The road is vague

Chapter 296 Mourning the Shocking Change
The next two months.

Li Mo traveled from village to village in Hua'an Town as a wandering doctor, practicing medicine and helping people in the community.

Unbeknownst to him, he had gained a lot of popularity and received much gratitude, which made up for the deficit in refining the Yin De Dan. After carefully experiencing the many aspects of life, aging, sickness and death in the mortal world, he returned to Qingming Mountain.

He went straight to the sect leader and truthfully told Master Danqing what Dou Chi of the Beishan Sect had said.

Upon hearing this, Master Danqing narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Sending several Guardian Hall squads to temporarily garrison Hua'an Town is naturally no problem. As for the Sky-Piercing Bear King... I can tell you with certainty that it was indeed killed by the Void Extreme Ice Mystic Maiden. In that battle, not only was this bear king killed, but two other transformed great demons were also annihilated. It was because of this that the Lu Kingdom officially entered the Southern Barbarian Lands. But do you know... what kind of improvement will a cultivator receive after advancing to the Nascent Soul stage?"

After hearing this, Li Mo seemed to be deep in thought.

"The power of the divine soul condenses into a nascent soul?"

"Humph."

Sima Fu smiled proudly and began to explain.

"That's right. As a cultivator's soul power further condenses into a nascent soul, not only can they further sense the power of heaven and earth and greatly increase their lifespan, but they can also break free from the limitations of the physical body to some extent. This is what is known as possession. However, although this allows for rebirth, it will also result in the loss of the possibility of comprehending the Great Dao. Furthermore, each possession will weaken one's magical power by nearly half. Even if a Nascent Soul cultivator manages to survive two or three times, their nascent soul will eventually collapse due to the constant changes in bodies."

"Does the Sect Leader mean that this Bear King may have possessed someone else's body?"

Faced with Li Mo's astonished confusion, Sima Fu shook his head.

"Not to mention that demonic beasts do not have nascent souls and cannot easily possess human cultivators, how could the Ice Goddess not see that the other party had escaped from the soul? But nothing is absolute. Perhaps that bear demon has mastered some kind of hidden talent, or has something like an external avatar? The point of my example is to tell you that nascent soul cultivators have already reached the pinnacle of this world, and they have all sorts of ways to protect themselves. The same goes for those demon kings. In short, it is better to be careful."

Li Mo nodded solemnly.

"Thank you, Master."

After leaving the Ancestral Hall, Li Mo returned to Xiaoquan Peak with a heavy heart. This time, he did not go into seclusion again, but frequently participated in sect activities and socialized with others.

After Li Mo's return, Niu Wan frequently visited Xiaoquan Peak to receive instruction in alchemy from Li Mo.

Xue Tai, the deputy head of the Dharma Protectorate, personally led six squads to Hua'an Town to guard and eliminate the nearby monsters.

Two months later.

The Qingming Mountain, which was originally clear and sunny, was suddenly struck by lightning and thunder, with a strong yang wind emanating from the ground. It turned out that someone had triggered the celestial phenomenon of Core Formation.

Li Mo flew out of the cave at Xiaoquan Peak, gazing into the distance with envy in his heart.

"There are only a handful of Foundation Establishment peak cultivators in the sect. Who could it be?"

The celestial phenomenon lasted for about fifteen minutes.

In the end, this person still failed at the last hurdle, and the celestial phenomena dissipated as the core formation failed.

After arriving at the Dharma Protector Hall, Li Mo quickly learned from others that Jiang Caiqian had failed to form her core. Although Li Mo had no romantic feelings for her, he still felt quite sorry for her.

Although there are quite a few cases of successful second-stage Core Formation, everyone knows that the difficulty is multiplied.

At this time.

Li Mo noticed that Lu Qi returned to the Dharma Protector Hall with a gloomy expression. He immediately bid farewell to his friends and strode after him, entering the main hall.

"master."

"kindness."

Li Mo thought Lu Qi was upset because Jiang Caiqian failed to form her Golden Core, and the sect lost a Golden Core cultivator, so he tried to comfort him.

"Although Jiang Caiqian failed in her first attempt at forming her core, it's not impossible for her to try again. Judging from the celestial phenomena she caused, it seems her mental state is slightly lacking..."

"It's not because of this matter that I am your teacher."

Lu Qi took a deep breath and let out a soft sigh.

"Reports have just come back from the Southern Barbarian Lands that our sect's true disciple, Chen Shouyi, perished during a secret mission half a month ago."

"what!"

Li Mo's expression changed as well. Chen Shouyi was a peak late-stage Golden Core cultivator, yet he was dead?

