CHAPTER 541: CHAPTER 57: THE PERSON WHO CAME BACK TO LIFE

Lu San Town.

As a mortal town affiliated with the Three Elements Pavilion, Lu San Town has greatly benefited from regional divisions and its geographical advantage, rising as a thriving trade hub within a century.

To the east lies the largest loose cultivator black market in the Tri-element Region, the "Tali Black Market," and to the west lies "Wanmi Lushan," where Three Elements Pavilion recruits outer disciples.

Once the region closed off, Lu San Town swiftly became a place of immortal fates in the eyes of mortals.

Every day, numerous mortals flood into Lu San Town seeking immortal fate, hoping they might catch the eye of a cultivator purchasing resources, perhaps even learn a cultivation technique rumored to reach the Innate Realm (Childhood).

At the same time, refugees affected by disasters also drift into Lu San Town, seeking survival.

On the main road stretching south to north, countless mortals trudge forward unsteadily, their faces sallow, their bodies skeletal, with decaying flesh dropping off at any moment.

Ah, ah, ah.

This attracts flocks of crows hovering in the air, their blood-red eyes glinting with a sinister hunger.

In some sense, crows that feast consistently on human flesh are gradually mutating into deceitful objects, though the process remains highly unstable.

Upon arriving at Lu San Town, the officers do not obstruct them extensively, allowing thousands to be herded into a temporary encampment in the outer city district.

Although the celestial upheaval remains silent and distant, the forces clearly show signs of covertly and overtly gathering mortals.

Two to three hundred years ago, towns rarely accepted refugees.

As the refugee tide splits, some are led by officers into the medical halls to bandage their wounds and remove their thoroughly decayed internal organs.

The younger refugees fill their bellies with food.

Within the group of refugees stands a young girl, blankly staring at Lu San Town with icy cold eyes, before stepping into the depths of the alleyways.

Her companions, noticing this, do not stop her.

They haltingly reveal expressions of fear, as the girl’s behavior along the way has been extremely strange, like a lifeless puppet utterly numb to the outside world.

Even when encountering wild beasts, the girl maintains her same demeanor, watching with open eyes as her flesh and bones are entirely consumed.

The refugees initially believed the girl would die.

Yet the next day, inexplicably, her wounds completely healed. If not for the torn marks on her clothes, they would have assumed it was merely a hallucination.

From then on, no one dares approach the girl, suspecting she possesses some unknown innate constitution.

A few refugees exchange glances. One volunteers to follow her, while another heads to the local office of the Three Elements Pavilion in Lu San Town to inform their body cultivators.

The girl twists and turns through alleyways, soon arriving before a modest house.

Bannered with white cloth fluttering over its entrance and scattered paper money littering the ground, it is clear that a funeral was recently held inside.

Standing before the door, the girl paralyzes the refugees’ courage; none dare come closer.

In many remote villages, children with Taoist Bodies are disdainfully labeled "ghost children," beings to be respected but kept at a distance.

Creaaak.

The door opens, revealing a frail-looking woman stepping out of the house.

Upon seeing the girl, she freezes in disbelief, her hands trembling uncontrollably as she hesitates to touch her.

"Ruan Ruan, is it you? Ruan Ruan."

Still, the girl remains unresponsive, while the woman, seemingly lost in a daze, rushes toward her.

Before the woman can approach, a man bursts out from the door, grasping her wrist tightly. "Have you lost your mind? Ruan Ruan died just recently due to illness; we personally witnessed her body burned to ashes at her funeral."

"Then who is she?!?!"

The woman breaks down into frenzied screams, struggling against the man’s hold.

The man fixes a calculating gaze upon the girl, wondering whether she might be some eerie and incomprehensible deceitful object, his other hand instinctively clenching the hilt of his long blade at his waist.

The girl slowly turns her head to face the man, responding with a stiff, unsettling smile.

The man’s nerves chill.

