CHAPTER 372: CHAPTER 118: THE TECHNOLOGICAL BARRIER OF THE UPPER SECT

When the Charcoal Sword Cultivator took the Fake Buddha, Li Mo could still sense the location of the flying sword, influencing it through his divine powers regardless of the distance.

The Charcoal Sword Cultivator’s words were clearly aimed at him.

Li Mo had already understood at the time that the existence of the Fake Buddha was impossible to conceal from high-level practitioners, so he decided to use the Heavenly Sword Sect’s reputation to try and bluff his way through.

The outcome was somewhat wishful thinking.

Even though the Fake Buddha wasn’t among the top-tier flying swords of the Heavenly Sword Sect, it was enough to attract attention; the covert gazes observing it weren’t limited to just Dragon Head Residence.

Li Mo had no choice but to draw the Heavenly Sword Sect’s involvement, using the hands of the Sword Cultivators to safeguard the Fake Buddha.

Based on his understanding of the Cocoon Sword Meeting, retrieving the Fake Buddha later shouldn’t be difficult—maybe the Heavenly Sword Sect could even help nourish the sword for him.

"Paying such a small price is already a blessing amid misfortune."

"However..."

Li Mo squinted, realizing that without the Fake Buddha as his entry proof, it would be best to gain the status of an affiliated Sword Sect disciple to infiltrate.

The Heavenly Sword Sect had over three hundred affiliated Sword Sects, many of which were mid-sized sects.

The affiliated Sword Sects barred outsiders from participating in the Cocoon Sword Meeting, and if Li Mo were to interfere openly as a Loose Cultivator, it would inevitably invite trouble.

"Wait, doesn’t that group of temple priests from the No-Life Sect control the Sword Tongue Sect? I might as well use Sword Tongue Sect’s quota to enter the Cocoon Sword Meeting."

Though the Twelve Immortals joined various Great Sects, the No-Life Sect didn’t perish along with them.

Zu Xiuyun intentionally left behind a large number of temple priests, which made it evident that the No-Life Sect’s idle chess piece would have indescribable significance in the future.

If Li Mo wished, he could take over the No-Life Sect entirely.

But the problems entangled with the No-Life Sect were too complicated; developing the Heart Beast Sect was the true path.

Li Mo didn’t rush into arranging Sword Tongue Sect’s affairs and instead closed his eyes to sense Universal Illumination Sword Intent.

Clang.

He opened his mouth and let out a breath.

A long sword mark appeared on the rock wall in front of him, with faint glowing sparks flickering along the edges.

Before his understanding of Universal Illumination Sword Intent could break through, Li Mo had been reliant on the Fake Buddha to wield Sword Qi, but now he could use it with ease.

The increase in power wasn’t particularly noticeable.

Previously, he could unleash an overwhelming Sword Qi that spanned a thousand miles at sunrise, primarily owing to divine powers’ augmentation and the Fake Buddha reaching the Divine Separation Stage.

"Still, I wonder, what level my Universal Illumination Sword Intent is really at?"

Li Mo’s Divine Sense swept across his Mud Pill Palace, where a strand of Sword Intent circled the Sunlight Bodhisattva.

Now that Universal Illumination Sword Intent had advanced, it had taken on an inexplicably tangible form, capable of absorbing the Sunlight Bodhisattva’s Spiritual Power over time to grow stronger.

The Sword Intent emitted a seven-colored radiance, faintly imbued with the Buddhist Sect’s distinctive Zen aura, but its killing intent was undeniable.

Li Mo repeatedly unleashed Sword Qi until the Sword Intent in his Mud Pill Palace appeared sluggish and depleted before stopping.

"Interesting."

He was beginning to grasp the gap between mid-sized sects and large sects.

The Sword Qi contained traces of the Great Light True Body’s presence, making even a casual strike capable of wielding some of the power of an Innate Taoist Body.

Mid-sized sects mastered techniques to mass-produce Taoist Bodies, but their application was too rudimentary, akin to an original primitive level.

Take the Profound Magnetic Infant, for example—they needed substantial buildup of Magnetic Force over time to utilize the Tai Magnetic True Body.

If Li Mo were to wield a form of Tai Magnetic Sword Intent, releasing Magnetic Explosion Sword Qi directly could likely flatten a thousand miles in an instant.

