Anyone who sees Poison Clothes Qinghong Workshop would think that the poison cultivators in the town have gone mad—indeed, tens of thousands of people have fallen into a collective frenzy.
Despite being shrouded in poisonous smoke, countless figures congregate around the Pavilion Masters.
The Four Great Pavilion Masters secrete neuro-stimulant toxins that drive everyone into uncontrollable excitement, their faces plastered with smiles, cheering ecstatically.
The usually orderly sound of drums and gongs has turned into chaotic, piercing noise.
One poison cultivator walks down the street, his flesh slipping off his legs like melting butter, yet he seems entirely indifferent, his sanity already obliterated.
Ordinary citizens huddle inside their homes, peeking out through windows to observe the absurd scenes unfolding outside.
Their faces are marked by despair.
Though they don’t understand why it has come to this, the imminent destruction of Qingyi Square suggests they may all perish in the aftermath.
Civilians kneel and pray to Immortal Gods, only to notice an anomaly at Qinghong Workshop—strands of sunlight pierce through the array and illuminate the ground.
"What’s going on? Why suddenly..."
Roars from the Mountain Demon erupt. The poison smoke’s dilution originates from Skillful Hands Inn, which simultaneously drives the Four Great Pavilion Masters into madness over the Mountain Demon.
The Mountain Demon opens its mouth wide to devour, indiscriminately consuming.
Any poisonous spiritual energy, regardless of its type, is entirely absorbed by the Mountain Demon, whose cultivation progresses visibly, startling all observers.
Just an hour ago, the Mountain Demon was at Weak Crown Middle Stage, now it’s approaching Late Teenage Stage.
The grotesquely distorted bodies of the Four Great Pavilion Masters face Skillful Hands Inn. Their expressions are filled with greed, even casting guarded glances at one another.
In their eyes, the Mountain Demon is akin to an Immortal Pill—capable of elevating one to immortality and enlightenment.
The Mountain Demon’s remarkable effects stem mainly from its innate essence; the instinct-driven Pavilion Masters are utterly incapable of resisting its allure.
Li Mo has supplied innate essence to the Mountain Demon multiple times. Since it is only at the Weak Crown Middle Stage, it cannot absorb all of it flawlessly, inevitably leaking traces of the essence.
"Heh heh heh, truly fascinating."
Li Mo, suppressing his aura, stands in the corner and has already noticed more than a dozen disciples from the Spider Poison Sect who are opting to spectate the chaos incited by the Mountain Demon.
The Spider Poison Sect disciples want to protect the Four Great Pavilion Masters, yet they cannot forcibly alter the Pavilion Masters’ intentions, leaving them trapped in indecision.
Li Mo is exploiting this hesitation, planning to annihilate the Spider Poison Sect in one fell swoop.
"You treat mortals as livestock, rearing them to harvest spiritual materials—so you ought to prepare for the fate of the cicada caught by the mantis, only for the sparrow to strike."
Li Mo’s right arm detaches from his body; flesh and bone rapidly decompose and transform into White Bone Spiders the size of micro dust, dispersing amidst the poison smoke.
The mortals subjected to brain modification surgeries are the most basic—meanwhile, the poison cultivators present are treasure troves of techniques in his eyes.
The White Bone Spiders discreetly crawl into the poison cultivators’ mouths and noses, heading straight into their brains.
Li Mo doesn’t destroy their brains—extracting surgical insights remains his priority, aiding in the perfection of the Tao Seed’s Vajra Circulation Buddha Hand.
A torrent of brain-modification knowledge floods Li Mo’s mind, and within mere moments, the Vajra Circulation Buddha Hand shows signs of evolution.
Simultaneously, Li Mo manipulates the White Bone Spiders to modify his own brain, extending the refinement of Great Sun Spiritual Power to encompass his five organs and six viscera.
Time ticks away, and the two sides remain locked in a stalemate.
The Four Seas Commerce shows no signs of intervening in the affairs of the Four Great Pavilions. Han Cai remains unmoved, letting the situation spiral further out of control.
Lin Zong mutters to himself, staring blankly into the sky.
