Cultivation is just so scientific!

Chapter 304: Chapter 198 Conspiracy_2

“”What kind of rooms do you have?” Li Shiming sensed that the spiritual energy in the inn was abundant, not at all as scarce as that within the town; unfamiliar with the inns tailored for cultivators in Beishu, he inquired directly.

“For a senior cultivator like you who requires spiritual energy for cultivation, only the individually arranged refined courtyards can meet your requirements, costing 50 spirit stones per day!” The shopkeeper did not introduce any other rooms, only the refined courtyard suitable for someone of Li Shiming’s level.

Li Shiming felt a sense of novelty again; even an inn here could provide spiritual energy suitable for the cultivation of Foundation Establishment cultivators—it’s no wonder that there were so many among the Loose Cultivators.

From this, it was evident that the quantity and quality of spiritual energy on the Beishu Continent were far superior to that of Sky Sea Island; otherwise, such an inn would not exist.

“Give me a refined courtyard, I’ll stay for three days!” Li Shiming took out one hundred and fifty spirit stones and handed them over.

“Follow me, please!” The shopkeeper took the spirit stones and led Li Shiming to the back of the inn.

The back of the inn was a series of refined courtyards, each secured with formations.

“Senior, you may use this refined courtyard for three days; after three days, the jade card will expire!” The shopkeeper handed a jade card to Li Shiming, pointing to one of the courtyards.

Li Shiming nodded, and he used the jade card to unlock the refined courtyard.

As soon as he entered the courtyard, he was enveloped by the thick spiritual energy—its level approximating that of top-grade spirit veins. Coupled with a long period of accumulation, it could easily sustain his cultivation for several days.

Looking at the situation of the refined courtyard, it seemed that the inn must have controlled several spirit veins to operate such a place.

In fact, inns like this were usually run by various sects and forces; they had the task of accommodating visiting cultivators, like this inn in Gushan Town.

When the sects held external events, some cultivators would arrive early and stay here to wait.

That’s why spirit veins were relocated here to serve cultivators specifically.

Naturally, it was also a good business; Loose Cultivators could save up spirit stones over time and then spend them to break through their cultivation using the spiritual energy provided by the inn.

Li Shiming had not practiced the ‘Nine Heavens Thunder Strike Technique’ for a long time. As soon as he entered the courtyard, he threw out several spirit stones to reinforce the formation and began his cultivation.

The ‘Nine Heavens Thunder Strike Technique’ absorbed a massive amount of spiritual energy into his body, transforming it into Thunder Spirit Power and channeling it into the Spirit Lake. It was then converted by the ‘Five Elements Qi Absorption Array’ into Five Elements Thunder Spirit Power and stored within the Spirit Lake; he continued cultivating without a moment’s pause.

After receiving Li Shiming, Yin Shaotao, the resident cultivator of Gushan Town, immediately activated the communication formation.

Yin Shaotao, a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, was far from calm on the surface; he received Li Shiming quickly and hurriedly shut the door, fearing that any slip in his composure might betray his thoughts.

He had only recently been assigned to Gushan Town, a plum position. Although it was an outpost, it was located at the foot of the sect’s mountain, allowing him to return to the sect at any time.

Moreover, Gushan Town was extremely safe; no cultivator dared to cause trouble in the town due to its proximity to the Shushan Sect.

Additionally, a vast amount of spiritual objects were traded daily in Gushan Town; the power wielded by a resident cultivator was substantial, capable of influencing business deals and the collection of certain benefits as a common occurrence.

Being assigned to Gushan Town should have been an exceptional opportunity for Yin Shaotao, but before his arrival, he received a secret task assigned by Senior Brother Ji—a True Inheritor. He was to monitor any news related to Xu Chuan and immediately report anything unusual.

Who was Xu Chuan? He was also a True Disciple, with Elder Su as his backer, placing him on the same level as the influential elders like Senior Brother Ji’s father, Elder Ji.

Yin Shaotao did not want to be involved in such an affair between immortals, but he could not refuse Senior Brother Ji’s orders, as he naturally belonged to Elder Ji’s lineage.

Yin Shaotao was well aware that a cultivator bearing Xu Chuan’s token and seeking Elder Su must have extremely important matters to discuss.

If he dared to conceal any information, even if the bearer of the token was dealt with, any subsequent leak of information would lead to him being the first to be held accountable.@@novelbin@@

Intercepting a message from a Golden Core elder was an unequivocal capital offense of betraying the sect.

