Longevity Strange Immortal
Chapter 152 - 12 Who Are You, Li Mo, and Who Is It?

Chapter 152: Chapter 12 Who Are You, Li Mo, and Who Is It?

In the middle layer along the way, one could still see Artifact Cultivators setting up stalls to sell Meat Limb Magical Artifacts, but most were of low quality, merely Low Grade Magical Artifacts for practice.

Meanwhile, Li Mo also noticed that some shops were specifically responsible for population trafficking.

Mortals with Taoist Bodies were each worth a fortune.

The port exposed all the shadowy dealings openly, attracting a constant stream of Loose Cultivators to the Sub-Device Sect.

The environment in the middle layer has improved much, with streets paved with brass tiles, and every few meters, there were Grass and Wood Magic Artifacts releasing Spiritual Energy.

The Loose Cultivators living in the middle layer either belonged to a shop or were either rich or noble.

But no matter what, the look in Loose Cultivators’ eyes at Li Mo always carried a hint of fear, after all, the Sub-Device Sect held absolute power over the port.

Artifact Cultivators would also maintain balance, knowing the importance of the port to them.

"Sir, care for a ride?"

The lower body of the Loose Cultivator was transformed into a four-legged structure, appearing rather bizarre, pulling a carriage that stopped in place.

Seeing Li Mo’s hesitation, he said, "You are an Artifact Cultivator, just call out wherever you want to go, no need to spend Spirit Stones."

"Alright, Yin Zhuo Wan Wu."

"Got it."

Li Mo got into the carriage, and in just half a stick of incense, the coachman took him to the destination, showing that surviving as a Loose Cultivator at the port was not easy.

The shop permanently stationed by the Chaotic Burial Furnace was located in a remote area at the southeast corner of the middle layer.

The nameplate bore the four characters ’Yin Zhuo Wan Wu’.

The incoming Artifact Cultivators were very scattered, and the shop specifically provided raw materials for various Artifact Refining Shops, mainly planting spiritual materials with a Gold Fire Yin Attribute, which had certain limitations.

Li Mo realized that the Chaotic Burial Furnace, within the top-grade inheritance of the Lower Three Districts, was mixing rather poorly, perhaps due to Dome Mountain’s inactivity.

The Taoist inheritance lived off planting spiritual materials, indicating the income of the Chaotic Burial Furnace was highly singular.

Li Mo could also understand Dome Mountain allowing the Taoist inheritance’s actions, with Dome Mountain’s age, it was impossible to engage in dual cultivation of refining artifacts, as their skill level was mediocre at best.

It made little sense; the port’s cake had long been divided up.

Li Mo walked into Yin Zhuo Wan Wu, where there were two childhood stage clerks in the shop.

Upon presenting his identity as a disciple of the Chaotic Burial Furnace, he was led to the back room of the shop, and the clerks’ attitude was somewhat apprehensive.

The Taoist inheritance recruited Loose Cultivators as clerks without needing to pay Spirit Stones.

They merely taught some spells that were rather useless for Artifact Cultivators, and the clerks were akin to servant disciples of the Sub-Device Sect, with low status but stability.

Li Mo furrowed his brow slightly.

The shop showed no sign of anything strange, and it was unclear if the port’s sub-device sect had resolved the disaster caused by the invasion of phosphorescence into the Chaotic Burial Furnace.

"It shouldn’t be that bad, at the top of the port there are Nascent Soul Equipment Repairers overseeing; the Mother Furnace couldn’t possibly allow phosphorescence to impact the sect’s foundation."

As Li Mo was thinking, he arrived in the store’s inner room.

After waiting for most of a stick of incense, a heavy sulfur smell spread, and an elder with severely decayed appearance slowly walked towards Li Mo.

The elder’s surname was "Zhong", with a volcano-like external organ grafted onto his back that resembled a turtle shell, known among Chaotic Burial Furnace disciples as Elder Zhong.

Elder Zhong had reached the Condensation stage, but unfortunately, the Death Disease had destroyed his foundation, and breaking through to the Dan Formation Stage seemed hopeless, so he simply resided at the port.

"Cough, cough, cough..."

Thick smoke spewed from his throat, and a few pieces of metallic blood and meat were involuntarily spat out from his mouth.

