Chapter 227: Chapter 87 Dao Body Fusion [Innate Saint]
Seven thousand years ago as well.
The Heart Beast Sect held the Sacrificial Festival, and the Sub-Device Sect held the Ascension Conference. Li Mo realized that the timing of both sects was quite similar.
"Seven thousand years ago, what exactly prompted cultivators to pursue ascension..."
Even Tian Chenzi could ascend to the Immortal Realm; could Chen Tiangang have failed?
It’s known that Chen Tiangang, even if he hadn’t reached the Divine Separation Stage at the time, should have been at Nascent Soul Perfection, with power far surpassing Tian Chenzi.
As Li Mo pondered, he heard an old voice from the Inner Sect: "Vile beast, dare you?!!"
The bone-extended arm flashed by, and the Great Mother of the Dan Ding Pavilion instantly turned into minced flesh, which was buried back into the soil, sprouting fresh buds.
Cries of lament came from the Medicine Garden, stemming from different beings.
Li Mo’s expression was uncertain, because the aura emitted by the bone arm was too familiar, as if seen before, "Big Deer Thousand Feet..."
He was unsure if he had seen wrongly, but a sense of dread arose in his heart. Nevertheless, being in the Inner Sect, he was caught in a dilemma.
The Taoists were all gathered on the platform, saving him the trouble of searching.
Just by a cursory glance, Li Mo had already found his target, most eagerly desiring the Body of No Life and Six Qi Devouring.
If he were not to stay in the Sub-Device Sect in the future, the Ash Dao Body would be rather negligible.
Li Mo’s face showed greed, but while tempted, he maintained the principle of prioritizing safety, waiting for the right opportunity to arise.
If after five years he gained nothing, he would simply abandon his chance and leave the Inner Sect.
The Giant Stomach Worm fell into a gap in the eaves, perfectly positioned to see the platform used for ascension.
The Outer Disciple was soon rebuilt, and even the numerous Taoists had forgotten about the attack from the Great Mother, with a new plant from Luo Chen Daoist added to the Medicine Garden.
However, it wasn’t Luo Chen Daoist who was in charge, but rather the Mu Daoist who had transformed from the Great Mother.
The Mu Daoist wore a devout expression, organizing the plants in the Medicine Garden. It was unknown whether this was the will of the Artifact Cultivator that had willingly transformed from the Great Mother.
"The Great Mother, after merging with the Mother Furnace, was most likely mentally shattered."
Li Mo shook his head with a bitter smile, using the Paoxiao Swallowing Body to return to the present world.
When he detached from the flesh wall, he did not sense any obstruction.
"Actually, it wasn’t completely fruitless."
Li Mo opened his eyes, still within the flesh-formed Erosion Cave, observing the head of the Mu Daoist that he had brought out from the Illusion Realm.
The Mud Pill Palace within the head had already been damaged, with life essence faint.
The Tao Body of Three Flowers Gathering at the Top had no reaction to external Spiritual Energy, indicating that the head had completely turned into a dead object. Yet, the Raiding Page could reveal its shadow, indicating it could imprint the Tao Body.
"It should be the terrifying vitality of Three Flowers Gathering at the Top that caused this."
Li Mo transported it into the Corpse Mountain, planting the head under the Evergreen Tree, carefully ensuring it wouldn’t completely rot, as it was still a superior Tao Body after all.
Through the Creation Book, he had learned many ancient texts from the Cultivation World.
In ancient times, Three Flowers Gathering at the Top was extremely revered, and it was even believed that having the Innate Three Flowers Gathering Tao Seed heralded an Immortal from the heavens reborn.
With Three Flowers Gathering at the Top as his baseline, Li Mo wasn’t in a hurry to pursue more superior Tao Bodies.
He directly set up the Nearby Array within Taiyin Law Heaven, confirming its correctness repeatedly, finally using a High Grade Spirit Stone as the Array Eye.
Even though running the array long-term would deplete the Array Eye’s Spiritual Energy, maintaining about sixty percent of the High Grade Spirit Stone’s content was sufficient.
With this arrangement, it was foolproof.
Li Mo subtly inquired about Old Earth True Monarch’s thoughts, receiving vague warnings from the latter.
He advised Li Mo to refrain from hastily breaking through to the Nascent Soul Stage, maintaining his Core Formation Stage cultivation.
