"Fellow cultivators, please do not be too harsh on Shiming, just make him hand over the Cave Heaven Inheritance. After that, let him continue refining pills for us!" Elder Zuo said in a deep voice.
With so many Nascent Soul Ancestors present, after finding the cave dwelling where Li Shiming was hiding, they were not worried that Li Shiming would escape.
If Li Shiming could indeed escape right under the noses of a group of Nascent Soul Ancestors, then these Nascent Soul Ancestors would have lived in vain.
Especially with Venerable Huike here, with Venerable Huike’s speed, he could definitely approach Li Shiming at the first instance, and just using Nascent Soul Stage pressure would be enough to make Li Shiming unable to resist.
"Mr. Zuo, do you really think Li Shiming doesn’t know what the Shushan Sect is doing?" Ancestor Lu asked Elder Zuo in return.
The ones who paid the highest price for Li Shiming, besides the Shushan Sect, were the Senluo Sect. The Senluo Sect forced a Golden Core genius to leave, and did so in a way that forged a deep grudge.
Every time he thinks of Li Yuanba’s retaliatory methods, even Ancestor Lu feels a chill down his spine.
The outcome of Elder Li’s cave dwelling and mountain peak is known by all the major sects on the Beishu Continent, leaving Elder Li too ashamed to show himself outside.
This matter has also become a topic among the major powers, with every cultivator astonished by Li Yuanba’s decisiveness and viciousness.
Unable to retaliate against the Nascent Soul Ancestor, he destroyed the Nascent Soul Ancestor’s cave dwelling and mountain peak, which is tantamount to publicly shaming Elder Li.
Recently, Ancestor Lu has not been in a good mood, and he speaks with less stability than usual.
But he was right. To trace Li Shiming’s whereabouts, the Shushan Sect, aside from investigating the Beishu Continent, also sent cultivators to Sky Sea Island.
In particular, these investigations were conducted in cooperation with Skywalk Trading Company and the Heavenly Inquiry Sect, entirely disregarding the contributions Li Shiming previously made to the Shushan Sect.
"Lu, the Shushan Sect will not commit the mistake of forcing our own disciples to rebel!" Elder Zuo, also in a bad mood, retorted.
The two Nascent Soul Ancestors stared at each other like two roosters ready to fight.
"You two, capture Li Shiming first, then discuss the rest!" Ancestor Zhan intervened in the confrontation between the two Nascent Soul Ancestors and said.
"Yes, let’s focus on the task at hand!" Venerable Huike also advised.
Under the persuasion of the Nascent Soul Ancestors present, Elder Zuo and Ancestor Lu ceased their confrontation, and the six Nascent Soul Ancestors advanced towards the seabed.
"The formation is somewhat weak!" Venerable Huike noticed and said.
As he spoke, he used "Within Reach," disappearing into the sea, and the other Nascent Soul Ancestors, fearing they would be too slow and let Venerable Huike gain the advantage, sped up.
When they arrived outside the underwater cave dwelling, the formation of the cave dwelling opened from the inside.
When they saw the situation inside the cave dwelling, the five Nascent Soul Ancestors who came in understood that Venerable Huike had gained nothing, as the cave dwelling had evidently been cleared.
Based on the traces in the cave dwelling, at least ten days had passed without anyone living there.
They saw the array plate on the cave floor and the communication token on the array plate and shook their heads helplessly.
"What message did Li Shiming send to Yin Shilan?" Elder Zuo asked Ancestor Zhan.
"He said to wait for him to return!" Ancestor Zhan, slightly blushing, replied.
Spying on the private messages of sect disciples is not something honorable.
The Thousand Illusion Sect prides itself on being righteous and does not act as unrestrained as the Demon Sect; at least Ancestor Zhan still knows how to blush.
"Has Li Shiming left the Beishu Continent?" Ancestor Lan asked with slight hesitation.
She had a reason to ask this. Based on the judgments of the Nascent Soul Ancestors from the six major sects, the Heavenly Inquiry Sect, and Skywalk Trading Company, Li Shiming should have only been hiding on the Beishu Continent.
This is because leaving the Beishu Continent requires Nascent Soul Stage strength and a safe route.
Whether it is Nascent Soul Stage strength or a safe route, Li Shiming is unlikely to obtain them.
Clearly, although Li Shiming obtained the Cave Heaven Inheritance, he did not derive much benefit from it. The Nascent Soul Ancestors here have mostly entered the Cave Heaven and understand that such a rigorous Cave Heaven test is definitely not prepared for Golden Core cultivators.
Although it is unknown what means Li Shiming used to pass the Cave Heaven test, his level, without reaching the Nascent Soul Stage, would prevent him from truly receiving the Cave Heaven Inheritance.
Without the Cave Heaven Inheritance, Li Shiming cannot rapidly increase his strength.
Even if Li Shiming raises his level to the Nascent Soul Stage, without a safe route it would be futile.
Why have the Nascent Soul Ancestors from the six major sects of Beishu rarely left the Beishu Continent? It’s because there are no safe routes.
Even if historically there have been Nascent Soul Ancestors who safely reached other continents, for various reasons, they were unable to pass on the route.
A route is not so easily passed on; it’s not enough for a Nascent Soul Ancestor to cross the ocean by chance. It requires long-term investment, with continual inspections and adjustments by Nascent Soul Ancestors.
Knowing this, Ancestor Lan was doubtful, suspecting that based on Li Shiming’s message, he has left the Beishu Continent.
"We cannot judge Li Shiming’s capabilities using the standards of ordinary Golden Core cultivators; he did pass the Cave Heaven test!" Ancestor Lou said lightly.
The other Nascent Soul Ancestors also realized that, yes, the difficulty of the Cave Heaven test was so great that even Elder Jin Kai at the Nascent Soul Middle Stage was injured.
"Oh, there are cultivators coming!" Ancestor Lu suddenly warned.
They exchanged glances and immediately formed a battle formation centered around Venerable Huike.