Cultivation is just so scientific!

"What flashy nonsense!" he muttered softly.

In the eyes of such a quintessentially traditional cultivator, nurturing twelve silver corpses was less preferable than investing all resources into a single one, thereby creating the strongest possible silver corpse.

Being poor, he could not understand Li Shiming's mentality, for the growth of the twelve silver corpses had been at their fastest, assuming no resource limitations.

Li Shiming, sensing Great Elder Fan Xi's power, was slightly astonished; he had not expected Mingxin Sect to have a Great Elder.

One must never underestimate any sect with a longstanding heritage, and Great Elders were exceedingly rare among them.

Given Mingxin Sect's resources, the likelihood of a Great Elder's emergence was incredibly slim, yet they had fostered one nonetheless.

"How does Mingxin Sect reply? Will you hand over Bo Ran and Bao Zhao, or choose to wage war against me?" Li Shiming called out loudly.

"How dare you belittle Mingxin Sect, let me give you a taste of our strength!" Upon hearing this, Great Elder Fan Xi grew furious, and with those words, a ray of light in his hand darted towards Li Shiming.

Li Shiming didn't dodge. Instead, his aura dramatically shifted, and a terrifying surge of blood energy shot up to the sky.

A cloud above his head scattered in all directions, pushed outward by the force of his blood energy.

Behind him, a colossal phantom appeared, taking the true form of an Angry-eyed Vajra.

In his hand materialized a Third Grade Sword Base, which he wielded against the incoming sword with a single stroke.

"Great Elder Level Body Refining!" As Fan Xi, the Great Elder, sensed the change in Li Shiming's aura, he immediately redirected his flying sword. He certainly did not dare to pit his treasure artefacts against those of a Great Elder-level Body Refining Golden Core.

The treasure artefact of a Body Refining Golden Core was wielded in hand, whereas his flying sword was remotely controlled; wielded treasures had numerous disadvantages.

For example, wielded artefacts couldn't perform long-range attacks, and they lacked flexibility, among other drawbacks. However, the greatest advantage of a wielded artefact was the full infusion of the cultivator's physical strength. Secret Techniques could then amplify that strength further, leveraging the artefact's sharpness.

If the artefacts were to meet in combat, Fan Xi's flying sword would certainly be at a disadvantage.

The moment Great Elder Fan Xi retracted his flying sword, Li Shiming's body transformed into a sword light, closing in on Fan Xi.

Fan Xi could not possibly allow a Great Elder-level Body Refining Golden Core to get close. His body turned into a streak of light, attempting to move away from Li Shiming.

He felt an overwhelming sense of powerlessness. While Body Refining Golden Cores were exceedingly difficult to accomplish, once successful, their combative strength became formidable.

Among Golden Cores of the Great Elder level, Body Refining Golden Cores were the most terrifying.

As it was now, Fan Xi felt as though Li Shiming was like a hedgehog; his long-distance flying sword had to consider Li Shiming's longsword treasure if it were to attack. Without using the flying sword, other attacks seemed as trivial as tickling to Li Shiming, of the Great Elder-level Body Refining stature.

The spells usable in battle were not very powerful; such spells could hardly break through Li Shiming's defense.

In this regard, Fan Xi was vastly experienced. Many years ago, he had encountered a Body Refining Golden Core who had not yet reached the Great Elder level, but even then, their defense was already insurmountable to other cultivators of the same rank.

The battle unfolded outside Mingxin Sect's Sect Protection Array, and many cultivators were spectating.

In that hall, the Sect Leader and other Golden Core Elders watched the fight between Li Shiming and Great Elder Fan Xi.

The conflict had exceeded their expectations from the start. They had hoped that Great Elder Fan Xi would subdue Li Shiming, but looking at the current fight, it was Li Shiming who was chasing Fan Xi.

Bo Ran, upon realizing Li Shiming's true strength, couldn't stop the sweat from pouring down. He had been making underhanded moves in front of a Great Elder; if he had known Li Shiming was this powerful, what's a son to him? He would have tied up Bao Zhao and handed him over immediately to avoid these troubles.

He also thought about the skies above the capital city of Xia Country; had Li Shiming struck then, he wouldn't have been able to escape.

At this moment, he noticed the Sect Leader and other Golden Core Elders glancing his way, and their looks filled him with fear.

