Great Elder Sun Ao was afraid, something that had not happened to him since he became the Body Refining Grand Elder.
Even when facing Elder Shi Ming and Elder You Xia, he could handle them with composure; he might not be able to defeat these two Great Elders, but they could not defeat him either.
He had always thought that in the Golden Core Stage, he was the pinnacle of combat strength, especially unbeatable in close combat.
But now, he had been defeated by a Golden Core Realm alchemy master who was only at the Golden Core Middle Stage.
No longer did he harbor any thoughts of capturing Li Shiming; how could Li Shiming be so easily caught? In close combat, he couldn’t even get a touch of Li Shiming’s shadow.
Great Elder Sun Ao once again used a secret technique; this time, his target was the outer formation.
His vitality surged, and after a short burst, he appeared beside the formation’s protective barrier.
Just as he was about to deliver a heavy blow to the formation’s barrier, suddenly he saw a white lotus appear beside him.
Accompanied by the white lotus was Li Shiming, wielding the Third Grade Sword Base. Before he could launch an attack, Li Shiming struck his arm with a sword.
Li Shiming was also a Body Refining Grand Elder, and although he couldn’t completely break through Great Elder Sun Ao’s defense, his full-strength strike was enough to impede Sun Ao’s attack.
"Divine Foot Skill, you’ve actually mastered the Divine Foot Skill!" Great Elder Sun Ao let out a cry of astonishment, his eyes filled with disbelief.
He had the thought of re-evaluating the Beishu Continent; how could the waters of the Beishu Continent run so deep?
Just an alchemy master, yet so terrifying in close combat and even mastering the Divine Foot Skill.
A Body Refining Grand Elder mastering the Divine Foot Skill was a chilling thought indeed.
Think about it, the biggest hassle for a Body Refining Grand Elder fighting other Great Elders was getting close to them.
All the Great Elders knew about the close combat strength of a Body Refining Grand Elder, so they would do everything possible to avoid letting them get close.
The Body Refining Grand Elder would also use various short-range explosive secret techniques to attempt to close in, but once the other cultivators became aware of these techniques, their effectiveness would be greatly reduced.
But the Divine Foot Skill of Li Shiming was different; it was an inescapable method of closing in.
This means that cultivators fighting against Li Shiming couldn’t run away, and they couldn’t refuse Li Shiming’s approach.
Great Elder Sun Ao was ’fortunate’ enough to become a victim of this kind of combat method from Li Shiming.
Li Shiming smiled faintly; what he needed to do was to make Sun Ao bleed and weaken him.
This was the simplest and most effective method. There were other methods, but they all had risks.
The Illusion Spirit Jiao, invisible on the side, was already ready; at Li Shiming’s command, it would immediately take a bite at Sun Ao.
Perhaps the Illusion Spirit Jiao couldn’t break through Sun Ao’s defense, but remember, Sun Ao had quite a few wounds not yet healed; a bite at any of these wounds would introduce deadly poison into his body.
However, by doing this, Li Shiming would most likely end up with a corpse, as the Illusion Spirit Jiao’s poison was extremely lethal; contact with it meant almost certain death.
After realizing Li Shiming had mastered the Divine Foot Skill, Sun Ao did not attack the formation anymore; instead, he stopped attacking Li Shiming and contracted his body tightly, his movements similar to the previously glimpsed gargantuan Mysterious Turtle.
Li Shiming noticed the effectiveness of the Third Grade Sword Base against Sun Ao had decreased significantly; in this state, Sun Ao’s defensive power had increased a lot.
The Third Grade Sword Base needed multiple slashes at the same spot to create a single wound.
Moreover, when he attacked elsewhere, this wound that had just opened would heal even faster; even the effect of the Heavenly Thunder Sword Intent was reduced by several times and could easily be dispelled.
Li Shiming’s brows furrowed; he had not expected Great Elder Sun Ao to have this trick up his sleeve.
This was a special technique of Sun Ao’s Body Refining cultivation technique, abandoning all offensive power in exchange for the strongest defense.
At this time, Sun Ao seemed to him like the colossal Mysterious Turtle, immune to his attacks as if they were landing on its amazingly defensive shell.
The light flickered in Li Shiming’s eyes; in this state, Sun Ao’s Spiritual Power Pattern also had flaws.
It couldn’t exactly be called flaws, as Sun Ao’s Spiritual Power Pattern had less variation when he remained still, allowing the ’Divine Eye Skill’ to accurately identify it.
Li Shiming’s ’Divine Eye Skill’ saw Sun Ao’s Spiritual Power Pattern, and his lifebound artifact, IBMz15, analyzed the nodes of the Spiritual Power Pattern.
He needed to find a spot that wasn’t fatal but could break Sun Ao’s defense.
Great Elder Sun Ao felt extremely frustrated, yet he was somewhat relieved that Li Shiming’s Golden Core Realm was only at the middle stage; otherwise, with Li Shiming’s Sword Intent, he feared it really could break his Mysterious Turtle defensive posture.
He didn’t need to rush now; in his Mysterious Turtle defensive state, not only was his defensive power astounding, but his body’s consumption also decreased.
He could entirely afford a battle of attrition with Li Shiming, whose main technique meant greater consumption; all he had to do was wait for Li Shiming’s Spiritual Power to drain excessively, then he could counterattack or escape.
While he was pondering, suddenly he sensed an unparalleled sharpness.
Alarmed, he felt a flying sword headed his way; this flying sword carried a certain aura, making it possess the might of a fourth grade, despite being only a third grade material.