The First Immortal of Destiny

After the Teleportation Array returned to normal, the Riverside Sect dispatched several Elders in rotation to guard the outside of the Jade Pool Dungeon, responsible for managing the spiritual plants within the Dungeon.

After all, ordinary Spirit Sea Realm cultivators only had a lifespan of five hundred years, unlike Elder Li, who had lived for so long. They would easily die of old age if they stayed in the Jade Pool Realm for too long.

Unfortunately, years ago, Elder Li had turned into longevity flesh.

To this day, Shen Mo still did not know where the Longevity Pill he had taken in the past came from.

The Elder currently on duty as guardian was Yao Caifeng, Yao Ting’s great-grandmother.

Originally, this Elder Yao had been stationed at the Defense Division headquarters in Yan Tianjing in the Zhong State. Though her position was nominal, she was a member of the upper echelons of the Defense Division.

When Shen Mo assumed the position of Commander of the Hongye City Defense Division branch, he had dealings with Elder Yao. With her assistance, he verified all his battle merits from slaying demons and exchanged them for spiritual items like the Thunder Killing Pearl and Red Heaven Gold.

Times change.

Hongye City, many towns and villages in the Qing State, and countless immortals and mortals alike had all been swallowed by the Soaring Serpent and the Bizarre Dragon.

The Defense Division headquarters and its various branches were now all but defunct. Fortunately, Elder Yao later returned to the subsidiary courtyard on Chong’a Mountain and did not perish in the cataclysmic changes that swept the world, which was quite lucky.

Upon seeing Shen Mo emerge from the Teleportation Array, Elder Yao was first startled, then made to kneel. ”Yao Caifeng pays her respects to Qingyun Immortal Master! May the Heavenly Monarch have immeasurable lifespan and fortune...”

Since they were acquainted, Shen Mo did not allow her to kneel, extending a hand to support her before she could.

Then, he smiled and said, ”Elder Yao, there’s no need for such formalities. You were already an Elder of the sect when I was an inner disciple. In terms of both age and seniority, you can be considered an elder to me, Shen. So please, do not bow to me.”

Only then did Yao Caifeng straighten up and perform the customary Daoist salute.

Afterward, Shen Mo exchanged a few more words with Elder Yao and learned that she was over two hundred and sixty years old; she was, after all, a figure from Yao Ting’s great-grandparents’ generation.

For Spirit Sea Realm cultivators, this age, equivalent to that of an ordinary mortal in their fifties, meant her Essence and Qi were inevitably declining. Wanting to make further progress would be countless times harder than it had been when she was in her hundreds.

Elder Yao, hampered by her limited talent, had cultivated for more than two hundred years but had only reached Spirit Sea Realm, Layer VI. She had been unable to step into the late-stage Spirit Sea Realm.

Now, her age was advanced.

She feared that without a great opportunity, it would be difficult to make any more breakthroughs in her lifetime.

However, Shen Mo’s successful attainment of the Heavenly Monarch rank was a significant opportunity for all disciples of the Riverside Sect, one that would gradually manifest in the future.

If Elder Yao could seize this opportunity, forming a Golden Core might be difficult, but breaking through one or two Minor Realms by leveraging this momentum should not be hard.

「Jade Pool Dungeon.」

Shen Mo operated according to established methods. He opened up the Green Cloud Cave in the Ninth Heaven, then severed the connection between the Jade Pool Realm and the Primordial Realm, and began to refine the former into the Green Cloud Cave.

Elder Yao, who was outside the Dungeon, had been forewarned by Shen Mo, but when she saw the spatial rift disappear, she was still astonished and paled.

Fortunately, five days later, Shen Mo reappeared in the palace.

”Elder Yao, I have already refined the Jade Pool Dungeon; you no longer need to guard this place. Come, return to the mountain with me first,” Shen Mo said with a smile.

”I will respectfully obey the Heavenly Monarch’s decree!”

Perhaps it was her nature, or perhaps she had little contact with Shen Mo, but Yao Caifeng’s words and actions were always meticulously proper. She did not dare to act casually, presuming on her age or seniority.

It was not just Elder Yao.

