Chapter 20: First Kill
Towering ancient trees blotted out the sky and sun. Deep within the gloomy, dense forest, Lin Mo suddenly stopped in his tracks.
He no longer deliberately concealed himself. Instead, he slowly turned around, his gaze piercing like a blade toward a dense thicket of shrubs thirty zhang behind him.
"Since you've followed me all this way, stop hiding your heads and showing your tails. Come out." Lin Mo's voice was hoarse and calm, yet it sounded exceptionally clear in the silent, dense forest.
A rustling sound emerged from the shrubs for a moment, followed by three figures swaggering out.
Leading the group was a scar-faced man with a face full of fierce flesh, carrying a heavy-backed broadsword. He exuded the aura of the early fourth level of Qi Refining.
Behind him were two others: one skinny as a monkey, the other short and stout. Both were at the third level of Qi Refining. All three carried a heavy, murderous aura born from years of licking blood off the edge of a blade.
"Yo, the little brat's perception is quite sharp." The skinny rogue cultivator looked Lin Mo up and down.
"Sirs, why are you tracking me?" Lin Mo asked, puzzled.
He carefully searched his memory.
Who are these three?
I don't know them at all!
Hearing this, the skinny rogue cultivator scoffed, "Early third level of Qi Refining, dressed like a beggar, and you dare plunge into Black Wind Ridge all by yourself? Hand over all your valuable pills and spirit stones, and your grandpas here will show mercy and leave you with an intact corpse!"
The scar-faced man didn't speak. He just stared at Lin Mo with a cold, sinister gaze, as if looking at a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.
In their eyes, a reckless, solitary youth like Lin Mo, with a cultivation base of only the third level of Qi Refining, was the absolute perfect prey.
"You want my things? Let's see if you have the lives to take them."
Seeing that they had likely targeted him because he was alone and wanted to murder him for his wealth, Lin Mo didn't waste any more words. With a shing, he drew the Cold Light Sword from his waist in a backhand grip.
"Refusing the easy way out! Slaughter him!"
The scar-faced man shouted fiercely. The skinny and stout rogue cultivators behind him immediately flanked left and right, lunging at Lin Mo like two vicious wolves.
The skinny cultivator gripped a poisoned dagger, thrusting straight at Lin Mo's throat; the stout cultivator swung a massive iron hammer, bringing a howling gale as he smashed toward Lin Mo's lower body.
Lin Mo's eyes narrowed. He charged to meet them head-on, violently swinging the Cold Light Sword in his hand.
However, it would have been better if he hadn't swung. The moment he swung the sword, the flaw of his weak foundation was instantly exposed.
He had been a servant in the Azure Cloud Sect for three years, and all he did every day was chop wood and sweep floors.
He possessed the majestic spiritual energy of the fourth level of Qi Refining in vain, holding a Top-grade Mortal Tier sharp weapon, yet he knew absolutely no sword techniques or forms!
The sword strike he swung out was completely structureless, riddled with openings. It was purely a chaotic hack relying on brute force!
Clang! The skinny cultivator's dagger agilely bypassed the sword's edge, using the momentum to slice a bloody gash across Lin Mo's arm.
If Lin Mo hadn't reacted quickly and forcefully twisted his body, that strike would have severed the tendons in his hand.
Crap! I forgot to learn a sword technique!
A flash of panic crossed Lin Mo's eyes. He really hadn't thought of this! After all, he had never experienced a life-and-death struggle before; how could he have thought of everything perfectly?
"Hahaha! Boss, this kid is a total rookie! All that cultivation for nothing, he can't even twirl a sword! He's just throwing turtle punches!"
Having landed a successful strike, the skinny cultivator immediately burst into arrogant laughter.
Seeing this, the vigilance in the scar-faced man's eyes completely dissipated. Hefting his broadsword, he joined the fray.
The three formed an encirclement, instantly enveloping Lin Mo in a storm of flashing blades and sword shadows.
Lin Mo fell completely into a disadvantage.
He could only frantically wave his Cold Light Sword to block. His footwork was messy, and he narrowly avoided being smashed by the giant iron hammer several times.
He was like a child holding a divine weapon, being pressed against the ground and rubbed in the dirt by three experienced thugs.
Rip—! Another blade slashed across Lin Mo's back. His clothes tore, leaving behind a shallow, bloody trail.
"Damn it, this kid is slippery," the scar-faced man cursed. Just as he was preparing to deliver the killing blow, his movements paused.
His gaze suddenly locked onto the broadsword in his hand.
Unexpectedly, several notches had appeared on his blade at some point.
Yet Lin Mo's sword edge didn't have a single white scratch; it even exuded a chilling, eerie frost.
"Boss, something is wrong with this kid's weapon!" The skinny rogue cultivator looked at his heavily nicked and dented dagger with an expression of aching hands.
One had to know, their weapons were, at the very least, rare High-grade mortal weapons.
"Cuts iron like mud... This sword has no magical fluctuations, yet it's sharper than a Low-grade magical artifact!"
The scar-faced man gasped, an extremely greedy light instantly erupting in his eyes. "It's a Top-grade Mortal Tier weapon! We're rich! Quick, don't hold back, slaughter him! The sword is mine; we'll split the rest equally!"
Hearing the words "Top-grade Mortal Tier," the other two also began to breathe heavily. Their attacks instantly became even more ruthless.
At this life-or-death juncture, the three weapons simultaneously sealed off Lin Mo's path of retreat.
"You forced my hand!"
Driven into a dead corner, a flash of violent brutality crossed Lin Mo's eyes. He stopped circulating the Dust Concealment Mantra to suppress his cultivation.
The Fire-attribute spiritual energy in his Dantian, which had been suppressed for so long, erupted like an exploding volcano!
Boom! The violent aura of the peak of the fourth level of Qi Refining swept across the clearing. The scorching spiritual energy instantly singed the corners of the three men's clothes until they turned a burnt yellow.
"Fourth level of Qi Refining?!"
The scar-faced man paled in terror. He had thought this was a soft persimmon, never expecting the opponent was actually hiding his true strength!
"What are you panicking for! He just has an empty cultivation base! He doesn't even know a single spell! Bleed him dry!" The scar-faced man sternly steadied their formation, and the three of them tangled with him once more.
Their calculations were excellent.
Lin Mo's swordplay was garbage, and every strike wasted a massive amount of spiritual energy for nothing.
As long as they dragged it out until Lin Mo's spiritual energy ran dry, he would still be dead meat.
The battle raged on for the time it takes an incense stick to burn. Lin Mo's spiritual energy was nearly half depleted, and his breathing began to grow heavy.
"This kid is almost done for! Don't hold back! Strike with full force!"
However, the scene that unfolded next plunged the three rogue cultivators into utter despair.
Facing the three men's wild bombardment.
Lin Mo actually unhurriedly fished out a small porcelain bottle from his robes.
To say it was from his robes was a technicality; under the cover of his clothes, he actually took it out of his storage ring. Reaching into his robes was merely a smokescreen.
He flicked the stopper open with his thumb, poured out a perfectly round Qi Replenishing Pill radiating a dense medicinal fragrance, tilted his head back, and swallowed it.
In merely the span of two breaths!
Lin Mo's previously withering aura was like dry kindling doused in kerosene. With a boom, it climbed right back up to its absolute peak state!
"How is this possible?!"
The scar-faced man's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
Ordinary Qi Replenishing Pills required at least half an hour of meditation to refine after swallowing.
What kind of immortal elixir did this kid just eat? Instantly replenishing full spiritual energy?!
