Chapter 265: Chapter 31: The Surprising Appearance of Traces Linked to the Buddhist Sect
Rather than calling it a street, it more closely resembles a giant spinal column.
Each vertebra hosts a building made of white bone; they appear to be shops, with scattered cultivators weaving through the street.
The scale of White Bone Cave is nowhere near comparable to the port; it’s about the size of the Heart Beast Black Market.
It’s clear that White Bone Cave is a black market specifically catering to Core Formation cultivators and Nascent Soul cultivators—small yet refined. Otherwise, it couldn’t have survived for two to three thousand years.
"Interesting, indeed..."
The smoke emanating from the White Bone Incense Burner grew increasingly intense, and the illusion of White Bone Cave became more tangible.
Li Mo only needed to communicate with the White Bone Incense Burner to send his consciousness to White Bone Cave, and while inside, he wouldn’t need to worry about threats to his life.
"If the Heart Beast Sect could establish authority in various black markets, they could follow the path of the White Bone Sect. It would make it easier for me to gather resources."
Li Mo grew intrigued by White Bone Cave.
Just then, the White Bone Incense Burner became unstable. Cracks spread across the surface of the skull, its upper and lower jaws began to clatter against each other.
Li Mo swept his Divine Sense across and discovered that it was the consciousness of the Daoist Zi Yan attempting to connect with the White Bone Incense Burner.
He released his control of the White Bone Incense Burner, and within the skeleton, small flames ignited—Daoist Zi Yan’s consciousness descended into the token.
"Help me..."
Li Mo caught the pungent stench from the White Bone Incense Burner, the fumes reeking of decay—undoubtedly the result of Death Disease’s erosion.
"Help me, help me, help me!"
Daoist Zi Yan’s consciousness had already blurred, repeating the same words incessantly.
Li Mo’s expression softened; he initially thought the White Bone Sect had encountered some calamity, but it seemed the Daoist’s instinctive reaction was merely driven by Death Disease.
White Bone Sect disciples could gift Core Formation stage and higher Demon Cultivators tokens; Daoist Zi Yan surely distributed tokens to more than just Li Mo.
Daoist Zi Yan was likely on the verge of death, subconsciously seeking rescue.
Li Mo couldn’t be bothered to respond. Extending a finger toward the White Bone Incense Burner, spiritual power infused with cancer cells surged into the token, occupying it in the blink of an eye.
Da Ai Mi Tian was still a Fake Magical Treasure, but three-fourths of its Spirit Patterns had already been completed.
The invasive nature of cancer cells grew frighteningly strong. Within less than half a breath, Daoist Zi Yan’s presence had completely vanished from the White Bone Incense Burner.
The White Bone Incense Burner began to sprout a thin layer of flesh.
The smoke-formed illusion of White Bone Cave not only failed to dissipate but became even more substantial.
"Huh."
Li Mo furrowed his brow, running a finger over the White Bone Incense Burner. His fingertip smeared with traces of metal powder, still faintly warm.
"This is... silver?"
Silver isn’t even considered a spiritual material; it’s merely the most mundane type of metal ore, typically used by mortals to forge silver coins or lower-grade magical artifacts.
If Li Mo was correct, the silver powder was likely a product of Daoist Zi Yan’s consciousness burning.
Something felt amiss, and he instinctively activated the cancer cells. Cracks appeared on the palms of both hands as the heads of dual Nascent Souls poked out.
The third eye on the foreheads of the dual Nascent Souls swiveled, their Divine Sense pushed to extremes.
Li Mo meticulously inspected the White Bone Incense Burner, finding no anomalies. It was possible the silver powder was merely the result of some type of spell?
A few moments later, he withdrew his Divine Sense, and the dual Nascent Souls lazily retreated into his Dantian.
Prior to imprinting the Nascent Soul, its nature resembled that of a defiant child, constantly scheming to devour its master; after imprinting, it completely transformed into a couch potato.
When Li Mo didn’t allow the dual Nascent Souls to move, the pair would simply rest idly within his Dantian.
"Why does this actually feel like raising kids?"
The Divine Sense enhancement from the dual Nascent Souls had surged by an additional fifty percent, almost reaching the threshold of the Nascent Soul Stage, undoubtedly proving the benefits of dual cultivation with spiritual power.
