CHAPTER 552: CHAPTER 68: COMMUNICATION ACROSS TEN THOUSAND YEARS WITH CHUNYANGZI

Li Mo noticed the scene outside the house was utterly chaotic, and his face betrayed disappointment.

Purely an impenetrable fog, within which dazzling immortal light danced. The scope of the dream realm was shrinking bit by bit.

Li Mo still wanted to witness the Immortal Realm, but it seemed unrealistic.

"Speaking of which, what’s with the scholar in the rain?"

The Mountain God ascending along the immortal ladder should technically have no interaction with mortals. Could the scholar instead be an immortal from the Immortal Realm? No matter how he thought about it, it didn’t make sense.

Li Mo let out a muffled groan. As the house transformed further into flesh and blood, the corrosive influence of mutation began to stir again, causing his internal organs intense discomfort.

The Ghost Tiger enveloped Li Mo, attempting to shield him from the Gate God’s mutation.

"It’s fine, don’t worry."

Li Mo stopped the Ghost Tiger, willingly allowing himself to endure the mutation. His Heavenly Gang Great Method operated at its peak, pushing his physical body towards the Mahayana Realm.

The calendar had already vanished, but in his mind, he silently counted the passing days.

Without realizing it, he had reached early April.

If, within thirty days, Li Mo couldn’t establish contact with his two senior sisters, he’d have to consider how to escape the Ancestor Court to avoid catastrophe.

Crack, crack, crack.

Li Mo’s right arm’s bones collapsed, and the flesh dissolved along with it.

The erosion caused by mutation spread from the exposed shoulder to his body. His flesh and bones seemed to be gnawed on by invisible worms.

The mutation of the Gate God resembled the outbreak of a death disease—perhaps the Gate God itself was also suffering.

"Hiss..."

"If not for the innate essence sustaining me, the Great Wilderness Immortal Body might not have held up."

A new arm grew out. He swung the limb, feeling slightly uncomfortable, noticing the right arm was now double the weight of the left.

"Ahhh..."

A sharp screech echoed. Faces surfaced on the walls, agitated by Li Mo’s restlessness. Quickly, he restrained the trace of qi and blood spilling outward.

"What is this now?"

"Half-awake, half-dreaming? Any careless move might awaken the Gate God."

Li Mo chuckled bitterly. The Corpse Mountain formed a spirit shield isolating the outside world, while Da Ai Mi Tian caused keratin to grow across his skin’s surface.

After thorough confirmation, he resumed examining his body.

"Three hundred years of innate essence barely allow my limbs to adapt to the mutation."

"Replacing all my internal organs... it might just push me to the Mahayana Realm. Sigh, is there even enough innate essence left?"

Li Mo glanced at his over eighty centuries’ worth of innate essence. Once exhausted, there would be no substitute Dao pages to plunder the No-Life Mother’s wool.

At that moment, the immortal light abruptly ceased.

The Gate God halted its climb and remained stationary amidst the infinite chaos.

Li Mo felt like a caged beast—once the Gate God awoke, it was likely he’d never leave the Ancestor Court alive.

The dream realm had already become perilously unstable. The furniture within the house was melting away one by one.

"No way, I absolutely cannot sit here awaiting doom!"

While refining his body, Li Mo decided to test the Nearby Array in the Ancestor Court.

To avoid alerting the Gate God, the Spirit Root Worm blanketed the array, limiting its scale to only transmitting inferior spiritual materials.

Li Mo adjusted the Nearby Array’s structure step by step, based on its responses.

"Who would’ve thought—it’s actually working."

Li Mo discovered that using the Illusion Spirit Root, nurtured by the Spirit Root Worm, as the Array Eye made the array’s activation disturbance incredibly subtle while outputting power surpassing that of Land Immortals.

With the Gate God’s dim intellect, quietly leaving the Ancestor Court shouldn’t be too difficult.

"The saying holds true: all ways are interconnected. Arrays are constructed from countless spirit patterns, and spirit patterns are echoes of the Dao itself—there’s definitely room for reciprocal insights."

"If I merge the Nearby Array with the Inch Sword Tomb’s Taoist inheritance, not only would it suffice for me alone, but it could easily accommodate three Land Immortals."

