Seeking immortality begins with daily intelligence reports.

Time flew by, and Li Shen spent several days in his capacity as a talisman master.

Although he had an additional identity, it didn't actually hinder Li Shen's cultivation too much.

On the contrary, because of the increase in his monthly salary, Li Shen became much more generous in feeding the Seven-Colored Python and the Spirit-Eating Ants.

I used to feed them ten low-grade spirit stones per meal, but now I feed them twenty.

On the day I receive my monthly salary, I'll also get an extra meal.

Of course, these were just snacks; the real meals came from the monsters in the prison mountains.

There are also the magical artifacts that I can neither deal with nor use for the time being.

The swarm of flying ants, which was originally only the size of a palm, had expanded to the size of a human head after Li Shen fed them.

However, it still only has wings on its back, and its colors have not yet reached a vibrant, multicolored state; it is still quite a distance from being an adult insect.

A second, blurry pattern appeared on the body of the Seven-Colored Python, indicating that it was not far from reaching the late stage of the first tier.

They haven't provided any useful information about opportunities these days, but they have given a few pieces of information about the market.

Two of them relate to the talks between the four parties.

One point is that the meeting of the four parties was held in the black market, and there were more than twenty Foundation Establishment cultivators participating.

Unfortunately, no specific name was provided, so Li Shen didn't know whether the girl Yan'er from the Sleeping Fairy Pavilion was involved.

The other rule is: [The four families reached an agreement on the distribution rules for the Xuanhuo Shangren's legacy: Each Foundation Establishment cultivator who participated will receive one item; if the number is insufficient, they will receive spirit stones as compensation, with the Song family having priority in selection...]

At first glance, this distribution method seems reasonable, but Li Shen felt that if there really wasn't enough to go around, how could someone who was taking such a huge risk be satisfied with a mere amount of spirit stones as compensation? Conflict would inevitably break out at that point.

More than twenty Foundation Establishment cultivators...

Li Shen shook his head at the thought of that scene.

However, no matter the outcome, as long as it doesn't involve the life or death of the Zhao family, it won't concern him much.

As for the opportunity to attain the Golden Core stage, Li Shen currently lacks the strength to do so, and naturally does not intend to get involved; he will focus on cultivation instead.

The days passed uneventfully and fulfillingly until a new intelligence report appeared as expected at midnight.

During the meeting, after the Tang and Song families' investigation yielded no results, Tang Tian, ​​the young master of the Tang family, recalled the traces of a mid-stage Qi Refining rogue cultivator he had found in the lair. He reported this to Tang Li, the head of the Tang family. Tang Li also remembered this mid-stage Qi Refining rogue cultivator. After careful consideration, he decided to find the Song family to discuss how to use him as a breakthrough to continue the investigation into the demonic cultivators.

Li Shen looked at the contents before him and his heart sank.

It was indeed noticed by a Foundation Establishment cultivator from the Tang family before, but there has been no unusual activity in the market these days.

Li Shen naturally assumed that even if he were discovered, the Tang family would not take him seriously.

After all, no one would believe that a mid-stage Qi Refining expert could defeat four late-stage Qi Refining experts; such a thing would be a challenge to the worldview if it got out.

In some respects, Li Shen's prediction was correct.

According to intelligence, it was Tang Tian, ​​the young master of the Tang family, who brought up the matter again, and the traces were found in the Golden Leopard's lair.

Li Shen recalled Tang Wu's drunken boasts at the Zhao family's Foundation Establishment celebration. The Tang Tian mentioned in the intelligence should be the elder brother Tang Wu mentioned who was preparing for Foundation Establishment.

It should be one of the two early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators among the four Foundation Establishment cultivators of the Tang family at that time.

The traces that the other party discovered in the Golden Leopard's den should be the remnants of the Shadow Rat that Li Shen used a magical artifact to deal with when he was investigating the Golden Leopard's den.

Li Shen was in a hurry when he left and did not notice this detail.

However, Li Shen didn't think it was a big deal.

