Chapter 319: Chapter 65: Entering Tao with the Sword Embryo
Li Mo closed his eyes to nourish his spirit, choosing not to inspect the divine skills immediately, but instead to observe the changes in his Golden Core.
After the branding was complete, the Great Sun Golden Core no longer felt even slightly unfamiliar, and its enhancement of his Divine Sense had become perfectly seamless.
"Ah."
At the same time, Li Mo validated a previous hypothesis.
The Great Sun Golden Core radiated a thousand zhang of brilliance inside the Mud Pill Palace. Buddha Power permeated every corner, vaguely encroaching on the space of his Three Souls.
The two forces exhibited a barely detectable repulsion.
Li Mo attempted to suppress his Great Sun Golden Core, but the action negatively impacted the Buddha Power’s nourishing effects on his Divine Sense.
"Right now, the nascent Golden Core is manageable, but if it reaches Perfect Core Formation in the Nascent Crying Stage, there’s an eighty percent chance it’ll create some friction with the Three Souls."
"If those Three Souls aren’t subdued, leaving them in the Mud Pill Palace will be nothing but trouble. It’s better to quickly improve the cultivation of the Chaos Beast Infant."
Li Mo began actively absorbing Spiritual Energy, while also turning his focus to the divine skills of the Great Sun Golden Core.
[Guiyuan Dao Seed]
All Dao Seed divine skills complement one another, and the Guiyuan Dao Seed represents "all things returning to one," making it deeply interconnected with the End-of-the-World Dao Seed.
Li Mo couldn’t help but reveal a pleased expression; the Guiyuan Dao Seed promised to resolve a fair number of problems.
The End-of-the-World Dao Seed disassembles creations and extracts refining methods from them, while the Guiyuan Dao Seed complements this process by reverting creations back into their original materials.
Li Mo tried activating the Dao Seed, casually tossing a Magic Artifact into the Melting Furnace.
Thick smoke billowed forth.
Li Mo noticed that the Magic Artifact gradually dissolved within the furnace, separating systematically into various materials before fully disassembling.
Refining techniques flooded his mind without the slightest interference to the End-of-the-World Dao Seed.
After waiting for a long time, the cooled furnace revealed over a dozen spiritual materials.
While not without drawbacks, the Guiyuan Dao Seed showed clear benefits—destruction resulted in some loss. Wood and Water Attribute Spiritual Materials were reduced to only about one or two tenths, while the other materials retained roughly forty percent, and Fire Attributes managed up to sixty percent.
But overall, with the functionality of the Dao Seeds expanding, the career of a Demon Cultivator was looking increasingly promising.
"Heh heh heh."
Li Mo let out a strange laugh, his gaze flitting over to the Fake Buddha.
After much hesitation, he refrained from targeting the Flying Sword Embryo. Despite the potential for abundant resources from disassembly, its value paled in comparison to the Fake Buddha.
After all, the Fake Buddha served as Bone Desolate Taoist’s obsession—the ticket to entering the Heavenly Sword Sect, symbolizing a slim chance to join a large Immortal Sect.
Li Mo had no immediate plans to use the Fake Buddha as a device to approach the Heavenly Sword Sect.
His situation wasn’t at the point of desperation yet; the No-Life Sect likely had Divine Separation Stage Techniques as well. Better to first figure out the status of the Heavenly Sword Sect before making any moves.
"Wait, maybe the Dao Seed has unique effects on the Flesh Pillar."
The original form of the Flesh Pillar was the Meat Body Stone, an excellent material for forming Externalized Dharma Bodies, but had been corrupted by the White Bone Sect into a container for Great Sun Spiritual Power.
Bone Desolate Taoist likely didn’t realize the rarity of the Meat Body Stone, or he surely wouldn’t have taken it lightly.
First, Li Mo burned through a batch of useless Magic Artifacts. Only after fully grasping the Guiyuan Dao Seed did he cast the Flesh Pillar into the Melting Furnace.
As the Flesh Pillar heated up, countless heart-wrenching screams sounded.
Pu Dao’s Artifact Infant clutched its head as if unwilling to hear the noise, darting into the neighboring temple to seek the company of the Soul-devouring Demon Infant.
Human faces emerged on the surface of the flesh.
Their expressions seemed relieved, some even overcome with joy—offering no resistance as the flames consumed them.
"The atrocities committed—it’s horrifying how much life was extinguished, only for it to come to nothing."
Li Mo shook his head slightly.
