"A final reminder for you."

"The perception range of deceitful objects is half a meter. If any unusual activity appears among the Sword Ghosts, all Sword Ghosts within half a meter will immediately riot."

Li Mo saw Lu Yuan preparing to leave and quickly asked, "Elder Lu Yuan, how can I acquire the Void Refining Stage cultivation technique inheritance?"

Lu Yuan stopped in his tracks, casting a subtle glance at Li Mo.

In his memory, Luo Yang had brought Li Mo to the Great Sun Sword Tomb not long ago; at the time, his cultivation should have still been at Nascent Soul Stage Perfection.

Now, it wouldn't take long before Li Mo advanced to the Heavenly Palace Stage.

Lu Yuan's tone softened slightly. "Taiyi, the Void Refining Stage techniques are not preserved by Sword Cultivators; they are all hidden within the Twenty-Eight Sword Tombs."

"Once you reach Divine Separation Stage Perfection, Luo Yang will naturally arrange for you to head to the center of the Sword Tombs to comprehend the Void Refining Stage techniques."

Li Mo said no more, but immediately realized that advancing to the Void Refining Stage would not be so optimistic.

The Great Sun Sword Tomb symbolizes Yang Attribute techniques, whereas his Buddha Demon Dharma Body involved Yin Yang Dual Attributes, and his Externalized Dharma Body could not advance separately.

"When the cart reaches the mountain, there'll be a way forward. Perhaps I can acquire several cultivation techniques, allowing the Tao Seed to deduce the Void Refining content on its own."

Li Mo wanted to inquire about exchanging resources for Yang Niu's stomach but found that Lu Yuan had already walked far away.

The city fell into silence.

The Sword Cultivators visiting the Grave Mound Sword Tomb had no intention of showing themselves, as the illusion realm was fraught with danger far beyond imagination, where even grass and wood could incite fear.

The death of a single mortal could lead thousands of Sword Ghosts to spiral out of control.

"But with it being this prone to chaos, how has the Grave Mound still maintained order? If it were the Great Sun Sword Tomb, it would have long become hell on earth."

Li Mo couldn't help but speculate.

"Perhaps the Grave Mound Sword Tomb is perpetually falling into ruin. When recruiting disciples, they may be forced to confront countless Sword Ghosts."

Li Mo's expression turned immeasurably grim, but currently, he had no effective measures to counter this.

According to Lu Yuan, they shouldn't have to stay long in the Grave Mound Sword Tomb, though the inherent unpredictability remained exceptional.

Fortunately, the courtyard chosen by Lu Yuan was strategically located, relatively sparse in Sword Ghost activity.

As night descended, the painful wails of elderly figures echoed intermittently, starkly contrasting the bustling lantern-lit district.

The alleys exuded an inexplicable stench.

Rodents skittered past the wall corners.

These rats' true forms likely originated from the tomb's corpses, rendered weak-willed due to innate defects, transforming in the illusion realm into beings devoid of Spiritual Wisdom.

Each of the Twenty-Eight Sword Tombs adhered to singular and orderly rules, wholly distinct from the mortal realm.

To Li Mo, regardless of the environment, it was an excellent cultivation site; he had only been in the Grave Mound Sword Tomb for several hours yet had already gained much.

On the surface of the Symbiotic Dharma Body, twisted, pitch-black patterns intertwined.

Ghost Subordinate Sword Intent: Soul Shattering.

Standing by the window, Li Mo extended his fingers, from which gray mist-like Sword Qi emerged.

His Cave God's Eye analyzed the distribution of Spiritual Energy within the Grave Mound Sword Tomb, revealing it was indeed far inferior in purity to the Great Sun Sword Tomb.

"Sixty percent Yin Attribute Spiritual Energy, thirty percent Ghostly Spirit Energy, with the remaining composed of Poison, Blood, and Water Attributes."

Li Mo's eyes glimmered with thought.

By all accounts, if he obtained the Taoist inheritance of the Grave Mound Sword Tomb, he could certainly deduce the primary cultivation techniques of Ghost Tiger, and possibly even those belonging to Candle Dragon.

Among the seven Tattooed Beasts, only Ghost Tiger and Candle Dragon still possessed Void Spiritual Power; perhaps the Great Wilderness Immortal Body had not transcended mortality, correlating with the Tattooed Beasts.