According to intelligence reports, the Tang family was slow to realize the situation.

At that time, they certainly wouldn't have deliberately preserved the lingering aura of Li Shen's battle.

Based on previous experience, the lairs of demonic beasts at the late-stage peak of the first rank naturally have a richer spiritual energy than the areas inhabited by demonic beasts of the same rank in Laoshan.

Therefore, once they die, the nests they leave behind will inevitably be occupied by other monsters.

When Li Shen returned to the mist valley nest, which was occupied by a late-stage, peak-level first-tier crimson python, it had been taken over by a mid-stage first-tier black bear.

This is a typical example.

Several days have passed, and the monsters in the prison mountains are still numerous.

The Golden Leopard's lair must have been occupied by other monsters long ago.

Even if the Tang family members realized what was happening and tried to preserve the lingering aura of Li Shen's battle, it would be futile.

It had long been disrupted by the fighting between the monsters.

Therefore, based solely on Tang Tian's impression, Li Shen felt that the other party probably only remembered him as a rogue cultivator in the mid-stage of Qi Refining.

Even if he remembered what attribute of spiritual power it was, the wood attribute spiritual power that Li Shen used was the most common.

In the marketplace, there are plenty of mid-stage Qi Refining cultivators who can use wood-attribute spiritual power.

Finally, and most importantly, Li Shen's aura has undergone a qualitative change, now reaching the late stage of Qi Refining.

In addition, given his status as a talisman master in the Zhao family, his cultivation level was not at the mid-stage of Qi Refining, and he was not a rogue cultivator.

The Tang family racked their brains but couldn't figure out that it was Li Shen.

Thinking of this, Li Shen felt that the investigation would most likely end inconclusively.

Of course, even if Li Shen was confident of victory, he would not let his guard down, because at this point it was only his own deduction.

We should proceed with caution in our next actions.

Putting his thoughts aside, Li Shen rested as usual.

The days that followed unfolded as Li Shen had predicted.

There were no changes in the first two days, but starting from the third day, the number of patrols in the market, especially in the outer city where mid-stage Qi Refining cultivators gathered, increased by more than double.

Soon, both the Tang and Song families posted notices about demonic cultivators' activities in the market.

Following this, the disciples of the Tang and Song families, on the pretext of maintaining peace in the market and suspecting that someone was colluding with demonic cultivators, began to investigate each household.

Entry and exit from both the inner and outer city walls became particularly restricted.

This had no impact on Li Shen.

As soon as the Zhao family's sign lit up, he displayed the aura of a seventh-level Qi Refining cultivator, and he moved in and out as usual.

The atmosphere in the market became tense again, and for a time almost everyone was in a state of fear.

Previously, the Song family had offered a bounty on a demonic cultivator at the tenth level of Qi Refining, which was still far from his reach. Now, he suspected that a cultivator at the mid-stage of Qi Refining was colluding with a demonic cultivator, which meant that the matter was very close to his reach.

However, the searches conducted by the Tang and Song families were not without their difficulties.

Not every independent cultivator in the market is willing to cooperate.

There will also be families that are not afraid of Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Having no other pretext, he used this incident to express his dissatisfaction.

Based on the rumors Li Shen heard, he deduced that there were roughly three forces involved.

Two of them were the Giant Tiger Gang and the Wild Wolf Gang, two major independent cultivator factions in the market.

The two sides are having a conflict, both openly and covertly, and are using this incident to smear each other.

Because there were Foundation Establishment cultivators present, and their hands were not clean, they naturally resisted this unfounded search.

Another group consists of cultivators backed by black market forces, whose hands are naturally not clean either.

Li Shen had been to the black market a few times and had some understanding of the forces behind it.

There was more than one Foundation Establishment cultivator in charge.

However, these minor conflicts subsided within two days.

Li Shen guessed that the Foundation Establishment cultivators behind them probably didn't want to cause too much trouble, since they were going to explore the Xuanhuo Shangren's former residence together in a few days.

Around noon on the fifth day of the search, people came to the courtyard where Li Shen was staying.