Longevity Strange Immortal-Chapter 564 - 80: What Lies Above the 9 Heavens

"Ye Zhuo, stay in the Corpse Wine for now."

Li Mo didn’t wait for Ye Zhuo Daoist to reply and directly threw him into the Doulu Tripod, using the Corpse Wine to suppress the potential loss of control from his mutation.

Ye Zhuo Daoist had nearly succumbed to deviation just by passing through a mortal town.

It’s hard to imagine the fate of cultivators who usually slay demons and banish ghosts. Eighty percent of them likely became monsters under the distortion of all sentient beings’ willpower.

"They’re here."

"Prepare yourselves, we’re about to set off on the journey to the Immortal Realm."

As soon as Li Mo finished speaking, the surface of Jianmu revealed hand-drawn-like patterns, alongside twisted hieroglyphic symbols that seemed steeped in thousands of years of history.

He suspected that Zu Xiuyun had forcibly inserted the story of the twelve Jianmu into the records, fabricating a myth that was now gradually manifesting.

In this manner, Jianmu truly possessed the power to reach the heavens and earth.

However, as time passed, the Word-to-law principle could very well distort Jianmu, leaving them with little time.

"We must hurry to the Ancestor Court, meet up with the senior sisters, and then head to the Immortal Realm."

Li Mo summoned a colossal Sword Shuttle spanning over a thousand meters. Although it wasn’t a Spiritual Treasure, its protective tendencies as a High-Grade Magical Treasure were more than sufficient.

Hummm～～

The Kun Whale let out a long cry, actively merging with the gigantic Sword Shuttle. The treasure revealed the characteristics of the Tattooed Beast, becoming increasingly mystical.

"I’ve inscribed thirty-six arrays within the treasure. Each of you is responsible for an array eye. If anything seems amiss, inform me immediately."

Li Mo transmitted this information to all cultivators.

The Kun Whale opened its mouth and sucked, bringing everyone into its belly. Inside was a ship-cabin-like structure, small in area yet fully equipped with necessities.

Without wasting another word, they proceeded to the rooms containing the array eyes.

Duke of Thunder opened the door and saw a spacious room filled with various resources, such as Soul Calming Sandalwood Incense that stabilized mental realms; a top-quality Spirit Gathering Array that filtered Spiritual Energy; Corpse Wine Elixirs infused with pure Spiritual Power...

"Impressive. Other Innate Immortal Seeds definitely don’t have an environment like ours."

"Indeed," Lu Yuan’s voice came from the adjacent area, showing that the massive Sword Shuttle had removed barriers to Divine Sense, opting instead for verbal communication.

Rumble, rumble, rumble.

Jianmu shook, and the surrounding ground fractured with spreading cracks.

The previously set arrays fragmented under the overwhelming force. Jianmu evidently started growing, likely already approaching the Ancestor Court.

The Kun Whale flapped its wings and blended into the clouds, shooting upward through the sky.

The expression of all cultivators shifted as they watched the ground swiftly recede into the distance, while the richness of Spiritual Energy gradually thinned.

Li Mo’s Cave God’s Eye noticed hundreds of cultivators hastening toward Jianmu.

They were not Land Immortals, and most of them were merely in the Nascent Soul Stage. Drawn by the terror of the world’s transformation, they were wagering everything for a chance.

It was better than staying in the mortal world waiting to die.

Li Mo looked at them with serene eyes and murmured under his breath.

"In folk legends, all the winds in the world come from a cloth bag, suspended above the Nine Heavens, scattering mortals who dare approach."

The Kun Whale’s speed slowed momentarily, as the Gang Wind intensified before them.

Fortunately, the Tattooed Beast possessed aspects of the Great Wilderness Immortal Body and quickly adapted to the wind. The scars on its surface healed at an accelerated pace.

Desperate cries for help resounded.

More than a dozen figures could no longer endure the Gang Wind and plummeted toward the ground.

Their Spirit Shields had torn apart, and their Spiritual Power failed to coalesce in time, likely resulting in their demise and Dao disappearing.

