Longevity Strange Immortal

In the keen vision of Li Mo's Cave God's Eye, the methods of the Sky Demon Sect were so unguarded that their anomalies could be spotted at a glance.

He didn't bother to conceal his presence, and the surge of vitality emitted from his body caused the surrounding temperature to spike dramatically.

Boom.

Li Mo descended heavily from the skies.

"What on earth is the Sky Demon Sect doing? Not even sending a few demon cultivators to greet me?"

Li Mo raised his head to look at the sky, but within the clouds, there was no sign of the iconic Demon Leader. However, everything else unmistakably bore the marks of the devilish lot.

He intentionally suppressed his vitality to the Nascent Soul Stage, making his intentions abundantly clear.

Yet, the Sky Demon Sect showed no response whatsoever.

From the residual traces of spiritual power, it could be seen that about half a year ago, the Sky Demon Sect had completely encircled Tuo Mountain with layer upon layer, stationing a large number of personnel.

But now, it seemed they had left in a hurry, not even leaving behind a single spy.

"Could it be that those devil pups ran into trouble with the No-Life Mother's remnant? Or perhaps they've already obtained what they sought?"

Li Mo squinted his eyes as the Ghost Tiger quietly merged into the shadow of his figure.

At the same time, the Candle Dragon, reduced to two meters in size, coiled around his neck. The pair of Tattooed Beasts cautiously surveyed their surroundings, helping Li Mo discern any danger.

Once the Tattooed Beasts had advanced to the Void Refining Stage, their strength had transformed beyond recognition.

Unless Li Mo constantly maintained the Cave God's Eye, their perception absolutely surpassed his own, and their concealment capabilities were extraordinary.

"The Sky Demon Sect… who knows what they're scheming."

Li Mo conveyed his thoughts to Luo Kai.

Though the latter received his mental transmission, Luo Kai refused to respond.

Luo Kai even went as far as to sever the link voluntarily, seeming terrified that his exposure would lead to dire consequences, behaving with utmost caution.

Li Mo strode swiftly toward the array, his Divine Sense sweeping past Cui Dazhong's jade pendant.

The cracks in the jade pendant were growing worse, and Cui Dazhong was on the verge of being completely consumed.

As a low-level loose cultivator with limited resources, he lacked protection from elixirs or corpse wine to suppress the Death Disease; any serious injury meant an inevitable fate: death and the dissipation of his Dao.

Passing through the valley, Li Mo soon arrived at the outermost array.

The array laid by the Sky Demon Sect turned out to be an ordinary Mountain Protection Array, with its Array Eye fused to the terrain. To break it, one would need to destroy the mountain.

The array wasn't particularly powerful but was well-suited for resisting external enemies.

Due to a lack of maintenance, the Mountain Protection Array had deteriorated severely; even a heavy rainstorm might reduce it to ruins.

"Surely I haven't arrived too late."

Li Mo didn't activate his spiritual power. Relying solely on his physical body, he ventured through the Mountain Protection Array, letting the mountain's immense pressure weigh upon his flesh and bones.

Rather than retreating, he quickened his pace.

The Great Wilderness Immortal Body rejoiced, tempering every inch of his flesh and bones.

Li Mo felt an electric numbness coursing through his entire being, as if undergoing a baptism. Moments later, his physical strength showed minimal yet perceptible improvement.

Swish.

The sound of a blade slicing through butter echoed.

Various patterns began spreading across Li Mo's skin, forming intricate symbols—Buddhist script, demonic runes, and even eldritch glyphs.

The patterns intertwined with the Great Wilderness Immortal Body, linking to the Symbiotic Dharma Body and Buddha Demon Body.

"Heh heh heh. This newly crafted body refining technique is truly effective, though it still lacks perfection."

The body refining technique, dubbed Heavenly Gang Great Method, was an exceedingly pure form of cultivation, leaning more toward the ancient framework of the Cultivation World.

The Three Elements Pavilion infused spiritual energy directly into the bloodstream, treating the internal organs as a reservoir—the Middle Dantian for spiritual power.

Other lesser sects and Taoist inheritances used all sorts of bizarre methods.

