The First Immortal of Destiny

Chapter 612: Chapter 612: Yang Chengxiong Raises the Banner_1

HUM!

A swift Sword Light shot out from the volcanic crater, pierced through the poisonous smoke and fire that enveloped the sky, and soared into the distance.

In the blink of an eye, it had flown a hundred li. Only then did the sword’s momentum dissipate, the Sword Light dimming to reveal the Demon Slaying Sword concealed within.

The space around the sword’s body twisted slightly. Shen Mo materialized out of thin air, reaching out to grasp the magic sword.

The burden on my soul has reached its limit... If I continue to forcibly use [Sword Escape], I’m afraid it will completely tear, leading to my death and my soul’s dissipation!

A hint of pain flickered across Shen Mo’s face. He hurriedly took out an Elixir and swallowed it, then circulated his Soul Magic to desperately restore his nearly shattered soul.

A faint light flashed in his hand as he placed the Demon Slaying Sword into his Dantian to be nurtured. Immediately after, he roused his True Yuan to activate the Ascending Cloud Immortal Method, transforming into a golden streak of escaping light that shot towards the volcanic cluster.

During his flight, he didn’t forget to deploy the Soul Refining Flag. He summoned several Class IV Demon Soul Generals, imprinted them with the Soul Splitting Rune, and then set them in ambush at intervals along his path. This would allow him to monitor the movements of Sword Alliance cultivators and Fire Spirit creatures!

He knew without thinking that neither Zhu Zhao nor the Fire Spirit Powerhouse would give up easily; they would undoubtedly pursue him relentlessly.

The range of Shen Mo’s sense couldn’t compare to those at the Golden Core Realm or Class IV peak.

With these arrangements, he could rely on his connection with the Demon Soul Generals to constantly perceive their movements, allowing him to use [Sword Escape] to widen the distance before they caught up!

As Shen Mo expected, Zhu Zhao and a Class IV peak Fire Spirit had indeed doggedly latched onto his trail.

The Fire Scale Dragon Boat’s speed was far less than Shen Mo’s when he fled at full power. To catch up with him, as soon as Zhu Zhao left the giant volcano, he had tossed the Dragon Boat to the other two Sword Alliance cultivators and pursued Shen Mo alone, riding a streak of light.

As for the Fire Spirit tribe, the humanoid Fire Spirit had suffered a substantial loss of its origin power and needed proper recuperation. Only the Flame-shaped Fire Spirit, also at Class IV peak, transformed into a streak of firelight and chased him out of its habitat!

The two parties, who should have been mortal enemies, were now strangely maintaining a fragile peace, both hot on Shen Mo’s heels, one following the other, relentlessly pursuing him.

Flying with ordinary Escape Skills, once his soul recovered sufficiently, Shen Mo would again unleash the Demon Slaying Sword, activating [Sword Escape] to once more greatly widen the distance between them.

This repeated several times.

Zhu Zhao and the Flame-shaped Fire Spirit pursuing him were now three thousand li behind and couldn’t catch up anytime soon.

However, Shen Mo couldn’t shake them off. The man and the spirit each seemed to possess a unique method to pinpoint his exact location.

Shen Mo wasn’t anxious. With his current strength and abilities, comparable to the late-stage Golden Core Realm, he was confident he could survive their combined assault even if he couldn’t defeat them. In the worst-case scenario, he could directly escape beyond the Ninth Heaven and completely leave the ancient battlefield of immortals and demons!

It’s time to take stock of the gains from this adventure!

With this in mind, Shen Mo continued to flee while simultaneously summoning the Golden Flowery Realm.

Then, a body charred black by flames appeared in his hand. It was Yang Chengxiong, who had been critically injured and forcefully pulled into this spatial treasure!

Compared to before, his condition had stabilized considerably. His eyes snapped open, his consciousness restored by a spark of Shen Mo’s True Yuan. Once he realized his situation, his face showed seven parts terror and three parts venomous resentment.

