Longevity Strange Immortal-Chapter 44 The Extremely Bizarre Corpse Mountain

Li Mo put away the spiritual materials.

According to the information in the Creation Book, the spiritual material formed from the heart was named Shattered Rock, which would normally only be found at high altitudes in mountain ranges.

Who would have thought that the corpses of Deceit Beasts could mass-produce similar spiritual materials?

Li Mo had suspected that the excavated organs might be Corpse Spirit Roots, but upon closer inspection, there was no trace of Spirit Root Transformation whatsoever.

While he was pondering, his hands touched the surrounding rock wall, and a faint phantom of organs emerged again on the blank pages.

Li Mo skillfully broke into the rock wall and soon uncovered a greasy-looking liver, which he directly yanked out from the blood-and-flesh rock wall.

He didn’t immediately strip away the blood vessels and instead started mentally counting.

Suddenly, crisp footsteps echoed from deeper within the mine, approaching the liver with an increasing urgency.

Pa-ta, pa-ta...

Li Mo licked his lips. "Could the rumors be true?"

Once he completely removed the liver, the commotion instantly ceased; whether the sound came from a Fake Beast was hard to confirm.

Li Mo shook his head slightly and focused his energy on collecting spiritual materials.

During his exploration of the mine, he had already prepared to use Tea Poison to return to the black market.

Guided by the reactions of the blank pages in the Creation Book, Li Mo continued to excavate organ after organ.

Even if Low Grade Spirit Materials weren’t particularly valuable, he could refine them into Magic Artifacts and maximize their worth.

Li Mo took note.

Once organs were extracted from the rock walls, the vitality within ten or so meters gradually diminished, accelerating the decay of the Corpse Mountain.

When the Corpse Mountain fully disintegrates, it would mark the end of the Iron Cauldron Secret Realm.

"No wonder the manager and shopkeeper from Rong Town aren’t interested in the secret realm—there’s no way they’d stoop to being scavenger maggots on a corpse."

Even though the Sub-Device Sect hadn’t shown themselves from beginning to end, traces of their involvement were still apparent; the disparity between the two factions was as vast as a chasm.

Li Mo recalled memories related to the Sub-Device Sect, attempting to pinpoint clues.

Meanwhile, his hands never paused; his Magic Fingers transformed into excavation tools, causing flesh and shattered rocks to spray throughout the mine.

After having spent more than ten days in the mine, he finally obtained a fairly decent Low Grade Spirit Material called Da Yan Jade Marrow, which could bestow a Magic Artifact with the ability to autonomously repair damage.

As he ventured deeper, the quality of the spiritual materials was indeed improving, suggesting that the Iron Cauldron Secret Realm’s core might contain Mid-grade Spirit Materials.

The internal structure of the mine was also exceedingly complex; every hundred meters or so, multiple forked paths emerged, making it difficult to guarantee there were no other cultivators present.

Li Mo stored the Da Yan Jade Marrow in his personal Storage Bag.

"Perfect for the third refinement of the Desert Map."

He casually fed some wormlike food to the salamander in the Caged Bird.

Although the Caged Bird had developed a rudimentary ecosystem, it clearly wasn’t enough to sustain the salamander colony, requiring occasional supplemental feeding.

Only Mid-grade Magical Artifacts could be stored within the Dantian, so the Caged Bird had to be carried on his person.

Fortunately, the ecosystem within the Caged Bird remained unaffected by external turbulence, though using the Desert Map as a carrier did appear somewhat peculiar.

He decided not to venture further for now, considering letting the Ghost Tiger assist in exploring the mine while he carved out a temporary cave mansion to begin cultivating the Primordial Postnatal Dao Body.

At this moment, the Ghost Tiger abruptly issued a warning call.

"Woo... woo..."

The Ghost Tiger had caught a scent of blood, likely emanating from a childhood-stage cultivator at the second or third layer, shambling from a deeper part of the mine.

However, they didn’t last long before their vitality faded.

Li Mo frowned.

He infused Mist Fog Spiritual Power into the Desert Map, and waves of dense yellow sand instantly enveloped him, concealing his figure in the shadows.

