Corpses were scattered everywhere, tallic fus billowing into the air.
Five more days passed, and the corpse suspended from the White Bone Pagoda perished once again. As the Daoist temple’s heavy doors creaked open, Sun Yangli erged, his figure imposing against the eerie landscape.
Upon his third resurrection, his appearance had undergone a shocking transformation—most notably, his body had grown grotesquely bloated.
Sun Yangli’s head had retracted into his abdominal cavity, leaving only his facial features exposed.
The emitted phosphorescent glow intensified, and his form now resembled a Deceit Furnace: a grotesque, orb-like body radiating an aura like a bloody sun.
"Save , save ..."
Slowly, he crawled down from the White Bone Pagoda, mumbling incomprehensibly. The Core Formation Artifact Refiners nearby felt chills run down their spines.
The Thousand-legged Master refrained from taking action, implying his earlier intervention was rely a warning to the Artifact Refiners. Now, he allowed Sun Yangli to rampage freely among the pile of cadavers.
Sun Yangli began crazed feasting on flesh and blood, quickly dragging nearby Artifact Refiners into his chaotic frenzy.
An Artifact Refiner from the Stone Embryo Stone Sect, hidden in the shallower layers of the corpse pile, watched him draw closer and was forced to retreat reluctantly.
Upon encountering a living person, Sun Yangli’s initial reaction was to approach the individual, repeatedly and almost pleadingly uttering "Save " in a peculiar tone.
Yet, as ti passed, his gaze grew increasingly ravenous.
Though shaped differently, Deceit Furnaces and Deceit Beasts shared similar primal instincts.
Deceitful objects could grow stronger by devouring the hearts of cultivators, and his bloodlust quickly overtook him—Sun Yangli lunged toward the Artifact Refiner.
The Artifact Refiner hardened his body into stone to ward off the encroaching phosphorescence.
As they clashed, the Artifact Refiner found himself swiftly overpowered; the invasive phosphorescent glow was utterly relentless, leaving him unable to defend adequately.
He did not dare to strike Sun Yangli fatally.
As per the Thousand-legged Master’s warning, every ti Sun Yangli died outside, a new Sun Yangli would resurrect within the Daoist temple—and each successive form would grow ever closer to resembling a Deceit Furnace.
"Ah!"
The Artifact Refiner let out a pained scream as Sun Yangli tore off a chunk of flesh from his shoulder.
Sun Yangli’s face twisted grotesquely as he chewed, and his body grew as his flesh multiplied. On his spine erupted countless iridescent worms.
BANG!!
Suddenly, Hui Ze Daoist appeared, his head swollen to several tis its size, tongue transforming into a stone pillar that struck Sun Yangli away.
"Damn it!"
Seeing the Stone Embryo Stone Daozi intervene, the other Artifact Refiners of the sect discarded their concealnt.
Working together in seamless coordination, they transford the ground beneath Sun Yangli’s feet into a quagmire; the flesh-bound sun sank into its depths, pleading desperately for rcy.
Hui Ze Daoist understood the need to end the fight swiftly to avoid revealing any vulnerabilities of the Stone Embryo Stone Sect.
He glanced around, spiritual power surging to its peak as his jaw extended to half a ter wide. At the center of his brow, the Sandstone Golden Core began to glow.
BAM BAM BAM BAM...
One after another, stone pillars shot from Hui Ze Daoist’s mouth, wrapping Sun Yangli entirely before he could react. No matter how he struggled, he was rendered powerless.
Sun Yangli was sealed in a corner of the corpse pile, awaiting the next five-day cycle.
"Daozi, what do we do next?"
"We leave."
Indifferent to the scrutiny of nurous gazes, Hui Ze Daoist led his sect mbers to the northwest corner of the White Bone Pagoda, digging a cave to establish a foothold.
His intentions were clear: to secure the White Bone Pagoda first, investigate the situation later, and ultimately attempt entry into the Daoist temple.
Sun Yangli likely lost control from the unbearable agony of undergoing the Transformation Mother process.
