Longevity Strange Immortal
Chapter 131 - 132: The Arrival of the Sub-Device Sect

Chapter 131: Chapter 132: The Arrival of the Sub-Device Sect

Duozhi Mountain writhed, its chrysanthemum-like oral organ spewing suffocating metal dust, while the stench of rust filled the surrounding hundred miles.

Even under the blazing sun, visibility in Duozhi Mountain barely reached half a meter.

A large number of loose cultivators lingered in the Mountain and Sea Market, unable to ascend to higher altitudes to search for spiritual materials, praying for an end to the sandstorm.

Under normal circumstances, Duozhi Mountain entered an active phase once every ten days, which lasted no more than half a day.

But for some unknown reason, the sudden sandstorm showed no signs of stopping.

Stimulated by the metal dust, the transplanted arms on the cultivators’ bodies began to grow robustly, madly absorbing nutrients from their hosts.

The loose cultivators showed no fear but instead seemed eager with anticipation.

It was as though an Acquired Dao Body was being nurtured.

Unlike the increasingly frenzied loose cultivators, Song Liang and others, who had not converted to Multi-limb Techniques, remained mentally unaffected by Duozhi Mountain.

They huddled inside the Artifact Refining Shop, and the atmosphere felt suffocating.

The deep hollowness in their eyes revealed that the metal poison had already penetrated their bones, and their fingernails were gradually falling off due to decay.

Lingering long in Duozhi Mountain, it seemed there were only two outcomes:

Madness, or death.

After long silence, Song Liang spoke dejectedly, "Sigh, it’s all my fault. Let’s pack up and leave Duozhi Mountain."

The rest of the cultivators didn’t respond, their expressions clouded with confusion.

Half a year ago, the Mountain and Sea Market had been flourishing—who could have foreseen such a steep decline in such a short time?

Regret welled up in Song Liang’s heart.

If he had heeded Li Mo’s advice back then, he wouldn’t now be suffering from the highly toxic metal dust, and several of his old comrades wouldn’t have lost their lives.

Song Liang had weighed the pros and cons, but there were still some who remained unwilling to give up.

They hoped for Duozhi Mountain to stop spewing metal dust and for the Mountain and Sea Market to regain its prosperity, bringing them renewed profits.

Song Liang muttered, "We must leave now. Even if it means dying, we have to go... let’s go..."

He activated the Golden Sand Map to wrap around his head, donned protective Magic Artifacts, and, without hesitation, plunged into the infinite yellow sand.

Li Zhuang rose to follow Song Liang, while the other cultivators hesitated.

Ultimately, only five cultivators decided to leave, while Li Qingfang stubbornly chose to remain in the Artifact Refining Shop.

They weren’t sure if staying or leaving was right or wrong, their hearts weighed by profound confusion.

Li Qingfang leaned lifelessly against the window, staring at the departing figure of Li Zhuang.

As they grew older, the siblings’ paths had diverged—since arriving at the Mountain and Sea Market, they often clashed over profits, leaving them flushed with anger.

Li Qingfang’s gaze faltered for a moment.

She noticed that along the road, loose cultivators ignored the corrosion of the metal dust, endlessly muttering the word "Child Device."

Faced with the abnormal situation, Song Liang and the others had no choice but to halt.

"Wait!!"

Song Liang seemed to have noticed something, pointing upwards in horror. Li Zhuang’s legs gave out, and he collapsed onto the ground, retreating in panic, his hands and feet scrambling.

"Brother... Brother..."

Li Qingfang hurriedly ran out of the Artifact Refining Shop.

Following Song Liang’s gaze, she discovered two figures flying toward the Mountain and Sea Market from atop Duozhi Mountain.

Judging by their flight trajectory, it was likely they originated from the peak of Duozhi Mountain.

Meanwhile, the sandstorm that had raged for days finally showed signs of subsiding, but the world was now tinged with a metallic sheen.

Li Qingfang sat uneasily.

Those two figures had no limbs, accompanied by thick smoke and fine acidic rain that fell from the sky, causing the ground to sizzle and corrode.

