The Function of the Multi-layered Dantian

Li Mo pulled the stopper from the glass jar. With a puff sound, pale yellow miasma spiritual energy poured out, a sour stench filling the air.

Once he judged the concentration sufficient, he moved with swift hands and quick eyes to seal the jar shut.

The miasma spiritual energy was slightly pungent. Li Mo's expression turned subtle—mainly because he'd often smelled this in the Metropolis in his past life.

He waved his hand through it, and sure enough, there was a granular sensation against his skin.

Li Mo was quite satisfied with the miasma spiritual energy. The corrosive quality mixed within it increased the energy's usefulness by at least tenfold.

He didn't need the spiritual energy to kill on contact—after all, it would be stored in his own dantian, and it would inevitably affect his body to some degree.

The only drawback of miasma spiritual energy was that environments capable of producing it were rare.

Li Mo closed his eyes and continued meditating.

The advantage of the inner room became apparent. No matter how dense the spiritual energy inside became, it was locked in tight. No wonder it was suited for secluded cultivation.

He silently recited the Nourishing Origin Fundamental Scripture once and naturally slipped into a cultivation state.

Once again, he sensed countless specks of light, but this time, miasma spiritual energy made up seventy percent of them, making it much easier for his consciousness to filter and guide them.

Without the glass jar Han Cai had gifted him, Li Mo would have had to search for traces of miasma spiritual energy among hundreds of others.

The difficulty was no less than a needle in a haystack—a thankless, exhausting task.

If Li Mo absorbed variant spiritual energy that was too impure, he would inevitably contaminate his five viscera, forcing him to mend the fold after the sheep is lost by replacing organs.

His expression turned grave. Now it was time to see what the multi-layered dantian could do.

Under Li Mo's focused guidance, a wisp of miasma spiritual energy followed his consciousness, entering his body through his mouth and nose, traveling to the eight extraordinary meridians.

The circulation route of the Nourishing Origin Fundamental Scripture was steady and stable, barely touching the branch meridians, following the main channels to complete a full circulation cycle.

The circulation cycle strengthened Li Mo's connection with spiritual power and purified it as well.

The method of accumulating spiritual power in the Childhood Stage was essentially no different from the Qi Refining Stage, showing that both shared the same origin.

However, when the miasma spiritual power traveled through his meridians, he could clearly feel a slight stinging sensation, indicating that the eight extraordinary meridians were still being corroded.

Li Mo couldn't very well go find Han Cai to swap out a set of meridians. He would have to let his body adapt little by little.

After running two circulation cycles, he guided the miasma spiritual power into his middle dantian.

Li Mo stared intently, frowning. But the miasma spiritual power passed smoothly through the multi-layered dantian, settled in the center of the middle dantian, and quickly fell still.

"That shouldn't be..."

The divine ability of the multi-layered dantian showed no reaction at all, and the miasma spiritual power remained unchanged.

Li Mo refused to believe it. He absorbed another wisp of miasma spiritual energy, ran it through a circulation cycle, and sent it into the middle dantian. The two wisps merged, but still, the divine ability didn't trigger.

"What the hell..."

He decided to end his cultivation, stood up, and paced along the wall in a circle, carefully pondering the function of the multi-layered dantian.

Suddenly, something occurred to him. His expression brightened, and he quickly closed his eyes to meditate again.

Instead of guiding miasma spiritual energy, he selected a wisp of mountain spiritual energy, carefully refined it through the eight extraordinary meridians, and finally directed it toward the middle dantian.

The miasma spiritual power in his core dantian suddenly grew agitated, as if sensing another variant spiritual energy approaching. It darted up and down within the dantian.

Li Mo controlled the mountain spiritual energy, guiding it into the outermost layer of the middle dantian.

The mountain spiritual energy immediately sank into a mire, stuck in the outer layer with no way forward, and was gradually absorbed by the middle dantian.

"Ha ha ha ha."

Li Mo opened his eyes and laughed like a madman.

