The rising sun climbed above the horizon, and Li Mo squinted his eyes uncomfortably.
From the high ground where the warehouse was located, Li Mo gazed across Rong Town and saw numerous cultivators battling Deceit Beasts amidst the chaos that engulfed the town.
Li Mo shivered.
The days ahead in Rong Town would certainly lack peace, as Deceit Beasts were bound to lurk in the shadows, preying upon the hearts of the living.
Of course, for cultivators, this also meant an opportunity to earn Spirit Stones, as tasks related to Deceit Beasts were always in abundance.
Li Mo had no intention of accepting any missions; his peripheral vision caught sight of the surrounding cultivators, all whispering about him being mentioned alongside stewards and shopkeepers.
The Spirit Stones he had earned were already sufficient to advance to the Second Layer of Puberty; now was the time to use this period to quiet the overly conspicuous reputation he had gained.
"Crack, crack, crack, crack..."
Han Cai's movements grew increasingly swift as he sorted and packed the flesh, bones, and blood of the Moose Monster into more than a dozen Storage Bags.
Shopkeeper Tian turned and left the warehouse, while Old Lady Sun went to calm the chaos at the pawnshop. Xu Hu, who was the most severely injured, remained in place, closing his eyes and resting.
Watching Han Cai dismember the Moose Monster with precision, Li Mo couldn't help but marvel.
As it turned out, Han Cai was indeed more suited for the role of a butcher than that of a doctor.
While carefully observing the Moose Monster's anatomical structure, a chilling voice suddenly broke the silence: "Li Mo, why not the Mountain Lord?"
A shiver ran down his spine, and Li Mo turned to see Steward Hu staring at him with a faint smile that was both mocking and unsettling.
Li Mo had initially thought Steward Hu would reprimand him for revealing the Green Robe tattoo outside, and he had even prepared a defense in advance. Unexpectedly, Steward Hu seemed indifferent to that matter.
Instead, his focus was on the choice of Beast Head Tattoo.
Hesitating, Li Mo responded, "Steward Hu, at the time, there was no Mountain Lord Blood in the warehouse. I used Fox Blood due to the urgency of the situation."
"It's fine..."
As Steward Hu spoke, his gaze drifted toward the Inner City District, exuding a hateful and poisonous aura that caused the surrounding grass and trees to wither.
Li Mo finally understood why some cultivators looked at him with pity.
Steward Hu was indeed unpredictable.
Han Cai chimed in while draining the Moose Monster's blood, saying, "The Beast Calamity only occurs once every fifteen years. Deceit Beasts rarely reappear, and Hu Wen, you..."
Steward Hu chuckled softly, his expression quickly reverting to normal.
Li Mo suddenly realized that Steward Hu seemed to be searching for a specific Deceit Beast within the Inner City District, and his painting of the Mountain King Map might have its uses.
It was no wonder Steward Hu had emphasized that the Beast Map should not be shown, but said nothing about the Green Robe tattoo.
Li Mo tentatively remarked, "Steward Hu has been immensely kind to me. If there's anything I can assist with, I won't hesitate to offer my help."
Steward Hu transformed once more into the alluring faceless woman, flashing a seductive smile before turning her attention to Han Cai, who was continuing the autopsy.
"Han Cai, give me a bottle of the Deceit Beast's Heart Blood. It has its uses."
"Alright!"
Han Cai glanced deeply at Li Mo, then plunged his hands back into the corpse. When he resurfaced, he held a jade bottle filled with milky-white liquid.
"Here."
Steward Hu caught the Heart Blood and casually tossed the jade bottle, along with a Bone Scroll, to Li Mo.
"Many thanks, Steward Hu."
Li Mo's face lit up as he quickly stowed away the jade bottle. Although Moose Blood might lack potency for the primary position tattoo of the Green Robe, it was more than sufficient for secondary positions.
He took a quick look at the contents of the Bone Scroll.
To his surprise, it contained follow-up techniques for the Green Robe tattoo, spanning from the Puberty stage to the Weak Crown Period, and even reaching the Thirty Years Old Stage (Golden Core Stage).
Li Mo also discovered techniques within the Bone Scroll for nourishing tattoos during the Puberty stage, which could boost the potential of the Red Fox tattoo.
