"Lord Yang De!!"

Lord Yang De, originally named Rong Shan, was once the oiran of Qingmu Square in Business Leader City. Due to her talent in the four spirit roots, and her acquaintance with the outer elder of the Chaoyang Sect, she managed to join the Immortal Sect.

However, compared to Lord Chaoxi, Lord Yang De's former self was merely a servant disciple. Her Dao name was also one she granted herself after becoming trapped in the Demon Cave.

It can be said that when the Ten Thousand Demon Dao selected the four Taoist Lords back then, it was not without reason.

Those chosen candidates all originated from the mortals of the lower strata. Just as the four Taoist Lords were poised to rise like carp leaping into the dragon gate, misfortune struck.

At that time, the residents of Business Leader City had fallen into madness because of magic.

The four Taoist Lords were different. After the destruction of the Chaoyang Sect, they had already become mentally unstable and were obsessively claiming their immortal lineage.

Perhaps it was precisely such extreme madness that allowed the Ten Thousand Demon Dao to probe the truth behind the upheaval of heaven and earth.

Considering the historical collapse of the Ten Thousand Demon Dao, Li Mo believed they ultimately uncovered the truth but could not bear the cost of knowing it.

"The upheaval of heaven and earth... could it repeat itself?"

Li Mo raised his human-like eye to the sky, faintly glimpsing the colossal form of Lord Yang De gradually appearing.

Cloud layers like smoke and dust wrapped themselves around what seemed like pupae housing writhing worms.

"The upheaval of heaven and earth can even give rise to false heavenly daos with ease. Can both the Daoist and Demon paths truly resist the lure of supreme might?"

Li Mo's expression remained calm, but his heart was heavy with unease.

He knew he must guard against the major sects and prepare to prioritize resolving the Mother Furnace matter of the Sub-Device Sect.

Should the upheaval of heaven and earth repeat, Li Mo alone could hardly fend it off. Bringing in two mid-sized sects would greatly improve the odds.

"Lord Yang De, Lord Yang De!!"

The cries from Business Leader City were hoarse and frantic but lacked the deafening intensity of their first occurrence.

This was primarily due to the immortals' rituals that sacrificed mortals, causing the city's population to plummet to barely over two hundred thousand.

The immortals' suicidal visits to hanging islands were no longer frequent, contrary to what was once a constant stream.

Now everyone was merely waiting for Lord Yang De's awakening.

Li Mo glanced at the floating islands of the Three Elements Pavilion, where body cultivators were transporting corpses, primarily to drain their blood to sustain the array's consumption.

"Such a waste."

Though the immortals lacked externalized dharma bodies, they could still be decomposed into significant amounts of spiritual materials.

Li Mo noted that the spiritual materials from the Void Refining Stage were of high quality, with potential to transform into heaven and earth spiritual objects—an invaluable treasure.

"This could count as mutual conflict breeding familiarity, couldn't it? Besides, Senior Sister Ruoshui is still in the Three Elements Pavilion."

Li Mo's divine sense scanned the sword pouch and then communed with his symbiotic dharma body to nurture his lifebound flying sword, trying various spiritual materials one after another.

Moments later, a peculiar fish dragon emerged from its mouth.

The fish dragon's silver-white scales gleamed, its body bulkier than others of its kind, slower in movement, and far less powerful than ordinary flying swords.

Nonetheless, Li Mo was quite satisfied with it.

"Let's call it 'Fish Cargo.' Haha, who would've thought the main material for storage bags, Sumeru Stone, could also nurture a lifebound flying sword."

The Fish Cargo took inspiration from Yang Niu; its fish stomach was linked to the sword pouch, allowing it to transport items.

"Go."

Li Mo directed Fish Cargo, sending it towards the floating islands of the Three Elements Pavilion.

Fish Cargo's slow swimming speed sharply contrasted with the previous Jiao Long Flying Sword, drawing copious attention from cultivators.

Xu Ning's face alternated between pale and purple hues.

But he did not stop Fish Cargo from approaching. After all, the threat posed by Fish Cargo was too minimal — less than even that of a Taoist child destined to be cannon fodder.

