Cultivation is just so scientific!

Yu An is one of the few Golden Core cultivators who can enter the first layer. Due to his relationship with Ancestor Yu, and to avoid trouble, Li Shiming delegated some tasks related to the refining of Third-grade Spirit Pills to Yu An.

Moreover, Yu An's Baodan Pavilion also requires Spirit Pills refined by Li Shiming as merchandise, so Yu An frequently visits.

Yu An is a businessman; every time he visits Li Shiming, he ensures there are various topics to avoid an awkward silence.

"Isn't my cave dwelling empty?" Li Shiming asked knowingly.

"Master Li, you've missed a great opportunity. The previous owner of your cave dwelling, the cultivator from Wutong Mountain, hid a 'Cloud Stepping Order' there!" Yu An said with a look of pity for Li Shiming.

"The 'Cloud Stepping Order', the recovery key to opening the Green Field Cave Heaven?" Li Shiming's eyes widened, appearing as if he was hearing this news for the first time.

"The attack on that cave dwelling by Elder Tai Yi was quite strange. After you moved out, another cultivator rented it and obtained the 'Cloud Stepping Order'. The news wasn't kept hidden; as soon as he left Wuqing Mountain, he was ambushed. Eventually, the cultivator was severely injured and escaped; now many Golden Core cultivators are frantically searching for him!" Yu An continued.

"Did you find this out yourself?" Li Shiming wondered if he had underestimated the intelligence capabilities of Wuqing Mountain.

"No need to investigate, it's already widely known!" Yu An replied with a smile.

Li Shiming also smiled. From Yu An's expression and the heart's voice he'd overheard through Telepathy, he realized Yu An had no suspicions about him, nor did any other cultivator suspect he had obtained the 'Cloud Stepping Order'.

"Master Li, if you could take the trouble, please refine a few batches of Third-grade Spirit Pills!" Yu An quickly took the opportunity to ask as he noticed Li Shiming was in a good mood.

"Leave the materials here, come back in a few days to pick them up!" Li Shiming, indeed in a good mood, gestured with his hand.

Yu An's eyes crinkled into a smile as he placed a storage bag in front of Li Shiming.

Besides materials for alchemy, the storage bag also contained some top-grade spirit stones as a reward for alchemy.

Over this period of cooperation, the payment for Li Shiming refining Third-grade Spirit Pills has been fixed at a certain number of top-grade spirit stones.

However, because Li Shiming had moved to the first layer, other late-stage Golden Core cultivators could not meet him and could only contact him via Tokens. But alchemy is not something that can be done simply by sending a message through a Token, so the payment for Li Shiming's Third-grade Spirit Pills had a demand that exceeded supply.

What seemed like a fair trade for Yu An actually earned him quite a bit.

Li Shiming didn't care about these top-grade spirit stones; what he valued most now was his cooperation with Nascent Soul Ancestors.

After sending off Yu An, he released Venerable Huijing, who controlled the Fourth Grade Sky Strike Thunder Hammer to assist him in cultivating the 'Yuqing Thunder Scripture'.

Upon discovering that resources for Nascent Soul advancement were easily obtainable on the Dongqi Continent, he intensified his cultivation of the 'Yuqing Thunder Scripture'.

He still remembered his experience when advancing to the Golden Core Stage and feared that advancing to the Nascent Soul Stage might have similar challenges.

These days he was still waiting, as Ancestor Sang Feng and Ancestor Yu were preparing more resources for Nascent Soul advancement and hadn't contacted other Nascent Soul Ancestors for him yet.

A month passed quickly, and Li Shiming hadn't left his cave dwelling. During this period, he had deployed over ten unmanned drone satellites.

The deployment of the unmanned drone satellite system was not smooth. According to his map of the Dongqi Continent, he calculated that fifty unmanned drone satellites would suffice to cover the continent.

Unlike the Beishu Continent, Dongqi doesn't have large formations separating different powers, which should, in theory, favor the deployment of the drone satellite system.

However, when one of his unmanned drone satellites approached within a thousand miles of the Ten Thousand Beast Sect, it was pulled by a force, altering its course.

