Chapter 269: Chapter 35: I am the 13th Immortal!
As the Enlightenment Conference approached, the White Bone Cave was no longer as desolate as before.
The majority present were loose cultivators, and most Core Formation Stage cultivators had already arrived at the White Bone Cave.
Their gazes were fixed on the end of the Spine Street, where a giant skull-shaped structure emanated an inexplicable aura, its upper and lower jaws wide open.
Entry to the auction was now permitted, but only because the Nascent Soul Demon Cultivators had not all arrived yet.
The Core Formation Demon Cultivators mostly controlled flesh and blood puppets remotely or arrived at the White Bone Cave in person, all uniformly choosing risk.
The Nascent Soul Demon Cultivators behaved similarly.
Even if they did not appear personally, they used special techniques to reveal their Nascent Souls instead.
Primarily, this was because the White Bone Sect would not maintain order at the Enlightenment Conference. Cultivators of the Devil Path were all adept at preying on each other.
The White Bone Sect merely provided a venue for auctioning resources. Murder and robbery were of little consequence. Some Demon Cultivators had even come planning to gain something from nothing.
So far, the peace was only maintained because no one wanted to become a public target.
Alternatively, this seemed related to the unique nature of the Enlightenment Conference, but those who had participated before kept silent about the specifics.
"It’s the Brain-eating Demon."
A loose cultivator couldn’t help but murmur under his breath, causing a half-step retreat from all the Demon Cultivators around.
"Cack cack cack..."
The Brain-eating Demon appeared. He had come to the White Bone Cave as a detached Nascent Soul. His Nascent Soul was almost entirely made of gelatinous brain tissue.
His cultivation had reached the Nascent Soul Stage, and although he was a loose cultivator, his methods were insidious and ruthless. He especially enjoyed devouring human brains, particularly those of newborn babies.
"The White Bone Sect is truly remarkable, profiting enormously from the Enlightenment Conference alone."
The Brain-eating Demon’s eyes twinkled with greed as he stared fixedly at the auction hall. His brain tissue squirmed endlessly, making others sick to their stomachs.
He intentionally circled above the crowd in mid-air, only retreating amid a gust of sinister wind and entering the auction hall when the others turned their heads away.
Following the Brain-eating Demon’s lead, a few more loose cultivators at the Nascent Soul Stage took action.
Although none were as infamous as the Brain-eating Demon, they were all Nascent Soul Stage cultivators. Even Elder Hua She, who hadn’t appeared in 400 years, slithered across the street with his crimson tongue flickering.
The other Demon Cultivators broke into discussions.
"Damn it, why are they all rushing to the White Bone Cave?"
"Must be for that thing, right?"
"Makes sense now..."
"Recently, the Heavenly Sword Sect cleared out several Devil Sect towns. You all know that thing can bring the dead back to life and regenerate flesh and bones."
The conversation stopped there, with fear evident in their expressions.
The reason they hadn’t entered the auction yet was that they were still assessing whether it was worth getting involved.
Even though they used flesh and blood puppets, which took substantial time to refine in order to withstand greater spiritual power, any damage to them would bring significant losses.
"He’s here, the Blood Daoist..."
At the end of the street, a thick mass of sticky blood took shape, morphing into human form in mere moments.
As the Blood Daoist passed by, the air reeked of an overpowering metallic stench, and countless fragmented, semi-translucent souls floated in his wake.
It was said that his true body was a vast lake of blood, with his Nascent Soul hidden in its deepest depths.
If his Nascent Soul was unharmed, the blood lake would remain inexhaustible, nearly impossible to destroy using conventional methods.
However, the Blood Daoist’s current state was evidently abnormal. The blood making up his body was tinged black, with grayish-white bubbles surfacing intermittently.
If the Blood Daoist had not been at the Nascent Soul Stage, some of the loose cultivators might have already acted recklessly, as reflected in the gleam of concealed interest in many eyes.
"Hmph."
The Blood Daoist snorted coldly but had no intention of wasting energy on others. In a blink, he disappeared into the auction hall’s entrance.
Some Demon Cultivators revealed greedy expressions at the sight.
The more chaos permeated the Enlightenment Conference, the higher the chances of unforeseen events. If two participants fought like a clam and a bird, someone might swoop in and reap the benefits.
About a third of the figures began moving toward the auction hall.
