Chapter 490: Chapter 6 I Am the Mother Furnace!
Karma Seal Mother.
Li Mo carefully recalled that the Karma Seal Mother seemed to be a maid serving the Buddha, whose Taoist inheritance was clearly aligned with the orthodox Buddhist sect.
Rather than the stray paths of the True Word Sect.
"San Sheng is most likely not from the Heavenly Sword Sect. Where exactly do the masterminds come from?"
"But they seem unable to deal with the Mother Furnace? Or maybe, until the Ascension Conference ends, they’re still unable to make a move on the Mother Furnace."
Li Mo gradually pieced together the situation at the port using the cancer cells within the corpse, point by point dispersing cancer cells into the industrial fumes.
As his cultivation in the Externalized Dharma Body advanced, Da Ai Mi Tian had already achieved three hundred Spirit Patterns.
Li Mo couldn’t say Void Refining cultivators were entirely unaware of the cancer cells, but unless they faced them directly at close range, it was indeed difficult to identify them.
The Outer Heaven Meteorite Crater served as the best cover for Da Ai Mi Tian.
After all... the meteorite crater from Outer Heaven is entirely composed of the Mother Furnace, which was forged from the flesh and blood of thousands of disciples from the ancient Sub-Device Sect.
"Since Da Ai Mi Tian was promoted to a high-grade magical treasure, I don’t think I’ve ever unleashed its full power? Perhaps I should test the strength of the cancer cells."
"Hehehe."
Li Mo swept his gaze over the bottomless crater at the port; the rock walls were made entirely of flesh and blood, mingled with an extreme concentration of phosphorescent light.
The Mother Furnace lacked an Externalized Dharma Body, likely falling far short of the usual Divine Separation Stage.
Yet the Nine Nether Immortal Energy permeating within and without was a product from the Upper Realm, symbolizing that not even the Land Immortals could overlook the corrosive effects of the phosphorescence.
"No matter how grand your schemes are..."
Li Mo stretched out his arms, every pore on his body opening.
"Using the Outer Heaven Meteorite Crater as the mountain gate of the Sub-Device Sect—are you underestimating artifact cultivators? Ha, do you think the Sub-Device Sect has no one left?"
BOOM!
In a soundless explosion, Da Ai Mi Tian revealed the tip of the iceberg.
Millions of invisible cancer cells surged forth; the wind whistled as the cancer cells adhered to the rock wall’s surface, swiftly burrowing into the Mother Furnace.
Although the Artifact Infant transformed into the Artifact Pill Body, that did not mean Li Mo had abandoned his identity as an artifact cultivator.
Each particle of cancer cell carried the aura of an artifact cultivator.
Due to external threats, the Mother Furnace did not resist but wholly accepted the cancer cells, enabling Li Mo to accomplish his goal with ease.
Once the cancer cells completely occupied the Mother Furnace, Li Mo could control it entirely.
The Mother Furnace lacked spiritual wisdom, and its only path to survival was coexisting with the cancer cells—after all, cancer cells bore some kinship with artifact cultivation.
"Three days, at most three days, and I can refine the Mother Furnace."
The proliferation rate of cancer cells was extraordinarily fast, combined with the Mother Furnace’s support; in mere moments, the shallow layers of the small world were saturated with cancer cells.
Li Mo’s eyes shone with phosphorescence, yet it did not harm him in the slightest.
Long ago, when he integrated phosphorescence into his brain and cultivated the Seven Treasures Buddha Spiritual Root, controlling the Mother Furnace was already a foregone conclusion.
Massive amounts of information flooded Li Mo’s mind; with focused attention, he could even perceive the flowers and grasses in Zone One of the small world.
Once the Mother Furnace realized Li Mo’s intent, it was too late to reject the cancer cells.
"I am the Mother Furnace."
Li Mo took a step forward; industrial fumes could not approach his body, and the dust on the ground dispersed on its own—the Mother Furnace was trembling in fear.
Outer Heaven Meteorite Crater quivered slightly before soon returning to stillness.
Li Mo could sense that the Karma Seal Mother had intervened to suppress the Mother Furnace; the latter had not yet reacted when its long-prepared position was usurped.
The Mother Furnace weakened further.
Without hesitation, Li Mo released Innate Essence, a millennium’s worth in one breath.
