Beyond Li Shiming’s expectations, he initially thought that receiving thirty or forty shares of top 4th grade Corpse Refining materials was quite good, considering there were only fifty pill refining commissions.

However, he never imagined that the Cultivation World craved pill refining commissions beyond his imagination.

Actually, one cannot blame these forces, for he hadn’t accepted pill refining commissions for a long time; even when he did, it was limited.

During the decades when he ceased pill refining, the various forces more or less accumulated some Great Cultivator Spiritual Medicine.

Unwilling to hand over these Great Cultivator Spiritual Medicine to other Alchemy Masters, the Cultivation World thus accumulated a considerable amount over the years.

If they couldn’t invite Li Shiming to refine pills this time, they didn’t know how many more years the Great Cultivator Spiritual Medicine in their hands would stay idle, hence the intense competition.

Eventually, the fifty pill refining commissions enabled Li Shiming to acquire eighty-five shares of top 4th grade Corpse Refining materials.

This amount exceeded his needs, as he still had sixty-three corpses of half-step Great Power winged intelligent beings.

After an auction, the valley sealed by the Ten Thousand Beast Sect began to see continuous Heavenly Tribulations.

Furthermore, this auction caused the value of top 4th grade Corpse Refining materials in the Cultivation World to rise significantly, prompting many forces to purchase these materials.

A month after the auction, Grandmaster Hu appeared outside the valley.

He was very curious about the inside of the valley, wondering what Li Shiming was doing, and why nine Heavenly Thunders in a Heavenly Tribulation appeared.

Although the Ten Thousand Beast Sect had no records of nine Heavenly Thunders, even the most foolish could infer from the number of thunders that this is definitely not a Heavenly Thunder at a Great Cultivator’s level.

He sent a communication technique into the valley, and shortly afterwards, he saw Li Yuanba emerge from within.

Grandmaster Hu was aware that Li Yuanba of Sword Intent Chongxiao Pavilion had come to the Dongqi Continent and stayed for a long time.

Li Yuanba and Li Shiming were friends, something Grandmaster Hu was pleased to see.

Therefore, Grandmaster Hu wasn’t surprised to see Li Yuanba emerge from the valley.

"This is from Mr. Li for you!" Li Yuanba slightly bowed and handed over a Mustard Seed Ring, saying.

"Thank you, Senior Li!" Grandmaster Hu quickly returned the courtesy.

"I am friends with Mr. Li, and Mr. Li’s master is also my senior, so don’t call me senior; just call me Yuanba!" Li Yuanba waved his hand.

In the past, Grandmaster Hu wouldn’t have been so courteous, but as Li Yuanba is now a top powerhouse in the Cultivation World, with a record of slaying half-step Great Powers.

"Then I will boldly call you Yuanba!" Grandmaster Hu smiled.

From this statement, he gleaned more information; the relationship between Li Shiming and Li Yuanba is extremely close, practically a bond of life or death, otherwise he wouldn’t speak so.

In the Cultivation World, respect is given to strength; it’s not necessarily true that those older are senior.

Like Li Yuanba, a Peak Great Cultivator, his status ranks atop the Cultivation World, beyond all but his own master, almost the pinnacle in the absence of Great Powers.

Grandmaster Hu cheerfully examined the Mustard Seed Ring, and upon seeing the array of jade bottles, he showed a look of surprise.

He didn’t quite believe as he inspected the Great Cultivator Spirit Pills inside the jade bottles, comparing them to the quantity of pill refining commissions.

He discovered the quantity of high-level Spirit Pills in the Mustard Seed Ring matched the number of pill refining commissions.

Only a month had passed; receiving news from Li Shiming, he thought Li Shiming was preparing to deliver part of the Great Cultivator Spirit Pills, unexpectedly it was all of them.

"Please inform Shizhen, these Great Cultivator Spirit Pills will be delivered on a monthly basis over a year!" To avoid hassle, Grandmaster Hu pondered and said.

