Cultivation is just so scientific!

Chapter 48 Coping

Old Cultivator Hao felt a sense of familiarity with Li Shiming, which, after some time, reminded him of the cultivator who had purchased the talisman papers.

Although Li Shiming and the cultivator from that day had different heights and builds, in the Cultivation World, there are too many ways to alter one's appearance. Once he harbored suspicions, he thought of using this method to test his theory.

If that cultivator was Li Shiming, then Li Shiming truly was a newcomer and the secret manual he had purchased was not for setting up a trap.

In such a short time, no cultivator could learn a spell from a secret manual without true essence, even if the spell was the rudimentary 'Light Body Technique.'

Old Cultivator Hao sensed his mistake and began to suspect that the cultivator he met that day might actually be a powerful cultivator in disguise.

"Mr. Li's 'Light Body Technique' is executed excellently; it seems you've had some fortunate encounters, so it looks like I can't offer any suggestions!" he said with a laugh.

However, Li Shiming noticed the change in Old Cultivator Hao's expression, especially the surprised look when he performed the 'Light Body Technique.'

The 'Light Body Technique' was not a particularly difficult spell. Old Cultivator Hao's surprise suggested only one possibility: he had been thinking about something else at that moment.

Considering Old Cultivator Hao's slightly hostile demeanor when they first met, along with his earlier probe, Li Shiming felt an unease.

Until the gathering ended, Old Cultivator Hao was like a nail hammered into his heart; even though his expressions seemed less deceitful afterward, Li Shiming still felt worried.

Old Cultivator Hao was a Qi Refining Sixth Level cultivator, which, according to what Gu Jia had said, made him the strongest among the Loose Cultivators near Central Capital.

Old Cultivator Hao was the head of the Hao Family, and the family had four Qi Refining Cultivators.

Not just Old Cultivator Hao, but any Hao Family cultivator, if set against Li Shiming, would leave him no chance to fight back.

Even though Li Shiming had killed two Hao Family cultivators at Qi Refining Third and Fourth Levels, he had done so by leveraging the advantage of striking first and maintaining distance.

If a cultivator were to assassinate him, he could not guarantee that IBMz15 could detect the cultivator's arrival in advance through his senses, as cultivators' methods are not something ordinary masters can match.

With these thoughts, he returned home, and the gathering turned out not to be entirely fruitless.

He had obtained a map from a cultivator who wished to ingratiate himself with him. This map showed the distribution of power within Central Capital, marking the exact locations of the various forces.

It included five Cultivation Families and the residences of several Mid-stage Cultivators.

The purpose of circulating this map among cultivators was to avoid these powerful forces.

"It seems I need a surveillance tool now!" Li Shiming murmured in his study.

Speaking of surveillance tools, the first thing that came to mind was a drone.

The design schematics for drones, from military to civilian models, were all available in IBMz15. His former university had taken on military projects and was a highly confidential unit; the military data within IBMz15 was of a very high security level.

However, with his current control over IBMz15, all data were accessible to him.

As he looked at the technical reserves needed for a drone, he couldn't help but bow his head in helplessness.

A drone required power technology, navigation technology, communication technology, flight control technology, and chip technology. He could solve the issues of brushless motors and batteries for power technology.

Navigation technology, communication technology, flight control technology were also not an issue on the software side, but the chips themselves were something he currently could not handle.

He would have to wait until he had more technical reserves to consider it again. For now, he needed a surveillance tool he could produce immediately.

Of course, the best option would be to set up an Array, but Arrays were still too advanced for him.

Not to mention the amount of Spirit Stones needed to purchase one, even if he really could afford that many Spirit Stones, who would sell him an Array?

As far as he knew, Arrays were not something ordinary Loose Cultivators could create, at least not the weaker ones near Central Capital.

The only one who might be able to procure an Array was Gu Jia, but if Li Shiming could truly afford the Spirit Stones needed to buy an Array, he might have to face Gu Jia's scrutiny.

Although Gu Jia seemed very protective of Li Shiming, that was based on seeing potential in Li Shiming's future.

If Li Shiming had more benefits than Gu Jia expected, he would not hesitate to act against him.

Li Shiming focused his consciousness on the machine room space. He had never thought about tampering with the tool cabinet before, as he needed the devices in it to repair the IBMz15 if it ever malfunctioned.

But about three months after acquiring IBMz15, he detected a sort of enhancement in IBMz15 during the transit process.

His consciousness could reach micron-level observation and manipulation. He could sense that every part of IBMz15 had remained unchanged since three months ago.

Take, for example, the numerous fans in IBMz15. These fans utilized brushless ball bearings, typically lasting three to five years.

Of course, in practice, fans usually last much longer than five years, with many still functioning well beyond ten years.

But regardless of their lifespan or actual service life, wear and tear on the fans are inevitable.

Three months was definitely enough time to notice wear marks inside the fans, yet all the fans in IBMz15 maintained their original condition with no signs of wear at all.

Moreover, hard drives, another susceptible component, typically have a lifespan of about six years. Yet, after three months of use, not a single bad sector had appeared on any hard drive.

This was the case for all components of IBMz15.

This was a conclusion Li Shiming reached through his micron-level observation; at least at the micron level, IBMz15 had not changed at all compared to three months ago.

This realization made him think of the tool cabinet. He looked at the equipment inside the tool cabinet: a three-phase electricity meter, power distribution monitor, UPS inspection module, battery inspection unit, temperature and humidity sensors, water leakage detection device, network device checker, and more.

He selected what seemed to be a useless fiber fusion splicer. This was not to say that he would never need this device in the future.

The fiber fusion splicer used a high-voltage electric arc to melt the semi-detached surfaces of the fibers while a high-precision movement mechanism gently pushed them together to fuse the fibers into one. His micron-level manipulation could perform the work of a fiber fusion splicer.

Choosing the fiber fusion splicer also made sense because the machine featured an LCD screen, several industrial-grade chips, a communication system, a wireless system, and more.

With usable chips now at hand, he thought again about the drone. After dismantling the fiber fusion splicer, the internal hardware for building a drone was essentially ready.

He didn't even need to manufacture brushless motors himself; the server's spare fans could be modified to serve as brushless motors.

Faced with external pressures, he began a new bout of busyness.