He notices that the girl’s mouth is unmistakably sewn shut with coarse threads, the stitching grotesquely fastened from the inside out.

"You..."

The girl forcefully pulls her mouth open, blood trickling from her lips and dripping onto the ground.

Her lips tear apart, the upper lip clinging to most of the lower lip, a grisly sight of mangled flesh that leaves everyone present with a crawling sense of dread.

The girl’s expression reveals a look of twisted pleasure, as though she delights in the agonizing pain.

"Demon spawn!!!"

The man draws his long blade, shoving the woman aside as he charges toward the girl.

Yet before he can approach, a torrent of air rushes forward, as a Weak Crown Stage Body Cultivator from Three Elements Pavilion intervenes, blocking his advance.

"Immortal."

The man immediately kneels respectfully, as does the woman, bowing low and touching their heads to the ground.

The body cultivator scrutinizes the girl with a peculiar gaze, before commenting, "She...isn’t any deceitful object. She’s a natural Tao Seed. I’m here representing Three Elements Pavilion to offer her entry into our ranks."

The man’s face fills with disbelief but, given the involvement of Three Elements Pavilion, he raises no further doubts.

Approaching the girl, the body cultivator leans close, staring shamelessly at her stitched mouth, his eyes brimming with uncontainable greed.

"You...What do you want to say? Quick, quick...tell me."

The girl’s smile deepens, her voice faint as she begins, "Chen Bai, Zhou Fei, Li Mo, Shi..."

Before finishing, her lips abruptly dissolve, blood soaking her robe as her entire jaw disintegrates, leaving only the tongue exposed as if speaking itself tears her flesh apart.

The man’s expression tightens in shock, and he urgently shields the woman’s eyes.

The girl’s wounds heal once more, though her lower jaw does not regrow, leaving only her tongue dangling—a grotesque sight, as though simply opening her mouth results in devastating physical collapse.

"Chen Bai, Zhou Fei, Li Mo, the fourth surname is Shi."

The body cultivator murmurs the names, etching them deeply into his mind, then scoops up the girl and departs the alley. Before leaving, he advises the man, "If you wish to cultivate, you can request techniques from the martial hall."

"Thank you, Immortal!!"

The man is full of gratitude, but one image remains etched in his thoughts—the girl’s strange, haunting presence.

A person buried and mourned...how could they suddenly rise from the dead?

Not long ago, he had been chatting idly with others about increasing bizarre rumors circulating the city—elders giving birth to children, instances of resurrection...

Now, he has personally encountered such phenomena.

Suddenly, he feels a chilling sense of unease—the gossip might not be baseless after all?

......

The situation grows turbulent, and Creation Sect has initiated a new round of strategic contractions.

Be it abandoning remote black markets or ceding black market leadership to the Great Sects, their focus shifts entirely to port development.

Various spiritual materials are now cultivated in the port’s small world, with incredibly high daily yields enabling the related Immortal Creation Bodies at the port to become increasingly affordable.

No one seems to notice that the port’s resident cultivators have quietly risen to twelve million.

According to Tian Changwen’s calculations, the port’s maximum capacity is fifteen million; exceeding this number would inevitably lead to resource shortages.

Li Mo continues stabilizing his cultivation while preparing for the Ancient Age Death Disease.

His Externalized Dharma Body and Void Realm are ninety-nine percent fused, completing his transition easily, though he doesn’t rush to break through to the Dao Yan Realm.

Refining one’s foundation is critical—losing direction in the Mahayana Realm is not permissible.

Li Mo opens his eyes.

"Time flies like an arrow, and the celestial upheaval looms overhead like a sharp blade."

A century has passed since the Ten Thousand Sword Immortal Bone transcended mortality, yet while friction among the Cultivation World persists, it has yet to escalate.

Apart from Twelfth Senior Sister It Corpse, the presence of other senior sisters gradually intensifies.

They seem to be collecting special resources across various regions; strangely, all major factions, including the Ten Thousand Demon Dao, have cooperated and ceased agitation to an unusual degree.

