The First Immortal of Destiny

BOOM!

Flesh and blood splattered. Most of Banzhi Jiaming’s skull was shattered, and pulpy red and white matter gushed out.

Its body, wrapped in the Demon Cloud’s demonic light, plummeted towards the big array in the core region!

The one who had ambushed this great demon was none other than Fairy Pei Yu. Even though the Single-footed Yaksha possessed a demonic body far superior to that of a Human Cultivator, being caught off guard by an attack from a powerhouse of the same rank still left the demon heavily injured.

However, a Class V creature, similar to a Human Race Immortal Master who had established their Divine Bridge, had their Essence and Qi blended together as one; their Dao Body no longer possessed weak points in the traditional sense.

Even with most of its skull shattered, it wouldn’t be fatal to Banzhi Jiaming.

If it could find a sacred healing herb or possessed a wondrous cultivation method, it could even regrow its shattered head.

Before Banzhi Jiaming could recover from the grievous injury, a terrifying Sword Light erupted from the big array in the core region, instantly slicing it in half at the waist. Its two severed halves were then swept up by the onrushing Blood River, disappearing into the big array and vanishing without a trace!

...

The sudden turn of events caused the expressions of Shan Hao, Pei Wanchen, Heisha, and the other great demons to change drastically.

They had wanted to intervene, but from Fairy Pei Yu’s surprise attack on Banzhi Jiaming to the Class V Yaksha being swept away by the Blood River, only a few flickers of thought had passed. By the time the great demons reacted, the dust had already settled!

”Fourth, you belong to the Celestial Demon Clan! Why are you helping Human Cultivators? Did the Master of the Green Cloud Cave promise you a massive offering of blood food to fuel your advancement?” Pig Demon Heisha’s eyes showed a hint of disbelief. Demonic Qi surged around him, his killing intent overflowing, as he loudly berated Fairy Pei Yu.

As expected of one originating from a demon-corrupted demonic beast, Pig Demon Heisha had a thorough understanding of the nature of his own kind.

For Heavenly Demons, the obsession deeply imprinted in their souls—”demon-corrupt creatures and devour blood food to strengthen oneself”—was even more fanatical and frenzied than a cultivator’s pursuit of longevity!

Unfortunately, Fairy Pei Yu was not a pure Heavenly Demon, but a Demon Soul General.

Therefore, although Heisha’s speculation was quite reasonable, it was a million miles from the truth!

Fairy Pei Yu put away her silver flame spear. With a flick of its tip, she shook off all the adhering demonic blood, brain matter, and other filth. Then, using the Illusionary Mirror to Protect her entire body, she stood quietly in her original spot, ignoring Pig Demon Heisha’s rebuke.

A moment later, Shen Mo walked out from the big array in the core region, retracting the portion of his mind that had taken control of Fairy Pei Yu.

At the same time, he didn’t forget to take out the formation pivot, completely deactivating the three Mountain Protection Arrays. He then gathered all the array bases, array cores, and other formation-deployment materials and magic artifacts, stowing them all away into his cave paradise!

Shan Hao and the other great demons were no fools. Observing the changes in Fairy Pei Yu, they quickly pieced together what had transpired.

Within a God Slaying Array on the scale of one hundred thousand, Liu Sanmei, the snake demon with three female upper bodies who served as an array core, witnessed everything. Astonishment and doubt appeared on the three human faces of her upper body. Her eyes flickered, her gaze shifting back and forth between Fairy Pei Yu and Shen Mo.

After a moment of internal struggle, she abruptly made up her mind and contacted Shen Mo using her sense.

Shen Mo, who had just finished collecting the materials from the three big arrays, showed a subtle flicker of expression. He glanced imperceptibly towards Liu Sanmei’s location and communicated something to her in his mind.

The next moment, Tiger Demon Shan Hao also spoke.

