an anvil, but the particulars were unknown to them. While some knowledge had been lost entirely over time due to them being obsolete.

I have to hurry up and come up with a concrete plan. To do that, I’ll need to find news about Zi Xi and Zi Xiao Mei first. Once that’s found, I’ll have more options.

Beg or trade, I can petition an expert to assist me. Thankfully, I’ve made the perfect connection for that.

Exiting out of Ruby’s artifact space, Li Lang opened his eyes and glanced at his current chauffeur. A woman of extraordinary background. If anyone could help, it would be from her organization.