Immortal Fate

Though Li Wenyuan was only fourth rank, he was the Prefect of Nanling Prefecture, a true regional grandee and the highest-ranking official in Nanling Prefecture.

For him to receive a promotion, he could only return to Central Capital and enter the central government.

A string of vicious major cases had occurred in Nanling Prefecture. Though they were connected to cultivators, the impact had been far too terrible. No matter what, Li Wenyuan would be affected to some extent.

But since Li Wenyuan had no intention of returning to Central Capital, it was not much of a problem.

"Shiming, go back and rest first. The Autumn Examination will be here in a few days, so take care of yourself!" Li Wenyuan did not want Li Shiming involved too deeply in these affairs. Smiling, he waved his hand.

"You should rest early as well!" Li Shiming reminded him as he left.

As he stepped out of the room, he saw several officials hurrying over and could not help sighing helplessly. It was clear that Li Wenyuan would not be getting a proper rest today.

He crossed the stone bridge and was about to return to his own courtyard when he suddenly looked in one direction—the Guest Courtyard where the two cultivators had been staying.

Li Shiming looked at the Guest Courtyard before him. Candlelight was still burning within.

"Li Shiming requests an audience with the Immortals!" The two Guest Courtyards stood side by side. Standing before the two adjacent gates, he called out loudly.

No one responded, just as he had expected.

Still, to be safe, he asked with due courtesy.

He tried pushing one of the courtyard gates and found that it had been bolted from within.

This sort of wooden bolt was not difficult to open from outside. He took out a dagger, slipped it through the gap in the gate, and with a few light pries, moved the bolt aside.

Opening the gate and entering, he found the room doors wide open.

He searched the main hall, bedroom, and several other rooms without difficulty, but found nothing at all.

Cultivators seemed untouched by the dust and smoke of the mortal world; despite staying here, they had not left behind the slightest trace.

The courtyard had not changed in the least from before. Even the bedding on the bed had never been used.

He had not held out much hope to begin with. He merely wanted to see whether the two cultivators had left anything behind.

He left the Guest Courtyard in disappointment and entered the other one.

When he entered the bedroom of this Guest Courtyard, Li Shiming saw a disk placed on the floor.

The disk gave off a faint glow. Centered around four luminous milky-white stones, countless intricate lines connected together, forming strange Rune Patterns.

Escort Chief Wang's Rune Inception had not recorded anything about this disk, but something in this form was usually some kind of formation.

"It can't be a Defense Formation, or I wouldn't have been able to enter!" Li Shiming judged based on the little cultivation knowledge he possessed.

He picked up a wooden chair beside him and carefully pushed it over the disk.

"It isn't an attack formation!" Seeing that the wooden chair remained intact, he ruled out another possibility.

Since there was no danger, he no longer hesitated and reached his hand into the disk.

His hand suffered no attack, nor did anything unexpected happen.

"Could it be a formation that assists cultivation?" A guess flashed through his mind.

The reason Junior Sister Zheng had not taken the Spirit Gathering Disk with her was, on one hand, because Senior Brother Zhao had called her away urgently and she had not expected that she would be unable to return. On the other hand, activating the Spirit Gathering Disk consumed the most Spirit Stones; once it was running steadily, it consumed very few Spirit Stones.

Under normal circumstances, during her stay here, she would activate the Spirit Gathering Disk only once and then keep it activated the entire time, reducing the consumption of Spirit Stones.

Great Xia was within the sphere of influence of the sects. Cultivators of any strength here would show the sects some respect. Among cultivators of the same Qi Refining Stage, Sect Cultivators held an absolute advantage in both strength and Magic Artifacts and Talismans. She had never considered the possibility that she might not be able to return.

That was why the Spirit Gathering Disk had been left here. Of course, if Senior Brother Zhao had known that Junior Sister Zheng possessed a Spirit Gathering Disk, then even if he were Seriously Injured, even with Rogue Cultivators threatening him, he would have returned to take it.

The problem was that Junior Sister Zheng had concealed the matter of the Spirit Gathering Disk very well. She also knew that if its existence were exposed, she would have to guard against her fellow disciples Killing People and Seizing Treasures.

With this guess in mind, Li Shiming stepped into the glow of the Spirit Gathering Disk, sat down cross-legged, and pressed the disk beneath him.

He tried circulating the Five Elements Qi Absorption Art. He had tried many times before without sensing anything, but this time was completely different.

Specks of light floated around him. They came in three colors: gold, red, and green.

He did not know what they represented, but as long as he could sense the specks of light, it meant he had sensed the existence of Spiritual Qi.

Sensing Spiritual Qi gave him the basic condition needed to formally cultivate the Five Elements Qi Absorption Art. He suppressed the excitement in his heart and, following the pathways of the first level of the Five Elements Qi Absorption Art, drew the Spiritual Qi light specks from the air into his body and circulated them through its internal pathways.

Li Shiming did not know how fortunate he was. Ordinarily, even someone with cultivation talent, after setting aside the issues of resources and environment and meeting all those conditions, still needed a cultivation technique suited to their talent before they could cultivate.

The Five Elements Qi Absorption Art that Escort Chief Wang's ancestors had left for their descendants was an extremely versatile cultivation technique, suitable for people with any cultivation talent.

This was so that as long as one of their descendants possessed cultivation talent, they could cultivate the Five Elements Qi Absorption Art.

Li Shiming immersed himself in his first experience of cultivation. Spiritual Qi continuously entered his body and gathered before his chest.

An hour later, his body suddenly trembled. A Spiritual Qi Vortex appeared at his chest. Though the gathered Spiritual Qi was not much, it did not scatter under the restraint of the Spiritual Qi Vortex.

He opened his eyes, and the room before him was as bright as day.

This was not the effect of candlelight. Nourished by Spiritual Qi, his body seemed to have undergone tremendous changes.

He caught a foul smell and hurriedly checked himself, only to discover that it was coming from his body.

A layer of black, greasy filth had appeared on his exposed skin. He pulled open his clothes and saw that his body was covered in the same black grime.

It seemed that forming the Spiritual Qi Vortex had expelled the Impurities from his body.

According to the Five Elements Qi Absorption Art, the appearance of a Spiritual Qi Vortex at Li Shiming's chest meant that he had officially stepped into the Qi Refining First Level.

He did not mobilize the Spiritual Qi in his chest, because there was simply too little of it. He did not dare act rashly.

Without anyone to guide him, cultivation was like a blind man feeling an elephant.

Li Shiming looked at the Spirit Gathering Disk, which was still glowing. He knew that leaving it in this state was wasteful, but having just begun cultivation, he truly could not cultivate the Five Elements Qi Absorption Art a second time.

After one cultivation session, faint pain came from the places in his body where the Spiritual Qi had circulated.

After thinking for a moment, he pressed a hand against the Spirit Gathering Disk and stored it in the Server Room Space.

After the Spirit Gathering Disk entered the Server Room Space, it did not stop drawing in Spiritual Qi. Though he did not know where the outside of the Server Room Space was, the Spirit Gathering Disk continued drawing Spiritual Qi from the unknown and gathering it inside the server room.

Li Shiming observed the Spirit Gathering Disk for some time. Only after finding that it did not affect the other equipment in the server room did he finally withdraw his consciousness in relief.

Thanks to 'Lonely Bubu Woof' for the 5-yuan reward!!