CHAPTER 972: CHAPTER 532: THE INHERITED ABODE (PART 2)

If no one knows there’s a cave dwelling here, who would deliberately investigate the source of a pond? This seemingly unobtrusive method is extremely adept at grasping people’s minds, allowing this cave dwelling to be preserved until now.

Li Shiming activated ’Within Reach, Yet Worlds Apart’ and stepped over the pond and rock crevices, arriving at the stone lion.

Looking at the stone door, he speculated about the purpose of the estate here and whether it might pose any danger.

Some estates are the tombs of cultivators, where cultivators, facing the end of their lifespan, seal themselves in their cave dwelling.

Others are places where cultivators leave behind a legacy, often with some means for their descendants to come and obtain cultivation resources.

Some are traps; when Li Shiming once explored the cave of the Six-fingered Sound Demon, it was laid as a trap to find a suitable body for seizing.

No matter the purpose of the estate in front of him, he has come this far, he always has to explore it.

Using ’Divine Eyes,’ he inspected the stone door; there were no signs of mechanisms or formations left on it. This stone door purely needed brute force to open.

"Nanming, open the stone door!" Li Shiming would not exert himself, he released the Golden Corpse to instruct it.

The defensive power of the Golden Corpse Nanming was even higher than his own; the Golden Corpse’s defense was almost equivalent to a Fourth-Grade Defense Magical Treasure, commonly used as a cultivator’s shield to block enemy attacks.

The Golden Corpse approached the stone door; its three-meter-high body resembled a human’s, even the fangs on its face were much restrained, soon it would look no different from a normal human.

It braced its hands against the stone door, unleashing its full strength; the stone door emitted a teeth-grinding friction sound as it slowly opened.

As the stone door opened, a surge of spiritual energy followed.

Li Shiming’s eyes brightened; even if there were no good things inside this estate, the source of this spiritual energy alone was worth his effort.

This source of spiritual energy is most likely generated by a Nascent Soul Level Spirit Vein, not compared to the Beishu Continent’s Nascent Soul Level Spirit Veins, but those of the Dongqi Continent.

After the Golden Corpse pushed open the stone door, it remained in place awaiting new instructions.

Li Shiming and the Golden Corpse walked into the cave dwelling side by side, with the Illusion Spirit Dragon invisible beside him; such strength is surely crushing against enemies unless facing a Nascent Soul Middle Stage Practitioner.

And according to the jade tablet, the master of this estate was merely of Nascent Soul Middle Stage strength, regardless of how strong the methods left behind, they couldn’t exceed Nascent Soul Middle Stage power.

The first stop was a hall; only a pot of fourth-grade spiritual tea tree had some value here.

This fourth-grade spiritual tea tree was planted in a jade pot, which itself was a Fourth Grade Spirit Item, with extraordinary spirit soil inside, allowing the fourth-grade spiritual tea tree to survive without caretaking.

Not to mention the value of the fourth-grade spiritual tea tree, the jade pot and its spirit soil alone were worth studying.

Beyond the hall was a corridor, with the spiritual cultivation technique ’Qingtiao Illusion Scripture’ engraved on the walls.

Li Shiming found it odd; the owner of this estate was so generous to record a spiritual cultivation technique on the walls, if many cultivators entered, wouldn’t each gain the ’Qingtiao Illusion Scripture’?

Thinking about the original explorers of this estate being six Nascent Soul Early Stage Practitioners, this ’Qingtiao Illusion Scripture’ indeed seems left for all cultivators.

His natal magical treasure IBMz15 recorded the ’Qingtiao Illusion Scripture’ technique, though he himself had little interest in ’Qingtiao Illusion Scripture’.

Considering he already possessed the ’Human Dao Reincarnation Technique’ spiritual cultivation method, far more profound than ’Qingtiao Illusion Scripture’.

’Qingtiao Illusion Scripture’ could be engraved on walls, but ’Human Dao Reincarnation Technique’ would require a wall of at least several thousand meters to inscribe.

Beyond the corridor was a lavishly arranged room resembling a tea room.

