The First Immortal of Destiny

Chapter 625: Chapter 625: The Intention to Solicit_1

After seeing off Elder Ge Qing, the Fleeting Boat slowly flew towards the distant horizon.

The areas nearest to the ancient battlefield of immortals and demons had all transformed into trading hubs, bustling with immortal markets of various sizes. Spirit vein blessed lands, where cultivators could temporarily reside and rest, were generally located hundreds of miles away.

Even for cultivators in the Qi Gathering Realm, this distance was not considered too far, and a round trip wouldn’t consume much time.

Shen Mo stood at the bow of the vessel, seemingly admiring the beautiful scenery below, but in reality, he was lost in thought.

Earlier, he had mistaken Elder Ge Qing for Zhu Zhao. After the misunderstanding was cleared, this person, quick to press his advantage, had eagerly invited him to visit the Ancient Vine Sect’s headquarters not far away. Shen Mo faintly perceived his real intentions. After witnessing his abilities, Elder Ge Qing clearly intended to recruit him on behalf of the Ancient Vine Sect, inviting him to serve as a guest elder of the sect. After all, the ancient battlefield of immortals and demons had emerged within the borders of Caiyi Country, practically at the doorstep of the Ancient Vine Sect. As tens of thousands of treasure hunting cultivators from all over the Heaven Patrolling Zone rushed in, disputes and conflicts were escalating daily. The Ancient Vine Sect wanted to seize this great opportunity, reap sufficient benefits, and rise to prominence. To do so, they needed to possess adequate strength. Otherwise, let alone capitalizing on this opportune moment to strengthen their sect, one unlucky day, they might be wiped out by a powerful expert’s casual magical art during a battle!

Within the Ancient Vine Sect, there were only three cultivators who had reached the Golden Core Realm. One was a late-stage Golden Core Realm patriarch, but his lifespan was dwindling; he was frail with age and no longer at his peak combat strength. Another was in the middle-stage of the Golden Core Realm and also the current Law Master of the Ancient Vine Sect. The last one was Elder Ge Qing, whom Shen Mo and his companions had recently befriended. Such power would be comparable to the Five Great Sects in the Red Flame Zone. However, in the Heaven Patrolling Zone, it was rather mediocre, far inferior to major immortal sects like the LiMountain Elixir Sect, Taiyi Sword Alliance, and the Clear Heart Sect.

Therefore, for the past year or so, the Ancient Vine Sect had been recruiting powerful rogue cultivators as alien ministers, even having taken in seven at the Golden Core Realm. Due to a fortunate coincidence, Elder Ge Qing had met Shen Mo. Upon realizing that he was a rogue cultivator, he immediately conceived the idea of recruiting him. However, the two had only just met. Elder Ge Qing knew nothing about his background or origins, and Shen Mo was not very familiar with the Ancient Vine Sect either... Consequently, Elder Ge Qing hadn’t rashly tried to recruit him right away. Instead, he had hinted at his desire for talented individuals and invited him to visit the Ancient Vine Sect. Once they became more familiar with each other, they could then make their final decision.

As for Shen Mo having made a bitter enemy of the Taiyi Sword Alliance, the Ancient Vine Sect didn’t particularly care. This was because they already had an unresolved old grudge with the Sword Alliance. Eight to nine hundred years ago, the Ancient Vine Sect had also once been at its zenith, with an overall strength comparable to that of the Clear Heart Sect. But afterward, the Golden Core Realm experts of the Ancient Vine Sect became embroiled in an internal strife within the Heaven Patrolling Temple. Consequently, almost all the sect’s top-tier experts were wiped out, a large number of its mortal kingdoms and industrial interests were seized, and they couldn’t even hold onto their original sect headquarters. That late-stage Golden Core Realm patriarch was a remnant from that old era, and also the only one of their cultivators involved with the Temple who survived. Under his leadership, the Ancient Vine Sect retreated into Caiyi Country and was relegated to a remote corner. Furthermore, friendly factions within the Heaven Patrolling Temple, seeing their grievous losses, did their utmost to protect them, which allowed them to barely preserve the sect’s lineage. During this process, the faction to which the Taiyi Sword Alliance belonged had contributed the most effort and subsequently reaped the greatest benefits. The Ancient Vine Sect has held a grudge against them to this day. Naturally, they would enjoy seeing the Sword Alliance suffer a setback. Moreover, with protectors within the Heaven Patrolling Temple, they had no fear of the Sword Alliance seeking revenge out of bitter resentment.

