He had performed âInstant Advancementâ for half a period, although the energy in his body hadnât dropped to his set boundary, it had been considerably depleted.
With every moment of delay, the energy in his body would recover somewhat.
"What is your relationship with Li Yuanba? Why do you want to save him?" Great Cultivator Duan Zhang had already determined that there was a connection between Li Shizhen and Li Yuanba, but he still found it strange. According to all information, these two shouldnât be connected.
Li Shiming didnât speak; he didnât need to explain anything. Although the ocean here was outside the range of the communication grand formation, he wasnât sure if Great Cultivator Duan Zhang had some kind of long-distance communication means.
If he said anything, who knows if it would be transmitted by Great Cultivator Duan Zhang.
The aura on his body surged, with nothing held back, and the âHeavenly Strike Thunder Hammerâ appeared above his head.
"Magical artifact!" Great Cultivator Duan Zhang exclaimed in shock once more.
Being a Great Cultivator of the super sect Yuqing Sect, he hadnât been this surprised in a long time.
Today, however, he had been astonished multiple times by Li Shimingâs displayed strength, and a glint of greed flashed in his eyes.
A âHeavenly Strike Thunder Hammerâ at the magical artifact level, even within a super force like Yuqing Sect, could only be possessed by an almighty cultivator.
Even if this extremely compatible magical artifact for cultivating the âYuqing Thunder Scriptureâ became Li Shimingâs life treasure, and lost half its power after recognition by a new master, it would still far surpass his current life treasure.
Moreover, even if it lost half its power, through a prolonged period of fusion, the original ownerâs mark in the life treasure could still be worn away.
Itâs just that the time needed is too long, requiring at least several hundred years, making it not worthwhile for a normal life treasure.
But for a magical artifact, itâs extremely worthwhile even if it takes several hundred years.
After exposing the magical artifact âHeavenly Strike Thunder Hammerâ, Li Shiming no longer intended to let Great Cultivator Duan Zhang live.
He wasnât too worried about Great Cultivator Duan Zhang leaking the news of the magical artifact âHeavenly Strike Thunder Hammerâ, for after dealing with Great Cultivator Duan Zhang, he would find another place to enter a secluded cultivation in the Heavenly Person Cave Heaven.
Not even an almighty could find the Heavenly Person Cave Heaven, let alone find him.
Great Cultivator Duan Zhang sensed the distance between Li Shiming and himself, and snickered inwardly, as Li Shiming was already within the range of his Great Cultivator Realm suppression.
He suddenly exploded with the aura of a Great Cultivator, an overwhelming aura enveloped Li Shiming.
Li Shimingâs figure suddenly vanished, and Great Cultivator Duan Zhangâs first thought was that Li Shiming had used the Divine Foot Skill to leave the range of the Great Cultivator Realmâs suppression.
But contrary to expectations, Li Shiming appeared within two meters of Great Cultivator Duan Zhang.
At two meters apart, for cultivator combat, this was almost point-blank.
The âHeavenly Strike Thunder Hammerâ emitted a âThunder Fall Skillâ, bolstered by the âShenxiao Thunder Pearlâ, its power enhanced to the mid-late stage of a Great Cultivator.
Moreover, since the distance was so close, there was no way to dodge.
Great Cultivator Duan Zhangâs Thunder Shield defense blocked this attack.
But the Thunder Shield defense was also greatly drained by this attack, the electric light on the Thunder Shield was on the verge of collapse.
Great Cultivator Duan Zhang was somewhat in disbelief that Li Shiming had closed in once again.
Even more unbelievable was Li Shimingâs performance, as he was entirely unaffected by the Great Cultivator Realmâs oppression.
Due to the unexpected nature of things, his response lagged a beat. After the Thunder Shield defense had taken a hit, he launched a counterattack, and his âHeavenly Strike Thunder Hammerâ flickered with electricity, poised to unleash the same âThunder Fall Skillâ.
Li Shimingâs figure vanished once more, causing Great Cultivator Duan Zhangâs âThunder Fall Skillâ to lose its target lock.
This was almost an impossible occurrence, as usually within a cultivatorâs range of divine sense, the spell lock would not failâat most, during a spell attack, due to the opponentâs speed and reaction, they could evade the spellâs attack.
But this time, Li Shiming executed âDistant Horizonsâ so quickly that Great Cultivator Duan Zhang couldnât even release the fastest thunder skill in the âThunder Fall Skillâ, as Li Shiming used space movement to disappear.
