Longevity Strange Immortal
Chapter 150 - 10: When Phosphorescence Appears, Run First as a Sign of Respect

Chapter 150: Chapter 10: When Phosphorescence Appears, Run First as a Sign of Respect

The Chaotic Burial Furnace is surrounded by countless grave markers scattered across the landscape.

The surface of the markers is engraved with arrays, designed to absorb the spiritual energy within the hill and nourish various spiritual materials placed within the coffins.

Dome Mountain rarely manages its Taoist inheritance, merely allocating grave fields to Artifact Refiners at the Weak Crown Period or above, collecting spiritual materials once every five years.

Outer disciples at the Weak Crown stage often have to work at the port to earn Spirit Stones to sustain their cultivation.

"The spiritual materials in the grave fields have become increasingly strange recently?"

One Artifact Refiner painstakingly dug into the grave field, the soil appearing slightly loose, intermixed with plant roots that resembled blood vessels and writhed incessantly.

He noticed that although the spiritual materials were flourishing, their coloration leaned towards a purplish-red hue.

However, upon contact with air, the materials reverted to their original appearance within a few breaths, as if the bizarre phenomena were nothing more than an illusion.

Soon, Artifact Refiners discovered that the anomalies in the grave fields were concentrated around the Big and Small Furnaces.

They speculated that the differences in the spiritual energy might be because the Chaotic Burial Furnace was influenced by a certain Nascent Soul cultivator from Zone 7.

Compared to the grave fields, the Big and Small Furnaces themselves seemed to be less affected.

The Big and Small Furnaces served as places for disciples of the Chaotic Burial Furnace to refine artifacts during their seclusion, their architectural style starkly contrasting with the surrounding Taoist structures.

From the outside, they resembled piled stone grave mounds, with three-meter-high chimneys continuously belching out dense smoke at their tops.

The Big and Small Furnaces contained a total of two hundred seclusion rooms.

The Small Furnace rooms accounted for seventy percent, suitable for Artifact Refiners at the Weak Crown stage, while the Large Furnace rooms comprised thirty percent, appropriate for Thirty Years Old stage Artifact Refiners, making the area bustling with activity.

The smoke from the furnaces rolled thickly, with spiritual energy dominated by Gold and Fire attributes, driving the temperatures up to seventy or eighty degrees, rendering Childhood-stage Artifact Refiners completely immobile.

Corpse Altar Taoist walked into the Big and Small Furnace with a trace of impatience.

Ever since Li Mo completed his Foundation Establishment, for some reason, he had been unable to calm his mind, repeatedly failing to enter a state of cultivation.

An indescribable unease lingered like a bone stuck in his throat.

The Corpse Altar Taoist muttered under his breath, while surrounding Artifact Refiners instinctively avoided him, unwilling to provoke this senior Core Formation cultivator.

"Damn it..."

His gaze inadvertently swept past a corner of the Large Furnace rooms, noticing that one of the seclusion room doors was left ajar.

A faint yet vividly eerie phosphorescence occasionally radiated out in seven colors, utterly bizarre yet oddly tranquilizing to the Corpse Altar Taoist’s mental realm.

As if drawn by an unseen force, he pushed the door open and stepped into the Large Furnace room, where the dim interior was lit only by the sizzling spirit vein mouth pouring out spiritual energy.

The Big and Small Furnaces harnessed spiritual energy from the underground, allowing Artifact Refiners to absorb a portion while the surplus escaped through the chimney above, forming a simple yet efficient cycle.

Only when spiritual energy was insufficient did organizations like the Heart Beast Sect deploy intricate arrays.

The Sub-Device Sect’s Taoist inheritance used only rudimentary methods to channel spiritual energy.

The outbranching Taoist sects of the outer disciples adopted this approach too, relying on the natural yield of spiritual energy from the blessed grounds without the need for complex arrays.

"It’s an opportunity..."

The Corpse Altar Taoist’s expression turned dazed as he shut the Large Furnace door behind him.

Approaching the spirit vein mouth, he fixed his gaze intently on the wafting smoke, as if waiting for something, his demeanor resembling that of one entranced.

Mere moments later, an indescribable phosphorescence radiated from the depths of the spirit vein mouth once more.

