Longevity Strange Immortal
Chapter 168 - 28: Refinement of the Life-bound Magical Artifact

Chapter 168: Chapter 28: Refinement of the Life-bound Magical Artifact

Li Mo’s focus during the Forty Refinements remained on spiritual material cultivation. No matter where he goes in the future, he could continuously draw resources from it.

The Forty Refinements had been completed, yet he still felt lingering unease.

Li Mo never expected that during the refining process, the Yin Attribute Sub-Peak would begin to slowly collapse, eventually disappearing entirely.

At first, he thought it was a mistake that caused damage to the Corpse Mountain.

After all, the subsequent refinement of high-grade magical artifacts was fraught with unknowns, with cases of downgrading to mid-grade artifacts being all too common.

If the Yin Attribute Sub-Peak supplying spiritual energy to Corpse Mountain were to be damaged, its potential would undoubtedly plummet, effectively wasting the resources invested earlier.

Fortunately, the danger passed without major incident.

The anomaly of the Yin Attribute Sub-Peak primarily stemmed from the accumulated absorption of medicinal energy, leading to natural transformation during the Forty Refinements.

He gazed at the Corpse Mountain in his palm. The peaks of earth, wood, and water attributes stood firm, while the Yin Attribute Sub-Peak completely fused into the artifact’s interior.

Now, the Yin Attribute Sub-Peak had transformed into the roots of the mountain range, resembling veins distributed deep within the rocks.

The tombstones did not disappear; rather, they were scattered across the remaining peaks, their numbers tripling compared to the Twenty Refinements stage.

The beast population of Corpse Mountain had already surpassed ten thousand heads.

Due to the absence of natural predators, the beasts bred and thrived at an astonishing speed, each one growing plump and robust.

Typically, when the beasts became old and feeble, they would instinctively approach the Evergreen Tree.

The beasts consumed the Evergreen Tree fruit, and for every twenty beasts, one Deceit Beast would be born. The Deceit Beast population had now grown to three or four hundred.

However, given the immense consumption of spiritual materials by the Deceit Beasts, Li Mo would purge a batch every six months to maintain them within a reasonable range.

After waiting for a while, Corpse Mountain finally stabilized.

The mountain’s elevation had reached a thousand meters.

The Earth Attribute Main Peak was shrouded in yellow sandstorms, filled with countless quicksand traps, while its Earth Attribute spiritual materials were hidden within the crevices of steep cliffs.

The Wood Attribute Sub-Peak was lush with greenery, hosting more than eighty percent of the beasts and Deceit Beasts, along with countless venomous creatures capable of killing with a single bite.

At the summit, the Evergreen Tree was laden with fruit, its branches swaying gently in the wind.

The Evergreen Tree had already become the most dangerous presence on the Wood Attribute Sub-Peak, with its extraordinarily resilient branches capable of extending indefinitely. Using the fragrance of its fruit, it could lure packs of Deceit Beasts.

The Water Attribute Sub-Peak featured a waterfall cascading into a lake at the mountain’s base. Though the environment appeared tranquil, every drop of water weighed a hundred pounds.

Any living creature that mistakenly entered the lake would find it impossible to escape its watery embrace.

The Yin Attribute Sub-Peak had become a Spirit Vein, distributing spiritual energy across the mountain range through its tombstones. The concentration of spiritual energy was sufficient to support cultivation during the childhood stage.

Li Mo strongly suspected that as he continued the subsequent refinement of Corpse Mountain, the primary and secondary peaks would fully merge, constructing an even more realistic ecological chain.

"If necessary, I might need to cultivate several more secondary peaks."

The completion of Corpse Mountain’s spiritual attributes was likely tied to its potential post-Hundred Refinements, with the possibility of it advancing into a Magic Treasure.

Li Mo immediately noticed that as the growth rate of the spiritual materials from various attributes increased, a small portion of them had even developed rudimentary spiritual wisdom.

There were Wood Attribute spiritual materials using their roots as legs, running wildly about the mountain.

Li Mo personally witnessed a herd of beasts attempting to devour a piece of low-grade spiritual material, only for it to burrow into the soil while they were unsuspecting.

The higher the quality of the spiritual material, the greater the likelihood of it developing spiritual wisdom.

