The Tao Seed perfected the No-Life Ten Directions Festival’s Divine Separation Stage content, and the breakthrough technique was the Demon Head Technique.
[Demon Head Technique]
[Centered on the Ground Lying Demon Infant, supplemented by fifty thousand human heads, using the blood of living beings as a guide until ten Human Demon Heads are born, and only then can one advance to the Divine Separation Stage.]
The Demon Head Technique specified fifty thousand human heads, but Li Mo knew that naturally, the more, the better.
The Sunlight Dharma Body cultivated the Buddha Embryo Skill, yet even a parasitic pseudo-Buddha at the Divine Separation Stage couldn’t bear the title of Buddha, let alone the Ground Lying Demon Infant.
Li Mo’s target was one million human heads.
He suspected that exceeding a million human heads might lead the Ground Lying Demon Infant to experience the situation with the Ten Thousand Demon Banner, where mutual slaughter and cannibalism among the heads would be inevitable.
The Ground Lying Demon Infant would instinctively begin cultivating Gu, causing quantitative changes to escalate into qualitative transformation.
At this thought, Li Mo raised his head to look at the three sword platforms in the central hall.
Turbid Candle had already vacated the central main position, which was now occupied by the Monk. An indescribable aura of terror spread from the sword platform.
The Monk, heavily fed with Evergreen Tree Fruits, had transformed into something indescribable in form.
Currently, no features of a monk could be discerned; his upper body was a patchwork of various birds and beasts, while his lower body took the form of root structures from grass and wood.
These roots extended into the courtyard, nurturing a large grove of White Bone Bodhi Trees.
The White Bone Bodhi Trees had grown to a scale of two hundred, capable of producing approximately thirty heads daily, amassing over ten thousand in half a year.
Even though the quality of the heads was subpar, causing losses during the Ground Lying Demon Infant’s consumption, over the past decade, the minor heads within the temple halls had increased by eighty thousand.
Seeing that the Monk’s resources could sustain the Demon Head Technique, Li Mo refrained from risky expansions of the Daoist Temple.
The current situation was actually quite complex, with Heavenly Palace Stage Sword Cultivators secretly employing underhanded means.
Li Mo had Daoist Ye Zhuo keep an eye out for Sword Ghosts producing corpses outside, yet every time the latter tried to subdue and bring them back to Zhi Mountain Temple, the Sword Ghosts suffered unexplained losses.
Eight out of ten times, this was due to the machinations of Heavenly Palace Stage Sword Cultivators who wanted to prevent Zhi Mountain Temple from obtaining resources.
On one hand, Luo Yang’s deterrence was too strong for them to openly launch an attack; on the other hand, they dared not allow Li Mo to cultivate to the Heavenly Palace Stage unimpeded.
Should Li Mo reveal his true strength, he would immediately become embroiled in endless troubles.
Li Mo remained calm and unhurried; after all, resources from the Corpse Mountain Mini World were supporting him.
Daoist Ye Zhuo was even less worried, as his identity as a Deceitful Person provided more than sufficient resources for his needs.
Meanwhile, after obtaining the [Evil Erasing Sword Pill] method, Daoist Bai Shuo required long periods of consolidation.
This led to the situation where "external factions continued their probing, but Zhi Mountain Temple remained unresponsive."
"Another sixty years should be enough to gather a million. The Fate Knowing Stage Death Disease should still be manageable."
Li Mo silently nodded and then busied himself once more without delay.
The Fate Knowing Stage Death Disease caused numerous tasks to pile up all at once.
The essence of the Fate Knowing Stage Death Disease was [Organ Intelligence].
Most of Li Mo’s organs had already been imprinted by the Creation Book, so logically, the Fate Knowing Stage Death Disease shouldn’t be a concern. However, there’s always the fear of the one in ten thousand chance.
If organs that had birthed Divine Skills spun out of control, the ensuing troubles would be unimaginable.
Li Mo could only increase his own trump cards to the greatest extent possible; failure to overcome the disease would mean total defeat, leading to irreversible damage to his foundation.
"The cultivation path is fraught with perils at every step."
After the Fate Knowing Stage Death Disease comes the rumored Ancient Age Death Disease.
Even in the Heavenly Sword Sect, those who could withstand the Ancient Age Death Disease were one in a million; most cultivators had already abandoned hope of resisting it.
After all, upon the Divine Separation Stage, a cultivator’s focus shifted to their Externalized Dharma Body.
Severe bodily mutations would no longer pose an issue.
Li Mo, possessing the Creation Book, prioritized his physical body over the Externalized Dharma Body.
He speculated that records in the Cultivation World about the Ancient Age Death Disease were exceedingly sparse and that hardly anyone had experienced the subsequent stages of death diseases.
The thought of those unknown death diseases sent a chill down Li Mo’s spine.
"I could very well abandon the Fate Knowing Stage Death Disease entirely; the mutations caused by the three tribulations after becoming Immortal might result in irreversible ruin."
"Failing the Fate Knowing Stage won’t hinder my Dharma Body development either..."
Li Mo’s expression turned grim, but he quickly suppressed the intrusive thoughts.
If one merely sought to become a Land Immortal, sacrificing the physical body would be acceptable. However, truly attaining Immortal status had become an unattainable luxury, with only hopes pinned on the Twelve Immortals constructing a pathway to the Immortal Realm.
Alternatively, could he imitate ancient cultivators and achieve Feather Transformation?
"Damn it, if I die, then so be it; it’s still better than morphing into a monster."
