Chapter 420: Chapter 45: Organ Modification
The Big Sword Shuttle stretched over a thousand meters, its surface extraordinarily lustrous, designed with a Magic Artifact’s structure to prevent rainwater from accumulating.
Though its sky-controlling speed was not fast, the Spiritual Power consumption was far lower than that of the Tattooed Beast.
The Kun Whale had to rely on Sword Intent to resist the rain’s corrosion, but as long as the Big Sword Shuttle remained intact, it could sustain itself indefinitely.
The sheer grandeur of the Big Sword Shuttle made it visible across the entire city.
Some Sword Cultivators chose to approach it intentionally, causing the number of Sword Cultivators gathered within its protective range to grow increasingly larger.
They kept a safe distance from each other, their gazes filled with guarded suspicion.
"Damn it..."
Taishan Yan couldn’t help but curse under his breath.
He had already realized that he had been outmaneuvered, his expression turning exceptionally grim.
From start to finish, it was likely all part of a scheme—he had severely underestimated the recently inducted Li Mo, and now, he was forced to safeguard the Big Sword Shuttle.
"Heh, if you’ve got the guts, just stay inside the Magic Artifact and don’t come out."
Earlier, Taishan Yan had relied on his protective Sword Intent, circled around the Big Sword Shuttle, but found no way to enter the Magic Artifact’s interior.
Taishan Yan felt utterly stifled.
If he truly risked offending everyone by destroying the Big Sword Shuttle, the other Sword Cultivators would immediately unite against him.
The platform provided by the Big Sword Shuttle was far too precious to abandon.
Even if none of the Sword Cultivators wanted to admit it, they were all inadvertently tied to the same boat, forming an unusual cooperative tension.
"The Thirteen Immortals—what a Thirteen Immortals. I never expected you to have such exceptional Artifact Refining skill—or was it just a Blinding Technique?"
Taishan Yan thought back carefully.
He had noticed that the Artifact Refining process was incomplete and had confidently assumed Li Mo was incapable of resisting.
But it took merely a dozen minutes or so from his appearance to his attack for the Big Sword Shuttle to transition from its nascent state to a finished Hundred Refinement Magical Artifact—clearly unrealistic.
Li Mo had likely already pre-forged a finished product and used the Magic Artifact Embryo as bait to lure them in.
"Cunning, but not formidable."
Taishan Yan sneered, but then saw the other Sword Cultivators sitting cross-legged on their Lifebound Flying Swords, one after another entering a state of cultivation.
The Evil Woman chuckled darkly.
Taishan Yan was known as one of the most talented Sword Cultivators from Yu Xin Palace; even though he had only been in the Inner Sect for 200 years, he had already reached the Five Qi Period.
He possessed a Lifebound Flying Sword called "Red Disaster," which contained Superior Sword Intent.
Not long ago, Taishan Yan had comprehended three-tenths of the true essence of Sword Intent through Red Disaster, and he was on the verge of mastering Superior Sword Intent at any moment.
Li Mo’s sudden rise prompted Yu Xin Palace’s disciples to often compare the two of them.
The Evil Woman now felt that compared to Li Mo, Taishan Yan was utterly insignificant—their levels of cunning and strategy were not even on the same tier.
"I must keep an eye on Taishan Yan to prevent any sabotage of the Magic Artifact."
No one knew how much longer the journey to Fire Spirit Hall would take.
To be precise, no one even knew the current state of Fire Spirit Hall or the true source of its taboo.
To survive, focusing on adjusting one’s own condition was the only sensible course.
The interior of the Big Sword Shuttle was divided into three sections; though Li Mo seemed rushed during its creation, he had still made spatial arrangements.
Several Seclusion Rooms, two Alchemy Rooms, three Artifact Refining Rooms, five Quiet Rooms...
In some sense, the Big Sword Shuttle was a perfected version of Taiyin Law Heaven—a massive, movable Cave Mansion.
During his cultivation breaks, Li Mo diligently refined adjustments to the Big Sword Shuttle.
The bottom of the Big Sword Shuttle squirmed as rows of iron chains extended outward, primarily for the Sword Cultivators to cling to, saving their Spiritual Power.