Mid-grade spiritual materials had already learned to conceal their presence, even intentionally suppressing their aura to avoid detection by foraging beasts.

"Not bad. Scheming and manipulation are the essence of nature. The environment previously might have been too idyllic."

Li Mo summoned the low-grade spiritual material to the outside world, only for its burgeoning spirit-like nature to vanish completely once it left Corpse Mountain’s boundaries.

From this, it was evident: "Life" seemed to be a new rule emerging from the Forty Refinements of Corpse Mountain.

Unfortunately, the spiritual materials were still too weak; otherwise, luring enemies into Corpse Mountain could see them confronted by mountains full of carnivorous spiritual materials.

Li Mo stored Corpse Mountain away and closed his eyes to summarize the gains and losses from refining artifacts.

Knowing he had been absent from the port for a prolonged period, he realized the pill cultivators lurking in the shadows were growing restless, with the rain season yielding increasing numbers of corpses.

Nevertheless, the Four Seas Refining Shop remained a forbidden zone during the Alchemy Competition.

Li Mo wasn’t in a hurry to confront the pill cultivators. He divided his attention to observe external developments. The moment a pill cultivator showed any sign of weakness, he would strike with overwhelming force.

As for his Life-bound Magical Artifact, he was still undecided about its form, mainly because the artifact was far too significant, making it difficult to weigh the pros and cons.

Blood artifacts covered the body, while organ-based artifacts focused on the five internal organs—each had its advantages and disadvantages.

Li Mo simply began reviewing the artifact catalog collected by Qingqiu Taoist over these past days, a bold idea suddenly surfacing in his mind.

"Tumors are essentially abnormal growths. Cancer cells possess terrifying expandability and are never restricted to a single flesh or organ..."

"Why can’t I break free from the limitations of the Great Miao’s Tumor and Divine Fetus Technique?"

A flash of brilliance gleamed in Li Mo’s eyes.

To put it plainly, the Great Miao’s Tumor and Divine Fetus Technique was also created by cultivators. The artifact forms may have been gradually supplemented by disciples in later generations.

This discrepancy in artifact forms explained why Li Mo felt they were inconsistent.

"I should create an artifact form unique to myself."

Though Li Mo’s insight was limited, he possessed the Primordial Dao Seed, which—once he branded the other four spirits during the Thirty Years Old Stage—would certainly awaken artifact-refining-related divine skills.

He only needed to design a prototype for a Life-bound Magical Artifact. Once the divine skills were awakened, he could perfect it completely.

Li Mo didn’t hesitate and began to compare various artifact catalogs.

His photographic memory came into full play, synthesizing dozens of artifact types every breath, merging and dissecting them into various forms.

Li Mo quickly discarded most artifact catalogs and focused on blood-and-flesh magical artifacts.

The Great Miao’s Tumor and Divine Fetus Technique was, in essence, a unique blood-and-flesh magical artifact, designed to sustain a symbiotic relationship with cultivators in the form of cancer.

Li Mo’s inspiration surged, likely due to decades of experience in artifact refinement. In just three days, he conceived a unique artifact form.

He named it [Cancer Artifact].

He hoped his Life-bound Magical Artifact could fully harness the power of cancer’s transformation, relying on parasitism rather than being constrained by a specific artifact type.

Fortunately, the abundant artifact forms provided by the Great Miao’s Tumor and Divine Fetus Technique enabled Li Mo to draw upon the wisdom of those before him and design the prototype for his Cancer Artifact.

He began experimenting with his materials to refine it.

The artifact embryos he crafted resembled lumps of gooey, blood-flesh tissue—evidence that his overall approach appeared correct.

After meticulous verification, Li Mo finally decided to start refining his Life-bound Magical Artifact.

He placed the twin fetus into the melting furnace. Once separated from Corpse Mountain, the fetus immediately became restless, struggling to escape the furnace’s constraints.

Li Mo calmly controlled the twin fetus, using Spiritual Power to purge its impurities while inscribing unbelievably intricate patterns inside and out, simultaneously linking it with Ash Spirit Power.

The process was originally more tedious, but due to the twin fetus’s unique properties, Li Mo didn’t need to worry about backlash during refining.

Half a day later, the twin fetus’s volume shrank.

Li Mo then transferred the twin fetus into his Multiple Dantians, further purging it with Mist Fog Spiritual Power until only a fist-sized fetus remained.

