Cultivation is just so scientific!

Chapter 998: Chapter 545: Spiritual Fire (Part 2)

”Little friend, we meet again!” A charming voice called out.

Li Shiming recognized it as Mi Yi from the Sun Concealing Sect without even turning his head.

”Mi Dao You!” Li Shiming nodded in response.

He took out the invitation card and registered his information at the registration desk.

The alchemy competition was quite simple. Each cultivator who registered only needed to refine a batch of spirit pills within the formation. The grade of the spirit pills was up to them, and the final judgment would be made by the Alchemy Masters of the Taichu Sect based on the grade and quality of the spirit pills.

”Little friend, I still don’t know your name, isn’t the purpose of coming here to make friends?” Mi Yi seemed quite interested in Li Shiming and said with a light laugh.

”Mi Dao You, my name is Li Shizhen, please don’t call me little friend!” Li Shiming frowned as he replied.

”Li Shizhen, reputed as the foremost Alchemy Master of the Ten Thousand Beast Sect!” Mi Yi’s eyes sparkled; this was indeed a big catch.

Neither Shui Miao nor Mi Yi had expected that Li Shiming was the recently rising Master Li, mainly because his age was so deceptive.

”I wouldn’t dare claim such a title!” Li Shiming shook his head and said.

At this moment, he took out a set of materials for a Nascent Soul Early Stage Fourth Grade Spirit Pill and stepped into the formation beside without paying further attention to Mi Yi.

He maintained his consistent alchemy skills and, after several hours of refining, returned three Mid-level Fourth Grade Spirit Pills to the organizers.

It was only after coming out that he realized two hours ago, messages had come through his Identity Jade Disc from Feng Lanxin and Shui Miao, notifying him that the spiritual pet battle had begun.

He checked the time and then headed towards the arena area.

”Master Li, you’ve arrived just in time for the final showdown!” Shui Miao said with a smile when she saw Li Shiming.

At this moment, Feng Lanxin was standing beside the arena, intently watching the battle taking place.

”I was participating in the alchemy competition just now and arrived late!” Li Shiming explained apologetically while watching the spiritual pet battle.

”Did you really participate in the alchemy competition?” Shui Miao asked in astonishment.

It’s quite imaginable how rare it is for a well-known Alchemy Master to participate in such an exchange match.

Such competitions usually see few professional Alchemy Masters participating, as at the Nascent Soul Stage, cultivators have very lengthy leisure times.

Nascent Soul cultivators, with their lengthy spans of time, often dabble in many professions, particularly using their nascent fire, which, to some extent, can substitute for spiritual fire as alchemical fire.

This leads many Nascent Soul cultivators to delve into alchemy, and this type of competition is organized for these Nascent Soul cultivators.

Through these competitions, Nascent Soul cultivators can exchange experiences with each other.

Of course, there was nothing wrong with Li Shiming participating in this competition. His age was a factor, and besides, his reputation mostly existed within the Ten Thousand Beast Sect and was not well known for external alchemy services; hence, he could not be considered a longtime celebrated Alchemy Master at such a grand event.

”I’m particularly interested in the spiritual fire reward!” Li Shiming admitted.

”That’s bad news for others; I’m afraid other cultivators will just serve as a backdrop!” Shui Miao laughed somewhat maliciously.

”Not necessarily; my alchemy skills are just relatively stable. If an Alchemy Master bursts forth, I cannot keep up!” Li Shiming said humbly.

While they conversed, the spiritual pet battle on the stage had reached its end.

Although Yuan Xun’s personal combat strength was slightly stronger than Feng Lanxin’s, the nature of the spiritual pet battle was such that no cultivator interference was allowed.

Clearly, Feng Lanxin’s phoenix-type spiritual pet was superior, ultimately securing victory.

”Junior Sister Feng, this time it’s your win!” Yuan Xun was not upset but instead smiled as he spoke to Feng Lanxin.

”Thank you, Senior Brother Yuan, for conceding!” Feng Lanxin was very pleased with the championship, nodding in response.

The organizers delivered the prize, a Fourth-grade Spirit Pill capable of increasing the chances of a spiritual pet’s advancement, a reward with particularly rare materials for a Fourth-grade Spirit Pill.