The other Sword Cultivators welcomed this arrangement, though Taishan Yan stubbornly continued following on his flying sword.
"We should arrive at Fire Spirit Hall within two months."
Cancer cells permeated the Big Sword Shuttle, Daoist Ye Zhuo busied himself practicing the Blood Soul Technique, while Daoist Bai Shuo lay silently inside his Black Coffin.
"There should be no threats for now within the region of Purple Sun Palace."
Li Mo’s consciousness entered the Corpse Mountain Mini World, approaching a mountain peak near the edge that concealed a storage-focused Cave Mansion.
The interior was filled with all sorts of rare treasures, while the walls bore two maps.
One map was annotated based on feedback from the Creation Book, depicting the ancient Cultivation World. It was densely packed with towns and sects.
As for the map of the later Cultivation World—
Perhaps due to the prevalence of immortality, the population in current times far surpassed that of the ancients, yet towns and sects had dwindled by more than half.
Li Mo scanned the map; nearly all major towns from ancient times had vanished—it wasn’t something simple like the erosion of time.
The worldly upheavals that caused inexplicable harm to the mortal world likely far exceeded the impact on sects.
Pausing for a few moments, Li Mo entered the Cave Mansion’s depths, where rows upon rows of jars and vials filled the space, all containing extracted organs and bodies.
Among them, eight corpses bore distinctive yet incomplete Sword Body features.
Mastering the Sword Body was not considered overly challenging, so Li Mo simply experimented with the corpses, combining them with his calculations to gradually verify his hypotheses.
"The Sword Bodies from the Twenty-Eight Sword Tombs likely originate from an Immortal Body."
"The Sword Body first emerged ten thousand years ago. The cultivator who created it must not have merely encountered an Immortal Body—they may have even dissected one."
Li Mo said nothing, staring quietly at the bodies for a long time.
"Sword Body fusion is not yet the right time."
A while later, he retrieved numerous Liu Li jars from the Big Sword Shuttle, each filled with beast-based Taoist Body organs.
Although Xia Dao Palace provided some assistance, Li Mo’s simulations could significantly expedite his research into organ modification with his active participation.
He determined that organ modification wasn’t an excessively intricate surgery.
Many small and medium sects had similar techniques—for instance, the Cave God’s Eye was also grown through surgical transformation.
However, imprinting the essence of a Taoist Body required countless trials.
After fully understanding the variables, Li Mo simulated the surgery process and prepared to use his own sensory organs as test subjects.
Both of his eyes had already been imprinted and connected to the Candle Dragon.
The remaining ears, mouth, nose, and tongue needed to align more closely with beastly traits.
The Corpse Mountain Mini World, with its vast swamps and rich Poisonous Spirit Energy, had given rise to various exotic beasts.
The Poisonous Clothes Mountain Rats, whose fur could repel the swamp’s toxins.
The Red Tongue Python, with its hollow tongue capable of emitting venomous fumes.
The Poison Bats, whose bloated abdomens were filled with toxic miasma, which allowed them to float into the air like hot-air balloons.
......
Li Mo studied the Red Tongue Python’s tongue closely, meticulous down to the level of observing cancer cells, and finally began his operation.
Initially, he had planned to wait longer, but the dangers of Fire Spirit Hall were too imminent, necessitating immediate enhancement of his strength.
Li Mo wasn’t unprepared, as his five senses were nearer to the Mud Pill Palace. With the Buddha Demon Body suppressing potential calamities, any mishaps could be avoided.
He didn’t intend for his tongue to achieve magical capabilities, only to take on the embryonic form of a Taoist Body.
The modification surgery proceeded smoothly due to Li Mo’s modest requirements, and soon his tongue began to produce a faint numbness.
Li Mo didn’t stop, blood dripping from the corners of his mouth.
"If the surgery fails, I can always discard these senses and transplant new ones."
The operation on his tongue took just over an hour, though this was because Li Mo intentionally slowed. Otherwise, it could’ve been completed in under ten minutes.