When Elder Zhong noticed Li Mo, a fleeting, difficult-to-explain astonishment flashed in his eyes, but he quickly suppressed it.

Li Mo always felt that Elder Zhong seemed to recognize him, but he did not hide much, as he had always shown himself at the port with a new human skin.

The old human skin had the identity of a Core Formation Cultivator, while the new human skin was the Daoist Qingtian, but in his memory, he had never met Elder Zhong.

"Junior Li Mo, a small token of appreciation, I hope senior can take good care of me."

Li Mo handed over the Bear Liver Wine he had prepared in advance to Elder Zhong.

After ten years of brewing, the Bear Liver Wine finally showed signs of shedding its foul odor, leaving a faint herbal fragrance in the air.

Elder Zhong had intended to refuse, but seeing the amber color of the wine, he took it on an unexplained whim.

Li Mo seized the opportunity to examine Elder Zhong, and after not noticing any traces of phosphorescence, he breathed a sigh of relief, indicating the port was still safe.

"The wine matches my tastes, haha."

Elder Zhong took a sip of wine, his murky eyes widened.

Although the wine had an inexplicable strange taste, once it entered the stomach, the alcohol’s essence was released under the high temperature of the Mother Furnace.

Furthermore, the wine also had the effect of nourishing the lungs, making the internal organs feel extremely comfortable.

Elder Zhong carefully stored the Bear Liver Wine, and his forehead became scorching hot, emitting wisps of white smoke, completely dispersing the alcohol essence.

"Li Mo, you have been thoughtful, what kind of wine is it?"

"Bear... Golden Jade Wine, brewed with top-grade Mid-grade Spirit Materials, Yan Ruyu."

Elder Zhong, seeing this, dubiously took out a wine pot and examined it under candlelight, muttering words about how no wonder it was so good.

"Such fine wine, but Li Mo, you’ve just completed Foundation Establishment not long ago, and you’ve not yet selected your main Cultivation Technique before coming to the port, aren’t you being too hasty?"

Li Mo played dumb and said, "Junior has limited resources, so I thought about earning some Spirit Stones first."

Once Artifact Cultivators complete Foundation Establishment, they must abandon the Child Device Life Protection Heart Sutra and choose suitable cultivation techniques based on Taoist Body and Spiritual Power to enter Tao.

Dome Mountain had helped him shortlist five decent Cultivation Techniques through interpreting the human slip.

Li Mo went through each one, but Artifact Cultivation Techniques often required body modifications, so he had been planning and hadn’t rushed into cultivation.

Elder Zhong shook his head repeatedly, "You are not the Daoist Qingtian under Dome Mountain. If you want to achieve Core Formation and Nascent Soul, you have to take it step by step..."

Li Mo looked helpless, listening to Elder Zhong’s ramblings, unable to interrupt, he could only respond casually.

He remembered the phosphorescence and asked Elder Zhong, "Elder Zhong, I haven’t returned to the Taoist inheritance in a while, how is the current situation of the Chaotic Burial Furnace?"

Li Mo deliberately walked to the port to wait for the phosphorescence incident to subside instead of taking less than half a month to reach otherwise.

"The production of spiritual materials is decreasing, and the quality of the batch brought in a few days ago has also declined. Perhaps it’s due to the Mountain Protection Array, which made me go back to the Mountain Gate..."

Li Mo was about to ask more when Elder Zhong waved his hand, refusing to elaborate further.

It seemed that after the phosphorescence had destroyed the Practice Hall, without finding his presence, it should have retreated from the Chaotic Burial Furnace’s range.

To be safe, he decided to stay at the port to cultivate and wait until he confirmed that Dome Mountain was safe before considering whether to return to the Mountain Gate.

"Elder Zhong, I came to the port intending to rent a shop to engage in a small artifact refining business."

"Oh?"

Elder Zhong stroked his metallic beard and nodded, "I didn’t expect you to be young, yet capable of artifact refining, quite impressive."

"The rules of the Chaotic Burial Furnace are simple: you can choose to submit half of the shop’s revenue to the Mountain Gate, but if the profit is too little, the Chaotic Burial Furnace reserves the right to take back the shop."

"The other option is a daily rent of one Mid-grade Spirit Stone."