The Mountain Demon’s ten disciples stand before Skillful Hands Inn, confronting countless Pavilion forces in the surrounding streets with trepidation.
They find themselves caught between a rock and a hard place.
Initially, they believed they had Four Seas Commerce backing them, but with Han Cai from the Core Formation Stage nowhere to be found, both Skillful Hands Inn and the tavern are eerily empty.
Lin Zong and the others can only place their hopes in the unfathomable Immortal behind the Mountain Demon.
The sky begins to brighten.
The Mountain Demon’s absorption of poisonous spiritual energy sharply declines, and its cultivation stalls at Weak Crown Middle Stage.
Li Mo refrains from releasing canned spiritual energy, while the Four Great Pavilion Masters actively release poison smoke, providing the Mountain Demon with additional nourishment.
The Four Great Pavilion Masters appear to be rearing livestock, attempting to cultivate the Mountain Demon to a level sufficient to satiate their hunger.
The ten disciples of the Mountain Demon tremble with fear.
Even though they remain standing still, their clothes are drenched with sweat, and a powerless despair emerges from deep within their hearts.
Zhang Fushou’s teeth chatter as he retreats several steps, nearly collapsing.
He bows to Lin Zong and says, "Senior Brother Lin Zong, I refuse to die a pointless death in Qinghong Workshop. Until we meet again in Jianghu."
After speaking, Zhang Fushou turns and vanishes into a secluded alley.
Lin Zong glances at the other disciples, only to see five more bow their heads and choose to leave—they have no desire to be buried alongside Skillful Hands Inn.
The remaining four disciples remain silent.
Lin Zong is willing to die in gratitude for the Mountain Demon’s blessings.
The other three sense the flaws in the Poison Clothing Technique; facing certain death is inevitable, so they opt to follow the Mountain Demon as a gamble.
Raising their cups in a toast, their expressions show a hint of acceptance of their fate.
The Mountain Demon lets out a low growl and devours like a whale.
Li Mo flicks out another Poison Pearl, enabling the Mountain Demon to ascend to Weak Crown Late Stage, its surging aura beginning to solidify from illusion into reality.
"If this stalemate continues, the Mountain Demon might reach Core Formation."
The Four Great Pavilion Masters treat the Mountain Demon as meat ready for slaughter, oblivious to the fact that as long as Li Mo supplies spiritual energy, the Tattooed Beast could instantly soar to the Nascent Soul Stage.
Nonetheless, Li Mo still hopes the Tattooed Beast achieves the Nascent Soul Stage independently. After all, dual cultivation cannot simultaneously sustain seven Tattooed Beasts.
Moreover, the spiritual energy he provides isn’t perfectly compatible with the Tattooed Beast, inevitably impacting its power—of which the Mountain Demon serves as an example.
The Mountain Demon, once grasping cultivation techniques, wields spiritual energy with extraordinary proficiency.
If it were relying on Li Mo’s spiritual energy, it would find its combat techniques clunky, and even the White Bone Stick would falter intermittently.
"Bodhisattva Circulation Buddha Hand..."
Li Mo raises an eyebrow as the body refinement spell undergoes yet another evolution.
The Vajra name disappears, replaced by the title Bodhisattva Circulation Buddha Hand, now incorporating blood, flesh, meridians, organs, and even the brain.
What satisfies Li Mo most is how Great Sun Spiritual Power nourishes his brain.
The spiritual energy wraps around his brain at all times, creating a soothing clarity that also drastically boosts his cultivation of the Nine Nether Buddha Light Illuminating Scripture.
"It should be possible to refine it further."
Li Mo senses the increasing redundancy in spells offered by the Spider Poison Sect.
The Mountain Demon, growing impatient, opens its eyes. At over eight meters tall, the confines of the seclusion room now feel restrictive.
It swings out the White Bone Stick with one motion.
The second floor of Skillful Hands Inn collapses into rubble, and the roof is blown away entirely.
The Mountain Demon nods in satisfaction, glancing at the Four Great Pavilion Masters dismissively and instead licking its lips with excitement.
The poison cultivators notice the Mountain Demon’s reaction and can’t help but feel puzzled.
Why does it seem like?
