Chapter 167: Nine Transformations of the Mortal, Hidden Treasures in the Eyes

"Changchun Pill: consuming it can lock the body's essence and Qi for three years without leakage; for those just entering the Martial Dao, ingesting it can boost their cultivation."

Chen Mo looked at the medicinal pill before him. Placed on the second floor of the secret treasury, it was indeed of little help to him, but it could assist Zhao Yu in her cultivation.

By locking the body's essence and Qi, a Martial Artist would progress faster in both external and internal martial arts.

This type of pill is often used by top-tier noble families or sects to lay a Martial Dao foundation for their next generation of core disciples.

If Zhao Yu were to ingest this pill, it would certainly make her path of Martial Dao cultivation much faster.

Chen Mo did not ask for her to have a high level of cultivation; as long as she could be free of illness and disaster, that would be enough.

Taking this pill, Chen Mo walked into the third floor to retrieve the weapon he had long desired.

The Eight Desolations Halberd was still lying there. This weapon was almost impossible for an Innate Martial Artist to use, and even after so much time, no one had touched it.

Chen Mo's True Qi vibrated, instantly refining the great halberd and mastering the Array upon it.

Only then did he discover that this Array could be adjusted, allowing the weight of the great halberd to be changed between 1,800 catties and 8,800 catties.

This way, he would not have to worry about the weapon becoming inconvenient to use as his strength increased in the future.

Stowing it into his Storage Bag, Chen Mo continued to explore the third floor.

By now, he had discovered that the gates to the Heavenly Son Secret Treasury were already wide open, and he could enter to explore whenever he wished.

However, the items stored in this innermost treasury were not necessarily rarer than those on the third floor.

Chen Mo spent significantly more time browsing the third floor this time.

In the third-floor treasury, he quickly found a Storage Ring.

This was a true Storage Ring; a Martial Artist could use True Qi to refine it and leave a True Qi imprint upon it.

If anyone else wanted to open this ring, they would have to slowly wear down the True Qi imprint left inside by the previous Martial Artist.

Forcing it open would only cause this Storage Ring to self-destruct, and everything stored within would turn to dust.

The space inside the Storage Ring was also far more spacious than that of a Storage Bag.

The one Chen Mo held in his hand was ten zhang wide, five zhang high, and thirty zhang long.

The space of a single Storage Ring far surpassed ten Storage Bags.

After transferring the more precious supplies from his Storage Bag into the Storage Ring one by one, Chen Mo continued to explore the area.

Having taken a general look around and finding nothing else of significant value, he set off to enter the innermost layer of the secret treasury.

The treasures stored here were numerous, precious, and rare, but there was not much he could use himself.

Chen Mo searched carefully and actually found one item; this object was called the Heaven Sealing Talisman.

It had only one function: to forcibly seal off a patch of heaven and earth and disperse the Mirage Sea in that area.

This Talisman could be considered an advanced version of a Protective Talisman, with even more powerful effects.

If Chen Mo had possessed this Talisman for protection while outside Luantian Valley that day, he would not have been dragged into the Mirage Mirror.

If one were to explore the Mirage Sea, carrying this Talisman would undoubtedly be safer.

The reason Chen Mo had not explored the Mirage Sea during this period was that other matters had kept him unable to spare the time.

Now that the Ping Xi Wang was dead and the situation in the Imperial Court had gradually stabilized, he could consider returning to explore other parts of the Mirage Sea.

With his rank and power, he could even mobilize troops to construct a camp.

And he could fully control the number of people in the military camp.

Exploring the Mirage Sea would yield many rewards for himself.

Furthermore, Chen Mo could guess that many generals and officials would soon be sending him gifts one after another.

The position of Grand Tutor was indeed just a nominal title, without any real power.

But the position of General Conquering the West of Great Gan was a real official post; as a new official taking office, there would inevitably be people sending gifts.

This could be considered an unspoken rule of officialdom, and Chen Mo naturally would not refuse it.

After registering the selected items, Chen Mo stowed them into his Storage Bag and strode out of the Palace City.

Upon returning home, the Imperial Court's rewards had arrived one after another, with large wooden crates being carried into the residence one by one.

The robes, crowns, ceremonial regalia, and official seals for the Duke of Pingyang, Grand Tutor, and General Suppressing the West were all being delivered one by one.