In truth, they were just ignorant and ill-informed. What Lin Mo ate was naturally no ordinary Qi Replenishing Pill, but a Top-grade Qi Replenishing Pill.
Not only could it instantly restore spiritual energy, but because the amount of spiritual energy within the Top-grade pill was far too massive, his fourth-level Qi Refining body simply couldn't absorb it all. As he breathed, spiritual energy actually billowed out from his nose and mouth.
"Sorry, I don't have much of anything else, but I have plenty of pills."
Lin Mo wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his eyes growing increasingly cold.
"Fuck! This kid is a bit demonic! Everyone use your ultimate moves! Don't let our boat capsize in a mere gutter!"
Having said that, the scar-faced man brandished his broadsword and charged at Lin Mo once more, every strike lethal.
Lin Mo hastily dodged.
The scar-faced man's slash hit empty air and struck viciously into an ancient tree as thick as three men's embrace. The tree trunk was like tofu, easily chopped cleanly in half at the waist.
Seeing this, Lin Mo shrank back violently.
If he got hit by that, wouldn't he be instantly chopped into two halves just like that tree?
However, he wasn't without his gains.
In the perilous situation of being gang-beaten, his actual combat experience was soaring at a terrifying speed.
He no longer attempted those flashy, complicated slashes. Instead, he thoroughly simplified his swordplay into the most basic movements from the Servant Quarters—block, chop, thrust.
If he had no sword techniques, then he would crush them with pure speed and power!
The thrust of the Flowing Fire Steps was applied to his blade and his footwork. Lin Mo's movements suddenly became incredibly bizarre and swift.
"This kid is using us as training dummies to feed him moves! Retreat!"
The scar-faced man finally realized something was terribly wrong.
The person before him wasn't some soft persimmon; he was a bottomless monster!
He turned and fled without a moment's hesitation, not even bothering to care about his two subordinates.
"Trying to leave now? Too late!"
Murderous intent fully revealed itself in Lin Mo's eyes. He violently thrust out his left hand. The Heavenly Derivation Blazing Fire Mantra circulated madly.
Thirty percent of his spiritual energy instantly converged in his palm, forcefully compressed into a black-red fire seal the size of a soybean!
"Heavenly Derivation Fire Seal!"
Lin Mo pushed his palm slightly toward the scar-faced man, and the fire seal instantly shot out toward him!
"Oh no!"
Bang!
There was no earth-shattering explosion. Like a branding iron pressing into butter, the black-red fire seal instantly sank into the scar-faced man's body.
"Ahhh—!!"
The scar-faced man only had time to let out an extremely shrill, miserable scream.
In the next instant, dark red flames erupted directly from his seven orifices. Without even the chance to struggle, in the span of a breath, his entire body was burned from the inside out into a pile of scorched black bones.
He crashed heavily onto the ground, shattering into pieces.
One strike, instantly killing a fourth-level Qi Refining cultivator!
The skinny and stout rogue cultivators happened to turn their heads and saw this scene.
They were so terrified their livers and gallbladders nearly ruptured, and their crotches instantly grew wet.
What kind of spell was this? Its power was actually this terrifying! It wasn't that they didn't know spells, but they only knew ordinary, common spells that were entirely unpresentable. Those spells were less useful than the blades in their hands.
As low-level rogue cultivators, they had absolutely no access to better spells.
"Run! Run away!"
Like madmen, the two split up and sprinted wildly toward the depths of the dense forest.
"To weed, one must tear out the roots."
Lin Mo was expressionless as the spiritual energy within his body circulated once more. Pushing the Flowing Fire Steps to full power, his speed was more than twice as fast as these two third-level Qi Refining rogue cultivators!
Swoosh! Like a phantom, Lin Mo caught up to the stout cultivator. Using the momentum of his sprint, the Cold Light Sword swept across the back of the man's neck.
A perfectly good head flew high into the air, and fresh blood spurted out like a fountain.
Immediately after, Lin Mo used the tip of his toe to push off a dead log. Reversing his momentum, he caught up to the skinny rogue cultivator, who was already paralyzed on the ground in terror.
"S... Senior, spare my life... I..."
Squelch! Lin Mo didn't listen to his nonsense. The Cold Light Sword mercilessly pierced his heart and violently twisted.
The skinny cultivator's eyes bulged wide as his lifeforce rapidly drained away.
The battle was over.
In the silent, dense forest, only the sound of Lin Mo's heavy panting remained.
He slowly withdrew his longsword; the blade didn't hold a single drop of blood. But when he turned his head and saw the charred, bony remains on the ground, along with the two tragically dead, headless corpses with blood spilling all over the floor...
The pungent stench of blood mixed with the foul odor of scorched flesh and blood rushed straight to his head on the gentle breeze.
"HURK—!"
Lin Mo's stomach suddenly churned violently. He abruptly dropped his sword, leaned against a nearby ancient tree, bent over, and began to violently dry-heave, nearly vomiting up bitter bile.
Although he had been beaten for three years in the Servant Quarters and had seen dead people, this was his first time personally ending three living human lives.
Even though these three were wicked scoundrels who deserved to die, the sensation of warm blood splattering on his face and the image of a living person turning to charred carbon right before his eyes still inflicted an intensely powerful shock on his psyche.
After vomiting for a full half-incense stick of time, Lin Mo finally wiped the corner of his mouth with a trembling hand.
He raised his head to look at the corpses on the ground, his voice slightly hoarse as he whispered:
"If I were the one who died today, you wouldn't even bother to collect my corpse... This is the cultivation world. Those who kill will always be killed by others!"
Chapter 21: The Savage Barren Lands, The Great Wilderness Flying Beast
A thick stench of blood permeated the damp forest, something that would easily attract bloodthirsty demonic beasts.
Forcing down his nausea, Lin Mo deftly snatched the gray cloth storage bags from the waists of the three rogue cultivators.
Then, without looking back, he executed the Flowing Fire Steps and swiftly fled this place of trouble.
It wasn't until he had sprinted over ten miles in one breath that he finally stopped on a thick branch of an ancient tree, panting heavily.
After calming his racing heart, Lin Mo looked up, peering through the gaps in the dense foliage to survey this genuine "savage land."
The majesty and vastness of Black Wind Ridge far exceeded the imagination of a lowly cultivator like him, who had spent three years chopping wood in the Servant Quarters.
Every ancient tree here required several, if not dozens, of people to encircle. Their canopies towered into the clouds like giant umbrellas blotting out the sun, shattering the sunlight into scattered fragments.
In the distance, the rolling mountain ranges resembled dormant black dragons. The peaks pierced the clouds, exuding an ancient and savage aura.
"This place... is no longer the territory of the Great Shang Dynasty," Lin Mo murmured softly.
Qinghe City, Demon Subduing City, and even the Azure Cloud Sect were nominally still on the borders of the Great Shang Dynasty's domain, bound by the rules and laws of human society.
But stepping into Black Wind Ridge meant stepping into a primal world governed entirely by the law of the jungle.
This was an untouched world of demonic beasts. Rumor had it that there were hundreds of thousands of endless mountains here, home to ancient ferocious beasts with heaven-defying cultivation!
Here, the iron laws of the Great Shang Dynasty were just empty words, and the majesty of the sects was rendered virtually meaningless. There was only naked slaughter and consumption.
As he ventured deeper into the outer periphery, it was as if a veil had been forcibly torn away, allowing Lin Mo to witness the other side of this world for the very first time.
Hiss...
A faint sound came from above.