The troubles brought by Hundred Play Child were warded off by Qu Ai, though she hastily departed after receiving some unknown piece of information despite residing at the port previously.

"Rebuilding the immortal ladder is close to impossible, but creating a one-time-use immortal ladder remains feasible."

Li Mo’s expression turns grim. The Twelve Immortals probing ascension proves that the celestial upheaval and its cycle are no longer unattainable.

"Should I ascend? Or wait for the moment of crisis and use the Heavenly Dao Page instead?"

Li Mo exhales deeply, rubbing his temples with frustration before suppressing his scattered thoughts and resuming the monotonous grind of secluded cultivation.

His supplementary process toward completing the Innate Saint is now over, with completeness exceeding seventy-five percent.

Unfortunately, the two related corpses Tian Changwen sought out did not offer meaningful compatibility with Li Mo’s unique characteristics despite their Innate Saint traits.

Li Mo understands, however, that he cannot force it, as his current Double Immortal Body is already sufficient.

The Great Wilderness Immortal Body has increased his flesh’s strength to the Perfect Integration Stage, while the Ten Thousand Sword Immortal Bone boasts forty-four sections.

Spiritual insight reveals that his flesh and bones are wholly covered with Spider Sword Orbs.

The Spider Sword Orbs simulate evolutionary patterns of the Immortal Bone, bearing traces of "Dao begets One, One begets Two, Two begets Three, Three begets all things."

Boom.

Li Mo suddenly senses his own blood boiling and immediately realizes that Da Ai Mi Tian has finally advanced to a Spiritual Treasure.

Cancer cells proliferate rapidly, covering flesh, bones, and even the Externalized Dharma Body.

Li Mo’s brow furrows slightly.

He firmly controls every aspect of his body, inside and out. Da Ai Mi Tian’s advancement endows every cancer cell seemingly with spiritual wisdom.

Li Mo’s Divine Sense observes cancer cells adjusting themselves to different organs, mutating adaptively while subtly transforming those they inhabit.

"Hmm?"

Li Mo is deeply astounded.

The Innate Saint exhibits autonomous self-completion, though slowly so; however, using Innate Essence may enhance its progression.

Da Ai Mi Tian even imparts vitality to his five viscera and six internal organs.

Immortal Pattern "Dao Cancer."

Li Mo finds it difficult to articulate Da Ai Mi Tian’s transformation—besides cancer cells mutating, they gain adaptability to Heavenly Dao.

The Immortal Body manifests the nature of Heavenly Dao, and the Innate Saint evidently integrates with it through cancer cells.

"A pity. If Da Ai Mi Tian had reached the level of an Immortal Artifact, perhaps I wouldn’t need to consider ascending to the Immortal Realm—I could directly use cancer cells to transcend mortality and become an immortal."

Li Mo contemplates the intricacies of Da Ai Mi Tian, proving its worth as a Spiritual Treasure created through six Spirit Patterns. It far surpasses his other three Spiritual Treasures in overall strength.

With Da Ai Mi Tian, his survival ability considerably improves.

"Enough for now..."

With a single thought, Li Mo channels Spiritual Power through his Three Dharma Bodies, stabilizing the Void Realm, which folds seamlessly into the Externalized Dharma Body.

The progression toward the Dao Yan Stage becomes a natural outcome.

Li Mo’s expression shows no joy. Even though the Dao Yan Stage is the culminating stage of Integration Realm, celestial upheaval renders immortals and mortals indistinguishable.

"Just over three hundred years remain before the Ancient Age Death Disease unleashes."

Li Mo remains uncertain of the disease’s specific nature, as no known texts record details, yet the Great Wilderness Immortal Body should safeguard him from stumbling fatally.

He forges defensive magic treasures while receiving a communiqué from Tian Changwen.

"Resurrection confirmed."

"Li Mo, your cousin Li Zhuang has come back to life."