Cultivation is just so scientific!

Due to the outermost defense array of the Flying Boat being damaged, and Junior Master Zhao lacking the means to repair it himself, gusts of wind and turbulent flows intermittently appeared on the deck.

Even the main door on the first floor, under the assault of fierce winds and chaotic streams, would emit a grating noise that set one's teeth on edge from time to time.

In such conditions, even Li Shiming couldn't venture onto the deck, as Junior Master Cui told him, without the protection of Spiritual Power Patterns on his body, the unguarded deck was extremely dangerous.

From the perspective of science in his past life, the dangers in the high skies were theoretically limited to conditions such as hypoxia, cold temperatures, and low air pressure, which should pose no threat to a cultivator's body.

But he also understood that this world had Spiritual Energy, which made many things behave abnormally.

It was his responsibility to look after the nine youths, he would rest on the second floor, and would only come down to prepare meals for them at mealtime.

As for the rest of the time, after having experienced a life-and-death encounter, the nine youths became much less mischievous and very well-behaved to an extent that was almost alarming.

While Li Shiming practiced on the second floor, although he couldn't use the Gathering Spirit Plate, he felt an environment even more conducive to cultivation than the Gathering Spirit Plate provided.

The dense Spiritual Energy here was more than twice the concentration he experienced when using the Gathering Spirit Plate in the secular world.

During this period, he also reflected on the experience of the previous battle, especially the technique 'Devil's Sound into the Ear.'

The name 'Devil's Sound into the Ear' he had learned during a conversation among the three Junior Masters; it was a unique Sound Wave Technique of the Xuanming Sect, capable of affecting an opponent with laughter even before the battle began.

Using 'Devil's Sound into the Ear' against cultivators a whole tier lower was almost always advantageous—just a burst of laughter could wipe out a group of cultivators.

Li Shiming's study of the 'Devil's Sound into the Ear' embedded in Jiang Bing's laughter, which he analyzed with an IBMz15, resulted in a sound wave technique that he also named 'Devil's Sound into the Ear,' but its essence was different.

His 'Devil's Sound into the Ear' had to be suffixed with 'Fake' because his version fell far short of the true 'Devil's Sound into the Ear' in its application of Spiritual Power, yet it surpassed the original in its control over frequencies and decibels.

Particularly when he used his own mouth as the instrument and the IBMz15 orchestrated the sounds, he was able to produce many noises that he couldn't generate on his own.

This was exactly why the Qi Refining Cultivator from the Xuanming Sect was terrified by the 'Great Compassion Mantra' he had emitted underwater; it was not just the sound of a human voice but also instrumental sounds, and they were emitted simultaneously.

The IBMz15 treated Li Shiming's vocal cords, tongue, and oral cavity as a speaker system, albeit a rather complex one.

Through this insight, Li Shiming considered another possibility, wondering if the IBMz15 could control his body, treating it as an external device and manipulating it through programming.

However, this idea quickly ran into trouble, as the body wasn't recognized by IBMz15 as an external device. It seemed that his connection with IBMz15 wasn't as close as he had imagined.

Li Shiming shook his head vigorously, realizing he had been too focused, borrowing the CPU of IBMz15, and felt like his brain was almost overloading.

He stood up and walked over to the window.

Through the window on the second floor, he could take in even more of the scenery.

He noticed that, unbeknownst to him, the Flying Boat had left the land and was now flying over the vast ocean.

Above the sea surface, fish sporadically leaped out of the water, and he even saw a sea beast soar dozens of meters high, plunging down and sweeping through a school of fish in mid-air.

He was certain that the sea beast was manipulating its Spiritual Power; otherwise, such a feat would be impossible.

According to IBMz15's analysis, such an action was unattainable, even if the sea beast's entire body was composed of muscle.

"The dangerous ocean!" Li Shiming quietly admonished himself.

Three days later, the Flying Boat arrived at a group of islands.

"We've arrived!" Junior Master Zhao stood up and declared. Then, he instructed Li Shiming, "Go and manage the newcomers on the lower deck, get ready to disembark!"

Li Shiming bowed to acknowledge the order. Before descending, his gaze turned to the window.

Above the sea's surface, a cluster of nine islands arranged in the pattern of the Nine Palaces appeared especially unique, with even more specks of islands faintly visible in the distance.

Under Junior Master Zhao's control, the Flying Boat descended towards the central island of the Nine Palaces.

Only upon nearing the central island did its vastness become clear—it simply wasn't comparable to the view from the sky.

The island was shrouded in clouds and mist. When the Flying Boat pierced through the clouds, pagodas, pavilions, arched bridges, and flowing waterways became visible, with immortal cranes occasionally soaring amongst them, truly presenting the aura of an immortal family.

The Flying Boat stopped on a platform in front of a high pavilion, and the cabin door opened.

Li Shiming led nine young men out of the cabin door, almost choking on the spiritual energy he encountered.

This was an incredibly dense spiritual energy, the richest he had experienced was on the second floor of the Flying Boat.

But the spiritual energy here was at least several times denser than that on the second floor of the Flying Boat.

He had never imagined that one day he would choke due to an overabundance of spiritual energy.
Experience tales with empire

On the contrary, the nine young men, not having cultivated any techniques, didn't feel anything out of the ordinary.

Through this time, Li Shiming had come to understand why almost no spirit root seedlings would begin cultivating in advance.

On one hand, even if these spirit root seedlings had cultivator elders, those not belonging to a sect were merely Loose Cultivators, and the techniques they could offer were far inferior to those of a sect.

On the other hand, should a spirit root seedling cultivate an incorrect technique, it might very well affect their future development.

Moreover, after cultivating a technique, there would be a more stringent review process. If one failed the review, they wouldn't be able to join the Sky Sea Sect.

Li Shiming was fearless in his ignorance. If he hadn't been lucky, he might have cultivated an inferior technique; even if he were able to join a sect now, he wouldn't be much stronger than the untrained newcomers.

He needed more time to convert his old methods to new ones, a process that wasn't worth the time and risks compared to the time saved by cultivating early.

'Qingqiu Pavilion'—this was the name on the plaque of the high pavilion in front of them.

Junior Master Cui and Uncle Dai greeted Junior Master Zhao and then soared into the sky together, leaving just Junior Master Zhao to approach the ten individuals.

"You have three months to reach the entry level, achieving Qi Refining First Level by forming a Spiritual Energy Vortex within the body signifies that. There will be senior brothers guiding you in this aspect.

Before that, you need to select one main Cultivation Technique. You must choose carefully because most cultivators don't change their technique during the Qi Refinement Realm.

The lifespan of the Qi Refinement Realm is insufficient for you to switch techniques. The senior brothers guiding you will also share their experience in selecting techniques.

Three months. If you can't reach Qi Refining First Level by then, you'll become a servant disciple. Don't even think about going home. Once here, you either reach Qi Refining Fifth Level or die of old age—it's impossible to leave the sect's domain otherwise!" Junior Master Zhao looked at all the disciples, his eyes commanding respect.