Lin Mo swept his divine sense upward, and his pupils suddenly shrank.
Resting on a dead branch directly above him was a brightly colored spider the size of an adult's fist.
The spider's entire body was covered in barbs, and the silk it spun from its mandibles looked like transparent steel wire.
Lin Mo watched with his own eyes as a wild boar, the size of a calf, lowered its head while passing by. It barely brushed against a hanging thread of spider silk, yet its entire head was sliced off as cleanly as cutting tofu, sending blood spraying wildly.
"Such razor-sharp silk!"
Lin Mo broke out in a cold sweat. If not for his acute perception, had he even grazed it, his fate would have been no better than that wild boar's.
And this was only the beginning.
The further in he went, the more the variety and sheer size of the demonic beasts shocked him.
In the afternoon, by a pool of water, he spotted from afar a massive black-furred bear, as large as a small hill.
With a casual swat of its paw, the giant bear smashed a massive Ironwood tree to splinters. When it roared at the sky, the soundwaves caused the surrounding birds to plummet to the ground.
Faced with a beast of this power level, Lin Mo made the extremely rational decision to conceal his aura and take a wide detour.
He knew very well that with his cultivation at the fourth layer of Qi Condensation, even if he used every trick up his sleeve, going up against such a thick-skinned behemoth would result in near-certain death.
"Roar!"
Just as he bypassed the pool and crossed a patch of low shrubs, a foul wind suddenly lunged from the shadows to his side. It was as fast as a bolt of black lightning!
"Courting death!"
Lin Mo's combat experience had taken a qualitative leap after that earlier slaughter. Almost instinctively, he shifted his footing, bursting forth with the Flowing Fire Steps, and forcefully shifted his body three feet to the side.
Boom!
The black shadow missed its target and slammed viciously into a boulder, shattering the rock into pieces.
Lin Mo focused his gaze and felt a slight jolt of alarm.
It was a hunting leopard nearly ten feet long! Unlike mundane beasts, this leopard was entirely covered in azure scales, and right in the center of its forehead grew a half-foot-long single horn that gleamed with a cold, eerie light!
"A mid-grade Rank One demonic beast, the One-Horned Wind Leopard! Extremely fast, comparable to a fifth-layer Qi Condensation cultivator!"
The rumors and descriptions from the demonic beast bestiary he had purchased flashed through Lin Mo's mind.
Having missed its first strike, the One-Horned Wind Leopard landed, its four claws gripping the earth fiercely. Its thick hind legs suddenly exploded with power as it transformed into an azure gale once more, the horn on its head thrusting straight for Lin Mo's chest.
"Good timing! I'll use you to practice my sword!"
Lin Mo advanced instead of retreating, battle intent surging in his eyes.
He didn't use the Heavenly Evolution Fire Seal, which consumed the most spiritual energy. Instead, he reached back and drew the top-tier mortal-grade Cold Light Sword from his waist, frantically pouring his spiritual energy into it.
Clang! The sword's edge and the horn collided precisely, emitting a deafening sound of clashing metal.
Amidst the flying sparks, Lin Mo only felt the webbing of his sword-holding hand go numb. However, the One-Horned Wind Leopard was also forced by the recoil to tumble through the air.
"Slash!"
Lin Mo didn't pause for a moment. The Flowing Fire Steps pushed his speed to the absolute limit. He seemed to turn into a ball of burning flame, closing in the instant the Wind Leopard touched the ground.
There were no flashy sword techniques, only the purest, most ruthless hacking and thrusting!
One man and one leopard engaged in a life-and-death struggle in the forest. Lin Mo inevitably suffered a few bloody gashes from the leopard's claws, but relying on its supreme sharpness, the Cold Light Sword in his hand left deep, bone-exposing gashes across the Wind Leopard's hard scales.
Squelch!
Finally, after nearly half an hour of bitter entanglement, Lin Mo seized an opening as the Wind Leopard's stamina waned.
Risking his left shoulder to endure a claw strike head-on, his right hand shot out like a venomous snake. The Cold Light Sword drove accurately and ruthlessly through the soft underbelly of its jaw, piercing straight into its brain!
The Wind Leopard's body convulsed violently a few times. The fierce light in its eyes quickly dissipated as it collapsed heavily into a pool of blood.
"Phew..."
Lin Mo gasped heavily as he pulled out his longsword. He immediately took out a top-grade Blood Replenishing Pill and swallowed it. The deep, bone-revealing claw marks on his shoulder stopped bleeding and scabbed over at a visible rate.
After resting for a moment, Lin Mo stood up and walked toward the Wind Leopard.
"I've heard that these demonic beasts all have inner cores in their bodies. I wonder what it looks like."
He walked up to the Wind Leopard's corpse and used the tip of his sword to pry open its skull.
From amidst the red and white brain matter, a round bead the size of a longan, radiating a faint azure halo, rolled out.
"So this is a demonic beast's inner core!"
Lin Mo pinched the warm, smooth bead between his fingertips, a hint of fervent desire flashing in his eyes.
The essence of a demonic beast's cultivation was entirely condensed within this inner core. Not only could it be used for alchemy and array formations, but it could even be taken directly to Demon Subduing City to exchange for a substantial amount of spirit stones.
After storing the inner core and a few valuable materials from the Wind Leopard into his storage ring, Lin Mo did not leave. Instead, he prepared to meditate on the spot to recover his spiritual energy.
However, perhaps the commotion from the battle was too loud, or the scent of blood was too heavy.
At the exact moment he sat cross-legged, a blood-curdling sense of mortal peril enveloped his entire body without warning!
The sky suddenly went dark.
Lin Mo snapped his head up, his pupils instantly shrinking to the size of pinpricks.
In the sky above, partially obscured by the tree canopy, a massive black silhouette had appeared at some unknown point. It was a terrifying, ferocious avian beast, suffocatingly enormous in size!
With its wings fully extended, it spanned a full twenty meters! Its feathers were like inverted spikes of black profound iron, and its pair of sharp talons gleamed with a chilling metallic luster.
The astral winds generated just by its circling and gliding high above caused the towering ancient trees below to sway wildly, sending dead leaves dancing madly through the air.
A Rank Two demonic beast! A great demon equivalent to a human in the Foundation Establishment stage!
Its dark-gold pupils, the size of millstones and brimming with cruelty and coldness, were locked dead onto Lin Mo below—who had just survived a bloodbath and had yet to recover his spiritual energy—and the corpse of the Wind Leopard.
Screech—!!!
A piercing, mournful cry that could split metal and crack stone echoed through the forest. The ferocious avian suddenly tucked its wings and, like a falling black meteorite, plummeted madly toward Lin Mo's position, accompanied by the ear-piercing sonic boom of tearing air!
At that moment, it felt as if all the air had been completely drained away. The terrifying spiritual pressure caused Lin Mo's breathing to stall.
Flee!
That was the only thought in Lin Mo's mind. Challenging enemies above one's realm, Earth-grade cultivation techniques—in the face of absolute power suppression, they were all a joke! Even a casual wave of air whipped up by this ferocious beast would be enough to smash him into meat paste!
"Flowing Fire Steps! Explode for me!"
Lin Mo roared. Disregarding the limits of what his meridians could withstand, he squeezed every last drop of spiritual energy from his dantian directly into his legs.
Bang!
The rock beneath his feet instantly shattered as his entire body turned into an afterimage flying close to the ground, dashing frantically toward the densest and most complex terrain in the forest.
