Cultivation is just so scientific! Chapter 1692 - 892: The Fisherman (2)

He gazed at the lower sections of the Grotto Heaven, where innumerable spiritual plants had once thrived, but sadly, they had all turned into energy.

He tested it out and realized that since this realm lacked a master, with energies and rules in disarray, nothing blocked his activation of the Divine Foot Skill.

Within the Grotto Heaven, he activated ’Eye and Yonder,’ which operated with greater steadiness inside his divine sense's scope.

By employing ’Eye and Yonder,’ he materialized in numerous locations across the Grotto Heaven, sweeping the vicinity with his divine sense upon each arrival.

At the same time, his life-bound magical treasure IBMz15 was building a scanned map of the Grotto Heaven's interior. Chaos dominated the Grotto Heaven's world, making his directional sense worthless here.

"Found it!" Li Shiming exclaimed to himself in shock.

Through the turmoil, his divine sense brushed against a minuscule jade ring.

A slender stream of spiritual liquid leaked from a cut on the jade ring.

Li Shiming couldn't judge the jade ring's grade, yet he was utterly convinced it was this Grotto Heaven's Celestial artifact.

Celestial artifacts possess no standard shape; they might appear as fire, rock, or plain earth. What truly defines a Celestial artifact is the Celestial energy within it.

Before, he had noted that materials forming Cave Heaven Cores were remarkably unique, without knowing precisely why.

Yet after venturing into the Divine Palace, he fully comprehended the exceptional nature of Celestial artifacts.

He sent a Master Recognition Technique toward the jade ring, which it absorbed. Moments later, he sensed a bond with the jade ring, forging a simultaneous connection to the entire Grotto Heaven.

Even with his link to the full Grotto Heaven, he remained powerless to alter its present chaos.

Only upon reaching Peak Great Cultivator might he genuinely influence this Grotto Heaven.

The jade ring, called ’Flying Pearl Jade Ring,’ stood as a Water Element Heavenly Treasure. Amid the Grotto Heaven's disorder, the ’Flying Pearl Jade Ring’ faced heavy constraints, causing spiritual spring water to drip out in mere trickles.

Li Shiming shook his head; this Inheritance Cave Heaven, dubbed Jade Pearl Cave Heaven by him, proved easy to transport due to its tie to a tiny island. Without that, he likely wouldn't have claimed it.

He favored extracting the ’Flying Pearl Jade Ring’ and permitting the Jade Pearl Cave Heaven to crumble away gradually.

Of course, he recognized that pulling out the Cave Heaven Core equated to catastrophic waste.

Forming a Grotto Heaven demands far more than a Celestial artifact; it gulps down immense resources, most gripped by scant superpowers.

Erecting a Grotto Heaven spans endless years, where nearly ten Half-step Great Powers might fail to birth even one Great Power.

Inheritance Cave Heavens can only be properly claimed by a Great Power.

A Half-step Great Power’s Cave Heaven endures solely in extraordinary scenarios, such as their abrupt demise.

For example, Qiu Hengyi’s Half-step Cave Heaven lingered by chance, while Thunder Cave Heaven from Half-step Great Power Yang Xing—whose soul was consumed—survived accidentally too.

Only Cave Heavens from Great Powers persist reliably, and among those, few serve as Inheritance Cave Heavens, since not every Great Power desires to pass on their life's Grotto Heaven work.

Instead, countless Great Powers opt to make their Grotto Heaven a personal grave, their everlasting sanctuary.

Li Shiming departed the Jade Pearl Cave Heaven, tucking the small island into the soul crystal ring, thereby keeping the Jade Pearl Cave Heaven constantly with him.

Inheritance Cave Heavens usually can't be moved, anchored to the mountain gate.

However, Jade Pearl Cave Heaven was a rare outlier. Its original mountain gate binding shattered, allowing accidental survival, transforming the gate into an island.

Turmoil raged on at the Yuzhu Islands, with hordes of cultivators fleeing while clutching stolen spiritual items.

Greedy cultivators refusing to abandon leftover treasures persisted in their wild ransacking.