Soon after, the Flesh Pillar erupted with ocean-like Great Sun Spiritual Energy, which streamed into the Corpse Mountain Mini World, gradually forming a new Spirit Vein.
The vein rapidly grew to medium-sized proportions, prompting the Plant and Tree Cultivators created from True Word Sect’s spiritual materials to cheer, while the sun hovering above basked in the nourishment of Yang Qi, becoming more palpable.
"Changing heaven and earth."
He Guo couldn’t help but mutter to himself.
In the valley, he was preparing introductory resources for Pill Cultivation, and the sight further solidified his resolve.
The mini world was shifting daily, now capable of fostering beings at the Core Formation Stage. Following the Supreme Blue Sky Chicken and Dog Ascension was only a matter of time.
"If I can ascend to immortality, what does it matter if I become a Plant and Tree Spirit?"
He Guo laughed heartily, the stump of his neck already sprouting roots—completely shedding his human form and becoming indistinguishable from Wood Attribute Spiritual Materials.
From now on, he’d no longer suffer erosion from the Death Disease, but his life would rest entirely in Li Mo’s hands.
Li Mo transmitted his thoughts to Zhang Guo, instructing him to practice Pill Dao cultivation alongside He Guo, while sending Plant and Tree Cultivators to gather Great Sun Spiritual Energy for him.
"Yeah."
Zhang Guo touched his head and, despite his dislike for He Guo, reluctantly agreed.
Once the Flesh Pillar ceased emitting Great Sun Spiritual Energy, it liquefied completely, separating the extraneous materials added by the White Bone Sect.
Li Mo’s lips twitched—the Meat Body Stone was now no bigger than a fist.
Furthermore, he discovered its properties had become exceptionally bizarre, seemingly influenced by Great Cancer and saturated with Cancer Cells.
The Cancer Cells were deeply entrenched, utterly impossible to extract.
"Can it still be used to carry an Externalized Dharma Body?"
Li Mo felt somewhat uneasy, so he brought the Meat Body Stone out into the external world.
As soon as the stone left the furnace, it emitted sizzling sounds, its body evaporating at a visible rate and shrinking dramatically in size.
"What on earth is this?"
Typically, Meat Body Stones resemble Artifact Cultivators’ Twin Embryos, with the form of an infant.
Li Mo’s looked more like a fetus, not yet fully developed.
The Meat Body Stone instinctively sought self-preservation, darting away from Li Mo’s palm and swiftly traversing the islands toward the center of the Twelve Divine Statues.
"Not good."
Li Mo’s expression turned grave, using his Divine Sense to lock onto the Meat Body Stone and launching the Blood Soul.
Bang.
Upon contact, the Meat Body Stone scattered in all directions, then fused back together mid-air, entering the range of the Twelve Divine Statues.
Li Mo powered his legs, appearing above the Meat Body Stone in an instant.
Endless shadows spread.
Just as the Ghost Tiger was about to engulf the Meat Body Stone, Li Mo chose to withdraw the shadows.
The stone merged itself into the Fake Buddha’s form, behaving like Cancer Cells as it fused with the Flying Sword Embryo, faintly emanating subtle changes.
Li Mo picked up the Fake Buddha, eyes blazing as he studied the Flying Sword Embryo.
"Interesting."
Replacing the Sword Spirit, the Meat Body Stone was transforming the Fake Buddha into a complete Flying Sword while retaining the stone’s properties.
Li Mo infused a bit of Nourishing Yuan Fruit’s medicinal energy, accelerating the transformation, as seven gem-like features began forming on its facial structure.
The five facial features had seven holes in total, each filled with gems from the True Word Sect’s Seven Treasures.
Gold for the left eye, silver for the right, glass for the tongue, coral and red pearls for the nose, and agate and conch for the ears.
The Fake Buddha exuded faint Great Sun Spiritual Power.
According to the information Li Mo had obtained from the Five Hidden Sword, once the Flying Sword Embryo absorbed a Sword Spirit and fully formed, it would manifest three key characteristics:
[Cultivation], [Taboo], [Spiritual Wisdom].
The Fake Buddha’s spiritual power was undeniably weak, but it classified as the First Level of Puberty.
However, after a careful inspection, Li Mo found no sign of Spiritual Wisdom, nor any hint of Taboo.
He raised the Fake Buddha and attempted to use Great Sun Spiritual Power to guide the Magic Artifact.
