Cultivation is just so scientific! Chapter 1566 - 829: Sea of Lightning (Part 2)

The Thunder Beast grasped Li Shiming's intent right away. It glanced toward the thundercloud, followed by the Thunder Cave Heaven, displaying a touch of scorn for the limited size of this cave heaven.

Yet, the thunder rules hidden inside the thundercloud captured its attention deeply. Even though it had no clue about the tactics that Yang Xing, the Half-step Great Power, had first applied to force the Thunder Beast into the Ancient Contract, a clear link existed to the thunder rules tied to the Yuqing Sect's Half-step Great Power.

Entering the thundercloud, the Thunder Beast's form shimmered with bolts of lightning, which swiftly caused the thundercloud to swell outward.

The modest cave heaven, spanning just thirty meters across, got completely engulfed by the thundercloud almost immediately.

Inside the thundercloud, the Thunder Beast started bounding about energetically, its lightning growing more vibrant, while also rousing the electric sparks scattered throughout the cloud.

Li Shiming kept a close watch on the developments inside the thundercloud, feeling a bit concerned that the Thunder Beast could accidentally disturb its balance.

Should the thundercloud vanish, the thunder rules would have no place to anchor, potentially causing the cave heaven to crumble in an instant.

Positioned amid the thundercloud, the master of the cave heaven was the Heavenly Ghost—his loyal spiritual pet—so the Thunder Cave Heaven felt just as much his own as any other.

The lightning surging through the Thunder Cave Heaven posed no threat to him whatsoever, especially since strengthening the thundercloud came from his spiritual pet, the Thunder Beast, ensuring the bolts couldn't touch him.

He detected the lightning in the thundercloud building up steadily. Once the lightning saturated the whole Thunder Cave Heaven, it pushed aside everything else in the thundercloud, leaving nothing but pure lightning behind.

"Is this a miniature Sea of Lightning?" The thought crossed his mind as he observed the endless lightning surrounding him.

Now fully at ease, the Thunder Beast stopped its frantic jumps; it merged seamlessly with the lightning, drifting up and down in the Sea of Lightning, now and then shifting into a bolt to reappear on the far side of the Sea of Lightning.

Sensing the Thunder Beast's waves of delight, Li Shiming eased up, realizing this spot was perfectly ideal for the Thunder Beast's needs.

He had no plans to trap the Thunder Beast in this confined thirty-meter-radius cave heaven against its will, not unless the creature truly approved.

Shifting his focus back to the source of the thunder rules, he noted that with only the lone thunder rule dominating the Thunder Cave Heaven, it created a harsh setting where no ordinary life could endure.

Naturally, this excluded the Thunder Beast, which thrived on devouring lightning. By reshaping the thundercloud into the Sea of Lightning, the Thunder Beast showed zero distress in this rule-only cave heaven.

Much to Li Shiming's astonishment, the thunder rules began to evolve gradually, though the shifts were incredibly faint.

Without his lifebound magic treasure IBMz15 to analyze the thunder rules before and after, he probably wouldn't have spotted any difference in the thunder rules at all.

Since the thunder rules under his command had already hit the peak of his present cultivation level, he struggled to pinpoint precisely what was shifting in the thunder rules. Still, he perceived that the Thunder Cave Heaven's foundational strength was growing stronger.

This pointed to an upgrade in the thunder rules themselves. When that foundational strength hit a critical threshold, the Thunder Cave Heaven could very well start to grow larger.

Li Shiming proceeded to form ten Thunderbolt Groups from the space inside, flinging them over to the Thunder Beast, and promised to supply Thunderbolt Groups on a regular basis as its sustenance.

Exiting the Thunder Cave Heaven, a sense of confusion lingered in him. With the Thunder Beast holding such capabilities, why hadn't Yang Xing, the Half-step Great Power, simply brought it into his personal cave heaven?

He gave his head a shake. There could be hidden matters he didn't know about, and Yang Xing might have aimed to shield the Thunder Beast from the Yuqing Sect's top great powers.

Li Shiming made his way back to the Treasure Lotus Hall in the Heavenly Person Cave Heaven, resuming his cultivation routine.

After a full month, he finished refining five batches of Great Cultivator Spirit Pills. Two batches turned out a notch below top quality, prepared to meet the assigned commissions—yielding twelve high-grade Great Cultivator Spirit Pills—that hit the fourth-grade high standard.

