The mountain wind roared like a tiger, echoing through the forest.
Li Mo speculated that River God Village was merely one of Steward Hu’s hidden ploys, with the clear purpose of luring the Mountain Lord Strange Beast to the Inner City District.
The cultivators who previously took on the River God Village mission were well aware of this, and thus refrained from targeting the Mountain Lord Strange Beast, which had been divided into four pieces.
"Hu Wen, Chang Ghost?"
Regardless, the Mountain King Map drawn by Li Mo contained a certain divine essence, carrying an importance not to be underestimated—it might even lure the Mountain Lord Strange Beast into appearing.
Li Mo casually grabbed a river fish and gutted it, revealing undeveloped embryos inside, reaffirming that small birds and beasts struggled to transform into "half-beasts."
As he departed from River God Village, he dealt with the Strange Beast’s corpse along the way.
Li Mo needed to dissect the Strange Beast’s body into different parts to maximize profits for the upcoming black market trade.
Unfortunately, the Strange Beast had been suppressed in River God Village for more than a decade, causing its bones and flesh to severely decay, significantly lowering its value.
After working for two entire days, Li Mo managed to extract three bottles of darkened blood from the corpse.
As for attempting blood drenching with the Strange Beast’s blood, he’d wait until reaching the black market, preferably in a private seclusion room within the inner chambers.
Li Mo was genuinely intrigued by the black market, rumored to be a place brimming with opportunities.
On the way, Li Mo headed toward Niu Village. After wearing out two pairs of shoes, he finally spotted the village at the foot of a mountain.
Niu Village was even more remote than River God Village, entirely self-sufficient, and unaffected by the Beast Calamity.
Moreover, half-beasts never attacked the village, making it a true paradise.
Walking through the fields, Li Mo drew curious stares from farmers—strangers were rare in Niu Village.
None of them recognized Li Mo, except Aunt Wang, who hesitated and asked, "Are you...?"
"Li Woodworker’s youngest son, Heiwa."
Aunt Wang’s expression was filled with disbelief. She had never heard of an apprentice returning to their village after entering Rong Town.
In a village, everyone was related in some way, and many had even watched little Li Mo grow up.
Her face lit up with excitement as she called out to the farmers in the field.
Li Mo seemed like an immortal ready to sever worldly ties, observing the villagers from a detached perspective, his emotions swirling with complexity.
He feared that in the future, he might never have another chance to return to Niu Village.
"Heiwa, wait here. I’ll go fetch your family."
"Thank you, Aunt Wang."
Aunt Wang dashed off in a flash, and soon, dozens of households gathered at the village entrance, chattering incessantly.
Li Fu and Li Mu warmly questioned Li Mo, while his eldest brother, Li Li, stood awkwardly to the side. His wife pushed her child forward and pinched Li Li’s arm, signaling him to establish a better bond with Li Mo.
Li Mo responded to everyone, but the thought of staying in the village for a few days suddenly faded.
Due to the nature of immortality, mortals were generally indifferent to life and death—children would split from families at fourteen or fifteen, and by sixteen or seventeen, many already had children of their own.
Though Li Mo had only been away for four years, Li Li now had two sons and a daughter. As for his elder sister, Li Xia, she had already passed the age of fertility.
With a house full of children and grandchildren, Li Mo realized he had become the outsider.
The villagers talked back and forth but avoided asking about the fourteen children who had left the village all those years ago.
They feared hearing bad news from Li Mo’s lips.
Li Mo refrained from speaking explicitly, handling the topic vaguely. Along the way, he handed out sugar pills he had bought to the village children with runny noses.
At this point, the village’s school teacher squeezed through the crowd, and the villagers quickly made way for him.
He forced his decayed, clouded eyes open and asked, "Li Mo, in Rong Town... You must have seen those Immortal Masters, right?"
"Yes, Teacher, I have seen them."
Before the school teacher could finish, Li Mo shook his green-edged, jade-like Storage Bag.
A pile of rice, oil, and salt instantly appeared before them—all basic supplies Li Mo had purchased before leaving Rong Town, at little cost in silver coins.
"This... this... this..."
The villagers exchanged bewildered glances.
They truly couldn’t reconcile the ordinary-looking Li Mo with the concept of an Immortal Master.
The school teacher’s face flushed red. His lips moved without making a sound, quivering as he pointed a finger at Li Mo.
Li Mo understood the school teacher’s implication. The man was already over three hundred years old, and his body was rotting everywhere. Without intervention from the Medical Hall, he wouldn’t last much longer.
Li Mo had returned to Niu Village with thoughts of severing worldly ties in his heart.
He understood that the greatest aspiration for mortals was physical health, and this presented a perfect opportunity to practice the surgical techniques detailed in his medical book.
Although Li Mo disliked surgery, as his own body succumbed to creeping Death Disease, medical skills would grow increasingly vital—mastering them was essential.
"Dear elders, rest assured. I will stay in the village for half a day and use immortal techniques to alleviate your ailments."
The villagers’ eyes burned with anticipation, while Li Fu and Li Mu secretly wished for Li Mo to stay longer. Yet the gulf between mortality and immortality left them hesitant.
Li Li was more straightforward, scratching his head awkwardly and asking, "Little brother, leaving so soon?"
"Brother, there’s much to be done in Rong Town."
The school teacher vacated the school for Li Mo, and the villagers lined up outside its doors, waiting their turn, while the village children looked on with curiosity.
Li Mo had prepared a variety of materials beforehand, including a fungal compound resembling the meat Ganoderma—Spirit Salve—which was relatively cheap, costing only a Low Grade Spirit Stone per piece.
The Spirit Salve was specifically used to repair missing flesh.
Li Mo was inexperienced, relying entirely on memories from films depicting surgical procedures and the medical book gifted to him by Han Cai.
Initially, Li Mo expected to feel psychological pressure, given he’d be operating on living patients.
To his surprise, once he entered a focused state, the concept of life and death faded from his mind.
Cautiously, Li Mo cleaned each villager’s wounds, filled the missing tissue with Spirit Salve, reattached ruptured tendons, and stitched everything back together with fine thread.
The villagers’ ailments largely stemmed from decay, making surgery the simplest solution—no wonder Medical Halls were so highly regarded.
Li Mo quickly became skilled, his movements increasingly nimble.
In just two hours, amidst the villagers’ praises, Li Mo completed all procedures, using up materials at a cost of no more than one Low Grade Spirit Stone.
Medical Halls were indeed lucrative businesses.
After witnessing Li Mo’s remarkable "immortal techniques," the villagers grew eager to create a statue in his image and enshrine it in the ancestral hall.
It wasn’t until the school teacher reminded them, "Living people must not be made into statues," that they let go of the idea.
Li Mo shared an evening meal in Niu Village and left the village, escorted by the crowd, heading along the mountain path toward the black market.
He felt no attachment—the long Immortal Path had only begun, and he could not turn back.
Emerging from the mountains,
Li Mo recalled Jin Li’s description of the black market, said to be only marginally smaller than Rong Town and composed of dozens of factions.
Even with his identity tied to Rong Town, Li Mo knew that within the black market, he had to tread carefully—failure to do so would leave him devoured, bones and all.
Rumor had it that Rong Town’s high-ranking members secretly owned assets within the black market.
Approaching the black market, Li Mo realized why Rong Town so freely allowed cultivators to venture out—because the surrounding two hundred miles were all infested with Heart Beasts.
The black market was shrouded in black mist formed by an Array, resembling a crater from a fallen meteorite. Nearby stood a blood-carved stone stele.
On it, the ominous words were etched: [Heart Beasts].