As they approached the giant skull, a sudden, oppressive darkness swallowed the White Bone Cave, accompanied by a blood-curdling cacophony of wails.
Instinctively, all the Demon Cultivators glanced behind them, only to be greeted by a vision of the Night Parade of Hundred Demons.
Countless severed human heads hovered in mid-air, from whose gory necks torrents of blood poured like a torrential downpour. Deep black spiritual energy swept across the scene like a storm.
"Sky Demon Sect."
No one had anticipated that members of the Sky Demon Sect would appear at an auction held by the White Bone Sect.
The Sky Demon Sect, a mid-sized sect of the Devil Path, far surpassed the White Bone Sect in scale. It was affiliated with the Earth Demon Sect and the Human Demon Sect, all under the banner of the Ten Thousand Demon Dao.
Although the Ten Thousand Demon Dao operated covertly, its strength was indisputable.
After all, it was one of the few Devil Path forces capable of challenging the Heavenly Sword Sect. Its most fearsome trait lay in its ability to weave stealthy magic undetectable even by advanced Pupil Skills.
"I am Perfected Zao Yao, a disciple of the Qian Branch from the Sky Demon Sect."
The hovering human heads coalesced into an unremarkable elderly man with a benign smile. He nodded politely and strolled towards the auction hall.
The atmosphere turned deathly silent, yet many Demon Cultivators still chose to risk involvement.
Confident in their Core Formation Stage cultivation, they were unperturbed by Nascent Soul Demon Cultivators, devising ways to benefit from the Enlightenment Conference.
Demon Cultivators had numerous methods to preserve their lives. Reaching the Core Formation Stage required a calculated yet ruthless mindset, often accompanied by an extreme personality.
Seeing an opportunity as tempting as a snake swallowing an elephant, how could they not be tempted?
If they lost, at worst, they would sacrifice their flesh and blood puppets.
By the time only half a day remained before the Enlightenment Conference, approximately twenty or thirty Nascent Soul Demon Cultivators had gathered.
The auction hall was now packed to the brim, its interior decorations simple. In the enclosed space, a withered tree towering over a hundred meters stood at the center.
Underneath the withered tree stood a skeletal figure radiating an aura of the Nascent Soul Stage—the Inner Sect Elder of the White Bone Sect, Bone Desolate Taoist.
Numerous Demon Cultivators hovered mid-air, the innermost seats occupied by those at the Nascent Soul Stage or above, while the Core Formation Stage cultivators sat along the edges.
Their numbers totaled over two hundred.
Ordinary black-market auctions would utilize Magic Artifacts to separate participants, concealing their identities and minimizing unexpected conflicts.
The White Bone Sect, however, took the opposite approach. The Enlightenment Conference exuded a raw, survival-of-the-fittest atmosphere.
Numerous Nascent Soul Demon Cultivators were present, many of them acquaintances. Tension simmered beneath the surface, fanned by unresolved grudges, both new and old.
Elder Hua She chuckled, peeling off a patch of itchy, scaly skin. "Brain-eating Demon, it’s been two hundred years, and you still haven’t made any progress?"
The Brain-eating Demon narrowed his eyes, his brain tissue swelling visibly.
"Haven’t I? I was about to say you look rather on the brink, Snake Staff."
The two laughed heartily, as if they were old friends, drawing side glances from the other cultivators.
The Brain-eating Demon and Elder Hua She exchanged increasingly vulgar insults, their ceaseless banter grating to Blood Daoist.
Impatient, Blood Daoist turned to Bone Desolate Taoist and asked, "Are we starting soon?"
Bone Desolate Taoist stood motionless, speaking stiffly, "Half an hour—this is always the scheduled time for the Enlightenment Conference."
Blood Daoist sighed and closed his eyes, refraining from further questions.
It wasn’t until Perfected Zao Yao exuded a faint trace of his aura that the antics ceased. His presence was clearly testing the waters with the Sky Demon Sect cultivators.
In the cramped auction hall, a murderous intent seemed to quietly permeate the air.
The many Demon Cultivators wore varying expressions; some were undoubtedly regretting their involvement. However, to withdraw suddenly would almost certainly offend the White Bone Sect.
After a long while, tiny candle flames began to hover within the auction hall.
This heralded the imminent start of the Enlightenment Conference.
