The First Immortal of Destiny

COUGH! COUGH!

Unable to withstand the turmoil in his chest, Shen Mo coughed twice.

A spray of black, foul-smelling blood mixed with fragments of internal organs was coughed out, spraying onto the ground like rain. Spurred by the vast Spiritual Qi within the blood, the plant roots and seeds in the soil began to grow wildly. In the blink of an eye, they became as lush as an ancient forest deep in the mountains.

However, this mouthful of corrupted blood still contained remnants of Lin Zhaozai’s Evil Magic. The growth of the plants lasted only a moment before they quickly rotted into foul-smelling wastewater, polluting the land for several li around. It was foreseeable that for the next several decades, this area would become as barren as a wasteland, where not even a single weed could grow.

After coughing out the corrupted blood, Shen Mo felt considerably relieved. However, his Dao Body and soul had both suffered significant damage, and his True Yuan was also heavily depleted.

He immediately reached into his Universe Bag, took out several Grade V Elixirs, swallowed them, and began circulating his cultivation method to refine their medicinal power.

After the fierce battle, both the Green Cloud Umbrella Shen Mo held and the magic robe and inner armor he wore were somewhat tattered. The Green Cloud Umbrella was still largely intact; being a defensive treasure imbued with the True Intention of the Cycle of Life and Death, it could be repaired and restored later. His robe armor, however, was damaged to an extreme degree and had completely lost its repair value.

A faint spirit light flickered around Shen Mo as his tattered robe armor disintegrated, replaced by a spare magic robe.

A brief glimpse revealed his body was covered in wounds: some from chain lashes, some from sword Qi slashes, and others bearing the marks of magic!

However, as the ”True Immortal Magic” circulated, these injuries were constantly healing, and the wounds were gradually fading.

Meanwhile, the head and arms that had withered from his use of a sacrificial technique had been pulverized into dust during the violent impacts and shockwaves. However, Shen Mo lacked the surplus energy to regenerate them, so he remained in the peculiar state of having two heads and four arms.

As for his opponent, Lin Zhaozai, his condition was hardly any better.

He constantly switched between his skeletal form and his living human guise. In his human guise, he appeared unscathed, but once he reverted to his skeletal form, one could see that his bony frame was also riddled with injuries.

The wound where the Taiyi Sword had previously cleaved him in two had still not fully healed.

Beyond that, his bones were marred by various marks from sword slashes, burns, potent poison corrosion, and magic bombardments, leaving his skeleton no longer as pristine white and crystalline as before.

Relatively speaking, however, Lin Zhaozai’s condition was still far better than Shen Mo’s. His aura was also much more substantial and potent, despite Shen Mo constantly consuming High-Grade Spirit Pills to replenish his own energy.

This Heretic Leader’s cultivation realm was simply too high!

Even though he was bound by Prohibition chains, his strength suppressed below the Divine Bridge Realm, his combat power remained terrifying. Especially since, after devouring the blood-food—cultivators from the Profound Invisible Sect, the late-stage Golden Core Patriarch and numerous Sect Disciples from the Ancient Vine Sect—and destroying the burden of the Demon-Suppressing Tower, his methods had grown increasingly profound and mystical with time, gradually revealing Heavenly Monarch-level techniques!

Shen Mo grew increasingly alarmed as the battle progressed. He formed hand seals and chanted an incantation, unleashing another series of Constellations Palms to intercept Lin Zhaozai’s Evil Magic assault.

It’s been so long, and there’s still no sign of activity from the Heaven Patrolling Temple. It seems there’s no hope of the Heavenly Monarch within the temple intervening personally! Even if they dispatch a peak Golden Core Realm cultivator to assist, they won’t arrive in time.

If this stalemate continues, the situation will clearly turn against me...

Once his strength increases further, forget about seriously injuring or killing him; I’m afraid I won’t even have a chance to escape.

While pondering, Shen Mo quietly activated the Golden Flowery Realm and summoned Flower Fairy Mi.

