Chapter 493: Chapter 9 Let’s Welcome the Honored Guest
At that moment, Li Mo realized that he stood no chance against the Karma Seal Mother and immediately switched tactics, using the Golden Cicada Shell to flee from the Free Buddha Realm.
He left behind his Buddha Demon Body in the Buddha Realm, while his true self escaped to the outside world via the Mother Furnace.
"Good thing I had the Mother Furnace; otherwise, there would have been no chance of survival. A small world constructed by a Void Refining Stage cultivator isn’t something a Divine Separation Stage cultivator can break."
No wonder the Karma Seal Mother acted so confidently.
No matter how strong Li Mo’s abilities were, he couldn’t compensate for the gap in cultivation stages and could only circumvent the Free Buddha Realm to attack its weaker points.
During the brief moments when the Buddha Demon Body held up the Karma Seal Mother, Li Mo had already completed his preparations.
None of the cultivators had anticipated this: the fearsome Karma Seal Mother losing its foothold and being swallowed whole by the colossal maw formed by the Mother Furnace.
Soon enough, the commotion grew louder and more intense.
"Qingtian..."
Master Qiong Mountain’s expression turned profoundly grim as his gaze swept across the Outer Heaven Meteorite Crater, searching for Li Mo’s figure.
He couldn’t fathom why the Mother Furnace suddenly managed to suppress the Karma Seal Mother, but if Li Mo had perished and disappeared, even a victory for the Mother Furnace wouldn’t bode well for the Sub-Device Sect.
After all, the Mother Furnace advancing further signified that the Sub-Device Sect would become even harder to free from its control. Moreover, the Karma Seal Mother had Void Refining Stage cultivators backing her.
Trading Li Mo’s destruction for a future riddled with internal strife and external threats was unacceptable to Master Qiong Mountain.
He would rather abandon the mountain gate and let Li Mo continue cultivating outside; eventually, the latter would reach the Void Refining Stage and be able to rebuild the sect.
Suddenly, the Karma Seal Mother’s venomous scream echoed, "Qingtian!!!"
"Qingtian is still alive."
Master Qiong Mountain’s expression brightened as he suppressed his stray thoughts and turned toward the source of the voice. To his shock, a massive entity trapped within the bloody rock wall struggled to break free.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
"Screw you! Just stay down and become my stepping stone!"
Li Mo sneered coldly, unwilling to let the Karma Seal Mother regain the upper hand, and he unleashed everything he had learned to seal her.
The Mother Furnace’s flesh churned, and columns of white bone emerged from its surface to form an array.
The Nine Curves Chain Formation was initiated, resembling a giant net that ensnared the Karma Seal Mother tightly, though her every move inflicted damage upon the formation.
"Die! Die! Die!"
The Karma Seal Mother fell into a frenzy, her gaping maw erupting with Buddha Qi explosions.
The Free Guanyin tried to emerge once more, tearing apart the Nine Curves Chain Formation bit by bit, while the roots extended by the Artifact Pill Body snapped one after another.
"Damn it! Such a nuisance!"
Li Mo cursed under his breath.
Unfortunately, his Artifact Pill Body was only at the Five Qi Period. Had it reached the Heavenly Palace Stage, the Free Guanyin would never have been able to act so brazenly–the moment it fell into the trap, it would have been doomed forever.
"No, if I end up trapped in the Free Buddha Realm again, I’m eighty percent doomed."
Li Mo had kept his Artifact Pill Body hidden to ambush the Karma Seal Mother; if she had prepared in advance, the effects would have been greatly diminished.
The Nine Curves Chain Formation was crumbling continually, with six layers already disintegrated.
"Qingtian, you can’t hold me! I’ll devour all of you! Every last one of your Sub-Device Sect members will become my feast!"
Li Mo squinted, his true form deep inside the Mother Furnace observing the Karma Seal Mother.
"Haha, had it been someone else, they’d indeed be helpless against you. But I’ve said it before: Karma Seal Mother, your death is certain!"
As Li Mo finished speaking, countless writhing worms began to spawn inside the Mother Furnace, forming swarms that surged toward the Karma Seal Mother and burrowed into her body.
These worms, named [Immortal Parasitic Worms], were currently the most formidable Gu Worms that the Gu Refining Divine Power could produce.
The Immortal Parasitic Worms were designed to parasitize and drain the nutrients from their host.
