During the dozen-odd days of Li Mo's Divine Ability Metamorphosis, he occasionally heard deer cries.
The room was obviously very well insulated, yet the eerie, inexplicable deer cries somehow pierced through the thick walls, making his hair stand on end.
Fortunately, the deer cries gradually became less frequent. Otherwise, they would inevitably have affected Li Mo's secluded cultivation.
He endured the torment brought by his bodily metamorphosis. Though the pain was far less than that of transplanting the Magic Finger, it was still exceedingly hard to bear.
Seeing this, Li Mo focused all his energy on his cultivation method.
He had read the Nourishing Origin Fundamental Scripture in the Bone Scroll countless times, memorizing every word and pondering their meanings.
Back in the ancient Heart Beast Sect, there had been no corresponding cultivation method for the Nourishing Origin Fundamental Scripture. It was likely created by later cultivators based on variant auras.
Only after repeatedly comparing it against the abundant theoretical knowledge he had obtained through the Book of Fortune did Li Mo confirm that the Nourishing Origin Fundamental Scripture contained no hidden traps.
The first half of the Nourishing Origin Fundamental Scripture was an ordinary qi-refining cultivation method. Its cultivation efficiency was average, but the spiritual power it refined was exceptionally pure.
The latter half, however, took a sudden turn in style. It emphasized using the unique corrosiveness of Variant Spiritual Energy to assimilate the five viscera into a Corpse Spirit Root.
Once the five viscera were accidentally damaged, even replacing them at Han Cai's Miraculous Hands Medical Hall would still affect his foundation.
With the Book of Fortune, Li Mo should have no problem with Five Viscera Spiritual Root Transformation.
Unfortunately, it contained nothing about advancing to the Coming-of-Age Stage, the Foundation Establishment Realm. He would have to find an opportunity to seek out a higher-level cultivation method.
The cold wind howled, and early winter was approaching.
Li Mo shut out all matters beyond his window. Once his skin's metamorphosis was complete, the maddening itch that had made him scratch at his ears and cheeks vanished by more than half, and he could not help but breathe a sigh of relief.
He checked the information in the Book of Fortune. The Divine Ability of his skin was called "Leakless Body."
How could Li Mo not know of the Leakless Body? Similar ideas had existed in his previous life; it was the supreme realm pursued by Daoists in ancient texts.
Once men and women reached a certain age, menstruation and nocturnal emissions naturally appeared. This was called "bodily leakage."
In other words, it was a sign that one's Essence, Qi, and Spirit were slipping away.
The Leakless Body ensured that Li Mo's Essence, Qi, and Spirit would not leak out, keeping them full at all times. Even after eating the five grains, he would no longer produce filth.
Yet Li Mo could not help feeling somewhat helpless.
If this had been seven thousand years ago, the Leakless Body would practically have been a Dao Body. At the very least, it would have been an immensely important aid before forming a Golden Core.
But now?
Li Mo had just passed his eleventh birthday. Only nine years remained before his internal organs lost their vitality.
Once he survived the Childhood Stage Death Sickness and his five viscera were replaced by a Corpse Spirit Root, there would be no question of Essence, Qi, and Spirit leaking away.
Forget it. It will be useful somehow.
Li Mo shook his head with a bitter smile. Eidetic Memory not only improved his memory, but even indirectly enhanced his comprehension and control over his body. The Leakless Body certainly would not be limited to merely containing his Essence, Qi, and Spirit.
Divine Abilities affected the body in subtle ways. He would have to explore their specifics himself.
While waiting for the Divine Ability of his Middle Dantian to awaken, Li Mo carefully studied the effects of the Leakless Body.
His vigor had become abundant. He needed only two hours of sleep each day, his physical constitution was slowly improving, and even his appetite had dropped from one meal a day to one meal every three days.
Still, even without the Leakless Body, he would no longer need food or sleep after the age of twenty.
Li Mo felt slightly regretful, but during his daily routine of checking his pulse, he discovered that the Leakless Body could actually delay the Death Sickness. The rate at which his heartbeat slowed had sharply decreased by thirty to forty percent.
By his estimate, the Childhood Stage Death Sickness could probably be delayed by five years, only fully erupting when he was around twenty-five.
