Cultivation is just so scientific!

He had not realized that the Ten Thousand Great Mountains of Beishu would be so complex and chaotic, where any cultivator could become embroiled in warfare.

Of course, Li Shiming had not been idle lately. He had gathered all the jade scrolls from the Six-fingered Sound Demon's study room through IBMz15 and had quickly read through all the contents.

At the very least, he could now recognize many third-grade spiritual objects and knew their names and properties instead of merely watching them without any knowledge like before.

He also learned the basics of alchemy and artifact refining, but since he didn't have a fixed cave dwelling, practical application was still some distance away.

As he thought about this, his speed was maintained at a level where he could react at any time when suddenly IBMz15 issued a warning before him.

Tiny sounds of combat reached his ears, which were the result of IBMz15 amplifying and restoring the sounds; otherwise, his ears would not have picked up these noises.

IBMz15's judgment of sounds also relied on his ears, but it could collect sound waves far beyond his perception, which allowed IBMz15 to detect the sounds in advance.

"Is there no end to this? This is the fifth time today!" Li Shiming muttered helplessly to himself.

His figure descended, and at the same time, his aura condensed, and the Nine Palace Sword Formation flew out, transforming into an isolating array that protected him in the middle.
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Inside the isolating array, unless the combatants specifically scanned with spiritual thoughts, it was impossible for them to detect him.

"It's cultivators from the Senluo Sect!" Li Shiming saw the combatants, one side was in black robes, marked with the external sect symbol of Senluo Sect.

These were two early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators, and they were battling with another early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator.

To Li Shiming's surprise, this early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator was holding his own in a two-against-one fight without falling at a disadvantage.

Although the two Senluo Sect cultivators were from the external sect, their combat power was not inferior, significantly stronger than the Loose Cultivators he had seen before.

In their hands, one was attacking while the other defending, both using spiritual artifacts; the two cultivators coordinated well, advancing and retreating logically.

The opposing cultivator, with a flying sword attacking like a fierce storm and a spiritual artifact shield by his side blocking the attacks of the Senluo Sect cultivators, managed the battle with ease.

"Xu Chuan, to intrude into our sect's territory alone, you really don't put our sect in your eyes. You won't be able to leave the Ten Thousand Great Mountains alive!" the Senluo Sect cultivators shouted loudly, trying to unsettle Xu Chuan with psychological tactics.

"Just you two? I don't want to kill you. Otherwise, do you really think you can stop me?" Xu Chuan responded while attacking.

Li Shiming found this interesting. If Xu Chuan relied only on his current methods, killing the two Senluo Sect cultivators wouldn't be easy.

Among cultivators of the same rank, unless one has overpowering techniques, how could they easily kill cultivators of the same rank?

What caught his attention was Xu Chuan's identity. According to the Senluo Sect cultivators, Xu Chuan was very likely a cultivator from outside the Ten Thousand Great Mountains.

An idea struck him, and he considered a way to verify Xu Chuan's identity.

Li Yuan Ba then took out an Identity Jade Disc, entered the external sect's combat department task interface, and started searching for tasks about Xu Chuan.

Sure enough, there appeared a task to pursue and kill Xu Chuan, with a task level of two.

Level two, indicating with Li Yuan Ba's early-stage Foundation Establishment strength, recognized Xu Chuan's power as Mid-stage Foundation Establishment.

This recognition of strength by the Senluo Sect could not be fake.

Upon further examination of the detailed data, Xu Chuan's identity was also revealed.

Xu Chuan was a True Disciple of the Shushan Sect, a major sect in Beishu. A True Disciple is at least a direct disciple of a Golden Core Elder of the sect.

With such an identity, saying that killing two fellow sect cultivators of the same rank was not baseless talk; it would just cost him some price.

The Shushan Sect and the Thousand Illusion Sect were two large neighboring sects with good relations.

Li Shiming pondered, unsure of Xu Chuan's purpose deep within the Ten Thousand Great Mountains, whether it was already completed, but if it was, perhaps he could leave with Xu Chuan.

But how to gain Xu Chuan's approval was indeed a troubling issue.

As he thought, his gaze drifted towards the distance, where a presence was rapidly approaching.

