Longevity Strange Immortal

Clang.

The Fire Room barely managed to alter the trajectory of the Blood Spine Sword as his magic robe burned to ash.

"Those who seek longevity must first avoid calamity."

Elder Wu Xin slightly regained clarity. His relentless sword strikes left the Fire Room exhausted, while welling bulges began to form on the latter's back.

From the bulges burst deformed arms, fighting to seize the Lifebound Flying Sword from the Fire Room.

"Urgh."

The drawback of the Third Level of the Heavenly Gate is [Will Erosion], which dramatically increases the corrosive nature of Sword Intent. Flesh and bone mutate uncontrollably.

One must endure this mutation for six hours. The Fire Room could only grit his teeth and persist.

Xu Guang, seeing that the Fire Room had successfully drawn Elder Wu Xin's attention, bowed decisively and declared, "This junior, Xu Guang, is willing to test himself and challenge the Second Level of the Immortal Gate."

Elder Wu Xin withdrew a slightly shorter Bone Sword from his tailbone and swung at a cunning angle.

Whoosh.

Xu Guang dared not resist and dodged, only to discover that his skull was gradually softening, his brain grotesquely growing additional eyes, ears, a nose, and a mouth.

The taboo of the Second Level of the Heavenly Gate is [Trouble Entering the Room].

Daoist Bai Shuo furrowed his brows, watching the chaotic sword duel unfold, hesitant to speak until Elder Wu Xin grew impatient.

Elder Wu Xin pulled out a third Bone Sword from his stomach, its blade length rivaling the Blood Spine Sword of the Third Level.

"This junior, Bai Shuo, is willing to test himself and challenge the Second Level of the Immortal Gate."

However, Daoist Bai Shuo's attempts to remedy the situation proved futile. The Bone Sword struck and sent him flying more than ten meters, his arms twisting into a mangled state.

He tumbled pathetically, yet his Lifebound Flying Sword—a brass eyeball embedded in his tongue—allowed him to counter without succumbing completely.

Once involved in challenging the Immortal Gate, there is only one path: seeking life through the acceptance of death.

"A conspicuous target, combined with Elder Wu Xin holding back three-tenths of his strength—this is indeed a rare chance to obtain the Taiyi True Immortal Sword Body Technique."

Daoist Ye Zhuo grew restless, though he refrained from acting recklessly.

He continued searching for Li Mo, yet the latter seemed to have vanished into thin air, leading Ye Zhuo to suspect that Li Mo may have been erased after utilizing Spiritual Power.

Daoist Ye Zhuo gazed into the night as the Purple Sun Palace reached its most bustling hour.

Evil spirits roamed the city, displaying scenes of larger predators devouring smaller prey. Some Sword Ghosts clung to life as mere skeletons.

All their flesh had been entirely consumed.

Daoist Ye Zhuo estimated that daylight was approximately six hours away.

Chuckling bitterly, he murmured, "Overthinking. Absolutely overthinking. Senior Brother Taiyi would never choose to challenge the Immortal Gate so close to the deadline, would he?"

"Impossible when you think about it—waiting until all the sword cultivators finish competing would only place the last one at the center of everyone's ire."

From any perspective, Li Mo had likely already given up.

Yet, for reasons he couldn't articulate, Daoist Ye Zhuo couldn't shake an ominous feeling—particularly after spotting a faint mist spreading across the courtyard.

The Great Sun Sword Tomb had always been dry, and the mist didn't appear to be caused by ambient humidity.

Instead, it seemed to arise from rising temperatures.

But given Elder Wu Xin's blazing Sword Qi, the natural heat of the Juxin Temple was already high enough that no one noticed the change.

"Hiss…"

As Daoist Ye Zhuo pondered, he realized the mist had appeared after Li Mo's disappearance.

"Damn it."

Slipping unnoticed past the wall formed by Sword Ghosts, Daoist Ye Zhuo quietly distanced himself from Elder Wu Xin. The Fireworks Sword Intent in his mind began to pulse with agitation.

A tiny speck of ash fell onto his palm. His expression shifted.

"I knew it. The Thirteen Immortals would never settle for falling behind."

Within the bounds of the Juxin Temple, every blade of grass and tree began to spontaneously ignite. An immense surge of radiant sparks birthed from the ash.

The sparks drifted into the air, forming a magnificent golden galaxy that shimmered brilliantly.

Not only the gathered crowd at Juxin Temple but also the sword cultivators across the Purple Sun Palace stared in stupefaction, deeply shaken by the sudden display of pure Sword Intent.

"What is this…"

Dragging his battered body, Daoist Bai Shuo froze in place.

He didn't understand Li Mo's identity, only knowing the latter had been hiding among the Sword Ghosts, tempering his Sword Intent against Elder Wu Xin.

The unintentional release of Li Mo's Sword Intent almost caused Bai Shuo's Lifebound Flying Sword to rebel.

"Who is he? Could he not be a disciple of the Purple Sun Palace?"

In the brief moment Daoist Bai Shuo was lost in thought, Elder Wu Xin's Bone Sword descended toward his head, the threat of death prevailing over his fear of Li Mo.

He extended his tongue, forcibly curling it to maneuver a Sword Ghost for cover.