Individually, an Immortal Parasitic Worm was only equivalent to the Nascent Soul Stage, but in groups exceeding ten thousand, they could rival cultivators at the Divine Separation Stage. Li Mo had spent three hundred years of innate essence to produce forty thousand of them.
The Karma Seal Mother’s aura weakened as the Buddha Qi failed to eliminate the endless tide of worms.
Then, the Divine Separation Stage’s highly toxic [Soul Stealing Poison] was poured onto the Karma Seal Mother, its venom corroding her already frenzied mind.
Phosphorescent light infiltrated her blood, flesh, and bones without hesitation.
"Go!"
Li Mo dispatched his stored Lifebound Flying Swords, transforming them into Dragon Children. Their sword intent carried suppressive effects targeting the Karma Seal Mother’s vitality.
His most prized magic artifacts weren’t spared either–eight mid-grade magical treasures meant for sealing punctured the Karma Seal Mother’s flesh, while the rain of minor spirit talismans adhered to the Free Guanyin.
"Haha, keep barking!"
Exhausting every method he had, Li Mo silenced the Karma Seal Mother’s enraged cries.
The Artifact Pill Body dragged the Karma Seal Mother into its internal space, where it began laboriously disassembling her Void Refining Stage body.
Li Mo assessed his losses.
The Symbiotic Dharma Body had sustained severe injuries; none of his Lifebound Flying Swords remained; the Mother Furnace’s volume had shrunk by forty percent; and his own injuries had nearly pushed him to collapse.
Most crucially, his Buddha Demon Body had been compromised.
Li Mo glanced toward his Mud Pill Palace. Fortunately, the Earth Prostrating Dharma Body’s "Reshape" trait allowed the Lotus Throne to nurture a fist-sized embryo.
Once the embryo fully matured, it would become a new Buddha Demon Body.
"Although this was expected, maintaining the foundation of the Buddha Demon Body requires innate essence to nourish the Dharma Body. Hopefully, there won’t be any lasting repercussions."
Li Mo shook his head slightly, feeling no real regret.
The key to breaking through the impasse had been the Buddha Demon Body. Expecting to eliminate the Karma Seal Mother without paying any price was unrealistic.
Besides, acquiring a Void Refining Stage corpse was undeniably worth the effort.
"The Karma Seal Mother has fallen, but there’s still [Three Pure Heavens] to contend with."
Li Mo still couldn’t leave the Mother Furnace. Without its phosphorescent light, the Karma Seal Mother would likely escape from the bindings of the Artifact Pill Body.
With a thought, the Outer Heaven Meteorite Crater reverted to normal, though the rock wall’s flesh appeared slightly dim, and the Mother Furnace’s consciousness grew faint and sluggish.
The cultivators snapped back to reality.
The Karma Seal Mother’s influence had faded, and as their minds cleared, they felt as if struck by lightning.
They had no knowledge of the brutal battle within the Free Buddha Realm; all they had seen was Li Mo wielding the Mother Furnace to defeat the Karma Seal Mother in a single strike.
In their memory, it had only been a few hundred years since Daoist Qingtian’s Nascent Soul Stage ascent.
And now, he had already advanced to the Void Refining Stage? Without cultivation techniques, no less? Such a leap was beyond astonishing.
Given another millennium, wouldn’t Daoist Qingtian reach the realm of Land Immortals?
"Master Qiong Mountain."
Li Mo’s features emerged from the rock wall’s surface.
Everyone held their breath, then fell into slumber under the effects of the Spirit Root Worm, leaving only Master Qiong Mountain and Three Mountains awake.
Master Qiong Mountain exhaled deeply, hesitantly remarking, "Disciple, could it be that you seized the body of the Mother Furnace?"
"No, I’m merely borrowing the Mother Furnace’s power to suppress the Karma Seal Mother."
"Disciple, you..."
Li Mo interrupted directly, "Master Qiong Mountain, I’ll be brief. This matter is far from over, nowhere close to ending."
"Behind the Karma Seal Mother stands Three Pure Heavens, and I suspect they have schemes regarding the Ascension Conference. They won’t let go of the Sub-Device Sect so easily."
"Three Pure Heavens..."
"I’ve severed the Sub-Device Sect’s external connections, and the Karma Seal Mother won’t perish anytime soon, buying us about a century."
"The Ascension Conference is two hundred years away. Three Pure Heavens will likely make their move approximately one hundred and fifty years from now. During that time, we have no choice but to retreat within our mountain gate."
