Cultivation is just so scientific!

Chapter 383: 238: Temptation

Li Shiming had never expected to be targeted – by his judgment, he was a peacemaker, leaving all fighting matters to his clone Li Yuanba. Although he was strong in combat, his main focus was on alchemy to accumulate cultivation resources.

It wouldn’t be quick for his clone Li Yuanba to arrive, so he decided to first meet with Yin Shilan; it had been a while since they’d last met.

With plenty of time, he flew while admiring the scenery along the way.

Not needing to worry about resources made life as a cultivator truly comfortable and pleasant.

He took out a jade scroll casually, which was a map provided by the sect, exchanged for contribution points; its contents were far richer than any ordinary map.

“There’s a large market ahead; it might be good to take a look!” Due to the “Purple Qi Eastward,” he had been staying in a semi-reclusive state, hardly ever leaving the sect. Naturally, he wanted to see more now that he was going out.

By now, he could confidently say that spirit stones were just a number, expressing his disinterest in spirit stones.

As a high-level alchemist who mass-produced spirit pills, the high-grade spirit pills in his space ring alone converted to spirit stones would be an astronomical figure.

As he thought this, he was approaching the market from above. He descended and stopped outside the market.

He cast a spell, the market’s formation opened, and he walked in.

“Whose market is this?” Ji Hongbo, who was monitoring Li Shiming from afar with a secret technique, asked with a grave voice.

Ji Hongbo’s father was a Golden Core Elder, and above him, there was even a Nascent Soul Ancestor to rely on. Ji Hongbo usually would not visit such a market, and he had never even paid it any attention before.

“It’s the Hang Family’s market!” a cultivator standing beside immediately replied.

“The Hang Family, as in Hang Jian, who has a good relationship with my father?” Ji Hongbo asked after pondering for a moment.

“Precisely Elder Hang’s family!” The cultivator beside did not dare to call a Golden Core cultivator by name as casually as he did and answered with a bow.

“Go find out if Hang Jian is there,” Ji Hongbo ordered with a wave of his hand, his gaze flickering.

Despite the lack of respect in his voice for Hang Jian, a Golden Core Early Stage cultivator still warranted his considerable caution.

If Hang Jian were in the market, Ji Hongbo couldn’t guarantee that he could persuade Hang Jian to help him deal with Li Shiming.

One should know that even if Hang Jian had a good relationship with Elder Ji, the relationship was not so close that Hang Jian would offend Elder Su’s direct disciple just to please Elder Ji, especially when that direct disciple was the True Inheritor of the alchemy of the Shushan Sect.

If such a thing occurred, the Hang Family would face complete destruction.

“Senior Brother Ji, Elder Hang is not at the market. Currently, Hang Yuqing is in charge!” In no time, the cultivator returned with information.

“Heaven’s on my side!” Ji Hongbo said with a hearty laugh.

Li Shiming entered the market, which was quite lively. Besides the shops in the buildings on both sides, quite a few cultivators were also displaying spiritual objects for sale by the roadside.

Looking around, there were at least close to a thousand cultivators in the market, with more than half being Foundation Establishment Cultivators – a market with resources mainly for Foundation Establishment Cultivators.

He couldn’t help but remark that only in a cultivation environment like Beishu could there be so many Foundation Establishment Cultivators.

Most of the Foundation Establishment cultivators here were not sect cultivators – they were what was commonly referred to as Loose Cultivators.

This was discernible from the details on the cultivators; sect cultivators would have a sect emblem on them unless they intentionally concealed it.

Li Shiming also didn’t hide his face. He walked by various stalls, his Divine Thought constricted into a line, careful not to affect other cultivators, simply observing the spiritual objects for sale.

Loose Cultivators had their own ways; many unusual and rare spiritual objects could be seen here.

It broadened his horizons indeed. From time to time, he would make a purchase.

“Fellow, the items here were just obtained from a heritage site, which belongs to a Great Cultivator!” An early-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator, looking rather lean, noticed that Li Shiming had spent a fair amount at other stalls and enthusiastically called out to him.

Li Shiming’s Divine Thought swept over the spiritual objects on his stall but couldn’t help shaking his head.

A Great Cultivator’s heritage site was not something an early-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator could explore. The spiritual objects laid out, although ancient in appearance, had all their trickeries laid bare under his Divine Thought.

The so-called Great Cultivator was a respectful term used by lower-level cultivators for Nascent Soul Cultivators. However, in the Cultivation World, only Late-stage Nascent Soul Cultivators were truly deemed Great Cultivators.

Regardless of how Great Cultivators were referred to, they were not to be coveted by Foundation Establishment Cultivators.

The last time he explored the heritage site of the Six-fingered Sound Demon, he nearly lost his life there.

“Fellow, I really have good items. Take a look at this jade scroll; this is an ancient scroll!” Seeing that Li Shiming didn’t seem inclined to buy, the lean early-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator rolled his eyes and continued.

He took out an ancient-looking jade scroll and placed it in front of Li Shiming; the scroll indeed looked very old and different from the modern scrolls in style.

Li Shiming’s Divine Thought swept over the jade scroll and it aroused a bit of curiosity. The scroll showed signs of repair, which was skillfully done, but not to the extent that it could evade Divine Thought scanning.

The scroll was damaged, indeed an ancient scroll, but whether it was still usable was another matter.

What was curious was that the lean early-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator placed the ancient scroll so close to Li Shiming that his Divine Thought easily entered the scroll, checking the contents inside.