Cultivation is just so scientific!

After looking over the "Vajra Body Protection Divine Skill," Li Shiming set the jade scroll of the "Sword Manipulation Technique" against his forehead.

The "Sword Manipulation Technique" is the most expensive sword cultivation technique during the Qi Refinement Realm; this was reflected in its content, where the technique required a longsword magical artifact under one hundred percent control.

This condition might seem simple, but it was actually very difficult.

Take the Fiery Flame Sword for example; even after many uses of the "Dragon Drawing Technique" to deepen the connection, he had only achieved control over a little more than fifty percent.

This was already with the "Dragon Drawing Technique," which has a very strong effect on refining magical artifacts. Using other methods, perhaps he would not even reach ten percent in the same timeframe.

Those stories about finding a divine artifact and wreaking havoc were impossible in the Cultivation World.

Even the best magic artifact, without refining, is nothing more than a sharp ordinary weapon.

The more thorough the refinement, the greater the control over the magic artifact, and the greater the power it can exert.

Ordinary combat techniques might be passable, but highly control-demanding combat techniques have extremely strict requirements on weapon control.

As the "Sword Manipulation Technique" is the top-tier sword cultivation technique for the Qi Refinement Realm, naturally it requires the highest level of weapon control.

Li Shiming copied the "Sword Manipulation Technique" into an IBM z15, creating a document named "Sword Manipulation Technique."

As for practicing the "Sword Manipulation Technique," he would still have to wait until the control over the Fiery Flame Sword was enhanced.

The reason it was the "Fiery Flame Sword" and not the standard-issue lower grade long sword magical artifact was because the standard-issue only had an effect that increased the sharpness of the longsword, and was of lower quality than the "Fiery Flame Sword."

He also had a mid-grade long sword artifact and a top-grade long sword artifact, but with his current strength, using a mid-grade magical artifact was somewhat strenuous.

Looking at the control over the Qingyuan Wood Sword, which had been utilized around the same period with the "Dragon Drawing Technique" and had undergone the same number of these techniques, the current control was not even five percent.

Although he did not give up on refining the Qingyuan Wood Sword, to cultivate the "Sword Manipulation Technique" sooner, choosing a slightly inferior lower-grade long sword artifact was best.

Anyway, once the refinement level of the Qingyuan Wood Sword was raised and his cultivation was higher, he could switch to the Qingyuan Wood Sword at any time.

Of course, he was currently unsatisfied with all the long sword magical artifacts, not because he was demanding but because he had found out that his main attribute was metal and was considering whether to find a metal-attribute long sword magical artifact.

The Qingyuan Wood Sword was good, but it was a wood-attribute top-grade magical artifact.

Li Shiming then took out the storage bag from the Xuanming Sect cultivator killed by Junior Master Cui; he had not opened it on the Flying Boat.

The storage bag was five cubic feet, which fit the identity of a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator of the Xuanming Sect.

He was very cautious when he examined it, as he had seen the methods of the Xuanming Sect cultivators; they involved either poison or smoke.

However, the contents of the storage bag were neatly arranged, and there were no disgusting items as he had imagined.

Two bottles of unknown elixir pills, dark and uninviting, it was unsure whether they were poisonous or beneficial.

After all, putting such things into one's mouth would require considerable courage.

There was an object resembling a round plate, and Li Shiming got excited the moment he saw it; he was familiar with this object — wasn't it an Array Plate?

He was no longer the novice he once was. Holding the Array Plate in his hand, he executed the "Dragon Drawing Technique." After undergoing the dragon-drawing and eye-dotting steps, he learned the Array's name and how to use it.

"Mysterious Shadow Formation," an Array capable of concealing one's own aura.

It was similar to the concealment Array in his room. However, the concealment Array in the room was enabled by the grand formation of the Qingqiu Pavilion, while the "Mysterious Shadow Formation" could be deployed anywhere at any time to isolate oneself from the surroundings.

The downside was that the "Mysterious Shadow Formation" worked best in darkness or dim areas, as the activation of the Array produced a thick black fog, which would be particularly conspicuous under sunlight.

Yet, the "Mysterious Shadow Formation" was still useful. He stored the "Mysterious Shadow Formation" in his storage bag.

Although it was a concealment Array from the Xuanming Sect, it was the most legitimate trophy, vouched for by Junior Master Cui, Junior Master Zhao, and Uncle Dai.

Of course, this didn't mean he could use it recklessly, but at least he could explain himself should the sect find out.

"What is this?" As Li Shiming searched through his storage bag, he found a dark banner. When he sensed the banner, it emitted terrifying screams.

It seemed as though shadows flickered on the banner, causing his heart to skip a beat. Fortunately, the shadows couldn't escape the banner and, as it was inside the storage bag, it posed no threat.

Given how eerie the dark banner was, he dared not even remove it from the storage bag, much less use the "Dragon Drawing Technique" to refine it. Your journey continues with My Virtual Library Empire

It was likely the item Junior Master Cui had warned him to be cautious about. He needed to identify the banner before considering anything else. He skipped it and continued examining the next item.

The item was a chest, covered with runes. It was evident from its make that it was designed to prevent the dispersal of any auras from its contents.

Li Shiming took out the chest, opened it, and revealed an item wrapped in a black cloth inside.

He unfolded one piece of the black cloth to discover a root-like item potent with spiritual power, which he did not recognize.

The black cloth, similar to the chest, could block auras, ensuring that the various items inside did not interfere with each other.

Besides the chest, there were only four hundred and thirty Spirit Stones left.

Li Shiming was unsure whether Junior Master Cui knew the contents of the storage bag. This storage bag, belonging to a late-stage Qi Refining Xuanming Sect cultivator, wasn't as precious as he had imagined.

Of course, he estimated Junior Master Cui probably didn't know. At that time, not yet formally an initiate of the Cultivation World, his assets had already surpassed expectations.

Such a storage bag, in the hands of any Qi Refining cultivator, represented quite a substantial fortune.

To be honest if Junior Master Cui hadn't looked through the storage bag, how could he possibly have given an unknown Devil Cultivator's storage bag to Li Shiming?

Li Shiming put away the storage bag. Once he figured out what the dark banner was, he could move the five cubic feet storage bag into the machine room space, turning it into an alternative warehouse within that space.

His consciousness entered the machine room space, where there was still a corpse of a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator from the Xuanming Sect.

He didn't want to keep the corpse in the machine room space, but looking at his current environment, there was no place to deal with it.

He would wait three months, clean it up, and then store the body in another storage bag where it could be preserved for a long time.

With a slight motion of his consciousness, the storage bag hanging on the waist of the late-stage Qi Refining Xuanming Sect cultivator was taken into his hand.

As his spiritual power entered the storage bag, he sensed its size—it had ten cubic feet, making it the largest storage bag he had encountered.