Chapter 1854: Chapter 973: Victory (Part 2)

In an instant, the seventy-two ’Exotic Realm Divine Soldiers’ simultaneously froze in place, unable to move.

Li Shiming was shocked in his heart; what kind of method was this, controlling seventy-two ’Exotic Realm Divine Soldiers’ at once.

The ’Exotic Realm Divine Soldiers’, of course, were unwilling to be restrained; they struggled desperately, the energy on the pair of wings on their backs almost overflowing.

According to Li Shiming’s estimation, at most two breaths’ time, the seventy-two ’Exotic Realm Divine Soldiers’ could break free from the confinement.

But in two breaths’ time, the strong avatar of Great Power Luo Yuan could do many things.

Great Power Luo Yuan’s avatar flashed and used space movement to reach Li Shiming’s side while unleashing a massive amount of Inheritance Cave Heaven Energy from within, confining the entire area.

Li Shiming found that his Divine Foot Skill could not be used, which indicated that the spatial rules he controlled were still unable to compete with Great Power Luo Yuan’s confinement ability.

This was normal, given how little time he had cultivated compared to Great Power Luo Yuan.

However, he noticed that the spatial coordinates on his teleportation ring were not affected, allowing him to teleport away at any time.

He did not activate the teleportation ring immediately, as his seventy-two Holy Spirits were still here. Although he could remotely control them, if they were too far apart, it was hard to say what unexpected incidents might occur to the seventy-two Holy Spirits.

Additionally, he had confidence in the one hundred and eight ’Eternal Water Bears’ on him, which allowed him to take advantage of Great Power Luo Yuan’s avatar to test the strength of the Defensive Array constructed by the one hundred and eight ’Eternal Water Bears’.

Great Power Luo Yuan’s avatar revealed a gratified smile, as he had spent quite a bit of effort to capture Li Shiming.

Seeing that Li Shiming had no escape and was about to be captured alive, his mood improved significantly.

He was already considering how to torture Li Shiming once he brought him back.

In his opinion, the decline of the Yuqing Sect was all due to Li Shiming, who he regarded as the root cause of the sect’s weakening.

It was Li Shiming who had seized the ’Shenxiao Thunder Pearl’, causing a series of events to follow.

Great Power Luo Yuan’s avatar was still unaware that the shocking explosion at the mountain gate of the Yuqing Sect had rendered it unusable, with the primary culprit being none other than Li Shiming himself.

He attacked Li Shiming with a precision-calculated strike that could kill a late-stage fourth grade ’Eternal Water Bear’, severely injuring Li Shiming without taking his life.

To prevent Li Shiming from using spatial abilities to escape, he positioned himself within two meters of Li Shiming.

At such a distance, with Li Shiming unable to use the Divine Foot Skill, evading the attack was impossible for him.

The attack landed on Li Shiming, causing him to instinctively sway his body.

Centered on the ’Eternal Water Bear’ hit by Great Power Luo Yuan’s avatar, a ripple spread out to the one hundred and eight ’Eternal Water Bears’, nullifying all the power of the attack.

At the same time, Li Shiming did something unimaginable to Great Power Luo Yuan’s avatar.

Li Shiming counterattacked; just as Great Power Luo Yuan’s avatar launched his attack, Li Shiming also attacked Great Power Luo Yuan’s avatar.

Great Power Luo Yuan’s avatar could not imagine that under his full-level confinement, Li Shiming could still move and launch an attack.

The Inheritance Cave Heaven Energy released by Great Power Luo Yuan’s avatar indeed confined Li Shiming.

But the one hundred and eight ’Eternal Water Bears’ around Li Shiming absorbed most of the pressure for him, and the remaining soul suppression was also shared by his one hundred and ninety-one brains, enabling him to counterattack.

Under normal circumstances, even if he countered, as a Peak Great Cultivator, using a spiritual treasure for attack would yield very limited results.

He did not employ his usual attacks like ’Chaotic Spiritual Power’, ’Chaos Sword Intent’, Thunder Skill, etc., which seemed futile against Great Power Luo Yuan’s avatar.

He used the ’Cold Moon Ice Soul Needle’, a treasure of Guiyuan Sect’s Jiang Great Power, acquired by the avatar Li Yuanba and then sent to him.