For example, transplanting artificial Golden Cores, stimulating the flesh to envelop them until the core transformed into a unique Blood and Flesh Golden Core; or extracting blood from the body, compressing spiritual energy into it using a Magic Artifact, and reintroducing it...

Li Mo's Heavenly Gang Great Method served one purpose alone: guiding the Three Dharma Bodies to temper his physique, while simultaneously encouraging the Great Wilderness Immortal Body to reconstruct his organs.

Unlike traditional methods relying on spiritual power, this didn't require the stages of Core Formation and Nascent Soul formation.

The one drawback was that, as of now, although the method encompassed the Symbiotic Dharma Body and Buddha Demon Body, it had yet to incorporate the Artifact Pill Body.

Li Mo originally planned to perfect the Heavenly Gang Great Method before actively cultivating it. But since advancing to the Body Integration Realm required urgency, the strength of his physical body would certainly be pivotal in breaking barriers.

He could always rebuild his foundational physique with ample time later.

Bang, bang, bang, bang...

Bone-crushing sounds reverberated as Li Mo successfully initiated the Heavenly Gang Great Method. Runes continued to float to the surface, and his vitality grew fiercer by the moment.

Li Mo took a firm step forward.

Immediately, a half-meter deep pit appeared on the ground, and the residual force toppled trees in its vicinity.

Within mere moments, the Heavenly Gang Great Method advanced to the Weak Crown Period, amplifying the refinement and enabling him to channel ever-greater quantities of spiritual energy.

His body became covered in runic symbols, distorting the air around him.

Navigating the rugged, muddy mountain path, he breezed past effortlessly.

By the time he was on the verge of leaving the Mountain Protection Array, the Heavenly Gang Great Method had already reached Core Formation Stage, a testament to the formidable foundation of Li Mo's physique.

"Setting up an array solely for body refinement isn't a bad idea."

While the overall strength of his physical body hadn't increased noticeably, his mastery over its application had transformed considerably.

Arriving at the mountainside of Tuo Mountain, he faced what seemed to be a desolate terrain, yet faint noises of commotion emanated from within.

It was as though inside lay a bustling marketplace.

Li Mo made no effort to hide his presence. His vitality surged tide-like as he stepped directly into the array.

The din swelled incessantly; the smoke from lanterns filled his nostrils, and a sprawling marketplace built into the mountainside suddenly appeared before his eyes.

"Interesting…"

The marketplace was composed entirely of food stalls, each manned by a hundred skeletal loose cultivators.

These cultivators were now skin and bones, their gazes utterly lifeless, as they carved pieces of flesh off themselves using sharp implements to prepare various delicacies.

Stewed innards with fragmented viscera, smoked thigh meat skewers, roasted hands and feet on open flames, as well as steaming meat buns fresh from the oven...

Ignoring the raw materials, the food displayed an alluring appearance, aroma, and flavor.

"What kind of antics is the Sky Demon Sect up to this time? Playing house on Tuo Mountain? Surely they haven't sacrificed their minds during blood rituals."

Li Mo instantly recognized that the loose cultivators were the same ones who had gone missing in the vicinity of the mountain range.

Each cultivator had a cord extending from the back of their necks, connected deep into the earth, supplying them with just enough nutrients to meet their most basic needs.

Initially indifferent, the cultivators displayed signs of hope only after Li Mo approached the marketplace.

The commotion was silenced abruptly.

The collective gaze of the cultivators landed on Li Mo, and they began emitting rattling, guttural noises. Evidently, their bodies had been entirely dominated by the cords.

After a moment, one of them struggled to speak: "It's... coming soon. You... hide somewhere, then look for an opportunity... to save... us."

"Save me..."

"Senior, don't... leave, save us..."

A portion of the loose cultivators, though, displayed an entirely different attitude.

They cursed Li Mo venomously, warning him not to approach them, all while their mouths and noses oozed pus. Their expressions were fanatically fervent.

"We will... become immortals, achieve immortality!"

"In death... after death, we'll... bask in eternal bliss!"

Li Mo sneered coldly.

Standing unmoved, he continued refining his body without pause, while the Candle Dragon indifferently observed the loose cultivators in the vicinity.

Soon enough, the cultivators fell silent.

