The First Immortal of Destiny

Big Moro Yao did not hide her admiration and praise for Shen Mo. She even considered his combat power to be on par with an early-stage Divine Bridge Realm expert who had achieved enlightenment via the Small Path!

Although her cultivation was only at the early stage of Class V, her strength was by no means weak among those of the same rank.

When measuring the cultivation level and strength of a Heavenly Monarch, one couldn’t just look at their Realm; the profundity of their achieved Dao also had to be considered.

If one achieved enlightenment via the Great Path, even at the early stage of the Divine Bridge Realm, their strength could far exceed that of a middle-stage Divine Bridge Realm practitioner who had achieved enlightenment via the Small Path.

The Dao pursued by Big Moro Yao was one that Fairy Flower Valley had spent countless years developing; it was the most suitable cultivation path for Flower Fairies.

Therefore, among those of the same realm—including early-stage Divine Bridge Realm cultivators and other Class V early-stage Outer Zone creatures who had descended upon the Primordial Realm—she was second to none.

Her acknowledgement naturally confirmed Shen Mo’s earlier conjecture.

”Wow! Moro Shen is amazing...”

Flower Fairy Ami had been sitting on Zhao Lingyin’s shoulder. Upon hearing the high praise her clan’s Big Moro had for Shen Mo, she fluttered her wings and flew to his shoulder. With her tiny hands on her hips, she looked immensely proud.

The other Class II and Class III Flower Fairies nearby all cast envious glances her way, just as she had hoped.

Due to their unique life form, the Flower Fairy clan didn’t seem to reject forming close, dependent relationships with powerful individuals from other clans. It was much like how a towering tree in a forest shelters the flowers and grasses beneath it.

Perhaps, in the eyes of the other Flower Fairies, Mi has found her big protective tree.

”Big Moro Yao, you flatter me!” Shen Mo humbly responded.

Then, to express his gratitude for the Class V Flower Fairy who helped him validate his recent findings, Shen Mo gifted her three taels of Enlightenment Tea.

This was a new batch of spiritual tea, freshly plucked and prepared this year by the Ancient Vine Sect, and not the old leaves from the ten-thousand-year-old spiritual tea tree.

Upon his return to Chong’a Mountain, Shen Mo rearranged a traditional big array within the sect. He also rewrote the Dao runes, completely severing ties with the magic altar of the ancient array within the Taiyi Sword Alliance’s Sword Tomb.

Over these ten or so years, he had been sending trusted Sect Disciples through the Teleportation Array to the Heaven Patrolling Zone every year. Their tasks were to collect new leaves of Enlightenment Tea from the Ancient Vine Sect and to maintain the Formations and Prohibitions inside and outside the cave mansion on Wangxian Mountain.

Also, he often made use of these disciples to purchase top-grade spiritual materials from Lady Scarlet and sell her high-grade elixirs! It’s worth mentioning that one year, Lady Scarlet came to Chong’a Mountain in the Red Flame Zone along with the disciples. This instantly triggered a great reaction from within the sect. After all, Lady Scarlet was a middle-stage Golden Core Realm cultivator and not from the Riverside Sect. Her unexpected arrival naturally put people on guard.

On that day, Yuan Heming, Zhou Zhiwei, and Yuan Jing, the three Golden Core Realm cultivators, all rushed to the vicinity of the ancient array’s magic altar.

Luckily, Yuan Jing had met Lady Scarlet before, and Lady Scarlet quickly explained her intentions, so a fight was averted. The tension within the sect only eased when Shen Mo arrived from the Vacuous Realm.

Afterwards, Shen Mo and his wife, Zhao Lingyin, took Lady Scarlet on a tour of the Red Flame Zone aboard the Heaven Patrolling Boat House.

However, it was clear Lady Scarlet was not very interested. She stayed in the Red Flame Zone for only about ten days before returning to the Heaven Patrolling Zone via the big array and never came back. Nevertheless, she remained diligent in helping with the trade of spiritual items and would occasionally send news and information about the cultivation world in the Heaven Patrolling Zone.

After seeing off Lady Scarlet, Zhao Lingyin closed the door and gave Shen Mo a stern ”lesson.” While this had its own peculiar amusement, it considerably undermined his authority as a husband for a long time!

...

