The cave mansion was arranged very simply. The outer layer was covered with the spiritual material "Drawing Stone," designed to absorb toxins, while the inner layer was presided over by the Hundred Refinement Taiyin Law Heaven.
Additionally, various kinds of buffering arrays were added, ensuring, at least theoretically, that it was foolproof.
After resting for half a year, Li Mo intentionally waited until heavy snow had sealed the mountains before beginning his preparations. In the surrounding area, even traces of birds and beasts were hard to detect.
He had even taken the Heavenly Demon into consideration, with Blood Sea Dust floating amidst the vast expanse of clouds above.
Such caution was necessary mainly because Dao Body Fusion involved the Ancient Sacred Body, meaning the Tattooed Beasts would be unable to provide protection during his seclusion.
If any accident occurred during Li Mo’s retreat, he would have to rely entirely on Da Ai Mi Tian.
Thankfully, the mid-grade magical treasure-level Da Ai Mi Tian held a distinct advantage: its cancer cells could sustain detachment for extended periods, something that even the Nascent Soul stage cultivators could hardly counter.
"Return, and no matter what happens, remember—do not panic."
The Tattooed Beasts nodded in response and burrowed back into Li Mo’s skin. In accordance with his prior instructions, they began assisting in the Dao Body Fusion.
"Achieve it in one breath, weaken in the second, and exhaust in the third."
Li Mo inhaled deeply, his divine sense meticulously analyzing the structure of the Dao body while controlling Mountain Spiders that spread throughout his flesh and bones.
The Rotten Bamboo Flower was also delivered via the Mountain Spider, coursing through his blood vessels into the Five Internal Organs.
Li Mo had undergone the five tribulations of Death Disease before. Even though he had flawlessly survived each, his body inevitably began showing trends of corpse transformation.
For the Rotten Bamboo Flower, his organs naturally became the most suitable nutrients for growth.
Spore powder settled onto the surfaces of the organs, and soon, it began to grow vigorously, transforming their structure in a suffocatingly drastic manner.
Li Mo felt an excruciating pain spreading from his organs outward. The Paoxiao Swallowing Body instinctively repelled the Rotten Bamboo Flower, leaving even his Three Nascent Souls deeply uncomfortable.
Seeing this, he actively suppressed the Paoxiao Swallowing Body’s agitation, allowing the Rotten Bamboo Flower to proliferate freely.
The miniature spiders scattered powdered Cow Grass Seed onto the Rotten Bamboo Flower, which instantly accelerated the fungal spread, ravenously devouring nutrients.
As the mycelium enveloped his organs, their functions began grinding to a halt.
Yet Li Mo maintained steady control over the situation.
He gazed at his organs, now resembling spider nests, and realized it was far too late to turn back—once an arrow is loosed, there’s no drawing it back.
The Rotten Bamboo Flower placed his organs in a state of near-death, and over time, this could have irreversible consequences for the Paoxiao Swallowing Body.
Unlike the projections in Mayfly Dream, the real-world surgery entailed significant dangers.
Thump, thump, thump...
Bulges grew out of Li Mo’s ribs, followed by elongated spider legs extending outward. The eyes on their palms rolled chaotically.
Mountain Spider, being a single-Spirit Pattern magical treasure, even with the nourishment of Innate Essence, only possessed the quality of an eight-Spirit Pattern artifact, still falling short of mid-grade.
Li Mo understood; Dao Body Fusion was a painstaking, time-consuming process.
Even if Mountain Spider’s promotion to mid-grade provided more evident assistance, it would also require more spiritual power to sustain the magical artifact.
A low-grade magical treasure sufficed for now; at least the projections indicated no visible hurdles.
The spider legs transformed into needle-like protrusions that burrowed into Li Mo’s body through his pores, beginning the Dao Body Fusion surgery from skin to bone.
The miniature spiders scurried within his organs, adjusting the Rotten Bamboo Flower’s growth according to the progress of Dao Body Fusion.
Li Mo silently communicated with the Candle Dragon tattoo. The tattoo meandered through his flesh, actively merging with the Dao Body aura of Paoxiao Swallowing Body.
