The Sumeru Stone was silvery white, its surface covered in patterns resembling the folds of a brain, and it gave off a fishy stench.
Li Mo did not know where Sumeru Stones came from, but it was said that the finer their quality, the more their shape resembled a brain.
The Sumeru Stone he had purchased was rather inferior, yet it cost several times more than ordinary Low-grade Spirit Material.
Li Mo was exceptionally careful as he drew. Spiritual power carried the Sumeru Stone powder, tracing mysterious lines across the iron cage.
The First Refinement required precise control over spiritual power, something he happened to excel at.
Under the effects of the Sumeru Stone, the Bird in a Cage's internal space expanded to roughly five cubic meters, while also gaining the ability to seal living creatures within.
Once the Bird in a Cage's First Refinement was complete, Li Mo let out a long breath.
Because the Magic Tool Blank was of such poor quality, this Bird in a Cage might stop at the Third Refinement. Still, that was more than enough for Li Mo.
Storing large beasts was unrealistic, but Rodents or Scale-type creatures would not be a problem. Unfortunately, only Mid-grade Magic Tools could be stored in the Middle Dantian; the Bird in a Cage could only be carried on his person.
Li Mo set the Bird in a Cage aside, then sat in meditation to restore his spiritual power.
His life thereafter became dull and repetitive, a straight line between cultivation and tool refinement, with the occasional bout of painting interspersed.
Painting was meant to stabilize his state of mind and improve the efficiency of secluded cultivation.
Only once every month did Li Mo temporarily leave the inn to set up a stall selling Magic Tools and replenish his exhausted resources.
After half a year of secluded cultivation, his liver's Spiritual Root Transformation had already surpassed thirty percent. He steadily advanced toward Childhood Stage Layer 4, and the foundation he had laid was incomparably solid.
Li Mo did not blindly pursue advancement in cultivation.
He understood the significance of the Childhood Stage. The capital he accumulated would all be used for later breakthroughs.
The changing seasons stood still within the Black Market, as though it were cut off from the rest of the world.
Li Mo circulated the Circulation Cycle. Miasma Spiritual Power flowed through the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, while rich blood galloped through his vessels and organs.
At that moment, the Paper Man on the wooden table suddenly walked over.
Li Mo paused his cultivation and opened the Paper Man with delight on his face. Several lines of blood-red writing were inside.
After he finished reading, the Paper Man let out a heart-rending, lung-splitting shriek before turning to ashes.
This method Rogue Cultivators used to send messages had a very limited range and could not be reused, making it rather chicken-rib.
Still, Li Mo immediately understood that the matter he had commissioned had been accomplished.
He rose and left the inn, arriving at the Black Market streets lined with stalls. He could clearly sense that the number of low-level Rogue Cultivators had been steadily increasing.
It was mainly because of the Iron Cauldron Secret Realm. To conveniently sell their Spiritual Herbs, Rogue Cultivators had flocked to the Black Market without prior arrangement.
Li Mo's appearance still drew the attention of certain interested parties.
He did not care in the slightest and walked directly to the entrance of Green Leaf Wine Shop. Song Liang had been waiting for a long time, and visibly relaxed upon seeing Li Mo.
As the head escort of Hong Xing Escort Agency, Song Liang had more than a dozen Escort Guards under him and thus considerable demand for Low-grade Magic Tools. During Li Mo's stall days, he had repeatedly purchased Golden Sand Diagrams.
Over time, the two had become fairly familiar with one another.
Song Liang shook his head with a bitter smile. "Salamanders aren't easy to find. Had I known, I wouldn't have agreed to catch salamanders for you along the way. I turned over who knew how many mountain peaks in Xinji Ridge before I found them..."
"Thank you, Brother Song."
Li Mo took out a small pouch of Spirit Stones and was about to hand it to Song Liang, but Song Liang grew anxious and hurriedly refused. "There's really no need. I was heading that way anyway. How could I let you spend money?"
"Then I'll treat you to wine."
Li Mo took the cloth pouch and looked inside. It contained more than a dozen dormant salamanders. Overjoyed, he pulled Song Liang into the wine shop.
He had originally planned to give up on drawing the salamander tattoo and use geckos that could regrow their severed tails instead, or turtles, lizards, and the like.
Their effects might not have been as outstanding as salamanders', but they were much easier to find.
