Li Mo opened the Liu Li jar's stopper, and with a puffing sound, pale yellow smog spiritual energy poured out, filling the air with a sour stench.
Seeing the concentration of spiritual energy was sufficient, he swiftly capped the Liu Li jar.
The smog spiritual energy had a slightly pungent aroma, and Li Mo's expression turned subtle, mostly because it reminded him of the smell he often encountered in the metropolis in his former life.
He waved his hand, and indeed felt a grainy texture to it.
Li Mo was quite pleased with the smog spiritual energy; its corrosive trait increased its utility by more than tenfold.
He didn't need the spiritual energy to act as an instant poison since storing it inside his own dantian would inevitably have some effect on his body.
The sole drawback of smog spiritual energy was the rarity of environments capable of producing it.
Li Mo continued to meditate with closed eyes.
The advantage of the inner chamber became evident—no matter how concentrated the spiritual energy inside the room was, it remained securely locked within, which explained why it was ideal for secluded cultivation.
Li Mo recited the Yang Yuan Ben Jing once in his mind and naturally entered a state of cultivation.
He sensed countless specks of light again, but this time, smog spiritual energy occupied seventy percent, making it significantly easier to communicate and filter through with his consciousness.
If it weren't for the Liu Li jar that Han Cai gifted him, Li Mo would have had to search through hundreds of spiritual energies to find traces of smog spiritual energy.
The difficulty would have been akin to finding a needle in a haystack—utterly laborious and fruitless.
If Li Mo absorbed excessive amounts of mixed foreign spiritual energy, it would inevitably pollute his internal organs, forcing him to replace them in a desperate attempt of damage control.
His expression turned grave; now all eyes were on how the multi-layered dantian would function.
Under Li Mo's full concentration, a strand of smog spiritual energy followed his consciousness, drilled through his mouth and nose into his body, and reached the Eight Extraordinary Meridians.
The operation route of the Yang Yuan Ben Jing was steady and straightforward, almost never involving branching meridians, completing a circulation along the meridians.
The circulation cycle strengthened Li Mo's connection to the spiritual power while purifying it.
The method of accumulating spiritual power during childhood essentially mirrored that of the Qi Cultivation Stage, highlighting their shared origins.
However, when smog spiritual power traversed the meridians, Li Mo distinctly felt a mild stinging sensation, indicating that the Eight Extraordinary Meridians were still subject to corrosion.
Li Mo wouldn't consider asking Han Cai to replace meridians for him; he could only let his body gradually adapt.
After running two circulation cycles, Li Mo guided the smog spiritual power into his middle dantian.
Li Mo frowned deeply, watching as the smog spiritual power smoothly passed through the multi-layered dantian and settled in the center of the middle dantian, quickly falling into silence.
"That's not right…"
The divine skills of the multi-layered dantian showed no reaction, and the smog spiritual power remained unchanged.
Li Mo refused to give in and absorbed another strand of smog spiritual energy. After completing a circulation cycle, it once again merged into the middle dantian. The two strands fused with each other, but still failed to activate any divine skills.
"What the hell…"
He decided to end his cultivation, got up, and paced along the walls while carefully contemplating the purpose of the multi-layered dantian.
Suddenly, a thought struck Li Mo, his expression brightened, and he hurriedly closed his eyes to meditate again.
This time, he didn't draw smog spiritual energy but instead carefully absorbed a strand of mountain spirit energy. After refining it within the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, he directed it into the middle dantian.
The smog spiritual energy within the core dantian abruptly became restless, seemingly sensing the approach of other foreign spiritual energies, wildly rushing up and down within the dantian.
Li Mo controlled the mountain spirit energy, guiding it into the outermost layer of the middle dantian.
The mountain spirit energy immediately sank into a quagmire, stuck in the outer layer, incapable of advancing further, and was slowly absorbed by the middle dantian.
"Hahahahaha."
Li Mo opened his eyes and burst into maniacal laughter.
"Multi-layered dantian, so its purpose is filtering!"
