Cultivation is just so scientific!

Chapter 688: Chapter 390: Honor Part 2

Not a single Golden Core Elder opposed, when Elder Zang proposed to assassinate Li Shiming, they all thought Li Shiming was as good as dead.

But now, there was no news from Elder Zang, yet Li Shiming was still alive. By all accounts, even with a delay, Elder Zang should have long since arrived in Xia Country; the only possibility was that Elder Zang had encountered trouble.

If Elder Zang sought to kill Li Shiming and found himself in trouble instead, it was highly likely the result of Li Shiming’s own doing.

Considering Li Shiming’s identity as an Alchemy Master and his relationship with the Beishu Trading Company, this possibility was not at all far-fetched.

Of course, the most important point was that making Li Shiming an Honorary Great Elder would give Mingxin Sect a powerful backer.

Regarding the matter of one-tenth of the sect’s revenue, after losing Elder Zang and Great Elder Fan Xi, the sect’s loss of one-tenth of its revenue meant the resources distributed to the remaining Golden Core Elders would not decrease but increase.

As long as they could maintain this situation within the sect, they didn’t mind having one more Honorary Great Elder.

After reaching a consensus among the upper echelons of Mingxin Sect, they feared Li Shiming might take some action, so the very next day Elder Zhang took it upon himself to head to the capital city of Xia Country.

“Mingxin Sect’s Elder Zhang requests an audience with Master Li!” Li Shiming received the communication technique; the other party hadn’t flown above the capital, but was waiting outside the city.

This clearly showed just how humble Elder Zhang’s attitude was; Elder Zhang had personally witnessed Li Shiming’s prowess, a Great Elder-level Body Refining Golden Core, practically invincible in the Golden Core Stage.

Li Shiming went outside the city; Elder Zhang bowed deeply, exhibiting a submissive posture, afraid that Li Shiming might strike without uttering a word. His manner aimed to avoid any misunderstanding that might lead Li Shiming to kill him on the spot.

“Greetings, Master Li!” Elder Zhang inwardly heaved a sigh of relief at not being immediately killed with a slap from Li Shiming, making the subsequent discussion more approachable.

He was only at the Golden Core Early Stage and had no choice but to be the envoy, given his low status.

Li Shiming watched Elder Zhang with a smile; with ‘Telepathy’ activated, he was already aware of his intentions.

Li Shiming was slightly surprised; he hadn’t expected that the Sect Leader of Mingxin Sect would actually come up with such a method to win him over.

He had no intention of staying on Sky Sea Island for long, so becoming the Honorary Great Elder of Mingxin Sect was of little consequence to him.

After all, the sect’s use of his name would have limited effect on Sky Sea Island.

If Mingxin Sect were on the Beishu Continent, he definitely wouldn’t have agreed to become an Honorary Great Elder because there his name would carry far greater influence.

“What is your business?” Li Shiming asked with a smile.

“I am entrusted by the Sect Leader of Mingxin Sect to invite Master Li to become the Honorary Great Elder of Mingxin Sect, sharing one-tenth of the sect’s revenue each year!” Elder Zhang didn’t dare to babble on unnecessarily.

“Honorary Great Elder? What am I to do?” Li Shiming persisted in asking.

“You need not do anything; Mingxin Sect wishes to maintain friendship with you. In times when the sect’s safety is at stake, we hope to rely on your prestige. The Sect Leader has stated that you can resign from the position of Honorary Great Elder anytime you wish!” Elder Zhang answered respectfully.

“Do you know that I won’t stay on Sky Sea Island for long?” Li Shiming continued to inquire.

Elder Zhang’s heart rejoiced hearing Li Shiming’s words, sensing that he might accept Mingxin Sect’s invitation.

“The insignificant Sky Sea Island could hardly contain you. Regardless of your location, Mingxin Sect will annually deliver one-tenth of its revenue to you through Beishu Trading Company!” Elder Zhang replied hastily.

“I accept!” Li Shiming nodded and said.

“This is the Identity Jade Disc of the Honorary Great Elder. Currently, the sect’s Formation is not fully established, and the Formation in Xia Country is yet to be covered, making the Identity Jade Disc unusable for communication. But we are already preparing to prioritize the construction of Formation in Xia Country. Additionally, Xia will become a permanent territory of the Li Family, and Mingxin Sect will guarantee this!” Elder Zhang handed over the Identity Jade Disc while bowing before Li Shiming.