Other cultivators hesitated briefly but continued following the Kun Whale.

With the Kun Whale shielding them from the Gang Wind, they had a sliver of hope to reach the Ancestor Court, though this path was undoubtedly a one-way road with no return.

Li Mo said, "Li Li, place sixteen High Grade Spirit Stones into the array eyes to channel the Gang Wind into the Kun Whale’s dorsal vents."

"Understood."

Though unsure of Li Mo’s intentions, Li Li quickly complied.

The arrays of the massive Sword Shuttle were intricately layered, interconnected in a way that resonated throughout.

When Li Li adjusted hers, the rest of the arrays underwent subtle but noticeable changes, their mystical complexity earning the admiration of the cultivators.

Especially Five Heads Taoist—its Le Shou stared intently at the arrays without blinking.

Interestingly, Five Heads Taoist’s soul was heavily fragmented, affecting its daily behavior but also providing an unexpected advantage.

The five heads could work independently while sharing memories and maintaining isolated thoughts. Over thousands of years, it had honed its cultivation techniques.

Le Shou excelled in array Tao.

In some sense, it could be considered a low-grade version of the Tao Seed.

Zhang Qiyang, responsible for an array that monitored the Kun Whale’s organs, exclaimed, "Taiyi, be careful! There’s Gang Wind infiltrating the Sword Shuttle..."

"It’s fine."

Li Mo spread his arms, letting the Gang Wind sufficient to greatly injure a Body Integration Realm cultivator sweep over him. Every fiber of his flesh and bone seemed to rejoice in response.

"Ah, long-lost Gang Wind refinement. Perhaps it might help strengthen my physical body further."

The other cultivators remained silent. They had already ascended tens of thousands of meters, and if Li Mo could withstand such winds using his bare body, then...

When Li Mo eventually reached the Transcendance Tribulation Stage, wouldn’t he be able to traverse the void with his flesh alone and arrive at the Ancestor Court?

The Kun Whale broke through the cloud layer.

The air was now incredibly thin—they had arrived at the fabled Nine Heavens Above, where the Gang Wind escalated to power comparable to the Mahayana Realm.

Apart from the ocean-like blanket of clouds, the only visible elements were twelve Jianmu trees piercing the heavens.

Li Mo opened his mouth to swallow the Gang Wind, allowing his internal organs to undergo its refinement as well.

"Ah, what a crisp autumn."

No one responded to Li Mo; they had long grown accustomed to his demeanor, choosing instead to conserve their energy and maintain peak spirit, energy, and vitality.

"What... is that?" Duke of Thunder asked in disbelief.

The cultivators turned their gaze toward distant clouds, where a being seemed to be approaching Jianmu. He Guo’s eyes widened in alarm, shouting, "Something sinister is incoming!"

"That’s a cloth bag containing Gang Wind."

Li Mo narrowed his eyes and infused Spiritual Power into the Kun Whale, causing its speed to soar.

In the blink of an eye, a massive shadow reached Jianmu. The trailing cultivators didn’t dare face it directly, hurriedly hiding behind the tree.

Bang.

An indescribable deceitful object broke through the clouds.

Its form resembled a flapping wing but also evoked the image of human skin missing a skull. Its wrinkled face and gaping blood-red mouth endlessly released Gang Wind.

"No, no, no!!!"

Some cultivators wept bitterly, cursing the heavens and earth in fury, as if everything were just a distorted dream.

"Please, don’t kill me..."

The Gang Wind swept through, and the cultivators disappeared into the Human Skin Cloth Bag’s maw.

The cloth bag bit into Jianmu, unable to shake the tree trunk but causing many cultivators to lose balance and fall, meeting their gruesome end as its feast.

Inside the Kun Whale, the cultivators witnessed the sanguine carnage outside but felt no pity.

Perhaps prior to the upheaval of the world, they still harbored empathy for the weak, but now, anyone could become a sacrifice to calamity.

