Cultivation is just so scientific!

Chapter 1254: Chapter 673: Settling Down (2)

A Great Cultivator of a major sect is not comparable to a Loose Cultivator from before; maintaining one’s reputation requires massive investment.

The current Great Cultivator Luo Pei is lacking in many ways and needs to replenish a lot of Spiritual Objects.

For example, he needs a ritual boat for appearances, which alone is an astonishing expense.

While pondering this, Great Cultivator Luo Pei landed outside the grotto on the mountaintop.

Upon entering the grotto, he found the walls and floors adorned with Fourth Grade Spirit Jade, which is not only a beautiful decorative material but also the best material for carrying formations.

The Fourth Grade Spirit Jade bore exquisite patterns, within which formation traces are hidden.

It was clear that the Cultivator who built this grotto had a high level of proficiency in both Artifact Refining and Formation, as well as significant artistic accomplishment.

The richness of Spiritual Energy here surpassed that in the temporary grotto of a Great Cultivator, supported by a separate Great Cultivator Spirit Vein supplying the entire mountain and grotto.

The furnishings inside the grotto were complete, made of Fourth Grade Spirit Wood, and an unknown source supplied a Fourth Grade Spirit Spring, whose quality was excellent under the influence of the Great Cultivator Spirit Vein.

He also found a Fourth Grade High-Stage Pill Furnace in the alchemy room and a drawn Fourth Grade Earth Fire in the Artifact Refining Room.

It could be said that the conditions here almost surpassed Li Shiming’s imagination; he had speculated on the life of a Great Cultivator before, but never expected it to be so luxurious.

The quality of the Fourth Grade Spirit Jade and Spirit Wood was only Lower Stage, but the quantity used was substantial. Such Spirit Jade and Spirit Wood are materials for refining Fourth Grade Lower-Stage Magical Treasures, yet they were used for decoration.

”What a pity!” Li Shiming couldn’t help but exclaim.

This grotto was of little genuine use to Great Cultivator Luo Pei; Li Shiming did not value Luo Pei’s cultivation as a Great Cultivator.

He only cared about Luo Pei’s identity as a Great Cultivator rather than improving his strength, which he was uneasy about.

The Heavenly Ghost, because it devoured Luo Pei’s soul and retained the soul’s aura, was recognized by Luo Pei’s Nascent Soul. But if Luo Pei’s strength truly improved, the Heavenly Ghost might be unable to control him.

The Heavenly Ghost was only at the Mid Fourth Grade level and could control Luo Pei partly because of long-term contact with the living dead body of Great Cultivator Zhao Qingfeng and also due to Luo Pei’s weak strength, allowing it to substitute Luo Pei’s soul to control his Nascent Soul.

Great Cultivator Luo Pei still needed to cultivate, but the purpose of cultivating ’Black Water Flood Sky Skill’ was not to increase strength but to help Li Shiming comprehend the Water attribute.

Li Shiming also retracted the Nascent Soul placed in Luo Pei’s body, with five Nascent Souls simultaneously cultivating in the ’Heavenly Human Dao’ hall within the Grotto Heaven.

Although he finally settled down, the Central State Continent had not forgotten about him.

Both the Central State Commerce and the Yuqing Sect were searching for Li Shiming; the commerce aimed to inform him of the verdict on a traitor and their attitude towards him.

The Yuqing Sect desired the ’Shenxiao Thunder Pearl,’ a significant matter involving the Yuqing Sect’s might, utilizing all possible resources.

Li Shiming indeed was decisive, contacting the Central State Commerce would leave traces and might lead the Yuqing Sect straight to him.

The Yuqing Sect had acquired Li Shiming’s aura, creating a ’Thousand-Mile Sensing Plate’ to detect his presence within a thousand miles.

Moreover, his aura was leaked to various intelligence personnel by the Yuqing Sect’s intelligence division, so any suspicious aura detected would alert them.

The Yuqing Sect originally thought finding Li Shiming with such intensity wouldn’t be hard.

Yet after some time, the Yuqing Sect’s intelligence department found nothing, and all their energy put into it went wasted.

Still, the Yuqing Sect did not give up, instead increasing their efforts in tracking Li Shiming, involving intelligence departments from other continents too.

The Central State Commerce headquarters got wind of the Yuqing Sect’s actions, but since they didn’t actually act against Li Shiming and just searched for him, and due to warnings from Central State Commerce to the Yuqing Sect, both parties ended up in a standoff.

External turmoil did not affect Li Shiming; while cultivating, he prepared to refine a Water Element Flying Sword for Great Cultivator Luo Pei.

Crafting a Water Element Flying Sword fit for Great Cultivator Luo Pei was no easy task; Li Shiming had high standards, aiming to craft a spiritual treasure level, facing many design challenges.

The main issue was Li Shiming’s insufficient grasp of Luo Pei’s main cultivation, ’Black Water Flood Sky Skill’, needing to elevate his understanding to design a Flying Sword compatible with it.

For this, he dedicated part of his brain and his life-bound treasure, IBMz15, to analyze and study the ’Black Water Flood Sky Skill’.

What Li Shiming was doing didn’t affect Great Cultivator Luo Pei, who stayed buried in the Book Collection Pavilion when not cultivating.

The Book Collection Pavilion in the Fuliu Sect, from an era of great power decline, contained contents far richer than he imagined.

Especially with the authority of a Great Cultivator, the entire pavilion’s archives were open to him, including the Fuliu Sect’s inheritance techniques.

This wasn’t hard to understand, given that the current Fuliu Sect was a major sect with the Great Cultivator being its most powerful Cultivator.

Were it not for Luo Pei’s short tenure and not being raised by the Fuliu Sect, he could have had even higher access.

Of course, the Fuliu Sect did not impose any limitations on him regarding the books, but the Sect Protection Array permissions and control permissions of various Grotto Heavens were areas of top-secret restriction.

To achieve such top-secret permissions, he needed long-term testing within the Fuliu Sect.

In truth, without Great Cultivator Mao Jing and Great Cultivator Hu Shiming’s acknowledgment, even his access in the Book Collection Pavilion would have been limited.

This time, IBMz15 obtained a wealth of knowledge, including many top-tier techniques.

However, Li Shiming had no intention of cultivating the Fuliu Sect’s Wood Element Inheritance Techniques, as his Wood Thunder Nascent Soul was currently cultivating the ’Yuqing Thunder Scripture’, with no plans for Wood Element Techniques.

Thus, the Fuliu Sect’s Wood Element Inheritance Techniques served no purpose for him aside from broadening his horizons.

As for replacing Great Cultivator Luo Pei’s ’Black Water Flood Sky Skill’ with superior Water Element Cultivation Methods, it wasn’t a matter of non-existence in the Fuliu Sect.

The Book Collection Pavilion held two top-tier Water Element Techniques, but the issue was the ’Black Water Flood Sky Skill’ runes in Luo Pei’s Nascent Soul. Unless the new technique was comprehended to imprint its runes in his Nascent Soul, its power would be low.

The reason Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators’ attacks are powerful is mainly due to empowerment by runes within their Nascent Soul, boosting attack power severalfold.

Therefore, changing techniques at the Nascent Soul Stage involves great caution, as it entails investing over a hundred years renewing understanding, without assurance the new technique would surpass the old unless its abilities or grade was far superior.

Either way, Great Cultivator Luo Pei wouldn’t switch techniques, nor did Li Shiming need him to enhance his power, as upgrading the life-bound magical treasure would suffice for boosting his combat strength.

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