Chapter 435: Chapter 60: If I Say You Die, You Die
Ye Zhuo Daoist wisely refrained from asking more questions and immediately began preparations, primarily focusing on refining the previously exchanged resources into Spirit Talismans.
In truly perilous moments, these Spirit Talismans might just save both their lives.
Outside the window, the Blood Flesh Banyan Tree continued to grow relentlessly, quickly surpassing the ten-meter range and forming a sparse forest.
Numerous Pig Headed Men stood rooted in place, staring skyward with strange, contorted postures.
The eerie and bewildering scene sent chills down the spines of all the sword cultivators, none of whom fully grasped the profound significance behind the Tomb-Sweeping Festival.
Many shops stood only two or three meters away from the Blood Flesh Banyan Tree.
They watched helplessly as human head-shaped fruits grew on the banyan branches, with some trees even being transformed from their fellow cultivators.
The resulting horror was unimaginable.
Only Li Mo was able to cultivate in peace, both nourishing his Buddha Demon Body with Body and Soul Rejuvenation Wine and monitoring the condition of the Dragon Balls and horned dragon.
He noticed one thing: as the connection between the Foundation Spiritual Objects and the Nascent Soul deepened, they were gradually transcending the category of Dragon Spiritual Materials.
After all, neither the Sword Infant nor the Beast Infant could be considered pure Dragons.
As the Dragon Balls grew in size, intricate Spirit Patterns depicting birds, beasts, scale insects, and dragons appeared on their surface, exuding extreme mystique.
The horned dragon started to regress, morphing into a creature that was part insect, part dragon, part carp—more and more resembling a flying sword.
Li Mo was pleased by this development. It wouldn’t be long before he could attempt to break through to the Divine Separation Stage.
"The Profound Magnetic Infant can wait a little longer."
When promoting the Nascent Soul to the Externalized Dharma Body, achieving an initial fusion beforehand would save much trouble, so he temporarily set aside the Profound Magnetic Infant.
"After the matters at the Great Sun Sword Tomb are settled, I’ll dual-cultivate a technique suitable for the Artifact Infant."
Li Mo’s thoughts wandered, and the days passed one by one.
The branches of the Blood Flesh Banyan Tree became laden with fruits, which, while humanoid, all exhibited various grotesque deformities.
Even Ye Zhuo Daoist, upon seeing the twisted forms of the human-shaped fruits, could not suppress his nervousness.
"What the hell is this?"
Ye Zhuo Daoist crouched by the window, staring intently at the outside world through a crack.
Pa.
It was unclear how much time had passed when the initially humanoid fruits began to fall, and the Blood Flesh Banyan Tree withered and decayed within mere moments.
A single Blood Flesh Banyan Tree could typically yield seventy to eighty human-shaped fruits.
The remnants of the banyan trees piled up by the sides of the street and were soon covered by fresh grass.
No matter how Ye Zhuo Daoist looked at it, they resembled graves burying coffins, while the Pig Headed Men seemed to be family members visiting the graves.
"Damn, it really is the Tomb-Sweeping Festival."
The fruits continued to writhe, slowly developing arms and legs.
Ye Zhuo Daoist swallowed hard.
He noticed faintly visible internal organs within the translucent flesh of the fruits and saw that sword cultivators who had once died and had their Dao paths extinguished were now coming back to life.
Dozens of Taishan Yan figures, their faces expressionless and bare, stared blankly at the graves, with umbilical cords extending from their abdomens to the graves as they absorbed nutrients.
"Damn, damn, damn..."
Ye Zhuo Daoist couldn’t bring himself to imagine the scene of becoming one of them.
What terrified him the most was that the gazes of the human-shaped fruits were all fixed on the nearby shops, as if they were itching to move forward.
"Spring outings are holidays for Official Scholars, meant to appreciate the beauty of early spring."
Li Mo, at some point, had stopped cultivating and silently appeared beside Ye Zhuo Daoist, startling him so much that he almost threw out a few Spirit Talismans.
"For commoners, however, spring outings have another meaning."
"What meaning?"
"To seek survival."
Ye Zhuo Daoist looked puzzled, prompting Li Mo to explain in a low tone: "After enduring a whole winter, commoners’ food stores are often depleted, and they also need funds to buy crops for spring planting."
