        * this is not an item list this is a code block because it has 4 leading spaces

    * First level, first item

      Code blocks not contained in list items must have at least 4 leading spaces. Code blocks contained in list items must have at least 8 leading spaces for the first level and additional 2 leading spaces per level

            This is a code block contained in a first level list item

      * Second level, first item

            This is not a code block, it could be because it has 8 leading spaces but it's not because it's contained in a second level list item, the following it's a code block because it has 10 leading spaces (8+2*(level-1))

              This is a code block contained in a second level list item

      Now we are back to the first level item so the following code block could be indented with 8 leading spaces

            This is a code block contained in a first level list item

      * Second level, second item
        * Third level, first item

                This is a code block contained in a third level list item because it has 12 leading spaces (8+2*(level-1))

      * Second level, third item
              This could be a code block because it has 10 leading spaces but it's not because it's not preceded by a mandatory blank line

              This is a code block because it has 10 leading spaces and it's preceded by a blank line

    * First level, third item

              This is a code block, not a surprise

        This is a code block because two consecutive new lines terminates the list item so 4 leading spaces are enough for a code block

    * First level, first item
      First level, first item
    * First level, second item
      First level, second item
      First level, second item

      First level, second item, a single blank line is not enough to terminate a list item

          So this is not a code block even with 6 leading spaces

            This is code block because 8 leading white spaces are needed as it's contained by a first level list item