Ever since Li Shiming successfully crafted his first talisman, he embarked on an unstoppable journey of talisman making.
Coming from a world where everyone was equal to this Cultivation World, the deeper his understanding of this world, the more he felt the threats to his safety.
Such threats stemd from insufficient firepower, a fear deep within his soul, a legacy of the racial talent of his previous life.
If he wished to be an ordinary person, then he wouldn't need to worry much; with the backing of his family and the knowledge he possessed, he could achieve success whether in the bureaucratic arena or any other field.
However, having learned of the Cultivation World, how could he be content with diocrity?
Talismans could compensate for his insufficient Spiritual Power Pattern and the limited number of spells, so for a long ti, he expended his daily spiritual power on crafting talismans.
When making the 'Primary Geng tal Talisman,' he succeeded after eight failures, and with the 'Basic Fire Bomb Talisman,' he failed five tis.
By February 10th, not counting his weapons of war, just the talismans he crafted himself included twenty 'Basic Light Body Talismans,' thirty 'Basic Fire Bomb Talismans,' thirty 'Primary Geng tal Talismans,' and ten 'primary exorcism charms.'
The 'Basic Light Body Talismans' he made were 20% faster than the collected ones, making them the most special among the talismans he crafted.
Having taken stock of his talismans, he did not craft any today, partly because he already had enough talismans on hand, and his recent talisman making had been hindering his cultivation progress, consuming too much of his daily spiritual power.
On the other hand, the spring imperial examination was about to begin, and he would enter the examination hall on February 15th.
He decided to enter the Cultivation World, but before leaving, he still wanted to fulfill the original wishes of his past life, whose greatest wish was to do well in the imperial examination.
This was also a farewell to his past life; only without the obsessions of emotions could he devote himself more to cultivation.
Out of respect for the examination, he began his preparation in the remaining days.
The marketplaces in Central Capital had been successfully held twice, satisfying all the Cultivation Families and stakeholders involved, with profits increasing due to a safer environnt and a growing number of cultivators.
Among these cultivators, only the Hao Family was still investigating the murder of their family mber.
"Lao Si, is the result of the investigation confird?" Old Cultivator Hao asked in a heavy voice.
The information in hand surprised Old Cultivator Hao but also seed to be within reason.
"Clan leader, I pulled so favors, and this is the intelligence I got from the Imperial Family!" The cultivator known as Lao Si from the Hao Family replied gravely.
"Clan leader, whether Li Shiming is the murderer or not, if he's killed, that's that. Do we really need evidence?" another Hao Family cultivator interjected, clearly impatient.
In the Cultivation World, evidence is not necessary; suspicion is enough to take action.
"According to the intelligence, that kid stays reclusive and hardly goes out. Seems like there's definitely sothing fishy!" Old Cultivator Hao nodded slightly and said.
Before attending the gathering, Li Shiming used to go out to a residence outside the city every day; but since the gathering, he hadn't left the city at all.
The information in hand showed that Prince Shun was burned to death by a strange fla, along with several of his confidants, including Li Wenfeng.
The conflict between Li Wenfeng and Li WenYuan ran deep, and the death of Li Shiming's mother was related to Li Wenfeng.
And Li Shiming had been attacked shortly after arriving in Central Capital, a suspicion that involved Li Wenfeng and Prince Shun.
The Imperial Family had suspected Li Shiming, but since he was on good terms with Gu Jia, the Imperial Family didn't feel justified in conducting an in-depth investigation without evidence.
Crucially, Gu Jia had visited the scene of Prince Shun's murder and confird there were no fluctuations in spiritual power at the site.
And at the scene where two cultivators of the Hao Family were killed, there was also a fire without spiritual power fluctuations, a similarity that made Li Shiming the pri suspect.
"Clan leader, even with Gu Jia in Central Capital, killing a cultivator at the Qi Refining Second Level would not cause much fluctuation in spiritual power. I can accomplish it alone!" Lao Si said, requesting permission in a heavy tone.
"Be cautious in everything. Do not act if there is no opportunity. Take these two 'Invisibility Talismans' to ease your task," Old Cultivator Hao weighed for a mont before replying.
Engrossed in rare night-ti studies, Li Shiming used this thod to calm his mind and return to a state of studying.
He sipped so spirit water, knowing that after this examination, the many years of hard study he had persisted in would co to an abrupt end; he was experiencing the final monts of mortal life.
A soft "hum" sound pulled him from his studying state.
He was startled; the sound was from his eye mask's alarm. During the night, if any moving target entered his monitoring range, the eye mask would emit a subtle vibration.
Connected to his five senses, this slight vibration was enough to alert him whether he was sleeping or cultivating.
After donning the eye mask, the second cara captured a heat signature of soone just climbing over the courtyard wall.
He imdiately switched the cara's mode to standard view.
There were quite a few lanterns hanging in the courtyard at night, and that spot was under the illumination of the light.
However, upon switching to standard mode, where there should have been a figure, there was nothing.
He switched modes back to infrared thermal imaging, and this ti, he saw the heat signature again.
"It's a cultivator!" Li Shiming's face darkened.
He hadn't expected that after so many days, a cultivator would still co for him.
Only a cultivator would have such ans to remain hidden from the naked eye.
Of course, this state of invisibility was intended to deceive mortals; cultivators had corresponding asures to see through such invisibility.
But this didn't include Li Shiming, who had just touched upon the threshold of cultivation and lacked many abilities that normal cultivators possessed.
If not for the infrared thermal imaging cara, perhaps the intruding cultivator could have approached unseen.
Li Shiming's hand moved to his waist, pulling out ten 'Primary Geng tal Talismans.' With Qi Refining Second Level strength, he could only activate a maximum of five talismans at a ti, so he would need to activate them twice consecutively to release all the talismans in his hand.
Lao Si climbed over the wall, and upon entering the yard, he knew that this assassination was going to be too easy.
This Li Shiming had no trace of a cultivator's prowess; the courtyard was without defense arrays, not even warning talismans were set up.
While defense arrays might have been too expensive to afford, Warning Talismans were essential for anyone going out.
Battle-hardened family cultivators like Lao Si didn't need Warning Talismans, with clan protection arrays being more than sufficient and safer than Warning Talismans.
However, when cultivators were out and about, only by setting up Warning Talismans could they ensure they wouldn't be approached unknowingly. Without defenses, even mortals could potentially kill a cultivator.
Lao Si's gaze swept over the area, sensing the whereabouts of the two night guards.
He revealed a silent, cold smile; if not for not wanting to alarm Gu Jia, he would have directly used a magic artifact to kill the guards along with Li Shiming inside the house.
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