Based on Li Mo’s projections, the situation might turn out better than expected.
Once the Karma Seal Mother completely perished, the absence of the Buddhist Sect’s support through conversion would make Three Sheng’s distorted perception a vulnerability for Three Pure Heavens.
Three Pure Heavens wouldn’t be able to manage everything perfectly, and attacking the Sub-Device Sect immediately seemed unlikely.
"Qingtian, there’s no need to remain in the Outer Heaven Meteorite Crater. This place isn’t a Blessed Land Cave Heaven; we can completely move to True Void Hometown."
As an elder of the Chaotic Burial Furnace, Master Qiong Mountain naturally understood the turmoil surrounding True Void Hometown.
Three Mountains frowned deeply and muttered, "Master Qiong, True Void Hometown isn’t safe anymore, is it? The No-Life Sect isn’t exactly inconspicuous in the outside world."
"..."
Master Qiong Mountain fell into contemplative silence, pondering the feasibility of alternative solutions.
"Follow my advice."
Li Mo spoke decisively, "Two hundred years–I will reach the Void Refining Stage. With the terrain of the Outer Heaven Meteorite Crater, we’ll be able to defend ourselves fully at that time."
"Alright."
Master Qiong Mountain sensed the confidence in Li Mo’s tone, and his doubts dissipated.
"The cultivation world’s Duozhi Mountains have already collapsed one after another. For Three Pure Heavens to reach the Sub-Device Sect, they’d have to use the crater’s entrance."
Upon hearing this, Master Qiong Mountain instinctively glanced upward. A mysterious sense of pressure made it difficult to breathe.
"The crater’s entrance was sealed thousands of years ago. I’ve reinforced it once, but it’s still not entirely secure. Master Qiong Mountain, you must arrange a formation to seal it while I’m in seclusion."
"No problem, but for now, the Sub-Device Sect only has two to three hundred disciples. Once the furnace is remade, resource consumption will speed up the Nascent Soul breakthrough for those on Old Earth."
"No."
Li Mo explained helplessly, "The Mother Furnace itself was severely damaged and temporarily cannot be reforged. I also need to address the innate flaw in the Artifact Cultivators’ constitution, which means no new artifact embryos for at least a century."
Master Qiong Mountain’s expression grew complicated, with no trace of joy at being freed from the Mother Furnace’s control.
"Don’t worry; we have the Heart Beast Sect."
Li Mo opened his mouth, and a floating island slowly entered the Outer Heaven Meteorite Crater.
"I am Tian Changwen. Fellow Daoist Qiong Mountain, the Heart Beast Sect is willing to stand with the Sub-Device Sect through life and death."
Tian Changwen stood atop the island, joined by the Nascent Soul Stage cultivators of the Heart Beast Sect. Among them, even Devil Luo Kai was visible.
They all saluted Master Qiong Mountain in unison.
Resounding calls erupted from the floating island, "Have beasts with four legs, born of mountains and seas."
"Heart Beast Sect disciples vow to stand with the Sub-Device Sect through life and death."
Li Mo nodded at Tian Changwen, acknowledging him.
The Heart Beast Sect was too closely connected to him; if left exposed in the outside world, it would undoubtedly become a target for all and even a countermeasure for Three Pure Heavens.
Thus, well before facing the Karma Seal Mother, Li Mo had already contacted Tian Changwen.
The Heart Beast Sect disciples were withdrawn to the mountain gate, leaving only subordinate forces in the black market, while most manpower in True Void Hometown was replaced by puppets.
"My gratitude to all fellow Daoists."
Master Qiong Mountain raised a smile, returning the salutation.
He didn’t suspect the Heart Beast Sect of harboring ulterior motives toward the Sub-Device Sect. After all, the crater was filled with phosphorescent light and fumes, and only Artifact Cultivators in the Cultivation World could adapt to such an environment – it was hardly a treasure trove.
Master Qiong Mountain murmured inwardly, "Have beasts with four legs, born of mountains and seas?"
"Four-legged beasts aren’t only born of mountains and seas; they’re also born of the Nine Nether."
Li Mo saw that the two sects had not become antagonistic and solemnly said, "I need to go into seclusion. The Outer Heaven Meteorite Crater now relies on you fellow Daoists to guard."
The giant face vanished, and from the floating island, countless Beast Cultivators rode spirit beasts in droves to help Master Qiong Mountain clean up the ravaged port.