Chapter 135: Chapter 114: Accident
Li Shiming had no choice but to make public the matter of killing the Han Family cultivator.
This event was witnessed by Old Monk Du Yuan personally, and if he hid this, he couldn’t guarantee that Old Monk Du Yuan wouldn’t speak out.
He didn’t know who Old Monk Du Yuan was, but he had to assume the worst.
Although Old Monk Du Yuan had no intention of harming him, he did express a desire for him to convert to Buddhism.
Therefore, it was better for him to come out with it himself, report it to his sect, and besides, the matter of Han Tianlei setting a trap for him needed to be resolved upon his return.
“Junior brother, what do you mean?” the stationed cultivator awakened from his shock, exchanged a glance with the middle-aged Emperor that flashed with delight, and then asked Li Shiming.
“I will handle Han Tianlei. After I heal the spirit plant, I’ll return to the sect. I hope that the Han Family will no longer exist!” Li Shiming replied indifferently.
From Han Yu’s confession, he knew that the conflict between the Han Family and the Imperial Family had nearly become public.
Many forces in Nanshan Country had already sided with the Han Family, while the stationed cultivators standing with the Imperial Family were also enemies of the Han Family.
Normally, Li Shiming making this request would never be agreed upon by the stationed cultivator and the middle-aged Emperor.
But Li Shiming’s display of strength was overwhelming, first breaking the array, and then producing ten corpses of middle-stage Qi Refining cultivators from the Han Family, which represented all their middle-stage Qi Refining cultivators.
The Han Family was now extremely weak, boasting at most a few early-stage Qi Refining cultivators, who the stationed cultivator could dismiss with a flick of his hand.
“Junior brother, the spirit plant is in the Imperial Palace. I’ll take you there first. As for the Han Family, I’ll make another trip there while you treat the spirit plant, so the Imperial side can prepare!” the stationed cultivator invited with a smile.
The spirit plant was in the courtyard of the stationed cultivator, which was capable of retaining spiritual energy, thanks to the array set up by the spirit plant.
The spirit plant was a thousand-year-old peony, which was very vigorous and beneficial to aging cultivators.
“I’ll cast the spell, it’s a small matter!” Li Shiming assured, looking at the wilted thousand-year-old peony with a smile.
“Then I’ll leave it to you, junior brother. I will be right back!” the stationed cultivator returned, his face brightening. This thousand-year-old peony was very important to him, and despite repeated requests for a spirit plant cultivator from the sect to come and treat it, there had been no response until today.
He understood that if the Han Family had not set a trap for Li Shiming, he would not have traveled here to complete this healing task.
The task was quite cumbersome, not every junior spirit plant cultivator could successfully heal it, and the journey was too long for such an inadequately rewarding task.
Li Shiming nodded, then drew the “Spring Breeze Nourishing Technique” rune in the air. As an intermediate spirit plant cultivator, he could already control the size of the rain clouds.
A small cloud appeared above the thousand-year-old peony, and the falling mist wrapped around the plant as if sentient, instantly reviving the wilted peony.
He did not end the treatment, and with a light tap of his finger, he cast the “Geng Metal Skill.”
Although it was a junior level spell and unadvanced, being cast by a mid-stage cultivator like him, both its power and flexibility were greatly enhanced.
The Geng Metal Needle entered the soil and traveled beneath the spirit soil where the thousand-year-old peony was planted.
A sound of metal striking metal came from the ground, followed by a golden beetle flying out of the soil.
“Oh, it’s a Golden Winged Beetle!” Ren Fei’er exclaimed in surprise from the side.
Seeing Li Shiming preparing to use the “Sword Control Technique” with a high-grade sword artifact to deal with the Golden Winged Beetle, she quickly pulled him back.
Ren Fei’er might not be able to use much spiritual power, but she still had her methods.
She took out a talisman, flicked it gently, and the talisman transformed into a spiderweb, enveloping the Golden Winged Beetle within.
The Golden Winged Beetle struggled continuously but couldn’t break free from the web’s constraint.
She then took out a jade box, used a spiritual energy hand to place the Golden Winged Beetle inside the box, then closed and lightly tapped it with her finger. Spiritual Power Patterns appeared on the box, sealing it from the inside.
“The Golden Winged Beetle is one of the mystical creatures recorded in the ‘Strange Insect Record’. You could learn the Insect Extermination Technique in the future, and then you could control this insect,” she explained softly to Li Shiming, who looked puzzled.
Li Shiming had never heard of the “Strange Insect Record,” and of course, he didn’t know the Insect Extermination Technique.
“What use is the Golden Winged Beetle?” he asked Ren Fei’er, looking at the jade box she handed him.
“This Golden Winged Beetle, if sold to a cultivator skilled in Insect Extermination Technique, could be worth at least a thousand spirit stones!” Ren Fei’er did not want to explain further and switched to a simpler explanation.
“So, this bug is that valuable, it should be well kept!” Li Shiming didn’t hesitate, as it was a part of his reward for the mission, and smiled as he put the jade box into his storage bag.
A loud “boom” noise came from a distance, and the strong fluctuation of spiritual energy alerted Li Shiming that an accident had occurred.
“You stay here, I’ll go check!” Li Shiming instructed Ren Fei’er, but upon seeing her reluctant expression, he amended, “You should have ways to protect yourself, but don’t stray too far from me, or I won’t be able to look after you!”
“Got it, you’re such a nag!” Ren Fei’er chuckled and nodded in agreement.
While Ren Fei’er sat on the back of a paper crane, Li Shiming grew a pair of wings on his back and flew towards the area where the spiritual energies had collided.
They quickly reached the battlefield and saw the stationed cultivator engaged in fierce battle with a black-clothed cultivator.
Ren Fei’er recognized immediately that this was a cultivator from the Xuanming Sect.