With its energy replenished, the Mother Furnace ceased treating cancer cells as intruders; instead, cancer cells and the Mother Furnace formed an increasingly intimate connection.
"If it’s just one Void Refining stage cultivator, there might be opportunities to exploit."
Li Mo moved his limbs to adjust to the sensation; the cancer cells within were regenerating, causing occasional stagnation in his blood flow.
"So, the Karma Seal Mother of the Buddhist Sect?"
Li Mo murmured to himself, "Well, then. My Buddha Demon Body lacks cultivation techniques from the Void Refining stage—let’s see if there’s no way to kill a Void Refining stage cultivator inside the Mother Furnace’s body."
"Or rather, in my own body."
Li Mo glanced at the rock wall from the corner of his eye.
BANG!
Blood and flesh splattered; fragments of rock exploded, all damaged with just a thought.
The disturbance was minor; small-scale collapses were routine for the Outer Heaven Meteorite Crater.
Li Mo’s killing intent grew more intense as he strode toward the second level of the port.
"What a pity, San Sheng isn’t from the Sub-Device Sect."
Not far off, the temple restored its order, and believers entered and exited in a disciplined manner.
"Amitabha Buddha."
Huo Yan True Monarch muttered again, his body already transformed more than half into a magic artifact, with phosphorescent Buddha Qi spewing forth from his nostrils and mouth.
The Karma Seal Mother’s influence over all cultivators’ conversion deepened, while the impact on artifact cultivation was undoubtedly more severe.
Li Mo communicated with Da Ai Mi Tian, viewing the status of the small worlds belonging to various layers; the nine levels of the Outer Disciple Taoist inheritance were completely overtaken.
It made sense—what could a group of Nascent Soul stage cultivators use against someone in the Void Refining stage?
Even the Mother Furnace could only cling onto survival.
Li Mo observed a small world being illuminated by brilliant Buddha Light, barren lands blooming with lotus flowers.
Hundreds of meters tall artifact cultivators of the Nascent Soul stage walked within, all Elders from various Taoist inheritances, yet visually resembling Guanyin Bodhisattva without exception.
Li Mo even noticed that the Old Earth True Monarch had already transformed into [Lotus Reclining Guanyin].
The lower half of the Old Earth True Monarch’s body was fused with the Lotus Throne; vines pierced his chest and abdomen, extracting nutrients from his Nascent Soul to sustain the lotus.
"When the Sub-Device Sect submits to the Buddhist Sect, Nascent Soul artifact cultivators will all become magic artifacts, each resembling Guanyin Bodhisattva."
Li Mo ascended the stairway leading to the second level of the port.
Due to Huo Yan True Monarch’s presence, artifact cultivation monks covering the second level of the port grew more concentrated, and their exposure to Buddha Light was more extensive.
Their skin was carved with intricate Buddhist scripture, and their chests were deliberately hollowed out to accommodate Guanyin statues.
Artifact cultivation monks gathered strangely in street corners, chanting scriptures together.
"Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, who perceives the sounds of the world and grants liberation. Those who hold the name of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, even if immersed in great flames..."
Li Mo brushed past the artifact cultivation monks.
Their expressions suddenly became confused, incredulously examining their hands, as if a voice echoed in their minds.
This is not artifact cultivation.
"Amitabha Buddha." Huo Yan True Monarch’s mutterings cut through the artifact cultivation monks.
The monks snapped back to reality, fervently kneeling once more to chant scriptures, though monks from the temple were already encircling them.
The monks, more than half transformed into magic artifacts, had minds unable to escape the influence of Buddhist conversion unless they were reforged.
"Benefactor, come to the temple, Great Freedom Guanyin needs your offering."
The monks’ words were harsh and unyielding, and the artifact cultivation monks, uncertain and hesitant, followed them without objection.
In the Great Freedom Guanyin Temple, artifact cultivators regaining memory were referred to as being possessed by karmic burdens.
They were required to remain at the temple near the Buddha until the karmic burdens were completely extinguished—the previous case of Fen Mu was akin to this.
At this moment.
The monks noticed an unusual silence spreading around them.
All cultivators abruptly stopped moving, directing puzzled gazes toward them, fragments of past events at the port flashing through their minds.
"Amitabha Buddha!"
A note of anger tinged Huo Yan True Monarch’s muttering.
After a few moments, the crowd resumed its bustling activity.
Though the anomaly among cultivators was swiftly repressed under Huo Yan True Monarch’s conversion, a subtle seed had taken root in their hearts.
