Cultivation is just so scientific!

Chapter 398: Chapter 245 Coming Out of Seclusion_2

He walked through a nearly 200-meter-long passage, where he could sense the energy fluctuations of the Array surrounding him. If there were any issues, the Array would enclose him from all sides.

Even a Golden Core cultivator would be unable to escape if they entered the Array with several Golden Core Elders stationed within.

Although Li Yuanba knew he was passing through legally, the sense of the Array and the subtle feeling of being surveilled still made him anxious.

Suddenly, he became alert because he sensed a malicious scrutiny.

The other party must not be very strong; otherwise, he wouldn’t have felt just malice without sensing danger, which meant there was no threat to him.

Jue Neng Buddha watched Li Yuanba walking through the checkpoint passage below. He recognized this cultivator with the bronze mask—it was this very cultivator who had slain many of his fellow sect members in the great battle between Senluo Sect and Thousand Illusion Sect’s Foundation Establishment cultivators a year ago.

Jue Neng Buddha had also participated in that battle and had seen Li Yuanba from afar.

At that time, feeling intimidated upon seeing Li Yuanba slay multiple Buddha figures, Jue Neng Buddha had kept his distance and had no contact with him.

For a long time afterward, Li Yuanba became the demon in his mind, and it took nearly three months for him to recover.

Li Yuanba walked steadily through the passage, leaving the checkpoint without any hesitation, the feeling of being watched by several Golden Core cultivators making his scalp tingle.

At least until he became a Golden Core cultivator himself, he reminded himself to avoid getting too close to unfamiliar Golden Core cultivators—the psychological pressure was simply too great.

Once he was out of the checkpoint, he used Sword Escape to speed up and leave.

As his figure was about to vanish, an Arhat arrived with Jue Neng Buddha, but unfortunately, Jue Neng Buddha’s report came too slowly, and they couldn’t stop him.

Of course, at the checkpoint, even if there were complaints, the other Golden Core cultivators stationed there wouldn’t allow an Arhat of that level to deal with Foundation Establishment Devil Cultivators. Li Yuanba had entered through official channels, after all.

Although the agreement between the Righteous Path and Devil Cultivators isn’t always fully respected, to act in violation of the agreement still requires some level of disguise because the Righteous Path does not want to be known as untrustworthy.

Li Yuanba deliberately avoided trouble; he suspected there would be problems when he was surveyed by the cultivator in the checkpoint passage.

Once he left the checkpoint, with the speed of a Sword Cultivator unleashed, catching up to him was not going to be easy.

Elsewhere, Li Shiming was preparing to head to Thousand Illusion Sect, as it was on the way, but learning about the Youth Flower changed his mind.

He first went to a market to purchase other spiritual medicines needed for the Youth Flower’s elixir recipe. The other ingredients in the recipe were not particularly valuable and were all purchased from just two shops.

Inside the Flying Boat, having set the flying direction, he was set to meet his clone, Li Yuanba, on a mountain peak within Thousand Illusion Sect’s territory.

He took out the ancient Jade Scroll he had purchased from the Cultivation Family market in Hang Clan, which had long been imported into the IBMz15, and after so much time analyzing, the results were finally coming forth.

The information within the ancient Jade Scroll was encrypted, a method that was nearly impossible for cultivators to decipher, but after repeated calculations by the IBMz15, a pattern was found.

The Jade Scroll contained a heritage called the ‘Five Rhymes Qi Cultivation Technique.’ To be honest, he was extremely disappointed to find that it was a cultivation technique.

With his standing in Shushan Sect, he could have access to the sect’s most powerful Inheritance Techniques if he wished.

While the ‘Nine Heavens Thunder Strike Technique’ he was currently practicing was not as powerful as the ‘Sky-Surging Sword Intent Technique’ practiced by his clone Li Yuanba, the compatibility of the ‘Nine Heavens Thunder Strike Technique’ with him was more important than the level of the technique itself.

He remembered the moment when Elder Su learned of Li Shiming’s affinity with the ‘Nine Heavens Thunder Strike Technique,’ he immediately gave up the idea of having Li Shiming switch to a stronger technique of the sect.

