The road is vague

Chapter 423 Many Changes
"Junior Brother Zhou, come with me."

After Li Mo followed all the procedures and recorded his information with the military, Lu Qi immediately extended an invitation to him.

"it is good."

Just as the Thousand-Faced King and Princess Dai were about to follow Li Mo, Lu Qi added another sentence.

"Han Mu, why don't you entertain these two guests?"

"Yes."

Han Mu gestured to the Thousand-Faced King and Princess Dai.

Seeing this, Li Mo gestured with his eyes for the two to wait for him. Then he followed Lu Qi to a nearby cliff. In addition to the temporary cave dwellings carved out by Nascent Soul cultivators, there were also many temporary cave dwellings of Golden Core cultivators. Now, every inch of land was incredibly valuable.

“Junior Brother Zhou, now that it’s just the two of us here, you don’t need to hold back anymore. You can speak your mind directly. What’s going on with those two great demons? Also, Junior Brother’s cultivation speed… is just too astonishing.”

Lu Qi's calm words carried a hint of pressure.

After sitting quietly for a long time, Li Mo suddenly looked up at Lu Qi.

"master."

"kindness?"

Lu Qi frowned and said, "Junior Brother Zhou, are you perhaps drunk? I..."

However, Lu Qi had only spoken halfway when Li Mo removed the Demon Shadow Mask, revealing his true identity and his late-stage Golden Core cultivation. Lu Qi's pupils shrank drastically as he looked at Li Mo with disbelief.

"Li Mo!?"

"master……"

Li Mo burst into tears and immediately performed the rites of worship.

"This, this, this..."

Even Lu Qi was thrown into turmoil upon seeing this, staring at Li Mo for a long time in disbelief. It wasn't until Li Mo recounted how he had been hunted down by the King of Assassins of the Seventh Head Organization, fled to a foreign land to hide, achieved success in his cultivation, completed the imperial court's mission in the wasteland of Lingdong, and brought Zhou Zheng back using a sealing technique, preparing to use a "golden cicada shedding its shell" move, and revealing his plan to take revenge.

As Li Mo recounted his story, nearly half an hour passed, and Lu Qi remained silent, listening attentively to Li Mo's experiences and revenge plan.

"The first seven elders, the king of assassins!"

After muttering something with a fierce expression, Lu Qi quickly calmed down.

"This person is a descendant of a great demon. Although he is only at the mid-Nascent Soul stage, his abilities are extremely special. He is good at concealment. If you want to take revenge on him, in my opinion, you must advance to the Nascent Soul stage and use your fully developed True Spirit Eye to completely restrain him. Otherwise, if you rely on this mask alone and fail, the consequences will be unimaginable."

What Lu Qi said was exactly what Li Mo was worried about.

"When he assassinated you, it was ostensibly because you were being retaliated against by that Sky-Piercing Bear King. Without clear evidence, you couldn't prosecute him. As for your talk of seeking revenge, don't forget that this is the Great Qian Kingdom. Not to mention his status as the Seventh Elder, a second-rank official in the imperial court, killing him would surely cause a stir in the court. Even the endless assassins from the Seventh Organization would be a troublesome matter. In my opinion..."

Lu Qi paused at this point.

"You'd better find his adversary and resolve the matter quietly through political struggle."

Li Mo was only willing to invest heavily in cultivating the "Dark Thunder Heavenly Book" because he considered the other party's official position. Otherwise, if he killed the other party, he would have no choice but to leave this place forever, which was not the outcome he wanted.

However, Lu Qi's words at this moment made Li Mo seem to be thinking.

"Political struggle?"

Then he thought of someone. It was this person who had brought trouble to him. Otherwise, how could he have attracted the attention of the Seventh Day Organization?
"Disciple knows."

