Longevity Strange Immortal
Chapter 73: Choose the Firmest Persimmon to Pinch

Chapter 73: Chapter 73: Choose the Firmest Persimmon to Pinch

Li Mo had just set foot on Duozhi Mountain when he regretted carrying the shop along.

The mountain path was simply too treacherous—one careless step and one could fall off a sheer cliff.

Duozhi Mountain was formed entirely from countless tangled limbs, giving it an incomparably eerie appearance. The mountain’s body was constantly writhing.

Adding to that, there were no stairs, and the array enveloping the mountain rendered sky-controlling techniques useless. Traversing it required climbing with both hands and feet.

Li Mo found himself in a difficult position—over a hundred cultivators followed closely behind him. He couldn’t afford to lose his dignity and abandon the shop.

He stopped before a rock wall, hesitating for a moment. The crowd of cultivators sent him probing glances.

Interspersed among them were spies stationed halfway up the mountain, undoubtedly reporting back to the Daoists guarding the medicine field, who now perceived Li Mo as a major threat.

Duozhi Mountain had been open for nearly a year, and no one believed Li Mo had come unprepared.

"Perhaps... Primordial Fetal Breath..."

Li Mo’s thoughts stirred. He held his breath, letting the pores of his feet open as mountain winds swirled around his body.

"Hah!"

With a low shout, his cloth shoes disintegrated, and the soles of his feet adhered to the rock wall’s surface.

"It works."

Li Mo strode across the near-vertical wall as easily as if he were on level ground, like a deity of the mountains. Even the wild winds couldn’t shake his balance.

He quickly adapted to the Primordial Fetal Breath, his pace becoming faster and steadier. The artifact refining shop, protected by the Evergreen Tree, remained stable and level as he ascended.

The cultivators below broke into an uproar and scrambled to climb Duozhi Mountain with their various techniques.

Compared to Li Mo’s ease and composure, they appeared far more disheveled and desperate. Yet their faces betrayed excitement at the prospect of challenging the Daoists.

Some loose cultivators began to recognize the potential benefits Li Mo’s ascent could bring.

They had previously collaborated to some extent with the artifact refining shop. If Li Mo could break the Daoists’ monopoly on the medicine field, the advantages would be immense.

Though the medicine field was primarily a contested resource for Induction Fate within Rong Town, it only accounted for about twenty or thirty percent of the mountain’s mid-level output. Yet even this share was beyond what childhood cultivators could utilize effectively.

A towering figure suddenly flashed by.

Jin Li, standing over two meters tall and brimming with muscle, had rushed over as soon as he heard of Li Mo’s venture up the mountain.

He didn’t disturb Li Mo but instead slipped through the artifact refining shop’s window.

Song Liang immediately recognized Jin Li, clasping his fists in greeting. "Master Jin, it’s been a long time."

"Hahahahaha!"

Jin Li laughed heartily and waved his hand dismissively. "Since Fellow Daoist Li Mo has begun his ascent, we can’t sit idle; let’s first rope in the loose cultivators."

Beyond Induction Fate, the medicine field itself could continuously produce spiritual material, which, after refining, offered profits substantial enough to bind the loose cultivators to Li Mo’s side.

As long as Li Mo captured one medicine field, the other Daoists would struggle to reclaim it.

Fuxing Town emptied rapidly as loose cultivators flooded toward Duozhi Mountain. Such a grand scene had only been witnessed when the Iron Cauldron Secret Realm first opened.

Li Mo entered a profound, mystical state, sensing the Primordial Fetal Breath with each breath he took.

Moments later, his movements became increasingly bold, morphing into leaps and bounds. The loose cultivators behind him could hardly contain their amazement.

Despite carrying an entire shop, Li Mo’s speed left others in the dust. Soon, even the loose cultivators lost sight of him entirely as he disappeared into the fog.

It took only half a two-hour span.

As Li Mo delved deeper into Duozhi Mountain, the surrounding scenery grew bizarre. Newly sprouted grasses and trees also seemed to be composed of limbs.

The ecological balance of Duozhi Mountain had tilted toward something indescribable.

Li Mo noticed that the spiritual material at the base of the mountain had already been harvested completely. However, finger-like shoots were sprouting everywhere—new limb-shaped spiritual material was clearly growing.

A few Fake Beasts stitched together from limbs wandered through the mountain forests.

