The First Immortal of Destiny

Upon hearing the Tiger Demon King’s words, a look of relief appeared on Pig Demon Heavenly Demon Heisha’s face. He then continued to gnaw on the poor female cultivator’s thigh!

Pei Wanchen, the Fox Demon who resembled a frail intellectual, took a sip of Blood Wine and leisurely said, ”That True Immortal bestowed great treasures and ordered Big Brother to subjugate the entire Five Dragon Mountain, yet he himself doesn’t appear... I wonder what his intentions are?”

A glint flashed in the Tiger Demon King’s eyes. He then drained the bowl of Blood Wine, let out a satisfied burp, and said slowly, ”The intentions of such a being... who could possibly guess them accurately?”

”However...” he continued, ”this True Immortal instructed us not to kill indiscriminately but to preserve the vital energy of Five Dragon Mountain as much as possible. Perhaps he intends to gather even more powerful individuals to form an even more formidable God Slaying Array! He might be relying on this formation to achieve a certain objective.”

”Of course, it’s also possible he aims to become the master of Five Dragon Mountain, or even of the hundreds of surrounding great mountains.”

”Let’s not discuss this further. Saying too much might attract the True Immortal’s attention, and that wouldn’t end well for any of us. Come, let’s continue drinking!”

「Green Cloud Cave, GuanYun Mansion.」

Shen Mo sat cross-legged, enveloped in dense Spiritual Qi of the Immortal Realm. The Soul Refining Flag, exuding an eerie crimson light, floated before him.

At this moment, his mind was split.

One part of his mind was focused on operating the Mixed Yuan Qi Technique, continuously refining the Immortal Realm’s Spiritual Qi, which was rich in Clear Spirit Qi, slowly advancing his cultivation level. The other part was connected to the ten Demon Soul Generals marked with the Soul Splitting Rune, constantly monitoring their feedback.

Several years had passed since he descended into the Immortal Realm. While Shen Mo’s cultivation level hadn’t increased rapidly, it was now far more substantial than when he first entered the Divine Bridge Realm.

The further one progressed in cultivation, the more arduous it became, and the slower the Realm advancement.

With the support of the Immortal Realm’s Spiritual Qi and numerous top-tier materials, Shen Mo had solidified his foundation in the early stage of the Divine Bridge Realm. However, reaching the middle stage was by no means an overnight task; it required immense dedication and painstaking effort to progress incrementally.

For now, he was quite satisfied with his cultivation progress.

As his cultivation method completed a Grand Circulation, Shen Mo concluded his breathing exercises. The dense Spiritual Qi of the Immortal Realm surrounding him gradually dissipated.

He opened his eyes, a hint of solemnity within them.

Hou Corpse Cave... Shen Mo muttered to himself. Then, with a flurry of hand movements, he channeled several seals into the Soul Refining Flag.

Over the past few years, with Green Cloud Cave as the center, nearly every area on the southern slope of Five Dragon Mountain within the range of his five senses had been explored and cleared.

A few dangerous locations, like troublesome stones and weeds in a medicinal herb garden, had not yet been dealt with.

These places might be occupied by powerful Demons, enveloped by natural Formations, filled with dreadful poisonous mists, rumored to harbor Evil Spirits, or contain relics left by unknown powerful figures. In Shen Mo’s perception, all these locations were shrouded in mist.

Even the pioneering teams from the Red Flame Sect, whose strongest members were mostly Spirit Sea Realm disciples in the middle to late stages, were not to be risked lightly.

Shen Mo had originally planned to eliminate the confirmed demonic nests one by one when he had the time. As for the other dangerous places, as long as they didn’t hinder Red Flame Sect disciples from gathering resources, they wouldn’t require special attention.

Consequently, most of the pioneering teams had already disbanded. Their elite disciples had either returned to Green Cloud Cave or joined other resource-gathering teams.

Most of the Class IV Demon Soul Generals who had accompanied these teams were also recalled to the Soul Refining Flag.

