The Three Suns Sword Tomb houses 120,000 Sword Ghosts, while the Great Sun Sword Tomb, as a superior sword tomb, should logically contain far more.
Yet the surrounding commotion isn’t particularly evident.
After Luo Yang fled, Li Mo suddenly felt a sense of danger looming in all directions.
The warning from his Taoist Body made him realize Luo Yang’s remarks were no empty talk—the Twenty-Eight Sword Tombs were nothing short of massive prisons.
That’s right, prisons.
The Twenty-Eight Sword Tombs imprison numerous horrifying flying swords. If they suddenly erupted, even Void Refining Stage cultivators would have to retreat from their wrath.
Even inside the adjacent Daoist temple beyond the wall, strange and inexplicable whispers could be heard.
"Yesterday there were three Taoist children in the temple; today there are five. Why do Taoist children keep being killed, yet their numbers grow? Damned absurd, I can’t even finish eating them."
"Master, eat me. My shoulder meat is three parts fat and seven parts lean, perfectly delicious."
"Master, how could Senior Brother’s shoulder meat compare to mine? There’s still eight ounces left on my right leg—finish it and you can grow a Sixth Disciple from it."
The source of these words was undoubtedly the Sword Ghosts, whose Spiritual Wisdom seemed anything but weak.
Li Mo pricked up his ears toward the Daoist temple on the left, which housed a family of three.
The man’s breathing was heavy, as if suppressing his rage. The woman wailed miserably and pleaded, "Child, why won’t you come out? I’ve been pregnant with you for two hundred years."
Initially, Li Mo thought that the Sword Ghosts in the Inner Sect might be easier to control.
But now it seemed the Sword Ghosts in the Great Sun Sword Tomb were far beyond the Outer Disciples’ capability to manage and could only be sealed inside confined Daoist temples.
How could Sword Ghosts not descend into madness under constant taboos? Even ordinary people would go mad in such circumstances.
Li Mo opened his Storage Bag.
The immediate priority was to secure shelter, familiarize himself with the rules of the Purple Sun Palace, and begin working toward a breakthrough to the Divine Separation Stage for self-preservation.
The Storage Bag was somewhat tattered, with only a three-cubic space within.
Forget the Heavenly Sword Sect—it wouldn’t even fetch much at the Heart Beast Black Market. Such a low-grade Storage Bag was remarkably stingy for someone at the Void Refining Stage to use.
Li Mo took out the items inside the Storage Bag.
A Heavenly Sword Sect Daoist robe and a mid-grade magical artifact crafted through Twenty Refinements.
The Identity Spirit Plate for the Purple Sun Palace bore a sun-shaped pattern on the front, while the reverse side was blank.
After Li Mo refined the Identity Spirit Plate, the Taoist title "Taiyi" appeared on the reverse side, with a bloodstain across the title, signifying that he had been in the sect for less than one hundred years.
The Daoist robe and Spirit Plate weren’t the essentials; the other two items served as his foundation.
The first was the Sword Scroll Luo Yang had mentioned, which resembled a pocket-sized iron sword and smelled faintly of greasy brain matter.
The other was a white jade bottle.
The bottle contained a wax-like miniature Buddha, with the characters "Turbid Candle" affixed to the bottle. It was the nocturnal remnant of the Three Suns Sword Tomb.
Fearing the Storage Bag wasn’t secure enough, Li Mo transferred the Turbid Candle remains to the Corpse Mountain Mini World.
Then he picked up the Sword Scroll to inspect it.
Though Luo Yang was quite unreliable, the information recorded inside the Sword Scroll was relatively comprehensive.
It at least helped Li Mo understand the Inner Sect’s dynamics, including even the minor details of its rules and various festivals.
For instance, the "Medicine Valley Festival."
Every five hundred years, the Twenty-Eight Sword Tombs become linked to the large Immortal Sect, Medicine King Valley, during which time a Medicine Market appears within one of the sword tombs.
Or the "Ten Thousand Demon Festival."
The Ten Thousand Demon Festival is a newer event introduced over the last few centuries, presumably a clandestine collaboration between the Daoist and Demon factions through the Twelve Immortals.
During the festival, the Ten Thousand Demon Dao floods the Twenty-Eight Sword Tombs with the deceitful objects from the Demon Cave.
The aim is to use the taboos to help the Devil Sect manage the increasingly uncontainable number of deceitful objects, while sword cultivators use the opportunity to gather resources.
The sword tombs are prisons, and Li Mo has become their prison guard.
Li Mo scanned through the Sword Scroll’s notes, highlighting three points Luo Yang repeatedly emphasized:
"Find an unoccupied Daoist temple to settle in," "Do not casually choose a Taoist inheritance," and "Do not wander outside after dark."
Li Mo looked up to see the sun beginning to set.
The Twenty-Eight Sword Tombs became vastly unsafe after nightfall. The Sword Ghosts could no longer be restrained by their respective temples, forcing even Void Refining Stage cultivators to seek refuge.
"There should still be time."
Conversely, the Twenty-Eight Sword Tombs were quite safe during the day.
Li Mo swiftly stepped out of the alley, finding the streets eerily empty.
Uncountable temples stood in orderly rows, some with their main gates wide open, their courtyards faintly populated by expressionless Sword Ghosts.
A trace of apprehension flickered in Li Mo’s eyes.
