Li Mo carefully confirmed the number of Heart Stealing Demon Cultivators—it should be around three hundred or so.

"Hiss..."

He noticed that the state of the demon cultivators was extremely strange. Clearly, their cultivation was only at the Weak Crown Period, yet their Divine Sense Strength had already reached the Nascent Soul Stage.

"Heart Stealing Demon Sect? It must be a small branch of the Ten Thousand Demon Dao."

The information about the Ten Thousand Demon Dao was abuzz in the black market. Li Mo had deliberately collected it before, and the Heart Stealing Demon Sect was considered a relatively obscure branch sect.

To join the Heart Stealing Demon Sect required the Childhood Death Disease with rotting internal organs. The cultivation process involved seizing someone's heart and then using it to gradually erode the entire body's flesh, bones, and blood.

When a demon cultivator reached the Weak Crown Period, they would completely degenerate into a solitary heart.

It was said that the cultivation technique of the Heart Stealing Demon Sect had an upper limit of only the Weak Crown Period—no records existed of stages beyond Core Formation.

Moreover, demon cultivators in this sect could not control spells. Their true form was merely an unimpressive heart, with thin Spiritual Power, decaying flesh, and a fragile state that could even make them easy prey for mortals if careless.

For a Heart Stealing Demon Cultivator to progress further, they had to seize another body.

By transplanting themselves into someone else's body, they had a chance to dominate it. Seizing a Core Formation cultivator would allow them to count as a Core Formation Stage demon cultivator.

Li Mo had heard a chilling rumor—there had been a Heart Stealing Demon Cultivator who successfully seized a Nascent Soul Stage body and slaughtered an entire small sect overnight.

"The Ten Thousand Demon Dao must be planning something big. They're still fixated on that Fake Heavenly Dao."

Currently, a large number of Heart Stealing Demon Cultivators were quietly hiding within the embryos of Deceitful Objects, clearly waiting to seize control of the Taoist School in Business Leader City.

As the embryos continued to grow, the aura of the Heart Stealing Demon Cultivators was also gradually vanishing. In a short time, they would completely disappear like drops of water into the sea.

"Who knows where the Void Refining Stage Elder is, and I can't contact Luo Yang alone for now. I'll let the situation unfold for now and see if I can exploit some chaos in the Demon Cave..."

Li Mo narrowed his eyes, and one by one, cancer cells quietly attached themselves to the Heart Stealing Demon Cultivators.

To avoid detection, the cancer cells lay dormant inside the bodies of the Heart Stealing Demon Cultivators. Even the Da Ai Mi Tian did not actively communicate with the cancer cells.

Once the embryos fully grew, the many Heart Stealing Demon Cultivators would blend into the teams infiltrating Business Leader City.

At the arrival of Purple Qi Comes from the East, they began attempting to access the cultivation system of the Four Taoist Lords, but their progress was far slower compared to the Deceitful Objects.

Their actions were highly inconspicuous, but the population of Business Leader City had already exceeded a million, so the presence of merely two or three hundred demon cultivators went unnoticed.

Li Mo only kept part of his attention on them while he focused his energy on advancing through meticulous effort.

"Southeast corner! An immortal is leading the Deceitful Objects to break through the first layer of the Nine Curves Chain Formation!!"

"Ye Zhuo, patch it up!"

Daoist Bai Shuo roared hoarsely as the Blood Soul transformed into a net, forcibly holding up the breached section of the Nine Curves Chain Formation. Another twenty or thirty Sword Cultivators rushed forward to defend it while the array repaired itself.

The defense of Cancer Island was stabilizing, but every moment, more than a thousand Taoist Children were being turned into pulp, and several Sword Cultivators were heavily injured.

Fortunately, the Wine Lake had cost Li Mo less than a tenth of its reserves, and with the Salamander's aid, the Sword Cultivators' recovery efficiency greatly improved.

Among the Five Sects, the Heavenly Sword Sect's situation was the most relaxed.

At least, the Daoists of the other sects had already joined the fight, while Li Mo remained at ease, closed in solitary cultivation. Strangely, no one objected.

Perhaps this was the privilege of vast wealth.

The sheer number of Deceitful Objects meant the benefits they brought far surpassed the ordinary.

Even though the Deceitful Object corpses had to be divided among everyone within the Sword Array, they could still redeem a jar of Nascent Soul Stage Corpse Wine every few days.

