The sword ghosts remained locked in mutual slaughter, the stench of blood growing ever more pungent.

Li Mo stood in the center, his form far from resembling that of a cultivator, his luminous skeletal frame even more eerie and inexplicable than the sword ghosts themselves.

"Jie jie jie."

As Li Mo walked, bits of fragmented flesh fell sporadically to the ground.

He observed the Calamity Worm, which struggled desperately while attempting to channel spiritual power, only to find itself hopelessly bound and powerless.

"Ye Zhuo, I had originally intended to feign death for a few years to cultivate in seclusion, and now you've ruined it all."

The Daoist Ye Zhuo gave a sheepish grin but said nothing.

Li Mo, missing most of his flesh, should have been gravely injured, yet his presence felt even more menacing, as though he surpassed the Void Refining Stage by an unimaginable degree.

"Senior Brother, are you… are you something akin to a deceitful object?"

The Daoist Ye Zhuo cautiously queried.

Li Mo remained silent, his right hand gradually tightening, causing the Calamity Worm to shriek in agony—its Void Refining Stage Perfection utterly incapable of resistance.

"What do you think?"

Not only Ye Zhuo but also external cultivators couldn't comprehend Li Mo's peculiar state.

Despite his flesh being devoured to the bone, his body still lived; despite his spiritual power showing no signs of growth, he could subjugate opponents of the same realm.

After contemplating for a moment, most leaned toward attributing it to the miraculous workings of the Immortal Body.

The Old Poisonous One's face darkened.

After urgently talking up his disciple, now the latter had fallen into Li Mo's hands.

He couldn't interfere in the Sword Testing Conference, nor was it realistic for him to plead on behalf of the Calamity Worm; after taking a deep glance at the Sky Dome Mirror, he turned to leave.

Zhang Qiyang was at a loss for words, glancing around at the utterly silent surroundings.

Luo Yang muttered to himself, "Taiyi… his physical body must have ascended to the Body Integration Realm, could it be he's transcended death and reached the state of a Land Immortal?"

Qi Yunfei cast a glance at Luo Yang and said in a low tone, "Even if it's unrelated to deceitful objects, it must involve some sort of unorthodox method."

"Once Taiyi emerges, I will naturally compel him to explain himself."

Zhang Qiyang, provoked to the point of laughter, replied, "Explain himself? Explain with what? You, a Mahayana Realm Supreme Elder—do you intend to attack a junior? What's left of your dignity?"

"Don't forget, Taiyi has comprehended hundreds of sword intents. If he truly transformed into a sword ghost, it would indeed be unprecedented in history."

The two began arguing about Li Mo, while other Land Immortals watched indifferently.

The Twenty-Eight Sword Tombs were inherently opposing Taoist inheritances. Though they might share distant alliances, they inevitably entangled countless conflicting interests.

The cultivators noticed that some sword ghosts were already transforming into the Body Integration Realm.

Sword ghosts typically, upon reaching the Body Integration Realm, experienced flesh growth until their forms evolved into planet-like sword tombs or death tombs.

However, as entities rooted in death tombs, sword ghosts were likely destined to become mere extensions of the side rooms.

Boom.

The Eye Lady's lower body was covered in countless pupils, her bloated form now unrecognizable as human. Her arms laboriously supported her weight as she crawled, causing fungal mats to sprout additional pupils, subtly altering the room.

It was evident that the side room had begun to accept the transformative Eye Lady as an independent death tomb entity.

Aside from the Eye Lady, three other equally formidable sword ghosts emerged, all relying on Li Mo's flesh to surpass the limits of the Night Patrol Deity.

The Daoist Ye Zhuo shuddered inwardly and hastily said, "Senior Brother Taiyi, you're severely wounded right now, let's retreat for the time being."

"Retreat?"

"Hold on, I'll grab something before we leave."

Li Mo maintained a leisurely and unhurried demeanor, making Ye Zhuo increasingly uneasy. "Senior Brother, where would there be anything to grab here?"

"Jie jie jie, have you ever heard of Body Sanctification?"

"Huh?"

"Without relying on spiritual power, allowing the physical body to naturally reach the state of a Land Immortal."