As soon as he moved into the open, hundreds of gazes fixated on him—fellow "Daoists" from the Great Sun Sword Tomb.
Li Mo paid them no mind; the stringent rules of the Great Sun Sword Tomb prevented sword cultivators from casually leaving their street zones.
At the end of the street stood a Daoist temple of imposing grandeur, crafted with blue bricks and red tiles. In its main hall, steady recitation of Taoist scriptures reverberated.
The plaque read "Qingsong Temple."
The scale of a Daoist temple varied, and the strength of the Sword Ghosts within depended accordingly.
Qingsong Temple likely housed a nocturnal Sword Ghost; its specific taboo, however, was unknown.
Of course, fortune and misfortune often coexisted.
According to the Sword Scroll, a properly managed taboo could yield a steady stream of resources, sufficient even to sustain cultivation through the Divine Separation and Void Refining Stages.
As a disciple of the Purple Sun Palace, Li Mo was generously allocated four street blocks by Luo Yang, who marked three specific temples as resource sites.
One such temple was Elder Wuxin’s "Floral Temple."
Elder Wuxin had previously been a Divine Separation Stage sword cultivator of the Great Sun Sword Tomb. After his death, his corpse became sustenance for the flying swords, giving rise to a nocturnal Sword Ghost.
Compared to ordinary Sword Ghosts, Elder Wuxin was marginally more rational.
The Sword Scroll emphasized that as long as Wuxin’s taboos were strictly observed, one could acquire the Sword Dao Technique "Taiyi True Immortal Sword Body Technique."
"So this is how the Heavenly Sword Sect passes down its Taoist inheritance."
At least now, Li Mo could finally cultivate in peace.
The Inner Sect disciples of the Great Sun Sword Tomb numbered nearly 400, yet outside of the designated festivals, Li Mo reckoned it’d be rare to encounter anyone at all.
"That’s fine by me. After advancing to the Divine Separation Stage, I’ll need to prepare for the Fate Knowing Stage Death Disease and gather the foundational spiritual objects for my Nascent Soul as well."
Li Mo muttered some complaints to himself before darting along the streets, searching for a Daoist temple unoccupied by Sword Ghosts. The source of this content ɪs ɴovᴇl(ꜰ)ir(e).nᴇt
He planned to offer the Turbid Candle remains at the temple’s spiritual platform.
With the protection of the Turbid Candle’s aura, Sword Ghosts wouldn’t invade the temple at night.
Using the Cave God’s Eye, Li Mo scanned the temples. A few appeared abandoned for years, but most were too small in scale.
Given the Turbid Candle remains’ deterrent power, a moderately sized temple would suffice.
"Good Daoist, check out the herbs I’ve harvested."
An old man with a deeply wrinkled face greeted Li Mo near the temple entrance, his words accompanied by an overwhelming herbal fragrance.
Li Mo glanced toward the courtyard.
There, herbs were drying in the sun—top-grade spiritual materials with two to three hundred years of medicinal potency.
"Good Daoist, I don’t want silver coins. Have mercy on an old man who just needs a bite to eat."
Narrowing his eyes, Li Mo enhanced his Divine Sense with the White Bone Treasure Body. The herbs transformed into human tendons resembling thin willow branches.
Blood dripped from them, and the herbal fragrance turned into a pungent, nauseating stench.
Li Mo didn’t stop but silently noted the location of Wenzhao Temple.
The resources inside the temple weren’t herbs, but the century-old medicinal potency seemed genuine, likely due to some taboo creating them.
"What a treasure trove—the Purple Sun Palace must harbor Void Refining Stage cultivation resources behind the scenes."
Li Mo traveled for a long while and finally found a suitable Daoist temple just as the sun began to dip below the horizon.
"Zhi Mountain Temple."
Zhi Mountain Temple was neither too large nor too small, but the adjacent temples were unnervingly odd.
The one ahead housed a burly butcher, though the window’s reflection revealed pig-headed, human-bodied corpses hanging from the eaves.
Behind was the enigmatic Fox Immortal—a half-human, half-fox monstrosity.
To the left, someone was chanting scriptures as a courtyard piled high with white bones loomed menacingly.
To the right, sobbing echoed from over ten women—yet only one woman was present, adorned around her neck with a curtain of vividly colored human heads.
"Do not stare; do not stare improperly."
Li Mo hunched his body as he entered Zhi Mountain Temple, the surrounding noise growing increasingly clamorous.
The main hall was covered in dust, its Divine Statue missing limbs yet exuding an unyielding aura.
Li Mo uncorked the Jade Bottle, letting the Turbid Candle remains crawl out eagerly. They burrowed into the Divine Statue, which began emitting sounds of flesh regenerating.
The statue’s damage rapidly healed, and the taboo intensified imperceptibly.
Nonetheless, Li Mo understood the Turbid Candle’s taboo. He removed the candles within the temple and dismantled all doors and windows before feeling reassured.
As long as no one died because of the Turbid Candle, the taboo would remain manageable.
Li Mo relaxed as he lay in the courtyard, casually planting the Illusion Fish Sword into the ground, allowing its illusionary realm to envelop Zhi Mountain Temple, causing mist to spread.
"I’d better focus on mastering the Buddha Embryo Skill. The Inner Sect is fraught with uncertainties."