CHAPTER 832: CHAPTER 462: FAREWELL (PART 2)

Elder Sword took the map, at first indifferent, but when he saw the markings on it, his eyes showed a look of amazement.

"Where did this come from?" he quickly asked.

"It was compiled from the notes of a cultivator from the Heavenly Inquiry Sect!" Li Yuanba did not hide anything and took out another jade scroll to speak.

Elder Sword accepted the jade scroll, examined its contents, but soon shook his head and placed the jade scroll aside.

"You truly have a heart for this!" He couldn’t help but admire his disciple. The content in the jade scroll was extremely chaotic, containing cultivation insights, scenes viewed, and records of the cultivator’s daily thoughts.

During the cultivation process, over the long years, cultivators always have some emotions that need venting, and each cultivator has different ways to vent these emotions.

This cultivator from the Heavenly Inquiry Sect vented by recording daily trivial matters, and Li Yuanba could discern vague or straightforward route descriptions from so many chaotic records and form a navigation map. The effort required for such a task was tremendous.

Even if Elder Sword had this jade scroll, compiling such a navigation map would not be an easy task.

"With this navigation map, I can first reach the Dongqi Continent, where I can find a large trading company’s long-distance flying boat. By taking the long-distance flying boat, I can return to the Sword Intent Chongxiao Pavilion!" he said rarely, with excitement.

Seeing he could assist his master, Li Yuanba also revealed a smile on his face.

Time passed quickly, the arrival of the Heavenly Inquiry Sect did not cause chaos on the Beishu Continent, at least for ordinary cultivators, it had no impact.

The Heavenly Inquiry Sect lost a batch of intelligence personnel, but still had people deeply infiltrating the inland of the Beishu Continent.

Continuous information was gathered by Ancestor Luo Wei, giving him an understanding of the current Beishu Continent, but how much intelligence concerning the grotto heaven he truly acquired, no one knew.

Over at Qianye Temple, it was discovered that one of their arhats was deliberately inquiring about the grotto heaven matter. Investigation revealed he was bribed by the Heavenly Inquiry Sect.

It was the lack of discretion in the arhat’s conduct that led to his discovery, causing other major sects to suspect their own disciples had been bribed but had yet to uncover such cases.

In such circumstances, Elder Sword prepared to depart.

At the summit of Chongxiao Peak, a red sun rose, golden rays spilled over the mountain top, draping the spirit grass, spirit wood, pavilion, and Elder Sword and Li Yuanba in a layer of golden gauze.

A subtle melancholy of parting surfaced between the two, for in the cultivation world, the bond between master and disciple is even stronger than that between father and son.

Though Li Yuanba was a clone, his emotions were genuine.

He said nothing, handing over prepared items to Elder Sword.

Elder Sword opened to see, a substantial thirty pounds of Third Grade Spirit Tea, whose quality immediately suggested it was personally curated by Li Shiming.

He shook his head, puzzled by how good the relationship between Li Yuanba and Li Shiming truly was.

Thirty pounds of Third Grade Spirit Tea roughly amounts to the quantity Li Shiming releases externally over ten years, it’s not something accessible through casual ties.

Even he, a Nascent Soul Ancestor, could only obtain two taels annually through the cooperative agreement among six major sects of Li Shiming-curated Third Grade Spirit Tea.

This disciple he never truly understood, Li Yuanba managed to cultivate at exceptional speed, with substantial resources provided by Li Shiming, which he was aware of.

This was why he did not leave any cultivation resources for Li Yuanba, as frankly, the disciple held more resources than he himself did.

"Yuanba, I no longer use Chongxiao Peak. I’ve discussed with your master ancestor that you may use this mountain for a hundred years; afterward it will revert to sect ownership!" Before leaving, Elder Sword secured some benefits for Li Yuanba.

In his judgment, a hundred years would suffice for Li Yuanba to cultivate to Great Elder Level, and if Yuanba still needed a Nascent Soul Level Spirit Vein, by then Yuanba himself would have become a Nascent Soul Ancestor.

"Thank you, Master, I really need it!" Li Yuanba suppressed the departure’s emotions and smiled to say.