The twin fetus curled its body, with its eyes tightly shut in a state of deep slumber.

Following the Great Miao’s Tumor and Divine Fetus Technique, Li Mo flushed the twin fetus with his lifeblood, gradually reducing the vitality ratio within the blood.

His lifeblood, initially luminous like jade liquid, darkened into purple-red putrid blood.

Feeling threatened by the external changes, the twin fetus actively fused with Li Mo, the process proceeding seamlessly as the two were innately connected.

Taking advantage of the symbiotic fusion interval, Li Mo began preparing supplementary spiritual materials.

These were diseased blood-and-flesh spiritual materials covered with black spots or grotesquely deformed, the result of external influences rendering them substandard.

Li Mo ground them into powder and swallowed it whole.

The powder mixed into his blood, continuing to flush over the parasitic fetus, causing its skin to erupt with densely packed black spots.

Even as he advanced to the stage of shaping the artifact form, Li Mo did not halt the lifeblood purging.

Instead, he pushed the Paoxiao Swallowing Body technique to its utmost. His heart thumped furiously as his Innate Taoist Body devoured the "foreign entity" within.

The twin fetus offered no resistance, having already fused symbiotically into Li Mo and effectively becoming a new organ.

Li Mo closed his eyes, carefully controlling the lifeblood to an exacting degree; otherwise, the quality of the Life-bound Magical Artifact could be compromised.

Gradually, the twin fetus dissolved entirely into Li Mo’s lifeblood.

Li Mo could faintly sense that the twin fetus had now spread throughout his body—not just in his blood but also in numerous organs and bones.

His consciousness became deeply intertwined with the twin fetus.

"It’s done."

Li Mo’s face lit up with joy. Although the twin fetus was no longer visible, the Great Miao’s Tumor and Divine Fetus Technique assured him of its successful refinement as a Life-bound Magical Artifact.

Li Mo spread his palm and tried connecting with his Life-bound Magical Artifact.

Immediately, his flesh began to undergo aberration, growing into a lump of blood-flesh resembling a baby. The veins in his arm bulged visibly, and the Ghost Tiger stirred restlessly beneath the surface.

With a single thought, Li Mo allowed the baby to parasitize his right arm.

His arm swelled explosively, its surface marked by a ferocious tiger head, but before long, it seemed on the verge of disintegration.

Li Mo withdrew the Life-bound Magical Artifact, letting it parasitize his Daluo Heaven.

The originally skeletal magic robe transformed, becoming covered with flesh resembling human skin, with its surface splitting open to reveal numerous eyeballs.

Before the mutated Daluo Heaven could stabilize, the Life-bound Magical Artifact began to lose control again.

"A pity. Its incompleteness makes it prone to instability."

In Li Mo’s vision, the Cancer Artifact could parasitize anything—organs, magical artifacts, Tattooed Beasts, and so on—unleashing unparalleled potential.

While the Life-bound Magical Artifact was now only a prototype artifact embryo, its full refinement in the future would surely yield unimaginable transformations.

Li Mo allowed the Life-bound Magical Artifact to parasitize his heart, which immediately swelled grotesquely. Fortunately, the Paoxiao Swallowing Body ensured it retained basic functionality.

The other artifact forms in the Great Miao’s Tumor and Divine Fetus Technique relied on individual organs, whereas the Cancer Artifact allowed unrestricted choice, granting considerable flexibility.

With the Paoxiao Swallowing Body nurturing the Life-bound Magical Artifact, its potency could quietly increase over time.

Li Mo was in no rush to brand the Life-bound Magical Artifact. If he could secure a Spirit Root Page someday, its effect would undoubtedly surpass that of a blank page.

As a Life-bound Magical Artifact destined to accompany him on his cultivation path, he couldn’t help but wonder how it would evolve over millennia.

Li Mo habitually allocated Nourishing Yuan Fruit Medicine Power to his Life-bound Magical Artifact for absorption.

In the Lower Dantian’s Nourishing Yuan Fruit Spirit Plant, one piece had been specially reserved for the Life-bound Artifact, the latter devouring essence like a bottomless pit.

In his idle moments, Li Mo once again felt an urge to eat pills, but he needed to devise a way to capture all the pill cultivators at once—it would be too troublesome to deal with them individually.