Longevity Strange Immortal-Chapter 554 - 70: The stage is big, watch me perform
Si Rui Zhai whispered: "Give me about two days, I need some time to think..."
Li Mo did not interfere with Si Rui Zhai. The latter, with her Cave Void Immortal Eye, could stealthily set up arrays, something Li Mo could not circumvent while under the watchful gaze of the Immortal’s dreamscape.
Qu Ai remained silent, activating her Immortal Body to probe the Door Guardian.
The three acted independently, the urgency of time leaving them no space for collaborative deliberation. The Door Guardian was highly likely to awaken within half a month.
Li Mo retrieved Qu Ai’s jade and, from the remaining traces, could discern that the spacing of a certain set of four characters indeed exhibited subtle differences.
The meaning remained unclear for the time being, though it might pertain to the ancient power struggles underpinning cosmic upheavals.
Li Mo vaguely remembered a type of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Material known as the **Wordless Heavenly Scripture**, where cultivators could inscribe their deepest wishes. These wishes, one day, would manifest as fortuitous opportunities.
Whether Chunyangzi managed to obtain the Wordless Heavenly Scripture was unknown.
Li Mo was unaffected by Chunyangzi’s influence on his mental realm. Taking advantage of Si Rui Zhai’s contemplation about how to place arrays within the Door Guardian’s body, he continued refining his organs relentlessly.
"Ten days—it might not be enough time to advance to the Mahayana Realm."
The main problem was a lack of Innate Essence. Li Mo could not undertake the direct shattering and restructuring required and had to carefully choose the most critical organs to refine.
Li Mo focused his attention on his head, though he dared not expose his brain directly to mutation.
The Door Guardian’s goal was body seizing. Who knows whether it would exploit the invasive effects of mutation?
Starting with his eyes, Li Mo gradually released his protective hold over his senses. His organs exhibited signs of mutation, bearing a faint resemblance to the mountain folk of Luo Zhouzhu village.
"Junior Brother, you..."
Qu Ai bore witness with a mix of horror and trepidation.
Li Mo’s approach seemed akin to actively courting deviation; one misstep could lead to a fate of death and Dao fading. Yet he seemed utterly unbothered.
Such an unconventional method of body refinement was something Qu Ai had never seen before.
What surprised her the most was that Li Mo not only endured the Immortal’s mutation, but the newly grown structure of his organs also transformed correspondingly.
"Didn’t Yu Xiao mention that Li Mo’s Immortal Body was somehow tied to Sword Dao? But... but why does this feel completely unrelated?"
"Could it be... a Double Immortal Body?!!"
Qu Ai couldn’t help but be taken aback. Despite the fact that all twelve members of their group possessed Immortal Bodies, theirs were the product of three lifetimes across tens of thousands of years, only perfected upon achieving the status of Land Immortals.
If Li Mo truly possessed a Double Immortal Body, then within the annals of cultivation history...
He could be said to be without precedent or successor.
"Junior Sister, Junior Brother, I’ve already mapped out the routes for the array setup." Si Rui Zhai’s voice interrupted Qu Ai, who responded with a bitter smile and a shake of her head.
"Eighth Senior Sister, how long can the array last?"
"It can persist for several years without issue. However, once activated, the Immortal will enter a state of violent frenzy. We’ll only have half a day to retrieve the elixir field."
Qu Ai murmured, "Half a day, then..."
Li Mo considered it briefly before laughing and remarking, "Half a day should suffice. Whether we succeed is uncertain, but we’ll definitely have enough time to flee."
"True enough."
Qu Ai hesitated, then turned to Li Mo and asked, "But Junior Brother, are you truly alright?"
"I’m fine, it’s just a minor injury."
Thud.
As Li Mo spoke, a muffled sound echoed from the back of his head, blood mixed with brain matter splattering outright. The nerves connecting his brainstem were subjected to the baptism of mutation.
He was quite content with the transformation of his flesh. Six-tenths were already complete.
After a few years of meticulous refining back at the Outer Heaven Crater, his flesh would likely advance to the Mahayana Realm. His Three Dharma Bodies might soon overcome their bottleneck.
Within his blood-flesh, a parasitic Spirit Root Worm wriggled.