”In terms of spiritual pets, our Ten Thousand Beast Sect has a significant advantage; other sects are far too lacking. This time, there was no difficulty at all!” Feng Lanxin proudly transmitted to Li Shiming’s side.

This statement could only be transmitted like this; if heard by other sects’ cultivators, it would likely cause some trouble.

”Congratulations, Senior Sister!” Li Shiming smiled and congratulated.

”Mr. Feng, it’ll soon be your turn to congratulate Master Li. He really went to participate in the alchemy competition!” Shui Miao couldn’t wait to disclose that Li Shiming participated in the alchemy competition.

”Looks like the prize attracted Junior Li!” Feng Lanxin couldn’t help but laugh.

”Mr. Feng certainly knows Master Li!” Shui Miao also couldn’t help but laugh.

The alchemy competition results wouldn’t come out immediately, so Li Shiming, along with the two female cultivators, went to watch other competitions.

He witnessed a real puppet battle; a Fourth Grade Puppet battle wasn’t particularly interesting, almost all involving Fourth Grade Puppets with both offensive and defensive capabilities, a blade for you and a shield for me, not as varied as combat between cultivators.

From this, he could also see the limitations of puppets: although their displayed combat strength was very strong, their single-dimensional combat methods limited the use of Fourth Grade Puppets.

Of course, for cultivators adept at using long-range attacks, having a Fourth Grade Puppet in front could prevent enemies from closing in and withstand enemy attacks, forming a frontline defense.

The corpse refining competition was quite exciting, with both golden corpses possessing special abilities.

At this point, it was the final stages on the arena, with only the strongest remaining after eliminating other contestants.

One golden corpse specialized in ice, the other in poison, the arena was filled with green mist, showing poison-type abilities in action.

The whole body of the ice-type golden corpse was encased in ice crystals, making its already astonishing defenses even more impregnable.

The battle ultimately ended with the ice-type golden corpse’s victory, not because it was stronger than the poison-type, but because it was almost immune to the poison-type’s toxic attacks.

If cultivators were involved in the battle, they wouldn’t be able to face the poison-type’s attacks so easily.

Li Shiming couldn’t help but marvel in his heart, never underestimate the people in the world.

Whether it was the ice-type or the poison-type golden corpse, they were among the strongest golden corpses Li Shiming had ever seen.

He had always thought that golden corpses with special abilities were rare, but now it seemed that some sects with corpse refining legacies wouldn’t produce simple golden corpses.

Encountering such golden corpses in reality meant one had to be wary of their special abilities.

Meanwhile, Master Yu of the Taichu Sect was examining spirit pills in each jade bottle, being one of the judges for this alchemy competition and also an Alchemy Master of the Taichu Sect.

With Master Yu’s experience, just a glance at a spirit pill would reveal the true alchemy level of the refining cultivator.

This was something that couldn’t be falsified, any technical errors during the refining process would manifest on the spirit pill.

”Which Master’s work is this? It’s utterly disgraceful!” When he saw Li Shiming’s Fourth Grade Spirit Pills, he couldn’t help but shake his head.

Three Fourth Grade Spirit Pills indicated it was a full batch, with their quality reaching intermediate, just a touch from advanced.

Such alchemy skills were something even Master Yu couldn’t guarantee achieving.

Usually, in competition, unless they like to gamble on luck, cultivators would choose to refine a level lower than their abilities to ensure better chances.

Being able to refine full batch Fourth Grade Spirit Pills of such a grade could only belong to famous Alchemy Masters.

Master Yu already had some Alchemy Masters running through his mind, as the Alchemy Masters of major sects knew each other.

While pondering, he picked up the alchemical information of the three Fourth Grade Spirit Pills and found it was the work of a cultivator named Li Shizhen.

”Li Shizhen of the Ten Thousand Beast Sect, as stable as rumored, though it’s unknown what spirit pill he can most consistently and stably refine at the highest level,” Master Yu mused.

Given Li Shizhen’s displayed alchemy level, he was sure to outclass any well-known Alchemy Master competing in the event.

Master Yu, impressed with Li Shizhen’s demonstrated level of alchemy, believed that no other renowned Alchemy Master could match his standard in the competition.