Cultivation is just so scientific! Chapter 7 Discovery

Li Shiming remembered his initial meeting with Chief Escort Wang in the garden—it was right by this rockery where the Chief Escort had requested their rendezvous.

He reasoned that if someone possessed a treasure but was being hunted, they wouldn't carry it on their person. Instead, they would hide it somewhere they could keep a constant watch over.

It was highly probable that Chief Escort Wang had stashed the object nearby. Rather than disturbing the body of Chief Escort Wang, Li Shiming began a meticulous search of the immediate area.

However, Li Shiming was well aware that his own investigative skills were severely lacking.

His thoughts turned to the massive IBM z15 server residing within his machine room space. The catch was that the server needed to directly process what his own eyes were seeing.

To facilitate this, he had to configure his eyes as an input device for the IBM z15.

Navigating the Linux system settings, he attempted to add a new input peripheral. As soon as he linked his consciousness to the input module, the system identified an available device.

The installation was seamless; no external drivers were required as the device configured itself automatically.

This marked the first time Li Shiming had operated the IBM z15 by interfacing directly with its core components. After a few trials, he successfully registered his eyes as a verified input source for the server.

He began scanning the rockery’s perimeter, transmitting the visual data of the environment into the IBM z15 to generate a high-definition video file.

Closing his eyes, he used his consciousness to review the footage on a loop.

While his personal intuition was limited, the server's ability to replay the scene allowed him to scrutinize every detail until an anomaly surfaced.

“There it is!” After roughly a minute of reviewing the file nearly a hundred times, he finally detected a discrepancy.

Li Shiming walked toward the southern edge of the rockery. To a casual observer, the grass appeared uniform, but the data revealed that the average height of the blades here was marginally taller than the surrounding patches.

This minute variation was invisible to the naked eye, yet it stood out clearly once digitized by the IBM z15.

The intensive processing had taken its toll; in just sixty seconds, the server's power levels had plummeted to the warning threshold.

Chief Escort Wang was a master of concealment. Had Li Shiming relied solely on his natural vision, the secret would have remained buried forever.

Carefully, Li Shiming pried up the layer of sod, uncovering a hidden wooden box.

A surge of excitement hit him the moment the box came into view.

Upon opening it, he discovered two manuals and a small wooden sword. The sword was etched with dense, intricate patterns that were as precise as the finest printing technology from his previous life.

When he lifted the wooden sword, its weight surprised him—it was remarkably heavy, weighing at least eight kilograms.

“This is no mere trinket; it might actually be a Daoist artifact!” The sheer density of the object confirmed its mystical nature.

He tucked the sword away and turned his attention to the two books.

The titles read: The Five Elements Qi Absorption Technique and Introduction to Runes.

After a quick browse through the pages, Li Shiming paused to reflect before placing them back into the container.

He realized a potential danger—Chief Escort Wang was dead, but the Daoist cultivator was still at large and would likely continue his search.

He had no way of knowing what supernatural tracking abilities the Daoist cultivator possessed or if he would eventually find this spot.

It was safer to leave a facade. If the cultivator arrived, he should find the box containing only the two manuals.

Since the contents of the books were already archived within the IBM z15, Li Shiming could study them whenever he wished.

With the data recorded, the server entered hibernation to conserve its remaining energy, rendering it temporarily unusable until he could recharge it.

After ensuring the box was positioned correctly, he meticulously replaced the sod to hide his tracks.

He then moved the corpse of Chief Escort Wang into his machine room space. While he found the task unpleasant, leaving a body in the garden was a far greater risk.

He scrubbed the area clean, particularly where the Chief Escort had collapsed, removing every trace of the struggle.

Only then did he return to his courtyard, feeling the weight of the immediate crisis finally lift from his shoulders.

That night, he spent his remaining mental energy powering the generator until he was physically spent, falling into a deep sleep.

The following day passed quietly. The local authorities found no sign of the Daoist cultivator, nor any trace of Chief Escort Wang.

However, late on the second night, the sound of drums echoed through the air—a signal that a major event had rocked Nanling Prefecture.

He hurried out to investigate and encountered Mo Yan, who was rushing toward him with a report.

“Young Master, a terrible tragedy has occurred! The Weiyuan Escort Agency has been slaughtered. Chief Escort Wang’s entire family and every member of the agency—thirty-five souls in total—have been murdered!” Mo Yan exclaimed.

Li Shiming’s face paled. He knew instantly that the Daoist cultivator was the culprit.

It was a desperate, brutal tactic. Unable to find Chief Escort Wang, the cultivator had likely hoped that butchering his family would goad him out of hiding.

The cold-bloodedness of it was staggering—thirty-five lives snuffed out in an instant.

Given that this happened within Nanling Prefecture, the sounding of the drums meant that both the local guard and the regional military would be mobilized.

Li Shiming’s anxiety spiked. The very item the Daoist cultivator sought was buried in his garden, and he couldn't be certain that finding the box alone would appease the man.

He had kept the wooden sword for himself. If that was the primary target, his own household was in grave danger.

He doubted the mundane military forces could truly oppose a Daoist cultivator.

He needed an additional safeguard before the cultivator eventually traced the box to his location.

“Mo Yan, are the materials I asked for ready yet?” Li Shiming asked with a sharp tone.

“I’ll hurry them along, Young Master! They will be here by tomorrow morning without fail!” Mo Yan promised, sensing the gravity of the situation.

Li Shiming abandoned his original plan for a full-scale forge. He had intended to build an electric arc furnace, but even if the materials arrived, manufacturing silicon carbon rods and gathering enough power in the UPS would take too long.

With an arc furnace, he could have used his consciousness to forge precision metal weapons for defense.

Time was a luxury he didn't have, forcing him to pivot to a different strategy.

A new plan formed in his mind.

Using the resources in the machine room space, he conducted a series of chemical experiments to extract a small quantity of white phosphorus through a simplified process.

The IBM z15 server listed over a dozen ways to synthesize the substance. He chose the fastest method, as the purity of the phosphorus was less important than its immediate availability.

Once he had the white phosphorus, he returned to the garden. He placed the volatile chemicals inside the buried wooden box by the rockery and carefully erased his footprints once more.

He had prepared as best he could. Now, the outcome rested in the hands of fate.