"Got it. No wonder they could enter and leave the Secret Realm at will."
Li Mo walked toward the alley. After noticing the effects of the metal toxin, he used Contain Toxin and Digest Poison,
deliberately allowing the toxin to temporarily spread into his brain.
It was only an attempt, yet an anomaly immediately followed.
The Black Market vanished in an instant.
Heaven and earth shifted.
Brilliant sunlight poured down. Li Mo's eyes had grown used to the Black Market shrouded by the Formation, and he was briefly unable to adapt to the brightness.
"Just as I thought, the metal toxin is connected to the Iron Cauldron Secret Realm."
He raised a hand to shield his eyes from the sun, then looked around.
He had somehow arrived atop a mountain a thousand meters high. Jagged rocks crowded the landscape, and the steep Rock Walls bore not a trace of vegetation. At the same time, the mountain range was constantly trembling, making it impossible to stand steadily.
Scattered figures could be seen among the mountains. They were clearly Rogue Cultivators from the Black Market, gathering all kinds of Spiritual Herbs from the sheer cliffs.
One moment, Li Mo had still been in the bustling Heart Beast Black Market; the next, he had suddenly arrived in an unfamiliar land. He could not help feeling somewhat unaccustomed to it.
A vast flood of memories regarding Secret Realms surged into his mind.
The Book of Fortune became incomparably active. Li Mo had only seen such a phenomenon when he first activated it.
Li Mo hurriedly divided his attention to digest the Book of Fortune's information. Everything indicated that he was inside the Iron Cauldron Secret Realm. The key to entering and leaving the Secret Realm was actually the hallucinogenic metal toxin infecting the brain.
Bang, bang, bang...
Only then did Li Mo realize that the mountain's true form was a stone turtle Sinister Beast nearly a thousand meters in size. The earth-shaking tremors were merely spasms produced by its corpse.
The stone turtle was pitted all over. Any valuable organs on its corpse had long since been removed. The Rogue Cultivators were merely picking up scraps, targeting the ores that had grown from its shell after death.
Thick fog filled the surroundings, and several more corpses could faintly be seen appearing and disappearing within it.
The sky held no sun, moon, or stars, yet it remained perpetually bright.
The Iron Cauldron Secret Realm's characteristics were no different from Secret Realms seven thousand years ago. But why was its method of entry and exit so strange? Shouldn't entrances and exits be located within certain tomb ruins?
Li Mo felt that this place resembled a Mass Grave used to pile up Bizarre Beast Corpses.
The metal toxin within the Iron Cauldron Secret Realm was also extraordinarily dense. Only by relying on Contain Toxin and Digest Poison and his Leakless Body did he barely keep the toxin from worsening.
"If the metal toxin represents the Iron Cauldron Secret Realm, then what about Polymelia?"
While Li Mo was thinking, he failed to notice a figure approaching from afar.
Yin Xue narrowed his eyes and used his flicking crimson tongue to pinpoint Li Mo's location. His boneless body slipped through the cracks between the rocks.
His expression was greedy, as though Li Mo were already meat on the chopping block.
"I've struck it rich..."
As Yin Xue's body temperature plummeted, his movements grew quieter and quieter. Greenish-yellow poisonous smoke billowed from his mouth and nose.
The spell he cultivated was called the Snake Belly Jade Blood Heart Sutra. Not only could it make his nails and teeth highly toxic, it also allowed him to sense the qi and blood of others.
Yin Xue had noticed Li Mo's abnormality back in the Black Market.
He had noticed that Li Mo's heartbeat was still within a normal range. From that, he could tell that Li Mo should be around fifteen years old.
At the same time, Li Mo's qi and blood were incomparably robust, far surpassing cultivators of the same realm.
Therefore, Yin Xue was certain.
Li Mo definitely possessed a special physique, as well as a complete Spell Inheritance. The resources and Spirit Stones in his Storage Bag would be enough to leave Yin Xue with a full basin and overflowing bowl.
Otherwise, why would he take out surplus magic artifacts to sell?
"A fat sheep, a true fat sheep..."
"If I can eat this fat sheep, I might even be able to try breaking through to the Coming-of-Age Stage. Hahaha, once fortune arrives, nothing can stop it."
At that thought, a trace of gloom flashed through Yin Xue's eyes.
