Longevity Strange Immortal
Chapter 94 The Horrifying Truth

Chapter 94: Chapter 94 The Horrifying Truth

Miao Shou Inn remained busy until the waning moon hung high in the sky before closing its doors, reflecting how many Rong Town cultivators chose to abandon their original techniques.

Li Mo held back a belly full of doubts but refrained from asking given the presence of outsiders.

The assisting doctors steadily left Miao Shou Inn while Han Cai continued working, preparing the spiritual materials needed for tomorrow’s surgeries.

The One-eyed Doctor noticed Li Mo hadn’t left and approached him softly before departing.

"Doctor Li, it’s gotten quite late. If you plan to stay overnight at the clinic, you can use the annex in the northwest corner outside Miao Shou Inn."

Li Mo nodded in acknowledgment, "Thank you, Doctor Zhou."

Zhou Fawei held a position at Miao Shou Inn second only to Han Cai. Now, having switched to the Multi-limb Technique, he could perform some basic transplant surgeries.

"I’m heading off now. Let’s exchange medical insights sometime."

A hint of admiration flickered in Zhou Fawei’s eyes.

He vaguely recalled meeting Li Mo over ten years ago, back when Li Mo had yet to enter the Dao. Now, Li Mo had already ascended to the Weak Crown Stage.

Zhou Fawei had been stuck at Perfect Puberty Stage for fifty years, their statuses worlds apart by now.

Beyond his cultivation level, Li Mo’s achievements in other areas far exceeded the ordinary. His Artifact Refining skills, for instance, were sufficient to craft Mid-grade Magic Artifacts.

What was surprising was that his medical skills were equally exceptional.

Zhou Fawei seemed privy to some of Rong Town’s secrets. Seeing that the doctors of Miao Shou Inn had all left the clinic, he hesitated before speaking.

"If possible, Doctor Li, you should stay at Miao Shou Inn. The pawn shop..."

"Cough, cough."

Han Cai shot Zhou Fawei a look. "Zhou Fawei, you should understand the principle of calamity following loose lips, shouldn’t you?"

Zhou Fawei chuckled awkwardly before quickly leaving Miao Shou Inn.

Li Mo remained silent. After finishing tidying up the second-story operating table, Han Cai leaned against the wall and closed his eyes, saying, "Disciple, do you want to know anything about the troubles in Rong Town?"

Li Mo hesitated for a few moments, "The opposing factions in Rong Town are very serious now?"

"More or less."

"Having participated in the black market auctions, you should know that the Multi-limb Technique originates from high-level cultivators of great power."

"Duozhi Mountain operates in the same way..." Han Cai smiled bitterly and said, "I even wonder if these Great Ability Cultivators want to sever Rong Town’s inheritance. Otherwise, why would they go as far as gifting Duozhi Mountain with it?"

Li Mo rubbed the bridge of his nose.

The Sub-Device Sect’s intentions were likely as Han Cai said—to alter the Heart Beast Sect’s legacy and turn it into a vassal sect. They simply had no need to resort to force against ants.

Li Mo furrowed his brows and asked, "It’s understandable that ordinary cultivators would switch techniques, but why would those at Weak Crown Perfection or the Fake Core Stage risk so much to do so?"

Switching techniques required reshaping the foundation; even cultivators in the Puberty Stage had to undergo surgery to remove organs tied to techniques.

"The techniques in Rong Town focus on Beast Cultivation, and they have inherent flaws. The Multi-limb Technique distributed by Great Ability Cultivators is more refined, at least avoiding the bottleneck at Core Formation."

Han Cai produced an old tobacco pipe from somewhere and took a deep drag.

"Flaws?!!"

Li Mo’s pupils contracted. The techniques he had studied indeed only ever addressed content up to the Weak Crown Stage, never beyond to Core Formation.

"For Beast Cultivators to achieve Core Formation, they must rely on the talent of a Taoist Body. Otherwise, even consuming supportive items like Little Human Head won’t easily push them into the Thirty Years Old Stage."

Han Cai had barely finished speaking when Li Mo couldn’t help blurting out, "The Multi-limb Technique contains complete content for the Thirty Years Old Stage, so choosing to switch techniques seems logical enough. Then why the opposition?"

Without the inheritance mentality of a sect in Rong Town, the existence of a complete Multi-limb Technique combined with Duozhi Mountain’s resource production should logically lead to an orderly shift. Could it be that some cultivators had realized inherent flaws in the Multi-limb Technique?

