Cultivation is just so scientific! Chapter 1554 - 823: Devouring (Part 2)

It's impossible to be certain that Yang Xing, among the various Half-step Great Powers, stands the best shot at breaking through to become a full Great Power.

The Yuqing Sect's probe into the matter won't let the Intelligence Department directly probe Yang Xing, that Half-step Great Power, and the Intelligence Department can't gather any info on Yang Xing hidden away in the Grotto Heaven.

Luckily, Master Wang He steps in to handle the investigation, and since his mission falls under intelligence collection duties for the Intelligence Department, the Yuqing Sect's Intelligence Department ramps up its top-tier spy network.

Over on Li Shiming's end, he reached a firm choice, and via his sealed Nascent Soul, he verified that the Half-step Great Power had already perished.

He gave the order to the Heavenly Ghost, which charged at the thunderclouds without a second thought.

While other spiritual beings might dread lightning strikes, the Heavenly Ghost stands apart. Its owner practiced the "Yuqing Thunder Scripture," and as a loyal Spiritual Pet, it developed strong tolerance against thunder.

Moreover, the thunderclouds lingering in the Grotto Heaven, fueled by the mind demon's mental force, remain but pack far less punch. Forget the Heavenly Ghost—even a third-grade spiritual being could shrug them off without much harm.

The Heavenly Ghost dashed toward the mind demon, its Heavenly Demon shell keeping it utterly quiet and unseen to the mind demon. When the Heavenly Ghost finally bared its jaws to gulp down the mind demon, any chance for the mind demon to fight back had vanished.

Inside the Heavenly Ghost's maw, a bizarre spiritual power utterly wiped out the mind demon's awareness, reducing it to a mere blob of lifeless spirit energy.

Li Shiming directed the Heavenly Ghost to hold onto as much command over the thunderclouds as feasible, so during the feast on the mind demon, the Heavenly Ghost spared a odd spirit chunk.

Through his bond with the Heavenly Ghost, Li Shiming detected that spirit chunk.

The spirit chunk linked up with the Heavenly Ghost's mind, staying mostly the same as earlier, just abruptly shifting allegiance.

From what he sensed, the spirit chunk housed the Recognition Imprint of the Cave Heaven Core, essentially a soul shard. Thanks to Yang Xing's dying fixation, as the soul morphed into a mind demon, this shard bearing the Recognition Imprint of the Cave Heaven Core stayed intact.

At this point, the Grotto Heaven's master shifted to the Heavenly Ghost. Only something like the Heavenly Ghost, which can gobble and reshape spiritual beings freely, possesses that kind of skill.

Naturally, this ties back to both Yang Xing and the mind demon weaving that soul shard into their core obsessions, aiming to safeguard it.

Li Shiming pondered that now with the Grotto Heaven secured, maybe it was time for a look around.

Yet the Heavenly Ghost hit a snag; the mind demon born from Yang Xing's Half-step Great Power soul carried soul energy at Half-step Great Power strength, whereas the Heavenly Ghost lingered at the Peak of Fourth Grade Middle Stage.

A huge surge of spiritual energy got refined into the Heavenly Ghost's own spiritual energy via the swallowing ritual.

The Heavenly Ghost's level didn't pause for a moment, surging right into the Late Stage Fourth Grade, and the process kept going as the spiritual energy inside the Heavenly Ghost skyrocketed wildly.

In a way, gulping down a whole soul proved less efficient for the Heavenly Ghost than tackling a mind demon.

Once the Heavenly Ghost absorbed the soul energy, it demanded conversion, causing noticeable waste in turning soul power into pure spiritual energy.

But a mind demon operated differently; the Heavenly Ghost carried the Heavenly Demon's traits, and Heavenly Demons served as the ultimate bane to mind demons.

Regardless of a mind demon's might, once a Heavenly Demon locked onto it, the mind demon faced instant consumption and takeover by the Heavenly Demon.

For the Heavenly Demon, a mind demon's energy tuned perfectly to the Heavenly Demon's preferred vibe, allowing close to full uptake when devoured.

The Heavenly Ghost, born from blending a Heavenly Demon with a ghost, naturally picked up the Heavenly Demon's talents. Thus, consuming a mind demon from a Half-step Great Power equaled taking in all the spiritual energy of a Half-step Great Power.

Li Shiming had no clue what conditions a spiritual being needed to hit Late Stage Fourth Grade, but as the Heavenly Ghost leaped from Peak of Fourth Grade Middle Stage to Late Stage Fourth Grade, nothing blocked its path.

