Divine Ability [Primal Dao Seed]

Li Mo carefully examined the Primal Dao Seed.

The so-called Primal Dao Seed referred to the Dao seed within the Middle Dantian; its smooth, flawless surface could be used to inscribe cultivation techniques.

The moment Li Mo inscribed the Nourishing Origin Fundamental Scripture onto the Dao seed, text emerged upon it.

Then, under the Dao seed's influence, the Miasma Spiritual Power began circulating through the Circulation Cycle, the meridian path subtly shifting to become more streamlined.

It wasn't merely an aid to cultivation—the Primal Dao Seed could also refine Li Mo's primary Nourishing Origin Fundamental Scripture through the inscription of other techniques.

Naturally, Li Mo was ecstatic.

However, he soon noticed that during his seclusion, the Iron Cauldron Secret Realm seemed to have been embroiled in considerable turmoil, with the Black Market in a state of panic.

Li Mo returned to the secret realm. The tremors from Corpse Mountain had grown more frequent, gravel falling like rain, the cave thick with dust.

His expression turned grim, the joy of advancing to Childhood Stage Layer 4 vanishing without a trace.

Li Mo could hear dense footsteps outside the cave.

The footsteps didn't belong to Viper Society cultivators. Clearly, the Clay Sculptures were waiting for him outside the cave—such a large-scale mobilization was unprecedented.

Li Mo summoned the Ghost Tiger, pressed the Mother Ghost Head onto its back, and communicated with the magic tool through his will.

The fervor for mining spiritual materials in the Iron Cauldron Secret Realm had waned considerably. Most cultivators holding Child Ghost Heads were gathered at the periphery of Corpse Mountain, and the number of Rogue Cultivators coming to the secret realm had noticeably dropped.

The main reason was that over a dozen cultivators had gone missing deep within Corpse Mountain, not returning for over half a month.

The outside world assumed the missing cultivators had met their end on the Dao, but Li Mo could clearly sense that they were still alive.

Unfortunately, the Child Ghost Heads deep in Corpse Mountain were too far away; the Mother Ghost Head's sensing range was limited. He only knew they were gathered somewhere.

It was still a limitation of the tool—after all, the Mother Ghost Head was merely a Low-grade Magic Tool at the Second Refinement.

Li Mo didn't rush to leave the cave. He closed his eyes and communicated with the Mother Ghost Head, hoping to find clues through the Child Ghost Heads.

After prolonged communication, he only managed to glean something from the Child Ghost Heads' auditory senses.

The cultivators were trapped deep within Corpse Mountain, likely not in immediate danger of death, but they seemed to have stumbled into some inexplicable encounter.

Li Mo carefully discerned the sounds transmitted by the Mother Ghost Head.

The dominant sounds were the heavy breathing of the various cultivators—their emotions were clearly agitated, yet there was no trace of fear.

They seemed to be in a narrow, enclosed space, and a strange voice was lecturing them on spells.

"Heaven and Earth Mysterious Origin, Ten Thousand Qi Root, Vast Cultivation of Countless Kalpas, Attest My Divine Power."

"Inside and Outside the Three Realms, Only the Dao is Supreme, Body Has Golden Light, Cover and Reflect My Body."

"Look but Cannot See, Listen but Cannot Hear..."

Li Mo's face turned ashen. The content of the voice was clearly the Ziqi Sect's Armor Spell, yet it also resembled the Golden Light Spell from his past life, which he had once heard from Jin Li.

The Book of Fortune flooded his mind with more memories from the Ziqi Sect.

In the Ancient Immortal Cultivation World, the Armor Spell was considered a relatively orthodox technique. It refined the cultivator by absorbing Golden Qi from magic tools.

It was one of the compulsory spells for Ziqi Sect disciples, typically used in conjunction with their Natal Magic Tool.

Once the Armor Spell reached minor success, it would even feed Golden Qi back to the Natal Magic Tool, compensating for damage caused by cultivating the technique.

The source of Metal Poisoning was, unsurprisingly, the so-called Armor Spell.

Since the Iron Cauldron Secret Realm was saturated with massive amounts of Metal Toxin, did that mean there was a magic tool or artifact from the Ziqi Sect hidden deep within Corpse Mountain?

Li Mo summoned the Salamander to keep watch around him, then drove the Ghost Tiger out of the cave.