The other three batches of Great Cultivator Spirit Pills were made solely for his own use, so they reached the absolute best of high-grade Great Cultivator Spirit Pills—a flawless set of Great Cultivator Spirit Pills.

Eighteen high-grade Great Cultivator Spirit Pills provided enough for three full cycles of his cultivation, and across the whole Cultivation World, no Great Cultivator likely lived more lavishly than he did.

Even for the twelve high-grade Great Cultivator Spirit Pills, he only had to deliver ten, keeping the extra two high-grade Great Cultivator Spirit Pills for adjustments in future refinements of the same pills.

With the alchemy task done, Li Shiming wasted no time sending a message to Master Liu Ziyun, inviting him to pick up the spirit pills.

Master Liu Ziyun showed up with remarkable speed, making Li Shiming wonder if he had been lingering close to the Taichu branch.

No one burned with more urgency than Master Liu Ziyun; this marked their initial collaboration since the rift with Li Shiming, serving as a crucial check on Li Shiming's pill-refining prowess.

Should Li Shiming truly prove able to produce high-grade Great Cultivator Spirit Pills, Master Liu Ziyun's position in the Central State Commerce would soar dramatically.

Master Liu Ziyun was determined to lock down this vital connection; it might just pave the way for his faction's ascent.

On this occasion, he refused to allow the Central State Commerce headquarters or any outside cultivator to meddle.

In the past, his faith in the headquarters had sparked the split between Li Shiming and Central State Commerce. With ties now mended, he vowed not to let history repeat.

Over the past month, various structures had risen on the former site of the Taichu branch, including spots designed for hosting visitors.

Li Shiming encountered Master Liu Ziyun in one such spot. The Ten Thousand Beast Sect had adorned the area with plenty of Fourth Grade Spirit Items in its setup, turning it into a lavish haven rivaling only the finest guest chambers of a handful of Great Cultivators near the sect's entrance.

"Mr. Li, I'm feeling a bit on edge. Could I inspect one batch of the refined spirit pills first?" Master Liu Ziyun inquired, a shade of awkwardness in his tone, ignoring the spirit fruits laid out on the table.

He figured Li Shiming had called him for a fresh batch of Great Cultivator Spirit Pills. By his reckoning, the timeline matched the period needed to refine one set of spirit pills.

Harnessing the Great Cultivator realm's alchemical might, be it through 'Red Sun Spirit Fire' or 'Nanming Leaving Fire,' boosted the process immensely, letting him squeeze the refining of Great Cultivator Spirit Pills into under twenty-five days.

This insight, uncovered early in the alchemy work, let him produce even more Great Cultivator Spirit Pills in the given window.

Li Shiming saw no need for extra words. He slid a jade bottle across the surface.

Excitement lit up Master Liu Ziyun's face as he pried open the bottle's lid just a sliver. Great Cultivator Spirit Pills held immense value, and even a tiny drop in their power meant a huge loss.

Spotting the ten high-grade Great Cultivator Spirit Pills within, a flicker of incredulity crossed his gaze.

"Did you craft these in just a month?" He recognized it wasn't proper to probe, yet the question slipped out.

"Right now, I can handle up to five batches of Great Cultivator Spirit Pills at the same time!" Li Shiming revealed his skill freely, without a second thought.

In all honesty, if he aimed only for high-grade Great Cultivator Spirit Pills that satisfied commission levels, he might not even require the machine room space. Backed by his vast alchemy knowledge and IBMz15's support, churning out spirit pills that barely qualified as high-grade would pose no challenge.

For mass production, he'd simply need a stock of Fourth Grade Pill Furnaces. One mind could control one Fourth Grade Pill Furnace, and with plentiful 'Nanming Leaving Fire' available, managing as many as a hundred ninety-one batches of Great Cultivator Spirit Pills all at once remained feasible.

"If word of this gets out, the entire Cultivation World will lose its mind!" After dozens of breaths to steady his surging feelings, Master Liu Ziyun reined in his fervor and exclaimed with thrill.

"My schedule is tight. For this round, I can only devote two months to pill refining!" Li Shiming called out as a reminder.

He followed his own agenda. Without his enormous demand for Great Cultivator Spirit Pills, he wouldn't carve out time for alchemy during this stretch.

Having newly risen to Great Cultivator rank, he was deep in the stage of integrating his newfound strength.

Issues tied to Little Feng and the Illusion Spirit Dragon's breakthrough, the five late-stage Golden Corpses, refining his personal magic treasures, and grasping the thunder rules—all demanded heaps of his time.