Two Hundred Miles in Every Direction, All Heart Beasts

The mountain wind howled like a tiger's roar, echoing through the forest.

Li Mo guessed that River God Village was merely one of Steward Hu's hidden schemes, with a clear goal—to serve the Mountain Lord Bizarre Beast in the Inner City. The cultivators who had previously accepted the River God Village mission were all aware of this and had chosen not to act against the Mountain Lord Bizarre Beast, which had been dismembered into four pieces.

"Hu Wen... Zombie Ghost?"

Regardless, the Mountain Lord Painting Li Mo had drawn could contain divine essence, making it quite significant. It might even lure the Mountain Lord Bizarre Beast into revealing itself.

Li Mo casually grabbed a river fish and split it open, revealing an unformed embryo inside. It was clear that small birds and beasts could hardly transform into "Half-Beasts."

As he left River God Village, he also dealt with the Bizarre Beast Corpse along the way.

Li Mo needed to divide the Bizarre Beast Corpse into different parts to maximize profit, preparing for an upcoming Black Market transaction.

Unfortunately, the Bizarre Beast had been suppressed in River God Village for over a decade, causing its bones and flesh to decay severely, greatly diminishing its value.

After two days of work, Li Mo managed to extract only three bottles of blackened blood from the corpse.

As for using the Bizarre Beast Blood for a Bloody attempt, he would wait until he reached the Black Market and found a secluded room similar to the Inner Room.

He was quite interested in the Black Market, said to be a place full of opportunities.

Li Mo took a detour toward Niu Family Village. After wearing out two pairs of shoes, he finally spotted the village at the foot of a mountain.

Niu Family Village was far more remote than River God Village, completely self-sufficient in resources, with almost no trace of the Beast Calamity.

Moreover, since Half-Beasts never attacked the village, it could be called a paradise.

Li Mo walked through the fields, and the farmers stared at him with surprise. Niu Family Village had not seen a stranger in a long time.

None of them recognized Li Mo, except for Auntie Wang, who asked hesitantly, "You are..."

"The youngest son of Carpenter Li, Hei Wa."

"Oh my."

Auntie Wang's face was full of disbelief. She had never heard of an apprentice entering Smelting Town and then returning to the village like Li Mo.

In a village, everyone was connected by blood or familiarity, and many had once looked after young Li Mo.

Her face lit up with excitement as she called out to the farmers in the fields.

Li Mo was like an immortal about to sever ties with the mortal world, observing the villagers from an outsider's perspective, his emotions incredibly complex.

He feared it would be hard for him to ever return to Niu Family Village again.

"Hei Wa, wait here. I'll go call your family."

"Thank you, Auntie Wang."

Auntie Wang vanished in a flash, and soon all dozen or so households in the village gathered at the entrance, chattering endlessly.

Father Li and Mother Li exchanged pleasantries with Li Mo, while his elder brother Li Li stood by awkwardly. His wife, holding a child, pinched Li Li's arm, signaling him to get closer to Li Mo.

Li Mo responded to each of them, but his initial thought of staying in the village for a few days suddenly faded.

Because of Eternal Life, mortals did not place much weight on separation and death. It was common for children to leave home at fourteen or fifteen, and for sixteen- or seventeen-year-olds to have children of their own.

Li Mo had been away for four years, but Li Li already had two sons and a daughter. His elder sister Li Xia needed no mention—she had already passed childbearing age.

The household was full of children and grandchildren, and Li Mo had become the extra one.

The villagers spoke one after another, but they tacitly avoided asking about the current state of the fourteen children who had left the village back then.

They, too, feared hearing bad news from Li Mo's mouth.

Li Mo did not speak carelessly either, giving vague answers while stuffing the Sugar Pills he had bought into the mouths of the snot-nosed village children.

Just then, the Teacher of Niu Family Village pushed through the crowd, and the villagers quickly made way.

He forced open his murky, rotting eyes and asked, "Li Mo, in Smelting Town... have you ever seen those Immortal Masters?"