The enormous spiritual energy kept flooding into the Heavenly Ghost relentlessly. The pace of the Heavenly Ghost's progress left him genuinely jealous.

Watching the Heavenly Ghost's power climb steadily from Late Stage Fourth Grade, every single breath matched a Great Cultivator's decade of hard training gains.

After some indefinite stretch of time, the Heavenly Ghost's level hit the Peak of Fourth Grade Late Stage, with plenty more spiritual energy still rushing in.

Thankfully, the Heavenly Ghost's Heavenly Demon shell wasn't like typical spiritual being exteriors. As spiritual energy topped the Peak of Fourth Grade Late Stage limit, the Heavenly Ghost's shell expanded, packing the extra energy inside it.

When the spiritual energy flow finally halted, the Heavenly Ghost morphed into a colossal version of itself, reaching fifty meters in height.

The enormous Heavenly Ghost loomed in the Grotto Heaven, its head brushing the ceiling above and feet dug into the ground below. Still, it had to hunch over a bit.

This Grotto Heaven truly felt cramped, far too confined for it to stretch out fully.

Li Shiming got a shock from the Heavenly Ghost's new form. Despite mastering the "Heavenly Human Technique," in his senses, the Heavenly Ghost's overall spiritual might now outstripped its owner's.

Remember, he commanded 191 brains, each brimming with a Great Cultivator's spirit honed for spiritual arts. The combined spirit from those 191 brains surely topped the charts among all Great Cultivators in the Cultivation World.

Yet today, the Heavenly Ghost outdid him, simply from consuming a mind demon spawned by a Half-step Great Power.

If the Heavenly Ghost weren't his devoted Spiritual Pet, he'd feel outright jealous of its fortune.

He called the Heavenly Ghost out of the Grotto Heaven, and the one that materialized outside, with its ghostly form, had always lacked any scary vibe before. The Heavenly Ghost typically only rattled foes' souls up close in battle.

But now, the Heavenly Ghost, openly showing itself without cloaking or vanishing, projected a sixty-meter massive shadow, plus a subtly chilling spiritual pressure leaking from its shell, enough to terrify any Great Cultivator daring to challenge it.

This stemmed from spiritual suppression, where overwhelming total spiritual energy unleashed a mental impact.

Li Shiming grinned at the Heavenly Ghost, surprised to pick up yet another fighting style from this ordeal.

The fighting styles he now commanded weren't your average ones.

From the fighting styles he'd mastered, it showed that his arsenal featured thunder blasts synced with the spiritual treasures "Heavenly Strike Thunder Hammer" and "Shenxiao Thunder Pearl," sword strikes boosted by "Traceless Illusion Sword" paired with "Chaos Sword Intent," plus the full might of five Late-stage Golden Corpses geared up completely.

Though his personal "Heavenly Human Technique" couldn't solo Peak Great Cultivators by itself, the "Heavenly Human Technique" didn't qualify as one of his mastered fighting styles.

Not because the "Heavenly Human Technique" lacked power, but due to missing specific counters to hidden arts. Still, the "Heavenly Human Technique" integrated a wide array of other cultivation secrets; the thunder blasts and sword strikes mentioned earlier owed their strength to the "Heavenly Human Technique"'s backing.

Regarding the eleven "Silver Winged Spirit Gu Insects," their battle prowess awaited real tests, so they stayed as reserves for now.

With the Heavenly Ghost's current power, even a Peak Great Cultivator would hesitate to tangle with it.

Few tactics existed to counter spiritual beings, especially a unique Peak Fourth Grade one like the Heavenly Ghost.

To be frank, if Li Shiming faced off against something like the Heavenly Ghost, his first instinct would be to trigger the Divine Foot Skill and flee, since spiritual beings without physical bodies boast speeds that defy understanding.

Should a spiritual being draw near, a cultivator's soul hung in peril, a doom worse than mere death.

Li Shiming rested a hand on the Heavenly Ghost, probing its inner workings. What it had swallowed was the heart demon from a Half-step Great Power, and that Half-step Great Power level spiritual energy, once processed inside the Heavenly Ghost, shaped into Fourth Grade Peak spiritual energy.

The shift between those energy forms caused the Heavenly Ghost's current swollen appearance.

This proved hugely advantageous for the Heavenly Ghost; such immense spiritual energy let it keep refining and integrating bit by bit each day, shifting from sheer volume to deeper essence. Who knows, a fifth-grade Heavenly Ghost could emerge in the Cultivation World one day.

Sure, as a fresh type unseen before in the Cultivation World, figuring out the path for the Heavenly Ghost to reach fifth-grade demands more study.