Chapter 101: Chapter 101 I’m more than competent

Li Zhuang and the other cultivators only stayed in the Calligraphy and Painting Hall to recover for three days before they each left the courtyard.

Once their figures disappeared into the thick fog, they naturally returned to their posts in various buildings, waiting for Tian Changwen’s next move.

Li Mo opted to continue his secluded cultivation; his Mist Fog Spiritual Power was already close to fully filling his Dantian.

But before he could complete a few Circulation Cycles, new buildings appeared at the gate of the Calligraphy and Painting Hall, accompanied by over ten injured cultivators.

The cultivators were all at most at the Childhood stage, and their injuries were far less severe than those of Li Zhuang and the others.

Li Mo sighed softly.

It seemed earning Contribution Points was no easy task. Tian Changwen had sent Childhood Cultivators here, most likely still doubting his medical skills. Later, he would probably assign him to treat Weak Crown Stage Practitioners.

"Senior Shanhai, I’ll trouble you."

The newcomers looked at Li Mo with a mixture of tension and fear, worried he might fly into a rage and take their lives as a mere outlet for his anger.

"Are you all from Pear Garden?"

"No, we’re from Cai Market, but Manager Xu Hu forbade us from revealing specifics."

The cultivators mostly had laceration wounds, distinct from the burns experienced in Pear Garden. It seemed Tian Changwen was simultaneously probing into the Beast Calamity at Cai Market.

"Come closer."

Li Mo rubbed his chin without saying much more. His Eight-Armed Spine Nerve moved in a dizzying display, extracting the impure Spiritual Power from the wounds and stitching flesh back together.

When their injuries were treated, the cultivators fled the Calligraphy and Painting Hall in a panic, as if escaping with their lives.

Li Mo could only shake his head helplessly.

He simply sat cross-legged in the courtyard and prepared himself. Whenever wounded individuals arrived, he allocated part of his focus to performing surgeries while taking the opportunity to gather intelligence.

During this period, the Calligraphy and Painting Hall remained in motion.

Through the Poison Bees, Li Mo could sense that the Hall seemed to be moving closer to the Pear Garden.

Perhaps because his medical expertise had won Tian Changwen’s approval, the Contribution Points for treating Childhood-stage practitioners were increased to twenty-five, while for Weak Crown Practitioners, they were fifty.

It was said that taming one soul required an enormous amount of time, but exchanging for Corpse Oil Wax was now within sight.

When Li Mo opened his eyes, he could faintly see the Pear Garden in the distance, where a lush banyan tree stood beside the opera stage.

Dong! Dong! Dong!

The heavy sounds resonated from within the Pear Garden.

Evidently, Tian Changwen had concentrated his main offensive efforts on the Pear Garden.

It was likely that Core Formation Stage cultivators had already entered the Pear Garden to subdue the Piglet Beast, striving to resolve the Beast Calamity as quickly as possible.

The Calligraphy and Painting Hall stabilized about a hundred meters outside the Pear Garden.

Li Mo exhaled lightly.

He noticed that there were over ten buildings positioned methodically around the Pear Garden, with Weak Crown Practitioners stationed at each. None of them dared to make a sound, fearing they might invite unnecessary trouble.

The arrival of the Calligraphy and Painting Hall caused no stir whatsoever.

Li Mo immediately discerned Tian Changwen’s arrangement—setting the pieces like a cage with the trapped beast thrashing within the Pear Garden at the center.

This tactic prevented Puppet Cultivators from interfering with their efforts to resolve the Beast Calamity while making it easier to provide support.

Although Beast Cultivators seemed to hold the upper hand, upon careful consideration, if he were Shi Ji, Li Mo might simply go with the flow and let the Pear Garden be taken.

After all, there were over ten Inner Sect Beasts; even if Tian Changwen succeeded in subduing the Piglet Beast, it wouldn’t necessarily put the Puppet Cultivators at a disadvantage.

If the Pear Garden couldn’t be taken swiftly, it would mean Tian Changwen was wasting a significant amount of manpower.

Li Mo’s expression grew serious. He realized he had to prove his value as much as possible to avoid being discarded as an expendable pawn by Tian Changwen.

"Medical skills and Artifact Refining alone aren’t enough—I need to show him my potential..."

The Outer Door Competition had just begun, and the fierce contention among Core Formation Stage cultivators was already this intense. It was hard to imagine how it would conclude.

In past competitions, the Outer Door Competition typically lasted only about ten days.

This time, however, the competition, which determined the future trajectory of the Heart Beast Sect, was going to cause the Beast Calamity to fester for at least five years, no matter the cost to Tian Changwen.

