With the help of Senior Wang and Senior Meng, both Great Cultivators, Li Shiming secured a temporary grotto heaven at the headquarters of Central State Commerce.
Although it was a temporary grotto heaven, it was designed for entertaining Great Cultivators, demonstrating the influence of these two.
Li Shiming did not decline, as he indeed needed a foothold on the Central State Continent.
Inside the temporary grotto heaven, he commenced artifact refining, upgrading the âHeavenly Strike Thunder Hammerâ to a higher quality.
This task was carried out by his Fire Thunder Nascent Soul in the chamber space, with Golden Corpse Nanming assisting nearby.
Two beings wielding the Nascent Soul Middle Stage âNanming Leaving Fireâ divine skills worked together to refine âThousand Thunder Tempered Goldâ. Even though it was fourth grade top material, it was quickly refined.
Following this was the finer work, as the Wood Thunder Nascent Soul, holding the âHeavenly Strike Thunder Hammerâ, gradually integrated the liquefied âThousand Thunder Tempered Goldâ into the hammer using the special secret technique from the âYuqing Thunder Scriptureâ.
This task took time, as the âHeavenly Strike Thunder Hammerâ was one of his inherent magical artifacts. If it were to fail, not only would the original âHeavenly Strike Thunder Hammerâ be damaged, but the newly acquired âThousand Thunder Tempered Goldâ would also be destroyed.
Although this work required extreme focus, it did not interfere with Li Shimingâs daily activities.
At the headquarters of Central State Commerce, he occasionally gathered with Senior Wang and Senior Meng, the two Great Cultivators, who entrusted some alchemy materials to him for refining Great Cultivator Spirit Pills.
Just as the Fire Thunder Nascent Soulâs artifact refining could be fully handed over to Golden Corpse Nanming, he began multitasking by simultaneously operating five Fourth Grade Pill Furnaces, refining five furnaces of Great Cultivator Spirit Pills at once.
This was the benefit of elevating the âNanming Leaving Fireâ divine skill and âRed Sun Spirit Fireâ to the Nascent Soul Middle Stage; both could be divided into multiple fire sources during the refinement of Great Cultivator Spirit Pills.
In the Nascent Soul Early Stage, he wouldnât have been able to divide a single spiritual fire into multiple pill furnaces during refinement.
This is the reason he traded for Fourth Grade Pill Furnaces - to maximize his pill refinement output.
Concerns about distracting oneself and causing a decrease in quality, or even failure in refining fourth-grade spirit pills, simply did not exist for him.
With a hundred and ninety-one brains, each capable of independent thought, every brain was equivalent to an Alchemy Master. As long as there was sufficient spiritual fire and pill furnaces, even refining a hundred and ninety-one furnaces simultaneously posed no problem.
The reason Li Shiming paused at the headquarters of Central State Commerce rather than proceeding as planned to Qiu Hengyiâs treasure location, was to wait for the âHeavenly Strike Thunder Hammerâ to be upgraded before taking action.
If he could elevate the âHeavenly Strike Thunder Hammerâ to a spiritual treasure, it would significantly enhance his combat power when combined with the effect of the âShenxiao Thunder Pearlâ.
He made this decision because, at the headquarters of Central State Commerce, he encountered numerous Nascent Soul Middle Stage Practitioners, sensing more than ten Great Cultivator auras.
As for beings surpassing Great Cultivators, unless they wished themselves to be sensed, he couldnât detect such powerful existences.
Moreover, through communication with his two new Great Cultivator fellows, he discovered that the cultivation level on the Central State Continent far exceeded that of Dongqi Continent.
Besides the cross-continental forces, Dongqi Continent lacked national-based superpowers, and those cross-continental superpowers were unlikely to station mighty beings on Dongqi Continent, resulting in the absence of any mighty beings there.
At least on the surface, in the Ten Thousand Beast Sect, he hadnât heard of any mighty beings residing on Dongqi Continent.
But on the Central State Continent, there were twelve superpowers alone, implying at least twelve mighty beings existed on the Central State Continent.
This was the lowest estimate; itâs known that some superpowers may have more than one mighty being.
Of course, Li Shiming didnât have to worry about casually encountering a mighty being. The two Great Cultivators mentioned that mighty beings generally stayed within the mountain gates of superpowers, concealed within grotto heavens, rarely leaving the gates.
While the specific reasons why mighty beings rarely leave the mountain gates were not disclosed by the two Great Cultivators, Li Shiming understood that in the Cultivation World, mighty beings of the Mahayana Realm equate to nuclear weapons. Normally, their role is deterrence; if deployed, itâs a matter of life and death for the sect.
Therefore, thereâs little need to worry about mighty beings excessively, as the real concern on the Central State Continent should be Great Cultivators.
The number of Great Cultivators on the Central State Continent is abundant, yet resources remain incredibly scarce, intensifying the competition among them.
Li Shiming remained at the headquarters of Central State Commerce for three months, after which, on a day at Yuntian Pavilion, he reunited with the two Great Cultivators.
"Senior Wang, here are your fourth-grade spirit pills. Senior Meng, these are yours!" As soon as Li Shiming sat down, he handed over five jade bottles respectively and said.
Senior Wang and Senior Meng, the two Great Cultivators, showed surprise; only three months had passed, and they each needed five furnaces of Great Cultivator Spirit Pills refined.
"Could it be a refinement failure?" With a hint of concern, the two Great Cultivators opened their respective jade bottles.
Upon seeing the fourth-grade spirit pills inside, their concerns transformed into delight.
This time, Senior Wang requested Li Shiming to refine three furnaces of Great Cultivator Spirit Pills, with one of the furnaces reaching high-grade fourth-grade quality. Senior Meng requested two furnaces with one reaching high-grade fourth-grade quality, and the rest were mid-level fourth-grade.