The First Immortal of Destiny

Throughout the journey, Shen Mo spent about half his time traveling by riding the Bronze Phoenix Cart, and the other half personally using Escape Skills to quicken his pace.

He always maintained a reserve of sixty percent of his strength to deal with unexpected situations. Once his True Yuan or the state of his soul dropped to this warning level, he would take out the phoenix chariot for transportation!

Thanks to his caution, even in the barren far sea where Spiritual Qi was almost non-existent, he repeatedly stumbled into forbidden lands of Outer Zone Demons and Evil Spirits...

Sometimes, he could avoid them from afar with the warning from his [Chanjue] Destiny.

Sometimes, avoidance was impossible, forcing him to fight with all his might, then use [Sword Escape] to break free from their pursuit!

During this time, he fell into perilous situations several times. Fortunately, Shen Mo was powerful and possessed extraordinary Skills. Each time, he managed to turn danger into safety and escape from peril.

The most dangerous encounter was with a colossal turtle wandering in the Immortal Burial Sea, its Realm at the early-stage of Class VI.

The turtle’s back supported grand cities and magnificent palaces. Although the giant turtle itself, which did not attack Shen Mo, was not an unknown Evil Spirit, the cities and palaces on its back housed countless Outer Zone Demons. These Demons bore a seven-tenths resemblance to humans, and many among them were powerful!

Shen Mo’s sense and [Chanjue] Destiny had just detected the danger when dozens of Class IV Demons swarmed him!

After a series of evasions, maneuvers, chases, and bloody battles, Shen Mo slew six early-stage Class IV humanoid Demons but was also gravely injured. In the end, at the cost of further injury to his soul, he forcibly executed [Sword Escape] multiple times over long distances to finally escape the pursuit of the turtle-backed clan.

Because of this incident, he relied on riding the Bronze Phoenix Cart for the next two months to recover from the injuries to his soul and Dao Body!

It was a testament to his tough vitality and robust soul. Had it been anyone else with similar injuries, they would likely have perished, becoming a delicious meal for those humanoid Demons.

「More than half a year later」

After traveling day and night, Shen Mo finally completed the lengthy journey of nearly twenty million miles.

What appeared before him was an incredibly vast expanse of Spatio-Temporal Turbulence. It stretched to the extreme south and north, severing the connection between the far reaches of the Immortal Burial Sea and the Heaven Patrolling Zone!

Logically, flying continuously south or north should allow one to bypass this dangerous region, filled with spatial rifts and distorted space-time, and enter the Heaven Patrolling Zone from elsewhere.

However, according to the intelligence Yu Yan had provided, the powerhouses of the Heaven Patrolling Zone had attempted this. They found that flying in one direction would only lead them to emerge from another direction years later; they could never find the end of this Spatio-Temporal Turbulence!

Shen Mo had no intention of spending years testing an idea that cultivators in the Heaven Patrolling Zone had already repeatedly verified.

He took the Golden Flowery Realm from his robes, parted the petals, and peered inside.

Flower Fairy Ami was still in cultivation amidst the flowers and pavilions. Her aura, however, had already surged dramatically, and she had successfully advanced to the early-stage of the Class IV Realm.

I wonder what kind of extraordinary existence the Mother Tree of the Flower Fairy clan is? It allowed Ami to step into the Class IV ranks so quickly. Shen Mo mused.

Regarding this, Ami had been evasive and unwilling to disclose details.

However, she did reveal a sliver of information: she had received a ”gift from the Big Moros,” which was related to the Flower Fairy’s Mother Tree.

Whenever the Protectors of the forbidden lands or her clan’s Mother Tree were involved, the usually naive Ami would become incredibly cautious, unwilling to utter another word to Shen Mo.

Shen Mo knew little about the Flower Fairy’s Mother Tree.

But concerning the former—the Protectors—he had gained a vague understanding after performing Soul Search on numerous Outer Zone Demons.

The forbidden land and its Protector shared a symbiotic relationship, one where the downfall of one meant the downfall of the other. Furthermore, upon arriving in a new world, Outer Zone creatures all underwent a gradual adaptation process.

