CHAPTER 337: CHAPTER 83: THE GRADUAL TRANSFORMATION OF THE TATTOOED BEAST

To the residents of Poison Clothes Qinghong Workshop, it was like living through an absurd farce.

One moment, they were hiding indoors from the disaster brought by the Pavilion Master, and the next, they were swallowed into the Mustard Space inside the Giant Stomach Worm.

Due to the limitations of the Mustard Space, the residents fell unconscious within moments.

When they reopened their eyes, Poison Clothes Qinghong Workshop had been entirely overturned. Not only had the towns become ruins, but the Pavilion had also been declared destroyed.

The residents stared around in confusion.

They had come to Poison Clothes Qinghong Workshop seeking the opportunity to ascend the immortal path, but now that the Pavilion was gone, didn’t that mean their path to immortality was severed?

"Impossible, how could the Pavilion fall so easily..."

Some residents collapsed to their knees, sobbing and covering their faces in despair.

The Four Great You Pavilions had exaggerated the greatness of the Pavilion Master to mythical proportions, yet his fate led to such an ending, leaving the residents who had once worshiped him as an immortal god utterly broken.

Amid the spreading toxic smoke, the residents’ breathing gradually became abnormal.

Han Cai noticed the signs of uncontrollable mutation beginning to spread and couldn’t help but feel his scalp tingle.

With one wrong step, Poison Clothes Qinghong Workshop would turn into a haven for deceitful objects.

"Lu Hui, immediately vaporize the calming Corpse Wine into alcohol fumes to stabilize them. Otherwise, they’ll lean toward becoming neither human nor ghost."

Han Cai sent a mental transmission to the shopkeeper of the liquor store.

After receiving the instruction, Lu Hui, without consideration for the value of the Corpse Wine, commanded the staff to pour jar after jar into the bronze tripod and set it ablaze.

The scent of wine spread far and wide, gradually calming the emotions of the residents.

Moreover, the independent forces saw the Four Seas Commerce controlling the situation and immediately played the role of opportunists, maintaining order in the town.

They realized that the Four Seas Commerce was definitely not something the Four Great You Pavilions could compare to.

The Pavilion Master, who was at least at the Nascent Soul Stage, had died without explanation in Qinghong Workshop, indicating that the cultivators stationed by Four Seas Commerce were far beyond just Han Cai at the Core Formation Stage.

Seeing that the commotion in the town had subsided, Han Cai immediately hung several corpses of the Spider Poison Sect disciples at the entrance of the bustling marketplace.

He operated his spiritual power, making his voice reverberate through the town: "I am Han Cai, the Manager of Four Seas Commerce in Qinghong Workshop. Our intervention in the Pavilion was due to specific reasons."

"The Pavilion refined spiritual materials using living humans, yet its disciples never transplanted beast heads. They presented themselves with human faces rather than beast features, which shows flaws in their inheritance."

The residents, still skeptical, saw the Four Seas Commerce uncover a large number of spiritual material organs soaked in Liu Li jars from the Pavilion.

Though Han Cai reluctantly explained to the residents, his ultimate goal was to screen them for entry into Heart Beast Sect—otherwise, there wouldn’t be a need for this much trouble.

"Four Seas Commerce will take over Qinghong Workshop and will continue distributing immortal techniques. Your path to Tao remains unchanged..."

Han Cai spoke until he managed to persuade the residents to start cleaning the abandoned houses.

The medical hall doctors had never seen such patience from Han Cai before, but little did they know that the tens of thousands of people present might all be Beast Cultivation Seeds, their potential value beyond imagination.

Currently, Heart Beast Sect’s development was at a bottleneck.

The number of disciples under the sect had barely increased in recent years, given the limited towns in Heart Beast Territory. Continuing to dig deeper risked impacting mortal reproduction.

If the residents of Poison Clothes Qinghong Workshop were incorporated into Heart Beast Sect, it would create an entirely new branch, instantly doubling the Sect’s foundation.

The Four Monkeys, under Li Mo’s instruction, began subtly spreading the childhood contents of the Mountain Demon Gu Poison Scripture among the residents.

By comparing it with the Mountain Demon Gu Poison Scripture, they could easily identify the limitations of Poison Clothing Technique.

The Four Monkeys, as the direct disciples of the Mountain Demon, were the best example.

