Cultivation is just so scientific! Chapter 1678 - 885: The End (Part 2)

While the might of the self-explosion held its dangers, the corrosive fog unleashed by the self-destruction of the ’Xuan You Wujin Beast’ proved far more horrifying.

Gray corrosive fog blanketed the array's front, and as it clashed with the protective barrier, Li Shiming’s sword light shielded the most vulnerable point to curb the fog’s advance, yet the remainder of the barrier became fully engulfed.

Through his link to the array, Li Shiming gained extra details via IBMz15.

The array's energy dropped swiftly, a clear sign of the corrosive fog eating away at the shield.

Consider this: the corrosive fog could eat through even Great Cultivators’ artifacts. The shield held against traces of it, but as the fog thickened, it overwhelmed the defense completely.

"Transform the formation!" Grandmaster Wu Ding bellowed harshly.

His voice nearly broke, revealing his foul temper right then.

The thirty-six islands shifted anew, unlike prior movements—some ascended, others sank. They arranged into a triple-layered island barrier before the shield fully dissolved.

In this setup, every one of the thirty-six islands confronted the ’Xuan You Wujin Beast’ horde head-on.

Li Shiming couldn’t fathom Yuzhu Islands’ strategy, exposing no defensive layers. A strike from the ’Xuan You Wujin Beast’ horde would hit all islands at once.

As confusion gripped him, cultivators atop the thirty-six islands shoved wooden barrel after barrel toward the ’Xuan You Wujin Beast’ horde.

Right then, the array’s protective shield collapsed, breaking into light specks and vanishing. The patch Li Shiming had defended with his sword light faded with the shield.

The corrosive fog lingered; the ’Xuan You Wujin Beast’ somehow directed it surging forward.

Hundreds of wooden barrels approached the corrosive fog; etched with basic levitation runes, they aligned into a barrier shape, slamming into the fog wall.

Unable to resist the fog’s erosion, the barrels corroded away, splashing their contents outward.

"What a grand gesture!" Li Shiming exclaimed in shock upon spotting the liquid.

Unless he erred, that liquid was pure poison—fourth-grade poison, no less.

He didn’t know the norms in the ’Cloud Island Sea’, but back in the old Cultivation World, fourth-grade poison fetched high prices, always sealed in jade vials for potency, never barreled.

Hundreds of barrels of fourth-grade poison this time—Li Shiming pitied Yuzhu Islands for the expense.

Upon clashing, the corrosive fog and fourth-grade poison strangely merged, turning the fog liquid that plummeted into the ocean.

Some ’Xuan You Wujin Beasts’ amid the fog suffered backlash corrosion from the poison, slaughtering those nearest to it in droves.

"All Great Cultivators, inject spiritual power into the formation nodes; I’ll handle the next assault!" Grandmaster Wu Ding pressed on.

After that prior show of strength, even hesitant Great Cultivators stayed silent.

Obeying the Grandmaster, Li Shiming channeled spiritual power into his formation node.

Delight filled him, for the Yuzhu Island Array’s shift let IBMz15 reveal deeper mysteries.

With thirty-six Great Cultivators pouring spiritual power into the nodes, energy threads linked across the islands.

Those linked energies condensed into a tighter web.

The thirty-six islands charged at the ’Xuan You Wujin Beast’ horde, meeting it with an energy web.

Li Shiming marveled slightly; this surpassed a simple formation, weaving in mysterious arts.

Gazing at the central main island, he sensed from its faint aura the presence of a Half-step Great Power.

Evidently, the Half-step Great Power intervened once more, channeling the array energy from thirty-six Great Cultivators and islands into this special web for a strike back at the ’Xuan You Wujin Beast’.

The fourth-grade poison failed to drive back the ’Xuan You Wujin Beast’ horde; sacrificing many, they quickly overcame it.

The ’Xuan You Wujin Beast’ horde rammed the energy web—third-grade or fourth-grade alike, any that brushed it got shredded apart.

Fallen ’Xuan You Wujin Beasts’ dissolved into corrosive fog, yet it failed to breach the energy web.

This drained heavily, as Li Shiming saw his spiritual power vanishing fast, akin to unleashing vast spells.

At that rate, he’d exhaust soon.

The ’Xuan You Wujin Beast’ horde’s battering of the energy web dragged on for thirty minutes.

Li Shiming sensed half his Nascent Soul spiritual power gone, nearing danger for typical Great Cultivators.

At last, deeming it hopeless or losses too steep, the ’Xuan You Wujin Beast’ horde pulled back.

The ’Xuan You Wujin Beasts’ plunged into the sea together, retreating away.

Before long, no ’Xuan You Wujin Beasts’ remained before Yuzhu Islands, just lingering corrosive fog patches signaling the battlefield.

Seconds after the ’Xuan You Wujin Beast’ horde fled, the energy web vanished, halting Li Shiming’s spiritual power drain.

Cultivators burst into cheers, yet Li Shiming remained unmoved, ignorant of beast tide aftermaths.

Still, fellow cultivators—even Great Cultivators—knew resisting a beast tide onslaught’s true ordeal.

Yuzhu Islands didn’t claim this expansive sea domain by chance; their might repelled deep-sea beast tides.

Naturally, Yuzhu Islands formed merely the frontline; breaches would see secondary and tertiary island chains halt the tide.

Per Li Shiming’s knowledge, such fringe islands housed only cultivators.

Mortals dwelled solely near the Cloud Island Sea core, safe spots for the defenseless.

Yuzhu’s thirty-six islands maneuvered back to starting spots, demanding extra spiritual power from Great Cultivators.

Li Shiming figured Yuzhu Islands burned huge energy stores this round, tapping Great Cultivators to spare reserves.

Luckily, the islands soon realigned, freeing the Great Cultivators from contributing spiritual power.

Grandmaster Wu Ding’s face showed scant delight, contrasting the wild glee of other Yuzhu Islands cultivators.

Li Shiming ignored it, heading back to Duiyi Island.

"Mr. Li, I have good wine, let’s gather when you have time!"

"Mr. Li, thanks to you!"

Duiyi Island’s resident Great Cultivators warmly hailed Li Shiming, keen to ally with him.

No wonder; who’d pass on befriending a mighty Sword Cultivator like Li Shiming? Such an ally offered vital aid in crises.

Li Shiming handled these exchanges smoothly, offering nods all around while declining every invite.