Though Excellent, Be Low-Key

Morning Sun rose from the horizon, and Li Mo squinted uncomfortably.

From the high ground where the warehouse stood, he looked out over Smelting Town and saw quite a few cultivators locked in battle with bizarre beasts—the town was in chaos.

Li Mo shivered.

Smelting Town would likely know no peace from now on. There were bound to be bizarre beasts lurking in the shadows, watching the hearts of the living.

Of course, for cultivators, this was also a fine opportunity to earn spirit stones—after all, tasks involving bizarre beasts would be plentiful.

Li Mo had no intention of taking on any tasks. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught the outer-ring cultivators gossiping about how he stood shoulder to shoulder with stewards and shopkeepers.

He had already earned enough spirit stones to advance to Childhood Stage Layer 2, and he planned to use the time to let his overly conspicuous reputation fade.

"Cack cack cack cack..."

Han Cai's movements grew swifter. The flesh and bones of the Elk Bizarre Beast were sorted and packed into over a dozen Storage Bags.

Shopkeeper Tian turned and left the warehouse. Old Madam Sun went to calm the chaos at the Pawnshop. Xu Hu, the most severely injured, sat with his eyes closed, resting on the spot.

Li Mo watched Han Cai work like Butcher Ding dissecting an ox and couldn't help but marvel.

As it turned out, Han Cai was better suited to being a butcher than a physician.

As Li Mo carefully studied the Elk Bizarre Beast's body structure, a cold, eerie voice suddenly sounded: "Li Mo, why not the Mountain Lord?"

He shivered and turned to see Steward Hu staring at him with a faint, knowing smile.

Li Mo had thought Steward Hu would blame him for exposing the Paint Green Clothes outside and had already prepared an excuse. To his surprise, the steward didn't seem to care about that at all.

Instead, he was focused on the choice of the Beast Head Tattoo.

Li Mo hesitated before answering, "Steward Hu, there was no Mountain Lord blood in the warehouse at the time. The situation was urgent, so I used Fox Blood instead."

"It's fine..."

As Steward Hu spoke, his gaze drifted toward the Inner City, and his entire body exuded a rancorous, hateful aura that withered the grass around him.

Li Mo finally understood why the other cultivators looked at him with pity.

Steward Hu truly was unpredictable in mood.

Han Cai picked up the thread, bleeding the Elk Bizarre Beast as he spoke: "A Beast Calamity only comes once every fifteen years, and bizarre beasts that have appeared before rarely show up again. Hu Wen, you..."

Steward Hu chuckled, his expression returning to normal.

Li Mo suddenly realized that Steward Hu seemed to be searching for a particular bizarre beast in the Inner City. The Mountain Lord Painting he had drawn might serve some purpose.

No wonder Steward Hu had stressed that the beast painting must not be shown to others, but had said nothing about the Paint Green Clothes.

Li Mo tested the waters: "Steward Hu has shown This Humble One great kindness. If there is any way This Humble One can help, I will not refuse."

Steward Hu shifted back into the Faceless Woman's seductive demeanor, flashing a charming smile before turning his gaze to Han Cai, who was still dissecting.

"Han Cai, give me a bottle of the beast's Heart Blood. I have great use for it."

"Alright!"

Han Cai shot Li Mo a meaningful glance, then plunged into the corpse. When he emerged again, he held a bottle of milky-white liquid.

"Here."

Steward Hu caught the Bizarre Beast Blood, then tossed the jade bottle along with a Bone Scroll to Li Mo.

"Thank you, Steward Hu."

Li Mo's face lit up as he put away the jade bottle. Elk Blood might not be enough for the primary position of the Paint Green Clothes tattoo, but it was more than sufficient for a secondary one.

He then scanned the contents of the Bone Scroll.

To his surprise, the Bone Scroll contained the continuation of the Paint Green Clothes technique, from Childhood Stage all the way to Coming-of-Age Stage, and even included Establishment Stage (Golden Core Stage).

Li Mo also found a method for nourishing the tattoo during Childhood Stage, which could enhance the Crimson Fox's potential.

But Steward Hu's actions, even though the outer-ring cultivators couldn't hear their conversation, still made Li Mo the center of attention.

