Longevity Strange Immortal
Chapter 204 - 64 New Life and Departure

Chapter 204: Chapter 64 New Life and Departure

The development of Heart Beast Sect proceeded in an orderly fashion, quickly forming multiple spiritual material chains.

Within the mountains, which originally lacked any trace of birds or beasts, deliberate efforts were made to cultivate and domesticate animals, thus enabling the collection of low-grade spiritual materials.

For example, when moose were introduced to the Heart Beast Sect, the antlers atop their heads would grow continuously. When their heads could no longer bear the weight of the antlers, a spiritual material known as "Lu Mi" would be formed.

To enhance the quality of Lu Mi, individual moose naturally required meticulous care.

The Heart Beast Sect was now on track, releasing many delegable sect tasks and greatly expanding the disciples’ access to resources.

Meanwhile, beneath the floating mountains, tens of thousands of mortals had moved in without notice.

On one hand, the mortals hoped their descendants might tread the path of cultivation; on the other, the dominance of the Heart Beast Sect gave them a sense of protection.

Tian Changwen naturally facilitated this process.

After all, although the Heart Beast Sect no longer lacked cultivation resources, the limited number of low-tier cultivators was hindering the sect’s growth.

Once the channels of the Sub-Device Sect were firmly established, the spiritual materials stocked in the mountain gate’s storerooms would no longer be a concern.

However, the Beast Cultivators struggled to understand why, despite Tian Changwen’s considerable prestige, the position of the Heart Beast Sect Master remained vacant for so long.

Some believed that the position required someone at the Nascent Soul stage.

Yet, as it stood, the sect was unlikely to produce a cultivator at the Nascent Soul stage within the next five or six hundred years. Currently, Tian Changwen was only at the Transformation Core stage.

When Heart Beast Sect disciples speculated on who might soon ascend to the Nascent Soul stage, the Mountain and Sea Hermit was frequently mentioned.

If not for the sudden disappearance of the Mountain and Sea Hermit after the arrival of the Sub-Device Sect, he might have already formed his Golden Core—but ultimately, such discussions were mere conjecture.

They had no idea that Li Mo had already returned under the identity of an Upper Sect cultivator.

Li Mo was in the rear mountain, utilizing the Locking Immortal Body to sense everything happening within the Heart Beast Sect and realizing that Xin Benlu relied heavily on the Locking Immortal Body.

At that time, he had already deduced that Demon Cultivators might not even possess human forms and seemed particularly drawn to lifeless things. He discovered Xin Benlu’s trail not long afterward.

Any top-grade magic artifact had countless applications, let alone the Locking Immortal Body, which held the potential for a hundred refinements.

The reason Li Mo refrained from refining the Locking Immortal Body to its fullest extent was his concern that its presence in the Heart Beast Sect might attract undue trouble.

For the time being, Heart Beast Sect didn’t require intervention, allowing him to focus his efforts on artifact refining.

Simultaneously, his cultivation was progressing steadily toward the Transformation Core stage, relying on the extraordinary capabilities of the Heavenly Man. Both of his Golden Core cultivations were almost equally balanced.

Li Mo adhered to the principle of preferring quality over quantity, repeatedly employing the Hammer and Anvil technique.

Although he could influence the types of magic artifacts listed in the catalog created through refinement, the outcomes were often somewhat divergent from his aspirations, forcing him to make continual adjustments.

It took him more than half a month to produce a catalog that met his satisfaction.

However, the resulting artifact carried an aura of sinister strangeness.

[Spider Demon Multiple-Armed Spine]

[Refined using top-grade spiritual materials from the Spider Demon’s brain to create an artifact embryo, coupled with his own thirteen vertebrae, plus a hundred spider-type Deceit Beasts. The process involved blood sacrifices to temper the materials into an artifact.]

The Spider Demon Multiple-Armed Spine was clearly influenced by the Soul Banner from the Human Demon Sect, as evidenced by the refining methodology borrowed from the Devil Sect.

After a brief hesitation, Li Mo opted to proceed with refining the Spider Demon Multiple-Armed Spine.

Its connection to the Soul Banner wasn’t necessarily a bad thing—it signified that the artifact had even greater potential, perhaps even a chance to ascend to the rank of a fake magical treasure.

Upon confirming that he had adequate spiritual materials, Li Mo began the refining process in earnest.

He summoned the Golden Toad and Mountain Demon to assist with the tempering of secondary spiritual materials, leaving them responsible for less critical tasks.

As a result, strange noises began to echo throughout the rear mountain of the Heart Beast Sect. But since Tian Changwen had strictly prohibited others from approaching, it didn’t cause any commotion.

