Cultivation is just so scientific! Chapter 1679 - 886: Talisman Crafting

The Yuzhu Islands delivered their rewards with remarkable speed. Li Shiming remained unaware of the prizes other Great Cultivators claimed, yet his share consisted of a full set of superior Fourth-Grade Refining Materials—all purely metallic—together with three hundred years of gratis lodging on Duiyi Island.

Should every Great Cultivator have obtained rewards matching his own, a complete reevaluation of the Yuzhu Islands' might would prove essential.

In the Cultivation World before, even dominant powers held scant top-grade Fourth Grade Refining Materials; merely the innermost Great Cultivators possessed magical treasures crafted from such elite substances.

The beast tide's sudden onslaught prevented any prior consensus on compensation for their services.

Still, the Cultivation World upheld strict conventions for hiring Great Cultivators, and the Yuzhu Islands dared not violate them, lest their standing crumble irreparably.

Though unfamiliar with local customs, Li Shiming found the reward immensely pleasing.

He further demanded corpses of ’Xuan You Wujin Beasts’ from the Yuzhu Islands, receiving five intact early Fourth Grade specimens in return.

This generosity from the Yuzhu Islands stood out sharply. Never dismiss the value of those five early Fourth Grade ’Xuan You Wujin Beast’ remains.

Upon death, most ’Xuan You Wujin Beasts’ dissolve swiftly into corrosive fog, leaving no bodies behind.

Exceedingly rare are the ’Xuan You Wujin Beasts’ whose forms persist, their souls utterly destroyed by the fatal strike at the instant of demise.

These particular ’Xuan You Wujin Beast’ corpses survived thanks to a half-step Great Power's assault, which vaporized Third Grade ones entirely while shattering the souls of Fourth Grade variants.

Indeed, amid the slaughtered masses of ’Xuan You Wujin Beasts’, numerous corpses endured, spared from turning into corrosive fog.

Li Shiming probed the ’Xuan You Wujin Beast’ corpses via Divine Sense, uncovering a mysterious rune woven deep within their flesh across the entire ’Xuan You Wujin Beast’ frame.

Though detected, scrutinizing this rune proved challenging; it lingered in a ghostly haze, blinking into visibility before fading, its energies draining away fast after the ’Xuan You Wujin Beast’s’ passing.

Soon enough, this rune might vanish entirely from the ’Xuan You Wujin Beast’ corpses.

After brief reflection, Li Shiming tucked one early Fourth Grade ’Xuan You Wujin Beast’ corpse into the control room's space, deploying 0.05-nanometer accuracy to dissect the ’Xuan You Wujin Beast’ structure.

IBMz15 generated a virtual model where an odd rune gradually took shape.

He had no inkling of the sheer marvel his current actions represented.

Through this, he isolated the ’Xuan You Wujin Beast’s innate talent rune. Typically, in the Cultivation World, spirit beast talent runes get harnessed by processing beasts into specialized Spiritual Objects to unleash their full potential.

Isolating a spirit beast's talent into an independent rune, however, borders on the impossible.

Over several days, Li Shiming meticulously mapped the full rune, erecting a flawless virtual replica inside IBMz15.

Next, he seized a blank talisman suited for Great Cultivators, inscribed the rune upon it, and infused ’Chaotic Spiritual Power’ to trigger it, thereby fixing the rune into a stable talisman.

Gripping the talisman, he eyed its sinister gray hue, evoking memories of corrosive fog, convinced its activation would unleash the same.

With a casual flick, he ignited the talisman, summoning a thick plume of gray corrosive fog.

Likely owing to the ’Chaotic Spiritual Power’ infusion, this fog's potency surpassed even that of a late Fourth Grade ’Xuan You Wujin Beast’.

Testing it out, he watched a top-grade Fourth Grade Magical Treasure succumb: mere ten breaths under the fog eroded its core, leading to total ruin.

Sacrificing a top-grade Fourth Grade Magical Treasure brought no regret, for commanding ’corrosive fog’ far outweighed such a loss.

Though devastatingly potent, ’corrosive fog’ activation remained talisman-bound for now. Hand-drawing the ’corrosive fog’ rune to cast it directly eluded him.

That would demand transforming ’corrosive fog’ into a true spell—a feat requiring prolonged, intensive study.

His success stemmed from blank talismans' rune-bearing capacity combined with ’Chaotic Spiritual Power’s versatility in mimicking attributes, enabling diverse secret arts.

Armed with this breakthrough, he craved vast stocks of blank talismans to mass-produce ’corrosive fog’ talismans.

In dire clashes, a ’corrosive fog’ talisman could wreak havoc, sowing chaos among foes.

Li Shiming reached an island famed for blank talisman sales, its battle scars long faded.

Strolling the unfamiliar avenues, he halted instinctively before a talisman vendor.

This establishment, run directly by the Yuzhu Islands, boasted the finest, most varied talismans available.

A prominent sign at the entrance caught his eye: New Arrival: ’Corrosive Fog Talisman’.