The bronze giant gate closed once more, and the disciples of Five Hidden Sword collapsed to the ground, utterly exhausted, their bodies showing varying degrees of blood and flesh dissolution.
Their eyes were lifeless, their spirits teetering on the brink of collapse.
No one paid any attention to the disciples of Five Hidden Sword, as Five Temples Town immediately burst into commotion. Although no traces of mortals could be seen, there were at least three to four thousand Taoist and Demon cultivators milling around the entrance to the Secret Realm.
Under the looming threat of the Heart Flying Sword, a strange balance had formed between the two factions, even though cultivators from both sides openly disdained each other.
Inside the town, minor clashes occurred, but no one dared escalate to full-blown conflict.
Li Mo, as a Nascent Soul cultivator tied to both Taoist and Demon sects, regarded the situation from his perspective. After experiencing the upheavals of heaven and earth, the distinction between Taoist and Demon had grown strikingly blurred.
If one truly wanted to define their sects, Taoists pursued the foundations of the great Dao, while Demons prioritized speed, even deliberately embracing the erosion caused by the Death Disease.
When it came to cultivation resources, the two factions actually shared significant similarities.
Stores within Five Temples Town began opening one by one, including some that sold elixirs. However, due to the resources produced by the True Word Secret Realm being ill-suited for alchemy, the prices of elixirs had become rather inflated, creating a niche market for Corpse Wine.
Tang Wu’s eyes flickered with unease.
If the Four Seas Commerce intended to set up permanent operations in Five Temples Town, conflicts of interest were inevitable, and large-scale disputes would almost certainly arise.
Having Li Mo around was reassuring, as his Nascent Soul stage presence should serve as sufficient deterrence.
However, Tang Wu understood well that Li Mo wasn’t here in Five Temples Town merely to sell Corpse Wine.
If Li Mo temporarily left, a group of mostly inept cultivators like them, locked in their Weak Crown Period, would stand no chance of maintaining their foothold in the town.
Tang Wu let out a sigh, hoping he was overthinking things and that Five Hidden Sword could keep the town’s situation under control, rather than letting it be overrun by Taoist and Demon cultivators.
"Let’s go. Try to keep at least half a meter away from everyone you encounter."
Li Mo signaled the convoy to continue forward, with twenty-odd Beast Cultivators subtly forming a protective circle around him. Slowly, they approached the bustling Five Temples Town.
Chen You’s vital signs had stabilized.
Without anyone’s assistance, he kept pace with the group, his Five Internal Organs and Six Viscera showing faint signs of rejuvenation. However, his original cultivation had been completely obliterated.
Chen You displayed no trace of despair, his palm gently brushing against his chest.
His Lifeless Elixir Field had replaced the Middle Dantian that had burned to ashes, and the prospect of returning to his Weak Crown Period seemed within reach; the impact on his cultivation wasn’t overly severe.
Li Mo couldn’t help but reflect on the influence of immortality.
In the ancient Cultivation World, even if Chen You had been a Nascent Soul cultivator, injuries of such severity would have forced him to relinquish his physical body willingly.
Attempting to transplant internal organs would have resulted in insurmountable rejection reactions, but now...
Not only was he lively and vigorous, but the price he paid was merely future submission to Li Mo—a consequence that, for Chen You, wasn’t necessarily a bad deal.
"Truly a fantastical era."
Li Mo surveyed the official road but didn’t observe any signs of large-scale evacuation of mortals.
Eighty percent of the twenty-thousand-strong population governed by Five Hidden Sword must have been ushered into the True Word Secret Realm; they were preoccupied with sword refinement and paid no mind to their foundational stability.
It was worth noting that, in their jurisdiction, there were only seven towns in total—twenty thousand individuals represented myriad possibilities for the birth of Taoist Bodies.
They had wagered everything on Five Temples Town; if the results weren’t acknowledged by the Heavenly Sword Sect...
The sect might face total annihilation.
The group marched mightily through the town gate. Though disciples of Five Hidden Sword stood atop the city walls, there were no inspection measures of any kind.
The faces of the commerce cultivators were pale, their proximity to the residual force of the Heart Flying Sword above making its pressure even more palpable, sending shivers down their spines.
It felt as though, at the slightest misstep, a blazing Sword Qi would strike down mercilessly.
The street just inside the gate was eerily deserted, as all the cultivators had gathered in the town center; the atmosphere all around was steeped in a murderous tension.
Li Mo spoke blandly, "The flying sword overhead is named Feihong. It rivals the Nascent Soul stage in power. It’s said to kill three people every day without fail."
"Feihong, Feihong..."
Tang Wu muttered the name, suddenly recalling why it sounded so familiar.
The Feihong Flying Sword was the sect’s flying sword of Five Hidden Sword, usually appearing only during grand sect ceremonies. Within Five Hidden Sword, it enjoyed unchecked freedom to slaughter as it pleased.
One could even say that the Five Hidden Sword Sect existed solely to serve and worship [Feihong].
For Five Hidden Sword to bring forth Feihong today, it was clear they were gambling not just the lives of twenty thousand mortals—they were willing to stake everything, success or death.
Li Mo had tasked Futu Hermit with gathering information on Five Hidden Sword.
As an auxiliary sect of the Heavenly Sword Sect, details about their affiliated Immortal Sects weren’t difficult to uncover, given they annually expelled a significant number of swordless cultivators from their ranks.
From this, Li Mo gleaned that the sect’s flying sword held authority above even the Sect Master.
Since the nurturing of high-quality Lifebound Flying Swords required assistance from the sect’s flying sword, losing Feihong would signify an irreversible decline in swordsmanship inheritances for generations.
It was said that the Sword Tongue Sect’s sect flying sword, called [Chi Long], had a peculiar habit—it fed daily on the Yin Kui Blood of women, though the exact quantity remained unknown.
In the Cultivation World of later generations, Yin Kui Blood was valued higher than Low Grade Spirit Stones of equivalent quality.
No matter how much effort a woman exerted to preserve her body, she could produce Yin Kui Blood for barely ten years. Chi Long made life within Sword Tongue Sect unbearably harsh.
Tang Wu sucked in a cold breath and couldn’t resist asking, "If Feihong is here in Five Temples Town, must it also kill three people each day?"
Li Mo didn’t need to respond—Feihong was already showing signs of restless motion.
Sword Qi flashed in an instant.
A Demon cultivator at the Nascent Soul stage was beheaded, his outwardly displayed Spiritual Power, aligned to the Water Element, rippling within a hundred-meter range and offending Feihong.
Li Mo squinted, observing Feihong’s mastery of Taoist Body application, which far surpassed common standards.
The Nascent Soul Demon cultivator didn’t even have time to react before the Sword Qi severed his vitality in an instant. Even Li Mo himself wouldn’t necessarily have been able to execute such a clean strike.