Once recovered from his injuries, Li Mo temporarily halted his body refinement, saying, "Eighth Senior Sister, let’s not delay further—let’s finish laying out the array."
Si Rui Zhai softly declined, "It’s not time yet."
"What’s the matter?"
Li Mo furrowed his brows, realizing that Si Rui Zhai and Qu Ai’s journey to the Ancestor Court wasn’t solely for the Immortal Elixir Field—they clearly had deeper motives in mind.
Si Rui Zhai and Qu Ai exchanged glances. The former elaborated, "The Ancestor Court is surrounded by mortal corpses. We need to distribute them strategically among various factions to advance the course of cosmic upheaval."
"If cosmic upheaval is inevitable, why bother interfering further?"
Regardless of whether Zu Xiuyun’s sole aim was to ascend to the Immortal Realm, by now she had stretched her hand into the upheaval itself, inevitably instigating another cycle of rivalry.
Si Rui Zhai gazed into the endless chaos, responding, "It’s different. Those factions are all aiming to resurrect mortals. If they succeed, the upheaval’s consequences will become immeasurable."
"Moreover, the number of Land Immortals in the mortal world right now is simply excessive."
Li Mo was rendered speechless.
The resurrection of mortals would signify the complete disappearance of the Death Disease, obliterating the final restraint against the upheaval spiraling out of control. The boundary between the Immortal and Mortal Realms would collapse into anarchic madness.
If Zu Xiuyun had indeed undertaken such measures, it indicated these factions were perilously close to realizing mortal resurrection.
Li Mo recalled rumors of centenarians giving birth to infants. The number of factions secretly manipulating events behind the scenes was utterly incalculable.
By comparison, the corpses within and around the Ancestor Court were far closer to the concept of mortals.
Li Mo suspected Zu Xiuyun had hidden moves; she wouldn’t let cosmic upheaval repeat itself so easily. Beneath the obvious maneuvers lay concealed stratagems.
"Junior Brother, how long would it take you to complete the Golden Blood Formation?"
"One stick of incense at most."
"In that case, let’s wait a little longer. It’ll improve our odds, and a few extra days won’t make much difference." Si Rui Zhai’s gaze remained locked on the Door Guardian, monitoring its condition attentively.
Li Mo resumed refining his body, perplexing Qu Ai.
Don’t they realize they’re inside the Immortal’s body? The original plan was to steal organs—how did it escalate into outright plundering?
Rumble...
The ground quaked as the building expanded continuously in size, with signs of blood-flesh transformation growing increasingly pronounced. Veins spread across walls and floors.
Li Mo sensed the Door Guardian’s agitation, its desperate urge to escape the Ancestor Court.
He focused his thoughts, letting the Spirit Root Worm scatter its tendrils. A semi-real, semi-illusory realm enveloped the trio, shielding them from the Door Guardian’s perception.
"A spiritual treasure? No, it doesn’t seem like one."
Si Rui Zhai’s expression turned peculiar; an Immortal Artifact didn’t seem feasible either.
After all, it would take at least ten thousand years to perfect the Immortal Patterns on a spiritual treasure. Following the upheaval, spiritual energy had become turbid. The few leftover Immortal Artifacts had long been annihilated. Recreating them within eight to nine thousand years was impossible.
It seemed implausible that Li Mo, entering Tao just two thousand years ago, could already craft Immortal Artifacts.
The chaos surged more violently.
The faces of Shen Tu and Yu Lei grew increasingly vivid, intermixed with countless mountain folk, forming a grotesque mass assembled from an endless pile of corpses.
"Wa ya ya ya."
"In the present custom, every Laba Festival and Lunar New Year’s Eve, peach figures are crafted, rush ropes hung, tigers painted on doors, and two lanterns placed on either side, symbolizing tigers..."
The cacophony of voices was unrelenting. Mountain folk surrounding the Door Guardian muttered incessantly, as if returning to the early spring of Luo Zhou Town.
"Door Guardian, where are you?"
The Door Guardian hesitantly responded, "Here, I’m here."
"Eighth Senior Sister." Qu Ai furrowed her brows, dreading the moment when the Door Guardian might erupt into frantic violence.
