Cultivation is just so scientific! Chapter 1555: 824: Insight

Li Shiming put away the formation bases and pulled out the jade compass, which carried a lingering master recognition imprint.

This imprint likely belonged to Master Wang He, yet there was no urgency to eliminate Master Wang He at this moment, for Li Shiming possessed methods to resolve the imprint issue.

He spun around and signaled to the Heavenly Ghost, whose hulking form drifted effortlessly beside him, pressing a bulky finger against the jade compass.

When it came to handling spiritual imprints, the Heavenly Ghost excelled above all.

The Heavenly Ghost swiftly dismantled the spiritual imprint, consuming it entirely without leaving a trace behind.

Master Wang He, gripped tightly by the late-stage Golden Corpse, shuddered uncontrollably as the backlash from the imprint's destruction hit him hard.

Li Shiming then performed the master recognition ritual, gaining full control over the jade compass without delay.

Known as the ‘Space-locking Compass’, this item wasn't classified as a typical magic treasure but rather a distinctive artifact, capable of generating a zone that blocked spatial travel.

Though the ‘Space-locking Compass’ often seemed impractical in many scenarios, it served as the ultimate restraint against cultivators skilled in spatial divine power.

What set it apart most was its ability to activate instantly whenever needed, contrasting with other space-sealing treasures that demanded advance preparation.

Don't overlook this feature; the instant activation turned the ‘Space-locking Compass’ into a far more practical and adaptable tool.

Li Shiming shot a look at the Heavenly Ghost, issuing a silent mental directive. The Heavenly Ghost then adjusted the grotto heaven anchor point embedded in the ‘Space-locking Compass’ core, causing the bead-shaped pearl to emerge from within.

This pearl soared into Li Shiming's body, settling near the five Nascent Souls and joining the anchor points from the Half-Life Cave Heaven and the Heavenly Person Cave Heaven.

Through this action, the freshly formed grotto heaven became off-limits to all other cultivators.

His attention returned to the Heavenly Ghost, whose gigantic frame could no longer squeeze into Master Luo Pei’s body like earlier, not even briefly.

After a brief contemplation, he tucked the Heavenly Ghost away into the Heavenly Person Cave Heaven, offering plenty of room for it to maneuver.

From then on, the Heavenly Ghost's duty involved steadily compressing its spiritual energy until it shrank back to its initial form.

While spiritual bodies could usually alter their dimensions at will, this didn't hold true for the spiritual energy absorbed through force and left undigested.

Finally, the five late-stage Golden Corpses remained outside, as he chose not to store them.

Li Shiming had no plans to hide these five late-stage Golden Corpses, since their presence would impose significant dread on the Dongqi Continent's powers, instilling fear of the Ten Thousand Beast Sect.

With preparations complete, Li Shiming ascended into the air, trailed by the five late-stage Golden Corpses, as they made their way toward the Taichu branch.

He avoided heading straight back to the Ten Thousand Beast Sect because he bore two peak great cultivators from super-sects, and introducing such risks there wasn't wise. The Taichu Cave Heaven at the Taichu branch essentially counted as his own grotto heaven, making it simpler to manage those two peak great cultivators on site.

The sight of Li Shiming, the five late-stage Golden Corpses, and the two seized peak great cultivators soaring together proved utterly breathtaking.

Each late-stage Golden Corpse radiated the might of a great cultivator, forming a lineup of eight great cultivators in flight—a power surpassing the openly recognized great cultivators of the Ten Thousand Beast Sect.

A lineup like this could virtually obliterate any faction across the Dongqi Continent, be it the surviving sects or the super-sect outposts on the land.

This trip spanned nearly the full breadth of the Dongqi Continent, and thanks to Li Shiming's deliberate show of force without any cover, every major faction had learned of it by the time he arrived at the Taichu branch.

Once at the Taichu branch, Li Shiming repositioned the eighteen hundred formation bases, encircling the Taichu Cave Heaven's entrance.

He passed along the entry and exit techniques for the formation to his master, Grandmaster Hu, given that the eighteen hundred formation bases were on hand and ought not to go unused.

This setup matched the scale of a mid-tier sect's protective array, and focused on just the narrow zone near the Taichu Cave Heaven entrance, it delivered defensive strength close to that of a major sect's barrier.

Supported by this formation, it became feasible to block any lingering Taichu Sect cultivators from sneaking into the Taichu Cave Heaven.

After all, with the grotto heaven now under new control, numerous ex-Taichu Sect cultivators were aware of the entrance's position, which couldn't simply be moved.

Everything settled, Li Shiming willed a shift in his spirit and stepped into Yang Xing's half-step great power cave heaven.

Stepping inside, his immediate thought was how incredibly delicate it felt.

His judgment rang true—the cave heaven appeared brittle, and he wondered if even one burst of Sword Intent might reduce it to fragments.

In reality, the cave heaven's weakness stemmed from his own actions.

Yang Xing's former half-step great power cave heaven hadn't been this vulnerable; it had relied mainly on Thunder Rules, bolstered by Fire and Wood Rules plus minor ones, creating a rudimentary framework of rules.

Though imperfect, this framework had been enough to keep the cave heaven steady.

But Li Shiming had drained a massive quantity of Spiritual Energy from it, leading the unstable rules to fade away as the energy dwindled.

All Yang Xing, as a half-step great power, managed to preserve was the core Thunder Rules structure, leaving the cave heaven in its present weakened state.