"Out of desperation, families would then send their children to town shops to become apprentices. The wages earned would be just enough to cover the cost of planting."
"But, Senior Brother, don’t mortals over twenty usually not consume food storage..."
Ye Zhuo Daoist was about to ask further but suddenly realized that Li Mo was referring to something from tens of thousands of years ago. A look of astonishment flickered in his eyes.
Li Mo cast Ye Zhuo Daoist a sidelong glance, then drew his Illusion Fish Sword and remarked, "If I’m not mistaken, the deceased sword cultivators have already been transformed into Sword Ghosts and will soon inhabit the shops nearby."
"You understand, don’t you? An increase in the number of Sword Ghosts means..."
"Hiss."
Ye Zhuo Daoist gasped sharply.
Under the influence of the Night Patrol Deity’s Taboo, the Sword Ghosts would become even harder to contend with, significantly raising the likelihood of shops falling out of control.
Bang, bang, bang.
All the doors and windows of the shops simultaneously flung open.
Li Mo and Ye Zhuo could sense a colossal creature crawling down from the upper floors of a tavern, its power palpable and comparable to that of a storyteller.
Clang.
From Li Mo’s ribs, eight pairs of arms emerged simultaneously, each wielding a Lifebound Flying Sword, sixteen in total.
Ye Zhuo Daoist didn’t dare be negligent, using hundreds of Spirit Talismans to seal the staircase tightly before joining Li Mo in preparing for the looming confrontation.
"I’ll kill the deceitful entity in the tavern. You handle the newborn creatures."
"Understood."
Li Mo tossed Ye Zhuo Daoist a Trapped Sword Platform. "If you can control them, seal the Sword Ghosts directly into the platform."
"Got it. What about the Trapped Sword Platform in the main hall? Should we expand the taboo’s range?"
"Leave it be to avoid unnecessary chaos. Besides... there’s no more time."
As soon as Li Mo finished speaking, the Sword Ghosts by the graves had fully formed, their umbilical cords severed, and they began scrambling on all fours toward the shops.
The majority of the Sword Ghosts instinctively headed toward shops related to the Tomb-Sweeping Festival.
There was no room for doubt; some sword cultivators with grim expressions had already stepped out to confront them.
After all, if the Sword Ghosts successfully entered the shops, a chain reaction could ensue, plunging the surrounding businesses into chaos.
Li Mo vanished from the hall in a flash.
When he glanced upward, a hundred-meter-tall Sword Ghost crouched on the eaves above.
The Sword Ghost, shrouded in long hair and bearing a seven-part resemblance to the storyteller, clearly originated from the Mountain River region. However, its limbs were longer, and its back was covered in bead-like bumps resembling an abacus.
"An accountant?"
Li Mo identified its identity, noting it wasn’t the tavern waiter from earlier.
Roar!!!
The accountant shook its head impatiently, its abacus beads clattering as its elongated tail whipped toward Li Mo, aiming directly for his neck.
"I’ve been wanting to stretch my muscles. The main hall was far too confining."
Li Mo leaped off the ground, his body expanding to over seven meters tall. The sixteen Lifebound Flying Swords he wielded extended to five meters each.
The Cave God’s Eye on his forehead emitted rolling black smoke, while Yin Yang Sword Intent coiled around the blades.
The phantom of the Tattooed Beast flanked him, exuding an almost tangible sense of oppression.
Ye Zhuo Daoist couldn’t help but marvel.
Judging by appearances alone, Li Mo looked more like a deceitful entity than an ordinary sword cultivator, his formidable fleshly body completely at odds with a typical cultivator’s.
Forcing himself to suppress distracting thoughts, Ye Zhuo Daoist saw thirteen Sword Ghosts approaching the tavern one after another.
A direct confrontation was out of the question. His task was to buy time, hold the tavern doors, and wait for Li Mo to deal with the accountant.
"Go."
Ye Zhuo Daoist sent out the Blood Soul, its tail end clutching his Lifebound Flying Sword and covered in dozens of Spirit Talismans.
As the Blood Soul moved, the Spirit Talismans formed a rudimentary array.
"I... remember you... Ye Zhuo!!!"
Seven or eight Taishan Yan figures, their heads tilted at unnatural angles, smiled with unsettling expressions.
