Cultivation is just so scientific!

Chapter 172: Chapter 132: Meeting_2

As a Golden Core Elder guiding Li Shiming, it was an extremely rare opportunity for a Qi Refining cultivator, and it also served as repayment for Li Shiming’s protection of Ren Fei’er.

Additionally, what she didn’t mention was that she had discovered a Buddhist relic on Li Shiming’s chest.

She somewhat spitefully concluded that some great Buddhists must have taken a liking to Li Shiming, and it probably wouldn’t be long before Li Shiming would become a monk.

As for her daughter taking a liking to Li Shiming, all of that would pass once he became a monk.

Elder Ren had Ren Fei’er enter closed-door cultivation for a year, also as a means of protecting her.

During this year, she needed to regather the protective spiritual power within Ren Fei’er’s body and also prepare a large amount of life-saving items for her.

“Thank you, Senior Xie, for your guidance!” Li Shiming bowed and thanked him.

However, regarding Elder Ren’s lesson not to aim too high, he held an opposing opinion on that matter.

The reason why those with Heavenly Spirit Roots could practice Body Refining Techniques in addition to cultivation was that their cultivation speed was 100, the maximum speed, leaving them with a lot of spare time.

Li Shiming’s own situation was somewhat special; his cultivation speed was just over 27 but still at the maximum cultivation speed.

Besides, he had the conditions to cultivate ‘Vajra Body Protection Divine Skill’ and ‘Sword Demon Secret Manual,’ and if he didn’t practice them, he feared his determination would waver.

As he bowed to express his thanks, Elder Ren didn’t bother with his thoughts, scooping up Ren Fei’er and disappearing in an instant.

Li Shiming looked over Qingyi Island strewn with corpses. He summoned the main spirit of the ‘Spirit Control Soul Splitting Technique’ to devour the souls present here.

He then began to gather up the sea beast corpses on the ground, which were all valuable.

Though he had many spirit stones, who would ever complain about having too many?

There were simply too many sea beasts. As his spiritual thought swept over, he collected the corpses of sea beasts from a whole area.

Soon all his storage bags were filled with sea beast corpses. He thought for a moment and then stowed the corpses in the storage bracelet inside the engine room space.

It was alright to use the storage bracelet without taking it out of the engine room space.

After cleaning up all the sea beast corpses, he even picked up the few storage bags left on the scene. As for the corpses of the cultivators, only the body of the one who survived the talisman treasure was left.

The bodies were likewise collected to serve as repair materials for the copper corpse.

In normal times, it wasn’t easy to obtain the body of a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator.

After cleaning up the battlefield, he looked regretfully at the destroyed Qingyuan Wood Sword on the ground.

The Qingyuan Wood Sword had been with him the longest. Although part of the reason he hadn’t replaced it was because he hadn’t found a better one, more importantly, he had grown attached to the Qingyuan Wood Sword.

He collected the fragments of the Qingyuan Wood Sword, keeping them in the engine room space as a memento.

Taking out the Jade Flying Boat, he jumped aboard and prepared to leave the area.

No sooner had the Jade Flying Boat flown away from Qingyi Island than a high-level first-stage sea beast leaped from the sea, spraying a thick poison mist at the flying boat.

The copper corpse in his hand fired ice crystals from the Mid-grade Magic Weapon Gatling, first dispersing the black mist and then more ice crystals continuously hitting the sea beast’s body. After a five-second attack, the sea beast’s body was completely penetrated.

Li Shiming’s spiritual thought lifted the sea beast’s corpse and tucked it into the storage bracelet.

Only then did he realize something was amiss. His impulsive move to enter Qingyi Island and save Ren Fei’er had been a bit reckless.

Him, merely at the Qi Refining Fourth Level, facing countless sea beasts, even with the copper corpse and six Mid-grade Magic Weapon Gatlings, couldn’t easily handle the swarm of sea beasts.

He then recalled the cultivators who had died, guessing that they must have seen something that gave them the courage to rush into the midst of the sea beasts.

Within the scope of Qingyi Island, all the sea beasts were fighting on instinct, none using the talent abilities of spirit beasts. He remembered the first time he encountered the lowest-level sea pig beast, it had even produced a protective shield.

He took stock of his gains; at least there were tens of thousands of sea beast corpses, among them no less than a thousand high-level first-stage sea beast corpses.