As Li Mo spoke, his right hand erupted with flesh and blood, the Calamity Worm's aura abruptly ceasing—its corpse sent into the Artifact Pill Body for disintegration.

"After Body Sanctification, one's flesh and bones are branded indelibly—not only are they nearly impossible to destroy, but they are also safeguarded against theft by others."

Li Mo took a step forward.

An unimaginably terrifying aura seeped out, distorting the very air around him.

The Daoist Ye Zhuo gasped, finding that the parasitic sword ghosts perished instantly, while he himself grew unbearably frail.

He stared in astonishment as drops of blood trembled inexplicably on the floor.

"What the heck?"

Separated from the fungal mats, the impurities within the blood silently disappeared, before being absorbed into Li Mo's heart, stimulating its relentless beating.

In the next moment.

Flesh fragments scattered across the side room began converging toward Li Mo.

A dozen sword ghosts in Li Mo's vicinity sensed the danger and attempted to flee mindlessly, only to collapse inexplicably.

Bam bam bam bam.

Thuds reverberated as flesh embedded within the sword ghosts burst forth from their bodies.

Li Mo stood in place, and within mere breaths his skeletal form was covered with thin skin and flesh, his radiating blood energy seemingly tangible, raising the ambient temperature considerably.

The Eye Lady staggered backward.

She managed only a few steps before her limbs twisted uncontrollably, her flesh and bones simultaneously experiencing rejection, bringing her transformation to an abrupt halt.

Bang.

The side room filled with a dense blood mist as Li Mo bathed within, undergoing rebirth.

The Great Wilderness Immortal Body voraciously devoured nutrients, while the other two bodies followed suit, albeit only able to subsist on remnants. Every cell seemed to sing in exuberance.

The sword ghosts continued dropping lifelessly to the ground, leaving behind nothing but drained skeletal remains.

Daoist Ye Zhuo's mouth hung open in astonishment until he was swallowed in one gulp by the Ghost Tiger, now mingling with other Great Sun Sword Cultivators, all exchanging shell-shocked glances.

With their Divine Separation Stage perspectives, they naturally couldn't grasp the nature of Body Sanctification; they only knew that Li Mo seemed to have ascended to the rank of Land Immortal.

Once, when Li Mo first entered the Great Sun Sword Tomb, he hadn't even reached the Divine Separation Stage.

And yet, hundreds of years have passed.

While they remained stuck at the Divine Separation Stage, Li Mo had long since advanced to the Seventh Realm of Immortality, with one foot already at the doorstep of daytime ascension.

The consciousness of the death tomb surged violently, bringing forth countless taboos.

Li Mo stretched, facing these taboos without needing to rely on Innate Essence to heal his injuries—the Great Wilderness Immortal Body was more than sufficient to fend off their corrosive influence.

"Body Sanctification didn't yield the blank page, but it did extend my Innate Essence by eight thousand years and elevated the Da Ai Mi Tian's spirit patterns past nine hundred—promotion to spiritual treasure is imminent."

"Most importantly, the three Dharma Bodies breaking through their bottlenecks is now inevitable and effortless."

Li Mo could sense the three Dharma Bodies' agitation, seemingly poised to help actualize the externalized Dharma Body's advance into the Body Integration Realm.

"Heh."

"I'm still not used to being watched."

Li Mo gazed up at the ceiling as though he were staring directly at the Sky Dome Mirror.

He spoke to himself, "You elders guessed correctly—it is Body Sanctification. Henceforth, the world gains another Land Immortal."

Li Mo narrowed his eyes, unleashing the entirety of his blood energy without reservation.

"I have already acquired ten Taoist inheritances from the Twenty-Eight Sword Tombs; the remaining eighteen will be mine to retrieve after this junior emerges."

Li Mo understood the sour expressions likely on the faces of the outside Land Immortals.

Yet he cared little—achieving the Body Integration Realm meant standing at the apex of the pyramid, with only a handful in the Heavenly Sword Sect capable of comparison.

Even if Li Mo were to leave the death tomb now, none would dare protest.

But Li Mo wasn't in a hurry.