Li Mo hesitated a bit, and Elder Zhong, clicking his tongue, continued, "Let’s do it this way, since I have a good impression of you."

"I’ll rent the shop to you for a hundred days, and you can decide based on the revenue afterward."

"Thank you so much, senior."

Seeing such a good opportunity, Li Mo agreed right away, taking out a pot of transparent Brain Nourishing Wine.

"I should remind you, though, that the competition among artifact refining shops at the port is quite fierce. There’s even an auction for Meat Limb Magical Artifacts, and it’s tough for a Low Grade Refiner to make a name here."

Elder Zhong initially wanted to persuade Li Mo to switch to selling wine, but the latter insisted, so he said no more.

"The shop’s location is recorded inside; go on, don’t bother me in enjoying my drink."

Elder Zhong took another sip of the Brain Nourishing Wine and then threw out a human slip, as his face flushed with a rosy hue, blissfully inhaling the aroma of the wine.

Li Mo no longer disturbed Elder Zhong; after several thank-yous, he quickly headed out of the shop.

Just as he turned around, the drunken look on Elder Zhong’s face vanished, glaring at Li Mo’s departing back with immense gloom.

"Damn it."

"Indeed, it’s the Five Dao Body Qingtian."

"If Qingtian appears at the port, what the hell was that Qingtian I saw when I returned to the Mountain Gate a few days ago?"

Elder Zhong sighed deeply, pinching the bridge of his nose as he said, "Maintain the status quo; it’s most likely done by them, truly insane."

He knew Li Mo might have fled from the Chaotic Burial Furnace due to that inexplicable danger, a terror too horrifying to contemplate.

That was actually the Immortal Light from the Nine Nether.

"Ah, Qingtian, just stay in the shop to cultivate. Given you already have a Five Dao Body, there’s no need to refine artifacts to earn Spirit Stones."

Elder Zhong feared Li Mo might stir up something, as he, a Core Formation Artifact Cultivator, couldn’t possibly protect such a rare Five Dao Body genius.

Even with the Mother Furnace’s protection, other Taoist inheritances wouldn’t allow Li Mo to change allegiances, but the Five Dao Body’s value lay in the phenomenon of Nascent Soul formation, potentially bringing him back to the Mountain Gate.

"Shouldn’t be, Qingtian possessing a Five Dao Body doesn’t mean an outstanding talent in artifact refining..."

"Wait, where did he learn the art of brewing, I’ve never seen similar wines in the Sub-Device Sect, could it be that the Five Dao Body already allows him to infer and create his own wine recipes?"

Elder Zhong’s heart raced, a sense of unexplainable unease taking over.

He chased after Li Mo, hoping to keep him in Yin Zhuo Wan Wu, but the latter had already vanished without a trace.

Elder Zhong had to brace himself to contact the other Nascent Soul Stage of the Chaotic Burial Furnace, those ancestors had already been dormant for years, foreseeing that the port would become turbulent in the coming period.

Li Mo rode the carriage, according to the address on the human slip, arrived at the vacant shop, finding the surrounding area near the bottom-level entrance.

Although the foot traffic was decent, Loose Cultivators’ purchasing power for Meat Limb Magical Artifacts was limited.

Compared to an Artifact Refining Shop, it might have been more appropriate as a wine shop, but the brewing cycle of wine was long and required a low-profit, high-volume strategy, which was taxing and thankless.

Li Mo entered the shop, which had three floors of space with only a few rows of wooden shelves.

He managed things while also engraving the store sign with "Four Seas Refining Shop" and hanging an announcement for hiring clerks.

Naming it Four Seas, it implied the four-legged Mountain and Sea, merely to keep a memento.

He closed his eyes to prepare for a surgery to modify his body; there were two other spells, unexpectedly, involving the skeleton and the facial features.

......

People came and went at the port.

The Four Seas Refining Shop did not attract attention from passing cultivators.

The shop was under the Chaotic Burial Furnace, and according to the announcement, it was opened by a disciple of the sect, and they understood that this Taoist inheritance did not sustain Artifact Refiners. Probably, a clerk position wouldn’t last long.

Once one became a clerk for a Taoist inheritance, other Taoist inheritance shops would no longer welcome them.

Only one Loose Cultivator eyed the announcement, full of surprise, his battered body relying on a wooden cane to move.