The figures stopped a hundred meters away from the Mountain and Sea Market.

The loose cultivators regained their senses, but their bodies involuntarily raised their arms, their fingertips beginning to display signs of metallic decay.

"Who are you?!!"

Wu Tu, the Fake Core Stage guardian of Duozhi Mountain, immediately appeared at the Mountain and Sea Market.

Sitting cross-legged on a throne constructed from limbs, his gaze met the two figures, and he instantly felt a sense of helplessness akin to facing Core Formation Cultivators.

Yet the two were merely in their late teenage years.

The man and woman ignored Wu Tu, wearing Daoist robes with interwoven yellow and red metallic threads, the image of a Bronze Tripod embroidered on their chests.

The woman’s skin was severely rotten, exposing crystallized flesh and empty eyes that emitted thick smoke, forming a cloud of acidic rain.

The man’s signs of corpse decay were less pronounced, but his body was covered in spiderweb-like cracks, with magma-like blood constantly seeping through.

What struck terror in Wu Tu was that the man lacked a brain; atop his head rested a miniature volcano, occasionally emitting sulfurous smoke.

"No... impossible, Han Cai said the brain is a taboo in medical skill..."

Wu Tu instinctively wanted to escape, but the Lotus Throne under him was unresponsive, leaving him as helpless as fish on a cutting board.

The two disciples of the Sub-Device Sect wore expressions of disdain as they surveyed the loose cultivators in the Mountain and Sea Market.

"Too few Medicine Men, this shouldn’t be the case."

"Sheng Xia, junior sister, I’ve heard a Core Formation Cultivator will visit our sect soon. If he sees the Heart Beast Clan in such desolation, he’ll surely vent his anger on us."

Sheng Xia smirked lightly, "Oh, hardly. The Core Formation Cultivator isn’t coming to gather Medicine Men. Why would the Heart Beast Sect need such fanfare?"

"Then what’s the reason?"

"How would junior sister know? Brother Zhang, see if there’s any usable meat limb. I wouldn’t want to use my ’Sea Pot’ limbs for harvesting Medicine Men myself."

"So true, I’ll have to choose carefully."

Zhang Sheng’s breathing grew heavier. Although Duozhi Mountain’s sandstorm had stopped, the smoke from the volcano atop his head intensified.

The loose cultivators realized that they, the Medicine Men, were the target, and trembled uncontrollably.

Even though the Sub-Device Sect disciples were only in their late teenage years, their cultivation techniques inherently suppressed them, rendering them unable to make a sound.

"The quality of these meat limbs is poor. It’s clear the Medicine Men didn’t fully utilize Duobao Mountain. Look at them—each plagued by Death Disease, reeking with unbearable stench."

Sheng Xia lamented, "As per Great Mother’s instructions, Fake Core Stage Medicine Men must not be harmed. They have to be preserved for Core Formation. Otherwise, harvesting them would’ve been better..."

Wu Tu’s sweat drenched his clothes.

He now understood why Tian Changwen had always avoided Multi-limb Techniques—Puppet Cultivation was clearly paving the way for the Sub-Device Sect disciples.

Zhang Sheng’s gaze fixed on a late teenage loose cultivator.

"You’ll do."

As soon as he spoke, the loose cultivator clutched his head, black blood oozing from his features, and his skull swelled uncontrollably under the strain.

Bang.

A muffled explosion echoed.

The headless corpse continued to twitch.

Zhang Sheng waited until the stench of blood faded, then slowly descended, passing by Li Qingfang, who remained like an insignificant dead thing in his eyes.

On the corpse’s back, the transplanted arm detached itself, emitting a faint aura resembling that of a Magic Artifact.

Soon, the arm fused seamlessly with Zhang Sheng’s body.

No traces of stitching were visible.

Magma-like blood seeped into the arm, which immediately showed signs of atrophy.

Stretching his arms, Zhang Sheng murmured regretfully, "The quality of this meat limb is barely tolerable, but at least it’s only an Artifact Embryo. With this, it should last ten days or half a month."

