Chapter 222: Chapter 82 [Immortal Body Mortal][Swallowing Six Energies Together]
The Array [Nearby], considered a relatively intricate middle-grade array, typically can only be arranged by Core Formation Stage cultivators immersed in the study of array tao.
Li Mo had only a rudimentary understanding of array tao, and even with Qiankun Geomancy, he could merely refine it. Arranging a middle-grade array on his own was genuinely quite challenging.
Fortunately, the Old Earth True Monarch, fearing that Li Mo might not fully grasp the Nearby Array, had explained the steps for its arrangement in great detail, giving Li Mo something to exploit.
Li Mo used powdered mid-grade spirit stones to complete the Nearby Array, placing a metallic mid-grade spirit stone at the array eye. The result revealed that the other end of the array connected directly to the Four Seas Refining Shop.
His consciousness connected to the array, allowing a faint perception of the many cultivators bustling within the shop. Sitting in command was the Core Formation Stage cultivator, the Futu Hermit.
Li Mo furrowed his brows slightly.
He noticed a peculiar atmosphere at the port. The numerous loose cultivators walking through the shop barely interacted with one another.
Seeing this, Li Mo used the Nearby Array as a medium to send a thought to the Futu Hermit.
"Senior Futu, it’s me."
Though he had left communication magic artifacts in the port, the interference surrounding the Inner Sect, seemingly dominated by the Mother Furnace, rendered them ineffective.
Li Mo, positioned in Zone 10, could only connect with fellow Inner Sect artifact cultivators or the Old Earth True Monarch.
To relay a message to the port required leveraging the Heart Beast Sect’s Immortal Locking Body, having Tian Changwen pass on the news to the Futu Hermit and others.
"Senior Futu, there is a communication array in the shop. Find it as soon as possible."
The Futu Hermit’s expression remained unchanged as he continued attending to customers entering and leaving. Then, without any overt gestures, he handed over the main hall to an attendant.
He turned and entered the inner chamber, quickly locating the Nearby Array on the fourth floor.
The seclusion rooms on the fourth floor were usually sealed, and the walls had been deliberately treated, preventing the array’s aura from leaking out.
The Nearby Array was inscribed beneath the floorboards.
The Futu Hermit vaguely recalled that after Li Mo had gone to the Inner Sect, the only person to visit the Four Seas Refining Shop was Elder Zhong, who disappeared half a day later.
Most likely, it was Elder Zhong who had set up the array.
His gaze swept around nervously as he responded, "Li Mo, the port here is still relatively calm. Are you alright over there?"
Though Li Mo couldn’t see the Futu Hermit’s face, he could sense the odd undertone in his words. "What’s happened at the port?"
The Futu Hermit exhaled and said, "To be honest, we’ve been trying to contact you through Tian Changwen for five or six days."
Li Mo furrowed his brows tightly.
He had indeed instructed the Futu Hermit and Han Cai to use Tian Changwen to relay messages during emergencies.
However, the Immortal Locking Body wasn’t a magic artifact designed for transmitting thoughts, forcing Tian Changwen to wait for Li Mo to initiate contact—something that usually only happened once every few years.
"Li Mo, something strange has indeed occurred at the port."
The Futu Hermit swallowed hard and continued in a low voice, "All artifact cultivators in their Weak Crown Period have started behaving... oddly."
"Oddly?"
"What do you mean by ’oddly’?"
Li Mo’s heart began to pound wildly. He realized that the strange occurrences might signal the onset of a disaster tied to the Mother Furnace deep underground.
"At some point, the features of lower-realm artifact cultivators began to grow increasingly unfamiliar, and their faces all started to resemble those of the same person. Even their mannerisms became eerily similar."
"What about Nascent Soul Great Powers?"
"Other artifact cultivators don’t seem to notice anything unusual, not even those in the Nascent Soul Stage."
"Senior Futu, take a look. Do they look like this?"
Li Mo seemed to grasp something and sent the image of Chen Tiangang’s appearance to the Futu Hermit. The latter, upon seeing it, gasped audibly.
