Cultivation is just so scientific! Chapter 1612 - 852: Emerging from Seclusion (2)

"The master mentioned exactly that. Lately, I’ve quit using pills and turned my attention to learning about formations!" As she poured Li Shiming another serving of spiritual tea, Yin Shilan spoke with a grin.

Next, she started questioning Li Shiming on his understanding of formations. He responded to each of her inquiries without hesitation. Regarding formations, Li Shiming could be considered the top authority among all Great Cultivator Realm cultivators across the cultivation world.

"My own cultivation has progressed a tad too fast lately. For the coming time, I’ll join you in exploring formations!" Li Shiming revealed this positive update to Yin Shilan, filling her with joy.

’The Phantom Clone’ might be Li Shiming as well, yet it lacks the genuine warmth of being alongside the actual Li Shiming.

A smile crossed Li Shiming’s face. Progressing from Early Stage to Middle Stage in the Great Cultivator realm appeared as a minor shift within a single realm, but truly, the difference was immense, like the divide between sky and earth.

Consider the Great Cultivators from the Ten Thousand Beast Sect—they remain trapped at the Early Stage of the Great Cultivator.

This isn’t limited to the Ten Thousand Beast Sect alone. Across most large sects, the vast majority of Great Cultivators linger at the Early Stage of the Great Cultivator.

These Great Cultivators aren’t lacking in effort. Some of it stems from scarce cultivation resources, but the main barrier lies in the legacy of their cultivation methods.

To progress within the Great Cultivator realm, a cultivator must not only boost the quantity and purity of their inner spiritual power but also gain a profound grasp of the rules they’ve already comprehended.

It’s this very insight into rules that hinders Great Cultivators who lack proper cultivation technique lineages.

Without being an extraordinary prodigy capable of independently perceiving rules, the only path forward is to slowly gather useful insights, thereby deepening their rule comprehension through endless study of ancestral cultivation records.

Li Shiming practices the ’Heavenly Human Technique.’ His insights into the Five Elements and Thunder Rules surged forward thanks to his rule comprehensions in the Half-Life Cave Heaven and Thunder Cave Heaven. Combined with three decades of closed-door cultivation to refine his spiritual power’s volume and caliber, his realm at last took this modest step.

That modest advancement demanded thirty years from him. His master, Grandmaster Hu, failed to accomplish it even after close to a millennium.

At times, the value of innate talent and rare chances eclipses the relentless toil of countless cultivators.

While realigning his mentality during this phase, Li Shiming tackled yet another vital undertaking: transforming the resources he’d gathered before into real battle strength.

For this, he intended to elevate the five mid-stage Golden Corpses gained via his clone, Li Yuanba, up to late-stage Golden Corpses and arm them with the finest gear available.

He faced no shortage of the needed materials. Even though he’d spent thirty years immersed in cultivation, ample mental resources remained for pondering various issues.

Yet prior to handling these plans, a journey to the Central State Continent was essential.

About his voyage to the Central State Continent, Li Shiming shared details with nobody but a quick word to Yin Shilan.

Given Yin Shilan’s nature, if Li Shiming chose not to elaborate on something, she wouldn’t press for explanations.

"I’ll return in twenty days!" With a smile, Li Shiming gave this assurance to Yin Shilan prior to departing.

Surprise flickered across Yin Shilan’s features, though she voiced no skepticism.

Her astonishment arose because traveling from Dongqi Continent to Central State Continent, even aboard a flying boat commanded by a Great Cultivator, typically required around a month.

By claiming a twenty-day return, Li Shiming suggested the trip to Central State Continent would take merely ten days, or perhaps fewer.

Li Shiming surely wouldn’t head to the Central State Continent idly; he’d undoubtedly devote time there to handle certain affairs.

Exiting the Ten Thousand Beasts Cave Heaven, he employed ’One Step to Heaven,’ vanishing from the sect’s entrance and materializing eight thousand miles distant.

He called forth the Thunder Beast, which had slumbered in the Thunder Cave Heaven throughout those thirty years. When summoned, it emerged full of vigor.

Their pact forged an unusually tight bond between him and the Thunder Beast.

With a light stroke on the Thunder Beast’s neck, he sensed a faint electric buzz in his palm, then grinned and leaped onto its back.

"Carry me to the Central State Continent!" he commanded in a gentle tone.

An exhilarated neigh escaped the Thunder Beast as it transformed into a bolt of lightning, streaking toward the horizon.