"Heh, so it’s a technological gap?"

Small sects are impoverished and bare; mid-sized sects manufacture Taoist Bodies in bulk; large sects unleash Taoist Bodies to their fullest.

Suddenly, it dawned on Li Mo.

His own Primordial Chaos Leakless Body had already reached the stage of actively utilizing the Primordial Taoist Body.

Ordinarily, the Primordial Taoist Body caused widespread Spiritual Power corrosion; the Leakless Body’s integration allowed explosive force upon compression to the extreme.

"Primordial Chaos Leakless isn’t complicated. Once I start perusing Taoist Body-related tomes in the Heavenly Sword Sect, I could attempt to refine a complete Magic Technique."

Li Mo understood the significance of Primordial Chaos Leakless for the Sub-Device Sect.

Given the sect’s scale, as long as their Artifact Cultivators could control the Mother Furnace and operate in an isolated environment, they might have a chance to leap into the ranks of large sects.

A glimmer of fervor flashed through Li Mo’s eyes.

Obtaining the full support of the Sub-Device Sect meant access to limitless corpses.

Li Mo promptly suppressed his stray thoughts, knowing overthinking could influence his Mental Realm—even joining the Heavenly Sword Sect was far from settled.

Ten days later.

Li Mo sensed that the Fake Buddha had arrived within the boundaries of the Heavenly Sword Sect.

Unfortunately, the sect’s Mountain Protection Array was impenetrable, preventing Li Mo from communicating with the Fake Buddha; at most, he could pinpoint the sect’s location.

Seeing the situation, Li Mo discreetly directed his Ground Lying Demon Infant to the ruins of a palace.

"Hehehe, jackpot."

He had long predicted that a large sect would never stoop to the humiliating task of cleaning up a battlefield, leaving heaps of corpses to slowly rot on-site.

Scanning the surroundings, the dense fog hadn’t completely dispersed, but the flesh and blood had already spawned swarms of deceitful objects.

Li Mo instinctively swallowed, aware that while the large sect might overlook them, scavenging the leftovers could still be immensely promising.

Just the thirty to forty thousand corpses spawned by Twelfth Senior Sister were enough to greatly benefit Corpse Mountain.

Even more so, the remnants of the palace tied to the No-Life Mother were premium materials for refining Magic Artifacts, even if drained of nutrients by the Twelve Immortals.

The Ground Lying Demon Infant scoured the flesh remnants, emitting a terrifying suction from its mouth.

Multi-eyed crows were busy devouring the flesh but fled with difficulty, flapping their wings as they sensed the threat posed by the Ground Lying Demon Infant.

"If I don’t come and scavenge, this flesh might spawn an overwhelming number of deceitful objects."

"Such immeasurable merit."

Once he confirmed there was no danger, the Ground Lying Demon Infant swelled to over a hundred meters tall; hundreds of disembodied heads resembling lanterns cackled maniacally as they spread out.

Li Mo didn’t reveal himself, letting the Ground Lying Demon Infant plunder the resources.

The Ground Lying Demon Infant acted much like the Ghost Tiger among Tattooed Beasts—its ability for Nascent Souls to reincarnate through temple halls made it ideal for dirty and exhausting tasks.

The large sects were preoccupied with arranging cultivation for the Twelve Immortals, leaving this area to fade into obscurity.

Uncountable corpses fell into the Corpse Mountain Mini World, where Ghost Tiger skillfully processed them even before they hit the ground.

With the addition of forty thousand new residents, the small world’s population finally exceeded four hundred thousand.

The spirit patterns on his White Bone Treasure Body reached twenty-nine, showing that the Great Light True Body’s refinement could indirectly promote gradual enhancements to his bone structure.

Once the palace ruins dropped into the Corpse Mountain Mini World, the Creation Book stirred into activity once again.

Li Mo hastily flipped open the Creation Book, allowing the Substitute Dao Page to absorb the palace remnants, revealing the second vague shadow of the No-Life Mother on the book’s surface.

If the palace contained vitality, even spawning three or four pages wouldn’t be excessive.

That it could provide nourishment for the Substitute Dao Page at all was already an unexpected boon.

After collecting thirteen palaces, the second shadow was merely eighty percent complete, compelling Li Mo to seize every opportunity tied to the No-Life Mother, even scrapping the blood-soaked soil in the surrounding area.

