He wanted to scream, the sect that had stood for ten thousand years was wiped out in their generation; he wanted to cry, for the ones who died were friends heâd lived with for nearly a thousand years; he wanted to do something, but all he could see were the world-ending lightning bolts.
These lightning bolts reminded him of the heavenly tribulation he faced when he first advanced to Nascent Soul, except the heavenly tribulation only had three strikes, while what they were facing now was an endless torrent of tribulation.
He even wondered, when cultivators advanced to half-step Mahayana, if any strike from the tribulation could be as powerful as the lightning before his eyes.
"Itâs over!" Master Qiao sensed that one of the lightning bolts was aimed at him. A single thought flashed through his mind before his body was engulfed by lightning.
Li Shiming let out a long breath and simultaneously activated forty âThunder Cloud Skillsâ, leaving him somewhat fatigued. It seemed this was his current limit.
This time, he used sheer brute force to break through the Taichu Sectâs formation, killing six great cultivators was just a side task.
The Taichu Sectâs mountain gate needed no further attack. After the sect formation was shattered, countless lightning bolts first annihilated all Nascent Soul cultivators. As for those cultivators above Nascent Soul, they didnât even need the âThunder Cloud Skillâ as the aftermath of the lightning attack alone was enough to kill them.
With a wave of Li Shimingâs hand, the body of the White Emperor Sectâs great cultivator at the Taichu Sectâs mountain gate, along with a total of seven great cultivator corpses, flew over.
He intentionally preserved the seven great cultivator corpses, keeping them intact.
Had all the lightning attacks from the forty âThunder Cloud Skillsâ been focused on the great cultivators, the six within the âThunder Cloud Skillâ range might have been pulverized into dust by the lightning.
Storing away the seven great cultivator corpses, he flew into the Taichu Sectâs mountain gate.
There was no need to say much about the mountain gate of the Taichu Sect; scarcely any spot was left intact.
The spirit fields, sufficient to supply cultivation resources for thousands of cultivators, were completely destroyed by his attack.
This was unavoidable; without the protection of the array, even a sweep from the lightningâs aftermath would cause great destruction, let alone the indiscriminate attack of the âThunder Cloud Skillâ.
However, Li Shiming knew that even if the Taichu Sectâs mountain gate was severely destroyed, the most important thing would remain.
That was the Grotto Heaven, which was locked with the Taichu Sectâs mountain gate, impossible to be destroyed by external attacks.
His divine sense scanned through the Taichu Sectâs mountain gate, and he quickly found the entrance of the Grotto Heaven buried beneath the rubble.
The great hall above the Grotto Heaven entrance collapsed, with the ruins blocking the space gate of the entrance. Entering the range of the space gate, the remnants of the great hall were forcibly cut and sent into the Grotto Heaven.
When Li Shimingâs divine sense discovered the Cave Heaven Space Gate, the Space Gate in the ruins still stood there, clearly defining the space where the Space Gate was located within the ruins, making it appear particularly peculiar.
He glanced at this Cave Heaven Space Gate and did not enter it.
Instead, he took out one hundred and eight Buddha Beads, and upon tossing them, they transformed into formation bases, forming a formation encircling the Taichu Sectâs mountain gate.
Then he took out an Identity Jade Disc to contact Grandmaster Hu.
In the past ten years, the Ten Thousand Beast Sect rarely launched an active offensive, and more strangely, even though the other two sects knew of the Ten Thousand Beast Sect cultivatorsâ movements, they did nothing.
This was because both sects had received news that Li Shizhen, who had returned from outside, a newly ascended great cultivator, was attacking the Taichu Sectâs mountain gate.
Both major sects awaited news from the Taichu Sectâs mountain gate; without accurate information, they dared not act lightly.
Li Shizhenâs strength was terrifying. Throughout the many years on the Dongqi Continent, the number of fallen great cultivators was very limited. Even when a great cultivator from the Ten Thousand Beast Sect was ambushed and killed, it was due to a pre-arranged trap that utilized the numerical advantage of great cultivators to slay the Ten Thousand Beast Sectâs great cultivator.
However, look at Li Shizhen, who faced two great cultivators head-on and, even with the advantage of the base formation of the White Emperor Sectâs two great cultivators, destroyed their base formation and killed two great cultivators of the White Emperor Sect along with nearly a hundred Nascent Soul Middle Stage cultivators.