Li Mo didn't want to be so conspicuous. He understood the principle of Standing Out in the Forest.

Yet his past was still being dug up bit by bit.

He had come to Smelting Town's Pawnshop at age ten, shed his apprentice status in two months, and within half a year had entered Childhood Stage and mastered two spells.

Li Mo grew even more determined to go into seclusion, to ride out this period of being a target for everyone.

Finally, Han Cai extracted a lump of flesh that resembled an embryo, carefully stored it in a special container, and then climbed down from the mountain of corpses.

"The remaining corpse of the bizarre beast is yours to handle, honored cultivators."

Han Cai gestured for the cultivators to enter. Li Mo was stunned for a few breaths, then joined the line to haul away flesh and bones.

He took the chance to observe the bizarre beast up close and discovered that it was indeed a transformed cultivator—its structure was startlingly similar to a human's.

The deeper the organs, the more decayed they were, covered in mold, as if the body hadn't just died.

Only the Middle Dantian, which stored spiritual power, had transformed into an embryo-like tumor.

As if it were about to give birth to an infant.

By the time the corpse had completely disappeared, the Pawnshop had been bustling for three full days.

Just as the Elk Bizarre Beast vanished completely, the deer herd at the mountain's base disappeared without a trace.

Li Mo helped process the Elk Bizarre Beast's corpse and received five Mid-grade Spirit Stones for his trouble—what ordinary cultivators would have to exhaust themselves killing bizarre beasts to earn.

During this time, calamities broke out in many places across Smelting Town. The root cause had been resolved, but the bizarre beasts spawned from it lurked in the shadows, growing stronger by devouring human hearts.

The sky above Smelting Town was shrouded in dark clouds, and the Furnace burned day and night without rest.

Even several cultivators had been solidified into Living Statues by Nectar Spiritual Energy, let alone mortals. Nearly half of the Pawnshop's apprentices and menial laborers were dead or wounded.

Of the children from Niu Family Village, only six remained.

Among those Li Mo knew well, Li Qingfang and her brother had hidden safely in the schoolhouse, while Li Zhu in the Miscellaneous Hall had only been frightened.

As for Ma Ergao.

Ever since Li Mo had seen Ma Ergao once on the road to the Warehouse, he had never laid eyes on him again. He had tried to search.

Some menial laborers said Ma Ergao had shouted mad words, climbed over the wall in the chaos, and fled Smelting Town back to Niu Family Village deep in the mountains.

Other menial laborers said they had seen Ma Ergao's corpse in the bamboo grove behind the Pawnshop's rear courtyard.

Li Mo did not go to verify. Though he later sent letters home to Niu Family Village, they all said everything was fine, and he never once asked about Ma Ergao.

The Pawnshop began to rebuild, and the place immediately became a chaotic mix of Fish and Dragons.

Smelting Town had sealed off outsiders from entering or leaving, likely to prevent the bizarre beasts from spreading.

Now that the restrictions were lifted, the town was indeed more prosperous, but the number of people dying inexplicably each day gradually increased.

Li Mo couldn't help but secretly feel fortunate. The timing of his arrival in Smelting Town was neither too early nor too late—the years before the Outer Sect Grand Competition should be the safest.

While Smelting Town was busy quelling the chaos, Li Mo had already returned to the Inner Room.

Bizarre beasts could never be fully killed, at least not within the next ten years. He had no intention of putting himself in danger for short-term gain.

Besides, after Jin Li delivered the three Mid-grade Spirit Stones gained from killing the Human-Faced Deer, Li Mo's finances became comfortable.

Li Mo took out two Mid-grade Spirit Stones to exchange for what little Misty Spiritual Energy Han Cai had left, and used the rest directly for meditation and absorption.

Spirit Stones were a mixture of dozens of types of spiritual energy. For ordinary cultivators, trying to cultivate by absorbing Spirit Stones was utterly impractical—it would only corrupt their Physical Foundation.

But Li Mo was different.

He had a Multi-layered Dantian, so he didn't have to worry about polluting his body.

Li Mo asked Jin Li to keep an eye on the Beast Blood and Beast Fur in the Warehouse. Jin Li agreed without hesitation and even took the initiative to look after Zhao Zhu and the others.