Cultivation is just so scientific!

Chapter 220: Chapter 156 Return to the Clan_2

Li Shiming bowed and exited the Spirit Mechanism Pavilion, where Junior Master Song’s expression was as dark as water.

Indeed, Junior Master Song did not like Li Shiming. It wasn’t much about Li Shiming himself, but because of Zhuge Xuan.

Zhuge Xuan and Li Shiming had been attacked while traveling together; Zhuge Xuan had perished, whereas Li Shiming had survived.

Although Junior Master Song and Zhuge Xuan were not married, they had already formed an alliance. Upon learning of Zhuge Xuan’s demise, she volunteered to guard the grand formation.

Using the sect’s preparation to deal with major troubles as an excuse, she initiated a series of reform plans for the sect’s formations.

These included genuine suggestions for the sect and also a bit of personal agenda.

Li Shiming, tasked with setting a hundred formations, had moved far from sect boundaries, and Junior Master Song was well aware of the inherent dangers.

Although the Holy Ice Sect would not likely use Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators against Li Shiming, battles among Qi Refining Realm cultivators were accepted by all sects. Being killed only meant one’s cultivation was insufficient.

Junior Master Song suppressed certain thoughts, she was not planning on taking action herself, in fact, she didn’t even think of intervening.

Li Shiming’s combat strength was unimaginably formidable; before this sect crisis was resolved, the Holy Ice Sect could not risk internal conflict by sending Foundation Establishment Cultivators to assassinate Li Shiming.

“Zhuge Xuan, why should you be the one who could live while he died, without even a body left!” Junior Master Song, unable to let go of her fixation, clutched the storage bag tightly and said somberly.

Exactly how the Heavenly Sea Sect and the Holy Ice Sect communicated was unclear to Li Shiming.

He only knew that two days later, Elder Yin found him.

“Shiming, this is for you!” Elder Yin said, tossing him a box as soon as they met.

Li Shiming curiously accepted the box. Upon opening it, a burst of cold air made him shiver involuntarily. Luckily, his physique was robust enough to withstand the chill.

“What is this?” he hesitated and then asked.

Even without knowing the specifics of the spiritual object in the box, he understood that its quality was exceptional and its value considerable.

“Stop thinking about Du Bingyan’s corpse. This is compensation from Holy Ice Sect to you, a second-rank thousand-year-old cold crystal, enough for you to forge a spiritual artifact!” Elder Yin declared impatiently.

To defend Li Shiming’s honor, he had personally visited the Holy Ice Sect.

After receiving a clear assurance and compensation from the Holy Ice Sect, and considering they still needed to face a common enemy, he had let the matter rest.

“Thank you, Uncle Yin!” Li Shiming knew Elder Yin had exerted a great deal of effort. Otherwise, how could the material of a mere body manifest into a second-rank spiritual artifact material? This was definitely Uncle Yin pulling some strings for him.

“It’s a pity it’s not of the metallic attribute,” he murmured as he put away the box.

“Still wanting a metallic property? You don’t know the first thing about treasures! A second-rank thousand-year-old cold crystal, forged into a supportive spiritual artifact, can enhance the cultivation of a Foundation Building Stage cultivator. If not for our position, how could we have obtained this from the Holy Ice Sect! With your talent, cultivation at the Foundation Establishment Stage will be extremely slow. With this cold crystal forged spiritual artifact, you might still have a glimmer of hope!” Elder Yin pointed at Li Shiming and scolded in annoyance.

The value of a second-rank thousand-year-old cold crystal was, indeed, not esteemed by Golden Core cultivators.

But it was a special product of the Holy Ice Sect, with very limited production, available only to a select number of Foundation Establishment Cultivators being prioritized for training within the sect.

The main reason was that it significantly aided in the cultivation during the Foundation Establishment Stage, increasing efficiency and reducing the risk of deviating.

Were it not for Elder Yin’s influence, and if Li Shiming had not been considered akin to his son-in-law, the Holy Ice Sect wouldn’t have begrudgingly offered such compensation.

Of course, Elder Baili ultimately footed the bill for this compensation, causing some dissatisfaction towards him among the other two Golden Core members of the Holy Ice Sect.

The most crucial aspect was that Elder Yin had accepted, on behalf of Holy Ice Sect’s assumption, the identity that they attributed to Li Shiming.

“You can proceed with the sect’s formation task. It seems unlikely that Holy Ice Sect will make a move now. To prevent any accidents, there will be cultivators who will protect you while you set the formations,” Elder Yin instructed.

