The First Immortal of Destiny

”The Seven Mansions of the Vermilion Bird—Palm, Well!”

Shen Mo’s second pair of arms formed the seal, and accompanied by his low chant, a vivid phantom of Jingmu An roared out. It transformed into a stern prison, tens of meters in size, confining the Heavenly Demon Pei Yu within.

Immediately after, he swung the Soul Refining Flag, and a surging Blood River flooded forth, completely drowning its body!

No matter how the Heavenly Demon Pei Yu struggled, begged, or cursed within the Blood River, Shen Mo remained unmoved, beginning to blood-refine this peak Class IV demon head.

The moment this demon had made its move, Shen Mo knew it was doomed to die today!

Although primal Heavenly Demons, after corrupting cultivators, transform into Demon-corrupted cultivators, their essence remains that of a Heavenly Demon. However, their various characteristics tend to align more with those of human cultivators.

Yet, a cultivator’s true combat power is determined not only by their personal Cultivation Realm but also by many other factors: proficiency in cultivation methods for magic and martial arts, the grade of external items like talismans and magic treasures, the perfect deployment of various techniques, the understanding of Magic Duels, and so on!

Over the past decade, although the Heavenly Demon Pei Yu had advanced to the peak of Class IV, it hadn’t kept up in other areas.

If it were pitted against ordinary Golden Core Realm cultivators, it might have easily won due to the advantage of its higher Realm. Unfortunately, Shen Mo was no ordinary person.

In his eyes, the combat power of this peak Class IV Big Heavenly Demon was far inferior to peak Golden Core experts like Zhu Zhao and Song Shenglong from the Heaven Patrolling Zone. Unless it could immediately ascend to Class V and completely widen the chasm in cultivation, the idea of killing him by relying on a higher Realm was nothing short of a fool’s dream!

BUZZ!

Shen Mo felt his soul suddenly grow heavy. He looked up at the Blood Flag, upon whose surface a dazzlingly golden, profound insignia now shone.

Heavenly Demon Pei Yu had been successfully refined into a Demon Soul General!

Shen Mo had already collected the Universe Bag, robes, fragments of magic treasures, and other relics it left behind. He planned to send someone to the Profound Moon School in the future, so they could erect a cenotaph for their once-in-a-century Proud Disciple.

”Summon!”

A strand of True Yuan from Shen Mo’s body flowed into the Soul Refining Flag. From within the Blood River, a figure clad in silver flame armor and wielding a long spear solidified.

Through blood refinement, its gnosis and memories had been completely erased. Only when Shen Mo promoted it to the top tier of the Soul General hierarchy within the flag in the future, granting it some authority over the Soul Refining Flag, would it be able to awaken a sliver of autonomous consciousness!

Now, it was no longer a Proud Disciple of the Profound Moon School, nor a Big Heavenly Demon of the Heavenly Demon Clan, but a peak Class IV mutated Demon Soul General: ”Fairy Pei Yu”!

”Go! Kill to your heart’s content,” Shen Mo directed with a thought.

Having just condensed her Soul Body, Fairy Pei Yu’s Demonic Qi—dense, cold, immense, profound, and dark red with a hint of purple—surged tumultuously. She then charged towards her former clan members.

The Heavenly Demons within the Near Sea Demon Cave were already in an incredibly dire situation under the onslaught of numerous high-class Demon Soul Generals. More Heavenly Demons were being captured, refined into Demon Soul Generals, and rejoining the battle from the Blood River. Their situation grew increasingly desperate; they would be slaughtered sooner or later.

Now, with Fairy Pei Yu’s addition, it was like the final straw breaking the camel’s back; the last vestiges of resistance crumbled instantly.

The few surviving Class IV Big Heavenly Demons, in their desperation, either detonated their demonic forms or burned their origin power, attempting to carve out a bloody path for their descendants. However, their efforts were ultimately futile.

One high-class Heavenly Demon after another was torn to pieces.

Only mutated Heavenly Demons with exceptional combat prowess or specific talents stood a chance of being captured by the Demon Soul Generals, dragged into the Blood River, and transformed into new Soul Generals.

Conversely, it was the low-class primal Heavenly Demons of Class III and below that were continuously refined by the Soul Refining Flag, becoming minor Heavenly Demon Soul Generals!

