Li Mo opened his eyes. The symbiotic Dharma Body, having just stepped into the Divine Separation Stage, was now stabilizing, with the Sword Pouch actively absorbing the spiritual energy from the Corpse Mountain Mini World.

The fusion of the Symbiotic Dharma Body was clearly deeper than that of the Buddha Demon Body.

The Taisu Dharma Body automatically filtered out the smog spiritual energy for absorption, while the remaining spiritual energy surged directly into the Dragon Ball, complementing the growth of his cultivation.

However, the problem was also severe.

Li Mo could clearly feel the Taisu Dharma Body's rejection of the Ten Thousand Transformation Dharma Body. With the slightest carelessness, the two could very well trigger a backlash.

"Good thing I have the imprint of the Creation Book, plus the cancer cells constantly monitoring the status of the Dharma Body; otherwise, walking this path of the Symbiotic Dharma Body would be like treading on thin ice."

The Ten Thousand Transformation Dharma Body already bore some resemblance to a horned dragon, firmly occupying the center of the Dragon Ball.

The efficiency of his Lifebound Flying Sword's dragon transformation was decent, though its progression had stalled at the Divine Separation Stage level. It would likely take anywhere between a hundred days to half a year to break further.

The taboo of venturing outside had now been extended to ten two-hour periods—provided no mutations occurred.

The Cancer Dragon, on the other hand, would collapse after merely an hour.

"For now, it's better to rely on the Buddha Demon Body. After all, the dual cultivation technique is nearly complete and can be deduced soon. Breaking into the Five Qi Period will naturally follow."

The forty thousand Taoists of Xia Dao Palace were all aiding in deducing the Buddha-Demon Dual Cultivation Technique, which was now almost within reach.

"The scale of Xia Dao Palace is still too small. I'll have to find an opportunity to expand…"

"Hmm?"

Li Mo's expression shifted subtly.

After the Da Ai Mi Tian was promoted to a high-grade magical treasure, the cancer cells had begun spreading throughout the tavern. Upon noticing Ye Zhuo Daoist's presence, only then did he realize that Ye Zhuo had been trapped on the third floor for quite some time.

Fortunately, Ye Zhuo Daoist wasn't in immediate danger, so Li Mo hadn't paid much attention before.

...…

The windows on the third floor were entirely sealed, yet thick smoke escaped through every crevice.

Inside was darkness indescribable, arranged no differently than a kitchen. Dozens of corpses dangled from the ceiling, their rancid odor filling the room with an almost indescribable horror.

The corpses were exposed to the bone, yet their fresh Five Internal Organs had sprouted vegetables and fruits anew.

In the corridor outside the kitchen, footsteps echoed continually. From fleeting shadows, one could tell the silhouette belonged to a figure over three meters tall.

"Damn it, how come there are two Sword Ghosts on the third floor at once? With Senior Brother still in closed-door cultivation in the main hall, how am I supposed to get out of this alone?"

Ye Zhuo Daoist muttered to himself.

He had deliberately tied himself up using the Blood Soul and concealed himself atop the eaves above the pile of corpses, his gaze locked unwaveringly on the Sword Ghost in the corridor.

A brief moment passed.

The Sword Ghost stepped into the kitchen. It wore a greasy burlap tunic, and its swollen belly protruded nearly a meter, as if something alive were inside.

Ye Zhuo Daoist only dared to monitor the Sword Ghost out of the corner of his eye.

He referred to this Sword Ghost as "the Cook."

Though the Cook lacked the formidable body of a Big Night Wander akin to the storyteller or the bookkeeper, it was far more troublesome than an ordinary Little Night Wander.

"A guest has ordered a stir-fried three delicacies—main ingredients being asparagus, radish, and lotus root—all freshly plucked from the Beili Riverbank…"

Ye Zhuo Daoist's scalp went numb.

The waiter's voice emanated from within the Cook's belly. Following that, one of the bodies dangling in the corner inexplicably began to regenerate its flesh, and its Five Internal Organs sprouted the exact ingredients for the dish.

Indeed, the two Little Night Wanders were physically conjoined.

Ye Zhuo Daoist had never encountered Sword Ghosts like these, suspecting their peculiarities stemmed from the circumstances of their deaths.

"Perhaps Senior Brother's theory holds—within this town, all Sword Ghosts were once ordinary mortals, residents of the so-called Wumen City thousands of years ago."