Li Mo laughed to himself.

Although he had little interest in the way of arrays, the Nearby Array was an exception. He had perfected its structure from the Nascent Soul Stage to the Body Integration Realm.

"Where to set it up?" Li Mo scanned his surroundings, suddenly at a loss.

Scribing it on the floor was obviously impractical; even the slightest movement could provoke the Gate God to strangle him in its sleep.

Using a magic treasure wasn’t secure, either—the Array Eye’s Illusion Spirit Root at least touched upon the level of immortal artifacts but was prone to collapse.

Li Mo’s gaze landed on the Ghost Tiger. A faint smile crept onto his lips, "Tiger, you’ll be fine if part of your flesh is partitioned. It’s perfect for anchoring the array."

The Ghost Tiger trembled but obediently agreed.

"That’s the spirit."

Li Mo patted the Ghost Tiger’s head before lowering his focus to the larger surface area of its abdomen.

For the array’s primary materials, he had prepared them within the Corpse Mountain Mini World. The Plant and Tree Cultivators had become exceedingly skilled in handling spiritual materials.

Once the main materials were ready, Li Mo meticulously began engraving.

Since the spiritual materials possessed corrosive properties, he needed to solidify them using Spiritual Power inside the Ghost Tiger’s body. This naturally involved pain, but the creature endured steadfastly.

Li Mo’s expression was one of intense concentration. Every stroke was precise.

Even adjustments were made based on the Ghost Tiger’s convulsing flesh, ensuring the workflow was smooth and uninterrupted. After all, failure would come at an exorbitant cost.

Within his Mud Pill Palace, the Fake Soul Consciousness flickered gently.

Li Mo suddenly experienced a kind of Dharma Transmission-like clarity. Though the complexity of refining this array far surpassed typical Nearby Arrays, his hand didn’t falter.

In five days, most of the array was complete.

Li Mo had grown adept, even using his innate essence during downtime to nourish the Ghost Tiger.

Just two more days, and the Nearby Array would be fully completed.

"With an escape route in hand, my chances of seizing an Immortal’s elixir field have substantially improved. Now, it’s all up to the senior sisters—let’s hope they..."

Knock, knock, knock.

A knocking sound suddenly broke the silence.

Li Mo’s pupils contracted, the stroke he was etching almost went askew.

His peripheral vision darted toward the wooden door, where a vague silhouette stood outside. Yet this was an absolute chaos of silence—how could there exist a figure?

"Who?!?"

This enigmatic figure, garbed in a straw coat and bamboo hat, hailed from the distant southern region, over a 108,000-li gap with the northern Luo Zhou Town.

He was an anomaly, one who shouldn’t exist within the dream realm.

"Hehe."

The silhouette chuckled, providing no direct reply to Li Mo’s question. His right hand lingered near the hilt of his sword as he hummed a cheerful tune.

Li Mo deduced the individual was quite elderly—the voice carried a raspy, weathered tone. Yet under the straw coat, the demeanor remained one of a sword-wielding scholar.

[When the scholar in the rain knocks, you must open the door.]

Knock, knock, knock.

The old man knocked again, this time using the pommel of his sword against the wooden door.

Li Mo hastened his engraving. The Ghost Tiger whimpered softly, while the Nearby Array assembled into a cohesive whole, radiating a diffuse glow.

Knock, knock, knock.

The old man’s third knock followed, his gaze shifting briefly to the side, seemingly assessing the intensity of the rain.

Returning his sword to his waist, he turned into the chaos, walking with movements resembling the final flickers of a dying flame.

"Wait!"

Li Mo finished his final stroke, completing the Nearby Array. "Elder, please come in."

The Ghost Tiger opened the wooden door.

The elder hesitated for a moment before brushing off the moisture clinging to his shoulders and hat, slowly entering the house through the chaos.

"In these desolate mountains, there’s not even a cave to hide from the rain. I apologize for the intrusion."

The elder’s gaze fell upon the Nearby Array still shimmering faintly on the Ghost Tiger’s body, with traces of curiosity until the array vanished into obscurity.

