The First Immortal of Destiny

Chapter 594: Chapter 594: Sights in the Rain_1

WHOOSH...

The heavy rain fell in torrents, striking the Green Cloud Umbrella and whipping up waves of luminous ripples.

Even with the True Intention of the ’Cycle of Life and Death’ constantly converting the corrosive toxins in the rain into defensive power, the sheer force of the downpour was overwhelming. Shen Mo had no choice but to intensify his True Yuan infusion to maintain the Green Cloud Umbrella’s power.

The Fleeting Boat had been flying through the tempestuous rain at its top speed for over six Shichen, covering approximately twenty to thirty thousand miles.

However, they had still not escaped the thunderstorm’s range.

As far as the eye could see, purple-black lightning still writhed like crazed serpents in the sky above, and an endless curtain of rain filled their view in all directions.

Along their path, any signs of life—flowers, grass, trees, and the birds, beasts, snakes, and insects of the mountains and wilds—had all perished, corroded into sludge by the rain and seeping into the pitted and pockmarked earth.

Even demonic beasts possessing demonic power were not spared, wailing as they dissolved into pools of mud.

During this journey, they encountered many cultivators, traveling either in groups or alone. Those who hadn’t yet died were desperately struggling to survive the corrosive storm.

Some, spotting the passing Fleeting Boat, were like drowning men grasping at straws. They either sent voice transmissions, begging Lady Scarlet and the others to give them passage, or directly used Escape Skills to charge toward the vessel.

Shen Mo and his companions flatly refused the former. As for those cultivators who tried to board the ship by force, they showed no mercy and killed them all.

On the brink of death, facing annihilation from the onslaught of toxic rain, these people, perhaps their Path Hearts were clouded, had lost their most basic ability to think.

They never stopped to think: if Shen Mo’s group could withstand the corrosive toxic rain and continue onward, how could they possibly be easy targets?

If they had the strength to board the ship by force, they naturally could have survived this toxic downpour. If they couldn’t survive it, then attempting to barge onto the Fleeting Boat with their meager abilities was simply courting death.

The best way to deal with this endless, corrosive toxic rain was to find a cave that could offer shelter, hide inside, and wait for the storm to pass.

Of course, whether they could find one depended on their individual Luck.

The stone and earth of the ancient battlefield of immortals and demons were not as fragile as in the Outer Realm. The rain, which could corrode even a Golden Core Realm Dao Body, only managed to create pits and pockmarks when it fell on the ground.

Even for someone with a Golden Core Realm cultivation, carving out a cave was no easy feat.

A slash of sword Qi or a cast spell would be doing well to gouge out a pit the size of a palm.

If they couldn’t find a natural cave, trying to excavate one by force would consume a tremendous amount of time and energy. It was highly probable that just as they managed to dig a small hole, their True Yuan would be depleted, and they would ultimately die from the corrosive toxic rain.

”Fellow Daoists, I need to replenish my True Yuan. Who can take over shielding us from the toxic rain?”

Shen Mo had consumed a fifth of his internal True Yuan. He estimated that his endurance had almost reached the typical limit for someone at the middle-stage of the Golden Core Realm. Thus, feigning exhaustion, he asked someone else to take over.

This time, he wasn’t intentionally shirking his duty.

Of the other five on the Fleeting Boat, he was only somewhat familiar with Lady Scarlet; he didn’t know Song Han, Fu Jianghuo, or the Peng siblings very well.

During their journey together on the boat, everyone had been preoccupied with their own cultivation and had spoken very little. They were, at best, mere acquaintances.

Besides, he always maintained a degree of vigilance towards Lady Scarlet.

Furthermore, having witnessed the treacherous and unpredictable dangers of the ancient battlefield, he knew a greater peril could appear at any moment. Naturally, he had to conserve some strength to face unforeseen circumstances.

Besides, he was ostensibly only at the middle-stage of the Golden Core Realm. There was no need for him to take on responsibilities beyond his apparent cultivation level for others, thereby exposing his true strength.

