Cultivation is just so scientific!

Chapter 420: Chapter 256: Return to the Sect_2

Of course, this doesn’t mean the “Five Elements Dao” was similar in content to the Divine Foot Skill, but that both are connected to the deepest forces within the Cultivation World.

Unlike the Divine Foot Skill inheritance, the “Five Elements Dao” couldn’t apply the “Step by Step Lotus” at the Foundation Establishment Stage.

Li Shiming had a feeling that the “Five Elements Dao” might become incredibly significant after he achieved the Golden Core or a higher realm.

He shook his head and, with a slight stir of consciousness, stored the ancient Jade Scroll of the “Five Elements Dao” into his mechanical room space and decided to store the other two ancient Jade Scrolls as well.

This time, he did not store the two magic treasures he had acquired, as he needed to consult his mentor, Elder Su, about them upon returning since he knew very little about magical treasures.

Just as he entered the communication range, his Identity Jade Disc began receiving messages continuously.

He took out the Identity Jade Disc to check and found that they were safety confirmation messages from Elder Su and Elder Ma.

Since leaving the Beishu Continent, he had lost contact with his sect, and he guessed that the sect must be anxious about not being able to find or contact him.

He first reassured his two mentors and informed them of his route to ease their worries.

Li Shiming had not been out of the sect’s communication range for long; he had only been underwater for about three days.

Although the space underwater had a Spiritual Vein, it might have been rich in Spiritual Energy in ancient times, but with no cultivators maintaining it and the passage of considerable time, the fact that the Spiritual Vein still existed was quite remarkable.

The Spiritual Energy produced there was insufficient to sustain his cultivation needs, so once the “Absolute Spirit Illusion Snake” hatched and had been nourished for a while, and after it stabilized, he left that place.

The underwater space was extremely secretive; he restored the ocean’s silt and, with the exact location known, he wouldn’t need to exert so much effort next time, as he could directly use “Step by Step Lotus” to enter the underground space.

Li Shiming was still very cautious as he traveled; he didn’t know whether Qianye Temple was still tracking him.

As there was no urgency, he didn’t use “Step by Step Lotus” to hasten his journey, instead enjoying the scenery as he flew leisurely.

He was aware that once he returned this time, it would be troublesome to leave the sect again.

Qianye Temple was one issue, and another was that he had gathered all the resources he needed; the most important thing next was to enhance his strength, preparing for his upcoming promotion to the Golden Core.

This trip might be one of his few chances to travel far before the Golden Core Stage, and he still did not want to return to the sect too early.

“Eh!” A day later, as Li Shiming was flying on his Sword Light, he suddenly sensed a Golden Core aura approaching and frowned, thinking he might have encountered trouble again.

Just as he was about to retract his Spiritual Energy and avoid the Golden Core cultivator, he stopped his actions.

He stood in the air, waiting for the Golden Core cultivator to come closer.

“Disciple pays respects to Junior Master Zhao!” Li Shiming greeted the approaching figure respectfully.

“Finally found you, come on, let’s go back!” Junior Master Zhao saw Li Shiming, smiled, and waved his hand as he spoke.

“Junior Master, did you come looking for me?” Li Shiming asked with mild surprise.

Junior Master Zhao was a Sword Cultivator; last time Li Shiming cried for help, Junior Master Zhao was the first to arrive and help him out of trouble.

This time he hadn’t sought help, so why had Junior Master Zhao come?

“Qianye Temple and Beishu Trading Company have both wanted to meet with you within the sect multiple times, and we were also worried that Qianye Temple might intercept you on the way, so your master sent me out to meet you!” Junior Master Zhao explained with a smile as he stretched out a Divine Thought to accelerate Li Shiming’s flying speed.

The so-called being “sent out” was, of course, a jest, as Junior Master Zhao and Elder Su were both from the same lineage within the sect and shared a very close relationship.

As a Sword Cultivator, Junior Master Zhao’s flying speed was extremely fast, and his combat prowess was fearsome, naturally making him the best choice to retrieve Li Shiming.

“Why is Qianye Temple so fixated on me?” Li Shiming was still somewhat puzzled, and taking the opportunity to speak with the amiable Elder Zhao, he asked.