Li Shizhenâs combat power stunned the two major sects. Upon hearing that Li Shizhen went to attack the Taichu Sectâs mountain gate, they regarded this attack as a definitive appraisal of Li Shimingâs combat prowess.
The news of the Taichu Sectâs formation being broken and the total of seven great cultivators, including a White Emperor Sect great cultivator, falling, reached the two major sects.
Lianhua Temple and the Sun Concealing Sect could no longer sit still. They could not let their millennia-long foundations be extinguished in their generation, similar to the Taichu Sect awaiting their doom at the hands of Li Shiming.
The two major sects needed no discussion; they simultaneously sent letters of surrender and defeat to Grandmaster Hu of the Ten Thousand Beast Sect, willing to pay war reparations satisfying the Ten Thousand Beast Sect.
The speed at which the two major sects surrendered took Grandmaster Hu by surprise.
Grandmaster Hu had just received news from Li Shiming; before the time of a tea break had passed, the letters of surrender from the two major sects also arrived.
While hurrying to the Taichu Sect, Grandmaster Hu pondered how to respond to the two sects.
He had the authorization from other great cultivators of the Ten Thousand Beast Sect to consult with Li Shiming on how to handle the remaining two sects.
Li Shimingâs opinion was extremely crucial, capable of having a decisive effect; all the great cultivators of the Ten Thousand Beast Sect acknowledged this.
The reversal of the Ten Thousand Beast Sectâs fortune came from Li Shimingâs prowess.
And due to Li Shiming, Grandmaster Hu, who already held substantial power within the sect, saw his status further elevated.
Grandmaster Hu flew with all his might, reaching the Taichu Sect as quickly as possible.
When he approached the Taichu Sect, the sight stunned him.
This was once the Taichu Sect, like a fairyland, now reduced to ruins, the terrifying damage from the Thunder Cultivatorâs attack left persistent thunder energy in the area.
Due to the Thunder Cultivatorâs attack containing a trace of the Thunder Rules, the thunder energy in this region will not dissipate for at least several thousand years.
Grandmaster Hu felt no sympathy for the Taichu Sect; he knew very well that without Li Shimingâs appearance, the result for the Ten Thousand Beast Sectâs mountain gate would likely have been the same.
He only felt fortunate, fortunate to have taken Li Shiming as a disciple, which allowed the Ten Thousand Beast Sect to survive its most perilous period.
"Master, youâre here!" Li Shiming saw Grandmaster Hu and opened a gap in the formation, speaking.
"Shizhen, youâve worked hard!" Grandmaster Hu entered the formation, feeling the steady aura around Li Shiming, he dropped his last thread of worry and said with a smile.
"Itâs hardly hard work, just that after advancing to a great cultivator, I needed opponents to test my combat prowess!" Li Shiming said with a smile. He went on to introduce the situation at the Taichu Sectâs mountain gate to Grandmaster Hu: "I didnât enter the Grotto Heaven of the Taichu Sect, so itâs best for the sect to send cultivators to explore it. I imagine over the years, the sect must have gathered some intelligence on this Grotto Heaven."
Li Shiming was well aware of his own destructive power. The Grotto Heaven of the Taichu Sect, with its extremely high value, is best received intact by the Ten Thousand Beast Sect.
If he were to explore it, he feared heâd leave a mess behind.
"As for this Grotto Heaven, our sectâs intel has long infiltrated it and gathered quite a bit of information. I believe fully taking it over wonât be a significant issue!" Grandmaster Hu looked at the space gate of the Grotto Heaven entrance, his face lighting up with delight as he spoke.
Gaining an additional Grotto Heaven equates to a massive increase in resource output.
A Grotto Heaven left by a powerful being, especially one able to lock with the mountain gate, could produce a vast amount of cultivation resources.
Over the years, why has the Ten Thousand Beast Sect had so few great cultivators if not for the inability to provide enough resources for Nascent Soul Middle Stage cultivators?
With the addition of this Grotto Heaven, the Ten Thousand Beast Sect could see an increase of more than half in the number of great cultivators.
Of course, this takes time, perhaps several centuries, but for a sect, thatâs not too long of a time.