"To answer you, Teacher, yes."

"Then..."

Before the Teacher could finish, Li Mo shook his brocade-edged, green Storage Bag.

In front of them suddenly appeared a pile of firewood, rice, oil, and salt—all daily necessities Li Mo had bought before leaving Smelting Town, costing little silver.

"This... this... this..."

The villagers exchanged glances.

They simply could not associate the ordinary-looking Li Mo with an Immortal Master.

The Teacher's face flushed red. He opened his mouth several times but could not produce a sound, trembling as he pointed a finger at Li Mo.

Li Mo understood the Teacher's meaning. The latter was over three hundred years old, and every part of his body had decayed. Without Medical Hall repairs, he would soon be paralyzed.

This return to Niu Family Village also carried Li Mo's intention to settle his mortal affairs.

Li Mo understood that the greatest pursuit of mortals was physical health, and this was a perfect chance to practice the surgical procedures from the Medical Book.

Though he disliked surgery, as the Death Sickness erupted in his body, the importance of medical skills would only grow. It was indeed necessary to master them.

"Elders, please rest assured. I will stay in the village for half a day and use Immortal techniques to ease the Death Sickness in your bodies."

The villagers' eyes burned with fervor. Father Li and Mother Li wished they could keep Li Mo for a few more days, but the gap between mortal and immortal weighed heavily on their minds.

It was the simple, honest Li Li who scratched his head and asked, "Little brother, leaving so soon?"

"Brother, there's plenty to do in Smelting Town."

"That's true."

The Teacher vacated the schoolhouse for Li Mo, and the villagers filed in through the door in a long queue, drawing curious looks from the children.

Li Mo had prepared a fair amount of materials in advance, among them a fungus polymer called "Spirit Paste," similar to flesh ganoderma. Its price wasn't steep—a single Low-grade Spirit Stone sufficed.

Spirit Paste was specifically used to fill in missing flesh and blood.

He was a novice, his experience relying solely on memories of surgical procedures from films and TV in his past life, along with the Medical Book Han Cai had gifted him.

Li Mo had expected psychological pressure—after all, he was dealing with living people.

To his surprise, once he entered a state of focus, the concept of life and death faded from his mind.

Li Mo carefully cleaned the villagers' wounds, filled in the missing flesh and blood, reconnected severed tendons, and finally stitched everything up with fine thread.

The villagers' physical ailments all stemmed from decay. Surgery was indeed the simplest method—no wonder the Medical Hall was so highly regarded.

Li Mo quickly found his rhythm, his movements growing more and more skilled.

Amid the villagers' admiration, Li Mo finished the work in just two hours, the materials consumed worth at most one Low-grade Spirit Stone.

The Medical Hall was a lucrative business.

After witnessing Li Mo's miraculous "immortal arts," the villagers were so eager they wanted to mold a clay statue of him and enshrine it in the Ancestral Hall.

It was only when the Teacher advised that living people should not have statues made that they dropped the idea.

Li Mo ate supper in Niu Family Village, then, surrounded by the crowd, left the village and headed along the mountain path toward the Black Market.

He felt no reluctance. The long immortal path had only just begun—how could he turn back?

Li Mo emerged from the forest.

He recalled Jin Li's description of the Black Market. It seemed the Black Market was only slightly smaller than Smelting Town, formed by dozens of powers both large and small.

Even with his Smelting Town identity, Li Mo had to tread carefully in the Black Market, or else he'd be devoured down to the bone.

It was said that the higher-ups in Smelting Town also held assets in the Black Market.

Only when Li Mo neared the Black Market did he realize why Smelting Town so freely let cultivators leave—within two hundred li in every direction, there were nothing but Heart Beasts.

The Black Market was hidden within the black mist formed by a formation, like a crater left by a falling meteorite. Not far off stood a Bloodstone Stele.

Upon it was starkly carved: [Heart Beast].