The Mountain Demon is considering the Four Great Pavilion Masters as its next meal?
The Mountain Demon utters a garbled sound and suddenly notices the four disciples standing in front of Skillful Hands Inn, scratching its head.
Li Mo chuckles and transmits his thoughts: "Whether you wish to share it or not is up to you. Although the Mountain Demon Gu Poison Scripture was crafted by me, the decision lies in your hands."
Even if others grasp the Mountain Demon Gu Poison Scripture, its potency pales compared to the Mountain Demon.
The insectification process of the scripture requires one’s own flesh and blood as the medium—reckless behavior only feasible for Mountain Demons with recovery capabilities akin to deceitful objects, while ordinary cultivators wouldn’t dare casually slice their flesh to transform into insects.
The Mountain Demon lets out a call to indicate understanding, then stoops down to pick up its four remaining disciples.
Lin Zong and the others notice Li Mo and immediately realize that everything is part of Four Seas Commerce’s design. Joy spreads across their faces.
The Mountain Demon pats their heads before resuming its cultivation.
Li Mo, as if unnoticed by the surrounding poison cultivators, walks over to Lin Zong and his group outside Skillful Hands Inn.
"From now on, you are officially disciples of the Mountain Demon and part of Four Seas Commerce."
"Thank you for your favor, Immortal Master."
Elated, they bow repeatedly to Li Mo.
Li Mo places a hand over each of them, directly instilling the contents of the Mountain Demon Gu Poison Scripture up to the Core Formation Stage into their minds.
"I’ll bestow upon you your Taoist titles: Lin Zong shall be Ling Ming, Liao Yijiu shall be Chi Kao, Luo Jun shall be Long Arms, and Li Guangxi shall be Six Ears."
The four disciples, oblivious to the eccentric nature of their titles, are too thrilled to react.
"Focus on cultivating. Leverage the spiritual energy your Master has brought to swiftly enter the practice."
Without hesitation, the four disciples sit down and begin their arduous cultivation of the Mountain Demon Gu Poison Scripture, channeling strands of spiritual energy into their Middle Dantian.
As they cultivate the scripture, their physical mutations accelerate.
Where initially only their heads and arms assumed monkey-like traits, their necks and shoulders now sprout dense monkey fur, rendering them increasingly non-human.
Even Li Mo hadn’t expected the Mountain Demon Gu Poison Scripture to exhibit such effects.
"The Heart Beast Sect’s cultivation technique involves nurturing spirit beasts within oneself and leveraging their power in combat. The Mountain Demon Gu Poison Scripture transforms the cultivator themselves into a beast—ultimately, the methods are remarkably similar."
Li Mo develops heightened expectations for the Ling Ming Four Monkeys.
If they can successfully achieve Core Formation, they will establish a new sect lineage under Heart Beast Sect, introducing an entirely unique branch of Beast Cultivators to the world.
Han Cai and his group, hidden in the tavern’s cellar, also notice the ongoing mutations of the Ling Ming Four Monkeys.
"Disciple, what’s happening?"
"Look, it’s all Beast Cultivation."
Given confirmation, Han Cai grins foolishly.
After contacting Tian Changwen, he transmits a worried message: "Disciple, placing them in the center of attention is far too dangerous—how about..."
"Don’t expose any flaws; the Mountain Demon is merely three days away from Core Formation."
Li Mo’s voice barely fades when the Mountain Demon roars, shaking the heavens and earth. Upon consuming its final Poison Pearl, a faint Fake Pill coalesces within its stomach—Core Formation is just a step away.
The Mountain Demon pounds its chest furiously, hungrier than ever for poisonous spiritual energy.
The Four Great Pavilion Masters become restless.
Li Mo notices and takes action—Corpse Mountain detaches and enters the Mountain Demon’s mouth, releasing all the poisonous spiritual energy stored within the small world.
The poison smoke dissipates over Qinghong Workshop, revealing clear skies.
A crimson sunset casts its glow upon the back of the Toad Poison Beast, as the giant beast traverses the Endless Mountains—a mesmerizing and surreal sight.
The Mountain Demon rises to its full height, one hand pointed to the heavens, the other to the earth.