Now that Song Liang had brought back a harvest, Li Mo did not decline further. Salamanders were simply too important for his cultivation of Paint Green Clothes. Even the Bird in a Cage had been refined for this purpose.
The two sat down in the wine shop, where every drink was mixed with spices that carried pungent, bitter, and sweet aromas.
Li Mo was very unused to it, but he still drank several cups with Song Liang and casually discussed Hong Xing Escort Agency's gains from this trip.
"Don't mention it. There weren't any wild beasts to be found around the outskirts of Xinji Ridge. We had to go ten miles deep before finding a few hibernating man-bears."
"Alas..."
For an escort agency, hunting wild beasts in Xinji Ridge was the safest way to make money, but in the depths of winter, luck was always needed.
Song Liang was becoming tipsy, and the words spilling from his mouth began to increase.
"Did you know? On our return journey, we took the official road along the southwest. From Fushan Slope, you could see Fu'an Town..."
"Smelting Town has been dealing with that calamity for years, but the Meat Mountain is still a thousand meters tall. At its foot, White Bones are piled up like mountains, all of them rotting Severed Limbs!"
"These are troubled times indeed."
Li Mo shook his head. He had always kept an eye on Fu'an Town, and after asking Jin Li about it before, he knew the situation with Polymelia was far from optimistic.
"Even if no one dies or gets hurt, that Meat Mountain..."
Song Liang was already drinking himself into a muddled haze. It was clear just how deeply passing through Fu'an Town had shaken him; the terror in his heart was beyond words.
A strip of cloth extended from Li Mo's Desert Diagram and stabbed into the back of Song Liang's head.
A few breaths later, the Desert Diagram had devoured every trace of Song Liang's Wine Qi. He groggily awakened, only to find that Li Mo had already left the wine shop.
After purchasing some resources in the Black Market, Li Mo returned to his room.
He took out the Bird in a Cage and began building an Eco-box based on memories from his previous life, intending to raise salamanders and obtain a steady supply of Beast Blood.
An Eco-box was a sealed container where temperature and humidity were used to simulate a natural environment, allowing small animals to be raised inside.
Li Mo only had vague memories of how to construct an Eco-box.
However, he possessed Miasma Spiritual Power, and as long as he infused the Bird in a Cage with spiritual power from time to time, its interior would become extremely stable. Controlling its temperature and humidity was not particularly troublesome.
It took Li Mo only five days to transform the Bird in a Cage into a small Eco-box. It was covered with dense, low shrubs, while a crystal-clear pond lay at its center, with several strands of aquatic grass floating on its surface.
He placed the salamanders into the Bird in a Cage, then scattered some powder inside.
The dozen or so salamanders immediately awakened and burrowed into the pond in fear. Only after Li Mo tossed in earthworms and other assorted food did they gradually adapt.
Li Mo did not stop there and began the Bird in a Cage's Second Refinement.
His tool-refining skill had already become second nature. There was no possibility of failure in the Second Refinement.
Hot Lizard Bone Powder wrapped around the iron cage, and light began to emerge within the Bird in a Cage.
The Second Refinement mainly enhanced the Magic Tool's sturdiness, while adding the ability to control illumination and ensuring the ecological stability needed to raise salamanders.
Li Mo was extremely satisfied. Once he could refine Mid-grade Magic Tools in the future, he could also put raising foxes and Mountain Lords on the agenda. Kun Whales... better forget about those.
He observed the salamanders' condition and drew blood according to their state.
By the time Li Mo had gathered enough blood to draw the tattoo, the salamander colony showed no signs of decline and remained lively and vigorous within the Bird in a Cage.
"It's time to complete the final auxiliary position."
Li Mo frowned, his gaze sweeping over the scattered black spots on the surface of his brain.
With the support of four Tattooed Beasts, he should have a few chances of exploring the Iron Cauldron Secret Realm.
He then began drawing the tattoo while splitting his attention to consider matters concerning the Primordial Acquired Dao Body.
The deeper Li Mo delved into the Primordial Acquired Dao Body, the more extraordinary he found this spell's potential. It could even be mutually beneficial with the Leakless Body.
He had thought of a shortcut to Entry Level, and had gathered every Spiritual Herb required. Yet it would probably cause quite a commotion, so he might as well hide within the Iron Cauldron Secret Realm and attempt to master it there.
Under Li Mo's effortless brushwork, the Salamander Beast Head took shape.
Work has been too busy, so I posted this early. Tomorrow will still be at eight.
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