“The ‘Five Rhymes Qi Cultivation Technique’ is not a complete cultivation technique; it is only complete up to the Golden Core Stage, with the inheritance beyond that being fragmentary, due to some damage to the ancient jade scroll that affected the content within.”

“This greatly diminished the value of the ‘Five Rhymes Qi Cultivation Technique,’ at most providing Li Shiming with some references.”

“But when the ancient jade scroll recorded the ‘Five Rhymes Qi Cultivation Technique,’ it also mentioned the ancient ‘Five Qi Sect’ and included a map of the sect.”

“Li Shiming didn’t know how many years ago the ‘Five Qi Sect’ existed, but when he had the IBMz15 compare maps, he found this map differed greatly from modern maps.”

“If it were to be compared manually, there would be a high chance of failing to locate the ‘Five Qi Sect.’ The world’s maps themselves were not so precise, not to mention the ancient map was unclear, making the comparison even harder.”

“The IBMz15 collected maps from Senluo Sect and Shushan Sect, combining them to create a relatively complete map of the Beishu Continent.”

“In addition, the IBMz15 was redrawing a more accurate map; any terrain Li Shiming passed through would have its geodata collected by the IBMz15 and added to the three-dimensional map.”

“Although this new map hadn’t been developed much, the original maps were sufficient for the IBMz15 to find points of similarity with the ancient map and analyze the possible location of the ‘Five Qi Sect.ʼ”

“He discovered that the ‘Five Qi Sect’ was not located on the Beishu Continent but was instead about three hundred li offshore from the Beishu Continent.”

“If not for the IBMz15’s repeated verification, he would not have believed this result.”

“It’s known that on the ancient map, the ‘Five Qi Sect’ was on the continent, and no matter how much the terrain changed, it shouldn’t have been such a dramatic shift.”

“‘Perhaps it’s not the terrain that actively changed!’ Li Shiming thought, considering that this world had powerful cultivators capable of moving mountains and filling seas; perhaps the Beishu Continent underwent a battle between powerful cultivators in the distant past.”

“This was inferred from the fact that Nascent Soul cultivators rarely battled on land, usually taking their fights up to the Thirty-Three Heavens, indicating the destructive power Nascent Soul cultivators could exert on the terrain.”

“Rarely venturing out, he thought about whether to visit the original site of the ‘Five Qi Sect.ʼ”

“Of course, this was different from exploring an abandoned residence, as cultivators’ residences would be left with precautions against intrusion by other cultivators.”

“The original site of the ‘Five Qi Sect,’ however, might have long become ruins; he was going with the intention to pay his respects at the remains, without any expectation of significant discoveries at the site of the ‘Five Qi Sect.ʼ”

“Having endured countless years and even a change in the continental terrain, sinking into the seafloor, it would be good enough if he could see any remnants of the original sect.”

“The ‘Five Rhymes Qi Cultivation Technique’ wasn’t completely useless after all; its research into the Five Elements Spiritual Power had many unique insights, deepening his understanding of the Five Elements Power.”

“That was one of the reasons he was interested in the original location of the ‘Five Qi Sect’; he also wanted to see what kind of force had destroyed the ‘Five Qi Sect.ʼ”

“After traveling for six hours, Li Yuanba’s mood relaxed somewhat, thinking there likely wouldn’t be any trouble.”

“Just then, he suddenly turned to look back into the distance, where a Golden Core Level aura was rapidly approaching, heading directly towards him.”

“He immediately took out the wooden pass, his Divine Thought repeatedly scanning over it; only then did he realize that the wooden pass was made of some sort of material that blocked Divine Thought, thus concealing the array inside.”

“The array wasn’t always active; it was only triggered after passing through a checkpoint.”

“So even though Li Yuanba was adept with formations, he hadn’t noticed anything special about the wooden pass.”

“As Li Yuanba scanned the wooden pass with his Divine Thought, his original body, Li Shiming, also projected his consciousness over. With the IBMz15’s help in analyzing the wooden pass through Divine Thought, they discovered the issue with the pass.”

“Based on the faint array fluctuations and the characteristics of the Spiritual Power pattern in the wooden pass, he confirmed that there was an array inside it that emitted a locating signal outward. As long as he was within the range of the Righteous Path’s Communication Array, his position would be tracked.”