Cultivation is just so scientific! Chapter 1500 - 796: Interest (Part 2)

Even with the Water Escape technique greatly lessening the harm from the Fourth-Grade Sword Foundation, Cultivator Lu could still sense his body and Nascent Soul suffering the corrosion of the 'Chaos Sword Intent'.

Even more alarmingly, Li Shiming's silhouette blurred, bringing him right back into melee proximity, which made the protective spells and magical treasures completely useless.

This power to bypass defensive spells and treasures stemmed from the spatial shifting of the Divine Foot Skill merged with the hidden arts of melee sword cultivators.

In truth, even lacking the Divine Foot Skill, a melee sword cultivator could close in by shattering the foe's barriers through swift strikes and specialized secret methods.

The melee secret art detailed in the 'Nameless Sword Manual' stands as a core skill for sword cultivators, enabling them to dive into hand-to-hand fights with ease.

It's well-known that most cultivators bolster their defenses with spells in fights, often forcing attackers to smash through those layers to strike the cultivator's flesh directly.

Yet, melee sword cultivators manage to slice past a cultivator's barriers via their secret arts, hitting the exposed body without hindrance.

"Is this the way of a melee sword cultivator?" Cultivator Lu abandoned any hopes of fleeing, turning his focus to resisting the 'Chaos Sword Intent' raging inside him, staving off the end for a bit longer. Right up to his final breath, he yearned to grasp Li Shiming's techniques.

"Indeed, it's exactly the sword cultivation texts etched in the jade scroll you handed to Li Yuanba!" Li Shiming replied calmly, lifting the Fourth-Grade Sword Foundation high.

Without giving Cultivator Lu another chance to utter a word, the Fourth-Grade Sword Foundation stabbed into his form, letting even more 'Chaos Sword Intent' flood in and swiftly snuff out his vital energy.

In his dying gaze, Cultivator Lu showed clear signs of regret and sorrow.

But what remained unknown to him was that these melee sword cultivator skills represented the most basic fighting styles Li Shiming had command over.

If he hadn't wanted to experiment with his array of battle techniques, Li Shiming could've slain Cultivator Lu effortlessly with a single offhand blow.

The successive falls of two mighty cultivators left the far-off Central State Commerce convoy, which had triggered its protective formation, utterly bewildered.

In this dire state, even should Li Shiming let them go, their depleted forces wouldn't allow a secure voyage back to the Central State Continent over the oceans.

A massive convoy like this would draw attention like a beacon, and absent the guard of mighty cultivators, every cultivator they met would strike for gain.

Still, the Central State Commerce group worried needlessly; Li Shiming never planned to let them depart with their lives.

After exposing so many hidden arts, Li Shiming refused to permit any cultivator to live and leak those secrets.

Besides, he harbored past grudges against Central State Commerce; seizing this convoy served as early payment on those debts.

In a swift motion, he activated the 'One-Step Arrival' method to slip inside the convoy's defensive formation.

With a single look, he fully dissected the convoy's protective formation. While it blocked spatial intrusions, spotting its weaknesses let him breach it without trouble.

Once within the heart of the convoy's defensive formation, he unleashed his own mighty cultivator presence.

Before, he'd been held back by the domain force from stronger foes, yet now he seized the moment to unleash his domain force on his adversaries.

This was an aspect he eager to trial. He started by emitting the force of Nascent Soul level, wiping out every cultivator under Nascent Soul Stage in the convoy.

Then, he amplified it to match five Nascent Souls, like five mighty cultivators using the 'Heavenly Human Technique' combining their domain forces. Every Nascent Soul cultivator in reach endured five waves of crushing pressure.

In merely two breaths, all early Nascent Soul cultivators perished, vomiting blood; by ten breaths, mid-stage Nascent Soul ones started dropping sequentially. At no point did any Nascent Soul cultivator mount a defense.

This highlighted the true divide between a mighty cultivator and a mid-stage Nascent Soul one. Across the cultivation realm, rarities like Li Shiming and Li Yuanba could challenge higher realms even in mid-stage Nascent Soul.

Even Li Yuanba, against a mighty cultivator's force, would need careful steps. Without the 'Chaos Sword Intent' countering domain pressure, Li Yuanba couldn't have clashed with mighty cultivators so often.

For Li Shiming, boasting 191 mental faculties, he could spread out a mighty cultivator's domain force among them.

Detecting no signs of life anymore, Li Shiming pulled back the domain pressure.

His Divine Sense scanned the five long-haul flying vessels, clearing away the cultivators' remains before storing the 'White Emperor Light Cloud Boat' and boarding the foremost flying vessel.

This specific long-haul flying vessel wouldn't fit inside the soul crystal ring.

Inspecting the five long-haul flying vessels, he saw each equipped with spatial arrays, boasting vast inner areas. The capacity of each vessel nearly rivaled that of the soul crystal ring.

The cargo bays of the five vessels brimmed with plentiful supplies, befitting the precious load guarded by two mighty cultivators.

The Central State Continent, heart of the cultivation world, craves enormous resources from everywhere, hauling them back to meet its huge demands.

In the flying vessel's cargo area, he uncovered not just resources for various cultivation stages but also ingredients for forging spells. Yet most room held full trunks of spirit trees and huge slabs of spiritual jade and spirit stones.

Spirit trees along with spiritual jade and stones serve as key building materials for crafting vessels and cultivator dwellings.

The vast amount present could be deemed plentiful; while no single item's worth was immense, their total value tempted even Li Shiming to claim it all.

With a sigh, he extended his Divine Sense, assigning forty mental faculties to handle forty divine senses, steering the long-haul merchant fleet to redirect toward the Dongqi Continent.

He'd already resolved to handle this cargo once they arrived at the Dongqi Continent.

These long-haul flying vessels' pace fell short of the Fourth-Grade Top Quality 'White Emperor Light Cloud Boat'. Even fueled by his personal spiritual power, the speed boost stayed limited.

What should have taken more than twenty days now stretched to over forty days to arrive at the Dongqi Continent.

And that came from him as a formidable mighty cultivator; someone weaker might require no less than two months for the trip.

After some thought, he freed Great Cultivator Luo Pei. His power might be lacking, but he still counted as a mighty cultivator.

Having two mighty cultivators in the merchant fleet would cut down on potential issues greatly.

Great Cultivator Luo Pei fell under the Heavenly Ghost's firm grip. Upon Li Shiming's call, he sensed the Heavenly Ghost's aura fluctuating oddly.

This fluctuation hinted that Li Shiming's recent breakthrough had lifted the Heavenly Ghost's realm bounds, granting it a shot at reaching Late Stage Fourth Grade.

That said, Li Shiming preferred the Heavenly Ghost not to advance just yet; it required a better setting for the upgrade.

Not just the Heavenly Ghost, but Little Feng and the Illusion Spirit Dragon also awaited chances to progress, plus the readied Corpse Refining, all vital for boosting his power.

With the Heavenly Ghost in full command, handling Great Cultivator Luo Pei proved simple. What's more, Li Shiming's rise to mighty cultivator status removed the Heavenly Ghost's constraints and eliminated the need to hold back Luo Pei's cultivation.

Earlier, to avoid rebound from Luo Pei's superior cultivation, it had been restrained given Li Shiming's mid-stage Nascent Soul status at the time.

As a result, Luo Pei's abilities had lingered at minimal levels; sans the Spiritual Treasure Black Water Sword, he'd rank as the feeblest in the Great Cultivator Realm.

Even after years, the Heavenly Ghost's intentional curbs kept Luo Pei's cultivation from advancing a single step.