Protected by "starlite," Li Shiming felt a tingling sensation on his scalp.

    Since he had decided to create "white phosphorus bombs" and "thermite bombs" for self-protection, and was dealing with cultivators, the finished products of these bombs were made to be as powerful as he could manage.

    He understood clearly, if the power was too low, the explosion would not cover the speed at which a cultivator could escape, thus rendering the weapon useless.

    But another problem arose, the power was so great that he could not throw the "thermite bomb" far enough to be outside the range of the explosion.

    In other words, once the "thermite bomb" exploded, it was very likely to include him in its blast.

    Therefore, he needed a way to survive in the flames of the "thermite bomb," and he found the most feasible method in the large server, IBM z15.

    "Starlife" was a fireproof material developed by someone named Morris Ward. Although the original "starlife" was lost with the death of its inventor, later researchers used several everyday household items to recreate a similar "starlife" material.

    Starch, baking soda, and glue—when these three materials were combined, they formed the new "starlife" fireproof material.

    As for its effectiveness, Li Shiming had already tested it in the server room space.

    Li Shiming lay on the ground like the filling under a dumpling wrapper, his face now adorned with a gas mask.

    He counted in his mind while listening to the sounds outside.

    Fifteen seconds after the explosion, he lifted the "starlife" material from his body, seeing that its surface had turned charred black.

    Fortunately, this large "pancake" had protected him well; he did not suffer even a slight burn.

    However, the hot air and thin oxygen, coupled with the toxic smoke, made the area unsafe.

    The effect of his "Basic Light Body Talisman" had not yet faded. After picking up the "starlife" material from the ground, he flashed over to two corpses.

    His gaze fell on the storage bags at the waists of the two corpses; he hadn''t expected both cultivators to have storage bags.

    Although the storage bags showed signs of being scorched, they were not damaged, seemingly possessing some kind of protective mechanism.

    The sign standing at that stall had "Hao" written on it, which was not a particularly common surname. Li Shiming did not believe it had no connection with the old cultivator of that stall.

    A Low Grade Magical Artifact with such a marker could not be sold unless one went far from this place.

    Then there were stacks of talismans, the amount of which surprised Li Shiming.

    Taking out the talismans, he noticed that all of them were made from greenish-yellow talismanic paper, a distinctive feature that allowed him to recognize them immediately.

    This talismanic paper was exactly what Old Cultivator Hao sold, indicating that these talismans were likely made by the force Old Cultivator Hao belonged to.

    Over fifty Basic Featherweight Talismans, more than thirty Basic Fireball Talismans, more than thirty Basic Ice Freeze Talismans, fifteen Basic Earth Armor Talismans, along with two Intermediate Fireball Talismans.

    This was the first time Li Shiming saw so many talismans. He knew that if he truly used talismans to combat a cultivator of such wealth, his own few talismans would definitely be inadequate.

    Inside the storage bag, there were also more than one hundred and twenty Spirit Stones, along with several pieces of clothing and mundane items like gold and silver.

    Li Shiming had not been cultivating for long, and he already had over a hundred Spirit Stones on him, while this cultivator''s storage bag only had just over a hundred and twenty; comparatively, this cultivator was indeed very poor.

    He then opened the other storage bag, first seeing another similar style Lower Grade Long Sword Magical Artifact, even with the same "Hao" character mark.

    "It''s time to visit Brother Gu and inquire about the news of cultivator forces around here!" Li Shiming murmured to himself.

    This storage bag contained fewer talismans, but their quality had significantly improved.

    There were exactly five Intermediate Fireball Talismans, one Intermediate Earth Armor Talisman, with the rest being over forty low-level talismans.

    Li Shiming paid special attention to the Intermediate Earth Armor Talisman, a defensive talisman that could withstand damage.

    Three hundred and fifty Spirit Stones, a pile of talismanic ink materials, twelve stacks of greenish-yellow talismanic paper, and one talisman pen brimming with spiritual energy.

    Li Shiming took out the talisman pen, which had considerably more spiritual energy than the Red Rabbit Brush he had bought; although it did not reach the level of a Mid Grade Magical Artifact, it was among the best in Low Grade Magical Artifacts.

    Last but not least, the storage bag also contained a cultivation notebook. It seems many cultivators liked to write cultivation notes; this was the second one he had obtained, and he had found two in just three storage bags.