"Mr. Li said it’s all up to you!" Li Yuanba replied with a smile.

The efficiency in refining top-grade Great Cultivator Spirit Pills with the fifth-grade ’Infinite Immortal Fire’ is extremely high, though its difficulty is elevated by no less than tenfold.

Originally lasting thirty days, the pill refining process compressed into three to four days, with more complex changes within the Pill Furnace.

And because the pill refining process occurs in the machine room space, where the precision control of 0.05 nanometers can replicate the previous pill refining perfectly.

Except he intentionally introduced some imperfections to prevent the high-level Spirit Pills from being too perfect, ’Infinite Immortal Fire’ hardly affected the pill refining.

After sending off Grandmaster Hu, Li Yuanba re-entered the valley.

At this moment, the valley was devoid of life; the ground was charred.

No matter whether animal or plant, under the half-step Great Power Heavenly Tribulation, all had turned to ash.

On the charred ground, a Corpse Refining Array had been rebuilt dozens of times.

With IBMz15’s assistance, the Corpse Refining process had never failed until now. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

Even the nine-fold Heavenly Thunder of half-step Great Power Heavenly Tribulation had no danger beyond a slight scare with the first Holy Spirit during the initial unfamiliar attempt.

Li Shiming stood in the void now; although he appeared immobile, he was busy throughout.

His workload equated to that of over a hundred same-level Great Cultivators; it was far from being as relaxed as it seemed.

Day by day, as the last Holy Spirit passed the Heavenly Tribulation, clad in armor prepared by Li Shiming and wielding a Longsword, his Corpse Refining process was complete.

He released all seventy-three Holy Spirits before him.

Without even needing the seventy-three Holy Spirits to act, standing there alone—a formation of seventy-three half-step Great Powers, capable of attack, defense, close, or ranged—was a force that would make the Cultivation World tremble.

Li Shiming waved, and one Holy Spirit approached, standing beside Li Yuanba.

After pondering, he summoned Duke of Thunder, kept by his side, to hand over to Li Yuanba.

For him, Duke of Thunder had lost its function; the Holy Spirit possessed all its capabilities, and indeed was stronger.

As for why he kept seventy-two Holy Spirits instead of giving Li Yuanba more.

This wasn’t due to any other reason; Li Yuanba was Li Shiming’s alter ego, they were one, needing no distinctions between them.

Li Shiming kept seventy-two Holy Spirits because seventy-two is the number of Earthly Fiends.

With seventy-two Holy Spirits, he could form many unpredictable formations, maximizing their effectiveness.

Li Shiming stored away the seventy-two Holy Spirits; with these, he dared challenge a Great Power.

Of course, such confidence arose from having these numerous Holy Spirits—a psychological inflation—perhaps capable against weaker Great Powers, yet utterly inadequate against truly strong ones.

Li Shiming returned to clarity, admonishing himself not to presume strength simply because his alter ego, Li Yuanba, slew a Great Power.

If not for Great Power Leng Luo’s severe injury, greatly reducing strength, even multiplied numbers of Duke of Thunder and Red Demon couldn’t overcome Leng Luo, let alone kill him.

In future encounters with Great Powers, retreat is advised, not delusions.

Currently, he possessed three Great Power corpses: one of Great Power Leng Luo, the other two of winged intelligent beings.

But these three Great Power corpses, he could only observe, for at his realm, refining them was utter fantasy.

"Fellow, I bid you farewell!" Li Yuanba bowed to Li Shiming.

"Fellow, travel well!" Li Shiming waved with a smile.

Despite being the same person, bidding farewell was akin to speaking to oneself, yet Li Shiming consistently focused on meticulous interaction with Li Yuanba, at least not exposing him as an alter ego.

Moreover, it was Li Shiming’s psychological adjustment; through such means, he distinctly separated the identities of Li Shiming and Li Yuanba.