Furthermore, Ge Qing had also subtly hinted that if the Ancient Vine Sect could seize the opportunity to rise during these ten years of the ancient battlefield of immortals and demons’ reappearance, alien ministers who made significant contributions might even be officially registered and become true disciples of the Ancient Vine Sect. And a Golden Core Realm guest elder could shed his status as a rogue cultivator and gain the qualification to cultivate in the Heaven Patrolling Temple! As for other benefits like generous monthly stipends, power, status, Enlightenment Tea Leaves, and so on, these went without saying, and Shen Mo wasn’t particularly concerned about them. However, it was the prospect of being able to cultivate in the Temple that truly stirred his heart.

Shen Mo had been in the Heaven Patrolling Zone for almost two years. Although he had gained a better understanding of the situation here, he had always been unable to find a way to get into the Heaven Patrolling Temple. He originally thought he would have to wait until he became a Heavenly Monarch or possessed Heavenly Monarch-level combat power to have the leverage to confront or negotiate with the Heaven Patrolling Temple. Now, however, it seemed that becoming a guest elder of the Ancient Vine Sect and entering the Heaven Patrolling Temple with this sect’s help was also a viable option. After all, he didn’t know how many years it would take just to cultivate to the peak of the Golden Core Realm. As for the Divine Bridge Realm, it wasn’t something that could be achieved simply by wishing for it. Therefore, Shen Mo hadn’t immediately rejected Ge Qing’s goodwill and planned to pay a visit in a few days.

...

”Shen, are you interested in becoming an alien minister of the Ancient Vine Sect?”

A voice that sent tingles down to the bone sounded in Shen Mo’s ear, pulling his thoughts back to the present.

Shen Mo turned his head and saw Lady Scarlet’s exceptionally alluring face close to his, looking as if she wanted to say something but hesitated.

Before coming to the ancient battlefield of immortals and demons, Lady Scarlet had relayed the LiMountain Elixir Sect’s recruitment of an alien minister for alchemy, which Shen Mo had politely refused at the time.

Originally, Shen Mo thought that Lady Scarlet was scouting talent for her male lover or perhaps wanted a friend with the status of an alien minister in the LiMountain Elixir Sect. Now, however, he knew that the so-called ”illicit lover” in the rumors didn’t exist at all.

In fact, Lady Scarlet was the daughter of the LiMountain Elixir Sect’s Law Master. It was only due to various reasons that this relationship had never been made public.

Viewed this way, she either wanted to recruit talent for her father or was genuinely trying to find a good opportunity for Shen Mo.

After hesitating for a good while, Lady Scarlet’s lovely lips parted, and she said with considerable sincerity, ”The Ancient Vine Sect is considered a minor sect, inferior to the LiMountain Elixir Sect in all aspects. If you intend to become an alien minister of this sect, you must think it over very carefully...”

She didn’t know that what Shen Mo valued was actually the opportunity to enter the Heaven Patrolling Temple.

If he became an alien minister of the LiMountain Elixir Sect, not only would he have to toil endlessly without any freedom, but even after serving as a beast of burden for a hundred or even several hundred years, he would still be an outsider. Naturally, he wouldn’t have the qualification to cultivate in the Temple. But the Ancient Vine Sect was different. Judging from their ambition to restore their former glory, they were very likely to fully absorb rogue cultivators as true disciples.

However, there was no need to lay all this bare to Lady Scarlet, so Shen Mo had to make an excuse to deflect the question.

A moment later, the Fleeting Boat reached its destination: a range of high mountains possessing a small Spirit Vein.

The Spirit Vein here was, naturally, far inferior to the one at the Ancient Vine Sect’s main grounds. After all, as the entire Caiyi Country was under the Ancient Vine Sect’s jurisdiction, its main grounds were, of course, located in the blessed land with the most concentrated nature’s spiritual energy.

But it was still much better than ordinary places devoid of a Spirit Vein.

The Ancient Vine Sect had also built many cultivation mansions and temporary cave mansions here, renting them out for profit.

Shen Mo was currently not short of middle-grade or Low-Grade Spirit Stones, so he rented the most tranquil mansion with the richest spiritual energy for an annual rent of one hundred middle-grade Spirit Stones.

Lady Scarlet and the others did likewise, renting mansions adjacent to Shen Mo’s.

No wonder the Ancient Vine Sect is so eager to recruit alien ministers. Setting other things aside, the income just from renting out cultivation mansions and cave mansions was enough to make many Golden Core Realm cultivators green with envy!