Cultivation is just so scientific!

Li Shiming finally understood, it turned out that this Master Xie Lang was an Alchemy Master from the Dragon lineage, here to compete with Master Jiang Hong for talent.

"Thank you for your kindness, Master Xie. I currently only wish to advance to the Nascent Soul Stage and do not want to participate in research!" Li Shiming did not hesitate for a moment and immediately refused Master Xie Lang's invitation.

At a time like this, he couldn't waver. If he really agreed to Master Xie Lang and joined the Dragon lineage in such a way, he wouldn't gain much recognition. Instead, he'd break ties with the Phoenix lineage entirely and ruin his own reputation.

"No worries, you are always welcome!" Master Xie Lang said with a smile.

He nodded to Master Jiang Hong and turned to leave.

"Master Li, there are some matters I need to discuss with you in private!" Master Jiang Hong spoke to Li Shiming after Master Xie Lang departed into the distance.

Li Shiming invited him to the hall of his cave dwelling, where they sat in their respective seats, and he brewed Fourth Grade Spirit Tea for him.

"Recently, do not leave the sect under any circumstances!" Master Jiang Hong said sternly, not touching the Fourth Grade Spirit Tea.

"Why is that?" Li Shiming asked curiously.

He had already joined the Ten Thousand Beast Sect, and with the sect's strength, if any cultivator or faction wanted to target him, the sect had enough deterrent power to intimidate them.

Especially since Master Jiang Hong was aware of it, would the sect not intervene in such matters?

After all, he was an Alchemy Master and had shown his value.

"Your spiritual pet's Dragon Clan bloodline is too pure, and your realm is too low. I fear that there are cultivators from the Dragon lineage who might forcibly seize your spiritual pet to extract its bloodline!" Master Jiang Hong revealed the reason.

Li Shiming thought of Sect Master Ji's exclamation when seeing the transformation of the Illusion Spirit Jiao, and recalled the terror of the Four-clawed Dragon he had witnessed in the Grotto Heaven back then. A spiritual pet with a pure Dragon Clan bloodline is definitely the strongest partner for a cultivator.

If he reached the Nascent Soul Stage, or if the Illusion Spirit Jiao reached the Fourth-Grade Realm, perhaps those cultivators would be more cautious.

Right now, he was like a child carrying a gold ingot through a bustling market, inevitably attracting the attention of cultivators.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel helpless. No matter where he was, standing out too much was always a hassle.

When he was on the Beishu Continent, he paid no heed to this matter, which ultimately led him to venture far from home.

Arriving at the Dongqi Continent, he had always been keeping a low profile, yet he was still being thought of.

"Thank you, Master Jiang, I will be careful!" Li Shiming bowed and thanked.

"With this spiritual pet, during the Golden Core Stage you will be unmatched, congratulations!" Master Jiang Hong said with a smile upon seeing that Li Shiming had listened to his advice.

Li Shiming also smiled at these words.

He felt little turmoil within his heart, even without the Illusion Spirit Jiao, he would remain undefeated during the Golden Core Stage.

After chatting with Master Jiang Hong for a while, once Master Jiang Hong finished the Fourth Grade Spirit Tea, he got up to leave.

Li Shiming saw him off the mountain peak and returned to the cave dwelling, where he finally had the time to release the Illusion Spirit Jiao and closely examine its abilities.

Due to the new pact, his connection with the Illusion Spirit Jiao had significantly strengthened.

With just a thought, the Illusion Spirit Jiao understood his intention, and its body instantly turned invisible.

Li Shiming scanned the surroundings with his Divine Thought, unable to detect the presence of the Illusion Spirit Jiao, not even a trace of its aura.

If not for the bond through the pact, he truly wouldn't have been able to discover that the Illusion Spirit Jiao was right beside him.

He then sensed the venom of the Illusion Spirit Jiao. It was only because of their pact that the venom didn't harm his Divine Thought; he could feel the potent danger from his Divine Thought.

The potency of the venom was more than tripled, and even a Great Elder bitten once could die instantly.

The power of the Illusion Spirit Jiao's claws had also seen significant enhancement. He tried letting the Illusion Spirit Jiao scratch his skin with its claws, and even a gentle scratch penetrated his Body Refinement defense, breaking his skin.