Li Mo scanned the streets and alleys. With Spirit Root Worm empowering his Cave God's Eye, the truth behind the illusion realm occasionally became clear—countless corpses strewn everywhere.

The Grave Mound Sword Tomb was essentially a vast chaotic burial mound.

"There must be over a million corpses here. If I could absorb them into the Corpse Mountain Mini World, the Spirit Root Worm might immediately ascend to a Spiritual Treasure..."

Li Mo suppressed his stray thoughts.

Even Lu Yuan, who had reached the Void Refining Stage, had to disguise himself as a Yellow Ox, an indication of the horrifying danger posed by the Grave Mound Sword Tomb. Until its nature was fully understood, it would be wise to proceed cautiously.

"Cough, cough, cough..."

A series of hacking coughs came from a neighboring courtyard. Li Mo instinctively looked up, noticing blood slowly seeping from the wall crevices.

An elderly woman stood with difficulty by the nearby window.

She stretched out her arm, beckoning toward Li Mo repeatedly.

The woman appeared to be over a hundred years old. Her skin resembled layers of weathered leather, dotted with corpse spots, as she tilted her head with a grim, eerie smile.

Her lips trembled, seemingly suppressing an overwhelming hunger.

Li Mo narrowed his eyes as wisps of cancer cells began to diffuse.

"The mortal shell is on the verge of decay, and with consciousness nearing the end, it feels like she's about to transform into a deceitful object. Damn, the Grave Mound is wicked."

Twisted transformations acted upon his own body.

Li Mo's mouth stretched wide to his ears; an overwhelming, beast-like aura radiated as he opened his bloodied maw, bristling with razor-sharp teeth that evoked primal terror.

He smiled sinisterly at the old woman, his slit pupils exuding a tangible hunger.

The old woman's expression froze stiff; her figure retreated into the darkness of her dwelling, and the harsh coughing sounds abruptly ceased.

"Heh heh heh..."

"Scared of the strong, are you?"

Li Mo suppressed his distorted form, reverting his body to its ordinary state, then quickly set up a basic arrangement within the courtyard to ward off any unforeseen dangers.

For the following days, he focused entirely on his Earth Essence Golden Core.

At the same time, his Divine Separation refined magic artifacts within the Corpse Mountain Mini World—not concerned with their quality, as they were destined to be used merely as nutrients for cultivating the Dan Tree.

Planting the Dan Tree wasn't an overnight endeavor; with over six hundred thousand tenants within the Corpse Mountain, it was no minor task.

Li Mo's accumulated resources had so far only birthed over ten thousand Dan Trees. To blanket the Corpse Mountain Mini World entirely with them would take immense effort.

The progress of his Earth Essence Golden Core cultivation exceeded expectations, advancing at a rate that could only be described as astonishing. The Alchemy Furnace voraciously absorbed Spiritual Energy.

Even his Dharma Body, leveraging his status as an Innate Saint, helped supplement the Earth Essence Golden Core.

Half a year later.

Li Mo successfully advanced to the Condensation Stage, and the Earth Essence Golden Core again resonated with an urge to devour medicinal properties, its form seeming ready to sprout and take root like a seed.

He brought the Artifact Infant into the Corpse Mountain Mini World, forging corpse remnants infused with magnetic forces.

Astoundingly, the Earth Essence Golden Core absorbed the medicinal energy of five thousand tenants before settling down, nurturing countless small-scale Golden Cores.

At the same time, Li Mo noticed fine cracks forming on the Earth Essence Golden Core.

Upon seeing the change, his confidence grew; it seemed likely that his Dan Artifact and Earth Essence Golden Core could fuse as one, although the method would undoubtedly differ from other Externalized Dharma Bodies.

"Hmm?"

Li Mo opened his eyes to an unsettling scene: the nearby old woman was hammering her skull against the walls.

She seemed to sense Li Mo's scrutiny, her movements softening briefly, but not long after, she resumed tormenting herself with undiminished fervor.

Blood mingled with brain matter seeped from the door cracks.

Click... click... click...

The old woman struggled to step out of her dwelling, her eyes reflecting an indescribable fear, her trembling lips mumbling, "Who am I?"

She collapsed to her knees, her hands incredulously exploring her face.

"Who am I? Where is this place? It hurts... my body hurts so much..."