"Hmph, but regardless, the Lingmu Sect has gained another Nascent Soul cultivator on the surface. Although the Lingmu Sect has escaped the crisis of annihilation, its situation remains relatively difficult. Tomorrow, you should still come with me as Zhou Zheng and interact more with the fellow Daoists here. Oh, by the way, you don't know this, do you? Just three years ago, Chewu Kingdom announced its joining the Great Qian Dynasty, becoming the seventh sect in the eastern part of the Great Qian. Also, thirty years ago, the Nine Nether Sect was established in the western part of the Great Qian. Its disciples are famous for their Netherworld magic and teleportation technology, and they have begun to constantly try to go to various battlefields to collect and refine Nine Nether Soul Stones. This is related to the skills you offered back then, and it is very likely that the royal family is behind it..."

It was clear that Lu Qi was in a very good mood, and he said a lot in one breath.

Li Mo couldn't help but show surprise when he heard that the Great Qian Kingdom had suddenly gained two more major sects.

the next day.

Li Mo followed Lu Qi and had a small gathering with more than a dozen Nascent Soul cultivators from the Jianmen Mountain military headquarters.

These are all early-stage Nascent Soul cultivators, some of whom even come from the Imperial Six Doors. It's clear that Lu Qi holds a high position here and has obviously achieved some success.

Even so, the true leaders of Jianmen Mountain Fortress were those in the mid-to-late stages of the Nascent Soul realm.

It could even be said that it was just three or four people, led by the Ice Goddess Chen Youyou.

"I wonder what your Daoist name is, Fellow Daoist Zhou? We hope to have more exchanges in the future."

Everyone looked at Li Mo.

A monk's Taoist title will reflect the order he has mastered, and thus reveal his special abilities.

Once cultivators reach the Nascent Soul stage, they no longer need complex mid- to high-level spells, making their combat more direct. They often simply combine their existing powers and supernatural abilities with various magical treasures.

The more essential it is, the more powerful it is.

Li Mo smiled slightly.

"I am truly sorry, but I only recently advanced in a remote and foreign land. The order of heaven and earth, the customs and traditions there are completely different from those in the Central Plains. I have not yet been able to accurately determine my Dao title."

Those who heard this all looked surprised.

Upon learning that Li Mo had returned from Lingdong, they became even more enthusiastic, inquiring about the situation in that remote and desolate land. When they learned that the Hundred Clans of the Misty Land were also waging a war led by the Spirit Transformation Demon King, they exclaimed in surprise, revealing expressions of disbelief.

Next.

Li Mo then exchanged words with the people in the military camp.

There were over two hundred people at the gathering, all of them Foundation Establishment and Golden Core cultivators. Li Mo recognized some of them, but the vast majority were relatively unfamiliar to him. Everyone showed great enthusiasm for this newly promoted Nascent Soul cultivator from their sect.

During the conversation, Li Mo learned that some of his old acquaintances had already advanced to the Golden Core stage and had a promising future. He couldn't help but smile slightly. Then, after learning that Ye Shoutian had failed to advance to the Nascent Soul stage ten years ago, he showed some worry and regret.

The reason for his concern is that he himself has not yet truly advanced to the Nascent Soul stage.

The regret stems from the fact that the other party was once the number one Golden Core cultivator in the sect, known as an inspirational example of late-blooming talent. Moreover, he had a perfect cultivation partner, Bai Jingjing, who was his wife. They had twin sons, Ye Yifang and Ye Zhimei, who were both promoted to Golden Core and were proficient in the art of combined attacks.

"It's a pity."

After feeling regretful, Li Mo noticed Yang Zhiman, who was sitting in the corner with a gloomy expression, staring at him absentmindedly, seemingly lost in thought. Li Mo couldn't help but find it amusing.

that's it.

The news that Lingmu Sect had produced its third Nascent Soul cultivator quickly spread to everyone.

Next.

After returning to Lingmu Sect from the Southern Barbarian Lands, Li Mo secretly visited Master Danqing and told him about Lu Qi's letter and the whole story. He then released Zhou Zheng from the sealing spell.

"what……"

Zhou Zheng remained weak and exhausted, with localized sand-like stains on his face and arms from the storm of death.

"Zhou Zheng, we have returned to our sect. This is the current fourth-generation sect leader. Why don't you pay your respects to the sect leader?"

After a while.

He finally snapped out of his daze and realized the extent of his surroundings.

"Disciple Zhou Zheng greets the Sect Leader!"