Rumble—! The instant he dashed out, the avian's talons viciously clamped down on the spot where he had just stood. The solid bedrock was instantly shredded like paper, dirt flying everywhere, and the ten-foot-long corpse of the Wind Leopard was directly crushed into a shower of blood!
Having failed to catch its living prey, the ferocious avian seemed thoroughly enraged. It spread its wings violently, and two visible, half-moon-shaped wind blades instantly formed.
Like the dual scythes of the grim reaper, they skimmed the ground and wildly slashed toward the direction of Lin Mo's escape!
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Wherever the wind blades passed, whether it was thick ancient trees or tough boulders, everything was sliced cleanly in half, the cuts as smooth as a mirror!
"Insane! This monster has locked onto me!"
Listening to the destructive sounds tearing through everything behind him drawing closer, Lin Mo's scalp went completely numb.
His focus reached its absolute peak as he desperately sought a silver lining of survival.
Dozens of yards ahead, there was a natural trench formed by the intersection of two peaks. The fissure was extremely narrow, filled with jagged rocks and dense vines inside—a large demonic beast absolutely couldn't fit!
"I'm risking it all!"
Lin Mo bit down hard on his tongue to maintain his final shred of clarity. Seeing the wind blades about to cleave his back, he launched himself into a fierce forward dive. Forcibly twisting his body mid-air like a slippery loach, he narrowly squeezed right into that narrow fissure!
Boom—!!!
The two terrifying wind blades struck the rock wall just outside the fissure, practically brushing past Lin Mo's heels. The entire mountain trembled violently, and countless shards of rock rained down like a downpour, completely burying the entrance to the trench.
From the sky outside, the ferocious avian's angry and indignant screeches rang out. It circled above the fissure for a long time, its massive talons smashing the exterior rocks to pieces, but the trench was simply too deep and narrow. Its gargantuan body was completely powerless to enter.
It took a full half-hour before that suffocating sense of oppression finally faded away.
Chapter 22: Wilderness Metamorphosis
In the dark, cramped subterranean crevice, the dust from the falling rubble gradually settled.
Lin Mo lay spread-eagle on the freezing ground, panting violently for a long time. Only after confirming that the terrifying Tier 2 vicious avian had completely flown away did his taut nerves slightly relax.
"Thank goodness I prepared enough pills before entering the mountains this time."
"This Black Wind Ridge is truly too perilous. I've only just stepped into the outer perimeter, yet I've already encountered several life-threatening crises in a row."
Lin Mo looked at the rocks above his head with lingering fear.
He struggled to sit up. With a thought, he retrieved a spirit-locking pill bottle from the Sumeru Hidden Moon Ring concealed within his flesh. Pouring out a Top-grade Qi Replenishing Pill, he tilted his head back and swallowed it.
The pill melted the moment it entered his mouth, transforming into a pure and massive warm current that instantly surged into his parched meridians.
Lin Mo immediately sat cross-legged in meditation, guiding this medicinal power to flow through his entire body, repairing the meridians in his legs that throbbed with dull pain from overdrawing the Flowing Fire Steps.
About half an hour later, he slowly opened his eyes. The spiritual energy in his body was abundant once more, and his pale face had regained a rosy hue.
After his condition was completely readjusted, Lin Mo's stomach let out an untimely "grumble" of protest.
The continuous life-and-death battles combined with his top-speed escape had consumed a massive amount of his physical stamina.
He could have simply eaten an Inedia Pill and been done with it, but the image of the few slabs of hind leg meat he had conveniently carved off while looting the Wind Leopard earlier flashed through his mind.
"Since the depths of this crevice are relatively safe for now, I might as well taste what this demonic beast meat is like."
Lin Mo looked around, used the Cold Light Sword to gather some dry, withered vines and broken wood, forced out a faint trace of Fire-attribute spiritual energy from his fingertip, and with a flick of his finger, a small bonfire began to dance in the gloomy crevice.
He took a large chunk of bright red Wind Leopard leg meat out of his storage ring, sliced it into several strips with the Cold Light Sword, casually skewered them with wooden sticks, and roasted them over the fire.
Before long, the fat of the demonic beast meat was forced out by the flames, dripping into the fire with a sizzle. An incredibly rich, meaty aroma permeated the narrow crevice.
This was the flesh and blood of a Tier 1 Mid-grade demonic beast. Having absorbed the spiritual energy of heaven and earth year-round, it inherently contained an extremely high amount of energy.
Looking at the beast meat roasting to a golden, oily crisp, Lin Mo swallowed hard. He couldn't wait to tear off a large chunk and stuff it into his mouth.
"Hiss—so hot!"
Lin Mo inhaled sharply while chewing vigorously. The Wind Leopard's meat was firm and chewy. Upon entering his mouth, not only did it lack the slightest gamey stench of a wild beast, but it actually carried a faint, lingering sweetness.
What surprised him the most was that after swallowing the meat, it actually transformed into faint, warm currents of air that nourished his limbs and bones.
"Delicious! The meat of these demonic beasts is indeed a hundred times tastier than mortal livestock!"
Lin Mo wolfed down his food, eating several large chunks in a row, exclaiming his satisfaction.
As he ate, his movements gradually slowed down. Looking at the dancing firelight, a trace of emotion flashed through his eyes.
"Although the outside world is fraught with extreme peril, where one's life is constantly on the line, these days of eating meat in large mouthfuls and freely settling debts of gratitude and grudges are far more carefree and liberating than being a servant bullied by everyone in the Azure Cloud Sect!"
Having been a bottom-tier servant disciple in the Servant Quarters for three years, he had worked from dawn to dusk every day, depressed and unfulfilled.
If it weren't for this black stone capable of enhancement, he reckoned he would still be that piece-of-trash servant who could only endure beatings and scoldings.
"I just don't know what exactly this black stone is," Lin Mo muttered to himself.
"Forget it. If I can't figure it out, I won't think about it. Anyway, it hasn't caused me any harm so far."
Lin Mo licked the grease from the corner of his mouth, then suddenly slapped his thigh in annoyance.
"A miscalculation! I was so focused on buying pills in Demon Subjugation City that I actually forgot to buy some salt and spices. Although this meat is delicious, if I could sprinkle some cumin and fine salt on it, the taste would be absolutely divine. Next time I enter the city, I absolutely must prepare more spices to keep in my storage ring!"
After a full meal, Lin Mo leaned against the rock wall and rested for a short while, adjusting his spirit, energy, and mind to their absolute peak states.
"It's time to head out. Hiding underground forever isn't a way to become stronger."
He stood up and walked to the crevice entrance buried by rubble. Drawing the Cold Light Sword from his waist, he poured spiritual energy into the blade, causing an ice-blue frost to flow across the edge.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
The iron-cleaving Cold Light Sword sliced through the massive rocks blocking the passage as easily as cutting tofu, effortlessly chopping them to pieces.
Taking nearly two hours, Lin Mo forcefully carved out a passage from the ruins and returned to the surface.
Sunlight spilled down through the gaps in the leaves. The air was still permeated with the familiar smell of blood and decay.
Lin Mo took a deep breath. With a blur of his figure, he merged back into the vast, primordial jungle.
Over the following days, Lin Mo thoroughly transformed into a phantom, haunting the primordial mountains of Black Wind Ridge.
At first, encountering a giant python hidden in a venomous swamp would make him break out in a nervous cold sweat; facing packs of bloodthirsty Wind Wolves, he would frantically squander his spiritual energy in a panic; even when personally slaying demonic beasts and being splattered with warm, foul-smelling beast blood, he would still feel waves of nausea and discomfort.