"Ugh."

Ye Zhuo Daoist furrowed his brows. Not only did the corpses sprout ingredients, but even his own body was being insidiously corroded by taboo whispers.

Examining himself internally, he noticed a greenish hue budding across his organs.

Fortunately, having preemptively consumed Corpse Wine, he could just barely suppress the emerging mutation, avoiding severe harm for the moment.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

The Cook shuffled toward the corner and yanked down a corpse to extract ingredients.

Simultaneously, the waiter continued narrating the delightful scenery of Beili Riverbank, forming an eerie juxtaposition that couldn't have been more unsettling.

Ye Zhuo Daoist lay motionless, clinging to his Concealing Breath Spirit Talismans affixed across his Upper, Middle, and Lower Dantians.

The Cook was only half a meter away; Ye Zhuo could even feel the Sword Ghost's foul breath brushing against him. Both his mind and body were strained to their breaking points.

A bright white flame ignited atop the stove.

The Cook flung the ingredients into the wok, stirring and tossing them with a ladle. As the temperature rose, the aroma of the ingredients transformed into the putrid stench of rotting flesh.

"Your meal is served!"

With a sharp cry, the waiter's arm stretched out of the Cook's throat, clutching the stir-fried dish before withdrawing into its stomach. Moments later, the clanging sounds of bowls and cups echoed from within its belly.

Ye Zhuo Daoist's muscles were taut as a bowstring until the raucous noise eventually subsided.

"Esteemed guests, please enter."

The Sword Ghost exited the kitchen, allowing the suffocating atmosphere inside to ease slightly.

Ye Zhuo Daoist exhaled softly.

Suddenly.

The Cook halted at the corridor's entrance, and the waiter's voice abruptly ceased.

Ye Zhuo Daoist's face flushed crimson as his right hand clutched the Blood Soul tightly, his heart racing with the dreadful thought that his presence had been detected. He prepared to fight for a sliver of survival.

"If worse comes to worst, I'll abandon the Blood Soul and flee with my body gravely wounded."

"But disturbing the Sword Ghost might cause it to return upstairs, complicating the task of clearing the tavern."

The Cook turned heavily, its gaze fixated squarely on the staircase.

Ye Zhuo Daoist froze.

The waiter screeched sharply: "There's a fifty-year-old vintage in the tavern. If the guest wishes to sample it, I shall bring it immediately."

The room filled with the fragrance of wine.

Ye Zhuo Daoist cursed silently as his blood began turning into wine, dulling his thoughts and disrupting his spiritual power.

Struggling to resist the intoxication, he noted that Li Mo had yet to appear at the staircase.

But the presence of Thunder Sword Intent had already drawn near.

"Mid-level Sword Intent? The Senior Brother's progress during each closed-door meditation is too remarkable. How long has it been since he advanced from Lower Sword Intent?"

Roar!!!

The Cook's body swelled as it charged up the staircase.

Everything in its path reduced to pulped flesh.

"Damn." Ye Zhuo Daoist spat out, several teeth falling loose as his body began rejecting its skeleton while his flesh continued to mutate.

"Sh*t, I'm done for."

He could feel his Externalized Dharma Body about to break out of his Middle Dantian.

Bang.

Lightning flashed.

The Cook crashed heavily into the wall, bound in place by a four-meter-long lightning-striped Hui Dragon. Its exhaled thunder struck the Sword Ghost with uncanny precision.

Sword Intent: Lightning Attraction.

"Senior Brother, save me!"

Li Mo stepped onto the third floor, his cancer cells forcibly suppressing Ye Zhuo Daoist's injuries.

When Ye Zhuo opened his eyes, what he saw stunned him. Hui Dragons of various forms were pouring out from Li Mo's mouth and nose, scattering waves of Sword Light.

Though it had been some time since their last meeting, Li Mo remained at the Residual Body Stage. Yet now, an unfathomable shift had taken place.

Roar.

The Cook struggled to free itself from the swarm of Hui Dragons, ripping off its own arm and hurling it at Li Mo.

The limb morphed mid-air into a half-human, half-pig abomination.

Clang.

The Illusion Fish Sword was unsheathed.

The kitchen fell into an oppressive silence.

Ye Zhuo Daoist lost all Five Senses. And in his Divine Sense, he beheld a pitch-black, inky moon. The terrifying Yin Attribute Sword Intent made his scalp tingle.

