CHAPTER 1017: CHAPTER 555: SHOWDOWN

"Indeed, it’s arrived!" Grandmaster Hu seemed to sense something, muttering to himself.

Li Shiming’s ’Divine Sight’ could see quite far, and he observed a cultivator approaching, though the cultivator stopped before reaching Purple Leaf Island.

Zhao Qingfeng was the Great Cultivator of the Gu Feng Sect, responsible for the cultivators on Purple Leaf Island from his lineage.

He was away on business and not present on Purple Leaf Island.

Upon receiving a distress signal from Purple Leaf Island, he rushed back immediately.

However, as he neared Purple Leaf Island, he sensed an unusual aura.

Though the cultivators of Ten Thousand Beast Sect were hidden within a concealing array, Great Cultivator Zhao’s sensory perception was not something a mere concealing array could block. Once he neared a certain distance, he could sense the presence of the array.

He had already seen the devastation on Purple Leaf Island, traces left by the full assault of dozens of Nascent Soul cultivators.

The massive losses caused his body to sway slightly, and he couldn’t fathom the impact of this setback on himself.

No matter how the war waged, his influence within the Gu Feng Sect would be severely affected.

Though being a Great Cultivator meant his status within the Gu Feng Sect would remain unchanged, losing a significant number of Nascent Soul cultivators from his lineage meant fewer available personnel, thus diminishing his power.

As power diminishes, his channels to obtain resources would be affected.

On a grander scale, the loss of these Nascent Soul cultivators would weaken the overall power of the Gu Feng Sect, placing them at a disadvantage in the war against the Ten Thousand Beast Sect.

Li Shiming’s identity jade disc transmitted battle commands once again, this time requiring all cultivators to unleash a full-force attack, including Li Shiming himself.

After one strike, all cultivators were to immediately maintain formation and retreat out of the combat range.

The distance between the Ten Thousand Beast Sect and Great Cultivator Zhao’s range was initially far, placing Zhao outside the attack range of Nascent Soul cultivators.

Yet, the concealing array of the Ten Thousand Beast Sect had the ability to converge all attacks for long-range assault, though this effect was one-time only, causing the array to lose efficacy after one strike.

Li Shiming followed the battle orders, activating the Mu Lei Nascent Soul Dharma Image, abstaining from using the Heavenly Strike Thunder Hammer, and unleashing the full power of his lightning attack.

With two Great Cultivators and dozens of Nascent Soul cultivators present, using the Heavenly Strike Thunder Hammer would promptly reveal its unique attributes to the cultivators.

Considering his recent advancement to the Nascent Soul Stage, not possessing an impressive attack artifact was understandable.

The thunder and lightning magic he cast had a power level considered upper-middle among all Nascent Soul Early Stage practitioners.

The lightning from his thunder and lightning magic, like other cultivators’ attacks, was guided by the formation towards Great Cultivator Zhao.

"Petty tricks, dare to show off!" Great Cultivator Zhao sensed the incoming attack, uttering contemptuously.

With a wave of his hand, a flash of golden light appeared, effortlessly blocking the full force strike from numerous Nascent Soul cultivators.

Throughout the entire process, Great Cultivator Zhao didn’t even activate his Dharma Manifestation.

Witnessing a Great Cultivator battle for the first time, Li Shiming realized the vast difference between a Great Cultivator and Nascent Soul Middle Stage cultivators.

After employing his thunder and lightning magic, he retreated with all cultivators.

Great Cultivator Zhao did not pursue the Ten Thousand Beast Sect cultivators; he was too occupied, being targeted by the auras of Grandmaster Hu and Master Ding.

"Didn’t expect we’d catch such a big fish!" Master Ding laughed heartily.

He was the commander of this battle, with even Grandmaster Hu following his orders.

The earlier results at Purple Leaf Island had greatly satisfied him, inflicting severe pain on the Gu Feng Sect and repaying the Ten Thousand Beast Sect’s losses in kind.

However, compared to obliterating a Great Cultivator of Gu Feng Sect, those achievements were nothing.

Beside Master Ding, appeared a Four-clawed Dragon, its aura reaching the peak of Fourth Grade Middle Stage, but its dragon lineage allowed its combat power to rival late-stage Fourth Grade beings.

In a battle between two Great Cultivators, at least, the opposing side could not ignore the combat power of the Four-clawed Dragon.

Beside Grandmaster Hu was a Red Gold Phoenix, standing at six meters tall, similarly at the peak of Fourth Grade Middle Stage, nearly advancing to late-stage Fourth Grade.

Li Shiming sensed that the bloodline of this Red Gold Phoenix was not pure and likely evolved by consuming bloodlines.

This was similar to his Illusion Spirit Dragon, which evolved into a Five-clawed Dragon by absorbing dragon lineage.

Although the Illusion Spirit Dragon was not much weaker than a naturally-born Five-clawed Dragon, the grandeur and potential of a naturally-born Five-clawed Dragon was incomparable to a post-evolution Five-clawed Dragon.

Just like Master Ding and Grandmaster Hu’s spiritual pets, they remained stuck at the peak of the Fourth Grade Middle Stage, despite not lacking resources to evolve their spiritual pets.

Master Ding’s Four-clawed Dragon hadn’t even attained the Five-clawed Dragon level, demanding significant effort for forward advancement to late-stage Fourth Grade.

Grandmaster Hu’s Red Gold Phoenix, not being a naturally-born one, faced similar difficulties advancing to late-stage Fourth Grade.

This explained why Grandmaster Hu held Li Shiming’s Little Feng in high regard—being a naturally-born Red Gold Phoenix, it had the potential to advance to late-stage Fourth Grade and the bottleneck was not particularly strong.