"Woo woo..."

The Ghost Tiger couldn't help but whimper. The passage outside the cave was indeed filled with a large number of Clay Sculptures, frightening the Ghost Tiger so much its limbs went weak.

The Clay Sculptures remained motionless in a kneeling posture, like mortals worshipping immortals.

Li Mo's expression shifted uncertainly.

His advantage lay in Contain Toxin and Digest Poison. Ordinary cultivators needed to swallow Pills to suppress the toxins before returning to the present world, and the medicine would take most of an hour to take effect.

But the moment Li Mo activated Contain Toxin and Digest Poison, he could leave the Iron Cauldron Secret Realm instantly.

Li Mo had the Ghost Tiger watch the Clay Sculptures, then walked out of the cave along the wall. When he saw the fervent Clay Sculptures, a chill ran down his spine.

Though the Clay Sculptures had no facial features, their forms and sizes varied.

Through the cracks in the Clay Sculptures, Li Mo saw that they were filled with countless maggots, each as thick as a finger, a sight that was utterly hair-raising.

According to the memories surging from the Book of Fortune, these maggots were called Gold Devouring Insects. Their habit was to devour metal residue and gestate refined iron spiritual materials, commonly found near iron mines.

In ancient times, the Ziqi Sect raised Gold Devouring Insects to ensure the full utilization of ore resources.

Li Mo found it deeply absurd. Why would Gold Devouring Insects form these bizarre Clay Sculptures? What strange secrets did Corpse Mountain hide?

The Clay Sculptures seemed to be guiding him to go deeper into Corpse Mountain.

Li Mo realized that the Primordial Acquired Dao Body might very well originate from the Ziqi Sect, causing the Clay Sculptures to mistake him for a Ziqi Sect disciple.

He stepped forward and walked deeper into the Mine Cave.

Whenever the Clay Sculptures disappeared from his sight, they would instantly reappear at a fork in the path, bowing and scraping to show Li Mo the way.

Li Mo headed straight for Xu Guangcheng, quickly arriving at the area blanketed by candlelight. The rock wall was covered with Viper Society cultivators who had been hanged to death by Xu Guangcheng for hoarding spirit materials.

Besides them, there were many rogue cultivator corpses, all of them mangled and incomplete.

"Demon!!!"

The Viper Society cultivators were terrified, limbs they had just hacked from corpses dropping to the ground, bits of flesh and blood still clinging to the corners of their mouths.

So many Clay Sculptures—in their eyes, this was utterly shocking.

The Clay Sculptures that the Viper Society fled from in fear were now as docile as lambs before Li Mo.

Li Mo surveyed the mine cave. The Viper Society wasn't overly greedy, after all; they had simply excavated spirit materials around the thousand-meter mark, with no intention of going deeper.

He didn't even need to lift a finger. Once the Clay Sculptures had their sights on the Viper Society, how could they possibly survive?

The Ghost Tiger was responsible for collecting the spirit materials.

Wherever Li Mo passed, the ground was a mess of minced flesh. Every member of the Viper Society had committed crimes and stained their hands with blood—dying at the hands of the Clay Sculptures was actually letting them off easy.

Xu Guangcheng was holed up in the cave dwelling Li Mo had originally opened.

Before him was a wooden table covered with a dazzling array of spirit materials, shimmering with five-colored light under the faint glow.

Xu Guangcheng was as withered as a skeleton, his sunken eyes fixed on the materials.

"I'm going to establish my foundation, I'm going to establish my foundation, establish my foundation..."

Hearing the screams from the mine cave, his right arm transformed into a venomous needle and stabbed into the cultivator beside him. His reason had long been shattered by greed.

"No one can stop me. The Mad Daoist—it must be that Mad Daoist..."

Xu Guangcheng revealed a sickly expression, stumbling and crawling toward the cave entrance. What met his eyes was the surface of the rock wall, the shadow of a Fox Head cast by Li Mo's hand gesture.

"Fox."

The Twin-tailed Crimson Fox, over seven meters long, swallowed Xu Guangcheng in one gulp. Its monstrous aura surged like a tangible force.

Li Mo brushed past coldly, suppressing his aura while leaving all the Clay Sculptures inside the mine cave occupied by the Viper Society cultivators.