The IBMz15 had reassessed the combat power of the Illusion Spirit Jiao, indicating it could easily kill any Great Elder, including Li Shiming himself.

Because of the Illusion Spirit Jiao's invisibility ability, its first attack was unavoidable; by the time one realized they were attacked, the attack had already landed.

It all depended on the attacked person's luck, if they were caught by its claws, there might still be a chance to survive. However, if bitten by its poisonous fangs, unless they were a Nascent Soul Cultivator, death was certain.

Upon seeing IBMz15's combat evaluation of the Illusion Spirit Jiao, Li Shiming felt a profound sense of crisis.

Previously, he always considered himself invincible during the Golden Core Stage, possessing five Golden Cores, all at the Great Elder Level, with his Body Refinement and Spirit also reaching Great Elder Level.

In terms of human cultivators, he was a comprehensive Great Elder Level Cultivator without a single weakness.

However, when compared to spirit beasts with Dragon Clan bloodlines like the Illusion Spirit Jiao, as long as the bloodline is concentrated enough, they can possess strength far surpassing human cultivators.

Even among the same realm, human cultivators cannot compete with Dragon Clan bloodline spiritual beasts.

Not to mention, aside from the Dragon Clan bloodline, there are also Phoenix Clan bloodlines and other powerful bloodlines of spiritual beasts.

If in the recent years he cannot advance to the Nascent Soul Stage, he will need to venture into the Green Field Cave Heaven to seek opportunities, where he might encounter Golden Core cultivators of the Dongqi Continent, some of whom might possess spiritual pets with Dragon Phoenix bloodlines or other strong bloodlines.

"It seems I still need to enhance my combat power!" Li Shiming nodded to himself.

As for enhancing combat power, he had planned this long ago. However, his opponents were always far above his own realm, making it impossible to overpower them regardless of how much he enhanced it.

Now that he set his hypothetical opponent at the level of a Golden Core Great Elder, he finally had a direction to improve his combat power.

The next day, Li Shiming redeemed a large quantity of third-grade Star Fallen Gold Stone with his contribution points.

On the Beishu Continent, Star Fallen Gold Stone is a rare top-tier material for refining flying sword artifacts with a metal attribute. Yet, in the exchange list of the Ten Thousand Beast Sect, there was a large amount available for redemption.

Currently, he no longer had much need for resources to advance to the Nascent Soul Stage; even if he desired them, acquiring them in a short time was difficult. The sect's redeemable resources for advancing to the Nascent Soul Stage had already been exchanged by him.

Contribution points were of little use to him during this period, and obtaining them was relatively easy. As long as he was willing to accept the sect's alchemy tasks, he could quickly accumulate contribution points.

The Star Fallen Gold Stone is third-grade refining material, and while precious, it had its limits.

He immediately exchanged enough for refining a hundred and eighty-one flying swords, nearly emptying the Ten Thousand Beast Sect's inventory.

In the days following, he switched his remuneration from alchemy to a range of Fourth-Grade Array Materials, Fourth-grade Refining Materials, and various Fourth-grade resources, accepting them all.

However, he reduced the frequency of alchemy, opening a furnace only once a month, rather than the previously frenetic pace.

His computer room now involved not only alchemy but also artifact refining.

The Star Fallen Gold Stone was refined into semi-finished Flowing Light Star Meteor. These semi-finished products were engraved with three hundred sixty thousand Six Trigram Arrays. Each array comprised of a sturdy rune, acceleration rune, sharpness rune, size control rune, storage spirit rune, and breaking space rune. However, he hadn't completed the final step with them.

A year passed, and with more free time, he spent time between alchemy intervals traveling back and forth between the cave dwelling and Nascent Soul Stage's Book Collection Pavilion. Following Master Jiang Hong's advice, he had not left the sect at all.

Inside his Mustard Seed Ring, he stored a hundred and ninety semi-finished Flowing Light Star Meteor, waiting for activation.

Activating the Flowing Light Star Meteor couldn't be done within the Ten Thousand Beast Sect, requiring him to leave the sect once.