But through life-and-death struggles fraught with peril, and through desperate situations where he relied on Top-grade pills to drag himself back from the gates of hell time and time again, Lin Mo was undergoing a total metamorphosis, shedding his mortal coil and exchanging his bones.
On the first day, he scrambled frantically and was nearly blinded by the venom of a Venomous Toad.
On the third day, he learned to use the Dust Concealment Mantra to hide downwind, patiently lying in wait for two hours just to deliver a fatal strike to a Tier 1 High-grade Gale Pig.
On the fifth day, he stumbled upon other adventuring cultivators engaged in mutual slaughter; he went from being hunted to turning the tables and killing his pursuers.
He gradually stopped feeling nervous and sweating cold sweat, slowly becoming calm and composed.
He learned how to utilize the surrounding terrain, and how to judge the species and cultivation level of demonic beasts based on their droppings and scratch marks.
His swordplay still lacked fixed forms or stances, but through the tempering of life and death, he purged all unnecessary movements. It became incredibly crisp, ruthless, and lethal with every strike!
From a bottom-tier servant pushed along by fate, he slowly metamorphosed into a true cultivator capable of surviving calmly, fighting fiercely, and living well in the primordial deep mountains.
Time flew by in the blink of an eye.
By the evening of the tenth day, the setting sun was like blood, dyeing half the sky crimson.
Lin Mo stood on a protruding rock of a cliff. Beneath his feet lay a Bloodthirsty Demonic Bear he had just slain. He casually flicked the blood beads off the Cold Light Sword and sheathed it.
The mountain breeze fluttered his coarse cloth robes, stained with blood and dust.
Calculating the days, nearly a month had passed since he left the Azure Cloud Sect, eating into that two-month family visit leave slip.
Lin Mo slowly closed his eyes, sensing the changes within his Dantian.
Through these ten days of unreserved life-and-death slaughter and extreme exhaustion, the spiritual energy within his body had long since condensed to a terrifying critical point.
That sense of power, ready to burst forth and churning like boiling water, was madly battering against his meridian barriers.
"My foundation has been thoroughly polished to perfection. I can't suppress it any longer."
Lin Mo's eyes snapped open, a near-tangible fiery-red glint sweeping across his pupils.
He was going to break through to the fifth level of Qi Refining!
From the second level to the fifth level of Qi Refining, it had only taken him a single month!
Chapter 23: Fifth Level of Qi Refining
The setting sun was like blood.
Lin Mo sat cross-legged on a bare, massive rock jutting out from a cliff, slowly closing his eyes. His breathing, however, was exceptionally steady and drawn out.
For this breakthrough, he hadn't prepared any Top-grade pills in advance like he used to; everything seemed so natural, simply falling into place.
Over the past ten days, in the peril-filled outer perimeter of Black Wind Ridge, he had experienced dozens of tragic life-and-death struggles.
Facing those thick-skinned, fleshy demonic beasts, as well as the ones hiding in the dense bushes that were impossible to guard against, that extreme pressure of walking on the edge of life and death was far more effective than any bitter, secluded cultivation.
The spiritual energy within his body, which had originally been somewhat impure and sluggish due to his mixed Five-Element Spiritual Roots, had long since been forcefully tempered to absolute purity during these ten inhuman days.
Coupled with the Qi Drawing Mantra continuously circulating and scouring day and night, the meridian barrier lying between the fourth and fifth levels of Qi Refining had already been worn down until it was as thin as a cicada's wing.
Break. Lin Mo calmly commanded in his heart.
There was no heart-wrenching agony, nor were there any difficult obstacles. The boiling spiritual energy in his Dantian was like breached spring floodwaters, effortlessly smashing through that invisible shackle!
Boom!
A spiritual energy fluctuation several times more formidable than before violently rippled outward with Lin Mo's body at the center.
A fierce gale suddenly kicked up, whipping his tattered robes into a fluttering frenzy.
Several loose rocks by the cliff's edge, each the size of a millstone, were directly swept into the abyss by this invisible wave of air. It took a long while before a few muffled echoes of them hitting the ground rose from the pitch-black bottom of the cliff.
Fifth level of Qi Refining!
Lin Mo slowly opened his eyes. In that brief moment, a terrifying, crimson glint flashed across his pupils.He opened his mouth and exhaled a visible breath of scorching, turbid air. When this breath hit the rock in front of him, it actually let out a sizzling sound of burning.
He stood up and forcefully squeezed his fists. A series of crisp pops, like bursting beans, came from his knuckles. His entire body was filled with an unprecedented, explosive power.
Looking inward, the meridians in his body had been widened and reinforced by several fractions by the violent spiritual energy. The spiritual energy reserves in his Dantian had more than doubled compared to when he was at the fourth level of Qi Refining!
"When I was at the fourth level of Qi Refining, the spiritual energy in my body could at most support the execution of the Heavenly Derivation Fire Seal at full power three times. After those three times, I would fall into a period of weakness, left at the mercy of others."Lin Mo nodded in satisfaction as he felt the surging spiritual energy within him.
"But now, with the current thickness of my spiritual energy, even if the Heavenly Derivation Fire Seal is compressed to the absolute limit, I can execute it over ten times consecutively without exhausting my strength!"
"If I were to encounter those three rogue bandits from before again, even in a head-on confrontation, without casting any spells and relying solely on my physical strength and the Cold Light Sword, I could slaughter them all within three to five moves!"
This tangible leap in cultivation gave him tremendous confidence.
However, the smile on the corners of his mouth only lingered for a moment before quickly fading. Lin Mo knew in his heart better than anyone else.
In less than a month's time, breaking through successively all the way from the early second level to the fifth level of Qi Refining as easily as drinking water—this terrifying cultivation speed, even on a favored genius with a Single Spiritual Root, would be enough to shock the sect.
But he just happened to possess the universally acknowledged dead-end mixed Five-Element Spiritual Roots!
If a piece of trash with Five-Element Spiritual Roots had such a terrifying cultivation speed, once the news reached the Azure Cloud Sect, absolutely no higher-up would groom him as some sort of "late bloomer" genius.
Once those elders noticed something amiss, they would immediately capture him, search his soul, rip out his spirit, and slice him up for research.
Before possessing absolute strength, exposing one's trump cards was tantamount to courting death.
Lin Mo walked to the very edge of the cliff, letting the freezing mountain wind blow against his cheeks, and raised his head to gaze into the deepest parts of Black Wind Ridge.
At the end of his line of sight was an endless, rolling mountain range. That was the true forbidden zone.
Roar—!Suddenly, an extremely muffled beast roar echoed from the depths of the mountain range far, far away.
The roar wasn't shrill, yet it seemed to carry a demonic power that pierced the soul. Even separated by over a hundred miles, it still made the cliff beneath Lin Mo's feet tremble slightly.It even caused a momentary stagnation in the spiritual energy within his Dantian, forcing an uncontrollable wave of instinctive palpitation to rise in his heart.
He recalled the terrifying scenes he had occasionally glimpsed over the past ten days: a massive, vicious avian beast whose outstretched wings were large enough to blot out the sky and sun; a bizarre, giant python that swallowed an entire small hill in one gulp...
"The stronger one becomes, the smaller one feels in a place like this." Lin Mo clenched his fists tightly, the trace of joy that had just surfaced on his face from the breakthrough vanishing completely.
What was the fifth level of Qi Refining here? It was still nothing more than an ant that was slightly stronger and ran a bit faster.