Li Shiming did not leave, but just moved to two meters behind Great Cultivator Duan Zhang.
Upon reappearing, a Fourth-Grade Sword Foundation had manifested in his hand.
The quality of the Fourth-Grade Sword Foundation was now at the top quality of Fourth Grade, due to his physical body being enhanced by the âHeavenly Human Techniqueâ, reaching the Body Refining Great Cultivator level.
The âVoid Breaking Sword Intentâ was bolstered on the Fourth-Grade Sword Foundation.
The energy bolstering this âVoid Breaking Sword Intentâ was also converted from the âHeavenly Human Techniqueâsâ Chaos Energy, naturally carrying traces of space rules.
With the blessing of space rules, the armor-piercing effect of the âVoid Breaking Sword Intentâ was significantly enhanced, at least equal to that of a Sword Cultivator.
Even the weakest Sword Cultivator, using a space-rule empowered âVoid Breaking Sword Intentâ, posed a significant threat to any Great Cultivator.
"Zila!" The sound of the Fourth-Grade Sword Foundation rubbing against the Thunder Shield was heard.
The âVoid Breaking Sword Intentâ, combined with the terrifying might granted to Li Shiming by the âHeavenly Human Techniqueâ, which only a Body Refining Great Cultivator could possess, acted upon the Fourth-Grade Sword Foundation, directly breaking through the Thunder Shield, already half-crippled by a âThunder Fall Skillâ.
Upon sensing danger, Great Cultivator Duan Zhang thought to bolster his protective treasure.
It wasnât carelessness, but rather because Thunder Cultivators of the Yuqing Sect typically did not use defensive treasures, and many Thunder Cultivators possessed only one life treasure, with no other treasures.
Thunder Cultivators are powerfully offensive cultivators, with pride comparable to Sword Cultivators.
They disdain using other treasures, believing that a single life treasure, the âHeavenly Strike Thunder Hammerâ, is sufficient.
Li Shiming naturally wouldnât allow Great Cultivator Duan Zhang the chance to fortify his defense; the magical artifact âHeavenly Strike Thunder Hammerâ, controlled by one of his independent brains, once again unleashed a âThunder Fall Skillâ, powered by the âShenxiao Thunder Pearlâ.
This was also his advantage; with 191 brains, as long as his internal energy and spirit were sufficient, he could control up to 191 treasures.
By controlling multiple treasures, he could ensure each treasureâs potency was at its strongest.
Unlike many cultivators who used special Secret Techniques to control multiple treasures through multitasking, where each treasureâs power was diminished due to the inability to focus wholeheartedly on them.
Although controlling multiple treasures to outnumber an opponent held certain advantages, cultivators with the means preferred to wield multiple treasures when they could master the Secret Technique of multitasking.
The lightning from the âThunder Fall Skillâ struck Great Cultivator Duan Zhang.
Even though Great Cultivator Duan Zhang possessed great thunder resistance, this strike made his whole body tremble, causing him to momentarily lose control over his body.
This was when the Fourth-Grade Sword Foundation also cut into Great Cultivator Duan Zhangâs flesh, the terrifying âVoid Breaking Sword Intentâ corroding throughout Great Cultivator Duan Zhangâs body.
Great Cultivator Duan Zhang was extremely decisive, as his Nascent Soul immediately emerged. Realizing Li Shimingâs attack was unstoppable and the situation hopeless, he chose to abandon his physical body.
This choice was extremely harsh for someone at the Great Cultivator Realm.
It meant almost certainly relinquishing any possibility of ascending to almighty status, even though his chances were extremely low to begin with.
But no matter how slim the chance of ascending to almighty, there was always a glimmer of hope before; now, if his Nascent Soul emerged and his physical body perished, even if his Nascent Soul returned, there was no hope of ascending to almighty status.
In the history of the Cultivation World, no cultivator with a seized body through Nascent Soul cultivation has ever ascended to almighty.
Perhaps this relates to the degree of compatibility between a cultivatorâs soul and body, as regardless of how a seized body is modified, it isnât the original soulâs body, and the compatibility between body and soul cannot achieve the perfect state.
When ascending to almighty, even the slightest imperfection will be infinitely magnified.
As Great Cultivator Duan Zhang abandoned his body, he had no time to consider anything else, his sole thought was survival.