Back at his house, Li Shiming toyed with the Identity Jade Disc, contemplating the matters of Mingxin Sect, when he received a communication technique from Master Jing Mo.

The meeting with Master Jing Mo would take place within the ancestral mansion, which also reflected the relationship between him and Master Jing Mo.

“Congratulations to Master Li for becoming the Honorary Great Elder of the Mingxin Sect!” Master Jing Mo said with a smile as soon as they met.

“Your information network is quite efficient!” Li Shiming said with a shake of his head and a chuckle.

Both of them knew that the title of Honorary Great Elder wasn’t all that significant.

A tenth of Mingxin Sect’s revenue might seem substantial, but it really depended on who received it.

For an Alchemy Master like Li Shiming, a tenth of Mingxin Sect’s revenue was nothing more than a nice bonus.

Li Shiming wasn’t the least bit surprised at Master Jing Mo’s keen information gathering. Even the fact that Elder Zang was coming to trouble him was something that the Beishu Trading Company could find out in advance, so this news was nothing special.

“The company has decided to establish a cooperative relationship with the Mingxin Sect. I will make it clear to them that this is out of respect for you, Master Li!” Master Jing Mo continued.

“I am merely a Guest Elder and do not interfere with the company’s affairs!” Li Shiming replied, clearly stating his position without directly refusing the proposal.

He was well aware that within power factions like the Beishu Trading Company, there were many internal factions, and he had no wish to be involved, as there was no need for it given his status.

“Master Li, I know this may be presumptuous, but what happened to Elder Zang?” Master Jing Mo hesitated slightly before asking.

He had wrestled with this question for a long time. He had warned Li Shiming to leave in advance, but quickly found that Li Shiming was only away for a short time before returning home.

And then, there was no news of Elder Zang. If he didn’t know that Li Shiming’s strength was only at the Golden Core Middle Stage, he might have thought that Li Shiming had slain Elder Zang himself.

“Elder Zang’s life span has come to an end,” Li Shiming answered indifferently.

Even though he was a Guest Elder of Beishu Trading Company, he had many secrets he did not want them to know about, hence his rather ambiguous response.

Master Jing Mo inhaled sharply. He had much more to consider.

He was absolutely certain that Li Shiming had no outside help. While the Beishu Trading Company might not excel in other areas on Sky Sea Island, they had laid out their intelligence network. If there had been an existence powerful enough to confront Elder Zang, it would have been impossible for there to be no news of it.

As for Elder Zang’s life span being exhausted just before his encounter with Li Shiming, that was even more improbable. Cultivators of such a realm are acutely aware of their own conditions and the timing of their death is usually calculated very accurately.

That left only one possibility. Li Shiming had used some method to cause Elder Zang to deplete a great amount of his vitality, leading to a premature end to his life span.

“Master Jing Mo, I would like the Beishu Trading Company to collect some tomes regarding higher order Spiritual Objects for me. The cost can be deducted from my remuneration!” Li Shiming thought of the Fourth Grade Pearl, with the extensive channels of the Beishu Trading Company in mind.

“I will report this after I return and start the collection. It might take some time to gather the tomes, but I will keep you updated on the progress!” Master Jing Mo could easily commit on behalf of the Beishu Trading Company for such a minor matter.

On the fifth day after Master Jing Mo left, Meng Bin, the State Preceptor of Xia, delivered a storage bag. The mouth of the storage bag was sealed with a secret technique, which Meng Bin himself could not open.

According to Meng Bin, it was the annual tribute from Mingxin Sect, a year’s worth of one-tenth of the sect’s revenue.

Clearly, with more than half of the year gone, Mingxin Sect was doing this to curry favor with Li Shiming.

Li Shiming was not one to stand on ceremony; had he expressed the desire on the Beishu Continent, countless power factions would have offered more than Mingxin Sect to have him as an Honorary Great Elder.

After opening the storage bag, he found that the total amount of resources was substantial, though the grades were not high. Third-grade resources were not numerous, at most sufficient for three or four Golden Core Early Stage cultivators’ annual cultivation needs, with most being Second Grade resources.

It seemed Mingxin Sect also understood that Second Grade resources were of little use to him, so they had mostly converted these resources into alchemy materials.

Moreover, in the Spirit Pills refined by an Alchemy Master, many used Second Grade Spiritual Medicines as auxiliary ingredients.

Li Shiming shook his head. Sky Sea Island’s output of Third Grade resources was extremely limited, as could be deduced from the slow development of the seven sects on Sky Sea Island in the past.