"I await you at the Sword Intent Chongxiao Pavilion, this place cannot contain you!" Elder Sword finally spoke to him via sound transmission.

After saying so, Elder Sword ascended into the sky, and an identity jade disc fell from above, landing in Li Yuanba’s hand, it was precisely Elder Sword’s identity jade disc.

Li Yuanba received the identity jade disc, then ascended into the air. He only saw a sword light flying towards the distance.

"Master, have a safe journey!" he murmured.

Regarding Elder Sword’s departure, aside from the Nascent Soul Ancestors in Senluo Sect, only Li Yuanba knew of it, other cultivators were unaware.

Li Yuanba sensed something, he gazed at a nearby peak, known to belong to Elder Li, where Elder Li stood in the void, likewise watching the departing Elder Sword.

"Cultivate well, achieve Nascent Soul soon!" Elder Li also sensed Li Yuanba, his faint voice reaching Li Yuanba’s ears.

Li Yuanba bowed respectfully, it was his first time seeing Elder Li.

As he straightened, Elder Li’s figure was already gone.

Returning to Chongxiao Peak, with his master’s identity jade disc in hand, he could command all formations on the mountain.

He activated all the formations and notified the sect’s managing Golden Core Elder, announcing his closed-door cultivation beginning today, no longer handling external affairs.

Sharing sentiments with Li Shiming, Li Shiming’s mood was poor, the departure of Elder Sword left an important pillar absent for the clone.

Although Li Yuanba still had Ancestor Lu behind him, the relationship was far less intimate than with Master Elder Sword.

It could be said Elder Sword could stand up for Li Yuanba in any matter, whereas Ancestor Lu had to consider various interests.

Li Shiming had already completed alchemy for both Fan Ancestor and Elder Zuo; not just that, he had refined all Fourth Grade Spiritual Medicines into Spirit Pills for Nascent Soul Ancestors from Thousand Illusion Sect and other major sects.

His alchemy tasks were all finished, yet he distributed them gradually according to prior agreements.

On this day, he received Patriarch Ge from Thousand Illusion Sect, handing over the fourth-grade high-level spirit pills he refined.

If it were not for Patriarch Ge being Yin Shilan’s master, he wouldn’t have emerged, choosing instead to let the Silver Corpse handle matters.

Patriarch Ge left satisfied with the spirit pills, and Elder Zuo seized the opportunity to approach Li Shiming.

"Shiming, there’s something I need your help with!" Elder Zuo said, somewhat embarrassed.

"What is it, Uncle?" Li Shiming queried with mild curiosity.

Elder Zuo’s Fourth Grade Spiritual Medicine was completely refined into Spirit Pills for him, besides alchemy what else could he require of Li Shiming?

"It’s like this, recently our cooperation with the Skywalk Trading Company has grown closer. They’ve proposed conditions, hoping you’ll agree to refine a batch of fourth-grade spirit pills for them.

Of course, the recompense you negotiate with them, we won’t interfere. You can demand a high reward as they’re particularly wealthy!" Elder Zuo reluctantly shrugged.

Previously, Skywalk Trading Company had been yearning to meet with Li Shiming through Elder Zuo’s connections.

However, Elder Zuo considered multiple factors and did not consent.

Understandably, Li Shiming’s alchemy affairs impact the entire Beishu Continent’s six major sects and even Nascent Soul Ancestors from the Beishu Trading Company.

Just like recently, Li Shiming was conducting alchemy for the Thousand Illusion Sect, if Skywalk Trading Company were allowed to interject, it would affect Beishu Continent’s own Nascent Soul Ancestors’ alchemy agenda.

Yet, due to the Heavenly Inquiry Sect’s intrusion, the six major sects needed to strengthen ties with Skywalk Trading Company, making refusal impossible.

Hence, Elder Zuo personally requested Li Shiming to meet Ancestor Ren Xun from Skywalk Trading Company to discuss their alchemy matters.

As for queue jumps, the six major sects’ Nascent Soul Ancestors, who hadn’t begun alchemy yet, agreed to allow Skywalk Trading Company’s insertion considering Beishu Continent’s collective interest.