Then, using a Divine Sense transmission, he quickly informed her of the current situation.

When Qin Wenzhen and the others were brought into the Golden Flowery Realm, Mi had already grasped the gist of the situation and had long prepared the Mother Tree’s Green Leaves. Thus, hearing Shen Mo’s explanation now, her face showed not the slightest hint of surprise or doubt.

”Moro Shen, Mi is ready! Just tell me when!” Mi chirped, diving into Shen Mo’s sleeve and readying the Mother Tree’s Green Leaves.

”Alright!” Shen Mo nodded.

At this moment, Lin Zhaozai had broken off one of his fingers, transforming it into a flesh sword that then began to continuously divide and multiply.

In the blink of an eye, this flesh sword had multiplied into tens of thousands of blood swords. Amidst strange fluctuations of immortal charm, they assembled into a Sword Array. Accompanied by the mournful wails of vicious ghosts and the resounding boom of the formation, the Sword Array swept down towards Shen Mo.

Shen Mo had witnessed the power of this Blood Sword Array before; it had previously fought on par with his The Big Dipper Array. Now, as Lin Zhaozai’s strength steadily recovered, its offensive and destructive power had also grown considerably.

Without the slightest hesitation, Shen Mo activated his Spirit Pet Bag, recalling the Evil-eating Centipede. Simultaneously, he drew the Demon Slaying Sword and, relying on his Sword Escape Skill, instantly moved tens of li away.

Immediately afterward, he took out the seldom-used Dark Cloud Bag.

With a surge of his True Yuan, an endless torrent of black smoke billowed out like a raging flood, instantly blanketing the area within a hundred-li radius.

However, due to a scarcity of refining materials, the Dark Cloud Bag was of extremely low grade. While the dark clouds it generated could obscure the five senses and Divine Sense, their effectiveness was limited to Class III creatures and Spirit Sea Realm cultivators; they could not block the Divine Sense probing of Golden Core Realm cultivators.

Shen Mo’s precaution, however, was not aimed at Lin Zhaozai, but at the other cultivators lurking nearby.

In such an intense Magic Duel, these Golden Core Realm cultivators who had come to aid the Ancient Vine Sect would likely not dare to fully lock onto him and Lin Zhaozai with their Divine Sense, fearing they might draw fire upon themselves. The sense they relied on most was sight—in simpler terms, they were watching with their own eyes!

The cover of the dark clouds would help conceal some of the secrets regarding Mi and the Mother Tree’s Green Leaves.

”Mi!” Shen Mo called out sharply.

The next moment, a streak of green light shot out from his sleeve, drifting lightly towards the skeletal form Lin Zhaozai had assumed.

The fluctuations of a Heavenly Monarch-level Spell instantly sent a chill down the spine of this Heretic Leader. He knew his strength had not yet fully recovered and feared he couldn’t withstand an attack of this magnitude.

Instantly, his more than two hundred bones CLATTERED apart, scattering across the ground.

As if activating numerous magic artifacts, each bone pulsed with an eerie glow and shot off, WHOOSHING, in all directions!

A few of these bones, still entangled by Prohibition chains, moved noticeably slower than the rest.

The green light from the Mother Tree’s leaf, appearing to move with deceptive slowness, was in fact swifter than Starfall Sword Qi. In a flash, it pierced through the Crystal Shield, turbid blood-light, and other Magical Barriers surrounding one of the bones, embedding itself directly within the white bone!

RUSTLE...

The green light rapidly suffused all of Lin Zhaozai’s scattered bones. Simultaneously, countless tiny saplings sprouted from them, growing to an immense size in merely half a breath.

The scattered bones were quickly enveloped by dense vegetation and vines, transforming into a lush forest that covered an area hundreds of li wide.

Soon, Shen Mo sensed that as the forest grew ever more vigorous, Lin Zhaozai’s aura was rapidly weakening.