In addition, the Ping Xi Wang Fu had also been renovated and bestowed upon Chen Mo.

However, he did not plan to move house for the time being; with only him and Zhao Yu in the household, they could live anywhere.

Among the items bestowed upon him, besides the most basic Blood Essence Stones, there was also a Medicine Garden that produced various rare medicinal herbs, which could assist a Martial Artist's cultivation.

Chen Mo did not fully own this Medicine Garden; it was more like he had received the right to collect taxes from it.

The Medicine Garden was managed by designated personnel on a daily basis, and they would hand over a fixed quantity of medicinal herbs to him every year.

As for the ten manors, they were simply manors where various vegetables, melons, fruits, chickens, ducks, fish, geese, cattle, sheep, and pigs were all being raised.

If Chen Mo wanted to eat something in the future, he would no longer need to buy it; he could just have his own garden supply it.

Furthermore, if the produce from these gardens could not be finished, it could be taken out and sold, which counted as a fixed income.

Zhao Yu arranged for people to store the various rewards one by one, while Chen Mo first sent away the Blood Essence Stones, and immediately afterward, an Imperial Edict was delivered.

"By the grace of the Emperor, it is decreed: Zhao Yu, wife of Chen Mo, Duke of Pingyang, Grand Tutor, and General Conquering the West, is gentle, virtuous, frugal, and exceptionally sharp-witted; she is hereby specially conferred the title of First-Rank Noble Lady!"

Since Chen Mo held a first-rank official position, according to the rules, Zhao Yu's Title of Nobility should also be raised to the first rank.

"This subject's wife accepts the decree." Zhao Yu already held a Title of Nobility, so she could naturally address herself as a subject upon receiving the decree.

Chen Mo then took out silver to reward the Palace Attendant from the palace who had come to convey the Imperial Edict.

Immediately afterward, countless people came to visit to congratulate Chen Mo on his promotion, naturally bringing countless gifts as well.

Most officials were not yet asking him for favors, nor were they under Chen Mo's command; sending gifts now was just in the hope of building a relationship with him so that if they had a request later, it would be easier to visit.

Therefore, the gifts sent were not particularly precious; they were just standard visiting gifts.

As for the many Border Army generals still stationed outside the Capital, they would all be under the jurisdiction of Chen Mo, the General Conquering the West, in the future.

Although the remaining Border Army generals had not rebelled with the Ping Xi Wang that day, they were still worried that Chen Mo would replace them.

They naturally dared not be the least bit careless about this, and hurriedly prepared generous gifts to send over.

Chen Mo followed the trend of the situation; not only did he accept these gifts, but he also encouraged them one by one.

Most of these people were anxious and uneasy when they came to deliver gifts, but seeing Chen Mo accept them, they instead felt at ease.

The officials who came first to pay visits and offer congratulations were endless, and it was not until the afternoon that the number of people gradually began to decrease.

The various gifts, large and small, almost filled the entire residence; Zhao Yu directed the servants to organize and categorize them one by one, and even had to tally up the gift lists and calling cards.

This was an extremely troublesome matter, but fortunately, most of it was handled by servants, and she only needed to verify the accounts when she was free another day.

"How is your Martial Dao cultivation going lately? Have you gained anything?" Chen Mo sat at the table drinking tea, and seeing Zhao Yu walk over, he poured her a cup as well.

"Not bad." Zhao Yu's expression was quite confident; she had not been practicing Martial Dao for long, but her progress was not slow.

She could not be considered a genius, but she could be called a talent of above-average aptitude.

"I have a medicinal pill here; if you eat it, it can increase your cultivation speed." Chen Mo took out the Jade Bottle containing the pill and handed it to her.

Zhao Yu took it and looked at it carefully again and again, "This, it's very expensive, right? Otherwise, you should keep it for yourself."

She shook her head slightly, unwilling to take it; with her current status, she naturally understood that the price of a pill specifically stored in a Jade Bottle could absolutely not be estimated in silver.

With her current Martial Dao cultivation, swallowing such a pill would likely be a bit of a waste; it would be better to save it for Chen Mo to use.

"This is a pill for laying the foundation of Martial Dao; I specifically found it for you. I don't need it for my current cultivation."

