Cultivation is just so scientific!

Chapter 270: Chapter 181: Preparation_2

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But in his heart, many of his ideas were related to weapon crafting, especially when it came to weaponry, which necessitated magic artifacts that matched his own cultivation level.

Take the Mid-grade Magic Weapon Gatling for analysis, when Li Shiming first crafted the Mid-grade Magic Weapon Gatling, he was still in the Qi Refinement Realm, and at that time, the weapon had greatly enhanced his combat power.

Even genius cultivators at the peak of Qi Refinement found it extremely difficult to withstand the assault of the Mid-grade Magic Weapon Gatling.

However, after reaching the Foundation Establishment Stage, the power of the Mid-grade Magic Weapon Gatling could no longer meet the demands of his own realm, as his enemies were at least at the Foundation Establishment level.

Even the Top-grade Magic Device Electromagnetic Gun, if it could be upgraded to the level of a Spiritual Artifact, its power could be greatly increased.

...
It is known that a lot of research in his previous life was limited by material issues, but this world had a unique advantage in terms of materials.

Spiritual materials were naturally superior to the best synthetic materials from his previous life, but the refining methods of the former could not be used to process spiritual materials, and in the Cultivation World, only Artifact Makers were capable of refining spiritual materials.

Li Shiming looked at the Spirit Furnace, thinking that he would refine it later; if he could obtain a Spirit Furnace from somewhere else, then there would be no need to use this one.

Besides, he had not yet settled down, and even if he wanted to become an Artifact Maker, he lacked the necessary environment.

“Fellow, although Sword Cultivators do not require many magic artifacts, from the battles we have fought, when faced with a multitude of enemies, one still needs assistance!” Li Shiming withdrew his consciousness from the mechanic room space, addressing Li Yuanba beside him.

“Your thought is good, I indeed have some difficulty dealing with multiple enemies!” Li Yuanba nodded in agreement.

This kind of conversation between the dual consciousness of Li Shiming allowed him not to feel lonely.

Perhaps in the future, even separated by thousands of miles, such a connection would still continue uninterrupted.

A day later, Li Shiming entered a large market, this time fortunately without any unlucky encounters.

The identity of a Foundation Establishment Cultivator was still very useful; after he entered a shop exuding a cold and eerie aura, he was invited to the second floor.

Normally, only the second floor was where Foundation Establishment Cultivators were received; the consumption power and status of Foundation Establishment Cultivators did not allow them to shop in the same place as Qi Refining Cultivators.

This was a shop that sold items for Devil Cultivators, and even Li Shiming found it somewhat unbearable after entering the first floor.

Within the first floor, even the bodies of cultivators were for sale, along with incomplete body parts, which were materials for Corpse Refining.

The rest of the various eerie materials, given that they were from the Devil Sects, had a special odor and an ugly, bizarre appearance.

The air was filled with these mixed odors, which probably only Devil Cultivators could disregard, perhaps even finding some enjoyment in them.

The second floor was much better, with no materials displayed; one simply had to make a request to the attending cultivator.

The cultivator attending to Li Shiming and Li Yuanba was a gaunt old cultivator, whose aura revealed that he was an early-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator.

To prevent accidents, Li Yuanba wore a mask that was a magic artifact capable of blocking the scanning of Spiritual Thought.

His face was a weapon and could easily attract trouble.

Li Shiming wore a hat that blocked the scanning of Spiritual Thought, which was a common attire in markets.

“May I know what you require, fellow?” The old cultivator asked with a smile.

But his smile was truly unsightly, resembling a skeleton wrapped in human skin laughing.

There was no Spiritual Tea offered to guests on the second floor; then again, it’s doubtful that any cultivator daring to partake in the Spiritual Tea offered by a shop selling Devil Sect items would be many.

“Do you have these materials?” Li Shiming casually tossed a Jade Scroll as he inquired.

The old cultivator took the Jade Scroll and placed it against his forehead, quickly understanding the needs of the two Foundation Establishment Cultivators.

“Our shop has an extensive range of Corpse Refining materials, fellow. However, for the main material you requested at a second-grade level, the price won’t be cheap!” The old cultivator’s smile deepened, crow’s feet gathering at the corners of his eyes.

His implication was clear: they had second-grade materials, but did you have the spirit stones?

“Don’t worry, the spirit stones are prepared; otherwise, I wouldn’t have come here!” Li Shiming said indifferently.