The Spider Demon Multiple-Armed Spine was essentially an advanced version of the Eight-Armed Spine Nerve top-grade magic artifact.

Their structures were nearly identical.

The only difference lay in the fact that the Spider Demon Multiple-Armed Spine’s limbs more closely resembled human hands, primarily to facilitate future artifact refining.

Li Mo devoted over half a year to the refinement of the Spider Demon Multiple-Armed Spine.

Particularly when he extracted his own spine to integrate it into the artifact embryo. Even though he employed various recovery methods, it still took him several months to fully heal.

The completed Spider Demon Multiple-Armed Spine could extend up to twenty-four pairs of arms.

These arms were simultaneously spider-like and human-like, covered densely in spider silk, exhibiting extraordinary flexibility while also housing venom capable of sealing a target’s fate upon drawing blood.

Li Mo scrutinized the Spider Demon Multiple-Armed Spine, his expression growing increasingly peculiar.

He realized one unsettling detail—the artifact could grow eyeballs imbued with rudimentary self-awareness by consuming human brains.

If the quantity of eyeballs became sufficient, Li Mo would no longer need to focus his divine sense to control the artifact.

He could merely issue commands, at which point the artifact’s consciousness would autonomously assess the terrain to perform evasions, defensive maneuvers, and other actions.

Li Mo clicked his tongue in amazement.

Regrettably, human brains, as irreplaceable organs, were extremely scarce resources—whether in the Heart Beast Sect or the Sub-Device Sect.

He resumed subsequent refinements, constantly contemplating the artifact’s possibilities.

Due to limitations in spiritual materials, the Spider Demon Multiple-Armed Spine stopped at eighty refinements, as the amount of materials required for a hundred refinements was far too excessive.

Meanwhile, the substitutes for top-grade artifacts like Breath Fog and Bone-Locking Body Sealing Chain were completed one after another.

Neither of these two artifacts involved Soul Banner elements; their functionalities were nearly identical, but their potency was worlds apart.

[Sea of Blood]

A sixty-refinement Sea of Blood covered an overwhelming scope—it wasn’t quite the size of an ocean but could at least match a lake.

Of course, unleashing the full power of the Sea of Blood also incurred enormous spiritual power consumption.

As for the Bone-Locking Body Sealing Chain...

Li Mo opened his eyes, now holding in his hands an intestine that was still wriggling.

[Blood Soul]

The "Soul" referred to the intestine itself; Blood Soul was unassuming in appearance, but its capacity to seal living creatures was far beyond expectations. It could directly integrate into the body, constraining joints, tendons, and blood vessels.

Though its aesthetic was admittedly somewhat... grotesque.

After achieving sixty refinements for the three artifacts, Li Mo went on to concoct several types of Corpse Wine that were effective against the Thirty Years Old Death Disease, spending half a year less time than planned.

By this point, four years had passed—it was time to return to the Sub-Device Sect.

"Inner Sect..."

Li Mo frowned slightly, knowing that the Sub-Device Sect’s Inner Sect was fraught with both opportunities and dangers.

The Old Earth True Monarch occasionally sent messages relaying information about the Inner Sect. However, due to restrictions imposed by the Mother Furnace, he couldn’t provide detailed explanations to Li Mo, only offering warnings within certain boundaries.

The Inner Sect of the Sub-Device Sect consisted of three layers, and even Nascent Soul Great Power cultivators had to adhere strictly to the rules set by the Mother Furnace to survive.

The aspect that made Li Mo most wary was the inability to identify the Great Mother’s true identity within the Inner Sect by any means.

He would need to exercise caution when interacting with other cultivators, as there was a strong possibility that their true nature was that of the Great Mother.

Despite the risks, the Inner Sect was also the only place where Artifact Cultivators could access Nascent Soul techniques, as well as rare resources seldom seen in the Outer Disciple realm.

There were rumors of cultivators bringing back heaven-and-earth spiritual objects and top-grade spirit stones from the Inner Sect.

Inner Sect disciples were only eligible to enter the Inner Sect once every two hundred years, so it was rare for Artifact Cultivators to choose to return lightly.

Li Mo spent two days in quiet meditation before emerging from seclusion and leaving the Heart Beast Sect temporarily.

He informed Tian Changwen, instructing him to gather personnel for the journey to the Sub-Device Sect, as they might have to depart at any moment.

The Sea of Blood enveloped Li Mo, forming a translucent barrier around him.

This journey would undoubtedly span countless centuries; by the time he returned to the Heart Beast Territory, the landscape might have changed beyond recognition.

