Cultivation is just so scientific!

Chapter 230: Chapter 161 Sword Intent_2

He didn’t hesitate at all; his feet powered him forward, and he rushed out of the range of the Jade Seal’s control in several steps.

Behind him, the Jade Seal heavily smashed onto the ground with a loud ‘bang’.

The Beishu cultivator was startled. His Jade Seal was a super-grade magical artifact that could store a vast amount of Spiritual Power to lock onto and strike its target.

He hadn’t expected that Li Shiming’s physique would resist the physical constraints of the Jade Seal, and Li Shiming’s powerful spirit had resisted its spiritual constraints.

Li Shiming had no time to worry about the Jade Seal behind him. His Broken Jade Sword had already reached the front of the Beishu cultivator.

There was a super-grade magical artifact shield in front of the Beishu cultivator, emitting a Spiritual Power shield that protected his whole body.

The Broken Jade Sword struck the shield without any effect at first, then the second and third strikes followed.

The Beishu cultivator was in the process of retrieving the Jade Seal but his expression quickly changed. The connection between him and his super-grade magical artifact shield was rapidly weakening.

“Chop, chop, chop!” Li Shiming had previous experience fighting with cultivators of the same realm using the ‘Sword Manipulation Technique’. When he exerted his full strength, under the effect of the Sword Bone, his sword light carried a strange energy.

This odd energy was aggressive towards magical artifacts and could destroy the loyal spirit connections within them.

The Beishu cultivator wanted to retrieve his super-grade magical artifact shield to swap it for another defensive magical artifact.

But it was already too late. He felt the sword light strike the magical artifact shield again, severing his connection with it completely.

The connection between the super-grade magical artifact shield and the Beishu cultivator was lost, and his spirit suffered backlash once again.

Feeling dizzy, his combat instincts made him fall backward. Meanwhile, a talisman activated automatically, wrapping him in a beam of light and carrying him off into the distance.

Li Shiming’s Spiritual Thought swept over the super-grade magical artifact shield, taking it into his possession, then another slash fell on the Jade Seal which the Beishu cultivator had not managed to retrieve yet.

The ownerless Jade Seal, under this strike, had its loyal spirit imprint directly erased.

He retrieved the Jade Seal and then pursued the escaping Beishu cultivator.

He wasn’t worried about the Beishu cultivator escaping because the battlefield was only so large. When the cultivator’s fleeing light reached the edge of the battlefield, it was blocked and only then did it change direction to continue the escape.

Li Shiming knew that Golden Core cultivators had restricted entry and exit to this place. At least Qi Refining cultivators couldn’t hope to leave before the battle ended.

The Beishu cultivator, running ahead and having lost connection with the Jade Seal, spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, his spirit suffering considerable trauma from consecutive breaks in his connections to magical artifacts.

Also, because he switched directions, his speed of escape was delayed, leaving a mere thirty meters between him and Li Shiming.

He forcefully endured the pain in his head and threw out a handful of talismans.

“Where do you think you’re going!” Li Shiming issued a sound driven by ‘Devil’s Sound into the Ear’.

The Beishu cultivator, already weakened in spirit, found his fleeing light falter at the sudden sound of ‘Devil’s Sound into the Ear’.

His fleeing light hesitated momentarily, providing Li Shiming a chance, and his sword light caught up with the Beishu cultivator, plunging into his back and instantly extinguishing the cultivator’s life.

Li Shiming physically resisted the talismans and swept his Spiritual Thought over the Beishu cultivator’s storage bracelet, seizing it and then collecting the corpse as well.

“With that ‘Devil’s Sound into the Ear’, if I hadn’t known he was a disciple of the Heavenly Sea Sect, I would have thought he was from the Xuanming Sect!” said Elder Jie of the Holy Ice Sect with a stir.

“He’s using the ‘Vajra Body Protection Divine Skill’, why don’t you say he is a disciple of the Ten Thousand Buddha Sect?” Elder Bai of the Xuanming Sect replied nonchalantly with a smile.

Li Shiming’s ‘Devil’s Sound into the Ear’ was extremely authentic. It was this authenticity that showed Li Shiming acquired ‘Devil’s Sound into the Ear’ through legitimate means, as the externally transmitted ‘Devil’s Sound into the Ear’ is not so complete.

‘Devil’s Sound into the Ear’ and ‘Xuanming Corpse Refining Chapter’, though secret transmissions of the Xuanming Sect, are believed to have been partially inherited by various sects over the years.