It seemed that in saving Ren Fei’er, he had gained not only a golden sword weapon but also a large fortune.

Li Shiming originally found himself quite entitled to these riches, as the majority were from the sea beasts he had slain — a rightful reward for his labor.

Of course, the most formidable among the sea beasts had been killed by Elder Ren’s aura.

Now, thinking of the Spirit Summoning Liquid Ren Fei’er mentioned, he understood that these sea beasts were influenced by the Spirit Summoning Liquid, otherwise they would not have been so easily slain.

“Why bother with these thoughts, Ren Fei’er wouldn’t care about these few sea beast carcasses!” Li Shiming, recalling the tearful Ren Fei’er, couldn’t help but smile as he spoke to himself.

Thinking that he might not see Ren Fei’er after the coming year, his heart still faintly felt reluctant to part.

The Jade Flying Boat returned without encountering any trouble.

Sometimes, Li Shiming found it strange that there was no response from the Holy Ice Sect.

After returning to his sect, he purchased information about Elder Baili of the Holy Ice Sect from the information brokers exclusive to his sect.

Information obtainable by a Qi Refining cultivator about an Elder-level figure was, naturally, not going to be very in-depth — mostly just rumors and hearsay.

This was to satisfy the curiosity Qi Refining cultivators had about Elders, and only those with many Spirit Stones would buy such information.

Li Shiming genuinely cared, as this related to his life and wealth.

One piece of news relieved him: it was rumored that Elder Baili suddenly returned and went into retreat without explaining anything, and within the Holy Ice Sect, it was rumored that Elder Baili had had an epiphany and that his strength would greatly increase when he reappeared.

However, Li Shiming was clear in his heart that Elder Baili had been injured and had gone back to recover.

He had experienced the agony of a Magic Artifact being destroyed — and that was just a standard Qi Refinement-level artifact. It was said that as one’s realm increased, the bond between the cultivator and their Magic Artifacts became stronger, and the impact of their destruction greater.

If he hadn’t practiced the “Ice Heart Jade Thought Technique”, and if his spirit hadn’t been so formidable, it wouldn’t have been as simple as spitting out a mouthful of blood. Just resting his spirit would have taken a considerable amount of time.

Elder Baili’s immediate retreat upon his return suggested how greatly the destruction of his Magic Artifact had affected him.

No wonder there had been no Holy Ice Sect cultivators causing trouble lately; this news meant he didn’t have to worry every day.

A Golden Core Elder’s retreat was never short — at least he had some time to develop.

The day after his return, Yin Shilan also returned to the sect and sent a message to Li Shiming.

Equally without news was Ren Fei’er, who had not been in contact through the communication badge since they parted on Qingyi Island.

Li Shiming was no longer worried, as this time Ren Fei’er had been grabbed by her mother for a retreat and likely couldn’t use her communication badge.

He settled down and began a normal cultivator’s life of cultivation.

Although he had some disagreements with Elder Ren’s guidance, he still followed part of it.

He began to diminish his research into the profession of a spirit plant husbandry, and cut off all plans to dabble in other professions. Indeed, he realized he had been investing his energies too broadly.

A single Formation was enough to demand his full attention, and before reaching Foundation Establishment, he needed to concentrate more on cultivation.

Days passed by, and Yun’s Trading House secured a large market share and attracted a great number of high-quality customers with “Thousand-Mile Mutual View”.

As the stock of “Thousand-Mile Mutual View” held by high-quality customers neared its limit, sales began to decrease.

Six months had passed, and for two consecutive months, Yun’s Trading House had not purchased “Thousand-Mile Mutual View” from Li Shiming.

Furthermore, Li Shiming distinctly felt a shift in Yun’s Trading House’s attitude toward him. This was not to say Yun Ze was unfriendly; Yun Ze couldn’t completely represent Yun’s Trading House.

In the past, when he bought various materials, Yun’s Trading House would always go all out to assist, especially with items that were of low value, high volume, and bulk. Yun’s Trading House would always utilize secular connections to provide him with everything he wanted.

But recently, Yun’s Trading House refused some of his material orders, precisely those related to mundane items.

Moreover, the prices of other materials had also significantly increased.

Every time Yun Ze made a delivery, he would apologize to Li Shiming with a sense of helplessness, but a rift in the relationship between Li Shiming and Yun’s Trading House was unavoidable.