Chapter 238: Chapter 4 What Strange Style Sword Cultivator
Li Mo, though still unable to fully understand the methods of the Demon Cultivator, realized the best course of action upon deducing the latter’s intentions.
That was to wait.
The Demon Cultivator would undoubtedly pick four scholars with top-quality talent and teach them cultivation techniques; Li Mo could simply seize the opportunity and intervene at that point.
In fact, if he pretended to blend in with the scholars, obtaining the Demon Sect Skills would be much easier.
But alas, Li Mo’s talent was far too overwhelming. His Six Paths Body would likely frighten the hidden Demon Cultivator to death or even alert the Sword Tongue Sect a thousand miles away.
Of course, realistically speaking, the Demon Cultivator would probably abandon the idea of accepting disciples immediately.
And treat Li Mo as a Furnace and refine him instead.
"Heh, if I can’t fight, I can still flee. Worst case, I’ll use the Nearby Array to escape."
Li Mo believed that even though he stood no chance of defeating a Nascent Soul Demon Cultivator, he wouldn’t be entirely defenseless. He was somewhat confident in his ability to escape.
Nascent Soul practitioners typically wouldn’t easily reveal their Nascent Souls, for fear of damaging their foundation, so they often held back at least three parts of their strength.
Li Mo rented a dilapidated and simple courtyard in a remote residential area.
He maintained his official identity as a herb gatherer, following the routines of mortal life, conducting small trade in Qing Town.
To ensure there would be no flaws.
Li Mo discreetly performed minor surgical adjustments on his facial features.
His demeanor underwent a transformation, though not to become more conspicuous—rather, to appear even more unremarkable.
Newly added crow’s feet at the corners of his eyes; a slightly hunched back; calloused palms; stiff movements while walking...
At a glance, Li Mo seemed every bit the typical street herb gatherer.
He secretly investigated the imperial examination and learned that the upcoming exam, called the "Village Exam," was somewhat similar to ancient examinations from his past life.
The Village Exam wasn’t exclusive to Qing Town; in fact, within the jurisdiction of Sword Tongue Sect, towns would conduct such exams once every thirty years or so.
It was presumably similar to the Path of Self-Reflection or an entry-level trial.
Li Mo still had four years before the next Village Exam in Qing Town.
Four years might seem plenty, but if he could successfully acquire cultivation techniques, a little patience was well worth it—especially when his Spiritual Power had already reached its limits for improvement.
Furthermore, his daily study of Spirit Patterns was also a form of cultivation.
Li Mo recalled correctly that above the Village Exam were the Provincial Exam and Imperial Exam, likely corresponding to the Outer Door Competition and Inner Door Competition, respectively.
The Sword Tongue Sect was indeed intriguing, though ultimately it fell under the Heavenly Sword Sect, and Li Mo didn’t want to offend a group of Sword Cultivators over Demon Sect Skills.
After all, in the ancient Cultivation World, Sword Cultivators were often single-minded maniacs.
At the time, the Heavenly Sword Sect was divided into Inner Sword Cultivators and Outer Sword Cultivators, constantly engaging in internal struggles even without external enemies.
Though Sword Tongue Sect was merely a subsidiary, it had some connection to the Heavenly Sword Sect.
Li Mo soon found himself falling into monotonous and tedious daily life, walking the same paths every day as he dried the herbs he purchased along the courtyard walls.
Six months later, he had thoroughly eroded away any traces of his origins, now donning coarse hemp clothing and blending in seamlessly with the common folk of Qing Town.
Even if Han Cai were to stand in front of him, he’d likely fail to recognize Li Mo.
Li Mo wasn’t worried about being discovered by the Nascent Soul Demon Cultivator and decided to treat his time in Qing Town as a tempering of his Mental Realm.
Early in the morning, he followed the sunlight towards the south of town to visit the morning market.
The streets had only a few scattered pedestrians, yet the market was already bustling with people, as well as traveling merchants purchasing mountain goods from nearby villages.