Besides, given the relationship between Elder Yin and Elder Ren, their son-in-law learning ‘Devil’s Sound into the Ear’ matters little. Even if he learned other transmissions from the Xuanming Sect, it’s no big issue.

The exchange between Elder Jie and Elder Bai captured the attention of only a few Golden Core spectators.

Elder Golden Cores with sharp enough vision all wore a look of surprise at this moment. For these Golden Core Elders, witnessing a fight among Qi Refining cultivators that could surprise them a few times was almost a miracle.

Yet, in reality, this time it was not so much surprise as it was shock.

Elder Yin, however, had a look of delight on his face. Golden Core cultivators with insufficient vision only saw Li Shiming using “Devil’s Sound into the Ear” and the powerful “Vajra Body Protection Divine Skill.”

But the more perceptive Golden Core cultivators saw something else. When Li Shiming used the “Sword Manipulation Technique,” a few sword moves were enough to make the Beishu cultivator’s super-grade magical artifact lose control.

This was the most crucial part. Li Shiming was at the Qi Refining Eighth Layer, and theoretically, it was impossible for a few sword moves from the “Sword Manipulation Technique” to cause a super-grade magical artifact to lose control.

You must know that the opposing Beishu cultivator was at the Qi Refining Ninth Level, with a far stronger spiritual power than Li Shiming.

That left only one possibility, one so unbelievable that Elder Yin and the knowledgeable Golden Core Elders present couldn’t fathom it.

“Am I seeing this correctly, is it Sword Intent?” Master Du Hai asked, looking towards Elder Yin with some uncertainty.

The reason for his uncertainty was that a true sword cultivator had never emerged from the Seven Sects.

This was unrelated to aptitude; rather, the Seven Sects lacked a true heritage of sword cultivation.

Sword Cultivation Techniques like the “Sword Manipulation Technique” were only a part of the real sword cultivation heritage and even then, they were the least significant part.

Master Du Hai couldn’t believe that merely relying on the “Sword Manipulation Technique,” particularly the Qi Refinement chapter of it, Li Shiming had mastered Sword Intent.

Of course, Li Shiming was still far from real Sword Intent, but based on the fight just now, his sword light contained a trace of Sword Intent.

It was this trace of Sword Intent that caused the Qi Refining Ninth Level Beishu cultivator to lose control of the super-grade magical artifact in a short time.

Sword cultivators’ ability to break myriad laws with one sword wasn’t a baseless claim; it was a prestigious reputation earned through countless battles in the Cultivation World.

Sword cultivators are known as the most powerful attackers, needing no other magical artifacts, only a sword in hand, relying solely on their terrifying Sword Intent.

Being able to erase the spirit recognition imprint within a magical artifact is just the lowest expression of Sword Intent.

But the issue is, in battles at the Qi Refinement level, even a trace of Sword Intent can give Li Shiming a significant advantage.

“It is Sword Intent!” Elder Yin said with a calm expression, slowly nodding.

He tried to maintain a calm exterior, but his mind was racing with thoughts.

Li Shiming’s spirit root seeds talent was poor, but his talent in the Sword Dao was top-notch.

Unfortunately, there was no Sword Cultivation Technique within the sect, preventing such a talent in the Sword Dao from truly being developed.

The expressions on the other Golden Core Elders’ faces varied. Li Shiming’s talent evoked jealousy, but his realm was too low, and they knew about Li Shiming’s spirit root seeds, so he posed no threat to other sects.

Yet, this talent in sword cultivation made the Golden Core Elders feel envious, lamenting that such excellent sword cultivation talent ended up with Li Shiming.

On the other side, atop four giant Flying Boats, ten Golden Core Elders looked grim.

The fallen Beishu cultivator was a direct descendant of one of the Golden Core Elders, and also the most outstanding one, yet he had perished right before him.

This Golden Core Elder couldn’t intervene. Rules were rules, and the agreement between the two parties was not to be broken by any side.

Otherwise, it would escalate immediately into a Golden Core battle, and this Golden Core Elder certainly had no right to make such a decision.

“Sword Intent, this child must not be left alive!” a Golden Core Elder said gravely.

Unlike the Golden Core Elders of the Seven Sects, they were not familiar with Li Shiming’s background and only assumed that Li Shiming was a prodigious cultivator nurtured by the Seven Sects.

Virtually all genius cultivators were Heavenly Spirit Root bearers. Coupled with mastering Sword Intent at the Qi Refinement stage, his growth would pose a significant concern.

Of course, they didn’t mean to eliminate Li Shiming immediately but marked him, delegating the task to their disciples in later actions.