“According to your master,” Elder Zhao said, “it’s because your fortune is too great, which has brought this trouble upon you. According to Venerable from Qianye Temple, they discovered clues about a Buddhist predecessor’s reincarnation, and you were nearby at the time, so Qianye Temple wanted to find clues from you!” Elder Zhao, ever so approachable, shared what he knew.

Li Shiming immediately understood the reason. His incarnation, Li Yuanba, had used ‘Step by Step Lotus,’ and he had also learned ‘Step by Step Lotus,’ aware of how troublesome it was to master it.

Even if one was recognized by the Jade Foot Relics and passed the tests, just the memory of a ‘White Lotus Diagram’ alone would take more than a year or two to grasp, let alone to use ‘Step by Step Lotus’ with ease.

When the monks of Qianye Temple saw that Li Yuanba had learned ‘Step by Step Lotus’ in a very short time, they naturally thought of the reincarnation of a great Buddhist figure. Otherwise, how could he have learned the Divine Foot Skill so quickly?

He couldn’t help but give a wry smile inside. It truly was a groundless disaster. Fortunately, he had not used ‘Step by Step Lotus’ in front of the monks from Qianye Temple, or else he might also be regarded as a reincarnated Buddhist predecessor.

“It seems I won’t be able to go out in the future!” Li Shiming sighed.

“Let’s talk about it once we get back. This time Qianye Temple came looking for trouble with our sect, and even the ancestor has taken action. I guess Qianye Temple won’t get away without giving us an explanation!” Elder Zhao said leisurely.

The bigger the trouble Li Shiming stirred up, the more it demonstrated his influence.

In fact, neither Elder Zhao nor Li Shiming’s two masters were too worried about this incident. Mainly because Qianye Temple was part of the Righteous Path and would not dare make a move against Li Shiming once they knew the full story, not under Shushan Sect’s watch.

Just the fact that Zhi Ming Arhat had broken through Li Shiming’s formation put Qianye Temple at a disadvantage.

To quell the issue, Qianye Temple dispatched Zhi Kong Arhat, the highest-ranking among their Arhats, who personally visited Shushan Sect.

This time, Beishu Trading Company did not send the Fake Pill Shopkeeper Cai Hong, but the Late-stage Golden Core Store Manager Lai Fei, who also personally visited Shushan Sect.

This showed that Beishu Trading Company’s degree of importance towards Li Shiming had significantly risen, making Qianye Temple also consider the consequences of attacking Li Shiming again.

Under the guidance of Elder Zhao, Li Shiming’s return to the sect was much faster. Of course, while Elder Zhao’s Sword Escape was fast, it was far from matching ‘Step by Step Lotus.’

Li Shiming stored the ‘Absolute Spirit Illusion Snake’ in his mechanical room space and prepared plenty of Spirit Pills, letting the ‘Absolute Spirit Illusion Snake’ eat them freely.

He had no intention of exposing the ‘Absolute Spirit Illusion Snake;’ its sheer elusiveness alone, undetectable by Divine Thought, would attract considerable attention.

He planned to keep the ‘Absolute Spirit Illusion Snake’ as one of his trump cards. If its abilities were exposed, it would greatly reduce its surprise factor in combat, which would be disadvantageous for him.

On the way, Elder Zhao was not idle; he kept instilling the power of Sword Cultivators into Li Shiming and occasionally demonstrated his own Sword Intent.

Elder Zhao clearly intended to persuade Li Shiming to switch to Sword Cultivation. Although it might not be possible for Li Shiming to become a Registered Disciple of Elder Zhao, at least it would bring another top-notch Sword Cultivator into the sect.

Li Shiming always responded with a smile; he hardly needed to learn Sword Cultivation. With his incarnation, Li Yuanba focusing on Sword Cultivation as his main practice, he, the original body, naturally could already replicate some of the Sword Cultivation techniques. Coupled with his Thunder Skill and Formation, just with the normal cultivation combat abilities, he could suppress the majority of cultivators of the same rank.

On the road, he even found time to research integrating Corpse Refining with Formation. He now possessed twelve Iron Corpses, eleven of which were Three-headed and Six-armed Iron Corpses. Combining them with Formation would significantly enhance the power of these twelve Iron Corpses.