A month later.

The Lingmu Sect held a memorial service for Chen Shouyi, who had died in the Southern Barbarian Lands. Not only did the high-ranking members of the Lingmu Sect participate, but some cultivators from other sects also traveled from afar to attend.

Not to mention those old friends of the Golden Elixir sect who were dealt with by Sima Fu.

Many disciples from various sects who had reached the Foundation Establishment stage also rushed back from the Southern Barbarian Lands to attend Chen Shouyi's memorial service.

"Chen Bingning, a true disciple of the Xuanbing Sect, expresses her condolences on behalf of the Xuanbing Sect. The deceased has passed away; may the living find solace."

Li Mo was not surprised that this woman had become a true disciple of the Xuanbing Sect.

When the six sects of the western part of the Great Qian Dynasty gathered, this woman's performance was extremely outstanding. In addition, the Xuanbing Sect has always had a profound foundation, and the number of its true disciples is far greater than that of the Lingmu Sect.

However, unlike Li Mo who still remembered the woman, Chen Bingning had clearly forgotten her completely when she saw Li Mo.

After all, when the twelve major sects of Qian Kingdom gathered, he, the senior brother of Lingmu Sect, was really insignificant, so it was only natural that Chen Bingning didn't remember him.

"I am Li Mo, a true disciple of the Lingmu Sect. On behalf of my senior brother Chen, I thank you for your farewell, Fairy."

After Li Mo received three true disciples, the true disciple from the Wind and Fire Sect who came to offer condolences turned out to be an acquaintance.

"Fellow Daoist Li, it's been a long time. Please accept my condolences. I am Yang Gang, a true disciple of the Feng Huo Sect. On behalf of the Feng Huo Sect, I express my deepest condolences and bid you farewell."

Li Mo still vividly remembered this hot-tempered man who had been instigated by the Shenji Sect to confront the disciples of the Shengding Sect in public.

Unexpectedly, the other party also remembered Li Mo.

"Thank you, Fellow Daoist Yang. Senior Uncle Chen in heaven will surely be very pleased."

Chen Kaixuan and Jiang Feiyan, both true disciples of the Lingmu Sect, stood guard in front of the mourning hall. Chen Kaixuan was already sobbing uncontrollably.

"The living rise up in spirit, the dead rest in peace."

Dongfang Jia looked at Li Mo, and although he was saying something about chasing away Li Mo, his eyes revealed a hint of disdain and mockery. It was obviously because Li Mo had not gone to the Southern Barbarian Land to hunt man-eating monsters on time due to the Sky Bear King, and was therefore being ridiculed by this man.

Li Mo didn't explain further, but simply nodded calmly.

"Thank you."

that's it.

Taking this opportunity, several true disciples of the Great Qian Kingdom gathered together and instinctively began discussing the war in the Southern Barbarian Lands, all displaying a determination that the Great Qian Kingdom would surely win. At this moment, Dongfang Jia suddenly gave a cold smile.

"With such determination from you all, I, Dongfang Jia, seem to have already seen the day when the Great Qian Kingdom will unify the southern barbarian lands. But I fear that some people are mixed among us, saying one thing and meaning another."

Say it.

Dongfang Jia looked at Li Mo.

"Fellow Daoist Li, ten years ago, before the war broke out, you clearly promised to help us eliminate the man-eating monsters. But you went back on your word. Why is that?"

Everyone looked at Li Mo.

Li Mo narrowed his eyes slightly. At this moment, he was representing the Lingmu Sect, so he could no longer swallow his anger.

"My failure to keep my promise to travel to the Southern Barbarian Lands was due to unforeseen circumstances. Before this, I ventured deep into the territory of the State of Lu and annihilated the descendants of the Sky-Piercing Bear King, thus incurring his bloodline curse. Therefore, I had no choice but to temporarily retreat. Are you satisfied with this answer?"

"What you say is unfounded."

Dongfang Jia clearly wanted to be Li Mo's enemy and publicly expressed his doubts.

Li Mo narrowed his eyes slightly and casually took out a demon core, which was the one he obtained after killing the black bear demon.

"Haha! I can also vouch for Fellow Daoist Li; what he said is true!"

Yang Gang suddenly said this at this moment.

Everyone looked at Yang Gang. He was a man full of masculinity, with a sharp face, high cheekbones, a large beard, vigorous blood and energy, and bright, piercing eyes. However, compared to before, every hair on his beard now exuded a rugged aura.