When Li Mo resheathed the Illusion Fish Sword, all traces of the eerie presence vanished from the room.

The Cook collapsed heavily onto the ground, spilling its ruptured abdomen to reveal a skeletal Sword Ghost, curled into a fetal position—none other than the "waiter."

Ye Zhuo Daoist shivered with dread.

The Sword Ghost's body bore countless marks of the Heavenly Person Five Decays, expanding with relentless growths of grotesque tumors.

Li Mo did not throw the Sword Ghost into the Corpse Mountain Mini World to reside as a guest but instead sealed it within the Trapped Sword Platform, openly leaving it in the kitchen.

The moment the Sword Ghost's aura disappeared entirely, the top floor quivered faintly.

Li Mo looked up toward the ceiling.

Ye Zhuo Daoist's heart pounded violently, terrified Li Mo might charge upstairs without warning, where a Big Night Wander might be lurking.

"Senior Brother, let's set up an Array across the first three floors first, then test the waters…"

"There's no time."

Li Mo's expression grew grim as he said, "Didn't you notice the Fire Spirit Hall is still sinking? The Copper Mirror Second Layer is far from over."

In the town, Pig-Headed Men were gathering in increasing numbers, while the sky above bristled with paper kites.

If Li Mo guessed correctly, the Pig-Headed Men's taboo was "Flying Paper Kites," which could drag the Fire Spirit Hall deeper into the Copper Mirror's depths.

The streets and alleys already teemed with wandering Sword Ghosts freshly escaped.

Could the current Sword Cultivators stop them?

Absolutely, but only if a hundred or so Sword Cultivators worked together to take down the Pig-Headed Men.

Without a command from the Three-Life Elder, Li Mo deemed uniting the Sword Cultivators unrealistic and unwilling to play the scapegoat. It would be both thankless and exhausting.

"If we can't secure the tavern, the upcoming troubles will only multiply."

"But…"

Li Mo narrowed his eyes and said, "Most of the other Sword Cultivators act as if nothing can touch them. They've likely already contacted the Heavenly Palace Stage Sword Cultivators. Our next enemies won't just be the eerie entities."

"Senior Brother, the tavern isn't a magical treasure. It can't withstand the aftermath of clashes in the Divine Separation Stage."

"I'm not trying to kill the Big Night Wander—just drive it out. Even if it comes back later, the Trapped Sword Platform we set up will give it hell."

"Holding the tavern will at least buy us some peaceful days."

Ye Zhuo Daoist didn't argue further. The Fire Spirit Hall's current situation indeed left little room for discussion.

Even summoning the Yang Niu had elicited no response at all.

Hui Dragons coiled around Li Mo as an intricate interplay of Sword Intents filled the room, while the Tattooed Beast at his side pulsed with restless energy, its aura growing ever fiercer.

"Close your eyes."

"What?"

Ye Zhuo Daoist failed to process the command in time.

Then he saw the shadow of the Tattooed Beast condense into a dense cloud of smoke.

The smoke comprised countless strands of Sword Qi, like a radiant, multicolored lake in which thousands of Hui Dragons swam, with a giant beast at its heart.

"An Externalized Dharma Body?!!"

In a fleeting instant, before Ye Zhuo Daoist could discern the giant beast's appearance, blood streamed from his eyes—such was the sharpness of its aura.

"Hiss…"

He realized Li Mo wasn't truly summoning his Externalized Dharma Body but was simply utilizing its power indirectly, and yet its residual force alone was enough to wound him.

"Just what kind of Dharma Body is this?"

"Wait, against Changqing earlier, Senior Brother displayed a completely different Externalized Dharma Body, suffused with Sun Sword Intent and Taiyin Sword Intent, instead of this pure and extreme Sword Dao…"

Recalling the mixed auras of Li Mo's spiritual power, a thought struck his mind.

"Dual Dharma Bodies?"

What kind of monstrous prodigy could the No-Life Sect have raised? Did Li Mo's birth not coincide with a heaven-shaking phenomenon? How could the Heavenly Sword Sect have remained silent about this all along?

"Go."

Through the Great Wilderness Immortal Body, Li Mo manipulated the Symbiotic Dharma Body, ensuring that the Sword Ghost didn't trigger a backlash that might destroy the tavern by accident.

Two thousand Lifebound Flying Swords shot forth into the staircase above.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.