Spring gave way to winter.
Time passed without a sound. In a world where everyone in the Mortal Realm could attain Eternal Life, the turning of the seasons stirred not the slightest ripple.
Even though Sinister Beasts ran rampant, inevitably adding to Smelting Town's casualties, they simply could not shake the foundations of its powers.
Cultivators busied themselves clearing out Sinister Beasts, earning Spirit Stones to exchange for resources.
Only Li Mo remained unmoved, staying obediently in his inner room and repeating tedious cultivation in preparation to break through to Childhood Stage Layer 2.
Some cultivators outside believed that Li Mo's disappearance was due to fear of Sinister Beasts, while others thought he had already died in some forgotten corner of Smelting Town.
Only Jin Li, who occasionally interacted with him, understood just how steadfast Li Mo's Dao heart was.
Profit, desire, and reputation were mere things outside the body. At barely over ten years old, few could devote all their thoughts to meditation and cultivation.
Li Mo was not as pure as Jin Li imagined.
But he was indeed deeply interested in cultivation. Especially since the Book of Fortune, the cloud stairway up the mountain, was already before him—there was no reason to slack off.
The inner room was a complete mess, filled with all kinds of mixed Spiritual Qi.
Li Mo sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion, holding a Mid-grade Spirit Stone in both hands and absorbing the Variant Spiritual Energy within. His cultivation slowly rose.
As the Mid-grade Spirit Stone dried up, fine cracks immediately spread over the crystal's surface.
Crack, crack, crack...
With a crisp sound, the Mid-grade Spirit Stone completely turned to powder. The remaining Spiritual Qi swept through the room, causing light and shadow to flicker and flow.
Li Mo let out a long breath.
He could not help stretching. The Crimson Fox Tattoo on his left arm faintly glimmered as it actively absorbed the Fire Element Spiritual Energy in the room.
The Crimson Fox Tattoo could nourish itself through Fire Element Spiritual Energy. However, as a secondary tattoo drawn with ordinary Beast Blood, its efficiency in autonomously absorbing Spiritual Qi was painfully slow.
Li Mo broke twelve Low-grade Spirit Stones from his chest and placed them back into his Storage Bag.
After Li Mo imprinted two pages of skin, his Leakless Body had strengthened somewhat and could already smoothly generate complete Low-grade Spirit Stones.
He had absorbed Mid-grade Spirit Stones in one gulp, then filtered the Misty Spiritual Energy through his Multi-layered Dantian, causing some loss in the Low-grade Spirit Stones that formed.
Li Mo's expression turned dazed as he realized he had been in secluded cultivation for more than three years.
He inspected his Middle Dantian with his mind. The Miasma Spiritual Power inside was nearly overflowing, while the Eightfold Protective Layer formed by his Divine Ability locked it down tightly, continuously compressing it by another means.
Childhood Stage Layer 1 was the process of laying the foundation.
Li Mo possessed a Multi-layered Dantian. The purity of his spiritual power far surpassed those of the same realm, but that also meant his breakthrough required five times the Spiritual Qi of an ordinary person.
Otherwise, with the aptitude bolstered by his Divine Ability, he would not have failed to advance after three years.
Still, Li Mo had calculated that once he began carrying out Spiritual Root Transformation on his five viscera, the astonishing benefits of having such abundant spiritual power would reveal themselves.
After all, Spiritual Root Transformation was essentially using one's own spiritual power to erode the five viscera.
Li Mo rummaged through his Storage Bag. All seven Mid-grade Spirit Stones had been squandered, while he still had one hundred and seventy-five Low-grade Spirit Stones left.
By Li Mo's estimation, the cultivation ahead would be nothing more than water grinding through stone. Childhood Stage Layer 2 was no longer far away.
He had once considered exchanging Spirit Stones for other Spirit Stones, but Low-grade Spirit Stones contained too little Misty Spiritual Energy, while few people were willing to part with Mid-grade Spirit Stones.
Li Mo loosened his muscles and bones.
He now stood a little over 1.7 meters tall, and the clothes and trousers from three years ago clearly no longer fit.
He coiled his long hair behind his head with a Daoist Hairpin. Though his appearance remained ordinary, no one could connect him to the farmer's child he had once been.