Those hoping for Li Mo to act speculated that he had merely stumbled in by accident, and that his strength would only allow him to survive within the marketplace for a few days.

Li Mo focused entirely on probing the surrounding environment.

"Indeed, the No-Life Mother's remnant is here."

A gleam of excitement appeared on Li Mo's face. The Creation Book had already begun nurturing a new Substitute Dao Page. Judging by its state, completing the page in full shouldn't be a problem.

Wandering through the marketplace, Li Mo stirred despair among the cultivators, prompting some to shout furiously.

The food stalls' offerings contained medicinal potency, proving the loose cultivators themselves had been processed into elixirs—a legacy of the Sky Demon Sect's handiwork.

In their haste to retreat, the Sky Demon Sect had abandoned the loose cultivators as unimportant.

If Li Mo's guess was correct, the Sky Demon Sect had likely been tasked with experiments by Ten Thousand Demon Dao, utilizing the No-Life Mother's remnant.

There had almost certainly been an incident; realizing they had lost control, the Sky Demon Sect had decisively abandoned Tuo Mountain.

"Ten Thousand Demon Dao's experiments across the Cultivation World must extend beyond Tuo Mountain. Otherwise, they wouldn't withdraw so readily. Ah, turbulent times indeed."

Given Li Mo's understanding of Ten Thousand Demon Dao, he estimated it tied to the upheaval within the heavens and earth.

Li Mo couldn't stop whatever Ten Thousand Demon Dao was planning. The heavenly changes were beyond the influence of any individual. Rather than saving the world, his concern was focused on seeking opportunities to exploit.

Li Mo didn't disrupt the marketplace's equilibrium. The Substitute Dao Page was his primary objective—any other chances paled before the No-Life Mother's remnant.

"Are you… sent by Grandpa?"

A weak voice suddenly called out, snapping Li Mo out of his thoughts.

For a moment, he had almost forgotten Cui Fu's commission.

Turning toward the source, Li Mo found a middle-aged man nearing death. The flesh of his hands had completely wasted away, exposing snow-white bone.

"Da Zhong?"

Cui Dazhong lifted his head, regaining a faint trace of vitality in his expression.

But he quickly sighed, speaking with the last dregs of his strength: "Senior, hurry and leave. You'll die here; there's no point in accompanying us to the grave."

Having sensed the jade pendant imbued with his residual breath, Cui Dazhong understood that Li Mo had come in response to Cui Fu's commission. With Li Mo's abundant vitality, his strength far exceeded the limits of childhood cultivation.

But Cui Fu's financial resources were meager; even selling his organs yielded meager rewards. Hiring someone of the Core Formation Stage was already fortunate.

Cui Dazhong still vividly recalled the recent spectacle of demon cultivators fleeing Tuo Mountain in disarray, including those at the Nascent Soul Stage.

Core Formation? That was like striking a stone with an egg.

"Make sure… Grandpa takes care of himself. Cough, cough."

"Da Zhong, tell me—what was the scale of demons here in Tuo Mountain? Any presences that defied comprehension, like practitioners in the Divine Split or Void Refining stages?"

Cui Dazhong stared into space, thrown off by Li Mo's casual tone, as if it concerned mere mortals.

"Never mind, forget it."

Li Mo ceased his questioning, aware of Cui Dazhong's limited insight.

He discreetly unleashed the Ghost Tiger, letting the Tattooed Beast slink into the cracks along the rock wall to probe the hidden mysteries of the marketplace—and to search for Luo Kai.

"Senior… My vitality is severed. Leaving the Mountain King means certain death for me."

"Mountain King? What in the heavens did the Sky Demon Sect leave behind on Tuo Mountain?"

Cui Dazhong was full of guilt, lamenting his fate for implicating Cui Fu during his dying moments.

Seeing Li Mo risk death and the dissipation of his Dao to rescue him, he surmised Cui Fu had spared nothing on his behalf, likely leaving his own life hanging by a thread.

Bang, bang, bang.

Suddenly, faint rumblings echoed.

Cui Dazhong quivered in terror, his body overcome with nausea.

Yet, glancing at Li Mo from the corner of his eye, he saw the latter still at ease, leaning against a stall with apparent interest, waiting for this so-called Mountain King to arrive.