At first glance, it seemed as though the old woman's consciousness had awoken spontaneously before her death, yet the longer Li Mo watched, the more it resembled someone rousing from sleep.

Perhaps the lifeless husks cultivated by the Grave Mound Sword Tomb had all once been alive?

Just like the Sword Ghosts haunting the copper mirror.

The woman's Spiritual Wisdom lasted only ten minutes before reverting to incoherence, scooping handfuls of soil and stuffing them into her mouth.

A moment later, sharp crackling emitted from her skeletal frame.

Her flesh collapsed, blood poured from her mouth and nose, and her bones folded and overlapped as if twisted into knots—the tormenting screams even made Li Mo's hair stand on end.

Under Li Mo's watchful gaze, she was grotesquely and inexplicably transformed into a wooden chair.

The wood's grain eerily resembled flesh; dark red lacquer oozed with beads of blood, resting motionlessly against the courtyard wall.

"When the physical body perishes, it degenerates into a Sword Ghost—no wonder the Grave Mound's Sword Ghost population is staggeringly rampant."

At this rate, accumulating more would inevitably trigger disaster. Even within the Twenty-Eight Sword Tombs, the number of sealed deceitful objects had its limits.

Li Mo's gaze flickered thoughtfully.

He studied the chair for an extended period and, certain that no Sword Ghosts lay within half a meter, discreetly infused the chair with cancer cells.

Its structure betrayed no signs of deceitful object properties.

Li Mo summoned the Corpse Mountain and remotely attempted to retrieve the chair as a magic treasure. Yet the moment it entered the Corpse Mountain Mini World, it immediately sprouted flesh and blood.

In mere moments, a towering hundred-meter humanoid Sword Ghost rampaged wildly through the mountain ranges.

Fortunately, the Sword Ghost was only at the Nascent Soul Stage and was swiftly subdued by Li Mo, sealed in the trapped sword platform under careful study for viable countermeasures.

"If I don't wish to stir up chaos, I'll have to remove every Sword Ghost from a determined radius."

"The problem is, there's no way to discern Sword Ghosts' strength—what if it's a Night Patrol Deity? The entire Corpse Mountain Mini World would be utterly devastated."

After deliberating for a long time, Li Mo decided to abandon the idea.

Causing trouble in the Grave Mound Sword Tomb was tantamount to seeking death. Fortunately, the venture wasn't entirely fruitless; at least he confirmed the trapped sword platform's utility.

Li Mo waited silently within the house. The Grave Mound Sword Tomb exuded an exaggerated semblance of celebration everywhere—lanterns and ornaments lending a festive air.

He realized that the recruitment of disciples likely pertained to the transmission of Taoist teachings.

"Just another group of wandering spirits re-enacting apocalyptic rituals, reflecting the upheaval of heaven and earth?"

The wailing of the elderly finally subsided.

The surrounding courtyards grew eerily vacant but simultaneously became cluttered with bizarre furniture.

Li Mo seized the opportunity to collect several pieces and, to his surprise, discovered a beast-like Tao body hidden within them. Unfortunately, even after the Great Wilderness Immortal Body absorbed it, there was no breakthrough transformation.

Within the town, the atmosphere descended into a strange and inexplicable frenzy.

Fragments of memory surfaced in Li Mo's Creation Book, scenes almost identical to the Grave Mound Sword Tomb's chaotic festival, suggesting echoes from an era of apocalyptic upheaval where mortals had plunged into madness.

The air grew thick with the stench of blood.

Where the town's Teaching Daoist Temple should have stood, there was instead an unusual altar upon which were arrayed over a thousand divine statues.

Mortals, devoid of rationality, sliced off their own eyeballs and threw them onto the altar.

Next came their limbs.

Severed flesh littered the ground as abundant Spiritual Energy surged forth.

Only those with independent consciousness avoided the influence, choosing to lock themselves indoors in fear—just like the residents of Wumen City during the apocalyptic chaos.

Through his Cave God's Eye, Li Mo observed the deceitful objects' aura growing increasingly agitated.

Moo—

The sound of a Yang Niu's bellows echoed nearby, followed by Lu Yuan's commanding whisper, "No matter what method you use, kill all the Sword Ghosts."

Li Mo's pupils contracted.

Above the Grave Mound Sword Tomb, thick clouds sealed the skies, rendering departure impossible.

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