Yet even with the Divine Ability of the Leakless Body, Li Mo could not avoid the erosion of Death Sickness. Corpse spots had already appeared along his cheeks, and a touch of snow-white had stained the hair at his temples.
Of course, compared to others his age, Li Mo's signs of corpse transformation were hardly worth mentioning.
He suddenly remembered his Spirit Tablet. After taking it out, he found more than a hundred messages within. Most were clues about Sinister Beast sightings, provided by Smelting Town's Yamen to every cultivator.
Li Mo pressed the Spirit Tablet against his forehead and absorbed the information within.
Countless townspeople had been slain by Sinister Beasts, their deaths grotesque in every imaginable way. Even though Li Mo had prepared himself mentally, the details still sent a chill down his spine.
Of course, there was good news in the Spirit Tablet as well.
Jin Li informed Li Mo that after Li Qingfang and her brother learned to read, they had returned to the Calligraphy and Painting Hall and were currently practicing the art of painting.
Li Mo could tell that Jin Li's words concealed a subtle implication.
So long as he was willing to speak, Jin Li naturally had ways to help Li Qingfang and her brother gain access to cultivation Dharma Gates.
But Li Mo had no such intention. Whether they could cultivate depended entirely on their own fate and affinity.
As one's realm rose, the devastation Death Sickness inflicted upon the body would become increasingly terrifying. Not everyone could bear such pain, and there were plenty who gave up on themselves rather than resist Death Sickness.
If they failed to cultivate, Li Mo planned to have the two of them run a small business in Smelting Town.
With the Medical Hall around, even if mortals had their intestines pierced and bellies rotted by Death Sickness, as long as they were willing to pay some silver, the physicians had plenty of means to mend them.
What surprised Li Mo was Zhu Zi.
Relying on his brute strength, Zhao Zhu had actually distinguished himself in the Miscellaneous Hall. In recent years, he had been cultivating under Xu Hu.
Li Mo then learned from the Spirit Tablet that not long ago, cultivators had hunted beasts in Xinji Ridge. The storehouse had recently received a batch of beast materials, including those from Mountain Lords and Foxes.
Ever since the Elk Bizarre Beast appeared, more than just Smelting Town had suffered. The surrounding towns and villages had also met with disaster, and traveling to Xinji Ridge two hundred li away was now far too dangerous.
He had not expected to wait a full three years for the Beast Blood required to draw the Mountain Lord Tattoo.
Li Mo finally stepped out of the inner room after so long. He considered that once he finished drawing the Mountain Lord Tattoo, he could put inscribing his heart on the agenda.
As the center of the blood, the heart would surely improve his physique after being inscribed, allowing Li Mo to bear two Tattooed Beasts at once.
To be cautious, he had delayed it until he was close to the bottleneck.
After all, Childhood Stage Layer 2 involved the Spiritual Root Transformation of the heart. If the heart underwent drastic changes beforehand, it could easily cause unnecessary trouble.
Li Mo looked around. The rebuilt Pawnshop had a slightly different layout.
There were many unfamiliar young apprentices along the paths people traveled. Li Mo could tell that Smelting Town was deliberately replenishing its lost population.
Even the conditions for shops to teach cultivation Dharma Gates had been lowered accordingly.
With the Spirit Tablet at his waist, Li Mo entered the storehouse without obstruction. Of the dozen or so cultivators who brushed past him, none recognized him.
He went straight to the shelf holding Beast Blood, where two or three dozen bottles were scattered about.
Li Mo looked over the origins of the Beast Blood. Having decided that the Mountain Lord Tattoo would be drawn on his right arm, he found it difficult to choose secondary tattoos for his legs; the beasts available were not particularly suitable.
He directly took ten bottles each of Mountain Lord Blood and Fox Blood, then selected two fairly good pieces of Beast Hide, along with several Beast Teeth.
Secondary Beast Head Tattoos had limited potential, but that did not mean there was no way to make up for it.
According to the Bone Scroll Steward Hu had given him, there were two refinement procedures during the Childhood Stage that could raise the potential of Beast Head Tattoos.
Simulation and Blood Drenching.
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