Li Mo occasionally heard the sound of a deer calling during the ten-plus days of his Divine Skill transformation.
Although the room had excellent soundproofing, the eerie, inexplicable deer calls somehow penetrated the thick walls, sending chills down one's spine.
Fortunately, the frequency of the deer calls gradually decreased, or it would have disrupted Li Mo's secluded cultivation.
He endured the torment brought by the transformation of his body, and though the pain was far less than when transplanting the Magic Finger, it was still extremely grueling.
Seeing this, Li Mo devoted all his energy to his cultivation technique.
The Yang Yuan Ben Jing found in the Bone Scroll had been read countless times by him, every word and sentence thoroughly memorized, as he pondered their meanings.
In the ancient Heart Beast Sect, the Yang Yuan Ben Jing did not have a corresponding cultivation method; it was likely developed by later cultivators based on Alien Spirit Energy.
Through the rich theoretical knowledge obtained from the Creation Book, Li Mo made numerous comparisons and confirmed that there were no hidden traps in the Yang Yuan Ben Jing.
The first half of the Yang Yuan Ben Jing was an ordinary Qi Refining Technique, with average cultivation efficiency but where it excelled was in producing pure Spiritual Power.
The latter half took a sharp turn, advocating the use of the unique corrosiveness of Alien Spirit Energy to transform the Five Internal Organs into the Corpse Spirit Root.
If one accidentally damaged the Five Internal Organs, even replacing them at Han Cai's Miao Shou Inn would still affect one's foundations.
With the Creation Book in hand, Li Mo believed the Five Internal Spirit Roots transformation shouldn't be an issue.
It was only unfortunate that there was no content for promoting beyond the Weak Crown Period (Foundation Establishment Stage), so he would need to find an opportunity to seek a higher-level cultivation technique.
The piercing winter winds began to blow; early winter was approaching.
Li Mo shut out all distractions and focused entirely on his cultivation. Once his skin transformation completed, the unbearable itching that made him claw at himself dissipated significantly, and he let out a breath of relief.
Checking the information in the Creation Book, he learned that the Divine Skill of his skin was named the "Leakless Body."
How could Li Mo not know of the Leakless Body? In his previous life, there were similar references, describing it as the ultimate state pursued by Taoists in ancient texts.
For all men and women, once they reached a certain age, the natural occurrence of menstruation or night-time emissions was referred to as "body leakage."
This was a sign of the loss of one's spirit, essence, and vitality.
The Leakless Body could prevent Li Mo's spirit, essence, and vitality from leaking, leaving him perpetually brimming with energy, and even consuming grains would no longer produce waste.
However, Li Mo couldn't help but feel a bit resigned.
If this had been seven thousand years ago, the Leakless Body would have been akin to a Taoist Body, providing critical support at least up until the formation of the Golden Core.
And now?
Li Mo had just passed his eleventh birthday, leaving only nine years before his internal organs would lose their vitality.
Once he survived the Childhood Death Disease and his Five Internal Organs were replaced by the Corpse Spirit Root, there would no longer be any concept of spirit, essence, and vitality leakage.
"Never mind, it's bound to be useful somehow."
Li Mo shook his head with a bitter smile. Thanks to his photographic memory, which had not only enhanced his recall but also indirectly improved his comprehension and physical control, the Leakless Body surely wouldn't be limited to containing his spirit, essence, and vitality.
The effects of Divine Skills on the body were subtle, and their specifics still required exploration.
While waiting for the awakening of his Mid Dantian's Divine Skill, Li Mo carefully studied the effects of the Leakless Body.
His energy had become abundant, requiring only two hours of sleep each day. His physical fitness also improved gradually, and his appetite decreased from one meal a day to just one every three days.
However, even without the Leakless Body, he wouldn't have needed food or sleep after the age of twenty.
Li Mo felt slightly disappointed, but upon his daily pulse checks, he discovered that the Leakless Body could significantly slow the progress of the Death Disease, reducing the rate at which his heart rate slowed by thirty to forty percent.
Based on his calculations, the Childhood Death Disease could now be delayed by about five years, erupting fully only around the age of twenty-five.