Until now, he had not used the ’Cold Moon Ice Soul Needle’.

The main reason was that the ’Cold Moon Ice Soul Needle’ was related to Guiyuan Sect’s Jiang Great Power. To avoid unnecessary trouble and because of his multidimensional methodologies, he had never utilized the ’Cold Moon Ice Soul Needle’.

The ’Cold Moon Ice Soul Needle’, activated by the ice spiritual power converted from ’Chaotic Spiritual Power’, was very close at a distance of two meters.

Almost as soon as the ’Cold Moon Ice Soul Needle’ was unleashed, it hit Great Power Luo Yuan’s avatar.

Given the strength of Great Power Luo Yuan’s avatar—although not as formidable as the main body—it was still capable of reaching the level of a Great Power.

The power contained within the ’Cold Moon Ice Soul Needle’ made it challenging to harm Great Power Luo Yuan’s avatar, but the needle’s most fearsome attribute was its freezing capability, the primary reason it became a treasured artifact.

At the moment the ’Cold Moon Ice Soul Needle’ struck Great Power Luo Yuan’s avatar, the avatar was frozen.

Li Shiming felt a lightness all over, as the oppressive effect from Great Power Luo Yuan’s avatar disappeared with its freezing.

On the other side, the seventy-two Holy Spirits also recovered from the confinement and simultaneously used space movement to appear around Great Power Luo Yuan’s avatar.

"Slay!" Though there were seventy-two Holy Spirits, they exhibited no chaos; seventy-two flying swords attacked from every angle towards Great Power Luo Yuan’s avatar.

This was the first time the seventy-two Holy Spirits launched a true attack.

Li Shiming intended to use this opportunity to evaluate the attack power of the Holy Spirits, but unfortunately, he did not obtain effective results.

Because the simultaneous attack of the seventy-two Holy Spirits instantly shattered the energy body of Great Power Luo Yuan’s avatar, effortlessly, to Li Shiming’s surprise.

There was no need for all seventy-two Holy Spirits to strike; perhaps only half, or even fewer, would have sufficed to achieve the same result.

After the energy body of Great Power Luo Yuan’s avatar shattered, only a crystalline pearl remained, attempting to flee to a distant place.

Li Shiming sensed the soul aura emanating from the pearl, indicating that it housed the soul portion Great Power Luo Yuan used to create the avatar.

With a wave of his hand, a Heavenly Ghost appeared before the pearl.

The Heavenly Ghost swallowed the pearl in one bite, the pearl entering its body.

Through his contract with the Heavenly Ghost, Li Shiming discovered that although the pearl had entered the Heavenly Ghost’s body, its internal soul aura remained and was not consumed by the Heavenly Ghost.

It turned out that the pearl was a treasure that could protect the soul from harm.

No wonder the attack from the seventy-two Holy Spirits did not shatter the soul of Great Power Luo Yuan’s avatar; the pearl was the reason.

Of course, even if the pearl could protect the soul within, it would still be slowly refined; once the Heavenly Ghost refined the pearl, it could devour the soul of Great Power Luo Yuan’s avatar.

Additionally, having entered the Heavenly Ghost’s body, the soul of Great Power Luo Yuan’s avatar could no longer communicate with the main body, despite leaving the confining formation.

When it came to manipulating souls, the Heavenly Ghost was the true expert.

Li Shiming sensed that the Heavenly Ghost would need approximately thirty days to refine the pearl.

In thirty days, the Heavenly Ghost could refine the pearl and devour the soul of Great Power Luo Yuan’s avatar.

Li Shiming did not interfere with the refining process, as it involved the soul of a Great Power’s avatar, and he preferred to keep a safe distance, entrusting the task to the Heavenly Ghost, which could ignore the soul’s influence.

At this moment, Great Power Luo Yuan’s avatar was filled with fear. Reduced to only a soul, he still had the opportunity to return to the main body and restore his energy after replenishing it.

The pearl protecting his soul was a formidable treasure.

The pearl was not a solid object but was constructed of energy, with its material being a naturally energy-transformed gem, nourished by the souls of successive Inheritor Great Abilities from the Yuqing Sect, giving the pearl its immunity to all attacks.