Their beast heads and necks showed almost no signs of acquired modifications, and their manipulation of Poison Element Spiritual Power faced no interruptions, clearly indicating a more perfected system.

As for the six other disciples who escaped from the Mountain Demon, two had died from the residual impacts of the Pavilion Master, while three of the survivors went mad.

The last surviving disciple, having lost all determination, simply abandoned cultivation altogether.

A few days later, Four Seas Commerce began distributing a special type of Corpse Wine that could promote the fusion between beast heads and the body—though it inevitably caused the beast heads to mutate into monkey heads.

The Corpse Wine naturally originated from Li Mo’s handiwork.

To establish Heart Beast Sect’s new branch, a more convenient way of entering Tao was required.

The Four Monkeys had undergone beast-head transplants, forcibly entering Tao through the Mountain Demon’s mutation technique. It seemed efficient but consumed a significant amount of the Mountain Demon’s time.

Li Mo then used his Elixir Medicine Divine Ability to conjure up a new alcohol recipe.

[Monkey Head Wine]

[Using the head of a Nascent Soul cultivator as the medicinal lead, add three liang of Mountain Demon blood, then store it inside a Corpse Belly for a century to produce wine dregs. Its effects promote permanent beastification of the body and suppress potential loss of control.]

Drinking three jin of Monkey Head Wine would transform one’s head into a monkey head, granting entry into the Mountain Demon Gu Poison Scripture.

However, to achieve Foundation Establishment, twenty jin of Monkey Head Wine would be required, causing the entire body to transform into a monkey, allowing Heart Beast Sect to control their lifeline entirely.

Though officially Four Seas Commerce had yet to disclose information about Heart Beast Sect, Tian Changwen had already begun preparations to expand the sect’s mountain gate.

Simultaneously, Tian Changwen needed to plan how to cultivate spiritual materials within Poison Clothes Qinghong Workshop.

Breaking the Pavilion’s system resulted in a lack of material production, necessitating reconstruction—otherwise, offending the Twelve Immortals couldn’t be avoided.

As for the situation in Poison Clothes Qinghong Workshop, it remained under Li Mo’s watchful eye.

Li Mo hadn’t rushed to intervene, considering that Tian Changwen and the others hadn’t sought his help, indicating that Heart Beast Sect still had solutions at hand.

After all, Heart Beast Sect’s scale was larger than that of Spider Poison Sect.

Li Mo’s main focus was on refining his physical body, while the Mountain Demon withdrew into the Corpse Mountain Mini World, quietly undergoing secluded cultivation to stabilize its cultivation base.

Gang winds roared.

After perfecting the array set up by Spider Poison Sect, Li Mo left the town directly and ventured into the external world, untouched by the array’s protection.

The Toad Poison Beast was still tirelessly on the move.

Li Mo felt the gang winds cutting against him like blades, crackling against his body, as his new and old skin layers struggled to withstand them fully.

Fine injuries surfaced, only to gradually heal under the influence of Great Sun Spiritual Power, indirectly increasing the effectiveness of his body refinement by five to six folds.

"Ugh."

Li Mo realized he had underestimated the terror of the gang winds.

The Toad Poison Beast wasn’t a lifeless object, its speed fluctuating unpredictably, making it difficult to gauge the gang winds’ intensity. Stabilizing his posture wasn’t an easy task.

Originally, Li Mo had planned to refine his body directly near the Poison Beast’s head, but now it seemed that just dealing with the gang winds on its back was more than enough of a challenge.

He sat cross-legged beside the array, his Blood Soul tethered to a nearby protrusion.

Li Mo was just about to close his eyes for cultivation when the Toad Poison Beast suddenly changed direction, altering the gang winds’ trajectory and sending him flying backward.

Thankfully, the Blood Soul pulled him back into place.

After half a day of struggling.

Li Mo’s injuries worsened, and Great Sun Spiritual Power was no longer sufficient to maintain his condition.

Seeing this, he didn’t worry but instead felt thrilled. Only through repeatedly reconstructing injuries could the Floating Island Circulation Buddha Hand reach its optimal effectiveness.

The once-improved Floating Island Circulation Buddha Hand now encompassed even his bones.

Li Mo’s physical body, inside and out, was continuously nourished and reforged under the influence of Great Sun Spiritual Power. Unfortunately, the spiritual power was slightly scarce, limiting the effectiveness of his body refinement.