The lower their Cultivation Realm, the faster their adaptation!

Creatures at Class II and Class III, for instance, could move freely in the new world after a short time. By the time of the great war between immortals and demons, even those at the Class IV Realm would have adapted.

However, most Protectors of forbidden lands were Class V powerhouses, and their adaptation process was far longer, likely lasting ten to twenty years, before they could leave their forbidden land.

If they were to leave forcibly, they might be assimilated by this world or erased... Shen Mo speculated.

As for Class VI beings like the Soaring Serpent, Bizarre Dragon, Four-eyed Giant, and City-carrying Turtle, their situation was different. The Soaring Serpent, for instance, had devoured a corner of heaven and earth yet didn’t seem to attract any disaster.

Their power levels had likely reached a point where this world was powerless against them!

Even if beings like the Soaring Serpent and Bizarre Dragon aren’t ’immortals or devils’ in the truest sense, they shouldn’t be far from it.

Perhaps Class VII beings, whose information even the enhanced ”Insight into All Beings” cannot probe, are what the cultivation world considers ’immortals or devils’!

Of course, this was merely Shen Mo’s subjective conjecture.

Without reaching such a realm, even if one is just half a step away, one’s perceptions and thoughts might greatly deviate from reality!

A while ago, I successfully entered the middle-stage of the Golden Core Realm!

As I foresaw, the profound accumulation of the past has been exhausted. The progress of my cultivation in this realm is incredibly slow, almost stagnant.

I hope that after entering the Heaven Patrolling Zone, I can gain all sorts of opportunities to aid in advancing my cultivation level...

While pondering, Shen Mo summoned the Golden Flowery Realm and released Flower Fairy Ami.

”Moro Shen, have we arrived?” Ami flew out from the spirit light, flapped her wings, and landed on Shen Mo’s shoulder. Grabbing his hair, she asked telepathically, her voice a series of soft, child-like sounds.

Shen Mo nodded gently, careful not to dislodge Ami with too large a movement. ”We have. Next, we are about to enter this extremely dangerous Spatio-Temporal Turbulence. We might need to use the Mother Tree leaf in your possession to withstand the spatial rifts and distorted time!”

Although his current combat strength was not inferior to that of an ordinary late-stage Golden Core Realm cultivator, he still felt a degree of apprehension when facing the raw, formidable power of the cosmos.

Fortunately, before her departure, Ami had been gifted a protective leaf from the Mother Tree by a ”Big Moro.” The defensive measures within it had been rearranged and could now withstand a Class V attack.

With this exotic treasure on hand, Shen Mo felt confident enough to plunge headfirst into the Spatio-Temporal Turbulence!

”I know!”

Flower Fairy Ami’s small hand emanated a soft glow. She activated the Golden Flowery Realm, retrieved the Mother Tree leaf hidden within, held it high above her head with both hands, and then flew into Shen Mo’s sleeve.

”Moro Shen, go ahead without worry. Just call my name, and I’ll activate the Mother Tree leaf.”

”Alright!”

Instantly, Shen Mo invoked the True Immortal Magic, morphing into his three-headed, six-armed divine demonic form.

One hand clenched the Demon Slaying Sword, another held up the Green Cloud Umbrella, a third gripped the Soul Refining Flag, and a fourth readied The Big Dipper Array. His remaining two hands were forming the Constellations Palm technique!

At the same time, he also swapped the Destinies in the slots of his Destiny Disc to [Method Eye Candle Wisp] and [Chanjue] Destiny.

As to why he wasn’t equipping the [Indestructible Body] Destiny, which significantly enhanced his physique and vitality, the reason wasn’t hard to guess. Facing spatial rifts and the Spatio-Temporal Turbulence, no matter how tough his physique was, he couldn’t withstand them directly. Using [Indestructible Body] or not would make little difference!

In addition, various Skills that needed to be actively cast were primed, ready to be unleashed at any moment to deal with different situations.

”We’re going in!” Shen Mo reminded Ami, then activated the Bronze Phoenix Cart, plunging headfirst into the Spatio-Temporal Turbulence.