"About seventy to eighty percent similar. The main issue is that the changes in artifact cultivators happened too abruptly, as if a plague is sweeping through the port. I suspect even Core Formation artifact cultivators won’t escape unscathed."
Li Mo nodded slightly; it indeed seemed to be Chen Tiangang causing trouble.
He wasn’t a genuine disciple of the Child Device Sect, and since the Melting Furnace bore the imprint of the Creation Book, he probably wouldn’t experience similar transformations.
Were artifact cultivators gradually turning into Chen Tiangang through some body-seizing rebirth method? Or were they being used to pave the way for Chen Tiangang’s ascension?
That didn’t seem right. If an event like this happened in the Child Device Sect every thousand years, it wouldn’t be enough to destabilize the sect’s foundation.
"Senior Futu, has Qingqiu returned to the port?"
"Yes, she successfully achieved Core Formation. She’s now in charge of the shops on the lower levels of the port."
Li Mo nodded and said, "Alright. I’ll stay near the array for approximately ten days. Have Qingqiu inquire among the loose cultivators who’ve lived on the lower levels for a long time about whether there were any anomalies at the port a thousand years ago."
The Futu Hermit agreed repeatedly.
The Heart Beast Sect had managed to establish a foothold at the port with great difficulty. Over the decades, they had accumulated some resources by selling the products from their Mountain Gate.
They had even nurtured three new Core Formation beast cultivators, only to now face this sudden calamity.
Li Mo transmitted the Meat Limb Magical Artifact and Corpse Wine to the Four Seas Refining Shop while also receiving the resources the Futu Hermit had helped him procure.
These resources were all spiritual materials the Corpse Mountain lacked, which he planted in his small world to enhance its ecosystem, consuming thirty to forty mid-grade spirit stones in the process.
While waiting, Li Mo continually researched the Nearby Array.
Refining it seemed feasible, though it would likely take some time. As for top-grade spirit stones, he had once exchanged for two pieces at the port.
Before long, Qingqiu Taoist sent the results of her investigation to Li Mo through the Nearby Array.
Indeed, a similar situation had occurred at the port a thousand years ago.
Back then, all Child Device Sect lineages recalled their disciples to the Mountain Gate, transferring port management responsibilities to another group of artifact cultivators.
However, those artifact cultivators experienced extreme instability, with their flesh dissolving over time.
Beyond that, no major calamities unfolded at the port, and there wasn’t even a hint of power reshuffling among the sect forces.
"Great Mother..."
Li Mo’s tightly knit brows loosened somewhat. As long as the disaster was confined to the Child Device Sect, it meant room for maneuverability.
He instructed Qingqiu Taoist to stay vigilant about the port’s situation and evacuate if danger arose.
Logically, the issue shouldn’t escalate. If the Child Device Sect’s millennial calamity could spread to the port, the port wouldn’t have become a haven for loose cultivators.
Li Mo’s thoughts of defecting from the Child Device Sect subsided slightly, though he still considered seeking an opportunity to take on a temporary sect-leaving mission.
He released the Spider Demon’s Multiple-Armed Spine, its limbs piercing into the ground one by one.
With a loud rumble,
Li Mo shifted the floor containing the Nearby Array from a side hall into the Corpse Mountain, leaving the Artifact Hall to head toward Inner Sect Zone 11.
The Old Earth True Monarch could likely anticipate Li Mo’s actions, but he would never have imagined that the latter was already capable of refining the Nearby Array.
The entrance to Zone 11 lay at the center of Zone 10, a sunken pit.
Li Mo didn’t rush to enter, opting first to repeatedly practice with the Nearby Array. After half a year, he began to subtly modify the array’s details.
Had Elder Zhong seen his actions, he would have been utterly shocked.
What kind of cultivator, having never touched array tao, could start directly with a middle-grade array? Was he not afraid of array pattern backlash, causing all his efforts to be in vain?
Yet, Li Mo was precisely the bold and skilled type.
Perhaps his years of practicing spirit patterns accounted for his progress; despite some hiccups, he managed to refine the Nearby Array successfully.
