Cultivation is just so scientific!

Because they had spent too much time during the Qi Refinement Realm, neither their lifespan nor their realm was sufficient to break through the realm of Qi refining.

Those with three spirit root seeds were rather ordinary, lacking the genius of those with single or dual spirit roots, nor did they have the hardship of those with four or five spirit roots, only facing bottlenecks that were hard to break through when advancing from early-stage to middle-stage Qi Refining, and from middle-stage to late-stage Qi Refining. The challenges of small realm advances were not considered significant.

However, Li Shiming's breakthrough still came as a surprise to him, which was actually related to his experiences.

In recent days, the loss of contact with Yin Shilan had left him somewhat restless. Even with the help of the IBM z15 to regulate his state of mind, it still affected his mentality.

Today, with the appearance of Yin Shilan, his state of mind was restored, and his mentality was even far superior to usual.

Then, tasting the newly made Spiritual Tea for the first time, the effects of the new Spiritual Tea played a promotional role.

Of course, there was also the fact that everything happened naturally, without a trace of deliberation, which was the key to a breakthrough.

As the bottleneck within Li Shiming broke, the Spiritual Energy Vortex in his body suddenly expanded twofold, and his whole body's aura also rose significantly.

This breakthrough was exceptionally smooth, so much so that he didn't even need to use the Spiritual Energy collected in the cultivation space to break through directly.

After the breakthrough, he took some time to stabilize the Spiritual Energy Vortex inside his body before returning to the Cultivation Room.

Seeing the aura on Li Shiming, how could Yin Shilan not realize that he had successfully advanced?

"It seems I am fortunate to witness your advancement today!" she said with a light laugh, congratulating him.

Li Shiming also looked at Yin Shilan. At the Qi Refining Third Level, he could not discern Yin Shilan's strength, and now at the Qi Refining Fourth Level, which is the Qi Refining Middle Stage, he still could not determine her strength.

If even he, in the Qi Refining Middle Stage, could not perceive Yin Shilan's strength, then either she had cultivated a special technique to conceal her aura, or Yin Shilan's strength had reached the late-stage Qi Refining.

He suspected that Yin Shilan had both conditions, otherwise he would not have failed to sense even a bit of her Spiritual Energy fluctuation.

"The Breakthrough Pill wasn't needed, it's too precious. You should keep it for your Foundation Establishment attempt!" Li Shiming said as he took out a jade bottle and handed it over.

Yin Shilan didn't take it, just looked at him with a reproachful glance.

"The Breakthrough Pill was exchanged for an Array Diagram with me. I've already memorized the Array Diagram and can't return it, so you should keep the pill!" Yin Shilan, withdrawing her gentle reproach, spoke softly.

Hearing Yin Shilan's excuse, Li Shiming, under her gaze, put the jade bottle away again.

Seeing him put the jade bottle away, Yin Shilan revealed a slight smile once more.

Every time he saw Yin Shilan's smile, he felt a sense of intoxication.

Perhaps an ordinary male cultivator at the Qi Refining Third Level, upon first meeting a female cultivator like Yin Shilan - whose looks, strength, and background far exceeded his own - would feel ashamed of his inferiority.

But Li Shiming was a soul from another world, where the notion of equality was almost ingrained in his soul.

Having known him for a while, Yin Shilan also admired this about him, feeling a sense of equality in his company.

He didn't have the condescension that a male cultivator might have towards a female cultivator, nor the obsequiousness that comes with disparity in strength.

His equality was always inadvertent, whether in face-to-face communications or contacts through the Identity Jade Discs, it naturally showed through.

Although the two hadn't seen each other for many days, there wasn't much to say. Sitting face-to-face, they quietly enjoyed the tranquility of being together, both immersed in the warm atmosphere of the cave abode.

Yin Shilan felt the vibration of the Identity Jade Disc and quickly took it out to check.

"There's a message from the sect; I must leave!" Yin Shilan said softly. She took out the Spirit Turtle Shield and placed it in front of Li Shiming, then continued, "I can't use the Spirit Turtle Shield, only your computational ability can harness its power!"

As he heard she was leaving, Li Shiming couldn't help but feel how time flies, like an arrow in flight.

Seeing Yin Shilan taking out the Spirit Turtle Shield, his attention was drawn to it.