Could it be that as a Core Formation Artifact Refiner, his chance of surviving calamities was higher?
Li Mo learned through the port that the Nascent Soul Great Powers hadn’t appeared for many years.
Furthermore, the phenomenon of Artifact Cultivators’ faces turning into Chen Tiangang did not spread to all Artifact Cultivators as it had a millennium ago, mysteriously reverting to normal.
Li Mo suspected that the Nascent Soul Great Powers of various Taoist inheritances were influencing the situation from the shadows, seemingly trying to prevent an inevitable calamity.
The Sub-Device Sect was incredibly peculiar now.
Calling it dangerous, yet calamities had supposedly occurred every thousand years with no disruptions in the inheritance; calling it safe, yet Artifact Cultivators couldn’t stand alone.
Li Mo patiently stayed in the Eleventh District, observing the mountain gate in the Illusion Realm remaining quite still, noticing the Taoists seeming to be preparing for a ritual.
Occasionally, they would recite the Armament Covering Spell on the platform together.
Before Li Mo could find his opportunity, the Heavenly Person Five Decays took form first, with five bizarre and terrifying Decaying Souls emerging in the Mud Pill Palace.
Spirit Decline Soul, Body Decline Soul, Qiao Shuai Soul, Soul Waning Soul, and Desire Waning Soul.
Ironically, Li Mo had no connection with his own Three Souls and Seven Spirits, necessitating reliance on the Creation Book to imprint control.
The Five Phase Soul was different, born to be commanded easily as if it were naturally his soul.
Li Mo felt it absurd, both laughing and crying at the idea.
Glancing at the Creation Book, the pages were few and far between.
Fortunately, the Five Decays of Heaven and Man were imprinted on the Raiding Page, sparing the need to use five blank pages for the Five Phase Soul.
Li Mo had only one of each remaining: blank page, Harmonization Page, Raiding Page, and Spirit Root Page.
The blank page sufficed for the final Corpse Dog Soul imprint.
Li Mo sensed that the higher the realm, the more the need for pages increased, hoping that upon advancing to the Nascent Soul Stage, more blank pages would be birthed.
After a moment’s hesitation, he directed Taiyin Law Heaven back to Zone 10.
Compared to the proximity of the Mother Furnace’s core in the Eleventh District, Zone 10 was undoubtedly much safer, without the worry of attracting trouble.
Li Mo’s consciousness unlocked the Harmonization Page, its front and back revealing the ghostly images of the Heavenly Man and the Heavenly Person Five Decays.
The apparitions were ragged and damaged corpses.
Since progress within the Illusion Realm was stagnant, Li Mo decided against wasting further time and proceeded to complete the Tao Body fusion first.
Even if the Heavenly Man hadn’t transformed into the Heavenly Human Seven Apertures, it wouldn’t affect the post-fusion Tao Body.
The metamorphosis of the Tao Body could prompt the transformation of the physical body.
If Li Mo planned to defect from the Sub-Device Sect, the differing aura of his Tao Body would undoubtedly be highly useful, preventing Nascent Soul Great Powers from tracing his whereabouts.
After a brief rest, Li Mo’s thoughts activated, causing the Harmonization Page to emit brilliant phosphorescent light.
An indescribable pain began in his head and slowly spread throughout his body, as if an innumerable number of worms resided within.
Li Mo gritted his teeth tightly.
The Tattooed Beasts dared not approach him, choosing to distance themselves.
Saying it’s merging Tao Bodies, but it’s more like forging connections between two Tao Bodies, then forcefully uniting them, a method extremely brutal.
Even with Li Mo having undergone numerous painful transformations and having a significantly dulled bodily perception, he almost fainted.
He forcibly maintained his composure, constantly observing the fusion of the Tao Body.
Obtaining a Harmonization Page within the Sub-Device Sect was challenging, and dealing with Tao Body fusion again in the future would rely solely on himself.
The two Golden Cores opened their eyes, their Divine Sense meticulously examining the blood vessels and meridians.
Li Mo noticed the capillaries constantly changing routes, the blood flow becoming increasingly intricate, while the Four Dantian started to tremble.
Even though the Heavenly Man was related to the Four Dantian, it wasn’t tightly connected.