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“Our store accepts the Beishu Trading Company’s Storing Jade Token for payment!” After saying this, the old cultivator helplessly spread his hands and continued, “According to the rules of the Beishu Trading Company, we must tell our customers this; otherwise, we cannot access goods through the Beishu Trading Company’s channels!”

Li Shiming couldn’t help but laugh. Although the old cultivator looked intimidating, he seemed to be quite honest. It seemed that the saying ‘appearance reflects the heart’ wasn’t entirely accurate.

Li Shiming knew what a Beishu Trading Company’s Storing Jade Token was; he had several in his possession, all of which were anonymous.

He took out a Beishu Trading Company’s Storing Jade Token that contained more than two hundred thousand spirit stones and placed it in front of the old cultivator.

“Does fellow have any good cauldrons? Our store has Dual Spirit Roots cauldrons available for reservation, and should you wish, we can even procure a Heavenly Spirit Root cauldron!” The old cultivator turned to give the Jade Scroll to an attendant before continuing.

“No need for the trouble, I’ve already got my corpses!” Li Shiming replied without any hesitation.

Among the Devil Cultivators, although actions were taken without much consideration, there were rules to be observed in many aspects, such as referring to the corpses used for Corpse Refining as cauldrons.

Li Shiming had no such considerations; all the corpses he collected were from his enemies, whom he had slain by his own hand.

The old cultivator’s eyes shone with a sharp light, deducing some information from Li Shiming’s response.

Firstly, the cauldron that Li Shiming used for Corpse Refining must be of exceptionally high quality, very likely a Heavenly Spirit Root from the Foundation Establishment Stage, otherwise, he wouldn’t have used a second-grade primary material.

A first-grade primary material would suffice to refine a cauldron from the Foundation Establishment Stage, unless the cauldron was extremely important and he wished to maximize its inherent potential, in which case he would use a second-grade primary material.

“Our store also purchases corpses; we give spirit stones according to the quality of Foundation Establishment Stage corpses!” the old cultivator went on to say.

Li Shiming did not join the conversation; he had collected many corpses and chose not to deal with them because he might use them later as material for corpse repair in his Refining.

He would not consider selling corpses as a means to earn spirit stones; they weren’t worth many spirit stones and could easily cause trouble.

At that moment, the attendant came over with a storage bag and handed it to the old cultivator.

After inspecting it, he handed the storage bag to Li Shiming.

Li Shiming’s Spiritual Thought entered the storage bag, checking all the materials, especially the second-grade materials, very carefully.

He had to be cautious, for the Corpse Refining work that followed could not afford to fail, as the loss would be too great.

“Fellow, the total is fifteen thousand spirit stones!” the old cultivator reminded him with a smile.

Li Shiming passed over the Beishu Trading Company’s Storing Jade Token; he was curious to see how it was used.

The old cultivator took out an Array Plate and activated it with a light touch.

Although Li Shiming did not use Spiritual Thought to inspect it, as a High-level Array Master, his perception of formations was extremely strong; he could clearly sense the Array Plate connecting externally.

It seemed to activate the formation on the Array Plate, and it was also connecting to a larger Formation outside.

The old cultivator placed the Beishu Trading Company’s Storing Jade Token on the Array Plate, operated it with Spiritual Thought, and then returned the Storing Jade Token to Li Shiming.

Upon inspection, Li Shiming saw that fifteen thousand spirit stones had been deducted from the Beishu Trading Company’s Storing Jade Token.

By his estimation, the Beishu Trading Company likely established a formation communication network throughout the entire Beishu region, which would at least cover large marketplaces within the range of the communication network.

This was actually quite similar to the Sect Formation of the Sky Sea Sect, but currently, he could not comprehend the composition of this communication network.

He also didn’t think it wise to inquire, for given the old cultivator’s wisdom, any questions might lead him to suspect Li Shiming’s origins.

Without using spirit stones directly and having spent fifteen thousand at once, which seemed insignificant, he knew many Foundation Establishment Cultivators did not possess much wealth.

If he spent more, he worried he might attract the attention of those with ulterior motives.

After leaving the large marketplace, he deliberately observed his surroundings, even releasing a drone and using infrared thermal imaging to confirm that no one was following him before he could finally relax.

It wasn’t paranoia; after all, since entering the Cultivation World, the number of troubles he had encountered and cultivators he had killed was significant!