Chapter 482: Chapter 107 Stepping into the Heavenly Palace Stage
The Demon Cave no longer resembled the paradise it once seemed upon first arrival; everywhere was littered with bones, and the vegetation was stained with a foul, putrid layer of dried blood.
Describing the Demon Cave as a hell on earth was not the least bit exaggerated.
The number of deceitful objects dying daily in the Demon Cave likely exceeded a hundred thousand, causing the plague to grow so dense that a ghostly green fog shrouded the mountains.
The awakening of the Plague Lord plunged the entire Demon Cave into utter chaos, with the plague spreading to every corner of the small world.
A moose grazed at the grass, though half of its brain was already exposed, its sense of pain temporarily dulled by the plague.
After taking just a few steps, the moose collapsed, its corpse undergoing flesh proliferation to transform into a deceitful object, only to be entirely consumed by the budding flowers that covered the ground.
The more corpses there were, the more horrifying the reproduction brought by Lord Yang De became.
However, some mortals had not even matured before becoming nourishment for the plague, making the rules of the Demon Cave increasingly extreme.
The Fourth Dao Jun was also about to descend.
[Savior Lord]
From the mortal’s perspective, a colossal figure spanning thousands of miles appeared again in the sky.
The Plague Lord’s face contorted as he stared blankly at the Savior Lord; the Savior Lord’s expression was one of mercy for all beings, yet his features were reversed and distorted.
The Savior Lord, whose original name was Wang Jianshan, had not willingly transformed into this maggot-shaped monstrosity but was coerced by demon cultivators who killed his loved ones one by one. In the end, he succumbed and became one of the Four Taoist Lords.
Perhaps, in the eyes of the Ten Thousand Demon Dao, the morally pure Wang Jianshan could balance the other three Taoist Lords. But they hadn’t anticipated that the Savior Lord’s descent into madness would make intervening in the Demon Cave even harder.
At the mere projection of the Savior Lord’s shadow, large-scale blood sacrifices erupted throughout the towns.
Salvation meant release.
The blood sacrifices only drove the Four Taoist Lords further into insanity.
Under normal circumstances, it would be time to retreat from the Demon Cave; yet, the Ten Thousand Demon Dao remained fixated on Lord Chaoxi, with movements continuously emanating from Business Leader City.
Under the Word-to-Law command of Lord Chaoxi, flesh and blood once again formed into giant puppet constructs.
The Gate God, covered entirely in oral organs and with deformed limbs, could not support its own body, facing the demon cultivators’ externalized Dharma Bodies alongside the Immortal of Colossal Spirit.
Both puppets originated from the remnants of Lord Chaoxi’s memories.
After all, Lord Chaoxi had once been nothing but a commoner. Perhaps, in his recollections, the celestial and divine paintings adorning every household symbolized the mightiest forces in existence.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Deafening booms echoed throughout the Demon Cave.
The demon cultivators had drawn the attention of the floating islands, and though the plague was accelerating the mutations of all cultivators, the number of Taoist children greatly diminished as they rushed to protect Lord Chaoxi.
What no one noticed was that, as the plague spread, the expressions of the Taoist children became increasingly vacant, with corpses’ internal organs teeming with insect eggs.
Most cultivators merely assumed this to be the influence of the Dao Jun.
Only Li Mo understood that his risky gamble was finally yielding practical results.
"Let’s hope it succeeds..."
Li Mo squinted his eyes.
He continued sitting cross-legged atop the heights of Cancer Island, the mountain gate trembling incessantly as the Void Refining Stage aftershocks overwhelmed the Nine Curves Chain Formation.
A thick layer of Gu worm corpses surrounded him, ranging from Heavenly Beetle Gu Worms capable of rivaling the Nascent Soul Stage to Gu Worms resembling internal organs in form.
Ghosts knew how many times he had unleashed his Gu Technique divine skills.
Li Mo had been experimenting on Taoist children, discovering that deceitful objects were highly resistant to Gu worms, with Nascent Soul Stage Gu worms even inciting violent reactions from them.
As for Divine Separation Stage Gu worms, he had yet to gather the necessary Gu formulas, leaving his Gu techniques stuck at the Nascent Soul Stage for years.
After wasting half a month, Li Mo decided to go against the grain.