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The Spirit Turtle Shield now seemed to lack much difference on the surface, but the additional fine lines and the increment of intricate patterns within each crack showed that it was vastly dissimilar to its former self.

"You've created the Array?" he asked in disbelief.

Although it was his own concept and he had co-designed the diagrams with Yin Shilan, this was an Array and furthermore, it was a novel Array shrunk onto the Spirit Turtle Shield.

In just under twenty days, Yin Shilan had managed to create the Array for the Spirit Turtle Shield, a feat that must have required an enormous effort.

"Mm, I was quite lucky, I finished it without any mistakes!" Yin Shilan said lightly, with a touch of pride as she gently touched her cloud bun.

Li Shiming was about to take a closer look but saw Yin Shilan already standing up, not even giving him the chance to refuse before she made her farewells.

"This is for you, take good care of it!" Knowing Yin Shilan's personality, Li Shiming helplessly refrained from mentioning the Spirit Turtle Shield and instead took a pocket watch from his chest and handed it to her.

Yin Shilan accepted the pocket watch, her cheeks faintly blushing; the watch was warm, carrying the body heat of Li Shiming.

"What exquisite craftsmanship, it's a device for keeping time!" she whispered in admiration.

While the Cultivation World did have devices for timekeeping, those were much larger than the pocket watch she held, and relied upon Spirit Stones for power.

The pocket watch in her hand, however, with its ingenious design and the intricacy of thought that went into its creation, had reached the pinnacle of mundane objects.

"As long as you don't mind it's a mundane object, that's great. This was just a playful creation during my leisure time. I've grown accustomed to it, so I'm giving it to you for checking the time. It also has a stopwatch function," said Li Shiming, pleased to see Yin Shilan's fondness, as he began to explain the features to her.

Originally, he had worried that Yin Shilan might look down on a mundane item, but it seemed his worry was unfounded.

It was normal for cultivators to look down on mundane items; any item that could be driven by Spiritual Energy, or contain it, was referred to as a Spiritual Object. This distinction signified the difference from mundane items.

"What is a second?" Yin Shilan seemed to forget her intention to leave and inquired further.

Li Shiming then explained the timekeeping system of his previous life and how he had adopted his own definitions for shorter durations, which he had applied to the pocket watch.

Yin Shilan nodded continuously, marveling as she listened, her affection for the pocket watch growing.

With its features like the stopwatch and date functions, it could help her better manage the most troublesome aspect of setting up an Array: timing.

You see, even in the Cultivation World, judging the duration of a single breath required each person to make their own division.

Using the sundial's marker for judgment, a marker represented five minutes. A cultivator's thoughts were far quicker than those of mortals but dividing five minutes into even shorter durations, usually into breaths, wouldn't ensure absolute precision.

As an Array Master, Yin Shilan had a significant advantage over ordinary cultivators when it came to calculating time, but Arrays demanded even higher precision.

"What shall this object be called?" asked Yin Shilan as she looked up.

"I haven't given it a name in this world yet; why don't you name it?" Li Shiming said with a smile.

He hadn't intended to use the name "pocket watch," as even in his previous life, that was simply a broad category, with each watch having its own brand and model name.
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"Then I'll tell you once I've thought of something good!" Yin Shilan said with a smile lifting the corners of her mouth. She promptly noticed new information on her Identity Jade Disc and said without hesitation, "I must go now!"

Li Shiming saw Yin Shilan off to the edge of the island, where she took out her Flying Boat and stood on the deck, waving to Li Shiming.

At some point, the two had stopped referring to each other as fellow Daoists, but also hadn't adopted any other titles, instead using a more intimate form of address with "you" and "me."

Qiu Tan rode on the back of a spirit beast white bird, looking rather disheveled, and the bird's flight was a tad slow.

On the back of the spirit beast white bird, there was not only Qiu Tan but also a colossal wooden box, which affected the bird's flight.

"Finally arrived. This time I must ask Mr. Li for more Spirit Stones, can't let it be a loss!" Qiu Tan muttered to himself as he saw Eagle Beak Island drawing nearer.

Transporting this batch of goods had been exceedingly troublesome, having to be sent from the mundane world all the way here. On land, there were several horse-drawn carriages and an army escort, at the seashore taken over by large ships, until delivered near the sect's territorial waters where he took over the shipment.

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