By the later stages of this transformation, even Immortals would not be spared.

"Be alert! We have no more than ten days before reaching the Endless Void."

Li Mo reminded them, adding that they must use Corpse Wine without hesitation and maintain their Spiritual Power in peak condition at all times.

The Human Skin Cloth Bag, after feasting on some cultivators, seemed uninterested in small prey.

It quickly locked onto the Kun Whale, maintaining a hundred-meter distance from Jianmu, while attempting to exploit flaws in the arrays with Gang Wind.

All the cultivators were on edge.

Array damage was inevitable, yet the interconnected nature of the arrays prevented catastrophic failures, with Five Heads Taoist taking charge of repairs.

Li Mo glanced at Ye Zhuo Daoist, whose mutation seemed stable.

"Come out, Ye Zhuo. Be sure to cooperate obediently with Five Heads Taoist."

"Understood."

Li Mo had already transmitted the situation to Ye Zhuo Daoist previously. The latter chuckled foolishly, flipped out of the Doulu Tripod, and moved to the adjacent room.

Ye Zhuo Daoist’s carefree demeanor made it seem as though he was certain of his Immortal ascension.

Li Mo sensed cancer cells intentionally left in the mortal world abruptly vanishing; to be precise, all disease-related bacteria had completely disappeared.

This proved that the mortal world had now become the epicenter of the storm.

He wasn’t sure if the various factions had achieved their goals, but the scattered thoughts of mortals greatly increased the chances of distorted Word-to-law manifestations.

"The mortal world has gone mad."

The Human Skin Cloth Bag sprouted limbs, with its facial features vaguely resembling those of a woman.

"The legend of the Gang Wind Cloth Bag has merged with the Wind Lady. Heh, an imagined deceitful object turned Immortal God is about to be born."

Bang.

The Kun Whale’s tail trembled as the Gang Wind released by the Tattooed Beast split its skin. Fortunately, the winds were channeled directly into Li Mo’s room.

Li Mo’s palm flickered with sword light but dissipated gradually.

"Do not retaliate. We must seize every second."

With the Word-to-law principle embedded, the Human Skin Cloth Bag was both undying and unextinguishable, capable of reviving endlessly through mortals’ thoughts.

He Guo stammered, "There’s... water flowing above us, no, it’s a vast ocean, ahhhh."

The flowing water crashed repeatedly, revealing that between the mortal world and the Endless Void lay a sea.

"It’s the Returning Ruins."

Li Mo casually added, "A part of the Returning Ruins resides in the depths of the Endless Star Sea, while another part lies above the Nine Heavens. Fascinating."

The Cave God’s Eye observed the boundless ocean raging overhead.

The sea was crowded with countless twisted figures. Nine thousand years ago, many believed that the end of life was the Returning Ruins, where the deceased’s consciousness would be forcibly transported upon death.

Transforming into tormented Water Ghosts.

"Corpses..."

Zhang Qiyang’s face turned pale, spotting countless bodies drifting toward the Returning Ruins.

Most of the corpses were bloated, seemingly relying on the buoyancy of their inflated stomachs to ascend. Their stiff expressions before death betrayed their fear of the Returning Ruins.

"You think it, therefore it exists."

As the corpses touched the waters of the Returning Ruins, they began to swim.

Moments later, hints of joy gleamed in their eyes as if they hadn’t expected to survive even after reaching the Returning Ruins.

But within a breath.

The infinite pressure of the Returning Ruins’ abyss bore down on the corpses.

Bones shattered, flesh collapsed.

The corpses could not find true release. The mortal understanding of the Returning Ruins embraced all dead souls, condemning them to eternal torment of being torn apart.

Li Mo remained utterly calm, as other Tattooed Beasts gradually integrated into the Kun Whale.

The Kun Whale swelled to over eight kilometers long.

"In half an incense stick’s time, we will tread upon the Returning Ruins. Use all measures to protect your bodies."

"Even Land Immortals cannot linger long in the Returning Ruins. We must cross it within two days and reach the Endless Void."