Longevity Strange Immortal
Chapter 121 - 122: The Unknown Acquired Dao Body

Chapter 121: Chapter 122: The Unknown Acquired Dao Body

The slaughter over the human skin grew increasingly fierce, and along the path leading up to the mountaintop temple, shattered corpses were strewn everywhere.

Master Feng Lin led the way, accompanied by five Puppet Cultivators.

Thinking about the distribution of benefits for this trip, his expression twisted slightly with pain. After all, when it came to spiritual materials, the more Puppet Cultivators involved, the smaller his share would be.

Yet Master Feng Lin had failed to uncover the true nature of the Nameless Temple, nor did he know anything about the Beast Cultivator behind the scenes.

Fu Yan Taoist had a half-human, half-horse appearance, a pair of arm-like antlers atop his head, and his cultivation at the early stage of youth was unremarkable within the group.

He softly asked, "Since the Black Wind Village has Beast Cultivators, shouldn’t we inform Manager Shi so he can send reinforcements?"

The Puppet Cultivators glanced at him, their eyes tinged with subtle, calculating intentions.

Though Fu Yan appeared well-behaved in speech and mannerisms, his penchant for eating women’s brains alone was enough to make them deeply resent him.

Master Feng Lin furrowed his brows slightly, then smiled and replied, "At the very least, we need to get a clearer sense of the situation. We can’t rely on Manager Shi for every matter; let’s report back in a few days."

His primary reason for calling Fu Yan along was to have someone to act as a scapegoat.

A large haul of resources was never easy to acquire—in the event Manager Shi held him accountable later, whatever was swallowed would have to be spat back out entirely.

Fu Yan did not say more, his gaze shifting to the mountaintop where the Nameless Temple stood.

By nightfall, the temple was devoid of anyone, leaving only a few lanterns casting faint light, and the lingering scent of incense in the courtyard.

"Let’s move."

Seeing the remaining Puppet Cultivators hesitate, Master Feng Lin urged, "From my observations, that Beast Cultivator isn’t in West City at all; they must be preoccupied with other matters."

"Now is the perfect time; there’s no reason to hesitate."

He quickened his pace, the robe of his magic artifact enveloping his figure, allowing him to move in utter silence, not making a single sound.

In the blind spot of their vision, a shadow writhed.

The Ghost Tiger thrived in the dark, an unstoppable predator. The Puppet Cultivators’ self-assigned stealth methods appeared as luminous beacons to it.

Only Master Feng Lin hesitated and glanced back, noticing nothing amiss, before continuing onward toward the main hall.

In the split second he let his guard down, the Ghost Tiger darted forward.

Fu Yan felt a chill run down his spine, speaking in astonishment, "Just now, Kong Xianfa was on my left—now he’s gone."

Master Feng Lin cursed under his breath, scanning the area but finding no trace of Kong Xianfa.

His initial thought was that Kong Xianfa had been overtaken by greed and fled, but they all knew each other’s character well.

Suppressing his distractions, Master Feng Lin felt as though some Deceit Beast was watching them from the darkness.

He cursed again, but there was no turning back now—retreat would only sow suspicion and animosity among the other Puppet Cultivators.

"Forget it, I told him to stay on guard in the shadows."

The Puppet Cultivators dared not question further, and soon they arrived at the main hall.

The doors of the hall stood slightly ajar, and Master Feng Lin immediately spotted a statue within. Its surface was slightly darkened from frequent soakings in blood.

His expression turned greedy as pairs of infant limbs sprouted grotesquely from the sides of his eye sockets.

"Leave someone to guard the entrance..."

Before Master Feng Lin could finish his sentence, his peripheral vision caught sight of a dark figure rushing toward them. By the time he turned fully, their team was reduced to four.

All that remained at the spot was a severed hand twitching spasmodically.

The Puppet Cultivators were gripped with fear—they hadn’t even glimpsed the Deceit Beast before it easily claimed one of them. The Nameless Temple was anything but simple.

"Master Feng Lin, maybe we should retreat for now and strike another day..."