As a peak Late Stage Fourth Grade being, the Thunder Beast embodied lightning energy, and its Thunder Escape velocity outpaced that of a Thunder Cultivator Great Cultivator by manyfold.

On this occasion, the Thunder Beast pushed to its utmost speed, rapidly ferrying Li Shiming beyond the borders of Dongqi Continent.

Over the sea, the Thunder Beast required no concern for charting its course.

Should mighty spirit beasts sense the Thunder Beast, its tier aside, none of the strongest could catch it owing to its blistering pace.

Though Li Shiming wielded Divine Foot Skill, surpassing the Thunder Beast’s Thunder Escape in sheer quickness, he fell short in enduring long-haul journeys.

’One Step to Heaven’ demanded heavy expenditure, and even with his Great Cultivator status bolstered by five Nascent Souls’ spiritual power reserves, he had to guard against the perils of excessive drain.

For the Thunder Beast, however, sustaining Thunder Escape over vast distances came as naturally as strolling does for human cultivators, with consumption so minor it was almost nothing.

Within just two days, the Thunder Beast neared the shores of Central State Continent.

Guiding the Thunder Beast, Li Shiming avoided a direct entry into Central State Continent, instead steering toward an underwater dwelling situated ten thousand miles from the Sword Intent Chongxiao Pavilion.

His clone, Li Yuanba, awaited him there, for this visit aimed to rendezvous with Li Yuanba.

Over the span of thirty years, Li Yuanba’s presence had solidified at the pinnacle of Nascent Soul Middle Stage. The next stride would propel him into the Great Cultivator Realm.

To guarantee Li Yuanba’s secure ascent to Great Cultivator, Li Shiming made the personal trek.

Despite the abundance of Great Cultivators in Sword Intent Chongxiao Pavilion, Li Yuanba’s mentor, Jian Wuwei, possessed a realm inferior to Li Yuanba’s, offering scant aid for the impending breakthrough.

Ever since resolving the spatial rift crisis, Sword Elder rarely showed himself. From Li Shiming’s reckoning, that singular act had exacted a heavy toll. Though it involved a clone, the precise repercussions remained unclear; else, his scarcity of appearances defied logic.

Even leveraging Li Yuanba’s esteemed status, seeking Sword Elder’s safeguarding proved challenging.

Above all, Li Shiming proved the ideal guardian for Li Yuanba. In dire straits, Li Shiming could even lend his spiritual power to Li Yuanba—a boon beyond Sword Elder’s capability.

"Fellow, decades have passed!" Li Shiming offered a warm smile and a respectful bow in greeting to Li Yuanba.

"Fellow, your poise remains as striking as ever!" Li Yuanba reciprocated with a bow.

True body and clone traded grins, ever discovering fresh amusement in this self-dialogue that mimicked facing a mirror, no matter how often it occurred.

"Appreciate the effort, fellow!" Li Yuanba waved him inside with a welcoming motion.

Smiling, Li Shiming produced the formation bases he’d readied beforehand and commenced arranging a formation within the dwelling.

This setup was customized to the unique features of the ’Sky-Surging Sword Intent Technique.’ At its heart, he cast the illusory image of the Sword Intent Stele from his life-bound artifact, the IBMz15.

Even as a mere projection, with Li Shiming—a mid-stage Great Cultivator Sword Cultivator—present, and infused with the kindred ’Chaos Sword Intent,’ the intent embedded matched that of a mid-stage Great Cultivator Sword Cultivator’s ’Chaos Sword Intent.’

This represented the mightiest sword intent he could manifest. Inside the IBMz15’s simulated realm, it replicated nearly all the Sword Intent Stele’s core. Beyond that space, however, projecting beyond this caliber proved impossible.

Still, the mid-stage Great Cultivator ’Chaos Sword Intent’ sufficed amply for Li Yuanba, in Nascent Soul Middle Stage, to ascend as a Sword Cultivator Great Cultivator.

Stepping into the formation, Li Yuanba settled cross-legged facing the spectral Sword Intent Stele, swallowed several Great Cultivator Spirit Pills, and delved his mind into the ’Sky-Surging Sword Intent Technique.’

In that instant, Li Shiming observed his inner condition via their soul link.

Regardless of how meticulously prepared or amassed one might be, the breakthrough from Nascent Soul Middle Stage to Great Cultivator invariably carried perils.

Li Shiming’s purpose for this journey centered on curbing those perils to the utmost.