The monks paid it no heed, still leading the artifact cultivation monks back to the temple.
As they passed the Four Seas Commerce, they once again brushed past Li Mo.
"The beast cultivators in the Four Seas Commerce are already out of their minds."
Li Mo cursed a few times under his breath; fortunately, the beast cultivators who reached the port were uniformly endowed with Lifeless Elixir Fields, mitigating the impact.
"San Sheng’s twisted perceptions cannot alter reality, only affect memory; therefore, they must coincide with Buddhist conversion."
"If I kill the Karma Seal Mother, the masterminds won’t be able to act so conveniently."
Li Mo zig-zagged through the residential area’s alleys until a massive rock appeared before him, with fissures continually flickering with phosphorescent light.
There was still some time before cancer cells completely encompassed the Mother Furnace; however, the port was already saturated at tenfold capacity.
This allowed Li Mo to uncover quite a few secrets.
"Ghost Tiger."
The Ghost Tiger swallowed Li Mo whole, transforming into a shadow and diving into the fissure with signs of patchwork repairs, the phosphorescence merely a diversionary tactic.
Through a narrow passageway, a cave mansion came into view.
Dozens of artifact cultivators busied themselves within the space of the cave mansion, attempting to grow meager low-grade spiritual materials in the restricted area.
Each artifact cultivator possessed a second supplementary head attached to their spine.
They utilized their supplementary heads and the rock layer’s protection to barely ward off Buddhist conversion, though their spiritual wisdom teetered on madness.
Deep within the cave mansion lay a body over a hundred meters long.
The body belonged to a Nascent Soul stage cultivator—it was Li Mo’s cheap master, Dome Mountain. Yet Dome Mountain had fallen into deviation and slumber.
"Simulate cultivation techniques with spiritual power to stimulate Senior Dome Mountain’s consciousness. Remember, block all senses with rocks, without exception!"
The leading artifact cultivator yelled hysterically, urging with curses.
They struggled to free Dome Mountain from Buddhist conversion, but all Nascent Soul stage cultivators from the Sub-Device Sect had undergone conversion by the Karma Seal Mother firsthand—how could a group of Core Formation stage cultivators counteract it?
"Damn it, you all must have gotten careless, damn it, damn it, start over!!!"
Li Mo examined the leading artifact cultivator, markedly different from his earlier encounters with Three Mountains.
The Three Mountains he remembered was not this extreme—previously the chief of the Chaotic Burial Furnace, he had seemed relieved after yielding his post to Li Mo.
Now, within despair, Three Mountains stood on the brink of collapse.
The myriad disciples of the Sub-Device Sect had silently transformed into puppets, leaving the survivors as no more than overlooked ants.
Three Mountains’ only hope rested in awakening Dome Mountain.
He knew, however, that Dome Mountain resisting the Great Freedom Guanyin Temple was mere delusion. The Sub-Device Sect had no path left, only a dead end.
"If Senior Qing Tian were still here..."
Three Mountains suppressed his chaotic thoughts—though nearly a millennium had passed, even if Li Mo underwent reforging, it wouldn’t change the demise of the Sub-Device Sect.
Li Mo watched silently as Three Mountains and the group of artifact cultivators struggled in vain; the cancer cells’ expansion required avoidance of the Karma Seal Mother, demanding unwavering focus.
Time moved agonizingly slow.
"Senior Three Mountains, Senior Dome Mountain’s... mutation is already impossible to contain."
A cultivator stepped forward to block Three Mountains, who grabbed him with bloodshot eyes. "Xu Yuan, are you letting Guanyin confuse your mind?"
Veins bulged on Three Mountains’ forehead, his spiritual power nearly spiraling out of control.
"Do you have a death wish?!!"
"Go look at the port, go look at Huo Yan True Monarch, damn it, a bunch of useless failures..."
Three Mountains abruptly fell silent, a familiar figure appearing at his side.
"You..."
Three Mountains pointed at Li Mo in disbelief, instinctively turning to his companions, seeking their reaction to confirm he wasn’t hallucinating.
Li Mo crossed his arms, his aura seamlessly intertwining with that of the Mother Furnace.
"Senior."
Three Mountains seemed drained in an instant, nearly collapsing.
"Senior, you’ve returned?"
"I’ve returned. Rest assured, I’ve returned."