The phosphorescent glow seemed to originate not from the spirit vein itself, but from the unfathomable depths beneath the ground, painting the surroundings in dazzling, otherworldly colors with a penetrating intensity defying description.

The Corpse Altar Taoist began to laugh foolishly and fell into fantasies of his own, dreaming of easily achieving the Uncertainty Nascent Soul stage.

The phosphorescence guided him, inching him closer and closer to the well-like opening.

"Urgh..."

Suddenly, the Corpse Altar Taoist jerked awake.

Attempting to flee from the unnamable splendorous phosphorescence, he realized his head, which was reaching into the well, spotted a silhouette trapped within.

Tense as though facing a mortal foe, the Corpse Altar Taoist then noticed his arms were stuck to the walls of the well.

"What is this?!!"

His palms had fused with the well’s surface, the phosphorescence seemingly carrying a terrifying corrosive power that assimilated everything it touched.

What filled him with dread was that the silhouette in the well began to crawl outward.

He tried to escape the Large Furnace room, but under the stimulation of phosphorescence, his flesh and organs mutated wildly, even impairing the furnace’s functioning.

The strengths and weaknesses of Artifact Refiners were centralized in their furnaces.

The furnace could sustain the Refiners with extraordinarily robust vitality; however, once damaged, they would be rendered immobile.

The Corpse Altar Taoist’s limbs detached automatically, leaving him only able to shuffle with his torso towards the doorway.

"Help me! Help me..."

Rustling sounds echoed forth.

The monster inside the spirit vein mouth revealed itself—its grotesquely malformed body sending chills down one’s spine, as if composed of flesh from four or five different Artifact Refiners haphazardly cobbled together.

Wrapped in phosphorescence, their flesh grotesquely merged into a single aggregate.

The Corpse Altar Taoist realized the phosphorescence’s corrosive power far exceeded imagination, having already consumed multiple comrades who were now setting their sights on him.

The monstrosity dragged itself slowly toward him, its intertwined faces briefly merging under the phosphorescence’s radiance, only to separate again after a few breaths.

"Corpse Altar, don’t you recognize me? I’m Zhang Sheng."

The Corpse Altar Taoist attempted to scream, only to discover his lips had fused shut, and with that, the creature had already entangled him, plunging him into the depths of despair.

Some time later, the door to the Large Furnace room creaked open slightly.

The phosphorescence receded back into the spirit vein mouth, its whereabouts unknown, unrestrainedly consuming Artifact Refiners one by one, gathering power.

Clearly, the phosphorescence aimed to breach the array safeguarding the Practice Hall.

Logically speaking, the phosphorescence hidden deep underground was almost undetectable and had already spread to every corner of the Chaotic Burial Furnace, making it far too late for Li Mo to escape.

However, Li Mo was a freak, well-versed in the Golden Cicada Shell technique.

Upon realizing the Chaotic Burial Furnace was spiraling out of control, the first thing Li Mo did was empty the contents of the Practice Hall, especially the Taoist Collection on the second level.

Although he couldn’t yet undo the techniques left behind in the human slips by the elders of Dome Mountain, that didn’t mean he never would; he planned to take everything for now.

If not for the internal chaos being unresolved, Li Mo would’ve even ventured into the Secret Treasure Pavilion to see if it contained any unique magical inheritances.

As for whether Dome Mountain would pursue retribution, they’d first have to ensure his safe return, and they’d more likely than not exalt him again.

After waiting for two days, Li Mo finally found an opening around the Practice Hall among the Artifact Refiners.

Transforming into a shadow accompanied by the Ghost Tiger, he quietly departed, swapping his old human skin for a new one, now appearing to be a Core Formation cultivator.

Li Mo’s disguise was seamless.

Ash Spirit Power concealed within his furnace, combined with Mist Fog Spiritual Power carrying hints of Primordial Dao Body aura, made it hard to identify him as the famed Daoist Qingtian from the Sub-Device Sect.

Even amidst the Gold and Fire-dominated Chaotic Burial Furnace, the Mist Fog Spiritual Power might stand out slightly, but his Core Formation cultivation ensured no one paid close attention.

Li Mo observed the Daoist Temple surreptitiously, noting how even sunlight now appeared sinister.