Xu Ning's unexpected defeat at Li Mo's hands had already made his fellow body cultivators regard him with disdain. If he were now overly cautious about a mere small flying sword, his position as the atrial palace's senior disciple might soon be supplanted.

"What exactly is the nature of the Thirteen Immortals' Taoist body? Or is it some kind of immortal body?"

Xu Ning couldn't fathom why Li Mo could adapt to the atrial palace's Heart Drum, his physical structure seemingly designed to resist its effects.

He still believed they were evenly matched if they refrained from holding back, but most likely, Li Mo would emerge victorious.

"Innate immortal seed, immortal body—every single one of them is a freak."

Fish Cargo swam through the rough-hewn Daoist temple constructed by the body cultivators, stopping before Xu Ning.

Li Mo's voice emerged from Fish Cargo's mouth.

"Fellow Daoist Xu, how about a trade between you and me?"

Xu Ning narrowed his eyes, his heartbeat calming as if struck by lightning. "The Thirteen Immortals, trading? Since when did the Heavenly Sword Sect become merchants?"

"Haha."

Fish Cargo let out a grotesque laugh before opening its mouth to regurgitate a jar of corpse wine.

"I wonder if Fellow Daoist Xu has tasted the corpse wine of the Four Seas Commerce. Its medicinal properties are no less potent than the elixirs of the same stage."

At Li Mo's current cultivation, concealing his identity was no longer a concern.

Xu Ning suspiciously picked up the wine jar. "Medicine King Valley is within the Demon Cave; why would I go out of my way to buy resources from you?"

"Try it."

Fish Cargo opened the jar, and an overwhelmingly rich aroma wafted out.

Xu Ning shuddered. Merely inhaling the scent caused his externalized dharma body to tremble. He could not help but recall the Four Seas Commerce, which held a modest reputation.

From his memory, some body cultivators in the atrial palace had exchanged resources for corpse wine.

It was said to aid cultivation and quench a thirst for alcohol.

Xu Ning pointed to the wine jar, letting the aroma flow into his nose and mouth. His blood surged, the exquisite fragrance settling into his heart before transforming into mild intoxication.

"Good wine. I haven't tasted such quality since entering the Dao—no, since I turned twenty and was cursed with the death disease, I haven't even had the chance…"

Realizing he had misspoken, Xu Ning abruptly fell silent, but by then, dozens of body cultivators had already gathered around.

Li Mo didn't wait for Xu Ning to respond. Instead, he said directly, "Exchange deceitful object corpses: two... three immortal corpses for one jar of Nascent Soul Stage Corpse Wine, thirty immortal corpses for one jar of Divine Separation Stage…"

He marked up the price threefold, yet the body cultivators showed no obvious signs of objection—a stark indication that deceitful object corpses were of little value to the Three Elements Pavilion.

"Agreed. Thirteen Immortals, your price is fair. To my knowledge, the Four Seas Commerce's Divine Separation Stage Corpse Wine is practically priceless on the market."

Li Mo's lips twitched.

Since reestablishing contact, he had already provided Corpse Wine to the Heart Beast Sect several times, and Four Seas Commerce likely had at least a thousand jars of Divine Separation Stage Corpse Wine stocked up.

The Four Seas Commerce didn't lack Corpse Wine; it was likely Futu Hermit playing up scarcity to manipulate demand.

"Unless chaos erupts, I shall summon Fish Cargo every ten days henceforth. Fellow Daoists of the Three Elements Pavilion may then trade corpse wine at your leisure."

After speaking, Li Mo gifted ten jars of Divine Separation Stage Corpse Wine to Xu Ning before his consciousness returned to his body.

Fish Cargo turned sluggish once more, promptly encircled by a group of burly body cultivators who took turns loading deceitful object corpses into its fish stomach.

"Fortune smiles."

Li Mo's face bloomed into a smile as more deceitful object corpses continually fell in the Corpse Mountain Mini World.

Stockpiling Void Refining Stage spiritual materials during the Divine Separation Stage meant he'd be ready to immediately start brewing corpse wine of the same stage upon promotion.

The interaction between the Three Elements Pavilion and the Heavenly Sword Sect piqued the interest of other sects.

