Cultivation is just so scientific! Chapter 1356 - 724: Preparation (2)
The earth is nourished by rain washing over the Divine Tree.
Standing amidst the downpour, Li Shiming refrains from activating his Spiritual Power Pattern to block the water, letting the droplets soak his skin. He immerses himself in the experience of this rain, which is composed of pure spirit water. Its spirituality is incredibly potent, rivaling the spirit water found within the Treasure Lotus Hall.
A smile touches his lips as he realizes that top-grade spirit water is no longer a concern. While the Treasure Lotus Hall produces spirit water at a slower pace, the Half-Life Cave Heaven generates it much more rapidly.
Even though the physical dimensions of the Half-Life Cave Heaven are smaller than the Treasure Lotus Hall, it remains a grotto heaven—an independent, standalone world.
Through Li Shiming’s persistent refinements, the Half-Life Cave Heaven has perfected four of the Five Elements, despite its modest size.
The previous master of the cave heaven, Qiu Hengyi, was a Half-step Mahayana expert who had attempted to fuse the cave heaven core with the Half-Life Cave Heaven, yet he had met with failure.
The primary reason for this success was the choice of the initial treasure used for the merger. Li Shiming’s decision to integrate the 'Breathing Earth' into the Half-Life Cave Heaven proved to be a masterstroke.
The 'Breathing Earth' is a legendary, sentient treasure and the most inclusive of all divine objects. Once it merged into the Half-Life Cave Heaven, it began self-repairing the laws of the earth and stabilizing the foundation of the space.
This solid groundwork permitted the Half-Life Cave Heaven to continue integrating other cave heaven cores, thereby perfecting the remaining elements.
Li Shiming shifts his focus to the dark clouds suspended above the Half-Life Cave Heaven, where arcs of lightning continue to dance.
Due to the limited scale of the cave, the lightning generated within is somewhat small in scale.
Nevertheless, lightning is still lightning, carrying that unmistakable aura of destruction.
Li Shiming observes that a new rule is manifesting from the void within the Half-Life Cave Heaven—the Thunder Rules.
He feels fortunate to witness the birth of these cave heaven rules firsthand, and a deep realization begins to stir within his soul.
His 'Yuqing Thunder Scripture' Cultivation Technique begins to operate spontaneously, causing the lightning on his skin to resonate with the flashes in the sky.
His body rises from the earth, floating into the heart of the thundercloud. The lightning from the clouds melds with the electrical discharge emanating from his own body, and some of this external lightning even penetrates his five Nascent Soul bodies.
In a hazy state of focus, he makes contact with the Thunder Rules and gains a small fragment of comprehension.
One should not dismiss this minor insight; this grasp of the Thunder Rules immediately boosts his 'Yuqing Thunder Scripture' to the peak of the Nascent Soul Middle Stage. Had he not focused primarily on the 'Five Rhymes Qi Cultivation Technique' and possessed a greater accumulation of spiritual power, he might have attempted a breakthrough right then.
The advantages of understanding even a sliver of the Thunder Rules go beyond this; his thunder power has surged to a level that previously required the aid of the 'Heavenly Strike Thunder Hammer' to reach.
Now, when utilizing the 'Heavenly Strike Thunder Hammer,' his thunder power can match the strikes of a Great Cultivator specializing in Thunder Cultivation.
Though it represents the entry-level power of a Great Cultivator, the nature of his strength has fundamentally changed because he now holds a piece of the Thunder Rules.
Furthermore, by employing the 'Shenxiao Thunder Pearl,' he can truly manifest the early-stage power of a Thunder Cultivator Great Cultivator.
In the past, regardless of how many treasures he used, his lightning was capped and could not reach the true potency of a Great Cultivator due to the absence of Thunder Rules.
“It is no wonder so many cultivators are desperate for this Half-Life Cave Heaven!” Li Shiming whispered, his eyes gleaming with a fiery intensity as he looked upon the space.
Successfully deriving a strand of the Thunder Rules from the Half-Life Cave Heaven proves its immense potential. If he can grasp one rule here, he can eventually perceive others.