Later, Li Mo offered a large quantity of Mid-Upper Grade Spiritual Materials. Although the exchange conditions were strict, for the Sword Cultivators, it felt like charity.

After all, they had no choice but to defend Cancer Island with their lives, even without resources.

Whenever the Sword Cultivators recalled Li Mo's ability to command "All Swords Return to the Sect," capable of destroying all Deceitful Objects singlehandedly, they couldn't help but work even harder.

Li Mo was happy to see this.

The resources within the Corpse Mountain Mini World were already saturated, with an exaggerated surplus in storage. Using this opportunity to expend some less valuable spiritual materials was far better than letting Plant and Tree Cultivators use them as fertilizer for tree planting.

Besides, as the chief of the Great Sun Sword Tomb, giving benefits to the Sword Cultivators beneath him secured his position as a hands-off shopkeeper in the future.

"Hoo."

Li Mo exhaled a deep breath. His Artifact Core Nascent Soul finally reached a critical breakthrough point.

The Melting Furnace Elixir Cauldron had already mostly fused, and the temperature in his Dantian had skyrocketed by a hundredfold. Spiritual Power twisted into unstable currents, crackling audibly.

Sizzle, sizzle.

Li Mo endured the intense pain, coaxing the Dan Infant closer to the Artifact Infant.

The two lingered near the Divine Separation Stage's boundary for a long time, yet they had not managed to successfully promote.

Li Mo suspected the Artifact Core Nascent Soul's bond was too tight, preventing the two from harmonizing and crossing the promotion threshold.

The Dan Infant's roots wrapped around the Artifact Infant, showing no resistance at all.

Li Mo's expression brightened as he observed the Dan Infant successfully rooting. At the moment the two streams of Spiritual Power intertwined, both Nascent Souls began to break through their bottleneck.

Boom.

A momentary lapse allowed the energy of the nascent soul transformation into an Externalized Dharma Body to leak out.

The Sword Cultivators immediately recognized Li Mo advancing to the Divine Separation Stage, their faces filled with disbelief.

Li Mo's aura was robust and pure, clearly not from the Taoist inheritance of the Heavenly Sword Sect. Only the medicinal scent hinted at a connection to Pill Cultivation.

Within the Great Sun Sword Tomb, there was a longstanding rumor.

The Thirteen Immortals did not solely dedicate themselves to the Sword Dao. They also cultivated certain techniques, giving Li Mo two distinct Externalized Dharma Bodies.

The truth of the rumor was hard to discern, as a Dharma Body was essentially a cultivator's true self, fungible even to the point of abandoning the physical shell at the Heavenly Palace Stage.

Two Dharma Bodies? Wasn't that courting disaster from internal rebellion?

Li Mo's sudden promotion to Divine Separation Stage made the Sword Cultivators aware that the rumor was true—the Taoist Body of the Thirteen Immortals had certainly reached the level of an Immortal Body.

Otherwise, how could the co-existence of two Dharma Bodies possibly be explained?

"Hiss..."

Daoist Ye Zhuo inhaled sharply, muttering internally, "Wasn't it a Dual Dharma Body already? Is Senior Brother Taiyi going crazy, creating another one for himself?"

He swallowed hard, realizing his mortal imagination couldn't fathom it.

"But Senior Brother's Immortal Body really is perfectly suited for Yin and Yang Dual Cultivation. No wonder... No wonder, indeed. My vision remains so limited."

The scattered thoughts of the Sword Cultivators caused a slight flaw to appear in the Blade-Grinding Sword Array.

The Taoist Children instinctively swarmed toward the weakness in the Sword Array, sending seven or eight Sword Cultivators flying and allowing tens of thousands of Taoist Children to pour into the Nine Curves Chain Formation.

"Kill, kill, kill!"

"For the Dao Jun, annihilate the Outer Heaven Demons!"

"Lord Chaoxi above, Lord Yang De above!"

The Taoist Children had twisted expressions. Outwardly, they were identical to orthodox Taoists, but their Deceitful Object nature was now unmistakable.

They clawed at each other's severed limbs, devouring them incessantly.

Daoist Bai Shuo's complexion darkened.

In a moment of distraction, the first three layers of the Nine Curves Chain Formation had already been damaged.

Some blood pillars on Cancer Island were exposed, with Taoist Children frantically gnawing at them, heedless of even gut-tearing agony.

"Jiang Xi, send in those cultivators still in good condition. Otherwise, we'll collapse completely!"