Master Feng Lin’s bloodshot eyes burned with fury as he stared murderously at Fu Yan, who instinctively took several steps back.

Moving directly into the main hall, Master Feng Lin stopped before the statue.

The statue reeked of a pungent blood stench—Master Feng Lin knew it came from the flesh and blood sacrificed daily by the devotees, and he suspected countless Deceit Beast corpses were stored inside.

The other Puppet Cultivators gathered closely, unable to suppress the unease clawing at their hearts.

"From my observations over the past days, there must be at least two or three hundred Deceit Beast corpses inside the statue. Imagine how much spiritual material that would yield."

Master Feng Lin’s face contorted grotesquely, his greed already clouding his judgment.

Pressing his right hand against the statue’s surface, his palm split open to reveal a seam, as though probing the contents of the mustard space inside.

"Impossible, this can’t be."

Master Feng Lin’s face turned ghostly pale—the mustard space held nothing but residual blood; the Deceit Beast corpses had already been taken.

"What’s the situation, Master Feng Lin?"

Unable to answer immediately, his clothes were damp with cold sweat.

He realized that the Nameless Temple must have been a trap laid by a Beast Cultivator, and that he had fallen fully into it. Unable to contain himself, he let out a hysterical scream.

"How dare you?! Manager Shi holds the soul lamp tied to our lives!"

Master Feng Lin’s shouts echoed through the hall, met only with silence.

Fu Yan asked gravely, "What’s going on? Are there Deceit Beast corpses in the statue or not? Who’s the Beast Cultivator targeting us?"

Master Feng Lin gave a deranged laugh, his instability from cultivating the Multi-limb Technique on full display.

Thump, thump, thump...

The sound of a wooden fish being struck resonated.

Somehow, a black-robed figure had appeared in the hall, their features obscured, emanating spiritual power that was a sickly mix of yellow and green.

A Puppet Cultivator rushed toward the figure.

Before the cultivator could get close, the figure raised its head to reveal a sharp-billed face akin to the Duke of Thunder, its eyes brimming with murderous intent.

The Mountain Demon exhaled a cloud of toxic smoke, pulling a Bone Leveling Stick from its ribs with both hands.

"Ha..."

With a single strike, the Puppet Cultivator’s neck bent at a ninety-degree angle, their throat pierced by the Mountain Demon’s tail, blood spraying like rain.

The Mountain Demon let out a thrilled shriek, closing the distance on Fu Yan in three strides, shattering his four legs with one blow.

"Reveal yourself! I know it’s you!!"

"Mountain and Sea Hermit!!!"

Master Feng Lin snapped out of his daze as infant arms burrowed back into his eye sockets, gouging out his eyes and conjuring a spectral entity in the hall.

The spectral apparition, made of writhing limbs, shrieked as it charged toward the Mountain Demon.

The Mountain Demon showed no fear, only greater ferocity, opening its mouth wide like a whale and swelling its body to over four meters tall.

It ignored its injuries entirely, its shifting mass battling three opponents at once.

The Ghost Tiger joined the fray, its massive jaws snapping through a Puppet Cultivator’s throat, swiftly tipping the scales in Li Mo’s favor.

Master Feng Lin began to contemplate retreat.

Even with his Mid-stage Weak Crown cultivation, taking on two spirit beasts wasn’t impossible—but the invisible pressure emanating from Li Mo was suffocating.

The posted bounty of two thousand mid-grade Spirit Stones alone spoke volumes of Li Mo’s terrifying prowess.

Li Mo’s exploits in Duozhi Mountain were already enough to strike fear into others, and his Foundation Establishment had only amplified his momentum, pushing him toward being the foremost cultivator of the Weak Crown stage.

Master Feng Lin couldn’t help but think of escape.

Pop.

His right eye burst as the multi-limbed specter he had summoned suffered heavy damage, strengthening his resolve to flee.

Feigning a desperate stance, he sacrificed both of his arms, temporarily restoring his Spiritual Power in the Middle Dantian to peak levels.