However, Steward Hu's actions, even though the surrounding cultivators couldn't hear their conversation, still made Li Mo the center of attention.
Li Mo found this unwanted attention frustrating; he understood the saying about trees standing out in the forest attracting the wind.
Yet bits and pieces of his past were slowly being unearthed.
At ten years old, he had arrived at the pawnshop in Rong Town; within two months, he had shed his apprentice status, and within half a year, he had reached the entrance of the Puberty stage, mastering two spells.
Li Mo grew more resolute in his decision to seclude himself, avoiding this period of being in the spotlight.
In the end, Han Cai extracted a lump of flesh resembling an embryo from the corpse, carefully storing it in a specialized container before finally descending from the Corpse Mountain.
"The remaining carcass of the Deceit Beast can be handled by you True People now."
Signaling the cultivators to enter the scene, Han Cai left Li Mo momentarily stunned. He then joined the group working to move the blood, flesh, and bones.
Seizing the chance, he closely inspected the Deceit Beast's body, discovering that it was indeed transformed from a cultivator, with anatomy shockingly similar to that of a human.
The more deeply he examined its organs, the more he realized their severe decay. They were riddled with fungus, far from resembling a recently deceased corpse.
The Dantian used for storing Spiritual Energy had transformed into a tumor-like embryo.
It was as though it was about to nurture a baby.
Once the corpse was entirely dealt with, the pawnshop remained busy for three days to handle the aftermath.
After the Moose Monster completely disappeared, the herd of deer at the foot of the mountain also vanished.
Because Li Mo assisted in processing the Moose Monster's remains, he received five Mid-grade Spirit Stones—something ordinary cultivators would have to exhaust themselves in battle to achieve.
During this period, chaos continued to break out across various parts of Rong Town. Though the source had been resolved, the residual Deceit Beasts concealed themselves in corners, gaining strength by devouring human hearts.
Dark clouds loomed over Rong Town, and its furnaces burned ceaselessly, day and night.
Even several cultivators had been petrified into living statues by the solidification of Jade Liquid Spiritual Power—not to mention the mortals, with nearly half the pawnshop's apprentices and odd-jobs workers dead or injured.
In Niu Village, only six children remained alive.
Among the people Li Mo knew, Li Qingfang and her brother had taken refuge in the school and were unharmed, while Li Zhu in the Miscellaneous Hall had only suffered a fright.
As for Ma Ergao...
Since seeing Ma Ergao briefly on the way to the warehouse, Li Mo hadn't encountered him again despite searching.
Some odd-job workers claimed Ma Ergao, muttering crazed words, had climbed over the town walls amidst the chaos and fled back to Niu Village deep in the mountains.
Others said Ma Ergao's corpse had been seen in the bamboo grove behind the pawnshop.
Li Mo did not seek to verify these claims; though he later sent letters to Niu Village, he only mentioned that everything was fine and never asked about Ma Ergao.
As the pawnshop commenced reconstruction, the town grew increasingly chaotic and filled with a mix of different people.
Rong Town lifted restrictions on outside access, likely to prevent the spread of Deceit Beasts.
With the limits removed, the city became more prosperous, but unexplained deaths grew more frequent by the day.
Li Mo silently felt fortunate about the timing of his arrival in Rong Town. The years leading up to the Outer Door Competition seemed to be the safest period.
Amidst Rong Town's flurry to restore order, Li Mo had already returned to his private quarters.
Deceit Beasts were endless, at least for the foreseeable ten years. He had no desire to risk his life for short-term benefits.
Moreover, when Jin Li delivered the three Mid-grade Spirit Stones he had earned from slaying the human-faced deer, Li Mo's resources became plentiful.
Li Mo took out two Mid-grade Spirit Stones, exchanging them for Han Cai's remaining smog spiritual energy, while the rest he used directly for meditation and absorption.
Spirit Stones were composed of dozens of mixed spiritual energies. For cultivators, attempting to use Spirit Stones for cultivation was impractical and only led to contamination of the body's foundation.
But Li Mo was different.
His multi-layered Dantian allowed him to avoid concerns about bodily pollution.
Li Mo asked Jin Li to keep an eye on the warehouse's Beast Blood and Beast Fur stocks. Jin Li agreed without hesitation, even volunteering to look after Zhao Zhu and others.