This has massive implications for his eventual ascent to becoming a Great Cultivator. Many Nascent Soul Middle Stage practitioners are stuck at their current level, and it is rarely due to a lack of resources. Those belonging to elite Sects can gather enough resources simply by grinding out sect missions.
What they lack is the comprehension of rules—a concept that cannot be gifted by others and must be realized personally.
Because the Half-Life Cave Heaven is only partially finished, it is perfect for cultivators struggling with rule comprehension, as it displays its internal rules openly without any concealment.
In a matured, perfected grotto heaven, the rules are woven into the world's functioning, making them just as difficult to perceive as the laws of the macro world outside.
Li Shiming attempts to sense other rules—Earth, Wood, Water, and Fire—but despite his concentration, it feels like he is trying to view a flower through a thick fog, unable to see them clearly.
He sighs and shakes his head, recognizing that he had oversimplified the difficulty of rule perception; such things are never easily mastered.
For now, his primary focus remains his cultivation. His Divine Skills, 'Innate Wood' and 'Ganlu Divine Water,' have achieved a stable foundation through long-term, focused practice.
He is nearing the point where he will transition to the 'Heavenly Human Technique,' a move that will signify a massive transformation.
The 'Heavenly Human Technique' lacks a history of insights from past masters, leaving him with only the theories and conjectures of the Great Power Zhai Ge. Zhai Ge had claimed the technique was born from his synthesis of various other methods.
However, as Li Shiming delves deeper into the 'Heavenly Human Technique,' he suspects it actually originated from the refinement of a different, singular technique.
To be honest, switching to the 'Heavenly Human Technique' involves significant danger, but its vast potential offers the promise of much greater future progress.
Crucially, while his current primary 'Five Rhymes Qi Cultivation Technique' is high-tier, his encounters with superior methods have revealed a gap between it and the core inheritances of elite organizations.
These flaws become more obvious as his cultivation level climbs, exposing the limitations of his current technique at higher stages.
As a Nascent Soul Middle Stage practitioner, he rarely relies on the 'Five Rhymes Qi Cultivation Technique' for battle, usually preferring the 'Sky-Surging Sword Intent Technique' or the 'Yuqing Thunder Scripture.'
This is because the 'Five Rhymes Qi Cultivation Technique' is too balanced and generic, providing little in the way of direct combat enhancement.
However, because he has practiced the 'Five Rhymes Qi Cultivation Technique' as a Five Elements Skill since the Qi Refinement Realm without a teacher, he had accidentally formed a 'Five Elements Qi Absorption Array' within his body.
By the time he reached the Nascent Soul Stage, he had developed five Nascent Souls positioned in a 'Five Elements Qi Absorption Array,' which essentially forced him to stay on the path of Five Elements Skills.
The 'Heavenly Human Technique' is the only Five Elements Skill he has found that could replace his current method, though it requires a practitioner to possess five separate Nascent Souls—an incredibly difficult requirement.
Even though he started with only three spirit root seeds, his unique 'Five Elements Qi Absorption Array' allowed him to build a multidimensional foundation after his birth.
Though he is ready to begin, Li Shiming plans to prepare thoroughly before making the switch.
This transition could lead to many unknown results, especially regarding his spirit pets. He even needs to make arrangements for Great Cultivator Luo Pei and the Silver Winged Spirit Gu Insect to ensure there is no backlash if his cultivation realm drops during the process.
Furthermore, he needs to stock up on spirit pills for every possible level in case his cultivation falls all the way back to the Qi Refinement Realm.
He had previously cleared out most of his lower-level spirit pills, so he needs to replenish his supply.
Li Shiming intends to take Spiritual Medicine from the Treasure Pavilion and craft high-grade, or even top-grade Spirit Pills for use in an emergency.
He has also prepared many Forbidden Spirit Talismans. He placed his 'Silver Winged Spirit Gu Insect' and other spiritual insects into the Wind Bag for safety, while his corpses were moved into the Corpse Refining Space for a period of dormancy.
However, for entities like the Heavenly Ghosts, he must apply a Forbidden Spirit Talisman before sealing them in a Forbidden Spirit Jade Box, where they will wait until his cultivation realm is restored.