If Li Mo imprinted his Middle Dantian again, Nectar Spiritual Energy could be included among his options to work in tandem with the Leakless Body.
Unfortunately, the Leakless Body could only delay the Death Sickness; it could not eradicate it.
As his body decayed, the effects of Nectar Spiritual Energy and the Leakless Body would surely grow weaker and weaker. No one was born able to escape the Death Sickness.
Thump, thump, thump...
A muffled sound suddenly came from Li Mo's chest. It was not his heart beating violently, but his Middle Dantian finally completing its post-imprinting metamorphosis.
Divine Ability awakened: Multi-layered Dantian.
He could not quite understand the use of the Multi-layered Dantian, so his consciousness opened the Book of Fortune.
On the second page, the flesh tumor-like organ representing his Middle Dantian had become somewhat strange. It now had three layers, inside and out, with the core containing spiritual power.
Li Mo frowned slightly. He vaguely had a guess, but he still needed to test it.
After he rang the Bronze Bell, a servant brought him hot water.
Li Mo quickly bathed and changed clothes, then began preparing to cultivate the Nourishing Origin Fundamental Scripture. Above all, he needed to adjust his body and mind to their peak state.
Entry Level cultivation required using one's consciousness to communicate with the Spiritual Qi of the outside world.
The difficulty varied from person to person. Some cultivators could not sense Spiritual Qi even after half a year, while others reached the Childhood Stage after just one month.
To be safe, Li Mo did not immediately open the Glass Jar.
He went to the Altar, hung Tian Chenzi's portrait on the wall, and lit three incense candles in the Incense Burner.
The Nourishing Origin Fundamental Scripture contained notes left by predecessors.
If one had difficulty sensing the Spiritual Qi outside, one could try visualizing Tian Chenzi's portrait. It could help one's consciousness communicate with Spiritual Qi.
Li Mo carefully examined the portrait, but no matter how he looked at it, there was nothing extraordinary about it.
He placed the Glass Jar before him, crossed his legs, closed his eyes, and began meditating.
To Li Mo's surprise, only a few breaths after closing his eyes, specks of light representing Spiritual Qi suddenly appeared within his pitch-black field of vision.
It seemed as though he could pluck them with a mere outstretched hand.
The Spiritual Qi came in every color. The most numerous was the grayish-brown Mountain Spiritual Energy, followed by the Frost Spiritual Energy born of winter's chill.
He stared at the specks of Spiritual Qi for a long time, yet there was not the slightest trace of Misty Spiritual Energy.
Didn't they say cultivators who spent months in seclusion before reaching Entry Level were everywhere?
How long did I take?
Li Mo had not expected it to be so easy. He had not even taken out the Misty Spiritual Energy, merely sensing the dozens of types of Variant Spiritual Energy within the room.
He could only withdraw from his cultivation state and prepare to open the Glass Jar.
Just then, Li Mo happened to open his eyes and look toward Tian Chenzi's portrait. Perhaps because his consciousness was still immersed in meditation, his vision wavered.
The portrait became strange.
Blood slowly seeped from Tian Chenzi's chest and abdomen, as though they had been gouged open by a sharp weapon. His Daoist robe was tattered, the whisk in his hand seemed to be made from human bones, and bird feathers had replaced his hair and beard.
Crack, crack, crack.
The sound of bones shattering rang out. Li Mo had heard the same sound in the carriage before; it seemed to have come from Shopkeeper Tian, who had been driving.
In the blink of an eye, Tian Chenzi's chest opened wide, his ribs growing outward. The exposed five viscera looked incomparably bizarre.
His heart resembled a skinned ape.
His liver resembled a legless opossum.
His spleen resembled a many-legged hyena.
His lungs resembled a human face porpoise.
His kidneys resembled a two-headed crow-sparrow.
Li Mo drove his nails into his palms, forcefully jolting his consciousness awake with pain. When he looked again, Tian Chenzi in the portrait still possessed the immortal poise of one with Daoist bones.
Gasping heavily, he rolled up the painting and burned it to ashes over the candle flame.
Only after more than half a day did Li Mo's state of mind settle again. He even found it somewhat unsurprising; after all, every corner of Smelting Town exuded strangeness.
Before you continue