Fortunately, he had considered the possibility of the drone satellites being captured by cultivators during design, and the satellites would self-destruct when influenced by external forces.

After losing contact due to a self-destruct, this incident heightened his caution, making him realize he might have underestimated the Dongqi Continent.

Even the unmanned drone satellites undiscovered by Nascent Soul Ancestors on the Beishu Continent, despite being upgraded by Li Shiming to more advanced models, were detected by cultivators here.

Through analysis, Li Shiming discovered that as long as the drones kept a thousand miles away from the Ten Thousand Beast Sect, they would remain undetected.

But if they approached within a thousand miles of the sect, they would either be destroyed or pulled by some force.

Li Shiming was astonished. The fact that the drones, no matter which direction they approached from, were attacked within a thousand miles indicated the presence of a formidable entity capable of attacking over that distance within the Ten Thousand Beast Sect.

Forget about attacking over such a range; even being able to detect the drones at such a distance was extraordinary.

Even possessing a 'Telephoto Vision', allowing observation from three thousand miles away, one would still struggle to detect the invisible drones.

Moreover, the drones, influenced by the Thirty-Three Heavens, were further obscured, making them harder to detect.

He couldn't even imagine the cultivation level of that powerful entity in the Ten Thousand Beast Sect. Brought to you by the folks at MV|LEMPYR.

Now wiser, he adjusted the deployment of the drone satellite system to avoid the range of the Ten Thousand Beast Sect, and in the future, he would also avoid the thousand-mile ranges of the other three major sects once more drones were deployed.

"A business opportunity has come!" Li Shiming suddenly chuckled to himself.

From the images transmitted by the drone satellite system, a figure that blurred the surrounding space, rendering the drone's monitoring indistinct, was approaching Wuqing Mountain.

Since the attack on the cave dwelling by Elder Tai Yi, Ancestor Yu had never left Wuqing Mountain again.

Having such a foundation that continuously generates profits is certainly beneficial, but it is also a kind of confinement.

Unlike ordinary Loose Cultivators, Ancestor Yu was tied to Wuqing Mountain.

Whether or not this approaching Nascent Soul Ancestor was Ancestor Sang Feng, it was highly probable they were coming to request alchemy from Li Shiming if they were heading there.

While monitoring the approaching Nascent Soul Ancestor, Li Shiming noticed a blurry figure flying out from Wuqing Mountain; it was Ancestor Yu going to greet them.

After the two blurry figures met, they stayed together briefly and then flew towards the mountain peak.

Li Shiming received a communication technique from Ancestor Yu requesting a visit.

Li Shiming withdrew Venerable Huijing and his clone Li Yuanba, activated the formation, and walked out of his cave dwelling.

"Mr. Zhang, this is Master Li!" Ancestor Yu first introduced Li Shiming to the Nascent Soul Ancestor beside him, then said to Li Shiming, "Master Li, let me introduce you to Ancestor Zhang Kai!"

"Greetings, Ancestor Zhang!" Li Shiming bowed and saluted.

He knew a bit about Ancestor Yu; Ancestor Yu showed particular courtesy to Ancestor Zhang Kai, with a hint of reverence within his manner.

Li Shiming was no inexperienced cultivator; he deduced that, despite also being a Nascent Soul Early Stage practitioner, Ancestor Yu's reverence likely stemmed not from Ancestor Zhang Kai himself but from the power behind him.

"I didn't expect Master Li to be so young, and at such a realm, it seems you're just one step away from the Nascent Soul Stage!" Ancestor Zhang Kai remarked with surprise, looking at Li Shiming.

"This step is a chasm!" Li Shiming replied with a helpless smile.

"Why don't you invite us in?" Ancestor Yu reminded with a smile.

"Please, both honored ancestors, come in!" Li Shiming invited.

As Ancestor Zhang Kai stepped into the cave dwelling, his demeanor was extraordinary, making Ancestor Yu appear noticeably humbler when walking alongside him.

Li Shiming knew this demeanor was cultivated from long-standing superiority; it had nothing to do with cultivation level but rather a sense of mental superiority.

He was more interested in the identity of Ancestor Zhang Kai, knowing that in any case, he could not let the alchemy master suffer losses; in the end, he would be the one to benefit.