Cultivation is just so scientific!

Chapter 288: Chapter 190 Encounter_2

They had now entered the territory of spirit beasts where fleeing was not an option. Facing a troop of Spirit Monkeys, if one were to flee and reveal their presence, who knew what kind of spirit beast they might encounter next.

Li Shiming also understood this reasoning. He nodded his head and with a wave of his hand, nine flying swords shot out, enveloping the Spirit Monkey King and the four early-stage Foundation Establishment White Monkeys within them.

As for the other monkeys, he didn’t take them seriously at all.

The claws of a Spirit Monkey at the Qi Refinement Realm might not even be able to tear through his body’s defenses, to say nothing of posing any threat.

Xu Chuan’s flying sword also flew out. He had not coordinated with Li Shiming before and did not know much about Li Shiming’s strength, so he was still paying attention to Li Shiming’s way of fighting.

It’s important to note that there would be many battles with spirit beasts later on, not to mention the powerful spirit beasts guarding the Mu Yang Three-leaf Clover. It would be best to take the opportunity of first entering the Spiritual Beast Territory to understand and familiarize themselves with each other.

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The Spirit Monkey King and the four White Monkeys let out shrill cries simultaneously, their hands congealing ice and hurling it at Xu Chuan’s flying sword.

Li Shiming’s nine flying swords, because they did not launch an attack immediately, were overlooked by the Spirit Monkey King and the four White Monkeys.

Although the wisdom of spirit beasts is not inferior to that of humans, humans can enhance their own wisdom through learning a wealth of knowledge, which is something ordinary spirit beasts lack.

Xu Chuan’s flying sword was extremely nimble. At this moment, he had no intention of holding back his strength. It was a good chance to show Li Shiming his combat power, so he could win Li Shiming over in the future.

The flying sword nimbly dodged the five ice attacks. Although the cold air from the ice had formed a layer of frost on the flying sword, its speed was not much affected.

The flying sword shot towards the Spirit Monkey King, who tumbled its body, claws from both hands and feet reaching for the flying sword.

Although most spirit beasts do not use weapons, some organs of their own bodies are natural weapons.

The claws of the hands and feet of the Spirit Monkey King were no less powerful and hard than a cultivator’s Spiritual Artifact.

Sounds of collision rang out continuously as the flying sword clashed with the claws. When the flying sword returned, there was a new sword mark on the body of the Spirit Monkey King.

“Brother Li, be careful, this monkey king has strong defense!” Xu Chuan called out softly without any hint of joy but instead gave a gentle reminder.

The encounter that just happened seemed advantageous for him, but the injuries inflicted on the Spirit Monkey King were truly insignificant. The Spirit Monkey King’s constitution was extremely formidable, the flying sword had merely cut the skin and hadn’t penetrated deeply.

The injured Spirit Monkey King let out a piercing scream, causing all the other Spirit Monkeys to rush towards the two men with shrill cries.

The ear-piercing screams were somewhat disorienting, but fortunately, both of them were no ordinary early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators.

“Open!” Li Shiming shouted solemnly.

Countless bolts of electricity rose from within the Nine Palace Sword Formation. Although few at first, they still had a significant killing effect on the Qi Refinement Realm Spirit Monkeys.

The Spirit Monkeys rushing towards the two men fell in large swaths, as if wheat were being harvested.

The Spirit Monkey King, both shocked and furious, rushed over to them with the four White Monkeys, their claws congealing even larger chunks of ice.

Li Shiming smiled faintly. He liked facing these kinds of enemies who lacked much wisdom. The second function of the formation constructed by his Nine Palace Sword Formation kicked in.

The Spirit Monkey King and the four White Monkeys suddenly found that the enemies in front of them had disappeared, replaced by countless illusory mountains and seas of thunder.

These thunderbolts, due to their power, could not cause much damage to the Spirit Monkey King and the four White Monkeys, but they still annoyed them greatly.

Even if the power of the thunderbolts was as weak as that of mosquitoes, countless mosquitoes together were enough to harass the enemy.

The Spirit Monkey King along with the four White Monkeys scrambled about in the Nine Palace Sword Formation, seemingly able to leave the formation in one step yet somehow turning in a different direction, continuing to endure the assault of the thunderbolts within the formation.

“Is this really an Array Master?” Xu Chuan stared dumbfounded at the mid-stage Foundation Establishment Spirit Monkey King and the four early-stage Foundation Establishment White Monkeys attacking aimlessly in confusion, questioning to himself.

He had seen Array Masters before, but Array Masters were not exactly a fighting profession.

