Cultivation is just so scientific!

Chapter 1898: Chapter 995: Retribution (Part 2)

In fact, even for a Great Power, no one dares to say that sending out an avatar could achieve Li Shiming’s battle results.

The greatest possibility is that they would be discovered by the Great Power in the Inheritance Cave Heaven even before approaching the mountain gate.

The Great Power’s avatar doesn’t dare to face a Great Power enemy near the Inheritance Cave Heaven, a Great Power who can mobilize the energy within the Inheritance Cave Heaven, possessing unimaginable destructive power.

Because of this, Li Shiming’s successful invasion attack this time has a much greater impact on the various Great Powers than Li Yuanba’s previous attack.

They are all considering whether their own mountain gates could withstand Li Shiming’s attack if they were to become enemies with him.

Additionally, as to why Li Shiming attacked Da Leiyin Temple, investigations by the superpowers discovered that Huinan Bodhisattva’s avatar left Central State Continent for Dongqi Continent and never returned.

Following this, Li Shiming attacked Da Leiyin Temple’s mountain gate, which was Li Shiming’s retaliation against Huinan Bodhisattva.

Li Shiming’s response to an attack from a Great Power’s avatar was beyond all Great Powers’ imagination.

This is exactly what Li Shiming wanted all the Great Powers to see, that they could attack him, but they needed to consider the consequences of doing so.

Li Shiming spent another two days before returning to the Ten Thousand Beast Sect on Dongqi Continent.

“Master, why did you come out?” As soon as Li Shiming arrived outside the mountain gate of the Ten Thousand Beast Sect, he saw Grandmaster Hu waiting there with several Great Cultivators, along with tens of thousands of other cultivators.

In the past, Grandmaster Hu rarely did this; such a welcome was usually reserved for cultivators of extremely high status outside the sect.

“Welcome back, Grandmaster Li!” said Master Ding, who stood beside Grandmaster Hu, bowing.

“Welcome back, Grandmaster Li!” All the Great Cultivators and other cultivators, except for Grandmaster Hu, bowed and said in unison.

Li Shiming was taken aback; now the Ten Thousand Beast Sect had almost reached the brink of a superpower, and such a title of grandmaster was not easily granted.

The founder of the Ten Thousand Beast Sect must reach the level of a Great Power to be called as such.

Previously, although Li Shiming’s strength was enough to dominate Dongqi Continent, the Ten Thousand Beast Sect still did not call him grandmaster.

“Master, why is this so?” Li Shiming asked Grandmaster Hu.

“Shizhen, news of your attack on Da Leiyin Temple reached the sect, and after a unanimous decision, the sect agreed to honor you as Grandmaster!” Grandmaster Hu replied with a smile.

The news was transmitted back through the Continent Communication Array, faster than Li Shiming could arrive on the Golden Winged Dapeng.

For the first time, many cultivators in the Ten Thousand Beast Sect truly realized Li Shiming’s power.

A cultivator who could penetrate the mountain gate of a superpower, inflicting significant damage, and still leave at ease, how could he not be called a grandmaster.

And previously, on several occasions when avatars of Great Powers invaded Dongqi Continent, it was always Li Shiming who dealt with them.

Before, it wasn’t clear how Li Shiming accomplished this, but now all the cultivators knew that all those invading Great Power avatars had likely fallen.

“Yuan Ba, accept it, the Ten Thousand Beast Sect shines because of you, you should be its Grandmaster!” continued Grandmaster Hu.

The reason why Grandmaster Hu hadn’t called Li Shiming grandmaster was because of their master-disciple relationship, which could overlook other positions in the Cultivation World, including differences in cultivation level.

“Let’s return to the sect!” Li Shiming said in a deep voice, looking at the many bowed cultivators.

This meant he accepted the title of grandmaster, which wouldn’t change anything for him, except that it would increase the respect cultivators in the Ten Thousand Beast Sect had for him.

Particularly, those Great Cultivators who were once equals with Grandmaster Hu, senior figures who watched him grow, previously treated him as an equal even after he advanced to Peak Great Cultivator.

Now these Great Cultivators calling Li Shiming grandmaster elevated him to a position they could only look up to.

Upon returning to his cave dwelling, Li Shiming focused his mind on the Heavenly Ghost.