Upon returning to the sect, Shen Mo began to prepare for his journey. This time, he decided to travel alone without setting any specific destination. He would wander around different regions, including the four cardinal points in the Red Flame Zone, like an idle cloud or a wild crane. His aim was to better comprehend the laws of heaven and earth and experience the myriad facets of mortal life.

Before he could embark on his journey, Yuxin Sword Master from the Heaven Sword Sect arrived, bringing several disciples with him.

One of the female disciples was an old acquaintance of Shen Mo. More specifically, she was Jiang Yingying, a close friend of Chen Mengze, who had once adventured with them in the Ghost Nation Ruins.

Years had passed since they last met, and she had now cultivated to the late stage of the Spirit Sea Realm, only one Minor Realm below Chen Mengze’s current level.

After they conversed, Shen Mo learned that Geng Zheng and Peng Chenshu had successively fallen, one to a demonic calamity and the other to an Evil Spirit.

Back then, their group of six had journeyed together through the Ghost Nation Ruins. Due to Ghost General Zhang Taian, all of them had entered the Death Jaw Dungeon.

Among them, Li Yu had not made it out of Death Jaw alive, perishing within the Dungeon.

Now, Geng Zheng, who had comprehended the ”Punish Demons” sword intent and had a minor conflict with Shen Mo, and Peng Chenshu, whose life Shen Mo had saved, had also both fallen. Of the original six, only Shen Mo, Chen Mengze, and Jiang Yingying remained, still striving on the arduous path of cultivation!

After discussing official matters, Shen Mo sent a voice transmission to Chen Mengze, and the two of them hosted a banquet for Jiang Yingying.

Yuxin Sword Master, Jiang Yingying, and the others from the Heaven Sword Sect had come to Chong’a Mountain primarily to seek assistance.

Once the situation in the Red Flame Zone stabilized, the Heaven Sword Sect had moved its Main Peak magic sword back to Jing State. Like the Riverside Sect and the other members of The Four Great Sects, they adopted a much lower profile. This was due to the presence of many forbidden lands, Outer Zone powerhouses, and Evil Spirits within the Red Flame Zone. Despite this, their sect had recovered considerably over these years of peaceful existence.

While the Heaven Sword Sect tried to avoid trouble, trouble found its way to their mountain gate!

Within its Main Peak lay a Sword Washing Pool, an existence similar to the Sword Tomb of the Taiyi Sword Alliance. Disciples could sharpen their swords in the Sword Washing Pool, and in doing so, also hone their sword intent.

At some unknown time, a Water Ghost manifested within the Sword Washing Pool.

Any disciple who came to wash their sword and caught sight of it would soon die a bizarre death by drowning. Even if they were in a sealed cultivation chamber, they would drown in tea, wine, or even their own blood.

Shen Mo’s old acquaintance from the Heaven Sword Sect, Peng Chenshu, had perished in this very manner.

Faced with such a bizarre situation, the Golden Core Realm Patriarchs of the Heaven Sword Sect certainly couldn’t sit idle. They stationed themselves beside the Sword Washing Pool, intending to slay the Water Ghost as soon as it appeared!

However, not only did they fail to slay it, but they also nearly fell prey to its insidious methods.

Fortunately, Golden Core Realm cultivators could survive even if drained of all their blood. Thus, the Golden Core Patriarchs of the Heaven Sword Sect were not drowned by their own blood. However, now, including the original Sect Master of the Heaven Sword Sect, the four Golden Core Patriarchs resembled desiccated corpses.

They maintained their vitality and did not regress in cultivation thanks to elixirs and herbs. They retreated to a secret chamber, created with talismans and Prohibition Formations, which was devoid of water-elemental Spiritual Qi. There, they discussed possible ways to deal with the Water Ghost in the Sword Washing Pool.

It didn’t take much thought to realize that this Water Ghost, and perhaps even the Heaven Sword Sect’s Sword Washing Pool itself, was the manifestation of a descended Evil Spirit.

Unless the entire Sword Washing Pool was destroyed, it would be incredibly difficult to eradicate it.

Unfortunately, the Sword Washing Pool was an integral part of the Main Peak’s magic sword. Therefore, to destroy the pool meant they would have to demolish this exotic treasure, one that the Heaven Sword Sect had spent countless manpower and resources to refine.