Three years later, the Nearby Array was finally completed.
However, due to his shallow understanding of arrays, Qiankun Geomancy was limited, and the array would likely only function once or twice.
Li Mo put away the Nearby Array and entered the blood-vessel-like passageway of the Taiyin Law Heaven.
Before reaching Zone 11, the surrounding concentration of spiritual energy was already soaring, carrying a faint phosphorescent glow.
Li Mo felt as though he was descending into a subterranean abyss, an indescribable chill creeping into his heart.
"What the hell..."
Zone 11 was unlike Zone 10, which was deeply embedded in a bloody, fleshy rock wall. Zone 11 consisted of winding, labyrinthine blood vessels and intestines.
At the size of an ant, Zone 11 appeared to Li Mo as a bottomless erosion cave.
The movements generated by Taiyin Law Heaven seemed to disturb the flesh walls, causing countless faces—those of former Child Device Sect disciples—to surface.
Their expressions were grimly contorted as they chanted the Armament Covering Spell passed down during the sect’s initiation rites.
"Heaven and Earth Profound Sect, Primordial Qi as the root, cultivating countless kalpas, proving my divine skills."
"Within and beyond the Three Realms, only the Dao reigns supreme, my body covered in golden light, shielding me."
"Visible to none, audible to none..."
Li Mo felt a chill down his spine. Based on the content of the Daytime Ascension Great Method, the Mother Furnace was likely pieced together using three thousand disciples possessing taoist bodies, relying on the phosphorescent glow to maintain the stability of its living form.
He strongly suspected that these three thousand disciples retained their spiritual wisdom, having descended into utter madness after millennia of torment.
A fate worse than death.
Li Mo released his divine sense, detecting that Zone 11 was filled with abundant taoist body auras, encompassing various spirit attributes—some of which had long been extinct.
"Ugh..."
Li Mo’s heart began racing as the Five Dao Body grew increasingly restless.
Zone 11 seemed to constantly stimulate the taoist body, forcing Li Mo to use the Da Ai Mi Tian technique to suppress it forcibly.
Was it the phosphorescent glow causing this?
Li Mo silently negated the thought. Zone 11 was suffused with the energy of the Daytime Ascension Great Method, likely stemming from Chen Tiangang’s obsession with attaining immortality.
To maintain a low profile, he dismissed the Taiyin Law Heaven and settled onto the Ghost Tiger’s spine, searching for a suitable taoist body in Zone 11.
According to Mu Daoist’s description, Zone 11 should have been extremely lively.
Yet Li Mo had traversed for half a day without encountering a single figure; only the deafening recitation of the Armament Covering Spell echoed endlessly.
Li Mo sent out a thought to inquire about Three Mountains but received no reply, focusing instead on discerning the taoist bodies embedded within the flesh walls.
"Immortal Body Mortal?"
Li Mo’s interest piqued upon spotting a superior taoist body.
The cultivator of the Immortal Body Mortal taoist form would, every two hundred or so years, generate a mortal embryo within their body that could absorb and transfer any hidden injuries.
In critical moments, they could even seize the mortal embryo, essentially living a second life.
The mortal embryo essentially served as an additional lifeline.
The downside was that the mortal embryo, while bearing hidden injuries, would accumulate resentful energy, becoming prone to losing control. However, for Li Mo, this was no issue thanks to the Creation Book.
He hesitated for a moment before letting a single cancer cell extend from his fingertip.
The cancer cell drilled into the corpse of the Immortal Body Mortal taoist form, serving as a marker in case no better taoist bodies were found.
Zone 11 was indeed a treasure trove of taoist bodies. He soon discovered another superior taoist body.
[Six Qi Devouring]
The body bore six mouths, each capable of exhaling wind, fire, heat, moisture, dryness, or cold, with effects deadly and all-consuming.
Just at that moment.
"Elder Qingtian, you’ve come to Zone 11?"
Li Mo’s expression turned grim.
Three Mountains hadn’t responded through transmitted thoughts but instead spoke directly beside him.
"Elder Qingtian, why won’t you awaken?"