After devouring the soul of Huinan Bodhisattva’s avatar, the Heavenly Ghost once again greatly benefited.

The growth of the Heavenly Ghost is extremely difficult; while its body is immune to ordinary attacks, at the half-step Great Power level, attacks imbued with Rule Power can affect its spiritual energy.

Thus, the Heavenly Ghost’s chance of devouring the soul of a half-step Great Power on its own is slim, let alone the soul of a Great Power avatar.

This is why ghosts never surpass the fourth-grade; no one has seen a Half-step Fifth Grade Ghost.

During the two days on the road, the Heavenly Ghost almost fully digested Huinan Bodhisattva’s avatar’s soul.

Sensing the aura of the Heavenly Ghost, it had already advanced significantly within the Half-step Fifth Grade realm.

“What a pity!” He thought of the many monks who perished at Da Leiyin Temple’s gate. If he had allowed the Heavenly Ghost to devour all their souls, although not as formidable as a Great Power avatar’s soul, the numbers could compensate for the quality gap.

The benefits to the Heavenly Ghost would have been immense, possibly advancing to a higher realm.

But at that time, such an opportunity did not exist.

If he dared release the Heavenly Ghost, long before it could devour many souls, Huinan Bodhisattva would have appeared.

At that point, while Li Shiming could use the teleportation ring to flee, the consequences for the Heavenly Ghost facing Huinan Bodhisattva alone need not be stated.

A strengthened Heavenly Ghost has increased mastery over spiritual energy.

Li Shiming stored the Heavenly Ghost in a spatial chamber, placing two treasures before it: one was the ‘Shenxiao Thunder Pearl’, and the other was the Inheritance Buddha Lotus.

The Heavenly Ghost opened its mouth and swallowed both the ‘Shenxiao Thunder Pearl’ and the Inheritance Buddha Lotus, proceeding to endlessly corrode the two treasures with spiritual energy.

Li Shiming entered a state of retreat, yet despite this, he instructed the intelligence department of the Ten Thousand Beast Sect to regularly update information on his Identity Jade Disc.

He also ordered the Ten Thousand Beast Sect to spare no effort in setting up intelligence networks across all continents.

Additionally, efforts had to be made to plant informants within each superpower, so that in the event of major developments, the Ten Thousand Beast Sect would be informed.

This is not an easy task; even those superpowers have only established their current-sized intelligence networks over long periods.

But this is a necessary condition for the Ten Thousand Beast Sect to become a superpower; without a powerful intelligence network, even if it becomes a superpower, it cannot avoid the machinations of other superpowers.

Day by day, the information arriving from various continents increased, indicating that the Ten Thousand Beast Sect was steadily expanding its intelligence network.

Li Shiming’s name surpassed Li Yuanba’s, returning to his position as the top figure below Great Power.

Based on long-term intelligence collection, superpowers found that Huinan Bodhisattva’s avatar had not returned to Da Leiyin Temple, suggesting it likely fell to Li Shiming.

This evinced the rationale behind Li Shiming’s retaliation on Da Leiyin Temple’s mountain gate, as Li Shiming had slain Huinan Bodhisattva’s avatar and successfully attacked the temple’s gate.

If Li Shiming didn’t have the power to kill Huinan Bodhisattva’s avatar, he could not have dared to challenge Da Leiyin Temple’s gate.

In contrast to Li Yuanba’s accomplishments, Li Shiming has surpassed Li Yuanba, leading superpowers to reassess Li Shiming’s capabilities and adjust combat rankings.

Li Shiming does not care about the title of top figure below Great Power, as whether it’s his or Li Yuanba’s, it’s his all the same.

What concerns him is the reaction of all the Great Powers; his greatest worry is a coalition of several Great Powers.

Whenever he thinks of Great Power Leng Luo’s fate, Li Shiming warns himself not to be arrogant, not to mention the danger of confronting a Great Power body, even a coalition of Great Power avatars would pose a serious threat to him.

During this period, he released additional drone satellites, extending the drone satellite system to the seas surrounding Dongqi Continent.

If any coalition of Great Power avatars were to take action, as soon as they approach Dongqi Continent, he could prepare in advance.

But he did more than this; he also increased the number of exploration formations across Dongqi Continent, which serves as the best supplement in case the drone satellite system fails to detect something.