The modified tongue appeared slightly swollen, and yet its sense of taste—not only undamaged—recovered to its heightened acuity from before the Death Disease had ravaged him.
Li Mo’s expression turned peculiar.
"The tongue’s nerves partially link with the Great Wilderness Immortal Body, unexpectedly enhancing taste perception."
Li Mo stuck out his tongue, noticing that his saliva had turned a faint blue-purple. While the toxin it produced could paralyze small prey, it wasn’t potent enough to kill.
The new toxin in his tongue could be replenished by consuming food or drawing from his internal reservoir of poison.
"Interesting. If grafted onto a mortal with a half-rotted body, the Red Tongue Python transformation could rival First Level of Puberty magic."
"Kekeke."
Li Mo documented his findings and then linked his tongue to the Creation Book’s imprint.
As the Creation Book intervened, the surgical traces on the tongue gradually vanished. The shrunken taste buds regenerated, with taste sensitivity increasing tenfold.
A Divine Skill took form within five days.
Simultaneously, Li Mo noticed that his glabella became hot, and his sense of smell grew notably more acute—the tongue’s Divine Skill indirectly influencing his remaining senses.
[Red Mouth Poison Tongue]
Any snake venom ever consumed by Li Mo could be replicated as poison via this Divine Skill.
When sampling any toxic recipe, its formulation could be immediately deciphered.
Despite its seemingly niche utility, the Red Mouth Poison Tongue ability greatly satisfied him—it proved that the concept of organ modification was viable.
Li Mo immediately began the next procedure: modifying his mouth with meticulous care in selecting a fitting beast.
He ultimately chose a massive Elephant Beast species.
The Elephant Beast required no prolonged intake to sustain its massive body. Its unique mouth structure reduced the need to swallow; chewing alone sufficed to absorb nutrients.
Rocks, flesh, metal, bones, plants...
If it could be chewed, it was part of the Elephant Beast’s diet.
Li Mo realized the Elephant Beast’s feeding mechanism resembled that of plants, and its Divine Skill aptly reflected this: [Wood Accommodation One].
Food within Li Mo’s mouth would gradually dissolve, merging disparate medicinal properties into a refined, easily absorbed [Jade Liquid].
In essence, his mouth now functioned as a primitive elixir-refining furnace.
Upon imprinting his tongue and mouth, a shift occurred within the Cave God’s Eye—a mysterious string of characters spiraled out of the Yin Yang Fish but remained incomplete in its transformation.
Li Mo pressed on with his surgeries.
For his left ear, he referenced the Patrol Fish, which detected spiritual materials underwater purely via auditory perception.
Divine Skill: [Eight Directions Water Veins].
Li Mo could channel the skill from his left ear to sense water sources within a hundred miles and even store an entire stream’s worth of water within the ear itself.
The surgery on his right ear followed the same principle, inspired by Eight Directions Water Veins.
Divine Skill: [Four-Sided Fire Veins].
The right ear’s skill allowed detection of volcanic activity—less practical for Li Mo—but crucially, it could house a pond-sized quantity of fire.
Left ear: Water. Right ear: Fire.
Left eye: Sun (Yang). Right eye: Moon (Yin).
For his nose, Li Mo looked to the Seeking Yin Crow, a creature that thrived in ghostly Spirit Energy-rich Chaotic Burial Mounds with an unparalleled olfactory sense.
Divine Skill: [Smell God and Ghost].
Li Mo could sniff out deceitful entities within a hundred-mile radius, his nasal cavities capable of restricting two such entities simultaneously.
When activating Smell God and Ghost, he was instantly overwhelmed with an acrid stench—a corpse-reek so intense he began retching violently.
It took a long while to recover; within the Twenty-Eight Sword Tombs, the deceitful entities known as Sword Ghosts likely numbered in the tens of millions, enough to stifle every breath.
"Eyes: Candle Dragon’s Yin and Yang. Ears: Kun Whale and Red Fox for Water and Fire. Mouth and tongue: Mountain Demon and Salamander for Poison and Wood. Nose: Ghost Tiger."
"All that’s left now is the Golden Toad for metal."