Chen Mo opened the Jade Bottle and took out a pill wreathed in vitality.

Seeing this, Zhao Yu did not refuse again; she swallowed the pill, and immediately felt waves of abundant medicinal power.

"Just digest this medicinal power through normal cultivation; there is no need to digest it deliberately." Chen Mo stood to the side, carefully instructing her on how to digest the medicinal power.

What she was absorbing now was only a small portion; the power contained within the pill would mostly lie dormant in her physical body, to be slowly absorbed by her as she went about her daily cultivation.

After finishing the guidance on how she should absorb the medicinal power, the time was already approaching evening; Sun Shouren sent someone to pass on a message that he was hosting a banquet at his home today to celebrate his housewarming.

He had now become an Earl and had also received rewards from the Imperial Court; having a residence in the Inner City, he naturally had to move from the Outer City to live in the Inner City.

Zhao Yu selected another gift from the previous pile of congratulatory gifts, preparing to send it to her foster father to celebrate his housewarming.

At night, there was a joyous banquet; until late at night when the stars could be seen dotting the sky, Mo Hu and others who had not yet married or established a career stayed directly at the residence.

As for Chen Mo, he returned home together with Zhao Yu.

The two of them did not have servants following them on this trip; there were only the two of them.

Chen Mo's face was slightly flushed, still carrying a bit of the smell of wine.

He held Zhao Yu's hand tightly, stepping through the cold moonlight, and walked slowly toward their home.

The two of them did not walk fast, and from time to time they would stop to say some private words and interesting things between a husband and wife.

Returning home, they passed a peaceful night.

The next day, Chen Mo announced that he was going to enter seclusion for cultivation again.

Carrying all the resources accumulated during this period, he walked into the Cultivation Secret Chamber.

Chen Mo had accumulated a lot of cultivation resources this time, among which there were over 1,500 Blood Essence Stones alone.

The bulk was still the reward from the Imperial Court; in addition, when he went to the Huangling a while ago, the various seniors of the Innate Realm also gave him a portion of cultivation resources, and there was also a small portion that was a gift from the officials under him to their superior.

As for the Mirage Spirit, there were not many of these, only a mere twenty or thirty pieces.

In addition, those seniors of the Innate Realm also gave a lot of pills used for cultivating True Qi.

These things were a bit of a waste to use for charging the Transformation Pearl, but he would be able to use them for his own cultivation in the future.

Furthermore, he had previously confiscated the property of the Prince of Pingxi and various officials; although he was not specifically in charge of it, someone would inevitably share the income from the confiscation with him later.

Because this matter was led by him, if he did not take it, none of the officials, big or small, below him would dare to take it.

However, this income would have to wait for a period of time before it could be delivered; confiscating property was a rather cumbersome task, and the assets of the Prince of Pingxi and those officials were scattered all over the world, all of which would take time to be slowly collected and organized.

These matters were currently being handled by officials, big and small, and Chen Mo could just wait peacefully for his share.

Taking the Putan out from his Storage Ring, Chen Mo sat cross-legged.

He skillfully took out the Blood Essence Stones one by one, constantly refining the Qi and Blood power within them.

Finally, after consuming 650 Blood Essence Stones, the Transformation Pearl was finally fully charged again.

Chen Mo sank his mind into his body, gradually adjusting his state.

As the Transformation Pearl was triggered, surging Qi and Blood power poured out from it continuously, like a fountain of Blood Qi rushing into the sky.

Chen Mo's entire body was wreathed in Blood Qi like wolf smoke, shooting straight up to a height of more than ten zhang.

He could sense that this Mortal Transformation was somewhat different from the previous few times; the Blood Qi did not directly merge into his body, but was constantly scouring his physical body, slowly merging into it.

In the process of this constant scouring, his physical body further displayed its miraculous nature.

Red precious light bloomed, and countless blood-colored patterns intertwined within his body, with even more specks of golden light blooming along with these blood-colored precious lights.

His strength was constantly climbing, and Chen Mo guided the boundless Qi and Blood to flow into his Mysterious Aperture, immediately followed by launching an impact on his eyes.

In the Shencang Realm, at this realm, a Martial Artist must open the nine great Shencang to be considered to have completed their cultivation.