The Thousand-legged Master had ntioned the Ninth District Daoist inheritance furnace, "Daoist Luochen," who seed to have transford into the Great Mother and successfully advanced into the Inner Sect.
Daoist Luochen ranked among the top three in a top-grade inheritance of the Dao, yet no one knew why he willingly beca the inhuman Great Mother. The truth remained shrouded in mystery.
Most Artifact Refiners were skeptical of the Thousand-legged Master’s account.
After all, as a rival from the Golden Cauldron Sect, his early arrival here made it likely he might conceal critical details.
From the other four White Bone Pagodas, Artifact Refiners in Deceit Furnace-like transformations began to erge one after another.
Their degree of fleshly loss of control varied, with one even retaining spiritual wisdom—he knelt on the ground in utter despair.
The Daozi reacted differently.
Burning Eyes True Monarch chose to occupy a White Bone Pagoda; Mu Daoist remained silent and unmoving, while Tai Jiaozi, though uninterested in the pagodas, occupied one to avoid losing the initiative.
Only the Ninth District inheritance had seen action from the Thousand-legged Master, who spent most of his ti covertly observing the pagodas.
The Daozi gathered their sect mbers, prioritizing their own safety.
Three Mountains waited long, but Li Mo’s presence remained absent, forcing him to grit his teeth and release Chaotic Burial Furnace’s smoke and ash.
The Daozi stared, expressions varied, taking note of Li Mo’s unexplained absence. So looked perplexed.
Burning Eyes True Monarch snorted coldly, his gaze fixed intensely on Three Mountains, backing Chaotic Burial Furnace to the peripheral area before losing interest.
"I think Daoist Qingtian probably plans to reap the rewards without effort."
Burning Eyes True Monarch muttered before burrowing underground, his statent serving to remind everyone of the enigmatic Daoist Qingtian.
Three Mountains understood that Chaotic Burial Furnace had been isolated; grim-faced, he signaled his sect mbers to dig tunnels to secure safety first.
He could only hope Li Mo wasn’t in danger.
If Li Mo were to face misfortune, Chaotic Burial Furnace’s foothold within Golden Cauldron Sect would falter utterly. Worse, it might beco a sacrifice for testing the White Bone Pagoda.
Unbeknownst to Three Mountains, Li Mo was tens of thousands of feet underground.
Li Mo hadn’t ceased his downward excavation while keeping an eye on surface developnts that had diverted Golden Cauldron Sect from its original plan.
Anyway, he had no interest in the Great Mother.
Even if he could transfer Death Disease, it would an irrevocably binding to the Mother Furnace.
When Chen Tiangang beca the sect master of the Sub-Device Sect, he predicted two to three millennia before the world-transforming upheaval. With the lifespan of the Nascent Soul stage, there was still a slim chance of catching the tail end of immortality.
Li Mo suspected Chen Tiangang might have had a hand in the Sub-Device Sect’s dark dealings.
"The Great Mother might just be a ploy to serve others as re tools for ascension."
Li Mo focused on the Creation Book; the last page was nearly a quarter complete with its human skin structure unnervingly realistic, even down to visible pores.
Approaching the depths of Falling Abyss seed to accelerate the page’s formation substantially, but the surrounding severed heads were spine-chilling.
From the scars on the heads, it appeared that eight thousand years ago, the Sub-Device Sect had equipped its Artifact Refiners with the knowledge of head transplantation surgery.
The evolution of the lting Furnace into the tal Dantian had taken nearly ten thousand years.
It was horrifying to imagine how many Artifact Refiners had died as sacrifices during that ti. The countless severed heads left Li Mo’s scalp crawling.
Fearful of encountering danger, he slowed his excavation.
Seated cross-legged in the narrow space, the aura of his Primordial Dao Body corroded Chen Tiangang’s severed head, while his right eye emitted luminescence to maintain visibility.
The Mountain Demon by his side grew anxious, scratching violently.
The Mountain Demon had recently started refining artifacts, though his Poison Attribute spiritual power limited him to crafting poison-related Magic Artifacts, keeping him confined to an elentary stage.
Li Mo discovered a peculiar benefit of the Tattooed Beast.