He decided to concentrate his refinement on the skin, ensuring the gang winds wouldn’t damage his organs.

"I wonder if the Cultivation World has any body cultivators. The Floating Island Circulation Buddha Hand should rival body refinement inheritances now!"

After absorbing all of Spider Poison Sect’s spells, Li Mo had refined the Floating Island Circulation Buddha Hand to an unimaginable level.

With his divine sense, he observed the intricate and profound distribution of Great Sun Spiritual Power, seemingly forming a Buddha Image.

During body refinement, the halo behind Li Mo’s head remained lit.

A faint Buddha Light emanated outward, forming a kasaya of interwoven gold and white, surrounded by the phantom shadows of countless plant and tree cultivators.

Even with such progress, the Floating Island Circulation Buddha Hand still showed room for improvement.

Li Mo sensed that if his Medical Technique Divine Ability advanced further, he could push the Floating Island Circulation Buddha Hand to an entirely new level.

"Could it go beyond mere body refinement?"

Suppressing his stray thoughts, Li Mo continued the tedious refinement process.

Utterly disheveled in the wind, he resembled a dangling kite of flesh, repeatedly relying on innate essence to repair injuries.

After a hundred days, Li Mo’s skin was finally capable of enduring the gang winds’ onslaught.

He let his entire body’s pores open, allowing the gang winds to permeate his flesh and bones, slowly adapting to the divine split while simultaneously engaging in dual cultivation.

At first, there was a sense of imbalance.

But as Li Mo grew accustomed, aided by the innate saint’s blessing, he quickly adapted to the demanding cultivation method.

Perhaps the Three Nascent Souls sensed the threat of gang winds, increasing the efficiency of spiritual power absorption significantly.

Li Mo finally felt that the Nascent Soul Stage wasn’t an unreachable goal. If nothing unexpected happened, the Soul-devouring Demon Infant would likely be the first to hit a bottleneck.

Despite his diligent efforts, Li Mo felt his progress slightly lagging behind the Tattooed Beasts.

The Tattooed Beasts, provoked by the Mountain Demon’s challenge, cultivated intensely within the Mini World, gradually completing their acquired spirit roots to two-thirds.

The Salamander became the second Tattooed Beast to fully form an acquired spirit root.

Unlike others, it didn’t endure extreme pain but buried itself in the earth for ten days, allowing the Wood Attribute Spirit Root to fully integrate with the giant tree atop its head.

Its Life-bound Magical Artifact: [Sky-reaching Tree].

Though the Sky-reaching Tree appeared ordinary on the surface, it contained immense vitality and could grow by siphoning life force from external grass and wood.

Its utility wasn’t immediately apparent; it seemed akin to the Mountain Demon’s White Bone Stick, requiring the Tattooed Beast to reach a certain realm to unlock its potential.

The Salamander’s cultivation technique was relatively easy to resolve—it could be perfected using Pill Cultivation Skills as a template.

Li Mo named it [Salamander Wood Coiling Technique].

What made the Salamander Wood Coiling Technique unique was its ability to use the surplus vitality accumulated to condense elixirs atop the branches of the Sky-reaching Tree.

When a creature consumed these elixirs, before its medicinal power was fully absorbed, the Salamander could leverage the Sky-reaching Tree to manipulate the creature’s subconscious.

The Ghost Tiger was next to fully form its acquired spirit root.

Unexpectedly, the Ghost Tiger’s acquired spirit root wasn’t Yin Attribute but a mutated Ghost Attribute Spirit Root derived from Yin.

This immediately posed a dilemma for Li Mo.

Li Mo had never heard of any Demon Sect Skills compatible with Ghost Attribute Spirit Roots.

In the ancient Cultivation World, there were indeed cultivators transformed into ghost cultivators from remnants of souls, but following heaven and earth’s upheaval, souls had become indescribably obscure.

Li Mo pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration—where could he find a suitable ghost cultivator inheritance?

In desperation, he asked Tian Changwen, who provided an intriguing lead.

"Li Mo, I’ve heard that the inheritances among the Twelve Poison Beasts backing Qinghong Workshop vary widely. One of them might include ghost cultivators."

Li Mo sighed helplessly and braced himself for the possibility—he’d just have to try his luck.