"High-level Gu worms are hard to parasitize, but ordinary ones can bypass the Plague Lord; the intelligence of the Fake Heavenly Dao is likely reduced to mere instinct."
He pinched a tiny, translucent worm egg between his fingers.
[Blood Worm]
[Sacrifice one’s own flesh and blood, mix with one or two grams of bone powder, and a portion of the stomach and intestines to cultivate the blood worm egg in a specific organ.]
The blood worm was barely a childhood-stage Gu worm that typically parasitized organs through the bloodstream.
After five days of parasitism, the blood worm would begin to multiply, with even a single individual capable of reproducing. The eggs would then be excreted through the host’s pores.
Because the worm eggs were akin to micro dust, they could mingle with the wind. Upon contact with a living being, the eggs would immediately hatch and burrow into the victim’s organs.
Cultivators, protected by their Spiritual Power, naturally wouldn’t become targets of the blood worms.
At the same time, blood worms were ineffective against deceitful objects and unnoticed by the Taoist Immortals. Blood worms had already begun spreading across the Demon Cave.
The sole flaw was that, as the plague intensified, the eggs struggled to survive in the external environment.
Li Mo directed his focus, using cancer cells to modify the blood worms while employing his Poison Making divine skills to search for the perfect poison formula.
"The formula must enable the blood worm eggs to adapt to the plague, boost reproduction speed, and secretly embed cancer cells..."
Blood worms, after all, were mere mortal bugs, leaving him feeling like a skillful woman constrained by a lack of resources.
The blood worms he released reproduced across tens of thousands of Taoist children. However, as the plague gathered toxicity, the numbers of blood worms began precipitously declining.
"Sigh..."
Li Mo sighed, feeling a developing sense of urgency as time slipped away.
He had no insight into the Ten Thousand Demon Dao’s methods, though the demon cultivators appeared to be using various techniques to influence Lord Chaoxi’s behavior.
Whenever Lord Chaoxi attempted to summon additional puppets, he would inexplicably stop short.
Meanwhile, other Void Refining Stage elders suppressed the mortals, preventing Lord Yang De from descending.
It wouldn’t be long before the Ten Thousand Demon Dao succeeded. Once the disciples of the Five Sects retreated from the Demon Cave, Li Mo’s chances of obtaining the special page would vanish.
Li Mo feverishly unleashed divine skills, yet days passed without a breakthrough.
His expression shifted several times, and he even considered unleashing Da Ai Mi Tian, driving cancer cells toward Lord Chaoxi to seize the upper hand.
After a long moment, Li Mo bitterly shook his head.
"Forget it. Right now, imagining that I could contend with large sects is a fool’s endeavor. Perhaps I’ll intervene if a future opportunity arises."
A flash of reluctance crossed Li Mo’s eyes, but he quickly restored his mental equilibrium.
The Four Taoist Lords, as Fake Heavenly Dao entities and products of the world’s upheaval, even required careful scheming from the Ten Thousand Demon Dao. For now, it was wiser to focus on improving his strength.
Closing his eyes to nourish his spirit, Li Mo eradicated his lingering hesitation. The Heavenly Palace Stage bottleneck of his Buddha Demon Body and Symbiotic Dharma Body showed faint signs of loosening.
A delighted expression appeared on his face as he shifted his attention to breaking through to the Heavenly Palace Stage.
While acquiring the special page had been a frustrating endeavor, his progress in breaking through his Externalized Dharma Body felt like a natural course.
The Five Qi Period required the internal organs of the Externalized Dharma Body to be constructed from Spiritual Power. Given Li Mo’s familiarity with the Five Internal Organs, this process was effortless for him.
The main challenge lay in ensuring consistency across the Dharma Body’s organs.
It was crucial to achieve complete integration of the Externalized Dharma Body.
The Symbiotic Dharma Body was the first to integrate. The Ten Thousand Transformation Dharma Body spontaneously sprouted blood vessels to connect seamlessly with the Taisu Dharma Body’s organs, causing the Yinglong to emit constant roars.
Countless Lifebound Flying Swords swarmed forth, Sword Intent dispersing within his Dantian.
The sight of flying swords had long ceased to surprise the sword cultivators.
Even as Li Mo advanced to the next realm, they only felt reassured by the legendary talent of the Thirteen Immortals.