Over these ten days, although he had made up for his lack of actual combat experience through constant slaughter, learned how to deliver fatal one-hit kills, and learned how to use the terrain to deal with all sorts of demonic beasts—thoroughly metamorphosing from a greenhorn servant whose hands shook when killing a chicken into a battle-tested cultivator with ice-cold eyes.
But this was merely wandering around the very outer fringe of Black Wind Ridge's outer perimeter!
Against the low-tier demonic beasts in the outer perimeter, he could still rely on the Earth Tier Heavenly Derivation Blazing Fire Mantra and the Top-grade Cold Light Sword to hold his own.
Once he stepped into that thick fog, if a Tier 2 demonic beast at the Foundation Establishment stage or above were to casually pop out, with his current fifth-level Qi Refining strength, even if he used every trick up his sleeve, he would absolutely be crushed into a puddle of bloody mist in an instant, without even the chance to run.
"Quit while you're ahead. It's time to head back."
Lin Mo withdrew his gaze and silently calculated the time in his heart.
Nearly a month had passed since he took that family visit leave slip and left the Azure Cloud Sect.
Rushing back to Demon Subjugation City from here, and then either following a merchant caravan or finding his own route back to the sect, would still take several days.
In order not to overstay and be treated as a sect traitor, he had to set off immediately.
"Although the Azure Cloud Sect has strict rules, until I truly grow strong enough to ignore those rules and protect myself, that place is still my best umbrella of protection."
Lin Mo's thoughts raced like lightning.
He didn't lack cultivation resources now. Nearly a thousand mid-grade spirit stones lay in his Sumeru Hidden Moon Ring; this was a massive fortune that would make even Foundation Establishment cultivators red with envy. With these spirit stones, he could completely go to the merchant guilds in major immortal cities and buy all sorts of pills and techniques needed for cultivation.
But if he simply left the sect to become a rogue cultivator without any background, drifting like duckweed, wandering around carrying such a massive fortune would only make him an easier target for those murderous, pillaging rogue cultivator gangs, leading to a violent death.
It is good to rest in the shade of a great tree. Laying low in the sect to secretly develop, using resources to pile himself up into a true powerhouse—this was currently the safest, brightest path.
Having made up his mind, Lin Mo no longer hesitated.
With a thought, he immediately circulated the Dust Concealment Mantra.
Within a few breaths, the aura he radiated outwardly plummeted back down to the level of the "early third level of Qi Refining."
To make his disguise look even more realistic, Lin Mo looked down at himself and simply reached out to tear a few more long rips into his already tattered, bloodstained coarse robes, exposing a few newly scabbed blood trails underneath.
Then, he crouched down, grabbed a handful of mud and ash, and without any disgust, smeared it across his face, neck, and hair.
Having done all this, Lin Mo checked his reflection in a small puddle by the cliff's edge.
The surface of the water reflected a destitute rogue cultivator with a haggard face, terrified eyes, and a body covered in grime.
Anyone who saw him would think this was a bottom-tier piece of trash who had struggled to survive in the outer perimeter of Black Wind Ridge and had just barely scraped by, escaping the jaws of some low-tier demonic beast.
"Perfect."
Lin Mo brushed the dirt off his hands in satisfaction and took one last look at the distant mountain range."I will be back."Lin Mo whispered. He turned around, his back facing the perilous hundred thousand mountains."Flowing Fire Steps!"Swoosh!A ball of extremely faint, dark red firelight violently exploded beneath his feet.In the next instant, Lin Mo's hunched, dark gray figure transformed into an afterimage almost invisible to the naked eye in the afterglow of the setting sun. Using the excellent cover of the dense jungle and the descending night, he sped rapidly toward Demon Subjugation City like a nimble nocturnal panther.
Chapter 24: Origin-Returning Dust Concealment Mantra
Night fell, and the gates of Demon Subjugation City remained wide open. The two rows of obsidian walls gleamed with a cold, hard light under the lanterns.
The guards at the city gates, sabers at their waists, carelessly scanned the flow of people entering the city.
They only paid a bit more attention to cultivators with overbearing auras. For a destitute, low-level rogue cultivator like Lin Mo, who looked like he had just crawled out of the mountains, they couldn't even be bothered to lift their eyelids.
"Entrance fee, ten copper coins per person," a guard at the gate tapped the wooden box beside him, his tone perfunctory.
Lin Mo pulled down his old bamboo hat, smeared the mud and ash on his face a bit more, and deliberately hunched his back, making himself look like he was only at the third level of Qi Refining.
He fished out ten polished copper coins from his robes, gently placed them in the wooden box, and silently entered the city, blending in with a group of late-returning rogue cultivators and traveling merchants.
He didn't linger for a moment. Twisting and turning along the bluestone-paved roads, he avoided the clamor of the main streets and arrived at that remote mortal inn tucked away in a southern alley.
This kind of small inn, catering only to mortals and bottom-tier rogue cultivators, was crowded and full of mixed company, yet it was precisely the safest.
No one would pay special attention to an ordinary youth staying the night.
The innkeeper was leaning over the counter, clicking away at an abacus.
Lacking any spiritual energy fluctuations, he appeared to be an ordinary mortal. Calculating the day's revenue, he only lazily lifted his eyes when he heard the door open.
Seeing a youth covered in dust, his clothes stained with dried blood, and his bamboo hat pulled low to reveal only half a chin, the innkeeper didn't ask questions.
The boy looked exactly like a bottom-tier rogue cultivator who had just scraped a living from the outer perimeter of Black Wind Ridge. In Demon Subjugation City, he saw dozens of people like this every day; he was long used to it.
"Innkeeper, I want a quiet, cheap room in the backyard for two days." Lin Mo suppressed his voice, making it sound hoarse as if from a long journey. He casually pulled out ten copper coins from his robes and stacked them neatly on the counter.
In a mortal inn in Demon Subjugation City, a remote, cheap room cost four copper coins a day, making it eight for two days. The extra two were a tip for the errand boy.
It was neither too much nor too little, perfectly aligning with the customs of the marketplace, and absolutely wouldn't draw any attention.
"Alrighty!"
The innkeeper's eyes lit up. He nimbly swept the copper coins into the cashbox beside him, took down a polished brass key from a hook on the wall, and handed it over.
"The innermost room in the backyard is empty. The walls are thick and soundproof; it's very peaceful! I'll have the boy send over some hot water within half an hour. Do you want to add some food? The kitchen still has hot braised pork knuckles and soft steamed buns, and I'll brew you a pot of hot large-leaf tea. That'll be five copper coins in total."
"I'll trouble the innkeeper to send it all over together."
Lin Mo reached out and steadily caught the key, nodded slightly, and pulled out another five copper coins, placing them on the counter before turning toward the backyard.
Closing the door, sliding the bolt dead, and using the previously prepared torn cotton wadding to tightly plug the cracks in the door and windows, Lin Mo finally let out a long sigh of relief, shedding his full-body tension.
He took off his bamboo hat and stripped off the bloodstained, heavily slashed coarse outer robe, revealing his intact inner garments.
After ten days of brutal fighting deep in the mountains, he had acquired quite a few new wounds. Most were superficial flesh wounds that had long since mostly healed thanks to the Top-grade Blood Replenishing Pills.
Only a few deeper scars remained on his arms and back, testaments to his life-and-death struggles.
Half an hour later, the errand boy knocked on the door, delivering a full tub of hot water, a plate of glossy sliced braised pork knuckles, a few soft, fluffy steamed buns, and a steaming pot of hot tea.