"Junior sister, you handle the rest of the Medicine Men harvesting. It’ll suffice for when we return to the Mountain Gate."

Sheng Xia licked her nose, and dozens of loose cultivators screamed miserably, their mouths agape in horror.

Nutrients from their flesh and bones drained rapidly; meanwhile, their arms grew more restrained.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

One by one, headless corpses fell to the ground, mimicking the Medicine Field on Duozhi Mountain. No wonder Puppet Cultivation earned its moniker, "Medicine Man."

"Better to leave out the inadequate, junior sister."

Zhang Sheng reminded her that wiping out the Medicine Men entirely would hinder subsequent harvesting. A large portion needed to be preserved, giving them slim hope of survival.

Wu Tu noticed that Sheng Xia’s stomach had the same structure as a Storage Bag—it was unfathomable what kind of existence the Sub-Device Sect was.

He reached out mentally to the spiritual tablet, relaying a message to Tian Changwen, who was far away in Rong Town.

Zhang Sheng glanced at Wu Tu, indifferent to his actions, knowing he was nothing more than a disposable Medicine Man.

However, unbeknownst to him, someone in the shadows was preparing to act—the mantis stalking the cicada while the sparrow waits in secrecy.

Li Mo concealed himself at the edge of the Mountain and Sea Market, closely observing the Sub-Device Sect disciples’ harvesting, making preliminary assessments of their strength.

"The physique of Sub-Device Sect disciples is truly peculiar."

They seemed born without limbs, possessing something akin to a Primordial Dao Body’s Acquired Dao Body, which caused their spiritual power to exhibit unspeakable corrosiveness, polluting the environment.

For the Sub-Device Sect disciples, Magic Artifacts were crafted to resemble limbs, their materials derived from select Medicine Men subordinate to the sect.

However, due to the corrosiveness of their spiritual power, their limbs generally had a limited functional lifespan.

As they continuously replaced arms, their dependence on Medicine Men grew, inevitably targeting smaller factions.

Li Mo considered that although Zhang Sheng and Sheng Xia were Acquired Dao Bodies, they were distinctly different from Primordial Dao Bodies.

At the same time, the duo was too conspicuous. Replacing them was clearly impossible, leaving him to await the arrival of other Sub-Device Sect disciples.

Shrinking his eyes, Li Mo pondered.

If a suitable candidate didn’t appear, then he would have to figure out the sect’s secrets and leverage the Primordial Dao Body to infiltrate them.

Even taking risks seemed worth it, given the flaws he suspected in the Heart Beast Sect’s cultivation techniques.

In ancient times, Heart Beast Sect saw only one Core Formation Cultivator, Tian Chenzi. Seven thousand years later, their high-level practitioners were still stuck at the Core Formation bottleneck.

Li Mo found it hard to believe their techniques lacked inherent problems.

Even if someone used the Heart Beast Sect’s techniques to reach Core Formation, they’d most likely get stuck at the Nascent Soul bottleneck—becoming immortal would remain an unattainable dream.

Li Mo also paid special attention to the Sub-Device Sect disciple’s mention of a Core Formation Cultivator visiting soon. If it wasn’t related to Medicine Men harvesting,

could it possibly be for a Top-grade Spirit Stone...

It’s reasonable to say that the worth of all Heart Beast Sect’s cultivators combined couldn’t equal a Top-grade Spirit Stone.

The likelihood of this being about the Top-grade Spirit Stone was high. Fortunately, the Spirit Stone wasn’t intentionally stored in the Iron Cauldron Secret Realm—it had been stolen from Penglai Old Taoist instead.

The Penglai Old Taoist had perished without evidence, leaving the mastermind behind to investigate discreetly at most.

"Huh?"

Zhang Sheng grinned and scanned the surroundings, sensing a rat lurking in the shadows.

How interesting.

Small sects always produced a few arrogant fools who thought too highly of themselves, relying on their Taoist Bodies yet remaining shallow. However, a Taoist Body isn’t just a mere label.