Longevity Strange Immortal
Chapter 193 - 53: A Prodigy in Alchemy, Brewing, and Medical Skills

Chapter 193: Chapter 53: A Prodigy in Alchemy, Brewing, and Medical Skills

The Thousand-legged Master’s polymer shattered, spreading a layer of blood grime across kilometers, accompanied by an overwhelming stench of decay.

The White Bone Tower remained unmoved in its place; the shockwaves hadn’t reached the towering structure at all.

For a moment, the numerous artifact refiners were too slow to react; some of them didn’t even notice that their bodies had been tainted by the fleshy slurry, where residual phosphorescent light sizzled.

Only after a brief moment of realization did they hastily focus on treating their wounds.

The traces of phosphorescent light seemed harmless but were, in truth, corrosive like bone-devouring parasites; it would gradually burrow deep into flesh, bone, and eventually erode a cultivator’s foundation.

Jelly True Monarch clasped his hands together in apology and said, "Taoist Qingtian, thank you for stepping in. For now, we must focus on stabilizing the chaos."

Mu Daoist nodded faintly.

The Golden Cauldron Sect’s earlier hostility seemed to have entirely dissipated; Li Mo’s displayed talent and strength were far too suffocating to provoke.

Watching Li Mo approach his promotion into the Inner Sect within a century, no one wanted to make an enemy of him.

After all, with Li Mo’s unparalleled talent, even the Daoists present would pose no actual threat to him within a hundred years—and additionally, much of the cultivation resources were now dependent on him.

Mu Daoist assigned a portion of artifact refiners to specifically secure the White Bone Pagoda.

The imminent danger dissipated in an inexplicable manner, but the situation of those artifact refiners who entered the White Bone Pagoda remained unknown.

Li Mo’s thoughts stirred, and his right arm detached from his body, transforming into a Ghost Tiger.

The Ghost Tiger spread out, collecting the polymer flesh from Falling Abyss, while simultaneously preventing the phosphorescent light from spurring the creation of new Deceit Furnaces.

The surrounding artifact refiners showed slight unease at Li Mo’s actions.

In their eyes, Li Mo’s gathering of corpse chunks likely served his brewing pursuits; who knew what wonders corpse wine made from Daoist flesh might yield?

Li Mo remained unaware that, in the eyes of others, his image had taken on an ominous, bloodstained hue.

Unperturbed, Li Mo examined the polymer flesh while summoning the Eight-Armed Spine Nerve to cleanse his already-mutated flesh and bones.

A Salamander cocked its head into view, radiating vitality to purge the phosphorescent light from Li Mo’s body.

Li Mo’s methods were extremely crude: he directly severed the mutated flesh, even pulling out bones, relying on Da Ai Mi Tian and the Salamander for self-healing.

Meanwhile, the other artifact refiners could only exhaust the phosphorescent light bit by bit with spiritual power.

Li Mo displayed no emotion as he cut flesh and scraped bone while pondering the matter of the polymer; an unexpected hypothesis began to take shape in his mind.

The Thousand-legged Master’s polymer was indeed indiscernible, but it wasn’t a Deceit Furnace; it was, in fact, a phosphorescent construct consolidated into a Great Mother.

Li Mo’s collection of flesh—was it not in pursuit of detecting traces of Golden Cores?

The polymer had absorbed the flesh and bones of dozens of Core Formation artifact refiners from Zone Nine, yet left no fragments of Golden Cores—only blood and bone.

It was known that, within the Sub-Device Sect’s cultivation system, Golden Cores were formed by the fusion of three Artifact Pearls, which took the place of souls.

The corpses of dozens of artifact refiners—where exactly had their souls gone?

Li Mo furrowed his brows, recalling those cryptic words echoing in his mind: "I came searching for you. Awaken, save us, hurry..."

"Could it be that the Great Mother employs another form of life to journey into the Inner Sect?"

Li Mo murmured "awaken" repeatedly under his breath, though he profoundly understood the Sub-Device Sect, yet so many mysteries still defied articulation.

Over tens of thousands of years, the Sub-Device Sect had developed closer to understanding the truth of the world’s upheavals compared to the Heart Beast Sect.

The Heart Beast Sect seemed like they were struck suddenly, overwhelmed by world upheaval without countermeasures—reduced to a playground for Deceit Beasts.

