Chapter 230: Chapter 90: I, Li Mo, Want to become a Demon Cultivator
After the woman’s lingering thoughts completely dissipated, all that remained was a corpse still carrying traces of life.
Within just a few breaths, the traces of the Death Disease’s erosion began to spread, twisting her once-beautiful features into something grotesque and hideous.
From this, it can be seen that even if the Great Mother managed to transfer the Death Disease to the Mother Furnace, once detached, the Death Disease would still relentlessly corrode the body like a shadow following its master.
Even death cannot avoid the grasp of the Death Disease.
Li Mo furrowed his brows; from the fragmented glimpse he caught in the Creation Book’s memories, the fact remained that Jiang Tianche, the lead disciple of the Sub-Device Sect at the time, treated his fellow disciples fairly well.
Moreover, with Jiang Tianche’s ordinary talent—not even having reached Core Formation as an Artifact Cultivator—how was he able to survive under Chen Tiangang’s hand?
In the end, how did he manage to turn the tables and take Chen Tiangang’s place during the Ascension Conference?
"If Jiang Tianche has already ascended and become immortal, why does he still remain in the Lower Realm?"
While pondering, Li Mo collected three Taoist corpses into Corpse Mountain, deliberately excavating three pools at the summit of a sub-peak.
The pools were filled entirely with a liquid called "Corpse Nourishing Wine."
Corpse Nourishing Wine is completely colorless, emitting a strange ginger-like odor. For living beings, this wine is extremely toxic and cannot be consumed for long.
As for its purpose, as the name implies, it serves to nourish corpses, maintaining the vitality of their flesh and bones, though it cannot resurrect the dead or restore them to life.
Once the Taoist bodies were immersed in the wine, the water’s properties began to change peculiarly.
The Six Qi Devouring bubbled violently like boiling water, producing colorful bubbles; Cutting All Three Corpses turned the wine into thick, blood-like liquid; No-Life Mother spawned embryo-like floating organisms.
The lingering power of the Superior Taoist bodies was evident—such forces, placed in the external world, could alter the environment within a ten-mile radius.
To ensure the Taoist bodies remained unharmed, Li Mo added some spiritual materials into the pools. Seeing the corpses undisturbed, he felt assured.
The subsequent maintenance of these pools was handed over to Zhang Guo.
Zhang Guo nodded repeatedly. Although he had yet to advance to the Third Layer of Puberty, he already possessed three to four hundred He Shouwu plants under his command.
The mountain where the pools were located was under protection, perfectly suited for the proliferation and growth of He Shouwu.
Li Mo withdrew his consciousness and ceased probing into matters of the Ascension Conference.
The truth of history had long been buried in the Ascension Conference from seven thousand years ago. He did not need to force himself to unravel the cause and effect; if an opportunity arose, he could rely on the Creation Book to uncover the truth naturally.
Li Mo transported a hundred tons of Corpse Wine into the Illusion Realm in one go, sufficient to fuel the consumption of Big Deer Thousand Feet for a hundred years.
He then secretly placed several Gu Worms in Zone Eleven to monitor the situation in the arrays, and quietly maneuvered Taiyin Law Heaven to slip through the entrance.
From the surface, the Sub-Device Sect seemed exceedingly stable. Despite the looming peril of millennia-old calamity, the sect operated according to its established rules without showing any signs of negligence.
Li Mo returned to the Artifact Hall.
He placed the Nearby Array in its original side hall, ensuring no one was around, before activating the array using High Grade Spirit Stones.
Old Earth True Monarch’s initial decision to set the array in the Artifact Hall clearly had its reasons.
The Artifact Hall was involved in resource circulation with the Outer Sect and naturally contained a Nearby Array, demonstrating the deliberate setup made by the Sub-Device Sect.
This guaranteed the confidentiality of teleportation.
Since Old Earth True Monarch had prepared for Li Mo’s departure from the Sub-Device Sect, the Artifact Hall likely held methods for covertly smuggling back to the Outer Sect.
To ensure safety, however, Li Mo opted to use the Nearby Array he trusted more.
As the array emitted spirals of spirit light, the High Grade Spirit Stone visible to the naked eye rapidly depleted.
