Cultivation is just so scientific!

Chapter 1556: Chapter 824: Enlightenment (2)

Li Shiming sensed the thundercloud. After the Heavenly Ghost devoured the Heart Demon, it slightly reinforced the state of the thundercloud, allowing it to continue to exist, and the Thunder Rules were still functioning.

However, this thundercloud was originally maintained not by Spiritual Energy, but by Spirit energy, so its thunderous might was very weak, and the Thunder Rules supporting the Grotto Heaven seemed extremely tenuous.

He approached the thundercloud and began examining the Thunder Rules.

In such a Grotto Heaven without a half-step Great Power, the internal rules have no protective measures; the rules are seemingly exposed and allow observation of the entire Thunder Rules.

No half-step Great Power would willingly let a cultivator observe the rules within their Grotto Heaven, as these rules are the result of a lifetime of research by the half-step Great Power.

Especially within the rules, there might exist weaknesses in their understanding of the rules, which, if known by the enemy, could become fatal points during battle.

The owner of this Grotto Heaven, Yang Xing, the half-step Great Power, has now become part of the Heavenly Ghost, so naturally, he cannot refuse Li Shiming’s observation of the Grotto Heaven’s rules.

A relatively complete set of Thunder Rules appeared right in front of Li Shiming. He activated his lifebound magic treasure, the IBMz15, to record all the data of the Thunder Rules in front of him.

This was the Thunder Rules of a Thunder Cultivator half-step Great Power, far deeper than his own Thunder Rules.

He did not immediately delve into understanding but let the IBMz15 record the data first, in case any accident occurred in this fragile Grotto Heaven.

Half-Life Cave Heaven is also the Grotto Heaven of a half-step Great Power, but within that Grotto Heaven, many rules exist forming a rule system that stabilizes the existence of the Grotto Heaven.

Moreover, after he added Five Elements Treasures to the Grotto Heaven, it perfected the Five Elements Rules, allowing a self-sustaining Five Elements cycle within the Half-Life Cave Heaven.

In comparison, the current Grotto Heaven seemed too rudimentary.

Li Shiming drew some Thunder Spirit Power from his body and injected it into the thundercloud.

He also took out a vein-locking plate to use the Great Cultivator Spirit Vein to provide Spiritual Energy for the Grotto Heaven.

Being the master of the Heavenly Ghost, the thundercloud did not reject the spirit energy he infused, and because Thunder Spirit Power had a great effect on the thundercloud, the thundercloud’s might increased several times.

Once the Spiritual Energy from the Great Cultivator Spirit Vein reached a certain concentration within the Grotto Heaven, he no longer cared for the state of Spiritual Energy within.

The Grotto Heaven could absorb Spiritual Energy autonomously from the void, just having lacked too much Spiritual Energy previously, and with this supplement, self-sufficiency is no issue at all.

Li Shiming then resumed observing the Thunder Rules, which had clearly strengthened after being nourished by Spiritual Energy, making the Grotto Heaven slightly firmer.

He also discovered the core of this Grotto Heaven was the thundercloud.

This thundercloud appeared to be transformed from some special thunder-related substance, considered a Thunder Treasure.

Ordinary thunderclouds would release their energy upon nurturing thunder, ultimately disappearing someday.

But this thundercloud was different; as long as enough Spiritual Energy was supplied, it could continuously generate Thunder Energy, stabilizing the existence of Thunder Rules.

Li Shiming was encountering such a Thunder Treasure for the first time, merely curious with Half-Life Cave Heaven also containing Thunder Rules, although based on Five Elements Treasures with Thunder Rules generated through Five Elements Rules.

The Five Elements Treasures within Half-Life Cave Heaven were far superior to the Thunder Treasure in this Grotto Heaven.

However, considering this was a nascent Grotto Heaven, it was understandable.

He refocused his Divine Sense on the Thunder Rules within the thundercloud, entering a state of deeper understanding.

The ’Thunder Rule Imprint’ on his Nascent Soul deepened and gradually became clearer as his understanding grew.

