Longevity Strange Immortal-Chapter 569 - 3: Losers Bite the Dust, Winners Take All

Chapter 569: Chapter 3: Losers Bite the Dust, Winners Take All

Li Mo’s expression was incredibly complex as he watched the Demon Cultivator Woman walk away.

The Demon Cultivator Woman was merely at the Third Level of Qi Cultivation Stage, and her cultivation technique was an unorthodox path, belonging to the lowest ranks of the Cultivation World.

But since she was able to enter Tao, it was evident that the Demon Sect Skills require very little of one’s Spirit Root.

Her Spirit Root wasn’t much better than Kong Yong’s, yet she successfully entered Tao—it’s eighty percent certain she utilized some extreme sacrificial method involving others.

Zu Xiuyun was willing to place herself in the Canned Immortal just to grasp a glimmer of hope of entering Tao.

"Sigh..."

Li Mo’s thoughts swirled endlessly, and for a moment, he even forgot the purpose of his journey. Numerous doubts in his mind were resolved when he encountered Zu Xiuyun.

Why did he so easily ascend to become one of the Thirteen Immortals upon stepping into True Void Hometown? Perhaps it was due to the senior sister’s command to the other sisters.

When Li Mo first met Zu Xiuyun, she greeted, "Long time no see."

He had thought this was because they had crossed paths in True Void Hometown. But now it seemed that the two of them already knew each other back in the ancient Cultivation World.

Perhaps even...

The master of the Thirteen Immortals, "No-Life Mother," might also have been... himself.

Li Mo suddenly realized why the Immortal Bodies revealed by the various senior sisters felt so familiar—they had an inseparable connection with his Ten Thousand Sword Immortal Bone.

If he chose to assist Zu Xiuyun, in the future, it would inevitably tie him to the other Innate Immortal Seeds.

After the sisters live out their third lives, Li Mo would likely help them complete their Immortal Bodies, and their ascension to the Immortal Realm was perhaps part of his own schemes.

"Hahaha..."

Li Mo held a segment of Jianmu’s branch in his hands.

"If I can achieve Immortality through the Three Dharma Bodies, maturing the twelve Jianmu trees using the obtained Innate Essence should not pose a significant problem—everything has traces to follow."

Li Mo’s expression turned confused; for the first time since entering Tao, a crack appeared in his Tao Heart.

"Could it be that the future cannot be altered?"

Crack, crack, crack.

Cracks began spreading across Li Mo’s physical body; from those cracks extended wriggling blood vessels—a clear precursor to entering Deviation.

The Mountain Continent Taoist was lying not far off, his limbs ensnared by blood vessels that were slowly dragging him toward Li Mo.

At that moment...

Li Mo’s pupils abruptly shrank, and at the instant he was about to lose control, all memories regarding the Twelve Immortals were wiped from his mind—even the feedback from the Creation Book became distorted.

[Zu Xiuyun died over ten thousand years ago during the destruction of Huangde City, where a monstrous demon emerged.]

"Wait."

Li Mo forcefully suppressed distracting thoughts as the mutation in his physical body gradually receded. The memories of the Twelve Immortals returned to their original trajectory—Zu Xiuyun had not died prematurely.

"If I allow myself to lose control, Zu Xiuyun is bound to die in Huangde City. Without her existence, there would be no future No-Life Sect nor the Twelve Immortals."

"The future can be changed."

The Spirit Root Worm entwining Li Mo lashed out, penetrating the body of a patrolling government official.

Under the Spirit Root Worm’s influence, the official instinctively sensed the sinister aura of the Canned Immortal. His gaze filled with terror as he fixed his eyes on the Demon Cultivator Woman, his hands trembling.

"There’s... there’s a demon in Huangde City! No, I must inform the town’s guardians immediately; otherwise, calamity will surely ensue."

Li Mo watched as the official frantically fled, his memories shifting once again.

In these memories, Zu Xiuyun still rose to prominence. However, she did not complete the Twelve Sayings, which resulted in the absence of four senior sisters among the Twelve Immortals.