Lin Mo thanked the boy, locked the door behind him, and immersed himself in the warm water.
The biting chill and the exhaustion of the past days were slowly dissolved by the hot water. Leaning against the wall of the wooden tub, he closed his eyes, replaying every slaughter in Black Wind Ridge over the past ten days in his mind.
From his initial frantic scrambling to his later calm composure, every experience on the brink of life and death was polished over and over in his mind.
"My swordplay still lacks structure. I'm relying entirely on the sword's sharpness and the speed of the Flowing Fire Steps to brute-force it. If I encounter a cultivator in the same realm who is proficient in sword techniques and has a proper inheritance, my openings will be easily exploited."
"I need to find a sword technique to practice another day, and I also need to cultivate a defensive dharma spell."
Lin Mo muttered to himself softly, his fingertips gently tapping the edge of the wooden tub, firmly committing his shortcomings to memory.
After his bath, he wolfed down the food on the table. The warm meat settled in his stomach.
"Although Inedia Pills can keep me from needing to eat or drink, the taste of real food is something pills can never replace," Lin Mo sighed, rubbing his slightly stretched belly.
He didn't rush to sleep. Instead, he sat cross-legged on the earthen bed. With a thought, he dumped out all the demonic beast inner cores, pelts, and sharp claws he had accumulated over the past ten days from the Sumeru Hidden Moon Ring.
There were over a dozen inner cores from Tier 1 Mid-grade to High-grade demonic beasts, along with quite a few spirit herbs he had picked by comparing them with the Spirit Herb Compendium, and various demonic beast materials.
He hadn't had the time to count them in Black Wind Ridge. Spreading them all out now, he realized the harvest from this trip was quite decent.
Of course, while they were called Tier 1 High-grade demonic beasts, they were at most equivalent to a human cultivator at the seventh level of Qi Refining.
Anything higher, and he wouldn't be able to beat it; he wouldn't even have time to flee for his life.
The next day, just as the sky began to turn light, Demon Subjugation City completely woke up.
Lin Mo got up and left his room. He changed into a clean set of coarse clothes and covered most of his face with a black cloth, revealing only his eyes. His aura was still maintained at the third level of Qi Refining.
He headed straight to the Myriad Treasures Pavilion in the city center. He wasn't there to buy anything, but to sell the demonic beast materials in his hands first.
A bright-eyed, energetic young clerk received him. Seeing him enter, the clerk immediately put on a professional smile: "Customer, are you looking to buy something, or do you have goods to sell?"
"Some materials. Do you take them?" Lin Mo suppressed his voice and placed a cloth bundle on the counter.
The clerk opened the bundle. Seeing the neatly arranged inner cores and demonic beast materials inside, his eyes lit up.
He immediately picked up a jade ruler nearby to inspect them one by one, rapidly quoting prices: "Tier 1 Mid-grade Wind Leopard inner core, eighty low-grade spirit stones; Pair of Tier 1 High-grade Gale Pig tusks, fifty low-grade spirit stones; High-grade Demonic Bear gall bladder, one hundred and twenty low-grade spirit stones..."
After a rapid flurry of calculations, the clerk finally looked up and smiled, "Customer, these items add up to a total of one thousand two hundred low-grade spirit stones.
I can convert that into twelve mid-grade spirit stones for you, how about it?"
Lin Mo didn't say anything, merely nodding.
He didn't understand the market rates, so how could he dare to speak?
He just felt that since he couldn't use these things and they were just taking up space, he might as well sell them off.
He took the twelve mid-grade spirit stones the clerk handed him, casually tucked them into his robes, turned around, and walked out of the Myriad Treasures Pavilion.
Leaving the Myriad Treasures Pavilion, Lin Mo's heart relaxed, and his footsteps slowed down. For the first time, he truly took a stroll through this border stronghold.
Rumor had it that the City Lord's cultivation here was unfathomably profound, even higher than the Grand Elders of their Azure Cloud Sect.
Exactly how high,
Lin Mo wasn't quite sure, but it was very, very high...
It was currently the Chen hour (7-9 AM), and Demon Subjugation City's main streets and markets had long been bustling.
The shops on both sides of the street had all opened their doors. Hawking, haggling, laughing, and cursing echoed one after another.
Mixed with the aroma of fried dough sticks drifting from the roadside breakfast stalls, the scent of herbs from the medicine shops, and the clanging of iron from the blacksmiths, it merged into a thick, vibrant atmosphere of the mortal world.
He walked slowly along the street, his gaze calmly sweeping over the passing crowds, while ripples gradually stirred in his heart.
Out of every ten pedestrians on the road, three were cultivators. This ratio was vastly higher than in Qinghe City.
Perhaps because of its proximity to Black Wind Ridge, mortals couldn't wait to stay away from this place; most of those who dared to come were cultivators.
Qi Refining cultivators could be seen everywhere. The stall owners and the rogue cultivators drinking tea on the street were mostly at the fourth or fifth level of Qi Refining, on par with his current true realm.
There were also many at the eighth or ninth level of Qi Refining.
Occasionally, cultivators dressed in luxurious robes and bearing steady auras would walk by, exuding the oppressive might of the Foundation Establishment stage, causing the people around them to subconsciously make way.
A luxuriously decorated beast-drawn carriage even drove down the street, emitting a faint, almost imperceptible pressure from within.
In just a fleeting moment, it made every cultivator on the street hold their breath; that was an aura only a mighty Golden Core senior possessed.
His meager cultivation, tossed into this massive Demon Subjugation City, wouldn't even make a splash; it was completely unnoticeable.
The aura on Lin Mo's body was retracted even more thoroughly, melting him into the flow of people like the most ordinary bottom-tier rogue cultivator, not drawing anyone's attention.
He continued down the market and finally stopped in front of an old woman's sundries stall.
The stall was lined with all sorts of bottles and jars containing finely ground coarse salt, cumin, chili powder, and prepared barbecue sauce.
There were also many spices like Sichuan peppercorns and star anise wrapped in oiled paper—these were exactly the barbecue spices he had been thinking about.
"Young man, what would you like?" The old woman looked up, her face bearing a kind smile.
"My family grinds these spices ourselves, they are incredibly fragrant! If you go into the mountains to roast meat, just sprinkle a little cumin and chili, and you'll be able to smell it from ten miles away. We also have Sichuan peppercorns to remove the gamey smell, all freshly sun-dried this year."
The expression on Lin Mo's face softened a bit.
He crouched down and pointed at the spices on the stall: "Auntie, pack some of this cumin, chili powder, coarse salt, and barbecue sauce for me. Also, give me a packet of Sichuan peppercorns."
"Alrighty!"
The old woman's hands moved nimbly. Picking up clean oiled paper and small bamboo tubes, she packed each item to the brim for him, muttering as she worked.
"Young man, you're heading into Black Wind Ridge, aren't you? It's very dangerous in those mountains, so you must pay close attention to safety. My husband used to go into the mountains to hunt, and he never came back..."
As she spoke, a trace of loneliness flashed across her eyes, but her hands didn't stop moving.
Finally, she stuffed an extra small packet of ground barbecue powder into his hands: "This is a gift for you. Mix it with the meat when you roast it; it's very fragrant."
"Thank you, Auntie."
A wisp of warmth rose in Lin Mo's heart. He took the packaged spices, paid with copper coins, and gave her an extra ten.
The old woman waved her hands repeatedly, saying it was too much, but he had already turned and walked away.