Ye Zhuo Daoist’s pupils constricted as sharp pain spread through his hands. A light red flame was already crawling toward his arms and legs.
"You son of a—."
Without hesitation, Ye Zhuo Daoist severed his own limbs, trusting Li Mo’s medical expertise to restore them later.
The Blood Soul stretched infinitely within the array, ensnaring the Sword Ghosts’ bodies, even as cracks formed in the pseudo-magical treasure under duress.
Other sword cultivators would balk at risking their pseudo-magical treasure in such a manner.
But Ye Zhuo Daoist had long secured Li Mo’s promise that any damage to the pseudo-magical treasure would be reimbursed in full—even treated as disposable if necessary.
Drawn by the commotion, another two or three dozen figures approached the tavern.
Ye Zhuo Daoist felt his scalp tingle.
At this moment, as Li Mo created a momentary opening against the accountant, he tilted his head toward the tavern’s entrance and spit out a mouthful of Flying Swords.
A hundred Lifebound Flying Swords swarmed forth, immediately pinning the Sword Ghosts in place. Enveloped by various Sword Intents, the Sword Ghosts couldn’t move an inch.
"Dozens of Sword Intents and a veritable flood of Lifebound Flying Swords—Senior Brother, should I be awestruck or just accept this as normal by now?"
Ye Zhuo Daoist couldn’t resist muttering, then retracted the Blood Soul and leaped onto the open rooftop to lay down Spirit Talismans in a frenzy.
Meanwhile, Li Mo’s spilt blood had turned into a smoky mist.
"Hehehe..."
Li Mo’s mastery of the Yang Thunder Sword Bone had become increasingly refined, allowing him to maintain the upper hand throughout.
However, with every move of the accountant’s abacus beads, Li Mo’s internal organs would shift, causing his Taoist Body minor backlash that required constant Spiritual Power to suppress.
Click.
The abacus beads clicked softly.
Most of the accountant’s injuries healed, the damage instead transferred to Li Mo, causing a spray of blood.
Li Mo paid no mind, deliberately suppressing his vitality so that it wouldn’t recover. His Lifebound Flying Swords slashed toward the accountant from all angles.
The shockwaves from their battle left the streets and alleys riddled with craters.
"Senior Brother, wrap this up quickly!!!"
Ye Zhuo Daoist yelled, straining to maintain the array as he watched Li Mo holding back slightly.
The Cave God’s Eye on Li Mo’s forehead rotated faster, detecting a Divine Sense peering at him. A faint smirk played across his lips.
"Yang Extreme Thunder Birth—die."
Li Mo hurled a Yang Attribute Lifebound Flying Sword wreathed in sparks of thunder, which vanished in an instant.
The Yang Thunder Sword Bone allowed Yang Attribute Flying Swords to command thunder, creating an explosive speed and force that even Divine Separation cultivators couldn’t easily detect.
Far off in the western part of the city, Changqing’s eyes burned with hatred.
His entire body had undergone mutation, and after being defeated by Li Mo, his mental state teetered on the edge of madness, causing his cultivation to stagnate and regress.
"So long as you live, Thirteen Immortals, I cannot rest in peace."
In his palm, his Lifebound Flying Sword swirled with Sword Intent.
"Die."
Changqing was confident he could mount a sneak attack with Sword Control against Li Mo, inflicting serious harm if not outright killing him. He planned to bide his time for future opportunities to eliminate this great threat.
Confronting Li Mo directly, however, was a thought he didn’t dare entertain.
Whoosh.
The sound of something tearing through the air reached him.
Changqing froze, a Flying Sword piercing directly through his Middle Dantian as flooding waves of Sun Sword Intent wreaked havoc within.
The Flying Sword resembled a Hui Dragon, wantonly destroying his flesh and bones.
"Thirteen Immortals, advancing into the Sword Body realm? How could this be..."
Changqing gazed distantly toward the tavern, where Li Mo had already decapitated the accountant and was rapidly healing from his injuries.
"There’s still a chance—my Externalized Dharma Body remains intact."
Just then, blood-red threads emerged from within the Flying Sword.
The Spirit Root Worm stirred, plunging Changqing into endless illusions.
The Hui Dragon swallowed Changqing whole before circling back to the tavern.