At that moment, a great rumbling began in the Spine Street outside the auction hall, as if an enormous entity approached the White Bone Cave.
A terrifying presence swept over the crowd like an unstoppable tide.
The Demon Cultivators were momentarily stunned. The uninvited arrival was clearly no benevolent guest, and its aura reeked of potent bloodlust.
A chorus of murmuring filled their minds, as if countless voices were chanting an inaudible, indistinct name.
To wield Yin Blood Spiritual Power to such an extreme—there was only one possibility... No-Life Sect.
But the disciples of the No-Life Sect, who served as temple priests for the Twelve Immortals, were said to never meddle in the affairs of the Devil Path, concerning themselves only with spreading their faith day by day.
None among them connected this to the once-infamous rumors surrounding the Thirteenth Immortal.
After all, no concrete evidence had ever surfaced, and the stories had been relegated to mere folklore, barely stirring attention even after decades.
Yet amidst the crowd, Luo Kai inhaled sharply.
Born in the Skin Painting Sect, he had personally witnessed Mou Miaoqing’s dreadful power and the terrifying truth of the Thirteenth Immortal during his time at the Skywell Inn.
"Is it truly Supreme Qingtian? No, that’s not right. His cultivation is still at the Dead Baby Stage, but why does his aura keep growing stronger?"
Luo Kai was filled with dread. If the Thirteenth Immortal disrupted the auction, things were bound to escalate to catastrophe.
"Huh?"
Perfected Zao Yao’s pupils contracted, his consciousness immediately separating from his body to investigate.
The other Nascent Soul Demon Cultivators used varied methods, but all sought the source of this disturbance, their hearts heavy with apprehension toward the mysterious newcomer.
Anyone who arrived at this point, so close to the auction’s start, had clearly come to assert dominance over the White Bone Sect.
Boom. Boom. Boom...
In their stunned gaze, a divine statue over two thousand meters tall strode into the White Bone Cave.
The statue had three heads: its human head’s mouth and nose spewed toxic industrial fumes; its beast head oscillated between bird and animal forms; and its demonic head gazed unceasingly, inducing a sensation as if one’s soul might tear away from their body.
Its body bore eight arms, and from beneath its ribs hung an enormous drum engraved with the Seven Tattooed Beasts. A shimmering, ephemeral halo hung behind its head, mysterious and unknowable.
The Blood Daoist muttered in shock, "Impossible! The No-Life Sect should not have appeared."
Even Blood Daoist was struck dumb, while Zao Yao, though from the Sky Demon Sect, was equally baffled. Both transmitted queries to their sect elders, seeking answers.
Bone Desolate Taoist steadied the White Bone Cave with spiritual power and asked gravely, "Who dares?"
"From the No-Life Sect, the Thirteenth Disciple of the No-Life Mother—Supreme Qingtian."
With a single step, Li Mo crossed the Spine Street. His body rapidly shrank to just over five meters tall, though the statue’s ominous ethereal phenomena persisted.
The Thirteenth Immortal?!!
The No-Life Mother had actually taken in a new disciple. The rumors were true—it could only mean the No-Life Sect was venturing into Devil Path matters.
The crowd of cultivators fell into utter silence, their inner waves of shock impossible to suppress.
Eyes darted to observe him, faintly recognizing four or five Innate Taoist Bodies functioning in harmony, yet unable to discern their true nature amidst the illusions.
By talent alone, this individual could join any sect among the Immortals or Devils—no, the Daoist and Devil cultivation realms alike would fight over someone so gifted, an Immortal Daoist in the making.
And yet, he had silently fallen into the hands of the No-Life Sect, now becoming the Thirteenth Immortal.
With a blink, Li Mo entered the auction hall, sitting confidently in its dead center. The temple radiated dazzling light.
It descended upon the White Bone Cave with him, accompanied by portions of Da Ai Mi Tian and the Storage Magic Artifact carrying the Corpse Immortal Finger.
Li Mo struck the Beast Drum, summoning a Candle Dragon sustained by Turbid Blood Spiritual Power.
The Candle Dragon’s form had degenerated amidst cancerous mutations, no longer resembling its original self, appearing instead as a decrepit python riddled with rot.
Li Mo gently stroked its dragon head, surrounded by flickering light, resembling a divine or immortal figure of the temple halls.
"So, this is the Thirteenth Immortal."