Facts proved that Li Mo’s actions could easily alter the future.

"What would happen if I erased Zu Xiuyun’s existence? Or chose not to assist her?"

Li Mo quickly calculated, and conclusions came swiftly.

The presence of the Twelve Immortals would not affect the great trend of the future, except that during the second catastrophic upheaval, the number of ascendants to the Immortal Realm would decrease sharply.

"Can I prevent the outbreak of the second upheaval by interfering in ancient times, using tens of thousands of mortal cultivators to set up the groundwork?"

Li Mo once heard of a theory: when a butterfly flaps its wings unintentionally, it may cause a storm thousands of miles away.

The calculations continued.

Without the Corpse Dog Soul communicating with the Spirit Root Worm, Li Mo’s Divine Sense wouldn’t be able to access Xia Dao Palace.

After a moment, the Corpse Dog Soul dimmed significantly before Li Mo stopped his calculations, concluding that the upheaval of heaven and earth was destined to happen.

The reason lay in some unknown existence at its root, making the calamity unshakable.

"It seems I am destined to come to these ancient times as well."

Even if the Twelve Immortals didn’t exist, the future Li Mo would inevitably use the Heavenly Dao Page to face the upheaval anyway, forming a closed loop.

"The future is still unknown, but in a certain sense, I am already situated at the perspective of the player, playing a game against the upheaval of heaven and earth."

Li Mo’s gaze grew increasingly deep as he took three steps forward and caught up to the government official, erasing his memory.

The future returned to its proper trajectory.

If any cultivator could see Li Mo’s detached soul, they would notice that his expression was incomparably subtle, muttering incessantly to himself.

"Twelve Immortals, Chunyangzi, Creation Sect, Immortal Realm, No-Life Mother..."

"In the future I experienced, Li Mo should have successfully attained Immortality, with Zu Xiuyun’s various senior sisters guiding me to the Ancestor Court."

"But that’s far from enough..."

"Come, come."

Li Mo raised his head toward the skies, seemingly holding a silent confrontation with the impending unnameable force. A grim, ferocious smile appeared at the corner of his lips.

"I will play a game against you with the body of a mortal. Since the arrival of the two upheavals cannot be changed, I will wager my bet on the future."

Li Mo burst into loud laughter, "Losers eat dust, winners claim everything."

He stepped beside the Demon Cultivator Woman, who was putting on a show with her spells in public, masquerading as a newly initiated cultivator.

Demon Sect loose cultivators typically lack talent and qualification; to reach the Foundation Establishment stage, external aid was essential.

The woman likely had her eye on a certain wealthy official, scheming to infiltrate the household and slowly exploit them.

Li Mo ignored the woman as the Corpse Dog Soul infiltrated Zu Xiuyun’s Mud Pill Palace, noticing that her Soul Loss remained unresolved.

The obsession with attaining Immortality was rooted deeply in Zu Xiuyun’s consciousness, rendering even the Bodhi Fruit useless.

Perhaps, only when she glimpses true hope can her fragmented soul gradually heal, becoming the calm yet mad senior sister she is meant to be.

The image of Zu Xiuyun within the Mud Pill Palace remained that of her childhood self, A Xiu.

She muttered to herself, "Slight buy, Ji Benggong, back shell, six taels of yellow lotus powder, three parts gold and one part tin, back attached to the myriad..."

"A Xiu."

"A Xiu, A Xiu."

Li Mo interrupted Zu Xiuyun, causing her to snap to attention.

As Zu Xiuyun saw Li Mo, her expression transitioned from perplexity to ecstatic joy, "Immortal, have you come to enlighten me to achieve Immortality?" 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

"I have indeed come to enlighten you, but it’s not yet time for Immortality."

Li Mo squatted beside Zu Xiuyun, allowing the Bodhi Fruit to nourish her soul—a side effect that incidentally increased her Spirit Root’s quality.

"A Xiu, what was your original name?"

"Originally, it was Tong Axiu. My... my master gave me the name Zu Xiuyun, which is very similar to the names of the other senior sisters who came before me."