"Multi-layered dantian. So the use of the multi-layered dantian is filtration."

The protective layer of the middle dantian could isolate impure spiritual energy other than miasma spiritual energy, and the divine ability itself would digest that impure energy to nourish the middle dantian.

Relying on his multi-layered dantian, the spiritual power within Li Mo's body would become extremely pure.

He could even actively absorb impure spiritual energy and let the divine ability digest it. Over time, the middle dantian would surely undergo a transformation.

The problem of scarce miasma spiritual energy was also solved by the divine ability.

Li Mo found it hard to settle his mind for a while, so he simply sat at his desk, ground ink, and began to paint—not just the Mountain Lord, but also familiar wild beasts.

Though he used only an ordinary ink stick, the hundred beasts in his paintings still exuded untamed wildness.

Once his mind had calmed, Li Mo eagerly resumed cultivation.

In the Ancient Immortal Cultivation World, the Qi Refining Stage had ten layers. But seven thousand years later, in the present era, the Childhood Stage had only six layers.

With spiritual power stationed in his middle dantian—no matter how meager the quantity—Li Mo was now a Childhood Stage Layer 1 cultivator, officially at the entry level.

Cultivation at Childhood Stage Layer 1 mainly involved filling the middle dantian with refined spiritual power, compressing it as much as possible to lay the foundation.

When the spiritual power overflowed, one would break through to Childhood Stage Layer 2.

At that stage, the cultivator needed to use spiritual power to transform the heart into a Corpse Spirit Root.

From Childhood Stage Layer 3 to Layer 6, the process was the Five Viscera Spiritual Root Transformation. The purer the Corpse Spirit Root, the sturdier the foundation.

In short, cultivation in later generations was built upon resisting the Death Sickness.

Li Mo patiently absorbed the Misty Spiritual Energy until the room was completely cleared.

His entire body was now covered in filth—the accumulated dark toxins and impurities from years past, swept clean by the Miasma Spiritual Power.

Li Mo paused his cultivation, stretching his limbs while guiding the spiritual energy toward his right arm.

He wanted to test the Universal Skill and see how it differed under the enhancement of Misty Spiritual Energy.

When the Miasma Spiritual Power merged into the Magic Finger, Li Mo felt as though the finger could extend outward, so he deliberately released a small amount of spiritual energy from its tip.

A thin yellow mist surrounded the Magic Finger, the spiritual energy's form indeed hovering between substance and emptiness.

With a thought from Li Mo, the spiritual energy solidified and began to stretch, eventually forming a spiritual ink brush connected to the finger bone.

Seeing this, he continuously activated the Universal Skill, mimicking the Magic Finger into a blade, or a key with a complex structure...

Li Mo only stopped his attempts with the Universal Skill when his spiritual energy was exhausted.

He also came to understand why it was called the Universal Skill—because as long as the right foreign spiritual energy was infused, the Magic Finger could completely replace tools.

No matter how deftly Li Mo wielded the Misty Spiritual Energy, he could never alter its nature like the Universal Skill could.

With the Universal Skill, his painting technique rose to another level.

Li Mo also realized that Steward Hu likely wanted him to use Paint Green Clothes for something, probably involving the secrets of Smelting Town.

After a simple wash, he began another round of cultivation, planning to absorb all the Misty Spiritual Energy from the Glass Jar.

And practice painting the Hundred Beasts along the way.

Li Mo, enclosed in the Inner Room, was completely unaware of the strangeness in the Pawnshop.

The Pawnshop had been fully sealed off—whether servants or cultivators, only entry was allowed, not exit, with guards watching the outer walls.

Subtly, a suffocating atmosphere hung over the Pawnshop.

Especially in the Miscellaneous Hall, the furnace burning statues emitted smoke at an increasingly frequent rate, and the stench of scorching spread.

Some servants whispered among themselves.

"In that furnace, there are no clay statues at all—I saw nothing but corpses, bizarre and inexplicable corpses."