"This ginger is quite good, with medicinal properties that have matured for thirteen or fourteen years. How much are you asking for?"
Li Mo stopped at a stall, where an old man smoked a pungent tobacco pipe. On the coarse fabric before him were various herbs of inconsistent quality.
"Three taels should do. Heizi, you’re as steady as ever."
"Just trying to make a living."
Li Mo crouched to sift through the items. Several townsfolk greeted him amicably upon seeing him.
"Old Liu, I’ll take these herbs."
Li Mo selected a handful of herbs and, feigning poverty, took a worn money pouch from his pocket and paid Old Liu with scattered silver coins for the herbs.
"Heizi, come take a look at my herbs. I’ll sell them to you cheaper."
"I don’t have much space at home and can’t handle too many herbs. Maybe tomorrow, Brother Xu."
"Alright then."
Li Mo cast a glance at Old Liu, pointing at several herbs on the stall with his right hand.
"Old Liu, your face looks flushed, and your tongue’s blackened; it’s time to quit the tobacco pipe. Take the prescription I wrote and stick to it for three years..."
Old Liu crossed his legs, his knees visibly exposed. "Don’t bother. Half my body’s already rotting; what’s there to be afraid of, anyway?"
Li Mo shook his head and replied, "In at most a hundred days, your throat will completely rot through. If you still wish to speak, you’d better take notice."
Old Liu opened his mouth wide.
Instinctively, he wanted to take another puff of tobacco but ended up sheepishly withdrawing his pipe, touching his throat with a hint of unease.
The surrounding crowd burst into laughter, their expressions filled with schadenfreude.
Li Mo’s admirable diagnostic skills had earned him a minor reputation in the morning market. If he said Old Liu’s throat would rot through in a hundred days, it wouldn’t miss by half a day.
It was thanks to these excellent medical skills that he had built good relationships in the market.
However, in the eyes of others, Li Mo’s taste in choosing herbs seemed questionable, as he often inexplicably paid overly high prices.
Old Liu and the other vendors wouldn’t take advantage of him, often gifting him a few extra herbs after collecting the money.
Little did they know that Li Mo valued herbs not for their medicinal properties but their rarity. If similar herbs weren’t found within Corpse Mountain, they were as precious as gold to him.
After all, ordinary plants and trees planted in Corpse Mountain could transform into spiritual materials.
Not only would they enrich the ecological sphere of the Corpse Mountain Mini World, but the abundant types of spiritual materials could also aid in the techniques derived from Seven Spirits Divine Abilities.
Li Mo chose the herb-trading profession because most morning market attendees were villagers living outside the town.
They clearly had no connection to Demon Cultivators.
Permanent residents, however, were the opposite—remarkably normal to the point of being excessively ordinary; their daily routines were strictly regimented.
The Demon Cultivator was deliberately maintaining the order in Qing Town, avoiding any behavior out of line with expectations.
Of course, Li Mo approached the situation with preexisting knowledge. Normally, any anomalies would be imperceptible.
Cultivators wouldn’t typically concern themselves with mortals, which allowed the Demon Cultivator’s impunity to grow unchecked.
As to whether the residents were puppets in disguise, Li Mo couldn’t discern. He’d likely need to master Demon Sect Skills to uncover the truth.
Li Mo sold the herbs he dried yesterday to various pharmacies in town, outwardly satisfied with the silver coins he received as he prepared to head home.
In reality, the employees and shopkeepers he interacted with felt like lifeless mannequins.
This left him irked.
After completing his herb-related errands, dusk descended upon Qing Town, and candlelight began to flicker throughout the town. Meanwhile, cooking smoke rose into the air.
Regardless of falsity or reality, the mundane charm of the mortal world was something he hadn’t seen for a long time.
Li Mo felt a slight shift in his Mental Realm. However, just as he made his way along Lu River for roughly a hundred paces, his peripheral vision caught sight of four scholars by the riverside pavilion, instantly clearing his mind of stray thoughts.
