Chapter 344: Return to the Clan
Li Shiming had no desire to encounter the monks from Qianye Temple, let alone be tracked down by Patriarch Weng Zhao after reaping a tremendous benefit.
So he mobilized the sparse remnants of his Spiritual Power, putting his all into the 'Step by Step Lotus' as he aimed to return to the Shushan Sect.
As long as he made it back to the Shushan Sect, even if Patriarch Weng Zhao found out who he was, there would be nothing he could do about it.
Patriarch Weng Zhao's Nascent Soul chose a direction and transformed into a rainbow light that shot off into the distance.
Although all that was left was the Nascent Soul, there was still a chance for him. It was common for a Nascent Soul Ancestor to seek out a body for Body Seizing if they stayed in the Nascent Soul Stage for a while.
The body prepared for Body Seizing needed to be highly compatible with the Ancestor's original body, and in terms of innate talent, it had to be at least close to that of the Nascent Soul Ancestor's true form.
Therefore, being chosen by a Nascent Soul Ancestor was not always a good thing; it might mean being selected as a backup body for Body Seizing.
This time, Patriarch Weng Zhao had come to handle affairs in a perilous region, so he brought a prepared body for Body Seizing with him.
This was the worst-case scenario, and he never expected that one day he would really have to use the backup body.
At this moment, Patriarch Weng Zhao's Nascent Soul increased its speed to the utmost limit.
He needed to reach the backup body in the shortest possible time. His Nascent Soul had already sustained an injury, and staying outside for too long would weaken it further, decreasing the chance of a successful Body Seizing.
The success rate for a Nascent Soul Body Seizing a backup body was extremely high.
Mainly because the backup body had already been processed by many methods, being cultivated into the most compatible state with the Nascent Soul.
Li Shiming did not monitor Patriarch Weng Zhao's Nascent Soul. The Nascent Soul was not a body, being composed of energy, making it difficult to trace with unmanned drone satellite systems.
Right now, Li Shiming's only concern was the Nascent Soul Body in the server room space. By afflicting Patriarch Weng Zhao in such a manner, he had ensured that the Skywalk Trading Company would not target him again in the short term.
By the time the Skywalk Trading Company decided to deal with him again, he feared he would have already grown powerful.
Patriarch Weng Zhao's Nascent Soul arrived at a mountain peak, in disarray. The Longsword, his life-bound magic weapon, had been drawn into his soul. He could only carry his life-bound magic weapon in this way because otherwise, it would have exhausted the Nascent Soul too much to reach this place.
The Nascent Soul passed through an energy barrier that no one but Patriarch Weng Zhao himself knew about.
Here, there was no Spiritual Energy, only a jade coffin that provided Spiritual Energy through a Gathering Spirit Array, and inside the coffin lay a young man.
The jade coffin was an exotic treasure, made of third-grade materials, its sole purpose being to supply all the energy necessary for the young man's survival.
The young man's strength was only at the Qi Refining Cultivator level. He could not live without Spirit Food, but the coffin could sustain his bodily functions without food intake.
Patriarch Weng Zhao's Nascent Soul looked at the young man, a hint of helplessness flashing in his eyes.
"Qianye Temple, I will make you pay the price!" The voice emitted by Patriarch Weng Zhao's Nascent Soul was like that of a baby, but the chill in its tone filled the voice with a sinister intent.
When Patriarch Weng Zhao saw Li Shiming's use of 'Step by Step Lotus', he was certain that the cultivator who had been persistently tracking and disturbing him belonged to Qianye Temple.
He then directed all his immense hatred towards Qianye Temple.
Only by having a clear target for vengeance could he muster the courage to start anew.
The Nascent Soul flew into the young man's body and merged with it.
Throughout this process, the young man's body trembled incessantly, and after a long time, his eyes shot open.
The young man slowly sat up from the jade coffin, checking his body, a look of desolation filling his eyes.
However, his gaze quickly regained its determination.
"Qianye Temple, I will make you pay the price!" The same words, but now spoken with an undertone of deep-seated hatred, just like before.
The young man was the reborn form of Patriarch Weng Zhao's Nascent Soul after Body Seizing. This kind of Body Seizing and rebirth seemed miraculous, akin to returning to youth and gaining a new life.
But in reality, such Body Seizing rebirth did not extend one's lifespan.
Of course, the young man's current Qi Refinement level allowed for a lifespan of at most one hundred and fifty years, nowhere near the Nascent Soul Ancestor's millennium lifespan.
Even if the young man eventually recovered to the Nascent Soul Stage, he would not inherit the lifespan that the original body was meant to have. Instead, he would have only the remaining lifespan of Patriarch Weng Zhao, unless he managed to surpass the original boundaries of Patriarch Weng Zhao's cultivation level.
Moreover, one only gets one chance at a lifetime for Body Seizing. Patriarch Weng Zhao had used his one chance, and if his Nascent Soul managed to escape again, it could no longer gain a new life in this manner.
This was the flaw in Body Seizing; yet, Body Seizing also had its advantages.
Despite the young man's current Qi Refinement level, the immeasurable energy of the Nascent Soul within him was enough to support his rapid advancement in cultivation.
Added to that were Patriarch Weng Zhao's own understanding of cultivation and insights into his main Cultivation Technique, ensuring the young man would face no hardships before reaching the Golden Core Stage.
Even upon reaching the Golden Core Stage, though, he would need an abundance of resources for advancement.
As the Skywalk Trading Company no longer held sway over the Beishu Continent, Patriarch Weng Zhao couldn't obtain cultivation resources from them.
Luckily, he still had his life-bound magic weapon. At least in the Golden Core Stage, he wielded power far beyond his peers, allowing him to obtain more resources through combat prowess.
Most importantly, he had the experience of breaking through to the Nascent Soul Stage, making it easier for him to return to the Nascent Soul Stage than other cultivators, given that he could procure the necessary resources for forming the Nascent Soul.