Perhaps intentionally misled by phosphorescence, the other Artifact Refiners from the Chaotic Burial Furnace remained oblivious as the hill gradually warped toward an unnamable state.

Li Mo outwardly appeared composed, but internally, his mind was taut, and he hastened his steps, reaching the mountainside within moments.

He was now certain—the phosphorescence was indeed targeting him.

Echoes from the Human Pig statue lingered vividly in his mind: "I’m here for you. Wake up. Save us. Quickly..."

Wake up? Why emphasize waking up? Li Mo was merely an infiltrator from the Sub-Device Sect, with no connection to the entity behind the phosphorescence.

Li Mo even suspected that the Sub-Device Sect’s deep exploration within Dome Mountain might’ve suffered upheaval possibly orchestrated by the phosphorescence.

Delaying Nascent Soul Equipment Repairers at best, it might take half a year to breach the array.

"What exactly had the Sub-Device Sect unearthed?"

Li Mo naturally wouldn’t pin his hopes on Dome Mountain, deciding instead to head for the port where abundant resources could aid his cultivation.

He had already selected three magical techniques, all revolving around bodily modification.

Although specialized personnel in the Chaotic Burial Furnace could assist with transplanting external organs, Li Mo preferred to rely on himself, considering plans to use the Creation Book for imprinting new organs later.

The port would also facilitate spiritual material requisition.

Unbeknownst to him, Li Mo had already reached the mountain’s base.

Steam rose, the mountain path inexplicably radiant like the phosphorescence, and all things twisted in the refracted mist.

The phosphorescence attempted to impede Artifact Refiners seeking escape from the Chaotic Burial Furnace.

Its influence was limited to affecting mental realms, suggesting the phosphorescence dared not openly reveal itself.

Pretending to be mentally affected, Li Mo secretly prepared the Eight-Armed Spine Nerve, ready to summon it for movement at any moment.

The Death Disease began stirring, even though it should’ve been years away from affecting him at fifty; the phosphorescence seemed to shorten the interval.

"Wait, does the phosphorescence have beneficial effects?"

Within the phosphorescence, his two human skins showed signs of slight fusion.

If the phosphorescence’s intensity could be controlled, it might indeed prove useful for cultivation; however, its rampant spread throughout the Eight-layered Small World indicated even the Sub-Device Sect failed to suppress it.

Seeing that it could no longer prevent Li Mo’s escape, the phosphorescence suddenly erupted.

"Help me... Help me..."

Li Mo heard Zhang Sheng’s voice emanating from the soil beneath his feet, mingled with a dozen sharp, venomous murmurs that sent shivers down his spine.

Wet soil oozed blood, and while Artifact Refiners impacted the environment to some extent, the phosphorescence operated on an entirely different and far more troublesome scale.

As Li Mo approached the outside world, the phosphorescence’s madness grew more intense, twisting the radiant, distorted purgatory as it tried to ensnare all living beings.

Li Mo moved steadily, imprinting protections upon his Mud Pill Palace and brain, making his mind impervious to external influences, firm as a rock.

Stepping just beyond the range of the phosphorescence, his interior world altered starkly.

A barren wasteland stretched before him, sparse vegetation dotting the landscape as acid rain drizzled endlessly.

The piercing chirps of crickets echoed loudly.

Behind him, the Chaotic Burial Furnace remained shrouded in smoky fumes, phosphorescence nowhere in sight, betraying no trace of its strangeness.

It seemed the phosphorescence had yet to realize—or perhaps the entity behind it had failed to perceive—that Li Mo was actually the Five Dao Body Daoist Qingtian, otherwise it would never have relented so easily.

What attitude did the Sub-Device Sect hold towards the phosphorescence?

Symbiotic, adversarial, or cancerous, the phosphorescence wouldn’t destroy the Sub-Device Sect’s foundations outright, but would undoubtedly create a myriad of issues for Li Mo.

Exhaling deeply, he made his way toward the central pit of the Eight-layered Small World.

In this vast underground realm, encountering other Artifact Refiners was rare, the only reminder of the passage of time being the artificial sun that rose once every eight days.

After half a month of travel, the pit’s outline came into view, within which a starlit asteroid belt hovered in suspension.

The asteroid belt pieced together an opulent steel city.

The port had arrived.