He quietly planned to simultaneously advance all three Dharma Bodies into the Body Integration Realm—there would be no better environment for him than the side room death tomb.

Li Mo vanished from the Sky Dome Mirror.

The outside cultivators sensed a tension in the atmosphere—Li Mo had singlehandedly dispelled the skepticism of numerous ancient cultivators.

In the past two thousand years, only two individuals in the Heavenly Sword Sect had attained the rank of Land Immortal.

Yu Xiao and Li Mo.

Both hailed from the No-Life Sect—though Yu Xiao achieved the Body Integration Realm a century ahead of Li Mo, she had originally ascended to the Cultivation World ten thousand years ago, only to walk the path again now.

Li Mo, by contrast, had no backing, his entry into the Heavenly Sword Sect merely as a disciple from a mid-sized sect.

Thus, it was apparent that the No-Life Sect's inclusion of him among the Thirteen Immortals was justified; Li Mo's talent had already surpassed the Twelve Immortals.

Zhang Qiyang chuckled to himself.

He refrained from further argument, for reality spoke louder than words. Regardless, the Great Sun Sword Tomb's dominance was an unshakable certainty.

The cultivators discussed the performance of the Great Sun Sword Cultivators.

It was undeniable—even under Li Mo's protection, figures like Jiang Xi delivered commendable performances, particularly in showcasing the intricacies of the Immortal Creation Body.

The Sword Testing Conference had been underway for a year, and in private, many had investigated the related information.

They discovered that the Immortal Creation Body was a Taoist inheritance pioneered by Li Mo, rumored to encompass up to several million types of organ modifications, projected to reach the Void Refining Stage.

These modified organs could be freely combined to form an Immortal Creation Body, which complemented the Sword Body seamlessly.

The Great Sun Sword Cultivators leaned heavily on the Immortal Creation Body in their pursuit of the side room housing Li Mo.

An advanced Sword Body could integrate with modified organs—it might not provide substantial benefits for those who comprehend Mahayana Sword Intent, but for cultivators wielding superior sword intent, its power could increase by about thirty percent.

Now that Li Mo had become a Land Immortal, the claims of unorthodoxy could be put to rest.

The various sword tombs showed no anger over Li Mo's remarks. In fact, Yu Xiao's actions had been a hundredfold more severe.

Several years ago, Yu Xiao, dissatisfied with an Outer Elder, cleaved a sword tomb in two with a single strike, nearly causing misalignment in the Mountain Protection Array.

She also used Thunder Residence Sword Tomb's Immortal Marrow to nourish a giant sword shuttle.

This reckless behavior, utterly wasteful, was merely overlooked by the Heavenly Sword Sect.

Since the Heavenly Sword Sect hadn't appointed a Sect Master following the great transformations of heaven and earth, the Land Immortals essentially constituted the high council, capable of influencing sect decisions.

"What is he planning?"

Qi Yunfei muttered to himself, his divine sense probing the Sky Dome Mirror to seek Li Mo's whereabouts within the death tomb.

But the search yielded nothing—Li Mo seemed to have vanished entirely.

Qi Yunfei's apprehension rose steadily.

He had a premonition that Li Mo would not opt to remain in seclusion for eight or nine years.

Qi Yunfei frowned deeply, suddenly realizing that the number of sword cultivators within the death tomb had dwindled, yet their remaining presence suggested no immediate danger.

He recalled Li Mo's act of using taboos to temper his physical body—most likely, those sword cultivators had been swept along by him to draw the death tomb's consciousness away.

Before long, a profound silence engulfed the death tomb.

"Found him…"

Qi Yunfei stared incredulously at the mirror's reflection—a deep chasm extending into the earth, billowing with dense smoke and dust.

The ground was gradually sealing itself.

Clearly.

Li Mo had led two to three hundred sword cultivators while enduring unprecedented taboo corrosion, advancing into the depths of the death tomb.

Should calamity strike, the sword cultivators would perish en masse, severely compromising the foundation of the Twenty-Eight Sword Tombs.

The cultivators initially felt alarm but soon inclined toward acceptance—it was undeniably a move worthy of Li Mo, treating the death tomb as if it were his personal Blessed Land Cave Heaven.

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