A tea table and chairs made of fourth-grade spirit wood, alongside a fourth-grade tea set.

In the fourth-grade tea jar were stored six portions of fourth-grade spiritual tea, of quality that could be considered exceptional if not for being inferior to Li Shiming’s personally crafted fourth-grade spiritual tea.

Moreover, a paper note was left on the table.

’This tea is Qingtiao Spirit Tea, highly effective when cultivated alongside ’Qingtiao Illusion Scripture’!’

Li Shiming smiled faintly, regardless of its effectiveness, with a wave he collected all the Spiritual Objects.

Once he returned to the sect, he could use this fourth-grade tea set in his cave dwelling for entertaining important guests.

Further inside lies a vast space, where in six directions stood six treasure cabinets, each housing a Fourth-Grade Magical Treasure.

Li Shiming paused before entering, his gaze flickered as he examined the arrangement of the space.

"What luck I have, always encountering traps in estates!" Li Shiming muttered softly.

The Netherworld Emperor was equally displeased; since encountering issues with his cultivation, he’d wanted rebirth, requiring a perfect body for seizing.

For this, he laid a meticulous scheme, originally expecting six practitioners, whom he would guide into battles among themselves, choosing the survivor for body seizing.

But now only Li Shiming had arrived, rendering the carefully arranged elements by the Netherworld Emperor useless.

Yet upon probing Li Shiming, the Netherworld Emperor was delighted to find Li Shiming was barely a hundred years old yet already at Nascent Soul Stage, a top-tier talent even among major sects.

While the Netherworld Emperor’s physical form had perished, his current state existed as a ghostly form.

As a cultivator of the Sun Concealing Sect, his Demon Sect secret techniques had bizarre effects on souls, allowing his spirit to prolong in ghostly form for hundreds of years within a previously arranged setting.

Moreover, his ghostly state retained combat ability, which is his greatest confidence.

Li Shiming noticed the anomaly, yet felt little concern, focusing on studying the spatial arrangement.

The formations here were particularly intriguing, specifically targeting the soul, its effects were unclear, even his natal magical treasure IBMz15 couldn’t find a similar formation.

He presumed standing at the entrance outside the space posed no danger.

Once he deduced the purpose of the space, he could devise a solution to eliminate the trouble.

However, during his observation, the temperature dropped noticeably and a black-gray shadow emerged from nowhere, rushing toward him.

Maintaining ’Divine Eyes’, he discerned the black-gray shadow; a human visage manifested on the shadow’s front.

"Fourth-Grade Ghost Soul!" He gasped, startled in thought.

Having encountered Fourth Grade Ghost Souls in Great Power Zhai Ge’s Grotto Heaven before.

Relying entirely on the ability of the Heavenly Ghost, he managed to evade pursuit by the Fourth Grade Ghost Souls.

This Fourth Grade Ghost Soul however was different from those in the cave; seeing its face revealed its intelligence akin to a human’s, possibly even transformed from a human cultivator.

Just as he turned to employ ’Within Reach, Yet Worlds Apart’ to escape, an encompassing energy enveloped the cave dwelling.

His ’Within Reach, Yet Worlds Apart’ couldn’t traverse the cave dwelling, preventing him from using Divine Foot Skill to leave.

A sharp gleam flashed in his eye; though the Fourth Grade Ghost Soul was terrifying, it wasn’t beyond his capability to challenge.

Few cultivators willingly fight Fourth Grade Ghost Souls unless possessing soul-targeting techniques, as many attacks are ineffective, or effects are significantly mitigated.

Nonetheless, Fourth Grade Ghost Souls aren’t invincible; Buddhist techniques and Thunder Cultivators can somewhat counter them.

Li Shiming himself was a Thunder Cultivator, overcoming his initial panic, decided to fight with no retreat.

He wouldn’t normally choose to battle a Fourth Grade Ghost Soul unless necessary, despite stabilizing his realm for years, in terms of foundation he remained the lowest among Nascent Soul Early Stage practitioners.

This Fourth Grade Ghost Soul however, emanated a mid Fourth Grade aura.