However, Shen Mo had not halted his exploration of Five Dragon Mountain. Ten of his strongest Demon Soul Generals—including Fairy Pei Yu, the Ghost Bride, Master Hong Jue, the Thousand-eyed Demon, and the Possession Ghost Yang Chengxiong (Horse Groom Lv)—were marked by him with the Soul Splitting Rune. They then radiated outward from Green Cloud Cave, intending to ascertain the overall situation on Five Dragon Mountain.

「On the southern slope of Five Dragon Mountain...」

Shen Mo had discovered traces of human and immortal settlements—cities and even nations. However, atop this mountain, which rivaled the Red Flame Zone in size, even an entire nation or city seemed as modest and inconspicuous as a small village.

Much like villagers in the wilderness fending off wild beasts, the humans dwelling on the southern slope of Five Dragon Mountain had constructed sturdy city walls, dug deep trenches, and established numerous Formations and Prohibitions to defend against dangers originating from other parts of the mountain.

Additionally, Fairy Pei Yu and the other top-tier Demon Soul Generals had also discovered numerous dangerous areas and caves occupied by Class V great Demons.

The former were similar to the mist-shrouded areas within Shen Mo’s sensory range: they might harbor Demons and Evil Spirits, contain Formation relics, or be filled with poisonous miasma, but they were simply more widespread.

The latter—caves occupied by great Demons—mostly had large numbers of Demons congregated within. Among these, the one that put Shen Mo most on guard was a demonic nest named ”Hou Corpse Cave,” located at the foot of the southern slope.

This area was far beyond the range of Shen Mo’s five senses.

He had only learned of this place through Fairy Pei Yu, who was patrolling the vicinity. By leveraging her five senses, he had detected this Demon congregation point. Thanks to his connection with the Soul Refining Flag and the Soul Splitting Rune he had applied to his Demon Soul Generals, his control range over them extended much farther than his own five senses.

To date, Fairy Pei Yu, a peak Class IV Demon Soul General, had been lingering near Hou Corpse Cave for many days.

Legend had it that countless years ago, this place was occupied by a powerful entity that had cultivated from the corpse of a fierce Hou beast, hence its name. Now, it was unknown whether this Hou corpse-turned-being was dead or had advanced to a higher Realm; its whereabouts were a mystery.

The master of Hou Corpse Cave had changed at some unknown time to three great Demons possessing Divine Bridge Realm strength: a Tiger Demon, a Fox Demon, and a Demon-corrupted Pig Demon.

The cave was also infested with millions of Demons, large and small; a terrifying scene of them running rampant.

If that were all, Shen Mo wouldn’t have paid it too much mind. After all, Five Dragon Mountain teemed with Demons, and Hou Corpse Cave was far from Green Cloud Cave. The two could have coexisted peacefully, each minding their own affairs.

However, through Fairy Pei Yu’s perspective, Shen Mo discovered that Hou Corpse Cave was relentlessly attacking other nearby factions, sparing neither human settlements nor fellow Demon territories. Furthermore, this Demon force from Hou Corpse Cave was expanding towards the mid-levels of the southern slope at an astonishing rate.

Following this trajectory, Hou Corpse Cave’s influence would reach Green Cloud Cave within three years. This was a threat that could not be ignored.

What are these three Class V great Demons trying to achieve? Even if it’s for plundering spiritual items and capturing prey for food, their current territory is already vast enough, Shen Mo pondered, unable to fathom their true intentions.

There were other Class V great Demons on Five Dragon Mountain. However, most Class V great Demons, after securing sufficient territory and ample resources, including sustenance, would cease their aggressive expansion.

Those who were excessively vicious and insatiably greedy usually didn’t survive long on Five Dragon Mountain.

As he pondered, Shen Mo finished forming his seals. The majority of his spiritual consciousness, through the dual connection of the Soul Splitting Rune and the Soul Refining Flag, focused on Fairy Pei Yu.