Unexpectedly, Li Shimingâs talent for alchemy was terrifying; the first time he crafted a fourth-grade Spirit Pill, he achieved perfection.
Fan Ancestor did not speak on behalf of Elder Zuo. After seeing Li Shiming accept the three jade boxes, he turned and left.
"Shiming, I am not as stingy as your Master Fan. Here are my four fourth-grade Spiritual Medicines, as per the rules, also this is your reward!" Elder Zuo deliberately raised his voice.
His voice reached Fan Ancestorâs ears, giving Fan Ancestor the thought of causing trouble for him.
Fan Ancestor quickly realized it, his previously annoyed expression transformed into one of pride. After all, Li Shiming was his disciple-grandson, and he could craft pills without paying him!
Elder Zuo took out five jade boxes, one of which naturally contained the reward.
Li Shiming found it inappropriate to openly check the reward, as Elder Zuo was a Nascent Soul Ancestor of the sect and had taken good care of him.
Even if no extra reward was given, it wouldnât matter, let alone Elder Zuo had provided an extra reward, checking it now would be somewhat discourteous.
"Master Ancestor, I will craft yours right after finishing the Spirit Pill for Master Ancestor!" Li Shiming said with a smile.
"Itâs settled then, Iâll go and help Old Fan!" Elder Zuo was waiting for this sentence, he smiled, replied, and then turned to chase after Fan Ancestor.
After Elder Zuo left, Li Shiming opened the jade box containing the reward.
He quickly showed a strange expression, inside the jade box was a Golden Corpse Core, a fourth-grade material, which still had some uses for Silver Corpses advancing to Golden Corpses.
His reputation for refining corpses was well known, such a reputation encouraged cultivators to choose rewards based on his preferences.
Just like the Third Grade Corpse Refining material he had on hand; aside from the initial batch he ordered from Beishu Trading Company, all subsequent ones were extra payments from Golden Core cultivators for his alchemy.
Li Shiming also guessed the origin of this Golden Corpse Core, likely harvested from the Grotto Heaven.
There werenât many Golden Corpses on Beishu Continent. Previously, Ancestor Luâs reward to the avatar Li Yuanba was just a fragment of a Golden Corpse Core; getting such a complete Golden Corpse Core was extremely difficult on Beishu Continent.
Not to mention, judging by the aura of this Golden Corpse Core, it had just been extracted from a Golden Corpse.
He shook his head; the Grotto Heaven was his, thus this Golden Corpse Core theoretically counted as his possession, Elder Zuo was merely returning it.
Of course, given his current strength, he couldnât open the Grotto Heaven, so whatever was inside was beyond his reach.
This Golden Corpse Core was still very important to him, although Corpse Refining wasnât greatly enhancing his combat power, it did not include the Silver Corpse Nanming, which he intended to elevate to a Golden Corpse.
Once the Silver Corpse Nanming advanced to a Golden Corpse, its defensive power combined with the potency of âNanming Leaving Fireâ would cause Nanmingâs combat power to make a qualitative leap.
As for other Silver Corpses, it wasnât that Li Shiming didnât want to promote them to Golden Corpses, but resources were simply too scarce, not enough for so many Silver Corpses.
Silver Corpses advancing to Golden Corpses required the consumption of fourth-grade Corpse Refining resources.
Fourth-grade resources on Beishu Continent were too limited; with Li Shimingâs status as an Alchemy Master, acquiring some resources from Nascent Soul cultivators was possible, but fourth-grade Corpse Refining resources were hard to come by.
Just the day after Li Shiming crafted his first batch of fourth-grade Spirit Pills, a message arrived which made it impossible for him to stay at the sect.
Yin Shilan sent news that she had successfully advanced to the Golden Core Stage, becoming a Golden Core cultivator with a life span of five hundred years.
At the same time, she met the conditions to form a Daoist couple with another cultivator without affecting her own cultivation.
The message from Yin Shilan was naturally not about forming a Daoist couple with Li Shiming, but merely informing him of this news.
For Li Shiming, this was extremely important, he needed to personally go and congratulate her.
Neither Elder Su nor Fan Ancestor could stop this; Li Shimingâs relationship with Yin Shilan was already known to them.