He was somewhat baffled that the Spirit Mechanism Pavilion had assigned a task to Li Shiming without providing adequate protection.

Under normal circumstances, when a Sect sends out an Array Master on a mission away from the Sect, unless the Array Master himself is a Foundation Establishment Cultivator with the ability to protect himself, other cultivators are usually dispatched to protect them.

However, considering that the Array Master on duty at the Spirit Mechanism Pavilion had recently rotated, perhaps some oversight in handling affairs was normal.

When Li Shiming left the Sect, he was accompanied by another Qi Refining Cultivator.

This Qi Refining Cultivator was named He Chuan, at the ninth level of Qi Refinement, full of vigor, and though his spiritual power had not reached the peak of Qi Refinement, the fluctuations of spiritual power he emitted were extremely substantial. He was a genius cultivator heavily cultivated by the Heavenly Sea Sect.

“Junior Li, your Array Masters are truly well-off, this Flying Boat is even better quality than mine!” He Chuan didn’t have the aloofness typical of genius cultivators.

“Brother He, you are mistaken, there are no wealthy Array Masters. This Flying Boat was a gift from a friend!” Li Shiming explained, laughing.

“Was it given by Senior Sister Yin?” He Chuan’s face showed a hint of gossip, asking with a light laugh.

Li Shiming involuntarily took a step back, primarily because he found He Chuan’s attitude a bit too much to handle.

He Chuan was older than Yin Shilan but still called her Senior Sister.

Of course, what Li Shiming didn’t know was that He Chuan could call Yin Shilan Senior Sister because he had the benefit of being a genius cultivator of the Sect.

It’s worth noting that even the Sect Leader called Yin Shilan Junior Sister within the Sect.

“No, don’t poke your nose into others’ business!” Li Shiming waved his hand and said.

“Junior Li, the one who gifted you the Flying Boat must be a woman. You’re done for, I’ll tell Senior Sister Yin when we get back!” He Chuan teased, winking.

Li Shiming felt inexplicably nervous, but he quickly collected himself. Why was he feeling nervous?

“We are almost there, get ready!” Li Shiming changed the subject.

“Junior Brother, you set up the Formation here, I’ll lay down some small tricks around!” The truly working He Chuan turned out to be very serious and responsible.

Of course, Li Shiming would not entrust his safety solely to He Chuan. Through the “Spirit Control Soul Splitting Technique,” the main spirit split into eight soul fragments that scattered into the distance to serve as sentinels.

During the period of setting up the formation, He Chuan never spoke, occasionally flying around in the air, always vigilant of the surroundings.

Only when Li Shiming had finished setting up one Formation and moved to the next position did He Chuan return to his former self.

“Junior Brother, I heard you slaughtered Du Bingyan?” As the Flying Boat started, He Chuan leaned in and asked softly.

He had inquired about Li Shiming’s strength through his elders when he was assigned the mission. He was highly skeptical that Li Shiming, an Intermediate Array Master, could have killed Du Bingyan.

“Yes, Du Bingyan’s strength was quite impressive!” Li Shiming didn’t avoid the question and nodded in acknowledgment.

He was telling the truth. If Du Bingyan had not tried to besiege him, without using attacks like the “Spiritual Jade Sword,” it might have taken some time to deal with Du Bingyan.

“If you have the strength to slaughter Du Bingyan, why did the Sect still assign me the protection mission?” Hearing Li Shiming’s acknowledgment, He Chuan spoke somewhat gloomily.

He had fought Du Bingyan before. The genius cultivators among the seven major sects sometimes had overlapping missions, which gave these genius cultivators opportunities to encounter each other.

His battle with Du Bingyan, although not decisive, should overall be considered a draw.

The difference between top-ranking Qi Refining cultivators is minimal, and killing an opponent is much harder unless one possesses a sure-kill technique.

“I’m an Array Master, I need to set up formations, and besides, isn’t it good to earn some merits from taking missions?” Li Shiming replied casually.

“By the way, have you heard? There’s an external invasion at Seven Star Island, and the Sect’s recent reinforcement of its formations is related to this!” He Chuan switched topics, showing off his knowledge.

He wasn’t worried about Sect secrets being revealed to outsiders. What kind of person was Li Shiming? He was Elder Yin’s son-in-law, and it was said that Elder Yin had used this relationship to harshly demand a sum from Elder Baili of Holy Ice Sect.

Cultivation is boring, He Chuan loved these gossip stories. Usually, the information he knew was also known by the other few genius cultivators, making it hard to find someone to boast to.

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