If the Candle Dragon succeeded, the other Tattooed Beasts were likely to follow its lead.
An aura of desolate wilderness emanated from Li Mo without his deliberate intent, resembling the mythical human-faced, serpent-bodied divine beast said to traverse mountain ranges.
The valley descended into chaos.
Hibernating wild animals awakened involuntarily, fleeing the valley in droves, while insects hidden in rock crevices scrambled to escape.
Had Li Mo not chosen to undergo seclusion during the deep winter, when the number of dormant creatures was relatively low, the ecological impact might have extended thousands of miles.
As the Candle Dragon absorbed the Dao Body aura of Paoxiao Swallowing Body, it appeared slightly sluggish and fatigued.
Li Mo could clearly sense the Dao Body Fusion accelerating in progress. With the Candle Dragon set as a precedent, the other Tattooed Beasts followed suit.
The spider legs performed dizzying microscopic operations.
Li Mo’s brain emitted waves of intense heat, a sign of divine sense being pushed to its utmost limit. The Great Sun Spiritual Power effectively mitigated the strain.
Li Mo’s Buddha Light radiated outward, turning the dim cave mansion into something resembling daylight.
Various auxiliary corpse wines were poured directly over Li Mo’s head, spurring the spider legs to quicken their pace, creating abrupt gusts of wind in the confined space.
Li Mo multitasked seamlessly, commanding simultaneous operations across his entire body with his divine sense.
The most extreme operations centered around his Five Internal Organs—hundreds of spiders executed structural modifications, each with distinctly different behaviors.
Nowhere else in the Cultivation World could a Nascent Soul stage cultivator recreate Li Mo’s movements.
As the surgery progressed, Li Mo found his control targets multiplying, with the miniature spiders exceeding a count of one thousand.
He sensed his brain nearing its limit.
Li Mo unhesitatingly consumed a Bodhi Fruit. His mind instantly entered a state of serene clarity, with thoughts seemingly limitless. The spider legs continued to break out of his ribs.
This Dao Body Fusion surgery could only be described as breathtaking.
The core of the Paoxiao Swallowing Body lay within the Five Internal Organs. The organs appeared to undergo a mysterious transformation, their structure leaning toward that of blood and flesh magical artifacts.
Li Mo was slightly astonished.
In the projections involving Fake Soul Consciousness, the Dao Body Fusion had also succeeded. However, the Fake Soul process was far more extreme, leading to a significantly different new Dao Body.
Soon, a network of blood vessels extended from his organs, radiating outward like a spider web with the heart as the center.
"Could this be... the organs merging into one entity?"
Li Mo had no time for shock. The Tattooed Beasts abruptly felt insatiable hunger, their consciousnesses slowly sinking, threatening to turn against their host.
The spider legs reached for the Jade Gourd, pouring the pungent toxic water into a reservoir below.
Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle.
Taiyin Law Heaven groaned under unbearable strain. The rising vapor caused the rock walls to dissolve; even the magical artifact wouldn’t endure much longer.
Li Mo sat within the toxic pool. Even though the circulation of blood within his body had already ceased, the toxins spread to his brain in less than a breath.
The Three Nascent Souls feared toxic invasion and frantically protected their respective dantians using spiritual power.
Li Mo felt waves of agony numb his entire body; his vitality was steadily draining away, relying solely on his organs to digest the toxins and replenish nutrients. Even his Innate Essence was forced to compensate for toxin-induced damage.
Taiyin Law Heaven collapsed, crushed under the oppressive force of dozens of Dao Body toxins combined. Even the Hundred Refinement magical artifacts couldn’t withstand it; the toxins had begun to leak outward.
Li Mo’s defensive measures could only slow the spread.
Even though he was at a depth of nearly a thousand meters underground, the valley’s ecology had been irrevocably affected—vegetation yellowed, and rivers turned murky with a foul stench.
Since the toxins originated from the Dao Body and were intermixed with Li Mo’s Innate Essence...
The valley unexpectedly birthed poison-element spiritual materials.
Though merely inferior-grade spiritual materials, their concentrated emergence within the valley hinted at something unusual.
Some inferior-grade spiritual materials evolved into low-grade ones. Newly sprouting vegetation took on vivid hues, with poisonous insects swarming everywhere.