"Three years ago, I had a battle with Bi Wangchan, a true disciple of the Natural Sect. At that time, my cultivation level was only at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, so I was no match for him. However, I learned something from him: Fellow Daoist Li once entered the territory of Lu Kingdom, participated in the Longevity and Enlightenment Conference, and snatched a Rainbow Bird in front of the ten true disciples of Lu Kingdom."

"what?"

"Rainbow Bird?"

"Is this true?"

Upon hearing this, everyone looked surprised.

At this time.

Chen Bingning also suddenly spoke up, looking at Li Mo with a surprised expression.

"In that case, I can also testify for Fellow Daoist Li that the reason why our sect's Grand Elder used the supreme treasure, the Tongtian Ice River Tower, to suppress and kill the Southern Barbarian Sky-Piercing Bear King eight years ago was at the request of Senior Chen Shouyi before his death. It seems that an important disciple of the Lingmu Sect offended this bear king. At the time, we thought it was Chen Kaixuan. Considering that we were once one family hundreds of years ago, we finally launched a plan to exterminate that bear king."

Upon hearing this, Li Mo finally understood the whole story.

This is likely a deliberate attempt by the sect to confuse the situation, hoping that the Xuanbing Sect will act out of consideration for past relationships.

He suddenly thought of a possibility: could Chen Shouyi's death be related to this matter? Could that Sky Bear King really have some hidden tricks up its sleeve and have been secretly investigating all these years?

Just as Dongfang Jia's questions were answered and Li Mo was lost in thought, a Lingmu Sect disciple rushed over in a panic.

"Oh no! Oh no! Oh no!"

The memorial service was drawing to a close, and everyone turned to look at the man.

Lu Qi snorted coldly, about to step forward and reprimand the man for losing his composure and being impolite in front of everyone, when he saw the man suddenly stop, look behind Lu Qi with a cold smile, and then blood flowed from his seven orifices, and his body rapidly melted away.

"Li Mo of the Spirit Eye Sect, I have a blood feud with you, and today I will make you pay for it in blood!"

Say it.

He died so mysteriously, leaving everyone dumbfounded.

After Lu Qi stepped forward to examine the body, his expression immediately turned serious.

"He was transformed into a puppet after being refined by human blood and brought here."

People nearby all looked at Li Mo. Dongfang Jia looked embarrassed, and he was just as gloomy as Li Mo, almost to the point of being dripping with water.

“Let me pay for my blood debt. That bear king is indeed not completely dead. It seems that Uncle Chen’s death is most likely related to this bear king.”

"Humph!"

Sima Fu snorted coldly.

"Since they haven't all died, then let's find a way to kill them all. How dare you threaten our sect's true disciples here? You're truly courting death. I'd like to see what you can do to our sect's true disciples!"

Say it.

At Sima Fu's command, the pursuit would continue.

Upon hearing this, although everyone was heavy-hearted, they still continued the memorial service. Lu Qi, Wei Cang, and Jiang Feiyan all stepped forward to comfort Li Mo.

"Junior brother, from now on, you must not go anywhere. Stay in the sect and see what it can do!"

"Yes, junior brother, with our sect's protective formation in place, even a transformed demon king would only face certain death, let alone the fact that it's most likely just an avatar..."

Lu Qi was about to say something when he suddenly stopped.

Kang Lie, the head of the Special Operations Hall, and Chen Kaixuan, the deputy head, both changed their expressions at the same time and hurriedly came to Sima Fu's side.

"what!!!"

After Sima Fu was furious, he gasped and his face turned extremely ugly. Li Mo also showed an expression of disbelief after hearing the news.

The city of Bai'an was subjected to a massacre!

Not only him, but even Dou Chi, who probably had some idea, never dreamed that the demon king would be so incredibly crazy. Its target was not Hua'an Town at all, but Bai'an City, where Li Mo had lived for a long time. It was truly insane and unscrupulous!
Its revenge was not because of any offspring, but because its original body was killed. After years of secret investigation, it finally understood why Chen Youyou had killed it.

Even at its peak, the Sky Bear King could not contend with the Ice Goddess, let alone now that its magical power has been greatly diminished and its cultivation has regressed to the level of a Lesser Demon King.

Unable to target the Ice Goddess or kill Li Mo, who was hiding in Qingming Mountain, the Sky Bear King vented his anger on Bai'an City, where he had lived for many years.

"It actually!!"

Li Mo felt a chill in his heart; he refused to believe it was true.

Dongfang Jia stared at Li Mo in disbelief, all traces of his previous arrogance gone.

This astonishing turn of events left him bewildered and unable to believe that it was all real.

(End of this chapter)