A Mid-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator, presumably another Senluo Sect cultivator had taken up the mission and was on the way.

One should know that based on the mission information checked by Li Yuanba, the two Senluo Sect cultivators involved in the battle had already updated the mission information, which was a benefit of having a communication network that covered the entire human-occupied area of the Ten Thousand Great Mountains.

Cultivators from the Senluo Sect never fight alone; as soon as the information is reported, nearby sect cultivators would come to join.

Xu Chuan of course sensed the presence of the Mid-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator. He was well aware of his own strength; boasting was possible, but fighting was still dependent on real strength.

He immediately decided to abandon the fight and sought to escape from the battle.

Just as he was about to flee, a figure suddenly darted out from one side, while a cloud of mist was dispersed from the cultivator's hands.

Li Shiming was taken aback, he had been focusing on the battlefield and had not noticed the cultivator hiding on the side.

It's worth noting that he was not far from the battlefield and despite the help of IBMz15, he didn't perceive anything.

The methods of Senluo Sect, a type of Demon Sect, are extremely strange, and now he was truly witnessing them.

Xu Chuan lacked experience in dealing with Devil Cultivators and hadn't anticipated an ambush.

The timing of the hidden cultivator was perfect, coinciding precisely with the moment Xu Chuan wanted to escape far away.

Since he wanted to flee, Xu Chuan had lowered his defenses to the minimum. Once the Escape Technique was initiated, he could no longer use the Spirit Artifact Shield and had to rely solely on his own body's spiritual power for defense.

The poison fog wielded by the hidden cultivator was extremely toxic, specifically targeting Foundation Establishment Cultivators, with severe penetrative and corrosive effects on spiritual power.

As Xu Chuan dodged, his body had already been tainted by the poison fog.

"Haha, it looks like our battle group will become famous, a True Inheritor of the Shushan Sect has fallen at our hands!" the hidden cultivator said with a laugh.

At this moment, the situation was extremely unfavorable for Xu Chuan, the terrifying poison caused his complexion to turn black, and a Mid-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator was nearing.

Never mind a Mid-stage Cultivator, even the three Early-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivators in front of him were difficult to handle.

The deadliest technique in his hands was only capable of contending with one or two Foundation Cultivators, attempting to kill all three Early-stage Foundation Cultivators was simply not feasible.

His most powerful method required time to prepare, and looking at the present Senluo Sect cultivators, they would hardly give him the time needed.

"Be careful, he's going to fight with all he's got!" a cultivator nearby cautioned.

"Indeed, these True Inheritors always have some desperate measures in their hands. Let's back off a bit, and move in once the poison takes effect!" the poison-using cultivator nodded and moved away as he spoke.

He was very confident in his poison, not worried at all about Xu Chuan escaping after being poisoned.

Xu Chuan's heart sank; these cultivators clearly knew the methods of direct disciples. If he had known earlier, he would have used his full power from the start and killed two Early-stage Foundation Cultivators first.

He was in the Ten Thousand Great Mountains and didn't want to provoke the Senluo Sect to death.

Normally, the True Inheritors of major sects wouldn't be killed via advantage exploitation by other major sects, because the consequence would be the other sect using the same tactics against the True Inheritors of one's own sect.

Such actions would lead to great losses for both sides, inadvertently benefiting other sects waiting to capitalize on the situation.

This was why Xu Chuan previously did not want to kill the two Senluo Sect cultivators, to avoid provoking the Senluo Sect into madness—Senluo being a Demon Sect, who knew if once Xu Chuan killed a sect cultivator of Foundation Establishment, Senluo Sect wouldn't just send a Golden Core to kill Xu Chuan on the spot.

This hesitation and his mindset of playing around in the fight had led to his current predicament.

Just as Xu Chuan was about to use Blood Escape, a ray of sword light suddenly burst forth, carrying his body swiftly away towards the distance.

"Mr. Xu, I'm here to help you escape!" Xu Chuan was about to resist, but he heard Li Shiming's spiritual transmission, his heart lightening up; real or fake, it was much better than falling into the hands of the Senluo Sect cultivators.

Besides, with the desperate technique in his hands, one-on-one he was confident he could handle Li Shiming.