Early escapees might count themselves lucky, as roughly half would drift ashore on other cultivator isles.

Among those, many burdened with loot but short on power became prime robbery marks for others, mere survival a miraculous boon.

Those lingering on Yuzhu Islands without fleeing confronted far graver dangers.

Soon after, another batch of cultivators familiar with the Inheritance Cave Heaven at Yuzhu Islands showed up.

The might of these arriving cultivators was obvious, as they sought to enter the Inheritance Cave Heaven belonging to a Half-step Great Power. At minimum, a Peak Great Cultivator was among them.

The cultivators still busy looting faced brutal suppression.

All their treasures were confiscated right back.

A squad boasting a Peak Great Cultivator typically wouldn't bat an eye at such meager spoils.

But this group had discovered the Inheritance Cave Heaven was gone, concluding some other cultivator had snatched it ahead of them.

They first tracked down the surviving cultivators on Yuzhu Islands and subjected them to harsh interrogations, yet extracted no valuable intel.

All that emerged was that a band of Great Cultivators had appeared earlier; cowed by those overwhelming experts, they hadn't dared peek outside and thus knew next to nothing.

Enraged at missing their shot, those frustrated cultivators looted the others' belongings, casually slaying any who resisted too fiercely.

The turmoil on Yuzhu Islands persisted, drawing ever more Great Cultivator teams as word spread.

While the six superpowers hunted for Li Shiming's traces amid the seas near the Divine Palace, tidings from Yuzhu Islands pulled over ten squads with Peak Great Cultivators to the islands in quick succession.

By sifting through gathered intelligence and prying clues from captured local cultivators, these Great Cultivator squads locked onto Jiao Xian, the Purple Cloud Sect's Great Cultivator, as their prime suspect.

Yet reports swiftly arrived from Purple Cloud Sect declaring Jiao Xian's death, after which the Yuzhu Islands Inheritance Cave Heaven vanished completely.

In the midst of this, Li Shizhen drew scrutiny from numerous Great Cultivators.

Li Shizhen stood out as the top suspect, equipped with the capability, incentive, and perfect timing.

That said, some Great Cultivators rejected the notion, doubting Li Shizhen could have taken down Jiao Xian.

Li Shiming, meanwhile, had transferred to a 'Jade Pearl Flying Boat', a premier fourth-grade flying vessel, plunging deeper into the Cloud Island Sea.

Thrilled beyond measure, he prepared to inventory the rewards from his latest venture.

Above all, the heirloom from the Half-step Great Power beckoned, though the plunder from those Purple Cloud Sect Great Cultivators warranted review too.

He held off on the Half-step Great Power's treasure, opting instead to first appraise the Purple Cloud Sect Great Cultivators' loot for comparison.

From the six Great Cultivators short of Peak Great Cultivator status—including Cultivator Dai Biao—three wielded soul crystal rings.

Differing from Li Shiming's prior Cultivation World, the Cloud Island Sea's abundance of Great Cultivators meant soul crystal rings remained rare among them; merely the uppermost elites qualified to wield such artifacts.

Every Purple Cloud Sect Great Cultivator traveled with a hefty stock of Great Cultivator Spirit Pills, regrettably all mid-tier quality, fit only for Li Shiming's trading needs.

These Great Cultivator Spirit Pills made Li Shiming aware he'd shone too brightly during his time on Yuzhu Island.

Purple Cloud Sect ranked as a superpower, but even its Great Cultivators relied on intermediate Great Cultivator Spirit Pills. Deploying a batch of superior high-level ones in trades was certain to spark curiosity among fellow cultivators.

Thankfully, he'd flashed them at Yuzhu Islands, where no force could overpower him swiftly, letting him weather the storm without harm.

He'd even harvested massive gains from the ordeal, though he vowed against inviting such drama anew.

For upcoming deals, he planned to rely on these intermediate Great Cultivator Spirit Pills, opting for caution with the high-level variety.

Great Cultivator Spirit Pills held zero value for him personally, yet select Great Cultivator Spirit Medicines retained their worth.