In order to hold Song Liang back, he could only promise part of the profits to his fellow disciples in the Viper Society. He needed to find a way to swallow the fat sheep's resources all by himself.
Without realizing it, Yin Xue had already assumed that Li Mo's cultivation could be handled however he pleased.
As he drew nearer to Li Mo, he seemed able to smell the sweetness of flesh and blood in his nostrils. His sunken eyes were filled with madness.
Li Mo stood motionless, constantly comparing the things within the Secret Realm.
A fishy wind swept past.
Unable to restrain himself any longer, Yin Xue opened his bloody maw. Poisonous smoke gushed from his mouth, and the rocks around him immediately began to sizzle.
"By the way, how long has the Iron Cauldron Secret Realm been open?"
Li Mo seemed to be talking to himself, yet also seemed to be asking Yin Xue.
A cold smile appeared at the corner of Yin Xue's mouth. This was nothing more than a dying struggle. Li Mo wanted to stall for time and leave the Secret Realm? How could it be that easy?
"Brat, obediently become dry bones in my stomach."
The snake head rapidly swelled and lunged at Li Mo, its cracked skin resembling scales.
Yin Xue was confident that the attack could not be avoided, yet he unexpectedly bit nothing but air.
Li Mo lightly twisted aside to evade it, and a thunderous roar came from behind him.
A shadow fell over Yin Xue.
Yin Xue felt as though he were sitting on pins and needles. Though he believed Li Mo was merely using some Illusion Art, instinct still drove him to turn his head.
With one glance, his soul nearly fled in terror.
"What..."
A Ghost Tiger crouched low, staring at its prey with evident interest. Its body exceeded five meters in length, brimming with oppressive force. Dense black smoke surrounded it, while long, narrow Bone Spikes covered its joints.
Yin Xue's face turned deathly pale.
He clumsily rolled over and fled. Every trace of luck in his heart had vanished, leaving only indescribable terror.
"Why is there such a terrifying existence in the Black Market, hiding its brilliance and concealing its tracks..."
"Roar!!!"
The Ghost Tiger had lost none of its agility. It shifted freely between reality and illusion in rapid succession, then caught up to Yin Xue amid howling yin wind and struck with a claw.
Yin Xue's right arm snapped on impact, and he could not help letting out a heart-rending scream.
"Let's go."
Li Mo glanced toward the mountain ridge. Some Black Market Rogue Cultivators had clearly noticed the commotion and were silently trying to creep over to pick up scraps.
"No, no, don't kill me! I'm from the Viper Society..."
The Ghost Tiger could not understand human speech. It pinned Yin Xue down with its forelimb and bit off his head in one mouthful.
Li Mo glanced at the corpse. Its organs could all be sold for Spirit Stones, but a cultivator at Childhood Stage Layer 3 probably was not worth much.
He used Contain Toxin and Digest Poison to suppress the metal toxin.
The Iron Cauldron Secret Realm receded like flowing sand. Darkness shrouded everything once more, and the Heart Beast Black Market's distinctive damp, chilling stench rushed at him.
Li Mo calmly walked out of the alley.
The confrontation on the street was still ongoing. Bound by the Black Market's rules, Song Liang forcibly suppressed his fury.
"Yin the Butcher has returned. That little brother sure died quickly. Why insist on seeking death by entering the Secret Realm? Hahahaha..."
The Viper Society cultivators burst into laughter, drawing the crowd's attention toward the alley entrance.
Yet the one who emerged was not Yin Xue.
Li Mo held a snake head in his hand and casually tossed it into a corner.
Yin Xue still wore an expression of despair at death. His eyes seemed to have witnessed something horrifying beyond measure, and clear bite marks could be seen on the severed wound at his neck.
The cultivators shuddered. Li Mo's head, wrapped in strips of cloth, seemed to conceal a Beast Head as monstrous as a Demon.
"You..."
Song Liang wanted to ask something, but Li Mo walked straight off the street.
Li Mo did not care about the Viper Society. It was made up of Childhood Stage Rogue Cultivators, and it was not a solid block either. Yin Xue's death might even benefit the Viper Society cultivators.
After all, resources were limited. With one fewer cultivator to divide them, everyone else would gain a little more.
The strong devoured the weak; that was the main theme here.
Li Mo's decisive killing still served as a deterrent. No one knew just what kind of terror lay beneath the cloth strips wrapped around his head.
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