Li Mo stared at the elder’s face as his heart raced uncontrollably.

"Elder, may I ask your name?"

"Oh?"

The elder removed his bamboo hat, revealing his silvery hair untouched by rain. His swordlike brows framed deep-set eyes, emanating an unmistakable sharpness.

"Do you recognize me?"

"Might... you be Senior Chunyangzi?"

The elder paused, then erupted into hearty laughter. "Haha, yes, I am Chunyangzi. Truly a fateful encounter—haha!"

Sitting cross-legged, he extended a hand, asking, "Do you have wine? I haven’t had a drink in ages."

"I do."

Li Mo, now riddled with confusion, wondered how Chunyangzi had appeared in the Mountain God’s dream realm. Could it be that the Mountain God’s ascension inadvertently linked him to Chunyangzi?

He fetched a jar of exquisite mortal wine.

"Not strong enough."

Then he brought corpse wine from the Weak Crown Period.

"Still lacking."

Finally, he presented century-old Nascent Soul Stage corpse wine.

"Barely acceptable for a sip, but I suspect you’re hiding something better."

Li Mo no longer hesitated, handing over Body Integration Realm corpse wine to Chunyangzi, who tied back his hair and removed the jar’s seal with his sword hilt.

Chunyangzi poured the wine and took a deep drink, his previously tense brows relaxing considerably.

"Excellent wine."

"Ah, I nearly forgot you were here. This jar is mine alone to enjoy. Next time we meet, I’ll let you try Wumen City’s special Ginger Wine."

The corpse wine remained untouched by Chunyangzi, signifying he was merely a spectral projection.

"It’s all right."

Li Mo casually waved off the thought, unsure of what to say. Should he warn Chunyangzi about Wumen City’s eventual destruction? The tens of thousands of citizens doomed to become mindless deceitful objects?

Asking about the source of the cosmic upheaval would be equally pointless—even immortals likely didn’t know.

Silence stretched between them.

One drinking wine, the other lost in thought—it felt akin to a reunion of old friends, yet also like strangers sharing an awkward moment.

Chunyangzi’s expression grew enraptured, as he pointed at the Ghost Tiger and asked, "I have matters to attend to that require my departure. Before I go, could you let me take another look at that marvelous array?"

Out of respect, Li Mo didn’t refuse, letting the Ghost Tiger reveal the Nearby Array.

Chunyangzi leaned in, examining the array intently, his eyes glittering with newfound vigor as he murmured profound and esoteric insights into the Array Tao.

Li Mo wasn’t surprised that Chunyangzi could understand the Nearby Array.

During the ancient days of the Heavenly Sword Sect, every renowned Sword Cultivator had mastery over arrays—especially since Chunyangzi’s projection may already have ascended as an immortal.

"Magnificent, truly magnificent. Now I know what it means for an array to be seamlessly natural."

Chunyangzi cupped his fists in salute, donned his bamboo hat, and stood to leave.

Li Mo escorted him out, watching as Chunyangzi gracefully stepped into the chaos. His aura faintly flickered, once again proving the dream realm’s illusory nature.

Half of Chunyangzi’s figure disappeared into the chaos, and his voice rang out.

"Youngster, I have a question."

"Yes?"

"If the Array Eye were replaced with a unique spiritual object, could the array transport to a destination corresponding to that object’s aura?"

"It should be possible, but no spiritual object in existence possesses a perfectly unique aura. Any disparity in destination risks array destruction."

"Is the Heavenly Dao unique enough?"

"Haha, I wish to create an array leading directly to the Heavenly Dao."

"Forget it, I’m off!"

Chunyangzi vanished entirely. His laughter reverberated through the dream realm.

Li Mo’s mind seized upon the absurd notion of "seizing the Heavenly Dao," a tidal wave of incomprehensible disbelief washing over him.

Chunyangzi ultimately did seize the Heavenly Dao in a manner unfathomable to mortals, forcibly ending the disaster known as the cosmic upheaval.

"But isn’t this a dream realm? Is he actually real?"

"Was it my Nearby Array that indirectly enabled Chunyangzi to seize the Heavenly Dao?"

"What kind of joke is this...?"