Cultivation is just so scientific! Chapter 1782 - 937: Treasures (2)

This was all due to the Beidou Formation Map, a gift delivered straight to his door by Peak Great Cultivator Yu Chao of the Beidou Sect. What's more, Yu Chao had managed to trap all the Great Cultivators who had attempted to ambush him within the Beidou Array itself, located inside the Beidou Formation Map.

Inside the Beidou Array, any life-saving measures, no matter how potent, would find their effectiveness severely limited.

This was because, no matter what kind of Escape Skill was employed, a breakthrough from the Beidou Formation Map was simply impossible—at least, not until the Beidou Array, meticulously laid out by the formation map, was shattered.

Even a Peak Great Cultivator's treasured Great Ability Life-saving Jade Talisman offered no escape; the Beidou Formation Map was a creation of a Great Ability itself, and the Great Ability–level Rule Power contained within it was exponentially more potent than that found in a mere Great Ability Life-saving Jade Talisman.

As Li Yuanba watched, the Infinite Fire Peak, devoid of any controller, began its descent from the heavens.

He initiated a Master Recognition Technique, only to frown as he detected the residual Spirit imprint of another Great Ability within the Infinite Fire Peak.

With no other choice, he produced two Prohibition Talismans, reduced the size of the Infinite Fire Peak, affixed the talismans, and then secured it within a specially prepared jade box.

Having dealt with this, he finally shifted his focus to the unfolding situations at the two remaining locations.

Great Cultivator Le of the Feiyu Sect was still putting up a fight; the formidable power of his treasure, the Storm Eye, was effectively shielding him from the onslaught of the Sun Shooting Bow wielded by the Late-stage Golden Corpse.

He was biding his time, convinced that his escape would be secured the moment the other Great Cultivators managed to breach the Beidou Array.

Under Li Yuanba's direct command, the Late-stage Golden Corpse remained locked in a relentless stare-down with Great Cultivator Le, compelling the latter to maintain a purely defensive posture and rendering him incapable of utilizing the Storm Eye against the Beidou Array.

Truth be told, the Beidou Array was already on the verge of collapse; a single, decisive strike from treasures of the caliber of the Storm Eye or the Infinite Fire Peak would likely be enough to shatter it completely.

Li Yuanba's gaze then fell upon the seven Great Cultivators from the Guiyuan Sect—the sole remaining intact group at this juncture.

With the Beidou Array having changed hands, they were completely in the dark regarding the status of their fellow Great Cultivators.

However, the continuous tremors emanating from the great array, coupled with their inability to establish contact with the others, led them to the grim understanding that a catastrophe had occurred.

Their only recourse was to concentrate their efforts on breaking through the array and securing their escape.

Yet, without the presence of a Peak Great Cultivator among them, their attacks landed upon the Beidou Array with the futility of stones sinking into the abyss, vanishing without leaving a ripple.

Li Yuanba, utilizing the Beidou Formation Map, meticulously observed their futile attempts, his mind racing. Considering the powerful factions that had participated in this ambush, he harbored a suspicion that the Guiyuan Sect, too, possessed a hidden treasure.

His conjecture was that these seven Great Cultivators were deliberately playing for time, acting as a lure to draw him out so they could unleash their treasure for a decisive, fatal blow.

He mused on the matter: the Beidou Sect had the Beidou Formation Map, Da Leiyin Temple possessed the Thunder Sound Bell, the Infinite Sect wielded the Infinite Fire Peak, and the Feiyu Sect commanded the Storm Eye—only the Guiyuan Sect had yet to reveal the formidable treasure they had brought.

"Let's offer them a sword first, to provoke their hidden techniques!" Li Yuanba decided, his caution fully ignited.

In the preceding engagement against the Infinite Sect, he had taken a considerable gamble, primarily due to his underestimation of the sheer power inherent in a superpower's treasure.

These extraordinary artifacts were, without exception, the products of Great Abilities, imbued with Great Ability–level Rule Power during their refinement.

Li Shiming's own method of refining spirit treasures involved a different approach; lacking the requisite profound understanding of powerful Rules, he instead employed a multitude of attached-law runes, forcefully elevating the Rules within those runes to a powerful-rule standard. This was the very reason he could produce spirit treasures using merely Top-Grade Fourth-Grade Refining Materials.

However, this was a shortcut. While the superiority of his refined spirit treasures compared to those crafted by Great Abilities remained debatable, one fact was undeniable: artifacts forged by Great Abilities represented the zenith of the Cultivation World, both in terms of materials and functional capabilities.

These masterfully crafted treasures carried the essence and might of Great Abilities, posing a genuine threat to Li Yuanba's very existence.

