Chapter 825 — A Cultivator's Business, Part One

"Naturally. I still have a few technological eyes and ears here, so I can keep track of what happens in this area," Sun Ce said. "Judging by this visit, I suspect you'll soon be parting ways?"

"That's right. We have to go back and report our mission, and then we'll all go our separate ways!" Yang Jincong said with a smile. "Ye Zi and Yiyi will probably return with you to their original planet, and as for me, after I deal with Dr. Ban Lin of the Center, I'll be leaving to live in seclusion on X Island!"

"Deal with Dr. Ban Lin of the Center... are you confident?" Sun Ce asked, his expression turning grave.

"Not at the moment, but I inherited the Right Elder's incomplete Vajra Gu and fused it with the complete Vajra Gu I had before. Now I'm impervious to blade and bullet, immune to fire and water—that should count for something when it comes to standing up to the Center and Dr. Ban Lin, shouldn't it?" Yang Ce said after a moment's thought.

"Not bad!" Sun Ce nodded. "In your current physical state, you can indeed stand up to the Center and Dr. Ban Lin. But whether you can actually beat them with that—I can't really say. I don't know if you have absolute confidence of victory."

"Do they have any trump cards left?" Yang Xutang caught the implication in Dr. Sun's words.

"Whether they have trump cards, I don't know for now, but I imagine everyone has some—no one reveals their full strength," Sun Ce said. "You're the same. When facing an enemy, unless absolutely necessary, you wouldn't lightly show your trump card to them."

"That's true enough!" Yang Ce nodded slowly. "Dr. Sun, then what methods do the Center and Dr. Ban Lin mainly rely on at present?"

"From my investigations, those steel men are only their most basic means—they're not their ultimate ace," Dr. Sun said. "To most ordinary people, the steel men may seem invincible, but in this world there exists a kind of people called cultivators. In a cultivator's eyes, those steel men are nothing at all!"

"Cultivators?" Yang Ce was slightly taken aback, listening to the term with some surprise.

But when Feng Yan heard the name, his expression changed—evidently he knew something of the inside story!

"Feng Yan, you've heard of cultivators too?" Sun Ce had caught Feng Yan's expression as well, so he spoke up to ask.

"To be frank with you, Dr. Sun, my family... is a cultivator family," Feng Yan said with a bitter smile.

"Oh? Your family is a cultivator family?" Sun Ce was rather surprised at Feng Yan's words. "So that's how it is—no wonder you know about cultivators..."

"Yes. Unfortunately, my training was poor and I couldn't stay with the family to continue cultivating. Otherwise, I might have been able to play some role in the battle against the Right Elder!" Feng Yan sighed. "If I could cultivate to the utmost, I'm afraid the Right Elder would have been no match for me..."

"The utmost—what do you consider the utmost?" Sun Ce asked instead.

"The Heaven Rank..." Feng Yan said.

"The Heaven Rank... heh heh..." Sun Ce gave a faint smile, glanced at Lin Ce, then at Yang Ce, and said, "Heaven Rank masters? With Lin Ce's strength, he could kill them in a single blow!"

"Huh?" Feng Yan's eyes went wide at Sun Ce's words. In his eyes, those incredibly formidable Heaven Rank masters could actually be killed in a single blow by Lin Ce?

"If you think Heaven Rank masters are the most powerful existence, you're gravely mistaken!" Sun Ce waved his hand. "Ye Zi's father is also a cultivator. But the mental cultivation method he practices is somewhat special—the Heaven Rank... never mind. Let's not talk about these things. After all, I haven't studied cultivation much; what I study is science!"

"..." Yang Ce and Feng Yan had been hoping to hear Sun Ce's views on the Heaven Rank and cultivators, but unexpectedly, Sun Ce shifted the subject and turned to science!

"Heh heh, don't underestimate science. In my view, if you study science thoroughly, it can be even more formidable than cultivation!" Sun Ce laughed. "Everyone's pursuits are different. Cultivation can grant immortality and ultimate power, but science can accomplish the same!"

"Then... can we still cultivate?" Yang Xutang was rather tempted at the mention of cultivation. Yang Pu had walked a path of continually growing stronger, so if he could become even more powerful, he certainly wouldn't let the chance slip by!

"I haven't studied the cultivation world here much, but one thing I can say for certain: without those top-grade elixirs, at your age, wanting to cultivate is basically hopeless!" Sun Ce said, dashing Yang Ce and the others' hopes without the slightest courtesy.

"Uh... is that so?" Yang Xutang gave a wry smile.

"Dr. Sun is right," Feng Yan nodded as well. "To escape an arranged marriage, I left my family very early. Though I've kept practicing the family's mental cultivation formulas, without spiritual medicine and sufficient spiritual qi of heaven and earth to assist, I'm still only a Yellow Rank master to this day!"

"Indeed. Take Liu Yu, for example. Mr. Liu was separated from him for a period of time, and when Mr. Liu met him again, he had already passed the optimal age for cultivation..." Sun Ce said. "Of course, the mental cultivation formula Mr. Liu left behind is rather special—more special than any other. One must begin laying the foundation and tempering the body from birth in order to cultivate all the way and ultimately attain the Great Way! If that optimal moment is missed, then even taking ten thousand kinds of spiritual medicine won't allow cultivation!"

"So that's how it is!" Yang Ce understood at last—no wonder Liu Yu had nothing special about him. "Then are there no other mental cultivation formulas one could practice? Never mind the formidable ones—what about the not-so-formidable ones?"

And the Mr. Liu that Dr. Sun spoke of was most likely Liu Yu's father!

"Mr. Liu doesn't have many cultivation methods in his possession. One is a mental cultivation method suited only to himself—it's extremely formidable, but it only suits his own constitution. When Mr. Liu was young, he encountered some once-in-a-lifetime strokes of fortune that can't be replicated, so his method can't be used by anyone else!" Sun Ce said. "But he does have another cultivation method that allows newborns to begin cultivating from birth. However, judging by the density of spiritual qi of heaven and earth in the world today, it's absolutely impossible to succeed with it. And my research these past years has been aimed at finding a way to cultivate that substitutes for the spiritual qi of heaven and earth..."