Due to the Artifact Hall’s capability to suppress the array’s aura, the Nearby Array caused no significant disturbance, and Li Mo instantly vanished.
Several Gu Worms flew from the shadows, concealing the Nearby Array, and quickly lost their vitality thereafter.
It was Li Mo’s first time using a teleportation array. He felt a sharp illusion of tearing between his body and soul, though the adverse effects lasted only half a breath.
When he opened his eyes, he was already inside the Seclusion Room of the Four Seas Refining Shop.
By then, the Nearby Array had already sustained damage.
"Ha."
Li Mo lay flat on the ground, then sent a telepathic message to the Futu Hermit.
The Futu Hermit noticed the activity in the Seclusion Room and couldn’t help but frown but regained his composure upon receiving the telepathic transmission.
He immediately concealed the abnormalities of the Seclusion Room, inwardly letting out a breath of relief.
The circumstances in the Sub-Device Sect were exceedingly bizarre, and being in its core Inner Sect was far too dangerous for Li Mo.
According to the official timeline, Li Mo was required to remain in the Inner Sect for two hundred years. Regardless of how he managed to return to the port, he now at least had a convenient way to retreat at any time.
However, the Futu Hermit was aware that Li Mo’s actions undoubtedly constituted sect betrayal; such news could not spread. It had to remain as concealed as possible.
Li Mo rested in the Seclusion Room for half a day, then adjusted his appearance through surgery, hiding any distinctive features under a layer of Fake Human Skin.
The aura he exuded had shifted from Ash Spirit Power to Mist Fog Spiritual Power.
Coupled with the effects of the Taoist body’s transformation, Li Mo was confident no one could recognize him. He promptly blended into the bustling crowds moving in and out of the shop.
Returning from the scarred and desolated Inner Sect to the lively and prosperous port, the shadows clouding his heart were swept away.
Of course, he still had to prepare carefully.
One had to guard against the possibility that not only did the Nascent Soul Great Powers fail to deal with the millennia-old calamity, but their meddling might also disrupt the stability the Sub-Device Sect had maintained for millennia.
Li Mo had already acquired the Nascent Soul Technique, so remaining in the Sub-Device Sect was not strictly necessary.
To advance his Nascent Soul transformation, it was best to obtain a rapid Demon Cultivation Technique, using the Demon Cultivation Nascent Soul to resolve the difficulties of birthing two Golden Cores.
Li Mo asked the Futu Hermit to investigate leads concerning the Devil Sect and also to collect cultivation resources outside, particularly canned spiritual energy.
He traversed the port’s outer chains, heading on foot toward the mountain gate of the Chaotic Burial Furnace.
Decades had passed since he set foot at the mountain gate, and significant changes had transformed the Chaotic Burial Furnace—not only were the medicine fields now encircling Beast Head Meat Limbs, but many new artifact refining structures had been erected.
Relying on his leakless body, Li Mo moved unimpeded and headed toward the main hall.
Returning to the Chaotic Burial Furnace was not for sentimental reasons regarding the mountain gate but to erase any remaining evidence and prevent the exposure of his identity.
But upon seeing the statue in the corner of the wall, Li Mo merely laughed and shook his head.
Every disciple who entered the Inner Sect was required to refine a statue in the main hall; Nascent Soul Great Powers could use these statues to discern their condition.
Li Mo intended to dispose of the statue, only to discover that Old Earth True Monarch had foreseen this.
The statue, though outwardly preserving his likeness, had clearly been tampered with to render its original purpose ineffective.
Li Mo respectfully performed a ritual and worshiped the five Nascent Soul statues before vanishing within the main hall.
The trip to and from the Chaotic Burial Furnace had taken a total of two months.
Though the millennia-old calamity might hasten its arrival, it was still estimated to be seventy or eighty years away. Li Mo did not need to rush and decided first to investigate the external situation.
The Core Formation Stage may count as a high-level practitioner in the Sub-Device Sect, but in truth, it was only the third realm of the Nine Realms of Immortality.
Li Mo did not want to wander aimlessly in the perilous Cultivation World without a clear aim.