Should Li Mo brand his Mid Dantian again, Jade Liquid Spirit Qi might make the list for complementing the Leakless Body.
Regrettably, the Leakless Body could only delay the Death Disease, not eradicate it.
With the decay of his body, the effects of Jade Liquid Spirit Qi and the Leakless Body would undoubtedly weaken, as no one could escape the Death Disease.
Bang, bang, bang...
Suddenly, a muffled sound emanated from Li Mo's chest. It wasn't the violent pounding of his heart but the transformation completed by the branded Mid Dantian.
The Divine Skill had awakened—"Multi-layered Dantian."
Li Mo was somewhat puzzled by the function of the Multi-layered Dantian and instinctively flipped open the Creation Book.
The second page detailed the Mid Dantian, now an organ shaped like a tumor with three distinct layers, with the core holding Spiritual Energy.
Li Mo furrowed his brows slightly, faintly guessing its potential, though he still needed to test it out.
After ringing a brass bell, an odd jobs worker brought in hot water.
Li Mo took a simple bath and changed into fresh clothes, preparing to practice the Yang Yuan Ben Jing, primarily focusing on adjusting his physical and mental state to their peak.
Beginning cultivation required using consciousness to connect with external Spiritual Energy.
The difficulty varied for everyone—some cultivators couldn't sense Spiritual Energy after half a year, while others reached the Childhood stage in just a month.
To be cautious, Li Mo didn't immediately open the Liu Li jar.
He approached the ritual altar, hung a portrait of Tian Chenzi on the wall, and lit three incense sticks in the burner.
The Yang Yuan Ben Jing contained annotations from predecessors.
If it was difficult to sense external Spiritual Energy, one could try focusing on Tian Chenzi's portrait to aid in the connection.
Li Mo studied the portrait carefully, finding nothing out of the ordinary.
He placed the Liu Li jar before him, crossed his legs, and closed his eyes to meditate.
Unexpectedly, after mere breaths with his eyes closed, his pitch-dark vision was illuminated by points of light representing Spiritual Energy.
They seemed so close that he could reach out and take them.
The Spiritual Energy points were of various colors, the majority being the gray-brown Mountain Spirit Qi, followed by the frost-spawned Winter Spirit Qi.
He stared at the light points for a long time but saw no trace of the Smog Spirit Energy.
"Wasn't it said that cultivators who closed themselves off for months before entering the beginner's stage were commonplace?"
"How long have I taken?"
Li Mo hadn't expected it to be so effortless; he hadn't even extracted any Smog Spirit Energy yet, having only sensed dozens of types of Alien Spirit Energy in the room.
He had no choice but to exit the cultivation state and prepare to open the Liu Li jar.
Just then, as Li Mo opened his eyes and looked at Tian Chenzi's portrait, perhaps because his consciousness was still semi-immersed, his vision blurred.
The portrait became grotesque.
Blood slowly seeped from Tian Chenzi's chest and abdomen as if he'd been sliced open by a sharp object. His Daoist robe was tattered, and the horsetail whisk in his hand seemed to be made of human bone, with his hair and beard replaced by bird feathers.
Crack, crack, crack.
A sound of bones breaking echoed, reminiscent of what Li Mo had heard in the horse carriage, seemingly coming from the driver, Manager Tian.
In the blink of an eye, Tian Chenzi's chest gaped wide open, his ribs protruding outward, exposing incomparably bizarre Five Internal Organs.
His heart resembled a skinned monkey.
His liver resembled a legless opossum.
His spleen resembled a multi-legged hyena.
His lungs resembled a pig with a human face.
His kidneys resembled a two-headed magpie.
...…
Li Mo dug his nails into his palms, using the pain to forcefully awaken his consciousness. When he looked again at Tian Chenzi's portrait, it was once more the appearance of a Daoist Immortal.
He gasped for air, rolling up the painting and burning it to ashes over a candle flame.
More than half a day passed before Li Mo's mental state fully calmed down, almost accustomed to such bizarre experiences—after all, Rong Town was riddled with oddities.