Array Masters setting up formations required some time to deploy; even the quickest to deploy Array Plates were not effective enough on the battlefield.

Because it takes several breaths from the time the Array Plate is taken out to when it’s set up, any enemy would have enough time to react.

Furthermore, unless it’s a high-level Array Plate, the effects of trapping and wounding enemies with ordinary array plates are not satisfactory, and they can only be used for the daily routine of non-Array Masters.

But what kind of Array Master is Li Shiming, relying on nine flying swords to quickly set up formations on the battlefield, trapping and injuring enemies.

Li Shiming didn’t know what Xu Chuan was thinking; he mobilized the little Thunder Spirit Power within his body, and the Magic Rune of the “Thunder Strike Skill” lit up in front of him.

“Go!” He pointed at a White Monkey—he did not attack the Spirit Monkey King, for with his realm and using only magic, it was very difficult to harm the defensively powerful White Monkey King.

He didn’t have much Spiritual Power inside his body and could not waste it on futile attacks.

“Brother Xu, I’ll deal with the White Monkeys at the early-stage Foundation Establishment, and the Monkey King is up to you!” He did not plan to kill the spirit monkeys by himself; Xu Chuan by his side probably had many moves, and there was no need to reveal too much ability.

“Good!” Xu Chuan felt that only now was he truly acting like a proper long-range Cultivator; there was no need to worry about the spirit monkeys’ attacks on himself, and he could concentrate on launching the most powerful attacks possible.

Such combat experiences were rare; even with slower enemies, they normally had at least one or two explosive tactics.

What surprised him even more was that Li Shiming turned out to be a Thunder Cultivator.

Li Shiming had mastered Sword Intent; why then become a Thunder Cultivator? Although the spells of Thunder Cultivators were also highly powerful, most Cultivators, if they were talented, would choose to be Sword Cultivators.

Sword Cultivators, with a flying sword, could dominate the world; no matter the enemy, they would face them with a flying sword.

In offense, their attacks were unparalleled; in retreat, they would leave no trace, moving freely between advance and retreat, achieving the Cultivators’ greatest pursuit: “carefree independence.”

As Xu Chuan was pondering this, within the formation, a White Monkey was struck by a series of lightning bolts, and within them, an inconspicuous golden arc appeared.

Once the golden arc touched the monkey, its body stiffened.

Li Shiming appeared to be at the entry level of the early-stage Foundation Establishment, but his Spiritual Power was actually at the peak of early-stage Foundation Establishment, and what he triggered was the famously powerful Golden Thunder.

The Golden Thunder penetrated the body of the White Monkey, wreaking havoc on its life force.

The defensive ability of the spirit monkeys was strong; this defense was mainly against physical attacks, and their defense against the Five Elements Energy was also considerable. However, lightning was an exception.

Lightning inherently had a restraining effect on spirit beasts, and this single strike made the White Monkey’s life force begin to fade.

As Li Shiming started to condense the second “Thunder Strike Skill,” Xu Chuan also launched his attack.

This time, Xu Chuan’s flying sword moved slowly, but it seemed to be carrying a huge mountain with it as it flew.

Watching the flying sword, Li Shiming’s eyes flashed with a hint of wariness.

The sword contained a terrifying force; without question, this stroke of the flying sword was stimulated by some secret technique.

He had never underestimated any Cultivator, but amongst his peers, he had rarely encountered an opponent who could match his strength.

Of course, that was during the Qi Refinement Realm when he, alone, altered the outcome of the battle between the seven sects and the Beishu Mingxin Sect—at that time, those participating Mingxin Sect Qi Refining Cultivators were all talents of the Mingxin Sect.

Upon reaching the Foundation Establishment Stage, even with the accumulation from the Qi Refinement Realm, possessing a powerful Spiritual Artifact, and having a main Cultivation Technique that led directly to the Nascent Soul, he still needed a powerful sect to enhance his means.

It was somewhat pathetic that his emergency technique as an ordinary Cultivator was actually obtained from a Loose Cultivator, the secret technique allowing Magic Artifacts to self-destruct.

What he was lacking was the type of small-scale burst secret technique like the one Xu Chuan was using, which could enhance an attack based on the combat environment.

Xu Chuan also wanted to perform well and not be outdone by Li Shiming, so he used a secret technique of his sect.

This secret technique allowed the accumulation of Spiritual Power to increase the compressed Spiritual Power inside the flying sword, greatly enhancing the sword’s power.

The use of secret techniques was greatly limited; in a normal battlefield, there would hardly be time to slowly compress and accumulate Spiritual Power within a flying sword.