The Symbiotic Dharma Body grew significantly in size, its neck covered in reversed scales.
Ordinary True Dragons had only a single reversed scale, marking their vulnerability. The Symbiotic Dharma Body, however, possessed over two hundred reversed scales formed from Sword Intent.
Even if a reversed scale was damaged, the Symbiotic Dharma Body could regenerate it by sacrificing a Lifebound Flying Sword.
Roar.
The Symbiotic Dharma Body successfully advanced to the Heavenly Palace Stage.
Outwardly, the Symbiotic Dharma Body appeared unchanged, though internally, its organs were almost entirely merged with the Ten Thousand Transformation Dharma Body. By the time it transcended to the Void Refining Stage, the two would fully unite.
"Hiss."
Li Mo drew a sharp breath, finding the reaction of the Buddha Demon Body far more intense.
The Buddha Demon Spirit Power surged chaotically within his Mud Pill Palace, even requiring the Spirit Root Worms to suppress it. Otherwise, even a slight misstep would turn his brain to mush.
Bang bang bang bang...
Flesh ruptured, and bones reconfigured.
An invisible force seemed to forcibly piece together the Dharma Body.
As the Buddha Demon Body melted into a slurry and fused with the Lotus Throne, a new Dharma Body began to take shape—like plants slowly sprouting into existence.
The Buddha Demon Body had already become one, though the flesh retained remnants of the two beings’ characteristics.
Seven Treasures Buddha Light radiated from the left side of its chest, while its right chest was desiccated and blackened. Four of its arms wielded Vajra Buddha Hands, while the other four bore demonic Asura Hands.
It possessed two heads—one Yin, one Yang; one Buddha, one Demon.
It held the Taiyin Treasure Bottle in one hand and the Taiyang Treasure Bottle in the other, presenting an utterly jarring image.
Li Mo opened his eyes, quietly communicating with the Innate Saint. The Spiritual Power of the Heavenly Palace Stage nourished the Artifact Pill Dharma Body atop his head, causing the four-hundred-meter planetary construct to show faint signs of advancing to the Five Qi Period.
Magnetic force enveloped an area forty miles wide, countless corpses revolving around the Dharma Body.
"Jie jie jie, if nothing unexpected occurs, judging by the progress of the Three Dharma Bodies, I might even advance to the Void Refining Stage simultaneously."
The smooth progress in cultivation alleviated Li Mo’s earlier frustrations.
Li Mo rose and looked toward Business Leader City.
The city was a land of corpse mountains and blood seas, with roofs draped in human tendons and countless skeletons densely packed like forests.
The demon cultivators seemed to be stalling for time, showing no intention of killing Lord Chaoxi.
"Could the Daoist and Demon factions have reached some sort of verbal agreement? Why would they allow the Ten Thousand Demon Dao to control Lord Chaoxi so freely? Or perhaps, the Taoist sects don’t realize that the Four Taoist Lords represent the Fake Heavenly Dao?"
Li Mo neither confirmed nor denied his suspicions.
He couldn’t help but feel that the attitudes of the Daoist and Demon factions toward the upheaval of heaven and earth were far too ambivalent.
Li Mo mused to himself, "This world is already insane. Can we really rely on the upper echelons of the Daoist and Demon factions to act rationally?"
Even though the Daoist and Demon factions currently opposed repeating the upheaval of heaven and earth, there was no guarantee they wouldn’t succumb to temptation in the future.
"Junior Brother."
A chill ran through Li Mo’s entire body.
A cold, clear female voice nestled into his ears.
Li Mo turned his head to see a woman standing not far away. She gave off not a single trace of aura, yet she made his hair stand on end.
Senior Sister Zu Xiuyun stood with an expressionless face, dressed in rough linen with her hair tied up by a jade hairpin. Her attire looked no different from an ordinary mortal woman.
Li Mo’s gaze lingered on Zu Xiuyun’s jade hairpin for a few moments.
The hairpin was made of Low Grade Spirit Material, [Pure Wood Jade].
The Pure Wood Jade hairpin could stabilize the mental realm but was only effective for mortals. Perhaps it had merely been casually picked up by Zu Xiuyun to tie her hair.
"Li Mo, it’s been a long time."