Upon receiving the news, Li Shiming informed Elder Su that he needed to leave for the Thousand Illusion Sect.
After packing, as he flew off Sword Holding Peak to depart, he saw Elder Zuo.
"Shiming, Iâm just heading to the Thousand Illusion Sect; letâs go together!" Elder Zuo greeted Li Shiming with a smile.
Li Shiming would never believe Elder Zuoâs words; how could there be such a coincidence?
He also understood Elder Zuoâs intent, likely having something to do with Fan Ancestor as well.
After all, he held the seven fourth-grade Spiritual Medicines from two Nascent Soul Ancestors, they werenât afraid of him absconding with the payment but feared something might happen to him.
Whether for the sake of the seven fourth-grade Spiritual Medicines or Li Shimingâs alchemy skills, neither Elder Zuo nor Fan Ancestor wanted anything to happen to him.
Moreover, since the trouble with the Skywalk Trading Company was no more and the awakening plan halted, otherwise there would be more than just two awakened Nascent Soul Ancestors concerned for him.
"Then Iâll trouble you, Master Ancestor!" Li Shiming bowed as he spoke.
Elder Zuo brought out a magical Flying Boat, and together with Li Shiming, they sat inside.
This time protecting Li Shiming on his journey was indeed a plan discussed by the two Nascent Soul Ancestors.
On the way, Elder Zuo talked with Li Shiming about the Grotto Heaven; mentioning it was to broaden Li Shimingâs knowledge, and also to strengthen their bond.
Li Shiming listened with keen interest, learning about the Grotto Heaven from another perspective.
Whether it was ghosts or Corpse Refining, he had never truly battled them and didnât know much about them.
Far from Elder Zuo, who as a Nascent Soul Ancestor had been involved in battles, from his words, Li Shiming learned a lot, especially about the terrifying speed of the Golden Corpses.
Li Shimingâs interest in the Golden Corpse Core given by Elder Zuo increased; perhaps this core would bring him unexpected surprises.
Possibly notifying the Thousand Illusion Sect in advance, when the Flying Boat arrived at their sect entrance, the gates were wide open, and hundreds of Golden Core cultivators floated in the air in two rows, respectfully welcoming them.
Between the two rows of Golden Core cultivators stood a man and a woman, both Nascent Soul Ancestors.
Such a grand welcoming scene took Li Shiming by surprise. Elder Zuo, however, seemed to have expected it and gently patted Li Shiming, signaling that he should prepare to disembark from the Flying Boat.
"Welcome, Mr. Zuo, and Master Li, to the Thousand Illusion Sect!" Ancestor Ge Yuqing smiled and said.
"Welcome, Elder Zuo and Master Li, to the Thousand Illusion Sect!" echoed several hundred Golden Core cultivators left and right.
Li Shiming was somewhat unaccustomed to such a grand scale of welcome, as it was the sectâs most formal greeting style.
In his view, he was receiving such hospitality thanks to Elder Zuo.
What made him most uncomfortable was that in Ancestor Ge Yuqingâs words, he was actually placed on the same level as Elder Zuo.
In fact, he didnât know that previously, although Ancestor Ge Yuqingâs attitude towards him was on the verge of treating him as an equal, the mutual exchanges were merely polite.
This time, they hadnât originally intended to welcome Li Shiming on par with Elder Zuo but planned to use two rounds of greetings to show Li Shimingâs impressive status without elevating him too much.
This formal visit by Elder Zuo was already announced, so the Thousand Illusion Sectâs official welcoming ceremony was prepared accordingly.
However, upon sensing Li Shimingâs cultivation level, Ancestor Ge Yuqing instantly elevated Li Shimingâs welcome to be on par with Elder Zuo.
The entire Beishu Continent, all Nascent Soul Ancestors awaited Li Shimingâs advancement to Late-stage Golden Core.
An Alchemy Master at Late-stage Golden Core capable of crafting fourth-grade Spirit Pills held a very high status.
And on Beishu Continent, it was widely acknowledged that once Li Shiming became a Late-stage Golden Core cultivator, his alchemy would not decline, making his status equivalent to that of a Nascent Soul Ancestor.
At the very least, any Nascent Soul Ancestor would accept interacting with Li Shiming as peers because they would all seek his expertise in alchemy.