"Understood."

Jiang Xi expertly selected over thirty cultivators, all simultaneously mounting their Flying Swords and taking to the air.

Various Yang Attribute Sword Intents mingled, and combined with organ-shaped Lifebound Flying Swords, temporarily formed a blood-and-flesh Kirin Exotic Beast.

The Sword Array [Yang Beast]

The radiance sealed the breach as the Taoist Children hurled themselves at the Kirin Exotic Beast like moths to a flame.

The Deceitful Objects had no regard for strategy, simply using the Taoist Children to exhaust the Sword Array. After all, with the Dao Jun awakened, the Deceitful Objects were an unending stream.

"This is trouble…"

Daoist Bai Shuo furrowed his brows tightly.

Though the situation seemed to have returned to the Sword Cultivators' control, the Nine Curves Chain Formation struggled to heal itself, requiring them to retreat by nearly a kilometer.

This shift in distance only worsened their position. They had no way of knowing how much longer they'd need to hold out in the Demon Cave, and any mistake could spell the end of the Great Sun Sword Tomb.

"We must seize the chance to forcibly drive the Deceitful Objects out."

Daoist Bai Shuo narrowed his eyes before opening his mouth. Suffocating light erupted as his Externalized Dharma Body [Fire Deity Yang Monster] slowly emerged.

Although using his Dharma Body would make him a blazing beacon in the night, drawing all the Deceitful Objects to him, Daoist Bai Shuo could only implement this risky plan to reverse the situation.

"After breaking through the siege, Fire Deity Yang Monster will discard part of its form before returning to my body..."

Daoist Bai Shuo informed Ye Zhuo and Jiang Xi of his plan. Before the two could respond, a golden-red human-faced spider appeared.

Fire Deity Yang Monster had countless limbs supporting it, its outer form bearing Daoist Bai Shuo's facial features.

One limb delicately hooked downward.

A spider web woven from Yang Attribute Sword Qi expanded outward, allowing Daoist Bai Shuo to traverse the swarming Deceitful Objects effortlessly.

"What is wrong with his mind? Isn't he afraid of crippling his foundation?"

Daoist Ye Zhuo was still debating whether to contact Li Mo about the damaged array when Daoist Bai Shuo had already summoned his Dharma Body to the frontlines.

The Taoist Children showed no fear, madly swarming to surround him.

Daoist Bai Shuo twitched his massive form, extending limbs crackling with Sword Qi. Beams of light swept across the battlefield, reducing thousands of Taoist Children to ash.

However, some Taoist Children still managed to latch onto his Dharma Body.

The Sword Cultivators launched a counterattack, gradually restoring their original positions. The blood pillars began to regenerate their flesh where they were no longer being devoured by the Taoist Children.

Daoist Ye Zhuo wiped blood from his face and led twenty Sword Cultivators to intercept Daoist Bai Shuo's retreat.

Daoist Bai Shuo was covered with Taoist Children, flanked by thirteen visible nearby Immortals, while hundreds more Immortal figures hurriedly approached from the distance.

In such a scene, the Taoist Children appeared more like Outer Heaven Demons than the Sword Cultivators did.

Realizing this, Daoist Bai Shuo halted the movement of his Dharma Body. Yang Attribute Sword Intent accumulated within his body.

"Golden Cicada Shell."

To him, heavily damaging his Dharma Body was nothing compared to losing his resolve. Should fear cloud his Mental Realm, his Sword Dao journey would effectively be over, and advancing to Void Refining Stage would be hopeless.

So even though Li Mo was present, Daoist Bai Shuo didn't hesitate to risk his own life.

For his part, Daoist Ye Zhuo remained watchful. He realized Daoist Bai Shuo's actions were not recklessly impulsive and assisted by shielding him from nearby Immortals through the Sword Array.

"You all stand down."

Daoist Ye Zhuo turned his head to see Li Mo appear in midair at an unknown time.

Li Mo exuded a faint medicinal fragrance mingled with the metallic tang of rust. In his palm lay a half-meter sphere of mysterious soil, glowing faintly, resembling both a Magic Artifact and a Dharma Body.

The sphere looked desolate, with various metal ores jutting from its surface, and at its center grew an ancient tree akin to a celestial one.

[Mystic Magnetic Treasure One Realm Dharma Body]

[Great Medicine Spirit Branch Ancient Dharma Body]

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