But the Bone Sword was faster than expected.

Whoosh.

Bai Shuo's facial features bled as he stared helplessly at the approaching sword blade.

Suddenly.

The Bone Sword stopped.

Elder Wu Xin paused the duel on his own accord, craning his neck eagerly.

The galaxy of sparks had burned out, leaving only ash swirling in the fierce wind. Amid the haze, a man began walking slowly toward the main hall.

Li Mo cradled the Illusion Fish Sword, his right eye tightly shut, while the mysterious Cave God's Eye on his forehead exuded boundless mystique.

The yang fish in the Cave God's Eye devoured the yin fish, its all-white vertical pupil emitting billows of thick smoke, which transformed into Sword Light encircling his body.

"The sword box gathers dust; caged birds stretch the Sun and Moon in eternal flight."

No longer suppressing his Taoist Body, Li Mo emitted a sound akin to bones colliding.

Three steps forward, his frame swelled to over five meters—a peak state enhanced by his Taoist Body, sending his external blood and Qi surging skyward.

"Are you kidding me?!!"

Xu Guang's Lifebound Flying Sword fell from his grasp as his stoic expression twisted into alarm.

He instantly recognized Li Mo, once an easily dismissible Thirteen Immortal, now exuding a terrifying presence that left his Body and Soul trembling.

"A sword cultivator? This is a sword cultivator? Even a Body Cultivator wouldn't be like this!!"

Daoist Bai Shuo, who prided himself on his extraordinary talent, felt an insurmountable gap in ability.

Confronting Li Mo, he didn't even dare draw his sword.

The other sword cultivators collectively stepped back several meters, finally understanding why Taiyi was one of the Thirteen Immortals. It symbolized aptitude sufficient for attaining immortality.

For twelve immortals to acknowledge him, it was clear Li Mo was an unparalleled anomaly.

The Fire Room smiled wryly and said, "Had I seen the Thirteen Immortals a thousand years ago, I fear I wouldn't have advanced to the Five Qi Period by now."

The Sword Ghosts made way.

Li Mo ignored the countless gazes, recalling the scene of challenging the Immortal Gate millennia ago when countless brilliant sword cultivators were lost to time.

"What does one seek, and what path do they pursue?"

Whether it was an illusion or not, they felt that Elder Wu Xin had regained his Spiritual Wisdom.

Li Mo instinctively performed an ancient bow in the Dao style of the Heavenly Sword Sect, his gaze locking onto Elder Wu Xin. The searing Sword Intent around him seemed almost tangible.

"This disciple wishes only for the Sword Dao that can bring peace to a chaotic world."

Li Mo's words were the very ones spoken by the final disciple Elder Wu Xin had accepted before his death.

During that era, with the upheaval of heaven and earth tearing the Heavenly Sword Sect apart, generations of sword cultivators yearned to calm the chaos.

Elder Wu Xin's head flushed crimson as he struggled to recall.

"Chaos… chaos… chaos!!"

His back flesh boiled, bones extruding sword after sword as blood and tears mingled with foul-smelling brain matter.

"Pick up your sword!!!"

"My apologies, Elder Wu Xin."

Li Mo nodded slightly, stepping forward forcefully.

His figure disappeared, and after a half-breath's delay, the ground caved into a deep pit, cracks spreading as magma churned below.

Li Mo reappeared three meters before Elder Wu Xin, his flesh and bones mutating madly.

The Fire Room gasped, watching as the taboos of all five levels of the Immortal Gate simultaneously took effect on Li Mo, who relied solely on his superior physical endurance to endure.

"Fire Room, kill him…"

The Fire Room turned incredulously as Xu Guang's twisted expression deepened. His blood visibly mutated at an alarming rate, his skin gradually charring.

"Now that Elder Wu Xin is too occupied to monitor us, hurry and suppress your state of Deviation."

"Kill him—I must kill him to survive."

"Bai Shuo, kill him…"

Daoist Bai Shuo remained unmoved. If not for his severe injuries, he might even have stopped Xu Guang's madness to curry favor with Li Mo.

Li Mo stood a hundred meters tall, silently clashing with Elder Wu Xin.

Xu Guang fixated fiercely on Li Mo's back, his combusting blood granting him explosive strength. He lunged forward, his sword aiming straight for Li Mo.

"Die!!!"

"This disciple has glimpsed the peak of the Sword Dao and comprehended a superior Sword Intent."

Li Mo remained indifferent to Xu Guang, his right eye accidentally opened and unleashed endless radiant light, dispelling over half of the Purple Sun Palace's darkness.

The light engulfed Xu Guang.

Boom.

Li Mo became the center of the Purple Sun Palace.

Even the Heavenly Palace Stage sword cultivators couldn't discern his figure, only seeing a miniature sun suspended above.

Li Mo muttered.

"Infinite Light—Sword, come."

Countless rays of sunlight transformed into Sword Qi, entangling with Elder Wu Xin's numerous mutated limbs.

The sunlight scattered outward before converging on Li Mo again, as he used his Sword Intent to wield the Yang Qi of the Great Sun Sword Tomb.

All Swords Return to the Sect.

Superior Sword Intent [Sun].