Although Li Wenyuan is only a fourth-rank official, he is the prefect of Nanling Prefecture, a real big shot, and the highest-ranking official in Nanling Prefecture.

If he wanted to get promoted, he had to return to Zhongdu and join the central government.

There have been a series of vicious cases in Nanling Prefecture. Although they are related to immortal cultivators, the impact is so bad that Li Wenyuan will be affected no matter what.

However, Li Wenyuan did not consider returning to Zhongdu, so it was not a big deal.

"Shiming, you go back and have a rest first. The autumn examination will be held in a few days, so take care of yourself!" Li Wenyuan didn't want Li Shiming to get involved in these affairs, so he smiled and waved his hand.

"You should also go to bed early!" Li Shiming reminded when leaving.

When he walked out of the room, he saw several officials walking quickly towards him and couldn't help but sigh helplessly. It was obvious that Li Wenyuan would not be able to have a good rest today.

He walked across the stone bridge and was about to return to his own courtyard when he suddenly looked in one direction, which was the direction of the guest house where the two monks lived.

Li Shiming looked at the guest house in front of him, where the candles were still on.

"Li Shiming wants to see the immortal!" The two guest houses were adjacent to each other. He stood in front of two nearby gates and said loudly.

No one responded to him, which was what he had expected.

But he still asked politely just in case.

He tried pushing one of the gates and found that it was bolted from the inside.

It was not difficult to open this kind of wooden bolt from the outside. He took a dagger and inserted it into the crack of the door. He removed the wooden bolt with a few light pokes.

When he opened the gate and entered, he saw the door of the house was wide open.

I checked the main hall, bedrooms and several other rooms very smoothly, but didn't find anything.

Those who practice Taoism seem to be detached from the world and their life here leaves no trace at all.

The yard had not changed at all from before, even **'s quilt had not been used.

He didn't have any expectations at all, he just thought of a glimmer of possibility to see if the two cultivators had left anything behind.

He came out of the guest house disappointed and entered another guest house.

When entering the bedroom of the guest house, Li Shiming saw a round plate on the ground.

The disc was emitting a faint light, with four glowing milky white stones at the center, connected by countless complex lines, forming a strange pattern.

There is no record of this disc in the back of the "Introduction to Runes" left by Chief Escort Wang, but this form is mostly some kind of magic circle.

"It can't be a defensive formation, otherwise I wouldn't be able to enter!" Li Shiming judged based on the little knowledge he had about cultivating immortals.

He picked up a wooden chair beside him and carefully placed it on top of the disc.

"It's not an attacking magic circle!" Seeing the intact wooden chair, he ruled out another possibility.

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

His hands were not attacked, and nothing unexpected happened.

"Could it be a magic array that helps with cultivation?" A guess flashed through his mind.

The reason why Junior Sister Zheng did not take the Soul Gathering Disk away was, on the one hand, because Senior Brother Zhao called her urgently and she did not expect that she would not be able to come back. On the other hand, activating the Soul Gathering Disk consumes the most spirit stones. After the Soul Gathering Disk runs stably, the consumption of spirit stones will be very small.

Under normal circumstances, during her residence time, she would only activate the Spirit Gathering Plate once, and then keep it activated all the time, so as to reduce the consumption of spirit stones.

Daxia is the sect's sphere of influence. The stronger cultivators here will give face to the sect. Among the cultivators in the same Qi Refining period, the sect's cultivators have absolute advantages in terms of strength and magical instruments and talismans. She has never considered that she would not be able to come back.

That's why this Soul Gathering Plate was left here. Of course, if Senior Brother Zhao knew that Junior Sister Zheng had the Soul Gathering Plate, he would come back to take it even if he was seriously injured or faced the threat of a wandering cultivator.

But the problem is that Junior Sister Zheng hid the matter of the Soul Gathering Disk very well, and she also knew that if the matter of the Soul Gathering Disk was exposed, she would have to be careful of her fellow disciples who would kill people and steal the treasure.

Li Shiming made some guesses in his mind, and he walked into the light of the Spirit Gathering Plate, sat cross-legged, and pressed the Spirit Gathering Plate under his body.

He tried to practice the 'Five Elements Qi Gathering Technique'. He had tried it many times before but had never felt anything. But this time it was completely different.

There were spots of light floating around him. There were three colors of light: gold, red, and green.

He didn't know what this meant, but as long as he could sense the light spots, it meant that he had sensed the existence of spiritual energy.

Sensing the spiritual energy meant he had the basic conditions to formally practice the 'Five Elements Qi Gathering Technique'. He suppressed his excitement and followed the first level of the 'Five Elements Qi Gathering Technique' to absorb the spiritual energy spots in the space into his body and circulate them along the circuits in his body.

Li Shiming didn't know how lucky he was. Normally, he was a person with a talent for cultivating immortals. Not to mention the issues of resources and environment, after meeting all these requirements, he still needed a method that matched his talent for cultivating immortals in order to practice.

The 'Five Elements Qi Gathering Technique' left by Chief Escort Wang's ancestors for their descendants is a highly versatile martial art that is suitable for all people with a talent for cultivating immortals.

This is so that the younger generations who have the talent for cultivating immortals can practice the 'Five Elements Qi Gathering Technique'.

Li Shiming was immersed in his first experience of cultivating immortals. Spiritual energy continued to enter his body and gathered in his chest.

An hour later, his body shook violently, and a vortex of spiritual energy appeared in his chest. Although the gathered spiritual energy was not much, it did not disperse due to the restraint of the vortex.

He opened his eyes, and the room he saw was as bright as day.

This is not the effect of candlelight. After being nourished by spiritual energy, his body seems to have undergone tremendous changes.

He smelled a foul odor and quickly checked, and found that the odor was coming from him.

A layer of black oil appeared on his exposed skin. He pulled open his clothes and saw that his body was covered with this black oil.

It seemed that a vortex of spiritual energy was generated, allowing his body to expel impurities.

According to the "Five Elements Qi Gathering Art", a vortex of spiritual energy appeared on Li Shiming's chest, indicating that he had officially entered the first level of Qi Refining.

He did not mobilize the spiritual energy in his chest because there was too little spiritual energy, so he did not dare to act rashly.

Without guidance, cultivating immortality is like a blind man groping in the dark.

Li Shiming looked at the Soul Gathering Plate which still kept its light. He also knew that it was a waste to keep it in such a state. However, as he had just started practicing, he could not practice the 'Five Elements Qi Gathering Technique' for a second time.

After one session of practice, he felt a dull pain in the places where the spiritual energy flowed in his body.

He thought about it, pressed his hand on the spirit gathering disk, and put it into the computer room.

The Soul Gathering Disk entered the computer room and did not stop attracting spiritual energy. Although no one knew where the outside of the computer room was, the Soul Gathering Disk continued to attract spiritual energy from the unknown and gather it into the computer room.

Li Shiming observed the Soul Gathering Disk for a while and found that it did not affect other equipment in the computer room. Only then did he feel relieved to withdraw his consciousness.