Li Mo observed along the way—Beast Cultivators still made up fifty percent of Rong Town’s cultivators.

This meant that over half of the town’s shopkeepers still chose Beast Cultivation methods. From any perspective, this defied logic.

"Hundred Beasts Blood Body."

Han Cai adeptly stuffed tobacco into his pipe. "The flaw in Beast Cultivation techniques lies in the inability to achieve Core Formation without a Taoist Body."

"But what if Rong Town discovers a way to mass-produce and transplant Acquired Taoist Bodies?"

Li Mo instinctively leaned forward, asking incredulously, "Hundred Beasts Blood Body—that thing can only be nurtured in the Inner City District, right?"

"Correct. You’ve seen Hundred Beasts Blood Body yourself; it’s indeed quite eerie."

"Every fifteen years during the beast calamity, Beast Skin People enter the Inner City. Upon emerging, they transform into Acquired Taoist Bodies as Hundred Beasts Blood Body."

Li Mo’s mind went blank, hearing Han Cai continue.

"I’ve never seen such a bizarre Acquired Taoist Body before. It utterly upends the understanding I’ve gained in 800 years of cultivation."

"As an Acquired Taoist Body, the Hundred Beasts Blood Body is riddled with signs of human intervention."

Han Cai gestured with his many arms, explaining in a complicated tone, "Can you imagine it, disciple? An Acquired Taoist Body... actually exists in a form akin to a placenta."

"It... It..."

Han Cai faltered, showing the deep impact the Hundred Beasts Blood Body had on him.

"Master Han, is the Hundred Beasts Blood Body easily transplantable through surgery?"

"Yes, the Hundred Beasts Blood Body actually operates independently of the cultivator. How should I describe it? It’s like a parasitic fetus providing an Acquired Taoist Body to its host."

"But rashly transplanting a Hundred Beasts Blood Body can affect the cultivator’s spiritual wisdom. It must be forcibly suppressed at all times—it has its shortcomings."

Han Cai pointed at a surgical table. "Half a year ago, I transplanted a Hundred Beasts Blood Body into Tian Changwen that had been stripped from Bai Chao."

Tian Changwen was the real name of Manager Tian from the pawn shop.

Unsurprisingly, Tian Changwen was thought to have led Beast Skin People into the Inner City, creating an "Inner Sect Disciple" with the Hundred Beasts Blood Body.

When the Moose Monsters attacked the pawn shop, it likely wasn’t as perilous as it appeared.

Using the array to shroud the warehouse may have been a way to cover Tian Changwen’s tracks, fabricating an alibi to ultimately achieve his goal.

Li Mo felt a headache brewing.

If Acquired Taoist Bodies could be mass-produced, the flaws in Beast Cultivation techniques would vanish.

The collective rampage of wildlife within a 200-mile radius was likely triggered by Tian Changwen’s grand scheme to obtain dozens of Hundred Beasts Blood Bodies during the Outer Door Competition.

Han Cai put away his tobacco pipe. "Rong Town is now a complete mess—those advocating for the Multi-limb Techniques, those pinning leur hopes on the beast calamity, those who regret switching techniques..."

Li Mo could already foresee how chaotic the Outer Door Competition would be.

"Where do Beast Skin People come from, anyway?"

"No one knows."

Han Cai licked his lips and said, "Beast Skin People have roamed the mountains for thousands of years. They can’t be entirely eradicated and pose little threat to Rong Town."

"Tian Changwen refers to us cultivators practicing the Multi-limb Technique as Puppet Cultivation—implying puppets whose limbs are not under their own control. Ha ha ha."

"Puppet Cultivation..."

Li Mo muttered the term under his breath. He didn’t dare practice Puppet Cultivation techniques. Sub-Device Sect disciples harbored a disturbing reverence for Human Pig, and their dissemination of Duozhi Mountain’s influence was deeply unnerving.

"Currently, Beast Cultivation is led by Tian Changwen from the pawn shop, and Puppet Cultivation is headed by Shi Ji from the Mixed Grain Shop. The two factions are bound to clash violently."

Han Cai patted Li Mo’s head. "Our medical hall will try to remain neutral, but we’re still associated with Shi Ji’s side by many cultivators."

"That said, since the medical hall is unique, I’ll secretly help both you and Hu Wen."