He carefully stored the spices into his Sumeru Hidden Moon Ring, thinking that the next time he roasted meat in the wild, he finally wouldn't have to eat bland, tasteless beast meat. The corners of his mouth unconsciously curled into a faint smile.
Following the market forward, the flow of people gradually became denser. Lin Mo walked along the street and unknowingly arrived at a brilliantly lit avenue.
Unlike the bustle of the other markets, the buildings on this street were all adorned with carved beams and painted pillars.
Red silk draped the walls, and large red lanterns hung at the entrances, bearing names like "Drunken Spring Brothel" and "Leaning Red Pavilion."
Standing at the doorways were women dressed up as beautifully as blooming flowers, giggling charmingly as they beckoned the passing cultivators.
This was Demon Subjugation City's famous Pleasure Street, a gathering place for brothels and courtesan houses.
Growing up to be sixteen, Lin Mo had spent three years in the Azure Cloud Sect's Servant Quarters.
Every day, his only thoughts were how to survive and how to chop enough wood to avoid beatings. When had he ever seen such a spectacle?
He was just about to turn and detour around it when a few sharp-eyed brothel girls at the entrance spotted him and immediately surrounded him with charming giggles.
"Oh my, little gentleman, why are you standing at the door instead of coming in?"
A woman in a watery red dress stepped forward, draping her soft, boneless hand over Lin Mo's arm.
"It's warm inside, and there's good wine and good food. How about big sister keeps you company for a few drinks?"
"That's right! You look like a fresh face, little gentleman. Is this your first time in Demon Subjugation City?
Come inside and rest your feet." Another woman in green sidled up, her eyes rippling with allure. Exhaling a fragrance like orchids, her warm breath brushed against Lin Mo's ear.
Surrounded by the chattering, bird-like women, the scent of rouge and powder washed over him.
Their soft, slender hands intentionally or unintentionally brushed against him. Lin Mo felt all the blood in his body instantly rush to the top of his head.
With a whoosh, his cheeks turned as red as a boiled shrimp, and even the tips of his ears burned.
In all his life, aside from his own mother, he had never been this close to a woman. Flustered and at a loss for what to do, he froze in place, unable to even speak.
"N-no need. Ladies, please let me pass."
Lin Mo took two steps back, his voice carrying a nearly imperceptible tremble.
He buried his head low, not daring to look at the women in front of him. His only thought was to escape this place as quickly as possible.
Seeing his green, embarrassed appearance, the women laughed so hard they trembled like branches of flowers in the wind.
Finding the youth even more amusing, they stepped closer again: "Is the little gentleman actually blushing? You look young, but you are quite innocent."
"Exactly! Come in and play for a while. Big sisters will take good care of you."
Lin Mo's scalp tingled; he couldn't stay a second longer.
Muttering "Pardon my offense," he violently circulated the Flowing Fire Steps. With a blur of his figure, he transformed into an afterimage, virtually fleeing in panic.
In the blink of an eye, he bolted out of Pleasure Street without even bothering to look at the direction.
He didn't stop until he had run two streets away.
After confirming no one was chasing him, he propped himself against a wall, panting heavily.
The blush on his face had yet to fade, and his heart pounded wildly, nearly leaping out of his throat.
In all his sixteen years of life, whether it was being kicked off the Cliff of Severed Souls by Zhang Hu, or being hunted by a Tier 2 vicious avian, he had never been this flustered.
It took a long while for Lin Mo to calm his racing heart, and the flush on his face gradually receded. Still, just recalling the scene from moments ago made the roots of his ears burn.
He shook his head, not daring to wander aimlessly anymore, and walked briskly along the street back to the inn.
Returning to his familiar cheap room, he closed the door to shut out the clamor outside and finally relaxed completely.
Sitting cross-legged on the earthen bed, he first meticulously organized the spices he bought today, placing them in a fixed spot within the Sumeru Hidden Moon Ring.
He then counted the spirit stones in his possession once more. Only after confirming everything was in order did he close his eyes and look inward at his body.
The fifth-level Qi Refining spiritual energy flowed slowly within his Dantian—thick, condensed, and without a trace of superficiality. His Dao foundation was as solid as a rock.
He then took out the Dust Concealment Mantra and focused his gaze on it.
In his consciousness, a line of clear text suddenly surfaced.
[Item: Dust Concealment Mantra (Complete Volume)]
* [Quality: Top-grade Mortal Tier]
* [Traits: Can perfectly conceal all cultivation up to the 10th level of Foundation Establishment. Retracts one's own spiritual energy fluctuations and blood vitality.]
* [Status: Enhancable. Current Enhancements: 1]
* [Cost to Enhance: 100% of total Qi capacity at the 5th level of Qi Refining.]
Lin Mo's eyes instantly lit up.
It really could be enhanced again!
Previously in Qinghe City, he had enhanced the fragmented Dust Concealment Mantra to the Top-grade Mortal Tier, but was limited by his cultivation at the time and couldn't enhance it further.
Now that he had broken through to the fifth level of Qi Refining and his spiritual energy reserves had multiplied, he finally met the conditions for a second enhancement!
He took a deep breath, suppressing the excitement in his heart.
First, he meticulously inspected the doors and windows. Confirming there were no anomalies, he pushed his cultivation technique to its absolute limit, retracting all of his aura. Only then did he focus all his willpower and silently command in his heart:
"Enhance!"
Boom!
The instant the thought fell, the full capacity of fifth-level Qi Refining spiritual energy in his Dantian was sucked completely dry in a flash, like floodwaters bursting through a dam.
A gentle yet extremely majestic power surged into him along his meridians. The Dust Concealment Mantra technique rapidly circulated, completed itself, and sublimated.
There was no blinding light, no miraculous phenomenon, and not even a single trace of spiritual energy fluctuation leaked out.
Lin Mo immediately focused his mind to look.
[Item: Origin-Returning Dust Concealment Mantra (Complete Volume)]
* [Quality: Top-grade Spirit Tier!]
* [Traits: Can perfectly conceal all cultivation at the Golden Core stage and below. Retracts one's own spiritual energy fluctuations, blood vitality, killing intent, and even divine soul fluctuations. Can simulate the aura of any realm. Features a built-in 'Dust Concealment' effect, allowing the user to blend into the surrounding environment while walking. Unless a Soul Formation cultivator intently probes, it is absolutely impossible to see through.]
* [Status: Enhancable. Current Enhancements: 2]
* [Cost for Next Enhancement: 100% of total Qi capacity at the early stage of Golden Core.]
Top-grade Spirit Tier!
Not only had the technique's quality jumped up a major tier, but its name had also completely transformed, and its concealment effect had multiplied more than tenfold!
Not only could it hide all cultivation below the Golden Core stage, but it could also simulate the aura of any realm. It could fully retract even killing intent and divine soul fluctuations, and could even blend into the surrounding environment, achieving true, absolute silence.
Wild with joy, Lin Mo immediately began to slowly circulate the spiritual energy in his body according to the brand-new Origin-Returning Dust Concealment Mantra.
An even more internalized, traceless power flowed open along his meridians. His original fifth-level Qi Refining aura instantly plummeted.
First, he simulated the appearance of the early first level of Qi Refining, and then with a shift, he completely retracted all spiritual energy fluctuations, turning into a mortal youth without a shred of cultivation. It was flawless.
Even if a Nascent Soul cultivator stood right in front of him and scrutinized him carefully, it would be absolutely impossible to see through his true cultivation.
Lin Mo slowly ceased his practice, exhaled a long breath of turbid air, his eyes brimming with a bright gleam.