The Canned Immortal, as a Magic Artifact, couldn’t even qualify as Low Grade. Successfully trapping a living soul inside required at least seventy or eighty attempts.

"Zu Xiuyun—it’s a good name."

"And you, Immortal?" Zu Xiuyun behaved like the seven or eight-year-old girl she once was, evidence that confinement inside the Canned Immortal had caused her Spiritual Wisdom to stagnate.

"Li Mo."

Li Mo shook his head, smiling.

He could indeed choose not to enlighten Zu Xiuyun—any individual could achieve great heights with his support. Yet, enlightening Zu Xiuyun greatly reduced unnecessary variables.

The most critical factor was that Li Mo had already discerned how to break the deadlock; the key did not lie with the Twelve Immortals and certainly not with himself.

"Immortal, what must I do to achieve Immortality?"

"I cannot demand it of you—follow your heart. If there’s ever a day when you’re lost or uncertain, I’ll seek you out myself."

"Immortal..."

Zu Xiuyun feared Li Mo was merely an illusionary dream and desperately clung to his sleeve.

Li Mo’s thoughts stirred as countless cancer cells burrowed into the Canned Immortal, mixed with traces of the Spider Sword Orb.

The Immortal touches my crown; hair falls, granting Longevity.

"This is a transformation of body and soul; since you desire Immortality, you must endure the trials of the mortal realm."

"Immortal, I can do it!"

Under the surgical modification, Zu Xiuyun’s body began to transform.

The damage inflicted by the Demon Sect skills was being restored under the nourishment of the Innate Essence.

Zu Xiuyun struggled against the excruciating pain wracking her body and soul but didn’t dare to waste this opportunity, enduring the torment without a sound.

Boom.

The surface of the Canned Immortal began to crack and spread.

The woman’s expression froze.

The surrounding crowd sneered mockingly, "Divine Woman, didn’t you say this was a summoning altar? Where are the immortal gods? It’s just junk at best."

"I saw spiders crawling into the jar earlier—maybe the immortal gods got hungry?"

The crowd erupted into laughter as a glimmer of malice gleamed in the Demon Cultivator Woman’s eyes.

Laugh all you want—once I’ve sacrificed Landlord Li’s entire family in blood, I’ll come for each of you, extracting your souls to fuel my lamp.

The woman plastered a fake smile, "The immortals only need to turn slightly for the divine jar to tremble."

"Oh my! Are the immortals coming?!"

Although her tactics were fear-inducing, the cracks in the divine jar continued to expand instead of abating.

"Summon the immortals!!"

She performed multiple spells consecutively, yet Zu Xiuyun remained unresponsive.

In a panic, she lowered her mouth to the jar’s opening and whispered softly, "My good disciple, do you still wish to achieve Immortality? Listen to me—you will only attain Immortality by obeying me."

"Heh..."

A chilling chuckle emanated from the jar.

The woman’s face lit with joy—so long as Zu Xiuyun wasn’t dead, there would still be opportunities to refine the Magic Artifact.

"Master."

A hand emerged from the Canned Immortal, gripping the woman’s neck.

She lacked the time to react; her fingers frantically tried to pry open Zu Xiuyun’s grip, only to hear the sound of her spine twisting under unbearable pressure.

Her neck snapped as blood streamed from her mouth and nose, eliciting ear-piercing screeches from the horrified crowd.

Just as the constables rushed to the street, the Canned Immortal shattered completely. Amid the Spirit Root Worm’s concealment, Zu Xiuyun vanished into the crowd.

Li Mo gazed at Zu Xiuyun.

The senior sister’s incomplete Innate Taoist Body, [Evil Demon Entering the Brain], had fully restored itself after a simple surgical modification.

Her Spirit Root had advanced to Dual Spirit Roots, and her Soul Loss was completely healed.

Li Mo imparted an ancient cultivation technique grounded in moderation and endowed her with some resources—adequate to allow the senior sister’s cultivation to reach the Foundation Establishment Stage.

If it weren’t for the limited resources extractable through the Corpse Dog Soul, he wouldn’t have been so miserly.

"May everything go smoothly."