Chapter 413: Chapter 253: Layout

Li Shiming took out the Three-Revolution Heavenly Treasure Furnace, and he did not prepare to perform large-scale Alchemy, but rather to delay time.

Thus, the Spirit Pills being refined in the Three-Revolution Heavenly Treasure Furnace were ‘Shushan Mixed Nothing Pills’ at the early-stage Foundation Establishment. He estimated if any monk from Qianye Temple was tracking and monitoring him, and he did not take any action for a long time, they would probably come to check on him.

He even held the ‘Ten Thousand Miles Escape Talisman’ in his hand, which, in terms of life-saving, was actually a bit slower than ‘Step by Step Lotus’ and had limited use for him.

Zhi Ming Arhat kept watch outside for a day and a night, feeling something was wrong, there also weren’t any Spiritual Power Patterns here. Li Shiming had dug a temporary cave abode here, and there wasn’t much he could do.

Even if he cultivated, it was impossible to continuously take Spirit Pills, regardless of the type, since they all required time to digest and could not be taken in succession for cultivation.

“Could it be that Li Shiming has discovered me and, using a Formation to conceal himself, has already sneaked away?” Zhi Ming Arhat grew more anxious as he waited, and couldn’t help but think internally.

It wasn’t that Zhi Ming Arhat wasn’t composed enough, but this mission was assigned by Venerable Huike, and Zhi Ming Arhat did not want any mishaps.

Several more two hours passed, and Zhi Ming Arhat began to grow restless.

Finally, he gritted his teeth, no longer concealed his movements, and approached the Formation outside the temporary cave abode, trying to send in a spell.

This action was like rustling the grass to scare the snake; if there was indeed a response, he would have a reason to explain.

A cultivator encountering such a Formation outside would either avoid it or test it by sending a greeting; this was a normal occurrence.

However, given Zhi Ming Arhat’s role, not long ago, Venerable Huike had made a move against Li Shiming, and Zhi Ming Arhat disturbing Li Shiming now would seem suspicious to anyone.

But Zhi Ming Arhat really had no other choice, he had to know whether Li Shiming was still there.

The spell entered the Formation and after thirty minutes with no response at all, it made him turn pale.

He no longer hesitated and took out his treasure, channeling spiritual power and smashing heavily towards the Formation.

The Formation was not particularly powerful; it was made entirely from second-grade materials used for Fabrication flags and at most could defend against attacks from Foundation Establishment Cultivators.

Zhi Ming Arhat, a powerful Golden Core Stage cultivator, broke the Formation instantly with one strike from his treasure.

The moment the Formation was broken, a loud noise came from inside, and the smell of burning mixed with the fragrance of Spiritual Medicine wafted out from the cave abode.

“My Spirit Pills!” Following that, a heartbroken shout of fury came from inside the cave abode.

Zhi Ming Arhat truly had not expected Li Shiming to still be inside the temporary cave abode; he dared to break the Formation because he was more than 80% sure that Li Shiming had left.

He had attacked the Formation just to confirm that Li Shiming was not inside the temporary cave abode.

Li Shiming emerged from the cave abode, and his face changed drastically upon seeing Zhi Ming Arhat.

“Qianye Temple, this isn’t over!” Li Shiming’s hand flashed with the light of the talisman, and a long trail of his afterimage was drawn at the spot. His voice still lingered there, but his figure had already vanished into the distance.

He activated the ‘Ten Thousand Miles Escape Talisman’ without even giving Zhi Ming Arhat a chance to explain.

Zhi Ming Arhat was left standing there dumbfounded, recognizing that it was an extremely precious life-saving talisman, the last resort left by a Golden Core cultivator for his True Disciple.

Zhi Ming Arhat, clueless that this was all a setup by Li Shiming, needed to escalate things a bit; the endless pursuit from Qianye Temple was really giving him a headache.

Being a Late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, though he had means to conceal himself, facing the Arhats and even Venerables of large sects like Qianye Temple, he couldn’t ensure that his hiding techniques would be 100% effective.

Therefore, he didn’t choose to use the ‘Charming Soul Concealing Secret Technique’ but instead set up this situation, using a ‘Ten Thousand Miles Escape Talisman’, costing him dearly, to confirm the assault from Qianye Temple.

The effects of the ‘Ten Thousand Miles Escape Talisman’ were indeed excellent; the energy inside carried him at an extremely fast speed, nearly ten thousand miles, faster than a regular Golden Core cultivator.

Although the effects of the ‘Ten Thousand Miles Escape Talisman’ were outstanding, its production was extremely troublesome; not to mention the difficulty in crafting the talisman itself, but even just the materials used in the talisman included some third-grade materials to achieve such an effect.

When the effect of the ‘Ten Thousand Miles Escape Talisman’ dissipated, he felt a wave of relief; that indescribable sense but spiritually unsettling feeling of being tracked was finally gone.

Li Shiming first reported to the Shushan Sect about Zhi Ming Arhat’s attack on his Defensive Formation and his forced use of the ‘Ten Thousand Miles Escape Talisman’ to escape. He also attached a video recorded at the scene.

He did not concern himself with how the sect would negotiate with Qianye Temple but used his Guest Identity Card to contact Cai Hong.

“Mr. Li, it’s quite rare for you to initiate contact!” A hearty laughter came from Cai Hong.

Cai Hong thought Li Shiming was reaching out to express gratitude to Beishu Trading Company. Not long ago, when Li Shiming had faced trouble, he had enlisted the help of three Golden Core cultivators through them, which he considered a good move to strengthen their relationship with Li Shiming.

The value of Li Shiming lay in his ability to produce large quantities of high-quality Spirit Pills, a feat incomparable even to an Alchemy Master.

Why Li Shiming’s Spirit Pills were extremely popular in the Cultivation World, always in scarce supply, was precisely because the quality of each pill he crafted was consistently of the highest standard.