He needed no verbal instruction but could instead directly instill knowledge of artifact refinent into the Mountain Demon’s mind, even controlling its body to impart hands-on experience.
Yet the Mountain Demon’s lack of patience presented a significant hurdle, as its refining attempts repeatedly ended in failure.
"Sigh..."
Li Mo sighed deeply; given the Tattooed Beast’s disposition, the Golden Toad was undoubtedly better suited for refining artifacts.
However, the Mountain Demon’s humanoid limbs made him better equipped to handle tools. Once it gained proficiency, artifact refinent would no longer be confined to poison-related artifacts.
Detecting Li Mo’s worry, the Golden Toad beca eager to prove itself.
When Li Mo summoned the Golden Toad outside, he transmitted his knowledge of artifact refinent directly to it. In response, the toad eagerly swallowed tal ores.
Within monts, the Golden Toad spat out a liquidized tal spiritual material.
Its tongue molded the material swiftly, forming an artifact embryo shaped like a tripod, leaving the Mountain Demon dumbfounded and pounding its chest.
"Good. Assist in refining now."
Li Mo gently stroked the Golden Toad’s head while the Mountain Demon begrudgingly returned to ponder its refining techniques further.
The Golden Toad’s innate ability to purify spiritual materials ensured a steady stream of Spirit Stone profits.
With eighty refinents worth of spiritual material gathered atop Corpse Mountain, Li Mo wasted no ti continuing his artifact refinent process.
Collecting eighty refinents worth of top-grade spiritual materials had been grueling work; without the Four Seas Refining Shop’s strategic location near port access, securing them would have been unthinkable.
Were it not for Corpse Mountain’s natural ability to foster spiritual materials, investing vast resources into auxiliary top-grade Magic Artifacts would have seed wasteful.
Outsiders assud Li Mo prospered handsoly through his two refining shops.
Little did they know, Li Mo was perpetually in the red, unable even to dream of refining anything beyond Daluo Heaven.
"Once Corpse Mountain has enough resources, I’ll replace all Eight-Ard Spine Nerves with top-grade Magic Artifacts."
The sole relief for Li Mo lay in his Life-bound Magical Artifact, which required no deliberate refining. Nourished by the corrosion of Paoxiao Swallowing Body, the parasitic Great Cancer Da Ai Mi Tian had already undergone thirty-eight refinents.
Li Mo continued crafting Corpse Mountain as the sub-peaks of water and tal attributes gradually collapsed.
Panicked hordes of beasts fled as the height of the main peak climbed steadily, reaching nearly three thousand ters and brimming with vitality.
As the foundation of the Five Elents, the Earth Attribute was ideal for supporting various Spirit Veins.
Corpse Mountain’s offensive capabilities remained ager, but its sheer, unparalleled weight could render enemies of similar cultivation levels into pulp.
Li Mo gazed at the increasingly perfected Corpse Mountain, finally understanding why the Magic Treasures owned by celestial beings in Journey to the West were always highly specialized.
While Magic Artifacts possessed a myriad of functions, Magic Treasures elevated a single purpose to unparalleled heights.
Should Corpse Mountain’s miniature world beco fully realized, it would symbolize the possibility of evolving into a Magic Treasure.
Li Mo’s hands busily refined while the Golden Toad assisted in spiritual material purification, leaving the Mountain Demon hesitant to approach despite his apparent desire to contribute.
Days passed, culminating in Corpse Mountain’s successful eighty refinents.
Only two peaks remained: the Earth Attribute main peak and the Fire Attribute secondary peak. Completing the Five Elents now seed within reach.
Yet, Li Mo frowned deeply.
"If Yin exists, then Yang must also be present; otherwise, imbalance between Yin and Yang is inevitable."
In the ancient Cultivation World, the Yang Spirit Root was considered a type of Mutated Spirit Root. Its property was emitting intense heat but lacked the combustion of flas.
However, the latter-day Cultivation World’s spiritual energy had beco muddied, with Yin Attribute Spiritual Energy being common while Yang was all but extinct.
Perhaps the solution lay in Yin to Yang transformation?
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