Except for the Mysterious Aperture which must be opened, the opening of the other eight great Shencang is entirely decided by the Martial Artist themselves.

Chen Mo decided that the next one to open would be the eye Shencang; once the Divine Eye is cultivated to the extreme, a Martial Artist can observe the nine heavens above and peer into the nine netherworlds below.

The thousands of Heaven and Earth Mechanisms can all be glimpsed by the Divine Eye.

Of course, this is a level that can only be reached by cultivating to the extreme; he is far from being able to do that now.

But even if it is only initially opened, it can still have many peculiar effects.

It can observe Heavenly Luck, observe the changes in Heaven and Earth Wind and water, the flow of earth veins, and break illusions and evil arts.

It can even see the Heaven and Earth Mechanism flowing between heaven and earth, allowing himself to absorb it better and break through to the Innate Third Realm faster.

In addition, the sublimation of the eyes into a Shencang can also allow one to see a clearer world; while this certainly carries risks, judging from the previous situation with the Mirage Mirror, there will also be opportunities.

Boundless Qi and Blood flowed into his eyes, and Chen Mo only felt his eyes being wrapped by streaks of red light.

These lights began to continuously merge into his eyes, causing them to begin to sublimate and undergo Mortal Transformation.

The Heaven and Earth Furnace operated, and the vast Heaven and Earth Power continuously surged into his body, helping him undergo this sublimation and Mortal Transformation.

Seeing this situation, the entire Inner City and even the Palace City were trembling; many Houtian experts clearly remembered that Chen Mo had just broken through not long ago, so how could he suddenly be breaking through again now?

This does not conform to common sense!

Chen Mo was naturally unaware of the situation in the outside world; at this moment, a point of divine light bloomed between his eyes, and streaks of profound Divine Patterns circulated within them.

Looking at the world before him again, he could immediately see many differences.

Above the Palace City, a azure dragon lay dormant, and this azure dragon had a close connection with the Son of Heaven Dharma Sword in his hand, with countless threads intertwined between the two.

As long as Chen Mo was willing, he could use the Son of Heaven Dharma Sword at any time to borrow the power of the azure dragon to bolster his own body.

The Inner City connected with the Palace City, and countless Array patterns guided the trends of Feng Shui and the earth's veins, transforming this place into a Dongtian Fudi.

Because the internal Heavenly Laws of the Heaven and Earth Power between heaven and earth differ, the Heaven and Earth Mechanism manifested externally is also not entirely the same.

Chen Mo certainly could not see through these Heavenly Laws now, but he could roughly categorize them into several attributes based on their external manifestations.

What he could see now was nothing more than the Five Elements and Yin and Yang; as for anything more detailed, it was far beyond what his eyes could clearly perceive at present.

Previously, he relied mainly on his own True Qi to perceive the Heaven and Earth Mechanism when absorbing it.

But now he could directly see the Heaven and Earth Mechanism within, which allowed him to absorb it more carefully so as to break through to the next realm.

This shedding of his mortal body and changing of his bones was, at this point, finished.

Aside from opening the divine storehouse of his eyes, Chen Mo's Qi and Blood strength had also increased.

His physical foundation's Qi and Blood strength increased by over 5,300 jin, while the increase obtained from his cultivation technique was over 15,000.

Currently, the Qi and Blood strength within his body was over 102,000 jin.

In a state of fully stimulating his own Qi and Blood, Chen Mo's full-force strike could unleash 2,000,000 jin of force.

Aside from the increase in strength, his Mysterious Aperture divine storehouse also further improved during this process of Mortal Transformation.

The speed of absorbing and refining Heaven and Earth Power increased by approximately twenty percent compared to before.

The Mortal Transformation ended, and Chen Mo began to refine the remaining Blood Essence Stone and Mirage Spirit.

After this Mortal Transformation, he would need more cultivation resources if he wanted to undergo another one.

Even so, the remaining Blood Essence Stone and Mirage Spirit still charged the Transformation Pearl by more than sixty percent.

At this rate, as long as he waited for a period of time, he should be able to initiate the next Mortal Transformation.

Feeling the abundant Heaven and Earth Power continuously entering his body, Chen Mo took out another medicinal pill, swallowed it, and began to cultivate True Qi, preparing to strike in one go to see if he could break through to the Innate Triple Realm.

(End of this chapter)