For Li Mo, the Childhood Death Disease was a close call, yet ultimately harmless. After all, he possessed a foundation far beyond the reach of ordinary cultivators.
The awakening of the Leakless Body was merely the beginning.
As faint streams of vitality quietly nourished his five internal organs and six viscera, even the Pao Xiao Swallowing Body began to stir.
His pores continually opened and contracted, involuntarily drawing in the smog spiritual energy around him.
Li Mo picked up the elixir he had prepared in advance, swallowed it, and guided even more spiritual energy into his middle dantian, commencing the Circulation Cycle immediately after.
The Primordial Dao Body was the last to recover.
Only when the Tao Seed had absorbed sufficient spiritual power did incomprehensible mystical symbols surface on its exterior, rotating according to a precise rhythm.
The corpse spots on Li Mo’s skin visibly faded, and jade-like blood began coursing through his veins, breathing new life into his organs.
Yet what followed was a searing agony, as though billions of ants were devouring his blood, flesh, and organs.
Clenching his teeth, Li Mo suddenly regained his five senses, though slightly disoriented. At the very least, he now felt like a living, flesh-and-blood person once more.
Rising to his feet in an effort to distract himself, he let his gaze wander around the room.
Soon, his eyes were drawn to the four treasures of the study.
Ever since he began cultivating, painting had been his method of calming his mental realm, allowing him to pour out the negativity within his heart through the movement of his brush.
Li Mo walked over to the desk. After grinding some ink, he began sketching an image of a Three-Legged Golden Toad. Gradually, his expression became focused and serene.
The form of the Three-Legged Golden Toad grew more vivid, as if it were about to leap out of the xuan paper, exuding an indescribably profound conception.
Li Mo occasionally made such studies of the Three-Legged Golden Toad.
However, up until now, he had been unable to capture its unique essence. This time, he emptied his mind entirely, entrusting control of his body to his instincts.
Closing his eyes, his brush moved with unwavering certainty.
When he opened his eyes again, the painting was complete. On the xuan paper, the Three-Legged Golden Toad clutched the True Word Sect’s Secret Bone in its mouth, its eyes emitting a dim red glow, while viscous golden liquid oozed from its back.
Li Mo raised an eyebrow, realizing that he had seemingly, and unconsciously, captured the key to depicting the Three-Legged Golden Toad—its distinctive essence.
That essence was "Evil Spirit."
No matter the type of metal ore, whether celestial or mundane, it was invariably forged into lethal weapons, giving metal its intrinsic aura of malevolence.
Li Mo was very satisfied. He could now proceed to create the Secondary Beast Head Tattoo.
He hung the completed painting on the wall, noticing that by this point, most of the vitality within his body had been restored, with the smog spiritual power coursing through him becoming more orderly as well.
Li Mo observed that, even though he had weathered the ordeal of the Childhood Death Disease, traces of corpse transformation still faintly lingered on his exterior.
Additionally, his five internal organs had undergone a dramatic upheaval.
The five organs now appeared amber-like, yet their functionalities had entirely ceased, leaving only the Corpse Spirit Root’s sensitivity to spiritual energy intact.
"What is this, Qi Fasting?"
"No, I don’t even need to fast on Qi. In my past life, wouldn’t I already have become an immortal?"
Qi Fasting refers to the Daoist ideal of replacing physical sustenance with spiritual energy, an aspiration toward immortality.
Li Mo gave a wry smile.
After surviving the Childhood Death Disease, he no longer needed food or even air; as long as spiritual power existed, he could sustain his vitality.
Because of the Pao Xiao Swallowing Body, his Innate Taoist Body was able to take over some functions of the five internal organs, allowing him to barely resemble a "living person."
This made him ponder deeply.
The Daoist scriptures of his previous life spoke of achieving Qi Fasting, Eternal Youth, and using medicine to reanimate the dead and rebuild bones...
It seemed all these aspirations could be realized through the Death Disease.
In a sense, with each Death Disease he conquered, while becoming increasingly non-human, he was indeed moving closer to the state of being an "Immortal God."
Li Mo let out a long sigh and sent word that he had overcome the Death Disease.