However, after the fusion of Tao bodies, countless blood vessels connected the Dantian, and the quantity of meridians was no longer limited to the Eight Extraordinary Meridians.
Li Mo wore an expression of disbelief as the number of meridians quickly surpassed twenty.
Moreover, the meridians weren’t chaotic; they exuded an inexplicable profundity, as if an Immortal’s body in the heavens was indeed structured this way.
Crack, crack, crack...
The Mud Pill Palace began to expand.
Its area increased more than a hundredfold, entirely under Li Mo’s control.
Even if someone wanted to seize Li Mo’s body, reaching the Divine Separation Stage, they couldn’t unsettle the stability of the Mud Pill Palace.
The Mist Fog Golden Core started to spin.
Due to the distinctive constitution, the Primordial Dao Seed restarted the perfection of two Cultivation Techniques. The Circulation Cycle route not only became less complex but drastically improved in efficiency, reducing the time by nearly half.
Li Mo observed his body’s transformations, feeling that "Heavenly Man" should indeed be like this.
He belatedly exercised his Spiritual Power.
Following this, his Body and Soul fell into an indescribable realm, akin to epiphany, feeling that any cultivation hurdle could be effortlessly overcome.
After a Circulation Cycle, Li Mo snapped back to reality, an expression of slight regret crossing his face.
He realized there indeed existed an Immortal Body known as the Heavenly Man, but merely brushing its surface with the Heavenly Person Five Decays and the Heavenly Man.
The Creation Book turned to the Harmonization Page.
Following the fusion of the Heavenly Person Five Decays and the Heavenly Man, it became the Innate Saint.
Besides possessing all abilities of the two Tao Bodies, the Innate Saint allowed Li Mo to seem like a Tao Heart enlightened when in the cultivation state.
During the Tao Body’s fusion process, he glimpsed a hint of the Heavenly Immortal Body.
Li Mo muttered to himself: "As one calmly sits, harmonizing the breath, vanishing into a clear stillness, the body like a cloud’s shadow, ethereal and pure, yet still there is the aspect of body and mind."
"This is the Heavenly Man."
The full extent of the Heavenly Man’s reality might only be grasped when the Tao Body is entirely complete.
Li Mo felt the aura of the Tao Body, with the leakless body being the weakest, followed by the Primordial Dao Body, and the Paoxiao Swallowing Body and Ancient Sacred Body on par.
However, all four Tao Bodies combined couldn’t compare to the Innate Saint.
Li Mo even had a premonition that the Innate Saint had surpassed the ordinary realm of Tao Bodies, standing above the level of Innate Tao Bodies.
"The Great Dao is within reach, the Great Dao is within reach indeed."
Li Mo exercised two vastly different cultivation techniques along different routes.
At this moment, Da Ai Mi Tian stirred restlessly, followed closely by the two Flawless Golden Cores, both evidently interested in the Five Phase Soul.
"What the hell?"
Li Mo’s expression was somewhat perplexed, but upon realizing that Da Ai Mi Tian wasn’t consuming the Five Phase Soul, he didn’t stop the actions of his Life-bound Magical Artifact.
Allowing the cancer cells to pour into the Mud Pill Palace.
The cancer cells inevitably affected his brain, causing Li Mo intense headaches.
Not only the bones frenzied with hyperplasia, but even his brain continued to swell, albeit not to an uncontrollable extent.
Da Ai Mi Tian encased the Five Phase Soul, seemingly about to blend seamlessly.
Li Mo raised an eyebrow, as Da Ai Mi Tian surprisingly gave rise to new Spirit Patterns, quickly nurturing them alongside the Mutated Spirit Pattern.
The Spirit Pattern was named Decay Disease, of top-quality.
Da Ai Mi Tian remained a Fake Magical Treasure, but with the dual Spirit Patterns, its potential skyrocketed, indicating the growth of the Life-bound Magical Artifact was incalculable.
Corpse Mountain also possessed dual Spirit Patterns, but its potential had already cemented, making it difficult to add new Spirit Patterns.
Da Ai Mi Tian, satisfied, dispersed from the Mud Pill Palace. The Decay Disease Spirit Pattern allowed it to wield the Heavenly Person Five Decays even without relying on the Five Phase Soul.
As for the dual Golden Core, it showed interest in devouring souls.