CHAPTER 967: CHAPTER 530: LEAVING THE SECT

Three years have passed, and the sect has begun to send Nascent Soul cultivators to the coast to block the incoming spirit beast tide.

During this year and a half, Li Shiming did not stop his alchemy, but most of his time was spent cultivating in the ’Heavenly Human Dao’ hall within the grotto heaven.

The spiritual power in his five Nascent Souls had finally accumulated to the point where he could participate in normal battles, thanks largely to his use of the early-stage Nascent Soul Fourth-grade High-level Spirit Pills.

"First, I’ll inform my master, then finish the Heavenly Strike Thunder Hammer, and finally see what this spirit beast tide is like!" he muttered to himself.

Even when Grandmaster Hu was in closed-door cultivation, a clone of his was present, answering many of his difficult questions over the past three years, so he wasn’t worried about not encountering Grandmaster Hu.

Li Shiming entered the Four Symbols Cave Heaven through his Identity Jade Disc, cast a spell outside his master Grandmaster Hu’s peak, and then entered the mountain.

"Master!" This time he met Grandmaster Hu’s true form, he stepped forward and bowed in greeting.

"Shizhen, do you wish to leave the sect to participate in the spirit beast tide?" Grandmaster Hu waved his hand to excuse him from formalities and asked with a smile.

"Yes, Master!" Li Shiming nodded in response.

"It’s good to gain some experience, but as an Alchemy Master, don’t take too many risks!" Grandmaster Hu said with a smile, not intending to stop him.

"I didn’t take on a sect mission, just going to observe!" Li Shiming naturally listened to Grandmaster Hu’s advice, aligning well with his own thoughts.

The sect offers substantial rewards for the spirit beast tide, but it depends on the individual; for Li Shiming, while the rewards are generous, he can earn similar amounts by creating a few more Spirit Pills.

Particularly when refining pills for Great Cultivators, Grandmaster Chai and Master Ding had both sent him a batch of Nascent Soul Late Stage Fourth Grade Refining Materials through Grandmaster Hu, each giving two Nascent Soul Late Stage Fourth Grade Intermediate Spirit Pills which benefited him greatly.

Li Shiming also followed the protocol and handed over the two Nascent Soul Late Stage Fourth Grade Intermediate Spirit Pills he kept for himself to his master Grandmaster Hu, asking him to sell them on his behalf.

He didn’t want to keep the Nascent Soul Late Stage Fourth Grade Intermediate Spirit Pills with himself, at least not let other cultivators know about it.

The resources of a Great Cultivator are exceedingly precious; he had already gained great harvest by privately retaining six Nascent Soul Late Stage Fourth Grade Intermediate Spirit Pills, so it was better to hand over the openly acquired fourth-grade intermediate Spirit Pills to Grandmaster Hu.

Grandmaster Hu did not neglect him, providing several high-grade fourth-grade materials and a generous amount of sect contribution points.

So Li Shiming did not need to undertake the dangerous task of stopping the spirit beast tide; his way of acquiring resources and contribution points was more relaxed.

"Here are two life-preserving talismans, keep them as backup!" Grandmaster Hu, still a bit worried, took out two life-preserving talismans and instructed Li Shiming.

One was a defensive talisman, and the other was a far escape talisman.

The defensive talisman is passively activated; once a spiritual imprint is made, it will activate automatically when danger arises, forming a defensive barrier in front of him.

This defensive barrier roughly provides Nascent Soul Middle Stage Peak-level defense, enough to face most attacks unless it’s against a Great Cultivator.

Paired with the far escape talisman, if faced with danger, the two life-preserving talismans are more than capable of saving Li Shiming’s life.

"Thank you, Master!" Li Shiming said gratefully.

Each of these life-preserving talismans requires a Great Cultivator to consume a considerable amount of their own energy to create; even a Great Cultivator can’t produce many without affecting their cultivation practice.

He came out of the Four Symbols Cave Heaven, his figure turning into a flash of electric light flying toward the distance.

Soon after he left, several figures followed his direction, chasing after him.

"Yue Shan, go and help Shizhen with any trouble!" Grandmaster Hu instructed with a deep voice toward the outside.

Although he was in the Four Symbols Cave Heaven, he had left an avatar at the entrance valley of the Ten Thousand Beasts Cave Heaven, and he held significant authority over the sect formation; he could easily see through these ill-intentioned cultivators.

The allure of Li Shiming was simply too great; the Dragon faction still didn’t know about the Five-clawed Dragon matter, but just the Four-clawed Dragon alone was enough to arouse the greed of cultivators with dragon-type spiritual pets.

Not to mention he also had the Red Gold Phoenix spiritual pet Little Feng from the Phoenix Clan; if other cultivators’ phoenix-type spiritual pets devoured Little Feng’s Red Gold Phoenix bloodline, it could elevate them to the ranks of the Phoenix Clan.

The deterrence of Grandmaster Hu within the sect was formidable, but outside of it, he had little means to stop the greed of cultivators.

Therefore, he had long instructed Yue Shan to be ready, using this opportunity to handle some cultivators, giving a warning to those with ulterior motives.

Of course, even as a Great Cultivator, he needed evidence before taking action against sect cultivators, which was why he waited for these cultivators to track Li Shiming before sending Yue Shan.

Yue Shan’s figure disappeared, and several hours later, he returned.

"Master, the little junior brother has some skills; not to mention those tracking him, even I couldn’t keep up with him, losing track about a thousand miles away from the sect. Those tracking him didn’t get a chance to act, so neither could I!" Yue Shan reported, bowing.

"It seems I was overly cautious; Shizhen must have some means of self-preservation to have come from another continent!" Grandmaster Hu did not show blame, instead laughed heartily.