The protective layer of the middle dantian could isolate impure spiritual energies apart from smog spiritual energy, and the divine skill itself would digest the impure energies, nourishing the middle dantian in the process.
With the help of the multi-layered dantian, the spiritual power within his body would become exceptionally pure.
He could even take the initiative to absorb impure spiritual energies, allowing the divine skill to digest them as much as possible. Over time, the middle dantian was bound to undergo a transformation.
The hassle of scarcity in smog spiritual energy was also resolved thanks to the divine skills.
Li Mo found it difficult to calm his mind, so he sat at his desk, grinding ink and painting, not only drawing the mountain lord but depicting familiar beasts.
Although he used ordinary ink sticks, the hundred beasts in his paintings still radiated raw wildness.
Once his mental state settled, Li Mo eagerly resumed cultivation.
In the ancient cultivation world, the Qi Cultivation Stage was divided into ten levels, but seven thousand years later, in the current cultivation realm during childhood, only six levels remained.
Li Mo's middle dantian was fortified by spiritual power; no matter how scarce it was, he was unquestionably a First Level of Puberty cultivator, officially stepping onto the path of cultivation.
Cultivation at the First Level of Puberty mainly involved filling the middle dantian with refined spiritual power and compressing it as much as possible to lay a solid foundation.
Once the spiritual power overflowed, one could break through to the Second Layer of Puberty.
Cultivators then transformed their hearts into corpse spirit roots using spiritual power.
From the Third Layer of Puberty to the Sixth Layer, the process was essentially one of transforming the five internal organs into spirit roots. The purer the corpse spirit roots, the sturdier the foundation.
In essence, the cultivation of later generations revolved around countering death disease.
Li Mo patiently absorbed smog spiritual energy until the chamber was completely depleted.
His skin was now covered in filth—decades' worth of toxins accumulated within his body—cleansed by the smog spiritual energy.
Li Mo paused his cultivation, stretched his limbs, and guided the spiritual power to his right arm.
He wanted to test the Universal Skillful Hand and see how it differed with the addition of smog spiritual energy.
When the smog spiritual power integrated into his magic finger, Li Mo felt a sensation as though the finger could extend outward, so he deliberately released a trace of spiritual power from his fingertips.
Thin yellow fog surrounded the magic finger, its spiritual form seemingly hovering between the tangible and intangible.
With a thought, Li Mo solidified the spiritual power, which then began elongating, eventually transforming into a spiritual brush connected to the finger bone.
Seeing this, Li Mo repeatedly activated the Universal Skillful Hand, shaping the magic finger into blades, or even crafting intricate structures like keys...
Li Mo only stopped experimenting with the Universal Skillful Hand once his spiritual power was exhausted.
He finally understood why it was called the Universal Skillful Hand—because as long as the infused foreign spiritual power was suitable, the magic finger could completely replace tools.
No matter how commanding his control was over the smog spiritual energy, he could never alter the nature of spiritual energy the way the Universal Skillful Hand did.
With the Universal Skillful Hand in his repertoire, Li Mo's painting skills had reached another level.
Li Mo also realized that Steward Hu likely intended for him to use Hui Qingyi for something, perhaps involving the secrets of Rong Town.
After a quick wash, he resumed cultivation, intending to completely absorb the smog spiritual energy stored in the Liu Li jar.
Additionally, he planned to practice drawing the hundred beasts.
Inside the sealed inner chamber, Li Mo was entirely unaware of the anomalies happening at the pawn shop.
The pawn shop was now completely sealed; whether odd-jobs workers or cultivators, no one was allowed to leave, and guards patrolled the exterior edges of the walls.
An oppressive atmosphere enveloped the pawn shop unnoticed.
Particularly in the Miscellaneous Hall, the frequency of dense smoke pouring out from the furnace used for burning statues was quietly increasing, and the stench of burning corpses permeated the air.
Some odd-job workers were secretly whispering amongst themselves.
"The furnace, huh? There's not a single clay statue inside; all I saw were corpses, strange, inexplicable corpses."