Nonetheless, he kept himself occupied, quietly purchasing various Array Tao texts to continue refining and improving the Nearby Array while trying to set up formations at the port.
Li Mo’s requirements for the Nearby Array were: capable of teleporting multiple people, reusable, and the array core transformed to use the more affordable Mid-grade Spirit Stones.
This would facilitate the evacuation of the Heart Beast Sect’s cultivators.
Li Mo continued to act as a hands-off overseer, staying in the Seclusion Room without engaging in matters personally.
He entrusted everything to the Futu Hermit, to the point of leaving him utterly exasperated and forcing him to personally search for information about the Devil Sect.
Yet the actions of Demon Cultivators were extremely secretive.
In most cases, even with confirmed reports of Demon Cultivators appearing in certain areas, the incidents themselves were often months old—making it nearly impossible to track their movements.
The Futu Hermit resorted to instructing cultivators from various factions in stove lands to keep an eye on outside activity.
Compared to the elusive Demon Cultivators, the acquisition of other resources was relatively smooth, with numerous Yellow Stone Formation Dao texts purchased in succession.
Resources were sent to the Seclusion Room using the Nearby Array to avoid detection of any anomalies.
While studying the Array Tao texts, Li Mo murmured with a sense of wonder, "It’s hard to imagine any place in the Cultivation World harboring a black market as grand as this port."
The port was undoubtedly one of a kind. Its reliance on the convenient interconnection of Duozhi Mountain ensured that Loose Cultivators from across the South Sea converged here.
After absorbing the Array Tao texts, Li Mo found his Qiankun Geomancy had markedly improved.
Regrettably, the perfected Nearby Array still fell short, though he successfully invented a particularly suitable Spirit Gathering Array for the Heart Beast Sect, which the Futu Hermit discreetly passed on to Tian Changwen.
The more Li Mo delved into Array Tao, the clearer the benefits for understanding Spirit Patterns became.
Among them, the simplest Blood Flesh Spirit Pattern showed promising progress within just five years, although the pattern itself remained incomplete.
The port, rather than growing desolate as the impending calamity approached, saw a growing influx of Loose Cultivators.
Lacking the presence of Nascent Soul Great Powers, the port’s lower ranks became an unruly mix of various factions, forcing even veterans like the Futu Hermit to tread carefully.
Twenty years passed.
Though numerous clues about Demon Cultivators had been uncovered, most were eventually proven to be deceitful objects at play—as though the Devil Sect only existed in Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio-like ghost stories.
Li Mo sat cross-legged in the Seclusion Room, his fingers tracing shapes aimlessly through the air.
Seemingly random but secretly honing the craft of Blood Flesh Spirit Patterns—he had begun grasping its principles.
"This will do."
Li Mo skillfully gathered various spiritual materials for drawing the Nearby Array, which had just been refined to a satisfactory state.
He used specific Spiritual Material Powder to elaborate intricate designs upon beast skins.
Due to the diversity of materials required, Li Mo frequently switched to new ones, with the complexity of the patterns verging on the grotesque.
It took him a full seven days to complete the Nearby Array, excitement still plain on his face.
Unexpectedly, even the talent of an Innate Saint proved beneficial during preparation—his mental state remained sharp throughout, increasing his confidence by threefold.
Li Mo did not stop; he immediately completed another related array and had Futu Hermit’s associates deliver it to the Heart Beast Sect, ensuring the plan was foolproof.
Following Li Mo’s orders, the Futu Hermit had already begun exchanging Spirit Stones for various resources and dispersing some Low-level Beast Cultivators back to the sect.
Li Mo glanced at the Gu Worms in Zone Eleven. Apart from the increasing numbers of Human Faces, there was little else of note.
He continued practicing the Blood and Flesh Array while the Inner Sect faced intensified seismic tremors, with the port suspended over a pit remaining unaffected while other small worlds universally collapsed by hundreds of meters.
......
Big Deer Thousand Feet was gulping down Big Dream Wine, barely suppressing the dread clawing at his heart.
He wondered if it was an illusion. Since disaster loomed closer, countless voices had begun roaring in his mind.
Men and women, old and young.
"I must become immortal!!!"