"Relax, it remains unwilling to awaken completely. Things are going smoother than I anticipated—it might even allow us to retrieve additional Immortal Organs."
Li Mo shared the sentiment. If Immortal Organs had unique properties, he could use the Creation Book to imprint them; taking advantage of this moment was imperative.
"I’m here."
Following the Door Guardian’s roar, countless arms and legs grew from its base, supporting its three-to-four-kilometers-tall form as it advanced toward the depths of chaos.
"It’s preparing to leave the Ancestor Court." 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖
Li Mo and Si Rui Zhai noticed the distant anomaly simultaneously: a mass of piled white bones slowly forming into a blood-flesh gateway.
The blood-flesh was likely formed from cultivators who had ventured into the Ancestor Court.
No surprise, there was likely a similar blood-flesh gateway in the Northwest, certain to attract significant attention from various factions. Chaos was surely forthcoming.
"There are at least tens of thousands of cultivators outside the Ancestor Court. Junior Brother, when you draw the Spirit Patterns, don’t let your nerves get the better of you and misstep at the last moment."
"How could I?"
Si Rui Zhai chuckled lightly, "Regardless, we’ll only take the upper and lower elixir fields. The extra Immortal Organs are all yours, Junior Brother."
"Hehe, then I’ll take advantage of your generosity."
Arms sprouted from Li Mo’s ribs, gesturing and marking the walls and floor.
The Door Guardian seemed caught between dream and reality, repeatedly colliding with the blood-flesh gateway, squeezing its enormous body into its folds. The human-faced mountain folk wailed incessantly.
The Immortal awoke.
Various gateways emerged within the room, and the trio felt their own flesh and bones slipping out of control, as though destined to join the gateways in forming.
Fortunately, thanks to the Immortal Body’s protection, staying within the Immortal was manageable for the short term.
"Junior Brother, begin the array setup."
Starlight shimmered in Si Rui Zhai’s gaze, revealing the Door Guardian’s intricate network of pathways.
Spiritual power traced these pathways; the array’s Spirit Patterns were cleverly hidden in the dark.
Li Mo glanced around curiously, wondering if Si Rui Zhai confronted the Heavenly Dao, what Chunyangzi might look like through Eighth Senior Sister’s perspective.
"It’s time."
Li Mo took a deep breath, his body expanding to over twenty meters.
Numerous arms began inscribing Spirit Patterns. His speed seemed slow, as it was dictated by adjustments based on the Door Guardian’s condition.
Yet... his precision was utterly breathtaking.
Multi-tasking without error—in the cultivation world, only Li Mo managed such feats.
......
Northwest region.
Despite being a barren plain, dozens of mountains had abruptly appeared—a testament to mid-sized and larger sects moving their mountains to the Ancestor Court’s outskirts.
A blood-flesh gateway floated above, with shredded Door Guardian skin crawling outward.
Once they realized an Immortal resided within the Ancestor Court, obsession overtook restraint.
Every faction sought to secure its share.
None explicitly mentioned cosmic upheaval, yet all sought to grasp it as a catalyst for their ambitions.
Tai Ci stood atop a peak, staring at the Door Guardian as its skin sizzled under the corrosive influence of the Death Disease, its aura feeble.
A voice echoed from within the mountain, "Taiyi Taoist disappeared mere days ago—and now the Ancestor Court is in upheaval? Tai Ci, are you certain you have nothing to do with this?"
Tai Ci hesitated, "A Body Integration Realm cultivator couldn’t have influenced the Ancestor Court."
"A single Body Integration Realm isn’t sufficient."
Rumble, rumble...
At this moment, patterns from an array emerged on the Door Guardian’s surface—clearly the handiwork of external interference.
The assembled Land Immortals extended their Divine Sense outward, observing figures within who were audaciously laying arrays. These figures used the Immortal’s body as a foundation to construct an incomparably intricate array.
"Taiyi Taoist, Si Rui Zhai, Qu Ai—three of the Thirteen Immortals have arrived."
"Such audacity, such audacity indeed. I must see for myself what kind of prowess the Thirteen Immortals possess to manipulate a **Incense Fire Dead Immortal** so boldly."