The Futu Hermit and other cultivators, having experienced similar trials, understood the immense risks involved. A single misstep could damage one’s foundation, hindering Core Formation.
Seeing that Li Mo had emerged unscathed, they were relieved.
Li Mo learned from the Futu Hermit that overcoming the Childhood Death Disease had unknowingly taken him nearly two years.
Moreover, Zhao Zhu was also afflicted with the Death Disease and had recently chosen to seclude himself for recovery.
Hongxing Refining Shop had been subsisting on previously stockpiled Magic Artifact Embryos to maintain business, though profits had significantly declined; it still remained unrivaled in the Mountain and Sea Market.
Upon seeing Li Mo awaken, Jin Li brought the spiritual materials requested prior to his seclusion into the Four-Legged Taoist Temple.
These materials included items necessary for the subsequent Fifteen Refinements of four Mid-Grade Magic Artifacts, as well as resources for attempting to advance his Universal Skillful Hand during the Weak Crown Period.
Li Mo stored them in his Storage Bag for now, deciding to finish drawing the Golden Toad Beast Head Tattoo on his shoulder while he was still in the right state of mind.
As he deliberated, the Eight-Armed Spine Nerve adeptly ground the spiritual materials.
Since the Three-Legged Golden Toad was a Deceit Beast, he needed to incorporate spiritual materials to neutralize its mutagenic corrosiveness; otherwise, it would inevitably harm him.
Li Mo dared not slack off, sprinkling powdered Floating Grass Seed—which suppressed Deceit Beastification—into the mixture.
The moment the powder touched the Deceit Beast Blood, a sharp croaking sound echoed painfully through the room, and a Golden Toad’s visage surfaced on the blood’s surface.
Steadying his mind, Li Mo continued adding Floating Grass Seed powder while channeling smog spiritual power into the blood to ensure no adverse effects occurred.
After working diligently for half a day, the Deceit Beast Blood finally calmed.
After multiple verifications, Li Mo began using the Eight-Armed Spine Nerve to draw on his left shoulder, while his right hand assisted in the process.
The limitations of the Eight-Armed Spine Nerve were glaring; if he wished to refine the Corpse Mountain, he would need to rely on the multi-arm augmentation of the Universal Skillful Hand.
Regarding this, he had already consulted Han Cai via a spiritual tablet and discovered a compromised solution based on Han Cai’s reply.
A temporary arm transplant, though he still needed to experiment with it further.
Lost in thought, Li Mo was jolted back by a sharp pain in his shoulder. The outline of the Three-Legged Golden Toad’s Beast Head had begun to take shape, demanding his full focus.
Metal spiritual energy from the room seemed to instinctively flow into the skin of his left shoulder.
As the Golden Toad Beast Head took form, other tattooed beasts on his body sensed an overwhelming threat.
The tattooed beasts on his limbs had undergone numerous transformations, long surpassing their original state, yet even they could only barely match the secondary level.
Still, Li Mo did not consider resources spent on auxiliary tattoos a waste.
He hoped the seven spirit beasts on his body would each fulfill their individual roles, regardless of whether combat was their forte.
As the toad beast head was completed, an inexplicable croak resonated within the Four-Legged Taoist Temple. The cultivators tending the Medicine Field mistook it for the resurrection of the Golden Toad, but no source could be found upon careful inspection.
Li Mo summoned the Golden Toad. The floor sank noticeably under its weight.
The Golden Toad gleamed with a luminous golden hue, exceptionally dazzling under the flicker of candlelight. Though barely over half a meter in size, it weighed several tons.
"Ribbit... ribbit..."
Li Mo tapped the Golden Toad’s head, producing a crisp metallic clang.
The Golden Toad’s abilities were exceedingly straightforward: its unmatched sturdiness, disproportionate weight, and—due to its connection with the Five Poison Five God Heart Sutra—its back could emit poisonous mist.
Li Mo could already imagine it.
Once the Golden Toad exceeded ten meters, its mere mass would crush anyone beneath it like Mount Tai.
Of course, maintaining the Golden Toad demanded significant blood and flesh spiritual power, surpassing that required for both the Red Fox and Deceit Beast combined—slightly more than even the Kun Whale.