The Sub-Device Sect, on the other hand, had undoubtedly actively taken part in the world upheavals seven thousand years ago.

Li Mo’s Dual Golden Core eyes snapped open as his divine sense swept over nearby corpses, confirming again the absence of any organs resembling Golden Cores.

The flesh retrieved by the Ghost Tiger wasn’t wasted—all of it was thrown into the Corpse Mountain.

The Corpse Mountain gluttonously devoured the Great Mother’s flesh, which contained far richer nutrients than ordinary corpses—a veritable marvel.

After devouring thousands of pounds of flesh, the Corpse Mountain raised a new sub-peak.

The sub-peak emanated the aura of Five Elements and Yin-Yang Spirit Patterns—soon, tender shoots of grass and wood sprouted, and trickling streams formed among the stone, creating small rivulets.

The living beings from the main peak instinctively migrated to the sub-peak.

In a sense, the phase of refining the Magic Artifact resembled laying a foundation, akin to a cultivator’s Foundation Establishment Stage, serving as preparation for the quality of Core Formation.

With his infusion of resources, Li Mo elevated the Corpse Mountain to Dual Spirit Patterns of top-quality.

Once Spirit Patterns became visible, the quality of the Corpse Mountain was inherently difficult to further enhance—newly formed sub-peaks merely expanded the area of the Magic Artifact.

Li Mo felt deeply satisfied with the Corpse Mountain; Dual Spirit Patterns signified its potential to ascend to a high-grade Magic Treasure, even if it required tens of thousands of years.

"Taoist Qingtian, how should we handle the top-grade inheritance cultivators?"

Three Mountains approached Li Mo’s side.

He gestured toward those fleeing artifact refiners from the White Bone Pagoda, most of whom were already near death because of the phosphorescent light.

Li Mo wielded immense authority now—without his explicit statement, none of the other Daoists would dare suggest killing the artifact refiners.

"Bring them all to me; we have no quarrel with the top-grade inheritance."

Li Mo glanced at the White Bone Pagoda, where the Daoist Temple at its summit still radiated unwavering candlelight—even Burning Eyes True Monarch and the others had lasted surprisingly long.

"Let it be," he remarked aloud.

Li Mo shouted, "Fellow Daoists, if you cannot treat your injuries yourselves, come to me, Daoist Qingtian."

The crowd hesitated; Li Mo’s crude medical methods had left them apprehensive.

Kuteng Daoist stepped forward immediately, respectfully clasping his hands and saying, "The Nine Nether Immortal Energy has penetrated my bones—I would trouble Taoist Qingtian."

"It’s no problem," Li Mo replied.

Kuteng Daoist’s real purpose was goodwill, but seeing Li Mo continue his split-focused surgeries made him somewhat unsettled. After all, Kuteng lacked the terrifying foundational strength of Li Mo’s Five Dao Body.

"All done."

Kuteng Daoist hadn’t even registered what had happened before Li Mo completed excising the mutated tissue and allowed the Salamander to manage the worsening of his injuries.

The entire procedure took less than a few breaths of time.

Seeing this, the surrounding artifact refiners no longer hesitated and gathered within ten meters of Li Mo, as the Eight-Armed Spine Nerve weaved freely among the crowd.

Li Mo showcased his multi-tasking ability to its fullest extent, even sitting cross-legged in place to restore cultivation during this process—utterly unconstrained.

Mu Daoist finally understood what it meant to be well-rounded.

Artifact refining, brewing, medical skill... it seemed there was nothing Li Mo couldn’t master, regardless of what secondary cultivation discipline he ventured into.

The injuries of certain artifact refiners were severe enough that their internal organs had already fused together.

Li Mo meticulously replaced these organs while restructuring blood vessels and meridians, making what seemed like an excessively tedious surgery appear effortless.

Mu Daoist, while astonished, continued reinforcing the White Bone Pagoda’s seal.

Within two days, Li Mo completed various surgeries, then used the Ghost Tiger to make another venture underground to confirm certain matters before returning to the surface for the monotonous task of secluded cultivation.

The various Taoist inheritances added a new task to their roster—transporting the corpses littered across the land to Li Mo.