"Only three hundred years of Nourishing Yuan Fruit medicinal power consumed—worth it."
Li Mo muttered to himself with ease, retracting the spider legs back into his spine as two auras of Dao Body power fused into one.
Taiyin Law Heaven completely disintegrated, raining debris upon Li Mo and burying him beneath.
Li Mo’s skin turned a shade of purplish blue, evidence of lingering toxins, though he paid it no mind, inspecting the new beast Dao Body.
The profound intricacies of the Dao Body filled his consciousness—it was a flawless fusion with no disadvantages.
The new Dao Body inherited all powers of Paoxiao Swallowing Body and the Ancient Sacred Body. Moreover, the Tattooed Beasts had developed a Dantian-like organ within their bodies.
The organ could not only help them digest food but also store spiritual power.
Indeed, the Tattooed Beasts no longer relied on Li Mo to provide spiritual power; they could now cultivate independently—albeit with their realms forever tied to that of their host.
Li Mo noticed the Tattooed Beasts had fallen into a deep slumber, with only the Mountain Demon showing signs of awakening.
Da Ai Mi Tian was also undergoing transformation. As a lifebound magical treasure intricately tied to Li Mo, it might develop a third Spirit Pattern due to Dao Body Fusion.
He turned his gaze inward, finding that the spider-web-like blood vessels growing out of his organs were incredibly profound. While the organs retained their original Corpse Spirit Root functions...
In the center of the blood vessels was a slight depression, appearing as though it could house something.
"Could this be... a beast nest?"
The web-like blood vessels connected the Five Internal Organs, capable of temporarily merging a space-type magical artifact, serving as a sixth organ, a dwelling for the Tattooed Beasts, while also nourishing the artifact itself.
Li Mo naturally chose Corpse Mountain as the Tattooed Beasts’ nest, and the magical artifact seamlessly integrated.
The Corpse Mountain Mini World remained unaffected, except for the addition of a pathway connecting it to the outside.
Li Mo no longer had to expend Innate Essence to sustain Corpse Mountain; the Dao Body’s nurturing of the magical artifact was now sufficient to support its growth.
Li Mo activated the Dao Body, transporting the seven Tattooed Beasts into the Corpse Mountain Mini World.
The Tattooed Beasts, within the small world, possessed sizes comparable to ordinary animals. They curled up in isolation, not attracting the attention of the Deceit Beasts.
Li Mo was astonished to discover that the Tattooed Beasts seemed to aid in the refinement of the Mini World.
Their breathing in and exhaling of spiritual energy stimulated the generation of countless variations, subtly making the small world align closer to reality.
The most noticeable impact came from Kun Whale; every inhale and exhale swept river currents into turbulence, noticeably raising water levels.
Li Mo withdrew his consciousness.
The new Dao Body had already surpassed even an Innate Saint; when the Tattooed Beasts achieved immortality, they might very well pave the path to a legendary Immortal Body.
"Let’s call it the ’Great Wilderness Immortal Body.’"
Li Mo’s thoughts overflowed with aspirations of immortality. Having mastered the Dao Body Fusion, he felt the Immortal Path was no longer out of reach.
He shut his eyes, intending to complete the Bone Dao Body imprinting in one swift effort.
The Bone Dao Body still lacked the trunk bones and the four limbs; it was time to seize the surplus blank pages and finish the imprinting quickly, preparing for the creation of a Nascent Soul Technique Spell Page afterward.
Li Mo started by imprinting the trunk bones, causing his ribs to emit strange noises.
Once the trunk bones underwent initial transformation, without waiting for the divine skills to mature, he immediately began imprinting the bones of the four limbs.
Li Mo used his divine sense to observe the bones, understanding that glimpsing even a fragment of the nature of bone Dao Body during its formation would profoundly benefit the Dao Body’s overall fusion.
But he failed to notice the worsening toxicity within the valley.
It wasn’t solely from the Dao Body’s toxins; inexplicably, numerous unfamiliar poisons emerged alongside, spawning all sorts of low-grade spiritual materials.
A dense fog sealed off the valley.
In the distance, a dilapidated town came faintly into view.