Li Shiming's demand was to hand over Bo Ran and Bao Zhao. If they truly couldn't handle Li Shiming, then complying with his demand was the only choice.

"We should call back Great Elder Fan Xi. This battle can no longer continue!" a Golden Core Elder reminded the Sect Leader.

Above the battlefield, Great Elder Fan Xi relied on a flying secret technique to constantly increase the distance from Li Shiming. Throughout the battle, he rarely had the chance to counterattack, as any retaliation would affect his speed.

Once the Sect Leader realized Li Shiming possessed Great Elder-level Body Refining power, he understood they had no means to deal with Li Shiming.

With Elder Zang unable to take action, Great Elders were the strongest existence.

And within the Mingxin Sect, there was only one Great Elder. If Great Elder Fan Xi couldn't defeat Li Shiming, the Mingxin Sect would have no way to handle him.

As for a joint attack, that was a joke; while the whole Mingxin Sect could indeed defeat Li Shiming if they all attacked together, the thought of capturing a Great Elder-level Body Refining Golden Core was utterly impossible.

When it came to survival ability, Body Refining Golden Cores were second to none.

"What's happened?" suddenly, the Golden Core Elder who had just spoken cried out in alarm.

In the battle in the sky, Li Shiming was somewhat annoyed by his own speed. Without using "Step by Step Lotus," he couldn't catch up to Great Elder Fan Xi.

After all, Great Elder Fan Xi was a Great Elder and had some special speed-related secret technique, which allowed him to keep pace with Li Shiming.

With his Body Refining Golden Core method of combat, Li Shiming couldn't resolve his enemy without getting up close.

He also didn't want to involve the twelve Silver Corpses in the fight. Although the Silver Corpses were adept at defense, they couldn't block the attacks of a Great Elder.

However, he had more than just the twelve Silver Corpses. His life-bound magic weapon, the IBMz15, analyzed the battlefield and provided him with several battle plans. Following one of these, he step by step pressed closer to Great Elder Fan Xi.

Great Elder Fan Xi's path in the air was unknowingly being manipulated by Li Shiming.

When Great Elder Fan Xi flew in one direction, the space around him suddenly fluctuated, and an immense mouth bit his calf.

Neither his defensive magic treasure nor his body's Spiritual Power Pattern could block this bite.

What shocked him most was that he had detected nothing at all. He was maintaining his Divine Thought at all times during the fight, and he was certain that no object existed within the region surrounding his body.

This bite was obviously caused by the Absolute Spirit Illusionary Jiao. After evolving into a Great Demon, the Absolute Spirit Illusionary Jiao couldn't troublesome Great Elder Fan Xi in a face-to-face fight.

But as a member of an ancient spirit beast race and evolved into a Jiao, its strongest points were its bite and deadly poison.

Great Elder Fan Xi had been forced by Li Shiming into the proximity of the Absolute Spirit Illusionary Jiao, waiting only for the Jiao to open its mouth and bite down.

The Absolute Spirit Illusionary Jiao was not greedy, however. After taking a single bite, it immediately withdrew. The slight fluctuation caused by its attack vanished as it disappeared once again from Great Elder Fan Xi's Divine Thought.

"Poison!" Great Elder Fan Xi had no time to worry about the Absolute Spirit Illusionary Jiao. His calf was numb, and the numbness was spreading rapidly throughout his body.

Such a terrifyingly potent poison was something he had never encountered in his several hundreds of years of experience.

He quickly swallowed a Detoxification Spirit Pill, but this pill, proclaimed to cure all poisons, had absolutely no effect on the venom coursing through him.

However, he soon didn't have to worry about the poison anymore, because he was in the midst of a chase with Li Shiming. The moment he hesitated, Li Shiming caught up to him.

How strong Li Shiming's close combat abilities were could be put like this: without relying on Spiritual Power Pattern or magic treasure defenses, his close combat was invincible.

His life-bound magic weapon, IBMz15, Telepathy, divine eye, Third Grade Sword Base, Great Elder-level Body Refining power – all these combined to maximize his close combat skills and strength.

Among his peers, it was rare for any defensive spells or Spiritual Power shields to block a single close-range strike from a Great Elder Body Refining Golden Core.