Unwilling to squander an opportunity, Li Mo understood that surface-level corpses wouldn’t impact the deeper echoes of existence—and thus, the Corpse Mountain was tasked to absorb corpses as thoroughly as possible.

Every newly formed sub-peak represented the need for a vast investment of resources.

Once Li Mo departed Falling Abyss, chances were he wouldn’t encounter similar fortune again.

When the Corpse Mountain produced enough resources, he could even consider getting Rong Town involved in the harbor trade to handle resource management for him.

Though the various Taoist inheritances found Li Mo’s actions perplexing, the brewing connection provided enough reason not to overly question him.

After a half-month of seclusion by Li Mo, the White Bone Pagoda’s Daoist Temple doors finally opened.

Only two figures came forth.

Neither of them were Daoists, yet with Condensation Stage cultivation, they’d barely managed to last for days—though ultimately, their fate of being turned into Deceit Furnaces couldn’t be escaped.

Mu Daoist and other artifact refiners used magic to seal them as per usual.

The two begged for mercy incessantly, lacking memories of entering the White Bone Pagoda, naively assuming Mu Daoist’s actions were due to the Golden Cauldron Sect conflict.

Soon enough, they realized the grim reality.

Over time, their bodies began to rot and dissolve—indistinguishable from those artifact refiners who’d previously stepped into the White Bone Pagoda.

In utter despair, their cries of anguish reverberated through the halls of the White Bone Pagoda.

From initial pitiful pleas to venomous curses, and finally to sobbing—bystanders felt a chill up their spines.

Even now, none dared step into the White Bone Pagoda, despite being told that it offered a high chance of promotion into the Inner Sect.

The horrors that followed failure were unnerving beyond measure.

The endless cycle of death and repetition coupled with inevitable transformation into Deceit Furnaces left none willing to face such a fate...

Those two were well aware their outcome couldn’t be changed. Their endurance was even shorter than Pseudo Core Stage artifact refiners—barely lasting two cycles of resurrection before succumbing to Deceit Furnace transformation.

The remaining three White Bone Pagodas undoubtedly housed Burning Eyes True Monarch, Tai Jiaozi, and Hui Ze Daoist.

These Daoists from top-grade inheritance were fundamentally strong, possessing Taoist Bodies and Transformation Core cultivation; they held significant potential to achieve Great Mother status.

The artifact refiners stood on high alert, fearing another creature akin to the Thousand-legged Master might emerge.

Ten days later.

Hui Ze Daoist emerged from the White Bone Pagoda, his expression vacant.

The silhouette inside the Daoist Temple revealed that Hui Ze Daoist hadn’t succeeded either.

After taking just a few steps and noticing the surrounding artifact refiners watching him, Hui Ze Daoist suddenly connected certain dots—his complexion turned ashen and his lips quivered.

"I... I..."

Hui Ze Daoist collapsed to the ground, allowing Mu Daoist’s plant-based roots to envelop him entirely.

Mu Daoist shared a certain camaraderie with Hui Ze Daoist and spoke with pity, "Regardless of the outcome, give it a try. It’s still better than inexplicably dying in the Golden Cauldron Sect."

Straining to regain lucidity, Hui Ze Daoist steadied his mind and began channeling his spiritual power.

The five days felt interminably long.

When the Daoist Temple doors reopened, the revived Hui Ze Daoist had fully transformed into a Deceit Furnace.

Tai Jiaozi and Burning Eyes True Monarch remained within, and muddled voices reciting Taoist classics echoed sporadically from the Daoist Temple.

Li Mo likewise kept his attention fixed on the White Bone Pagoda, a question rising to the forefront of his mind.

The Nascent Soul Great Power should’ve anticipated that the Golden Cauldron Sect would involve the Great Mother; the Old Earth True Monarch had even hinted at plans to harness the Great Mother for specific aims.

What remained unexpected was the Great Mother’s capacity to influence the Mother Furnace’s decision-making, implicating every Core Formation artifact refiner across the Taoist inheritances.

Li Mo glanced toward the White Bone Pagoda.

"I think I’ve roughly uncovered the true key to promotion into the Inner Sect, yet I wonder what chaos unfolds within the Sub-Device Sect’s Inner Sect."

He grew more curious about what truly transpires when artifact refiners enter the White Bone Pagoda—and how they gradually transform into Great Mothers.