At this moment, he forgot about the two captives and other matters, his mind completely immersed in the comprehension of the ’Thunder Rules,’ with all 191 brains participating in the meditation.

Two days after Li Shiming’s battle with Master Wang He and Yan Gao Great Cultivator, information about this battle spread from the Dongqi Continent branch of Central State Commerce.

The news of Li Shiming defeating two peak Great Cultivators alone led Dongqi Continent’s cultivators to reevaluate Li Shiming’s prowess.

This information was relayed across continents through intercontinental communication arrays to other continents.

Originally, major powers did not overly emphasize Li Shiming, but now they truly acknowledged him as the newly emergent super genius.

Li Shiming surpassed Li Yuanba of Sword Intent Chongxiao Pavilion, becoming the youngest genius in the Cultivation World.

However, Li Yuanba still held the first rank at Nascent Soul Middle Stage; mainly because Li Shiming advanced too rapidly, with both cultivators being of similar age, yet Li Shiming is already a Great Cultivator.

Yuqing Sect and White Emperor Sect naturally received this intelligence; upon doing so, White Emperor Sect immediately retracted its influence and adjusted its external strategies.

White Emperor Sect lost too many Great Cultivators and regular Nascent Soul cultivators, making it unable to maintain the scope of occupied forces and resources.

Especially since Yan Gao Great Cultivator was defeated and lost contact, White Emperor Sect had no top-tier combat strength fill-in for a long time.

While opportunities for peak Great Cultivators to act were rare, their deterrence made other forces wary.

Lacking suppression power, forces coveting White Emperor Sect’s resources dared to reach out and seize resources originally belonging to White Emperor Sect.

Even if White Emperor Sect had Great Powers, they couldn’t attend every small matter; activating a Great Power once incurs too great a price, making involvement in trivialities impossible.

White Emperor Sect’s pain period won’t last long, and within hundreds of years it will recover, with new Great Cultivators emerging to replace Yan Gao Great Cultivator.

Yuqing Sect’s pain period will last much longer; White Emperor Sect’s leadership knew Yuqing Sect sent Yang Xing, a half-step Great Power, but was unaware of the outcome.

Yuqing Sect cannot compensate this loss simply by re-emerging a peak Great Cultivator; the fall of a half-step Great Power shook Yuqing Sect’s foundation.

Yuqing Sect needs to invest more resources in cultivating half-step Great Powers, inevitably reducing resources allocated to regular Great Cultivators, which over time, weakens Yuqing Sect’s Great Cultivators compared to other super forces.

But this is unavoidable; if they don’t increase cultivation for half-step Great Powers and even the Great Power heritage breaks, Yuqing Sect would drop from a super to a large-scale power.

Yuqing Sect expended immense cost through Central State Commerce for more intelligence, including Li Shiming capturing Master Wang He.

Even knowing this, Yuqing Sect is powerless to act against Li Shiming.

Since neither peak Great Cultivators nor half-step Great Powers succeeded, should their Great Powers act, cross-continent action burdens Great Powers greatly, severely affecting their lifespan.

With Yuqing Sect’s current situation, their Great Powers dare not waste their lifespan, needing to preserve themselves awaiting Yuqing Sect’s potential succession by another Great Power.

Master Liu Ziyun arrived at the Taichu branch, knowing from intelligence that Li Shiming had not returned to Ten Thousand Beast Sect, but came here.

However, even after sending multiple communication techniques and using secret contact tokens, even requesting assistance from Grandmaster Hu of Ten Thousand Beast Sect, he couldn’t contact Li Shiming.

He had accepted multiple alchemy requests; delaying such requests is usually no big deal, as any proficient Alchemy Master has their temperament, and delays aren’t a concern.

But lacking precise news rendered him anxious.

Moreover, instructions from the Central State Commerce headquarters indicated he should deepen relations with Li Shiming; despite other capabilities, Li Shiming’s combat strength itself earned Central State Commerce’s attention.

Were it not for former responsible parties selling out Li Shiming, Central State Commerce would consider reabsorbing Li Shiming.