The Ancient Age Death Disease might take two thousand years, and completing the nine tribulations might take ten thousand years. As someone not even a thousand years old, there was no need to overly stress about such distant matters.
Li Mo continued refining the Ten Thousand Transformation Sword Infant while dividing his focus on experimenting with Nascent Soul Techniques.
Five years passed, and Nascent Soul Techniques had only been developed in fifteen directions, while the integration of the Great Wilderness Immortal Body with the Nayuan Body began to show promise earlier than expected.
Li Mo immediately began preparations for the procedure to fuse the Daoist Body.
The idle taoists of Xia Dao Palace were now devoted to the development of Nascent Soul Techniques and Innate Saints, accelerating progress dramatically.
The integration of the Great Wilderness Immortal Body with the Nayuan Body wasn’t overly complex.
The primary challenge was the complete implantation of spiritual sinews into the Great Wilderness Immortal Body, specifically the Yin Yang Dual Spirit Veins in the brain, whose positions were particularly troublesome.
Li Mo first started with the spiritual sinews of his limbs, which were soon covered by thousands of White Bone Spiders crawling over them.
Before advancing to the Divine Separation Stage, his Divine Sense couldn’t have supported a procedure of this magnitude; now, he had a certain degree of control.
Li Mo immersed himself in the microscopic operations, not daring to make the slightest mistake during the separation of spiritual sinews.
The Red Fox tattoo appeared on his left arm, wrapping around the Fire Attribute Spiritual Tendon as the Great Wilderness Immortal Body exerted its full strength. The calls of birds and beasts echoed throughout the central hall.
As the Fire Attribute Spiritual Tendon slowly merged with the Red Fox, the Tattooed Beast leaped out from Li Mo’s skin.
The Red Fox crouched on the ground, emanating the distinct aura of a flying sword.
Next was the Ghost Tiger.
The Kun Whale and Salamander followed closely, and for a moment, the main hall surged with waves of various Sword Intents.
Daoist Bai Shuo looked on in shock and suspicion, but Daoist Ye Zhuo calmly remarked, "Don’t bother; it’s just Senior Brother Taiyi’s old habit." The most update n0vels are published on novel-fire.net
Was exceptional talent truly a pass to do as one pleased? While others trembled before the intrusion of a single Sword Intent, why did Li Mo remain impervious?
The protective array of Zhi Mountain Temple blocked ninety percent of the Sword Intent, yet some echoes still resounded outside.
Heavenly Palace Stage Sword Cultivators couldn’t comprehend this.
If Li Mo cultivated solely Yang Attribute Sword Intents, it might still make sense, but why involve so many spirit attributes? It defied logic.
It almost felt like self-destruction.
As time passed, the Sword Intent grew thicker.
The Tattooed Beasts sequentially advanced into the Divine Separation Stage, their Sword Intents etched onto the surface of the Ten Thousand Transformation Sword Infant, pushing the Nascent Soul to reach the Nascent Soul Stage.
The Evil Sword Intent of the Red Fox transformed into the mid-level Fire Attribute Sword Intent [Demon Fire].
The Barbaric Sword Intent of the Kun Whale transformed into the mid-level Water Attribute Sword Intent [Desolate Stream].
The Vitality Sword Intent of the Salamander transformed into the mid-level Wood Attribute Sword Intent [Pasture Wood].
Unfortunately, the Ghost Tiger, lacking a major cultivation technique, failed to transform its Sword Intent.
Li Mo gritted his teeth; his limbs still throbbed in pain, but he immediately began stripping the spiritual sinews of his shoulders, where the Golden Toad and Mountain Demon were stirring restlessly.
The Mountain Demon, already at the Divine Separation Stage, facilitated the spiritual sinew transplantation, making it relatively simpler.
Conversely, Li Mo spent considerable time on the Golden Toad. After implanting the Metal Spirit Root, the Golden Toad barely reached the Nascent Soul Stage.
Li Mo exhaled deeply.
The surgery on the Yin Yang Dual Spirit Veins had to be performed simultaneously, a difficulty that needed no elaboration.
"If conditions are lacking, then create them."
Li Mo activated the Da Ai Mi Tian technique, causing his skull to visibly grow, until it could accommodate tens of thousands of White Bone Spiders.
He focused completely; losing the dominant-position Tattooed Beasts would be catastrophic.
The Candle Dragon let out a low roar.
The superior Sword Intent [Yin Yang] became faintly visible as the Tao Seed voraciously absorbed nutrients.
Parts of the Sun Sword Mark on the Ten Thousand Transformation Sword Infant extended toward the Yin Attribute Sword Mark, but the mid-level nature of the Yin Attribute Sword Mark made it elusive to fully comprehend.
Li Mo had no time for regret as the stripping of the Yin Yang Dual Spiritual Tendons caused excruciating swelling in his head.
One of his eyes grew brighter, the other dimmer.
Half the central hall plunged into darkness, while the other half basked in light.
The Candle Dragon writhed in agony, slithering across his skin to seize the Yin Yang Spirit Veins, suffering torment as it forcibly consumed them.
Dao Body integration, complete!
After withdrawing the Tattooed Beasts, Li Mo found that the Great Wilderness Immortal Body had drastically changed; the Tattooed Beasts were no longer confined to his skin or the Corpse Mountain Mini World.
Seated in the main hall, he was surrounded by the apparitions of seven hundred-meter-tall giant beasts.
The apparitions of the Tattooed Beasts weren’t static; they surveyed the surroundings with a daunting presence that felt almost tangible.
Their true bodies remained in the Corpse Mountain Mini World and could descend into the external world at any time via their apparitions.
"This is ridiculously flashy..."