After most of a day had passed, the entire vicinity of the Near Sea Demon Cave was suddenly empty; not a single Heavenly Demon could be seen.

Only countless Heavenly Demon corpses floated on the sea’s surface, with stronghold cultivators weaving through them, searching for remaining spiritual items and collecting extraordinary materials from the Demon-corrupted Marine Race.

Shen Mo did not dispatch Demon Soul Generals to clear the battlefield or gather spoils.

On one hand, he somewhat looked down on these low-class spiritual items.

On the other hand, he wanted to cede the benefits to these stronghold cultivators. After all, they had defended Sea State for many years against the Heavenly Demons from the demonic cave, and these spoils of war were what they deserved.

”Recall!”

Shen Mo stood atop the Evil-eating Centipede and gave the Soul Refining Flag a sharp shake.

Immediately, Demon Soul Generals, their Demonic Qi surging and killing intent soaring, flew continuously into the Blood River.

Several Class IV Demon Soul Generals developed rebellious intentions, planning to slaughter the stronghold cultivators and devour their flesh and blood and souls to strengthen themselves.

However, this rebellion was short-lived. The strongest Demon Soul Generals in the top tier of the hierarchy, such as the Ghost Bride, quickly pounced, tearing these rebellious Class IV Demon Soul Generals to shreds. In this manner, they returned to the Blood Flag.

After recalling the last few Demon Soul Generals, Shen Mo held the Blood Flag and carefully assessed the changes in the number of Demon Soul Generals within it.

Setting aside the hundreds of ordinary Soul Generals—evil cultivators, Outer Zone Demons, and the like—he focused solely on the Demon Soul Generals. Among those of Class IV and above, besides Fairy Pei Yu, an existence at the peak of Class IV, three more had been added. These were the last remaining Class IV Heavenly Demons from the Near Sea Demon Cave.

Two of these were Demon-corrupted cultivators, and one was a Demon-corrupted member of the Marine Race. Each possessed a unique talent—either adept at magic techniques and swordplay or having mastered a formidable Skill. This was why they weren’t torn apart by the other Demon Soul Generals but were instead captured and taken to the Blood River for refinement!

The number of Demon Soul Generals above Class III but below Class IV increased by over two hundred, bringing their total number to more than three hundred. However, their overall strength was far inferior to the original cohort of over one hundred late-stage and peak Class III Demon Soul Generals.

As for the minor Heavenly Demon Soul Generals below Class III, their number was even greater, reaching a staggering 58,000!

After all, since the Heavenly Demon Passage had been severed, the only Heavenly Demons remaining in the Primordial Realm were located in the Black Mountain Demon Suppression Cave and the Near Sea Demon Cave.

Regarding the Black Mountain Demon Suppression Cave, due to the aberration at the Ghost Nation Ruins, the fate of the Heavenly Demons within—whether they were dead or alive—was unknown; it was highly probable they were entirely lost. Given Shen Mo’s current strength, he didn’t dare venture into the Ghost Country to search for Patriarch Gufeng’s whereabouts. Consequently, he couldn’t gather Heavenly Demons from the Black Mountain Demon Suppression Cave for refinement.

As for the Near Sea Demon Cave, it had been utterly destroyed by Shen Mo, and all Heavenly Demons within were exterminated.

Therefore, these 58,000 minor Heavenly Demon Soul Generals might be the last batch he would ever refine. Naturally, the more he could create, the better.

If not for the fact that his soul had reached its limit, Shen Mo would have wanted to refine tens of thousands more low-class primal Heavenly Demons!

Among this batch of minor Heavenly Demon Soul Generals, extremely few had reached Class II; the vast majority were of the weakest Class I.

After all, the strain on Shen Mo from refining and housing one Class II Soul General was equivalent to that of refining five or even more Class I Soul Generals.

As long as they had sufficient flesh and blood and Demon-corrupted creatures to consume, these Class I Demon Soul Generals could rapidly increase their strength. Shen Mo wasn’t planning to use them to face enemies in battle yet. He planned to wait until his cultivation realm advanced further, enabling him to support more high-class Demon Soul Generals, before gradually nurturing these low-class ones.

As the war concluded, numerous stronghold cultivators, on artifacts or as streaks of escaping light, flew towards the Evil-eating Centipede. They all vied to pay homage to Shen Mo, their expressions a mixture of reverence and admiration.