The head opened its mouth, and the glass tongue spat out a colorless, invisible Sword Qi that vanished in an instant under Li Mo’s astonished gaze.
The rocky edge at the island’s perimeter emitted crackling sounds before splitting into upper and lower halves.
The cut was impeccably smooth.
"Judging by the standards of the Heavenly Sword Sect, the Fake Buddha might count as a complete failure in sword refinement, right?"
Li Mo smiled awkwardly, closing his eyes to connect the Fake Buddha with his Great Sun Golden Core. He immediately felt an inexplicable resonance between the core and the Flying Sword.
This confirmed that the Fake Buddha still retained the functionality of the Meat Body Stone.
"When the Nine Nether Buddha Light Illuminating Scripture advances to the Divine Separation Stage, can’t I use the Fake Buddha as the foundational spiritual object for the Great Sun Nascent Soul?"
"Heh."
Li Mo played with the lifelike Fake Buddha head. "But just like the Time Sword said—the Fake Buddha’s quality is far too poor."
The Five Hidden Sword was inept at artifact refining, and the White Bone Sect lacked expertise in sword forging.
As a result, the product was a complete mess.
"There’s still hope for me, though—it’s just going to cost some Innate Essence."
Li Mo tapped the Fake Buddha’s forehead, directly infusing it with two hundred years’ worth of Nourishing Yuan Fruit medicinal energy, causing the Flying Sword to fall into slumber.
He tossed the Fake Buddha into the Great Sun Spirit Stone Mine within the Corpse Mountain Mini World, allowing it to soak up spiritual energy.
He estimated that by the time he advanced to the Divine Separation Stage, the Fake Buddha would have transformed entirely—perhaps qualifying as a top-grade flying sword, even by Heavenly Sword Sect standards.
Of course, that depended on whether the Heavenly Sword Sect acknowledged the Fake Buddha as a flying sword.
"The foundational spiritual object for the Great Sun Golden Core has been found, but I still lack leads for the other three Nascent Souls. I’ll have Four Seas Commerce keep an eye out for me in the meantime."
Li Mo stretched lazily, silently activating the Hammer-and-Anvil technique.
[Sword Embryo]
[Assisted by Meat Body Stone to refine Great Cancer, paired with iron shavings and Meat Stone Powder, then tempered in the furnace’s flames to form the embryo. Finally, it merges with the Flying Sword Embryo to become a Magic Artifact.]
"As expected, I accidentally created a method to refine foundational spiritual objects."
Currently, replication of the Sword Embryo seems feasible, but the Meat Body Stone is exceedingly rare, and acquiring more Flying Sword Embryos would require stealing from ferocious beasts.
Li Mo realized one thing.
Unrefined foundational spiritual objects could merge with Externalized Dharma Bodies, but they might not unlock the full potential of a Nascent Soul.
A combination of the Sword Embryo and pseudo-Buddhist Nascent Soul seemed unconventional but undeniably synergistic.
"For now, I’ll prioritize advancing all Nascent Souls to the Corpse Infant Stage, and then tackle the fusion of Paoxiao Swallowing Body and the Ancient Sacred Body."
Li Mo mentally outlined his plans, calling forth seven Tattooed Beasts to the True Void Hometown.
The Tattooed Beasts appeared immediately, crouching beside Li Mo, evidently yearning for the Bodhi Fruit that could foster Acquired Spirit Roots.
"You really don’t learn your lesson. Always thinking of food, never the consequences."
Li Mo’s eyes sparkled with amusement as he casually tossed seven Bodhi Fruits, prompting the Tattooed Beasts to display their unique powers and devour the fruits one by one.
The little creatures sprawled on the ground, digesting the medicinal potency of the Bodhi Fruit.
Most of the Bodhi Fruits Li Mo harvested would be fed to the Tattooed Beasts; only a few dozen were left for his personal use.
Fortunately, he had an abundant supply of Nourishing Yuan Fruits—over five thousand years’ worth of medicinal energy that wouldn’t run out anytime soon.
Li Mo had already begun incrementally nourishing his Magic Treasures with Innate Essence. The Corpse Mountain was closest to reaching mid-grade, followed by Great Cancer, though the Mountain Spider would require extra effort.
Still, consuming thousand-year Nourishing Yuan Fruit potency was the limit, ensuring he remained well-resourced.
Even Divine Separation Cultivators didn’t always possess Magic Treasures, yet Li Mo approached ownership of three mid-grade treasures.
Indeed, keeping quiet and steadily amassing wealth was the way to go.