After Yang Chengxiong had been brought into the Golden Flowery Realm, Flower Fairy Ami, who was cultivating inside, had found him on the brink of death. She had kindly used a Healing Elixir and cast Spells to treat him, barely managing to save his life.

As for Ami’s kind act, Shen Mo could hardly blame her.

After all, the situation had been urgent, and he hadn’t had time to tell Ami that this man was an enemy, not a friend; it wouldn’t have mattered even if he had died.

Quickly concealing his true emotions, Yang Chengxiong adopted a pleading, pitiful look.

”Senior, please spare me...”

”In the past, it was my ignorance that led me to conspire against your possessions and life.”

”I realize my mistake. I kowtow to you, Senior... I hope Your Excellency will be magnanimous enough to overlook my past transgressions and spare me this once.”

He struggled, wanting to kowtow, but Shen Mo had sealed all his True Yuan and soul power when he was brought into the Golden Flowery Realm. With his life and death in Shen Mo’s hands, he naturally couldn’t even kneel, let alone kowtow.

Seeing Shen Mo’s indifferent and cold expression, the terror in Yang Chengxiong’s eyes intensified.

Suddenly, as if remembering something, he hurriedly begged, ”Senior, I have several treasures given to me by Elder Zhu Zhao, along with the Samadhi True Fire I stole from the Fire Spirit altar. They are all hidden in my Universe Bag.”

”If you spare my life, it will save you the trouble of breaking into the Universe Bag!”

Hearing this, Shen Mo’s expression shifted slightly, but inwardly, he was ecstatic.

So the treasure they went to such lengths to steal was the Samadhi True Fire! This risky move was definitely worth it!

Nevertheless, he did not acquiesce to Yang Chengxiong’s desperate pleas.

The moment Yang Chengxiong was brought into the Golden Flowery Realm by him, his life and all his spiritual items already belonged to Shen Mo.

Using items that already belonged to Shen Mo as bargaining chips to beg for mercy and negotiate terms? How could there be such a sweet deal in the world?

Moreover, allowing Yang Chengxiong to open the Universe Bag would require loosening some of the Prohibitions on him... Who knew what kind of trouble he might stir up once it was open?

He might use the high-class talismans and powerful magic treasures inside to launch a sneak attack.

At worst, he could even forcibly destroy the treasures inside, leaving Shen Mo with nothing!

Therefore, even if it took extra effort, Shen Mo would not allow Yang Chengxiong to regain control of his Universe Bag.

With a thought, Shen Mo retrieved the Universe Bag from the Golden Flowery Realm. Then, he looked coldly at Yang Chengxiong. ”I’ll give you two choices.”

”First, you will be re-refined by me into a Demon Soul General, serving me in that form.”

”Second, you will still become a Soul General in the flag. However, I will preserve a part of your consciousness. If you perform great merits for me, perhaps one day, in a fit of kindness, I might allow you to regain all your gnosis and memories!”

Seeing Shen Mo’s cold and unyielding gaze, Yang Chengxiong knew that pleading further was futile.

Expressions of venomous resentment, terror, and regret flickered across his face before finally settling into a helpless, bitter smile. ”I choose the latter. I only hope Senior will not go back on his word and will one day fully restore my consciousness!”

The next instant, Shen Mo shook the Soul Refining Flag. A surging Blood River swept out and engulfed Yang Chengxiong.

After only a few breaths, the imprint on the flag that had belonged to Horse Groom Lv lit up once more. Following a brief transformation, its aura became distinctly different from before.

Yang Chengxiong’s Flesh and Blood body became sustenance for the Soul General in the flag.

His soul, however, was refined into an early-stage Class IV Demon Soul General, though its appearance was somewhat peculiar.

Its overall appearance was very similar to the original mutant Demon Soul General, Horse Groom Lv, but its head now bizarrely sported two faces—Yang Chengxiong’s on the front and Horse Groom Lv’s on the back!