The scholars were practicing calligraphy, producing eerie noises.
"Woo... woo..."
Each scholar wrote stroke by stroke on the surface of the xuan paper, their brushwork incomparably sharp, exuding an indescribable aura of Sword Intent.
The willow trees beside the pavilion shed small leaves at a slow pace.
Writing calligraphy wouldn’t be an issue.
The actual concern lay in each scholar’s bizarre posture: their heads tilted upward at unnatural angles, with their jaws stretched to exaggerated extremes.
Their writing movements were sluggish, as if their brushes weighed a thousand jīn.
Exposed flesh showed signs of Gray Disease, incessantly corroding their blood and tissue, with pus dripping onto the brush tips, transforming into ink as they wrote.
Their agony compelled them to force out cries through clenched teeth.
But their mouths had already been sewn shut. The state of their oral cavities was obscured, although something seemed ready to burst forth from within.
One calligraphy sheet completed.
The scholars collapsed onto the ground, their diminished bodies shrinking by at least ten kilograms each.
"Why does Beast Cultivation in comparison feel almost normal?"
Li Mo inhaled sharply. The Sword Cultivation system seemed strangely sinister, or perhaps Sword Tongue Sect followed a different path than Heavenly Sword Sect?
Li Mo recognized that the method to seal the scholars’ mouths and noses was a special Magic Technique, designed to erase Taoist Body traits and prevent the leakage of breath.
Before the Village Exam began, the scholars’ seals likely wouldn’t be lifted.
Li Mo deeply suspected that the Nascent Soul Demon Cultivator would teach their Taoist inheritance only during the exam, at which point Qing City would plunge into chaos.
The four Subordinate God disciples recruited by the Nascent Soul Demon Cultivator might themselves be disposable pawns.
"Upper Immortal..."
"A cultivator from Sword Tongue Sect has arrived."
"Not seen in decades, we mortals have grown old and frail, while the Upper Immortal’s appearance remains unchanged."
The streets roiled with commotion as Li Mo took a few steps back, spotting an elder with a Daoist Immortal demeanor smiling as he approached a riverside courtyard.
The elder was named "Han Ya," a Foundation Establishment Sword Cultivator sent by Sword Tongue Sect to Qing Town, accompanied by several merchants and wealthy families beaming with flattery.
Han Ya had an imposing stature, with unusually long limbs. His exposed wounds revealed festering-black metal constructs.
"Hehe, it’s been a while since I last came, so I trouble everyone to remember me."
Countless reverent gazes fell upon Han Ya.
Li Mo couldn’t resist lingering his eyes on Han Ya’s face.
Han Ya’s jaw had been forcibly expanded to the utmost degree, with a tongue extending more than half a meter long, glimmering faintly with metallic sheen.
"Tongue Sword—no wonder it’s the Tongue Sword."
Li Mo didn’t stay by the riverside much longer. He noticed that as long as Han Ya was present, the townsfolk’s puppet-like Spiritual Wisdom became significantly more animated.
This clearly indicated the Nascent Soul Demon Cultivator’s focus had always been on the Sword Cultivator.
All of Qing Town resembled a farcical drama, with Han Ya seemingly enjoying himself among the residents’ actions.
Li Mo might as well return to his courtyard to meditate, indirectly enhancing his comprehension of Spirit Patterns.
In the days to come, he continued repeating his dull herb-selling routine.
To prevent the Nascent Soul Demon Cultivator from targeting him, Li Mo occasionally ventured outside Qing Town, feigning herb collection in wilderness areas.
The Nascent Soul Demon Cultivator remained unperturbed, while Han Ya busily prepared for the Village Exam.
Outside, rumors of Gray Disease vanished overnight.
Only Li Mo noticed the Land God Temple receiving significant silver coin donations from wealthy merchants as the Village Exam neared, expanding dramatically in scale.