With Shen Mo’s ascension to Heavenly Monarch, most people became somewhat restrained in his presence, losing their usual ease. This was true for nearly everyone except a few individuals like Zhao Lingyin, Chen Mengze and his daughter, and Cao Ren. Even Yuan Heming and Zhou Zhiwei, two patriarchs who had achieved the Golden Core Realm early, Sect Master Yuan Qingshi, Zhao Lingyin’s Master Wu Gong, and other acquaintances from within and outside the sect were affected.

This was despite Shen Mo consciously trying to retract his aura around them, so they would not be overwhelmed by the Heavenly Monarch’s majesty.

Yet, the disparity in Dao Realm and power was undeniable, and it was difficult for others not to be affected. When facing ’Heavenly Monarch Shen’ or ’Qingyun Immortal Master,’ they couldn’t help but feel a mix of awe, worship, admiration, timidity, shame, dread, envy, and other complex emotions!

In a certain sense, the gap between Shen Mo after his enlightenment and ordinary people was even greater than that between ordinary people and demonic beasts.

It was fortunate that Shen Mo had not chosen Immortal Paths like the Path of Heartlessness or the White Bones Path. Otherwise, this invisible gap would have expanded to a terrifying extent. In his eyes, even the people closest to him would have seemed no different from a stone or a weed.

With the flickering light of the Teleportation Altar, the figures of Shen Mo and Elder Yao disappeared from the Defense Hall.

Upon returning to Chong’a Mountain, Shen Mo convened a high-level sect meeting in Longevity Hall. Yuan Heming, Zhou Zhiwei, Yuan Jing, Chen Mengze, Yuan Qingshi, Jin Chinian, Jiang Lingfeng, Guo Xun, Lu Ming, Zhou Ru, Yao Ting, and others attended. During the meeting, Shen Mo announced the refining of the two Dungeons and revealed his intention to also incorporate the Vacuous Realm into Green Cloud Cave.

With his current strength and status, he naturally held absolute authority in the Riverside Sect.

However, sect affairs were numerous and complex. He couldn’t, nor did he need to, make all decisions alone. He still needed to rely on the collective wisdom and efforts of the high-ranking members and the existing sect structure to avoid expending unnecessary energy on matters outside his cultivation.

Originally, Shen Mo had no intention of refining the Vacuous Realm.

But after consecutively integrating the Mountain River Realm and the Jade Pool Realm into the Green Cloud Cave, he changed his mind.

The Jade Pool Realm was placed in the eastern part of the Fairyland, and he named it the Jade Pool Zone. This zone still retained the mystical properties of the Jade Pool Realm, where time flowed ten times faster than in the outside world and other areas.

Moreover, while the overall size of the Green Cloud Cave had not changed, its foundational layer had thickened by another twenty thousand zhang.

These transformations of the Cave Paradise did not have a direct or significant effect on improving Shen Mo’s cultivation level or combat strength.

However, they could indirectly aid his cultivation.

For instance, it could enable Shen Mo to gain a deeper understanding of the Heavenly Dao and comprehend the Dao Methods of Creation. It would make it easier for him to create an environment suitable for his own cultivation. The Fairyland could also produce various cultivation resources such as spirit gold deposits, exotic flowers and plants, and rare birds and exotic beasts. Even if trapped in a desperate situation, he would have a place to hide.

Sensing these various benefits, Shen Mo developed the intention to also integrate the Vacuous Realm into Green Cloud Cave.

In any case, as long as the Cave Paradise was deployed at the Riverside Sect’s mountain gate, it would not affect the sect’s Golden Core Realm cultivators from entering and exiting. Moreover, it would allow more Sect Disciples to cultivate in Green Cloud Cave, where the nature’s spiritual energy was more concentrated and pure.

During the high-level meeting, although some expressed their views on how to utilize Cave Paradises and Dungeons, no one dared to oppose Shen Mo’s intention.

Afterward, Shen Mo traveled to the Vacuous Realm, located above the Ninth Heaven, via the Teleportation Array.

With the experience from the previous two occasions, refining the Dungeon this time went even more smoothly. In just seven days, he successfully absorbed the Vacuous Realm into Green Cloud Cave.

The foundation of the Fairyland thickened by another forty thousand zhang, and a world of white jade appeared in its center.