Arriving at Niu Village, Li Mo’s gaze landed upon two statues positioned at the entrance of the ancestral hall.

The statues were made from kiln-fired yellow mud. Though the material was rudimentary, their countenances still bore faint traces of resemblance to Li Mo and Zhao Zhu.

Li Mo couldn’t help but grow absent-minded.

The two statues held wine jars in their hands, portraying a lively scene of drinking and camaraderie.

Li Mo chuckled softly.

He surmised that these statues were likely Zhao Zhu’s last creation before his passing, seemingly knowing that he wouldn’t live long enough to see Li Mo return.

He let out a long sigh.

Clearing his thoughts, Li Mo waved his hand and replaced the wine jars held by the statues with Corpse Wine.

If future generations could uncover the secrets of the Corpse Wine by chance, they might find a way to ascend the immortal ladder—perhaps compensating for some of the regrets of the past.

Li Mo glanced back at Niu Village one last time before disappearing within the Sea of Blood.

He didn’t visit his parents or brothers, wishing instead to preserve some semblance of sentimentality, clinging to the hope that despite the centuries, a reunion might yet occur someday.

Li Mo set off in the direction opposite to Duozhi Mountain.

As he gained increasing distance from Duozhi Mountain, his expression grew slightly tense, his divine sense repeatedly probing the state of his body.

Moments later, he halted at the fifty-mile boundary, a fleeting trace of irrepressible joy shimmering in his eyes before he quickly masked it.

Artifact Cultivators departing from the Sub-Device Sect were forbidden from straying beyond a fifty-mile radius of Duozhi Mountain.

But Li Mo experienced no such restriction, apparently due to the imprint furnace’s influence, signifying that he wouldn’t be stuck on an unalterable path toward destruction.

Should unforeseen calamities arise within the Sub-Device Sect in the future, he could freely choose to escape.

Furthermore, despite decades within the sect, Li Mo had never heard any records of Divine Separation stage cultivators among the Sub-Device Sect’s ranks. It was possible the path beyond Nascent Soul stages came with significant drawbacks or required total servitude to the Mother Furnace.

"There are Nine Ascension Realms to Immortality. Which forces possess a complete Immortal Ladder?"

Pondering this, Li Mo returned to the Heart Beast Sect, deliberately revealing himself in the sky a hundred meters above the ground, prompting Tian Changwen to tacitly understand his intentions.

Four Core Formation Beast Cultivators, followed by more than twenty Foundation Establishment Beast Cultivators, emerged.

Ever since news spread about an Upper Sect cultivator offering a batch of Sub-Device Sect placements, countless Beast Cultivators had covertly fought viciously for the opportunity.

It was still much more orderly than when the Heart Beast Sect had been disbanded. In the days of Rong Town, the competition would’ve undoubtedly ended in disastrous casualties.

Li Mo’s gaze swept across the Beast Cultivators.

The Foundation Establishment stage candidates were mostly unfamiliar, but each possessed the Acquired Hundred Beasts Blood Body, marking them as academy-level Daoists within the Heart Beast Sect.

The Core Formation stage included Futu Hermit, Han Cai, and two newly promoted Beast Cultivators.

Futu Hermit primarily filled Qingqiu Taoist’s former role, assisting in overseeing sect shops.

Li Mo operated ten shops in total. Given the impracticability of solely selling Corpse Wine and meat limbs, he decided to allocate some shops for organ-modification medical halls.

Han Cai thrived in bustling street corners, shining radiantly with his medical skills.

Initially, Li Mo had hoped Tian Changwen would accompany him to the port, given that the Heart Beast Sect’s foundation was unlikely to produce a Nascent Soul cultivator in the short term.

However, Tian Changwen resolutely refused, prioritizing the stability of the Heart Beast Sect at the expense of forsaking his ascent to the Nascent Soul stage.

"Let’s go."

Li Mo used the Sea of Blood to lift the group and headed directly toward Duozhi Mountain.

Han Cai’s breath grew hurried; just as he considered taking a brief rest during the journey, Li Mo transmitted instructions for a surgical lung modification designed to filter exhaust gases.

"This is..."

"Assist me in completing this surgery; otherwise, you won’t be able to adapt to the port’s environment."

Under Han Cai’s startled gaze, twelve limbs of the Spider Demon Multiple-Armed Spine spread out behind Li Mo, swiftly pinning down the various cultivators.

Within merely half a day’s journey, the surgeries for dozens of cultivators were successfully completed.

The Sea of Blood vanished atop Duozhi Mountain’s summit.