Senior Brother Ji had the backing of a Golden Core elder father and was not directly involved in the matter, so he could easily pin it on Yin Shaotao.

Yin Shaotao understood this and was hesitating about how to handle the situation.”

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“Reporting is definitely necessary, but we can’t offend Senior Brother Ji either, so let’s delay reporting for two hours and first pass the message to Senior Brother Ji!” Yin Shaotao thought for a moment and came up with a solution.

Without further hesitation, he sent a message to Senior Brother Ji about a cultivator holding Xu Chuan’s token asking to meet Elder Su.

He did not concern himself with how Senior Brother Ji would handle it and waited another two hours before sending the message to Elder Su at Heavenly Eye Peak.

In one of the four refined courtyards of the inn in Gushan Town, four mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators simultaneously opened their eyes and looked at their communication devices, which all displayed the same order.

They were not Shushan Sect cultivators but were known as the Lie Mountain Four Tigers, a group of four Loose Cultivators.

However, in a sense, they were not purely Loose Cultivators as they were protected by Ji Zhenchuan of the Shushan Sect and handled certain affairs for him.

This time, they had received an order to lay low in Gushan Town and, when necessary, to assassinate someone.

The mission did not specify who to kill, but killing someone in Gushan Town at the foot of the Shushan Sect could have extremely serious consequences.

However, the conditions given by Ji Zhenchuan were tempting enough: if they carried out the assassination successfully, he would arrange for them to gain entry qualifications into the sect.

Even being an outer disciple of the Shushan Sect was infinitely better than being a Loose Cultivator on the outside.

Despite their nickname, the Lie Mountain Four Tigers, it was really only known among other Loose Cultivators, and they were nothing in front of sect cultivators; they might as well have been called the Lie Mountain Four Cats.

“The target is in refined courtyard number seven, and the courtyard has a Defensive Formation!” the leader of the Lie Mountain Four Tigers said softly as they gathered together.

Just then, an attendant from the inn hurried past them and appeared to accidentally drop something.

Lao Si from the Lie Mountain Four Tigers stepped forward to pick it up and found it to be a jade token marked with the number seven for the refined courtyard, a token with higher authority than that of guests.

The Lie Mountain Four Tigers glanced at each other, understanding that this was preparation by Ji Zhenchuan.

They couldn’t help but be shocked by how thorough Ji Zhenchuan’s arrangements were.

What they did not know was that, in the span of just thirty minutes, Ji Zhenchuan had not only located Li Shiming but also issued multiple orders.

Assassinating a Foundation Establishment Cultivator in Gushan Town was no easy task, and it could not involve any sect cultivators. If a sect cultivator were to partake, the consequences would be unpredictable.

The leader of the Lie Mountain Four Tigers approached refined courtyard number seven, took out an Array Plate, and placed it outside the courtyard’s existing Formation, activating the Array Plate.

The Formation quickly enveloped refined courtyard number seven, isolating it from the outside world.

“The battle must end within four hours!” the leader of the Lie Mountain Four Tigers stated solemnly.

“Don’t worry, Leader. It’s just an early-stage Foundation Establishment Loose Cultivator; why would it take so long?” Lao Si said with a light laugh.

After receiving information about the assassination target, they were quite at ease. The target was not a Shushan Sect cultivator but an early-stage Foundation Establishment Loose Cultivator.

This simplified their mission significantly and reduced the risk a great deal. Seeing Ji Zhenchuan’s arrangements, it seemed joining the Shushan Sect would not be an issue for them.

While they fantasized about the pleasant life within the sect, they took out the control jade token for refined courtyard number seven.

As the control jade token was activated, the Defensive Formation of refined courtyard number seven shook, but it did not fully dissipate.

“What’s happening?” the leader of the Lie Mountain Four Tigers asked aloud.

“It should be the cultivator inside who has reinforced the Formation, but it’s not strong. We can break it if we work together!” spoke Lao San, who had some understanding of Formations.

“Act quickly, let’s all strike together!” the leader of the Lie Mountain Four Tigers ordered in a heavy tone.

The four mid-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivators simultaneously launched their attacks, and with a resounding ‘boom,’ the Formation, which had been barely maintained by a few Spirit Stones, was instantly shattered.

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