Li Mo couldn’t help but glance toward the Pear Garden.

The Pear Garden was filled with exceptionally dense Muddy Sound Spirit Power.

With just a brief gaze, he began to hear a strange, inexplicable singing in his ears. The tone was neither male nor female, sometimes gentle and sweet, sometimes venomous and resentful.

"High peaks layered with green, people come and go,

Amid azure mountains and emerald rivers, joy does overflow.

Climbing the ridge to rest a while,

The breeze caresses, the flowers beguile..."

Li Mo shivered; the voice seemed to drill its way directly into his brain.

Fortunately, with his Divine Skill, Brain God No Orifice, he quickly broke free from the influence of the Muddy Sound Spirit Power, though he was still taken aback by the Piglet Beast’s abilities.

It was possible the burn-like injuries on the cultivators were caused by this—a distorted perception caused by the Muddy Sound Spirit Power tricking their brains into believing they were in extreme heat, leading their flesh to naturally incinerate itself.

Before Li Mo could delve further, An Gang emerged from the dense fog and approached the Calligraphy and Painting Hall.

He didn’t immediately step inside. Instead, he waited outside for a moment, frowning thoughtfully, muttering to himself under his breath.

Not long after, a squad of constables surged out from the side gate of the Pear Garden.

They were carrying severely injured Weak Crown Practitioners, many of whose wounds were caused by high-temperature burns, and some were already showing signs of widespread ulceration.

An Gang seemed hesitant to speak.

Although Tian Changwen had instructed the Government Office to hand over the injured to Li Mo, An Gang still didn’t believe Li Mo had the capability to treat Weak Crown Practitioners.

In the days Li Mo had spent in the Medical Hall, hadn’t he only dealt with Childhood-stage cultivators?

No sooner had the constables carried the injured into the courtyard than Li Mo took proactive command with his Eight-Armed Spine Nerve, ignoring An Gang’s attempt to speak.

"Li Mo, be careful..."

Li Mo completely disregarded An Gang, skillfully replacing necrotic bones, regenerating flesh, and extracting the Muddy Sound Spirit Power from the wounds.

In just a few minutes, he had completely treated one individual.

"...Thank you..."

An Gang managed to choke out four words after a long pause, hiding his face with an embarrassed smile.

Who would have thought that Li Mo’s medical prowess was no less impressive than his Artifact Refining skills?

Waving for the constables to leave, An Gang then pulled resources out of his Storage Bag—supplies useful for surgical procedures made of various spiritual materials.

Li Mo accepted them with delight.

"Chief An, what’s the situation in the Pear Garden now?"

"The Piglet Beast is extremely troublesome. When cultivators hear its singing, their consciousnesses sink into multiple layers of illusions."

While handing over the spiritual materials, An Gang murmured, "Hu Wen has been inside the Pear Garden for quite a while. He should nearly have broken through the illusions."

"Unfortunately, the Magic Artifacts crafted by the pawnshop’s Artifact Refiners aren’t proficient at shielding against illusions. Li Mo, you’ll likely remain preoccupied with surgeries. Otherwise, we could send another batch of Weak Crown Practitioners inside."

"Mid-grade Magic Artifact crafting? Can I earn Contribution Points for it?"

"Of course. Five Mid-grade Magic Artifacts, at two hundred Contribution Points each."

Li Mo chuckled slyly and turned to counter, "Busy? Chief An, since when have you seen me busy? Isn’t this effortless for me?"

As he spoke, he pulled out temporary arms and transplanted two additional pairs beneath his ribs.

Under An Gang’s complicated gaze, Li Mo demonstrated his multi-tasking talent, controlling fourteen arms simultaneously to handle both surgeries and Artifact Refining.

"Truly worthy of the Innate Taoist Body."

Not daring to disturb Li Mo further, An Gang left two constables behind to assist before departing the courtyard.

Li Mo didn’t aim for exceptional quality in the Magic Artifacts, resulting in most of them being third-tier refinements. However, they were sufficient to be effective in the Pear Garden, potentially altering the situation there.

Whenever his Spiritual Power was depleted, he closed his eyes to restore his cultivation.

Each time his Mist Fog Spiritual Power was drained, he would progress slightly, steadily approaching the Weak Crown Middle Stage. It wouldn’t be long before his Dantian was completely filled.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The Calligraphy and Painting Hall began to move again, but not to retreat from Pear Garden; rather, it shifted to an even better position.

Nearby, the heavily guarded Government Office could be seen, evidence that Tian Changwen had silently elevated Li Mo’s importance to a new level.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by lotustale.com