Cultivation is just so scientific!

Chapter 417: Chapter 255: Ruins

In Li Shiming’s Divine Thought, the rock he had just discovered was actually the ground of a plaza.

And as he dug out more and more sludge, his Divine Thought perceived even larger ruins.

It was as if he were watching the destruction process of a mountain gate, mountains shattered by terrible attacks, countless buildings turned into ruins.

The entire ruin within his Divine Thought was truly a wasteland, seemingly without any value.

But he thought of the “Absolute Spirit Illusion Snake.” Where did the “Absolute Spirit Illusion Snake” survive?

Such ancient spiritual beasts, if not for a special living environment, would have long disappeared like other ancient creatures.

Since the “Absolute Spirit Illusion Snake” was still alive, there must be some environment that allowed the “Absolute Spirit Illusion Snake” to survive.

It was this idea that kept him continuously digging through the mud, hoping to discover the dwelling place of the “Absolute Spirit Illusion Snake” beneath the muck.

“Found it!” Until the next day, Li Shiming finally made a discovery.

His excavation was exceedingly cautious; he was also worried about encountering other “Absolute Spirit Illusion Snakes” or even more dangerous creatures.

Fortunately, everything went smoothly. One “Absolute Spirit Illusion Snake” was enough to create a crisis here, and no second one appeared.

What he discovered was an entrance obscured by silt, just big enough for the body of an “Absolute Spirit Illusion Snake” to pass through.

Li Shiming’s body was too big to enter directly, but he could still maneuver through it.

After a moment’s hesitation, he decided to follow the entrance and explore further.

This type of ancient sect ruins, having still preserved spaces, was very likely to contain valuable items.

Besides, his physical strength made him best suited for combat in confined spaces. In terms of strength, defense, and close combat attacks, he could proudly excel at the Foundation Establishment Stage.

He had cleared the silt at the entrance, but the sludge inside couldn’t be cleared, and he needed to navigate through it.

Thanks to the frequent movement of the “Absolute Spirit Illusion Snake,” the mud inside the tunnel was relatively loose, which reduced a lot of trouble.

Li Shiming constantly extended his Divine Thought, sensing the situation tens of meters ahead.

The passage was very long, and he felt it was probably designed as a ventilation shaft, or another channel for communication with the outside world, not meant for walking, as it was too narrow.

After traveling about two hundred meters, his Divine Thought sensed an open space ahead. He knew he had found an inner chamber.

As he had guessed, the living environment of the “Absolute Spirit Illusion Snake” should be right ahead.

Li Shiming couldn’t be sure if other “Absolute Spirit Illusion Snakes” were still alive, so he slowed down, deploying the Nine Palace Sword Formation ahead, creating a dense network of swords. If an “Absolute Spirit Illusion Snake” appeared ahead, it would be blocked and detected by the sword net.

The unexpected did not occur, and he emerged from the passage. The exit was underwater.

“Spiritual Energy!” The water here was freshwater, different from the seawater outside, and rich in Spiritual Energy; the water here could be called a Spiritual Spring.

Looking upward from underwater, there was light above, though it was unclear what was emitting the light.

He surrounded himself with the Nine Palace Sword Formation as a precaution against sudden attacks.

Actually, by this point, he didn’t have much to worry about anymore. The space here was large enough, and he could easily use “Step by Step Lotus.”

Unlike in the narrow passage, “Step by Step Lotus” could not be used.

He extended his Divine Thought above the water surface, and at this glance, his scalp tingled, his muscles tightened, nearly shouting out in shock.

A moment later, since his Divine Thought detected no signs of life, he relaxed.

He stuck his head out of the water, looking at a huge “Absolute Spirit Illusion Snake” on the shore, over thirty feet long. The light he saw was emitted from the giant “Absolute Spirit Illusion Snake’s” eyes.

When his Divine Thought detected the giant “Absolute Spirit Illusion Snake,” he almost believed he was doomed.

By the size of the “Absolute Spirit Illusion Snake” he had killed before, that snake’s power had been at the peak of the Foundation Establishment. So, this massive “Absolute Spirit Illusion Snake” was undoubtedly far beyond the Demon Level, perhaps even on par with the Nascent Soul Level of humans.

If the giant “Absolute Spirit Illusion Snake” was still alive, Li Shiming showing up here would have been a little snack for it.

Even upon realizing the massive “Absolute Spirit Illusion Snake” was already dead, leaving behind only a snake corpse, Li Shiming still felt tremendous pressure from the residual energy left in the body by the powerful creature.

After emerging from the water, he didn’t check other places, his attention wholly captured by the snake corpse.

He was already imagining what level of Corpse Refining could be achieved using such a snake corpse for the ritual.

Of course, refining the snake corpse into a refined corpse was many times more difficult than refining a human body.

He wouldn’t refine it into a refined corpse until he fully understood the former realm of the “Absolute Spirit Illusion Snake.”

In addition, he had to analyze and determine whether it would be more cost-effective to refine the “Absolute Spirit Illusion Snake” corpse into a refined corpse or to turn it into a magical artifact.

These were not judgments he could make accurately at his current stage, he would have to wait at least until reaching the Golden Core Stage.

He looked at the gigantic “Absolute Spirit Illusion Snake” corpse and then at the small channel through which he had entered. It might have been that the channel was too small and the “Absolute Spirit Illusion Snake” had been trapped and died here.