Sima Fu, the master of painting, held a whisk and let out a sigh.

"You've really suffered, being left to wander for so many years. Our sect has let you down. Don't stand there yet, quickly go to the spiritual spring to wash away the sand and dust, lest it leave any lasting effects. Also, don't worry, our sect has kept track of your salary over the years. Furthermore, to make up for the losses, you will be given priority in being considered as the next generation of true disciples..."

Putting everything else aside, as the sect leader, Sima Fu was naturally quite adept at winning people over on the surface.

With tears in his eyes, Zhou Zheng nodded repeatedly, quickly accepting the new sect leader.

Next, Li Mo can slip away unnoticed and begin his next mission under a new identity. Zhou Zheng, under Sima Fu's arrangement, will try his best to stay in seclusion within the sect while occasionally showing his face to provide cover for Li Mo.

After leaving Danqing Zhenren's cave, Li Mo looked up at the Qingling Divine Tree.

The Thousand-Faced King and Princess Dai revealed their true forms and rested on the divine tree, which seemed to have a special attraction for all kinds of spirit birds.

Li Mo then returned to his cave.

The bamboo has already been transplanted to the Alchemy Hall's Herb Garden, so Li Mo doesn't need to worry.

He opened the flag array that had been sealed for many years and saw that the two Bagua spirit-gathering matrix puppets left here were intact. He then used his divine sense to probe the Jianmu tree buried under the cave and confirmed that it was still there. He couldn't help but show a hint of joy on his face.

This broken branch of the divine tree obtained from the Heavenly Realm is truly priceless.

When he advances to the Nascent Soul stage and further improves his puppetry skills, reaching the level of a puppet master, he will attempt to use this as a foundation to refine a puppet life, just like the Soul Bone Master of the Lost Continent.

"Huh, I'm finally back."

The old man yawned, while Little Squeak jumped around in the East Mansion.

"Senior Sister Jiang has advanced to the Golden Core stage and serves as the head of the Special Service Hall. Cao Lingjie has become the new head alchemist of the Alchemy Hall. Niu Wan lived up to expectations and advanced to the Foundation Establishment stage, becoming an alchemist and going to Jingzhou to serve as the head of the sect's alchemy workshop. Lü Cuicui opened a wooden ox and flowing horse workshop in Jingzhou and actually became a business tycoon. Although she did not advance to the Foundation Establishment stage, she has not yet passed away..."

Li Mo needed to conceal his identity and could not meet with his friends, but after learning about Lü Cuicui's whereabouts, his originally calm heart could not help but be stirred up again.

at this time.

hum...

The vast Qingming Mountain suddenly became restless with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

Even Li Mo was taken aback. He quickly realized what was happening, his face first showing astonishment, then disbelief.

"Hiss, someone actually wants to try to break through the Nascent Soul bottleneck at this time!?"

After changing his appearance, he quickly flew out of the cave and, together with thousands of Lingmu Sect disciples, looked up at the spiritual clouds in the sky, which were rapidly gathering into a huge funnel and pouring down onto Qingming Mountain.

The abundant spiritual energy greatly benefits the lower-level disciples.

During this process, Li Mo also seemed to gain some insight, and opened his True Spirit Eye to carefully observe every detail.

About half an hour later.

A soft laugh echoed throughout Qingming Mountain.

"It's done."

Li Mo felt both envy and jealousy.

Judging from the celestial phenomena, it turned out that Qian Jing, the head of the Talisman Making Hall, had successfully advanced to the Nascent Soul stage in one go.

The Golden Core disciples of the sect rushed to offer their congratulations, and True Person Danqing also appeared in time to offer his congratulations, truly a scene of great prosperity.

For the sake of secrecy, Li Mo did not go to offer his congratulations. Instead, he went straight to the Ancestral Hall and began to peruse the relevant classics, secret techniques, and essentials related to advancing to the Nascent Soul stage.

a few days later.

Li Mo, disguised as Li Heiquan, secretly left Qingming Mountain via his sect's teleportation array and headed to Yuancheng in Jingzhou.

(End of this chapter)