As Li Mo continued his ascent, the fog enveloping Duozhi Mountain thickened until visibility dropped to less than ten meters.

Without hesitation, Li Mo dashed into the fog. The bone-chilling winds screamed past, but even sheer cliffs couldn’t halt his progress.

Once he reached a steady perch, the dense fog completely dissipated.

On a sheer ninety-degree rock face, several cliffs of different sizes protruded.

The cliffs resembled severed palms, densely covered in tiered terraces. At the center of each terrace stood a newly constructed Daoist temple. It was evident that Rong Town had forcibly transplanted these cliffs onto the mountain through external manipulation.

The four lowest cliffs—those resembling severed palms—were the medicine fields occupied by the Daoists.

Their temples bore the names "Jade," "Qingming," "Bai Chao," and "Zhu Xi."

A pungent medicinal odor filled the air.

"Help me, help me..."

"Quick, give me an elixir for healing. I’ll repay you handsomely when I return to Rong Town."

Three broken cultivators—each reduced to their upper bodies—crawled toward Li Mo. All three had Perfect Puberty Stage cultivation levels, but their Dantians were utterly destroyed.

Li Mo’s lips curled into a mocking smile.

The doors and windows of the Daoist temples guarding the medicine fields were sealed tightly, the atmosphere oppressively tense.

"Help me, help me..."

Li Mo mercilessly kicked away the broken cultivators. They were likely fallen Daoists from various shops, left alive intentionally to disgust and demoralize him.

In Rong Town’s eyes, the talent of a Daoist didn’t matter.

The number of Induction Fates was limited. If a Daoist failed to establish a Foundation this time, they might wait over a century, after which they’d inevitably succumb to the Death Disease.

Li Mo couldn’t help but speculate.

Perhaps Induction Fate itself was a calculated tactic of Rong Town—a single peach killing two warriors—allowing a lucky few to establish their Foundation while the majority perished in despair.

As the sky dimmed, the loose cultivators began arriving at the mountain’s mid-level.

They gathered in throngs, forming an undeniable force. Even with the reckless nature of loose cultivators, they wouldn’t risk interference. Nonetheless, their sheer presence was something the four Daoists couldn’t ignore.

Li Mo scanned the crowd. At some point, Qingqiu Taoist had emerged from within.

Qingqiu Taoist spoke openly without concealment. "Li Mo, all I require is one Five Refinements Mid Grade Magical Artifact, and I’ll be ready to act at any time."

Her statement stirred ripples among the crowd of cultivators, whose eyes gleamed with blazing anticipation.

The Daoists in the medicine fields couldn’t remain seated any longer. If Li Mo could use a Magic Artifact to unite the loose cultivators, he might actually succeed.

Polluted, rotten Spiritual Power burst forth.

A peculiar-looking cultivator emerged from the "Jade Temple."

Li Mo narrowed his eyes. He had already learned from Han Cai the identities of the four Daoists. The Jade Temple was guarded by Zhou Tianqiong of the Mixed Grain Shop.

Zhou Tianqiong’s exposed skin was riddled with overgrown scars, though his manner remained pretentious, holding a horsetail whisk with false elegance. A cluster of cultivators surrounded him.

"Fellow Four-Legged Daoist, there’s no need for such deliberation."

"The Qingming and Zhu Xi Daoists both possess Taoist Bodies, while Bai Chao’s Daoist is but a mere Mortal Body. How could such a nobody compare to us?"

As he spoke, his muscles twitched incessantly, and his skin oozed foul, stinking substances.

Li Mo responded with silence and a faint smile. Zhou Tianqiong’s words held truth. Among them, only Qingming Temple’s Lv Qing bore a natural Taoist Body; the other two possessed Acquired Dao Bodies from extraordinary circumstances.

"I understand now."

"Good, you seem to know the proper course..."

Suddenly, Li Mo stepped back several paces. Amid Zhou Tianqiong’s darkened expression, Li Mo hurled the artifact refining shop like a boulder.

The shop shot through the air like a meteor, crashing toward the Jade Temple.

Li Mo’s Daoist robe tore apart as the Desert Map entwined the roots of the Evergreen Tree at the shop’s base, exposing his bare torso, which bore lifelike tattoos of a fox and tiger.

"You’ll do. My medicine field still needs some fertilizer, anyway."

"How dare you!!!"

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