Therefore, having witnessed this firsthand, it was only natural for Li Yuanba to exercise an even greater degree of prudence, regardless of how careful he already was.

Concealing himself with the Beidou Array, Li Yuanba unleashed the Xingyi Sword as he neared the seven Great Cultivators of the Guiyuan Sect.

An indescribable radiance erupted from the Xingyi Sword, leaving the seven Great Cultivators momentarily blinded by a flash of white. Their vision vanished, and simultaneously, their Divine Sense was scorched, rendering them unable to perceive their surroundings.

This blinding effect of the Xingyi Sword was employed for the very first time by Li Yuanba.

His objective was to unleash his most potent strike, thereby compelling the Guiyuan Sect's Great Cultivators to reveal their treasures.

Undeterred, the seven Great Cultivators maintained their battle formation, their defensive treasures interlinking to form an impenetrable bulwark.

The blinding assault from the Xingyi Sword failed to penetrate their formidable defensive line.

The Xingyi Sword struck the solid defense, inflicting sharp pain upon the heads of the seven Great Cultivators and causing varying degrees of damage to their respective defensive treasures.

Capitalizing on the momentum of the strike, the Xingyi Sword carved a fissure in their defensive line before continuing its trajectory into the heart of their formation.

The sheer velocity of the Xingyi Sword was astounding; despite its initial deflection, the seven Great Cultivators were still too slow to react.

By the time they regained their senses, the Xingyi Sword had already breached their battle formation.

In the span of a single breath, seven agonizing screams echoed, and the life force of the seven Great Cultivators was extinguished.

Li Yuanba observed the battle's outcome with a degree of disbelief, never having anticipated that the seven Great Cultivators of the Guiyuan Sect would fall to a single sword strike from him.

"Where are their treasures?" he questioned himself.

All his prior precautions were aimed at defending against potential harm from the Guiyuan Sect's treasures.

Yet, all seven Great Cultivators had perished without deploying any treasures.

"Could it be that the Guiyuan Sect's Great Cultivators did not bring any treasures?" Li Yuanba pondered with some confusion.

Given that this was a joint operation involving five major powers, and the Great Cultivators from the other four had all brought treasures, it seemed improbable for the Guiyuan Sect to be an exception.

After a brief moment of contemplation, Li Yuanba dismissed the thought.

The final Peak Great Cultivator remained, and he needed to swiftly conclude his engagement with Great Cultivator Le before returning to the Sword Intent Chongxiao Pavilion.

He had devised a superior strategy for dealing with Great Cultivator Le.

Li Yuanba manipulated the Beidou Formation Map; previously, the multitude of trapped Great Cultivators had prevented him from fully concentrating the map's power.

Now, with only one Peak Great Cultivator remaining, and that cultivator’s attention preoccupied by the Late-stage Golden Corpse, Li Yuanba could effectively utilize the Beidou Formation Map to subjugate Great Cultivator Le.

Li Yuanba channeled his Spiritual Power Pattern into the Beidou Formation Map. Under his direction, the map radiated light, and the Beidou Array transformed.

The Beidou Array, which had once encompassed the entire battlefield, rapidly contracted to a radius of one hundred meters, with Great Cultivator Le at its core.

Unaware that all Great Cultivators involved in this operation had been eliminated by Li Yuanba, Great Cultivator Le continued to hold his ground. He believed that as long as the Storm Eye remained functional, he could sustain the resistance until the other Great Cultivators breached the Beidou Array.

Just as these thoughts crossed his mind, he perceived the surrounding Spiritual Energy being rapidly drained, accompanied by a descending suppressive force from the void.

His response was swift; the Storm Eye immediately amplified its output, countering the incoming suppressive force.

However, this suppressive force advanced like relentless waves, each surge imbued with the might of Great Ability-level Rule Power.

This represented a fundamental application of the Beidou Formation Map – utilizing the formation's inherent power to bombard its occupants.

Great Cultivator Le could only rely on the Storm Eye for continuous defense. Yet, after repeated impacts, he realized his Storm Eye's energy reserves were becoming depleted.

This was not indicative of the Storm Eye's inferiority to the Beidou Formation Map; in fact, in terms of offensive capabilities, the Storm Eye far surpassed the Beidou Formation Map.

Yet, within the formidable Beidou Formation Map's grand array, Great Cultivator Le found himself utterly devoid of ambient Spiritual Energy. The Storm Eye, aside from requiring the intricate Spiritual Power Pattern of Great Cultivator Le for its sustenance, also greedily draws a vast quantity of Spiritual Energy from the surrounding void.