Especially Medicine King Valley, which aimed to capitalize with elixir trade. However, their Daoist representative had yet to comment, and none proactively approached Li Mo.

Li Mo continued refining his cultivation—his Great Medicine Pill Infant steadily neared perfection.

Both his Artifact Core and Nascent Soul were devouring foundation spiritual objects, inducing transformations. The humanoid shapes they once maintained were gradually disappearing.

Li Mo had long expected the unique promotion process for his Artifact Core Nascent Soul, as few fused with foundation spiritual objects before breakthrough.

The Artifact Infant morphed into a barren sphere, its surface adorned with exposed metal ores.

Mere moments later, dense magnetic light formed a layer of atmosphere around the Artifact Infant. Limbs that had once jutted out evolved into smaller spheres orbiting its core, exuding immense mystique.

No matter how one viewed it, the Artifact Infant now resembled a minuscule planet.

The Dan Infant assumed an entirely plant-like appearance, with bark engravings exuding a palpable medicinal fragrance. The small Golden Core sprouted as fruit clusters from its branches.

Li Mo nodded to himself.

Amalgamating the Artifact Core and Nascent Soul should be simpler than merging other external dharma bodies. Planting the Dan Infant within the Artifact Infant would suffice since they were symbiotic.

The Buddha Demon Body took his flesh as its foundation; the Symbiotic Dharma Body centered on beast taming and sword control; the Artifact Core Nascent Soul specialized in refining all things.

External dharma bodies value refinement over abundance. The Artifact Core served best as a supplementary tool.

After planning for his Artifact Core Nascent Soul, Li Mo commenced nourishing it with spiritual energy. Progress on the Golden Sword Body procedure moved steadily forward.

Boom.

Suddenly.

Lord Yang De awakened at the opportune moment.

Clouds spread across the horizon. To the disciples of the Five Sects, it appeared ordinary, yet within the Demon Cave lay a second grotesque maggot stretching across the wasteland.

Lord Yang De bore faint human features, her face barely discernible as having rudimentary facial characteristics.

"Mortal couples, in their unions—some offend Xianchi, others affront the Celestial Dog. Three punishments, six harassments, oppositional angles entangled—isolated Yin and barren Yang…"

The Creation Book inexplicably flipped its pages again.

Despite being a Daoist Lord, Lord Yang De possessed relatively clearer sanity.

Following her chanting, countless flower buds grew across the Demon Cave's ground, revealing embryos gradually taking shape within.

The disciples of the Five Sects were prepared. Upon hearing Lord Yang De's words, they quickly sealed their hearing, avoiding descent into chaos.

Only Ye Zhuo Daoist made a deliberate gesture of listening.

"Cough cough cough…"

Ye Zhuo Daoist coughed violently, his eyes betraying an expression of delight.

Li Mo observed Ye Zhuo Daoist, who clicked his tongue and said, "Senior Brother, ha-ha, this Lord Yang De can harmonize Yin and Yang. Though it might not produce offspring for us, it allows us to perceive the profound way of dual cultivation."

"Ye Zhuo, you…"

Li Mo carefully examined Ye Zhuo Daoist, finding no injuries.

It was known that Lord Yang De's speech could plunge one into deviation or even induce a newborn consciousness on the brink of mental collapse.

Only Ye Zhuo Daoist's expertise in dual cultivation—or perhaps his unusual proficiency in dual-cultivating alongside deceitful objects—let him uniquely evade the influence of the false heavenly dao.

A true talent.

Li Mo considered his slow progress on the primary cultivation technique for the Candle Dragon.

He tapped Ye Zhuo Daoist's forehead, imparting the relevant insights from his deduction into the other's mind.

"Ye Zhuo, if you have any epiphany regarding dual cultivation… well, later…"

Ye Zhuo Daoist responded with a weird laugh and a nod, speaking softly: "Understood, understood. I've known all along that Senior Brother isn't one to fixate on trivialities."

Li Mo suppressed the urge to draw his sword, tossing out the randomly crafted Cushion Treasure and three fist-sized Bodhi Fruits.

"This treasure has been meticulously refined. If your mental realm struggles against erosion, it can help hold back your descent towards deviation."

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