He vanished from the hall, paying no mind to possible encounters with Deceit Beasts, and fled toward the city.

With his vision impaired, he failed to notice the terrain around him. Shortly after, he realized something was amiss.

Ignoring the pain in his eyes, he saw he had arrived at a barren Chaotic Burial Mound.

A row of gravestones unexpectedly bore the names of the five Puppet Cultivators, with a sixth empty grave already dug out. As Master Feng Lin hesitated, tendrils of flesh wrapped themselves around his limbs.

The Corpse Mountain kept them all alive, granting neither escape nor death.

Li Mo had been inside the statue the entire time.

Observing the addition of seven dwellers to the Yin Attribute Sub-peak, Li Mo noted the 30% increase in Spiritual Energy density and the exuberant growth of spiritual materials.

With his methods and preparations, eliminating several Puppet Cultivators of similar cultivation stage was almost effortless.

He even hoped for more waves of intruders.

Li Mo nonchalantly resumed his secluded cultivation, dividing the last 300-year-old Nourishing Yuan Fruit into six portions.

The Tattooed Beasts grew restless, their desire for Essence pushing them to their limits.

Essence coursed through the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, bringing benefits to the meridians themselves, finally converging in the six tattoo locations on the shoulders and limbs.

As expected, the Tattooed Beasts fell into a deep slumber together.

Li Mo raised an eyebrow.

Taking out a copper mirror to examine himself, he noticed his eyes had transformed into bestial vertical pupils, and his canine teeth had become unusually sharp.

His heart beat heavily, and his blood carried an inexplicable change.

"This is..."

Li Mo’s face showed disbelief. "A fragmentary Acquired Dao Body?"

He burst into a bitter laugh. To avoid an excess of Dao Bodies, he had refrained from imprinting his Lower Dantian, but Hui Qingyi’s repeated transformations had unexpectedly enhanced his physique.

The formation of an Acquired Dao Body was riddled with coincidences.

If all went smoothly, the Tattooed Beasts’ transformations would culminate in the Dao Body’s completion.

Thankfully, given that Hui Qingyi adhered to his skin, the Dao Body’s aura would be exceptionally subtle. Unless Li Mo deliberately unveiled it, it should remain undetected.

This unforeseen Acquired Dao Body was not wholly a fluke—Hui Qingyi’s foundation had been extraordinarily robust.

The Beast Head Tattoos he had crafted contained divine charm, enhancing the Tattooed Beasts’ spirituality far beyond the ordinary. Nourishing them with Nourishing Yuan Fruits, harvesting scarce Innate Essence, and cultivating Hui Qingyi-backed Spiritual Power Flesh—all had dovetailed into the Dao Body’s development.

Li Mo sighed helplessly; he had no choice but to accept reality.

"With my talent now, I might even pass as extraordinarily gifted in the Artifact Sect’s mass-producing Dao Body division."

Li Mo closed his eyes for rest, his mind instinctively drawn to the Mud Pill Palace. The Creation Book suppressed a jade slab resembling a blade—an emblem of an Outer Disciple of the Artifact Sect.

"The Melting Town Technique has shortcomings in Core Formation, and lacks Nascent Soul training altogether..."

"If Puppet Cultivators gain supremacy, I may need to rethink my cultivation path. Becoming immortal in the Heart Beast Sect seems increasingly unlikely."

"Switching sects might make sense—using the Spirit Root Page to imprint a second Dantian could be reasonable."

Li Mo immersed himself in the burgeoning Acquired Dao Body, his consciousness likening it to returning to the womb.

The Black Wind Ridge spiraled out of control—Deceit Beasts broke free from their established boundaries, spreading throughout the town.

Upon closer examination, an array had enveloped the Black Wind Ridge.

More than half a month passed.

Li Mo’s Tattooed Beasts completed their transformations one after another. He probed the newly formed Acquired Dao Body, only to find a sacrificial festival quietly unfolding.

Swathes of Deceit Beast believers flooded into the Nameless Temple, bearing the statue toward the center of the city.

Li Mo: ?