The Ground Lying Demon Infant pushed its devouring ability to the limit; its chest and abdomen transformed into a black hole-like oral organ.

Chunks of rock levitated in reverse; deceitful objects shredded in the aftermath; even minor seismic tremors rippled through the mountain range.

"Jie jie jie..."

Only when a deep pit remained did the Ground Lying Demon Infant reluctantly retreat to the temple.

Li Mo sat cross-legged to process his gains, as the piles of soil and rubble swept into the small world allowed the Substitute Dao Page’s shadow to barely be restored.

"Phew."

Li Mo exhaled deeply.

The Substitute Dao Page’s opportunity was incredibly precious—it represented the No-Life Mother, a True Immortal and True Buddha who had already ascended during daytime.

"Surely the world still holds remnants of the No-Life Mother, but gathering enough for nine uses of the Substitute Dao Page would likely take two to three millennia, at minimum."

Even if Li Mo reared the remains, the resources expended would be astronomical.

"I’ll leave it to fate."

While refining his cultivation, Li Mo pondered over Earth Master’s hind foot.

The Substitute Dao Page was still saved for use after his advancement to the Divine Separation Stage, at least waiting until the Demon Infant’s Nascent Soul Technique imprint was completed.

He focused his efforts on merging his existing Taoist Bodies.

Countless iterations of Earth Master’s hind foot had been pushed forward over decades, already on the verge of Taoist Body fusion, awaiting final polishes to ensure perfection.

Only when Li Mo had more than eighty percent confidence did he begin the fusion, filling his Cave Mansion with dense piles of Earth Attribute Spiritual Material powder.

He sliced open the skin and meat of his right lower leg, applying corrosive spiritual material powder to the bone surface, entirely relinquishing the protection of Spiritual Power.

"Hiss."

Li Mo couldn’t help but grimace, though halting in the middle of the procedure was out of the question.

The Cave God’s Eye was pushed to the limit.

Li Mo adjusted the types and quantities of spiritual material powder based on the bone’s reactions, fine-tuning even individual grains of powder.

The bones began to petrify, with the corrosion spreading to his flesh and skin.

Li Mo encased his other body parts in Spiritual Power, continuously testing breakthroughs with the spiritual material powder, while frequently revising the distribution of his blood vessels and meridians.

The surgical challenge was unfathomable.

After five years of sustained effort, Li Mo’s right lower leg had shriveled completely.

Only then did the manifestation of the posthumous Earth Master’s hind foot loom closer; seeing this, he employed Innate Essence to release the Taoist Body aura from his right lower leg.

"It’s done."

Li Mo released the restrictions on the Earth Master’s hind foot to let the two Taoist Bodies interact.

He closed his eyes to connect with the White Bone Treasure Body; tens of thousands of White Bone Spiders emerged from his spine, crawling across his right lower leg both inside and out, guiding the fusion of Primordial Chaos Leakless and the Earth Master’s hind foot.

The calculation required for each second was beyond the imagination of a typical cultivator.

Li Mo’s Divine Sense was only able to oversee the primary procedure, leaving the rest to the White Bone Spiders while enduring incessant tingling pain.

He persisted for an unknown duration.

The instant the Taoist Bodies merged as one.

Li Mo’s vision blurred, and his mind conjured an eerie, fractured stone statue.

The stone statue towered over the sky, its cracked sections revealing an interior filled with white bones; the endless bones grew flesh, only to agonizingly struggle in torment—the scene was akin to the Eighteen Levels of Hell.

Only the statue’s chest, abdomen, and right lower leg remained intact.

[Primordial Fragment]

Li Mo felt a vague connection to the statue’s other parts scattered across the mortal world and the Immortal Realm.

"..."

Li Mo returned to his senses.

The Creation Book transmitted fragmented information.

Any Immortal Body was unique in the world; if one was already possessed by another, Li Mo would reach a limit at ninety percent completion, unable to make further progress.

Only by eliminating the Immortal Body’s current holder could he fully claim it.

"Could Immortal Bodies be tied to the path after becoming an Immortal?"

The Taoist Body fusion took over twenty years, and Li Mo spent nearly a century bringing all four Nascent Souls to Nascent Soul Perfection.

Only when seclusion had lost its purpose did Li Mo decide to emerge into the world.