The salamander perched on his right shoulder, curiously scanning its surroundings.

The Red Fox illuminated, the Ghost Tiger obscured, the salamander guarded, and the Kun Whale escaped.

Even though these Tattooed Beasts were not yet fully formed, the system surrounding Li Mo had already been constructed, sufficient for survival at the childhood stage.

Li Mo relied on his leakless body to fully suppress his aura, standing like a lifeless object in a secluded corner of the mine, adopting a "remain still against all changes" strategy.

He understood the inevitability of encountering the mine’s mysteries and felt no panic, confident that, if loose cultivators from the black market could escape intact, he—armed with Tea Poison—had no reason to suffer defeat in the secret realm.

The Ghost Tiger inched closer to the corpse.

But upon reaching the target’s location, neither a corpse nor even a drop of blood remained, as if nothing had happened.

The Ghost Tiger anxiously paced back and forth, repeatedly bowing to search for clues.

Li Mo focused his thoughts, using Hui Qingyi to communicate with the Ghost Tiger, attempting to partition some of his consciousness to attach to the Tiger and share its perspective.

Surprisingly, the process went smoothly, allowing him to observe the surroundings via the Ghost Tiger.

The pitch-black mine was empty, devoid of any trace of blood on the ground.

Li Mo furrowed his brow slightly, soon noticing something peculiar: a bizarre humanoid indentation on the rock wall.

The humanoid indentation was approximately two meters tall, posed as if bowing yet with a grotesquely twisted spine, as though a heavy object had once crushed it.

There was little doubt the corpse had been consumed by the rock wall.

"Simply absurd—a childhood-stage cultivator crushed to death by some heavy object..."

A chill surged within him as he retreated towards the mouth of the mine, scrutinizing the humanoid indentation and realizing its twisted spine was perfectly shaped to carry a mud sculpture.

Echoes of rumors about temples and the forbidden act of turning one’s head to see the mud sculptures arose.

Li Mo murmured, "If you can’t turn your head, does that mean the mud sculpture will appear behind you once it leaves your line of sight, crushing you alive?"

Merely dealing with Fake Beasts was manageable, but the Corpse Mountain seemed to harbor inexplicable threats.

He backed away several hundred meters before stopping, the Ghost Tiger retreating automatically due to distance, re-materializing from his right arm and emerging once more through his skin.

The stench wafting from the Corpse Mountain’s surface grew increasingly pungent, signaling that the rate of decay was accelerating as cultivators mined its resources.

Li Mo promptly chose a nearby rock wall to excavate a temporary cave mansion.

It wasn’t that he had abandoned the exploration of the Iron Cauldron Secret Realm; venturing for Deceit Beast Blood and blank pages was worth the risk. However, there was no immediate urgency at this stage.

He planned to wait for the Corpse Mountain to gradually dissolve into pus, revealing its secrets little by little.

Moreover, preparing for the cultivation of the Primordial Postnatal Dao Body required attention. This spell demanded extensive experimentation, likely consuming significant time.

"Speaking of which... wouldn’t it be possible to craft a Magic Artifact that could monitor the refiner’s condition in real time, indirectly gathering information from the Corpse Mountain?"

Li Mo felt that venturing alone into the mine was unwise and should instead exploit his strengths by utilizing other cultivators to achieve his goals.

He fell into deep contemplation momentarily, leaving the task of carving the cave mansion entirely to the Ghost Tiger.

The Ghost Tiger, disgruntled but obedient, violently bit into the rock wall in front of it. After breaking several teeth, Li Mo, concerned about excessive consumption of Blood and Flesh Spiritual Power, strictly ordered it to use only its claws.

Ignoring the Ghost Tiger’s agitation, Li Mo suddenly recalled an unusual artifact in his existing Magic Artifact Catalog that seemed highly suitable.

Hence, the significance of collecting Magic Artifact Catalogs became evident, even if most Low Grade Magical Artifacts turned out to be trivial and impractical.

The artifact was named "Mother and Child Ghost Heads."