It would be one thing if they were appreciative. But if they were ungrateful, he would then have to guard against them turning on him.

”I’ll take over for Fellow Daoist Shen,” Fu Jianghuo stood up and said to Shen Mo.

With that, he retrieved a palm-sized, ancient turtle shell from his robes. After muttering an incantation, he tossed it outward.

The turtle shell expanded in the wind, instantly becoming larger than the Fleeting Boat. Strange, naturally formed runes swirled on its back, vaporizing the downpour of toxic rain into white steam.

From a distance, it looked as if a cloud of mist hovered above the Fleeting Boat, shielding it from the onslaught of toxic rain.

As expected of an Elder from a prominent sect in this region, he indeed has some impressive abilities!

Shen Mo, a flicker of admiration in his eyes, retracted the Green Cloud Umbrella and sat down to one side to restore his True Yuan.

The Spiritual Qi within the ancient battlefield of immortals and demons was already thick with impurities and Turbid Qi. Now, with the corrosive toxic rain filling the heavens, the toxic Demonic Qi was even more rampant, to an appalling degree.

However, Shen Mo possessed the Flawless Skill, which allowed him to expel any Demonic Qi and Turbid Qi, leaving only pure Primal Spirit.

Nevertheless, he didn’t want to reveal too many of his trump cards in front of Fu Jianghuo and the others.

Thus, he chose to consume a Ganoderma Marrow Pill, refining its medicinal properties into Mana to replenish the slightly thinned golden mist around his Golden Core.

Under the erosion of the toxic rain, Fu Jianghuo lasted for about two hours before Song Han, the rogue cultivator from Wangxian Mountain, took over.

Of course, like Shen Mo, he still had some strength in reserve. If he had consumed elixirs while casting spells, he could have held out for much longer. However, Fu Jianghuo also had his own concerns and was naturally unwilling to exhaust his True Yuan and precious Elixirs.

Song Han also endured the toxic rain for a considerable time, just fifteen minutes short of two hours.

Afterward, Lady Scarlet and the others took turns casting spells to shield the Fleeting Boat from the torrential toxic rain.

Witnessing their methods, Shen Mo roughly gauged everyone’s strength.

Excluding himself, among the five Golden Core Realm cultivators on the boat, Fu Jianghuo was the strongest. Lady Scarlet, also at the middle-stage of the Golden Core Realm, was next, followed by Song Han, Peng Lexiao, and Peng Leyao, in that order.

Of course, in a true life-and-death battle, their actual combat prowess could only be known after a real fight.

Even Peng Leyao, the weakest in cultivation, could overwhelm Fu Jianghuo if she possessed a supreme treasure similar to the Mother Tree’s Green Leaf.

The Peng Siblings’ Master had been a highly skilled Forgemaster when alive. Who knew if he had left one or two powerful Spiritual Artifacts for the siblings before he passed away due to lifespan depletion?

Peng Lexiao and Peng Leyao have both reached Grade IV in Forging.

They say their current Forging proficiency is far inferior to their Master’s; that Senior must have been a Grade V or even a Grade VI Forgemaster during his lifetime...

If only he were still alive, I would have the chance to discuss the Forging Path with him! Shen Mo thought to himself.

As he became more familiar with the situation in the Heaven Patrolling Zone, he also learned that the overall level of the Hundred Arts of Cultivation in this domain was a notch higher than in the Red Flame Zone.

However, Grade IV Grandmasters and above were still as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns, coveted wherever they went.

If he could discuss matters with the Peng Siblings’ Master, it would undoubtedly be of great benefit to his own Forging Path.

When it was Shen Mo’s turn to cast spells to shield them from the toxic rain again, a hint of joy appeared on his face as he raised the Green Cloud Umbrella.

His spiritual sense probed the surroundings.

The intensity of the rain had begun to diminish, and a thousand miles ahead, the sky was clear as if freshly washed, without a single drop of toxic rain falling!