He confirmed there was no issue with the White Bone Sect nor any hidden danger in the smoky illusion.
Li Mo’s consciousness drew closer to the smoke, and he suddenly felt as though he was plummeting from a great height, his mind seemingly crossing over to another dimension.
In an instant—
Li Mo’s consciousness was now inside White Bone Cave, standing by the side of the massive spinal column, gazing at the multitude of human figures formed entirely of consciousness.
He himself existed as something semi-real, semi-illusory, composed of countless mayflies.
Li Mo surveyed his surroundings.
White Bone Cave housed only about a dozen shops, their business completely monopolized by the White Bone Sect. The largest structure sat at the end of the spinal column—a skull.
Below the spine, a mountain range built of piled skulls stretched out.
He could faintly discern a few hundred figures, all apparently Core Formation stage Demon Cultivators, rummaging through the skull mountain as if searching for something.
"What an intriguing little world."
Li Mo glanced toward the edge of White Bone Cave. Beyond the smoke lay the erosion cave of Taiyin Law Heaven. With a single thought, he could return his consciousness to his body.
It seemed the defining characteristic of White Bone Cave, not requiring physical presence, was precisely what made it a haven for Demon Cultivators.
"White Bone Cave seems unlikely to be a small world created by a Land Immortal—it’s probably similar to Corpse Mountain Mini World, comprised of a magical artifact or treasure."
The White Bone Sect, as a mid-sized Demon Sect, shouldn’t possess Magic Treasures.
Yet after careful observation, Li Mo couldn’t shake the sensation that White Bone Cave was indeed a treasure—and not of low grade. Its ability to evade Divine Separation Stage cultivators’ scrutiny demonstrated the White Bone Sect’s impressive methods of concealment.
Li Mo’s physical body continued cultivating while his consciousness wandered through White Bone Cave.
The Demon Cultivators here hardly interacted with one another, likely wary of arousing suspicion. After acquiring their desired resources, their consciousnesses would promptly depart the cave.
The disciples of White Bone Cave, however, were present in the flesh.
They managed the shops, their faces fixed with stiff and eerie smiles.
Whenever anyone inquired, the White Bone Cave disciples replied with formulaic responses—their bodies and souls were likely manipulated by the White Bone Sect.
Li Mo observed that every object from White Bone Cave could follow the Demon Cultivators back to the outside world, further confirming that White Bone Cave was indeed a treasure.
The shops offered a fairly comprehensive variety of resources, including elixirs, magical artifacts, and talismans...
The drawback was that the resources only catered to the Core Formation stage, which Li Mo naturally didn’t need—similar spell techniques had already been collected from the port.
Still, better than nothing.
Li Mo wasn’t in a hurry to withdraw his consciousness; he intended to fully grasp the operational mechanics of White Bone Cave.
A flash of excitement crossed his eyes: every hundred years, White Bone Cave held an auction big enough to involve the entire Demon Sect.
The auction featured offerings not only for Nascent Soul cultivators but even items for Divine Separation Stage cultivators.
Li Mo, having experienced the Heart Beast auction, was well aware that the cultivation world of later generations was nothing like the cooperative harmony of ancient times.
Taoist auctions were perilous enough, let alone those held by Demon Sects—participants might end up stripped entirely, inside and out, during the bidding process.
Yet Li Mo still didn’t want to miss it, especially since Divine Separation Stage items would be up for grabs.
If he could obtain a Divine Separation Stage technique, it would solve everything in one stroke, sparing him the trouble of being constantly targeted by his twelve senior sisters while maneuvering within the No-Life Sect.
The White Bone Cave auction, known as the "Enlightenment Conference," was still thirty-seven years away.
To participate, Demon Cultivators were required to represent their respective Demon Sects, leaving Li Mo no choice but to bid under the No-Life Sect’s name.
The problem was, the temple priests of the No-Life Sect only functioned to spread their master’s titles and were under the strict control of the Twelve Immortals.
The temple priests rarely interacted with other forces in the Demon Sect.
If Li Mo were to attend the Enlightenment Conference, it would risk exposing his identity as one of the Thirteen Immortals...
"Oh well, it’s just my consciousness. If I use the temple priest to descend into White Bone Cave, no one should suspect me of being the Daoist of the Sub-Device Sect."
He pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation; luckily, there was still plenty of time before the Enlightenment Conference. For now, focusing on his forthcoming third Nascent Soul breakthrough was more important.
What interested Li Mo the most, however, wasn’t the auction itself but the massive quantity of unsold items left over afterward—and all these were dumped into the depths of White Bone Cave.
Li Mo approached the edge of the spine.
The mountain of skulls at the base was, in fact, composed of items left over from previous auctions. Cultivators could purchase these leftovers at discounted prices.
"For me, it’s practically a treasure trove."
Li Mo’s consciousness leapt downward.
The mountain of skulls appeared to contain tens of thousands of individual skulls, each equipped with minimal Mustard Space.
It could be expected that the unsold items merely consisted of low-level resources; otherwise, it wouldn’t be Core Formation Demon Cultivators scavenging the mountain.
Several Core Formation Demon Cultivators noticed Li Mo’s figure, their expressions twisting into subtle puzzlement.
Had a Nascent Soul cultivator fallen to scavenging for opportunities in White Bone Cave, vying for unsold items worth only a few Low Grade Spirit Stones’ profit margin?
Li Mo casually picked up a skull. Inside was stored a Low Grade spiritual material called "Withered Wood Yellow," which could be taken away for ten Low Grade Spirit Stones.
The nearby Core Formation Demon Cultivators could hear Li Mo’s consciousness muttering to himself.
"Withered Wood Yellow—a Low Grade spiritual material I’ve never encountered before."
Li Mo’s physical body placed Spirit Stones into the White Bone Incense Burner. Amid the spiraling white smoke, a dozen Spirit Stones materialized in the hands of his consciousness.
After paying with Spirit Stones, the fist-sized Withered Wood Yellow fell into his palm.
Li Mo examined it briefly; its quality was extremely poor, almost downgraded to a common medicinal ingredient, yet its price wasn’t exactly low.
It didn’t matter to him—as long as it was rare, it served his purpose.
Unfortunately, resources from the Sub-Device Sect were biased toward Gold and Earth Attributes, while Demon Sect items leaned toward Yin Blood Attributes, causing the Spirit Stone value to take a roughly twenty percent reduction in worth.
Li Mo tossed the Withered Wood Yellow toward the White Bone Cave’s exterior, where the spiritual material solidified and landed in Taiyin Law Heaven outside. His consciousness then resumed searching the unsold items.
The Core Formation Demon Cultivators reacted with mixed emotions.
On the one hand, they harbored resentment—how dare a Nascent Soul cultivator encroach on their meager scavenging trade? On the other hand, they were baffled by his willingness to spend so freely.
Li Mo paid little attention to the perceived value—he simply took possession of any useful resources.
Especially spell-related texts.
Although they were only applicable to low-level cultivators, the differences in cultivation systems posed no issue—they served as nourishing material for the Primordial Dao Seed.
Li Mo’s three primary cultivation techniques even showed slight improvements.
No one would suspect that one of the infamous Thirteen Immortals from the No-Life Sect was enthusiastically scavenging "garbage" at the bottom of White Bone Cave.
As he ventured deeper into the skull mountain, Li Mo noticed an increasing proportion of magical artifacts appearing.
Yet these weren’t ordinary magical artifacts—they seemed linked to Buddhist relics, resembling the True Word Sect’s Secret Bone he had once forged.
Items like the Great Golden Body Relics, White Bone Red Robe, Buddha Tooth Jaya...
Such circumstances couldn’t merely be coincidental.
"Enlightenment Conference."
Li Mo couldn’t help but murmur to himself. Although the Creation Book remained unresponsive, he suddenly remembered the Buddhist sect also had a term for "Enlightenment."
It referred to Shakyamuni achieving enlightenment beneath the Bodhi Tree.
"Clearly, the auction items sourced by the White Bone Sect have shady origins."
Li Mo narrowed his eyes. As his cultivation advanced, the cultivation world unfolded before him with increasing clarity, heightening a sense of unease.
At least the auction involved only consciousness—even if White Bone Sect intersected with the Buddhist sect, it wouldn’t concern him.
"No, my connection to external information is far too lacking. Establishing the Ancestor Platform must be expedited."
Li Mo fell deep into thought, a bold idea forming in his mind.