After a brief period of shock, bewilderment, and fury, he regained the composure of a king of millions of demons. Baring his ferocious tiger teeth, he grinned ominously, ”So it turns out that our Fourth Great King of Hou Corpse Cave was actually an Imperial Soul controlled by someone all along. No wonder she would commit such an act of betrayal at this time!

”So, all these years, her recruiting other demons, expanding the Chaotic Stone Stockade’s power, and surrendering to my Hou Corpse Cave—all these actions were manipulated by you, Qingyun, from behind the scenes?”

”Indeed!” Shen Mo admitted with a faint smile, making no effort to hide it.

”Qingyun, after you took the big array here, no entrance to any Dungeon has appeared. Your Green Cloud Cave must be a Fairyland or some kind of spatial treasure. If so, previously, Fellow Daoist, you clearly could have taken your forces and moved away from Five Dragon Mountain. Why did you insist on making an enemy of my Hou Corpse Cave?”

Shan Hao was a ”native” of the Immortal Realm and didn’t fully understand the characteristics of the forbidden land, so it was quite normal for him to have such doubts.

Though his words made it sound as if Shen Mo was ”harboring evil intentions” and deliberately seeking trouble with the demons of Hou Corpse Cave, his subsequent statements thoroughly exposed the great demon’s true nature.

”This King acts under the Immortal’s decree, shouldering the great responsibility of subjugating all forces, large and small, on Five Dragon Mountain!

”Since you, Fellow Daoist, have missed the best opportunity to escape, what you were thinking before is no longer important. I only want to ask you, Fellow Daoist, one thing: will you surrender to us, or fight to the death without surrendering?”

Shen Mo assessed the situation within the Soul Refining Flag, then his eyes gazed deeply at Shan Hao.

”Fellow Daoist Shan Hao seems very confident in his ability to keep me here! I imagine the True Immortal backing you must also be preoccupied with his own cultivation and other affairs, unable to constantly direct his attention to Five Dragon Mountain.

”Therefore, this Immortal Master is not without the strength to fight...

”Once a great battle begins, how would you know, Fellow Daoist, whether it will be your death or mine today?”

Faced with Shen Mo’s counter-question, a thoughtful glint flashed in Shan Hao’s tiger eyes. He then burst into meaningful laughter, ”Even at this time, Qingyun still doesn’t forget to try and extract information about the Immortal from me. Truly, the height of shamelessness and cunning! This King will speak plainly: even this King does not know if beings of that level constantly monitor Five Dragon Mountain!

”However, with your cultivation at the early-stage of the Divine Bridge Realm, Fellow Daoist, even with the aid of an Imperial Soul like Pei Yu at Class V, I’m afraid you won’t be able to escape our encirclement alive...”

As he spoke, the Demon Fiend energy and demonic light on his body surged turbulently. He, along with Fox Demon Pei Wanchen, Pig Demon Heisha, the newly subdued Class V spectral fiend, the Corpse King, and three God Slaying Arrays—one large and two small—pressed in, completely surrounding Shen Mo and sealing off all avenues of escape!

”Fellow Daoist, you schemed meticulously to have your subordinate Imperial Soul advance to Class V. You even launched a sudden offensive, injuring and killing one of our great generals. To achieve this much has indeed surprised this King, and I even feel a touch of admiration!

”But this alone... is still not enough to overturn the situation where you are weak and we are strong.

”Four powerhouses of the same rank, three great slaughter arrays—these are enough to drive you, Fellow Daoist, to a point of no escape, with no path to the heavens and no gate into the earth!

”If you, Fellow Daoist, are willing to surrender to us now, this King can promise you the second-in-command position, second only to this King, and above millions of our demon children. However, Fellow Daoist, you must also contribute your cave paradise and spatial treasure, as well as the lives and fortunes of most of the creatures in the Green Cloud Cave.

”You may keep one hundred thousand of your kinsmen and those close to you. The rest must all be handed over to serve as blood food rations, to properly reward our Hou Corpse Cave children for their years of hard fighting!”