The First Immortal of Destiny

On the agreed-upon date, Shen Mo put away his Soul Refining Flag and returned to Jade Spring Mountain via the Teleportation Array from the Blood Snake Ridge outpost.

Soon after reuniting with the Silver-haired Child, a towering, fearsome humanoid puppet, beating a pair of colossal iron wings, landed at the entrance of the Dragon-suppressing Sect amidst a powerful gust of spirit energy. This puppet stood as tall as four men. The iron wings on its back were the magic treasure it used for Flying Escape. Its entire body, forged from rare spiritual materials, glowed with a metallic sheen and was covered in complex and mystical runes. Overall, it closely resembled a giant clad in heavy armor!

”Fellow Daoist Qingyun, this is the Class V Puppet Yama, belonging to Law Master Qin Zhen of the Mechanic Sect. You can consider it to be Law Master Qin himself,” the Silver-haired Child said, hands clasped behind his back, acting as the intermediary and briefly introducing them.

During his years at Jade Spring Mountain, Shen Mo had gained some understanding of the various powers, large and small, on the mountain. The Mechanic Sect’s gate was situated on a cloud formation above the mid-slope of Jade Spring Mountain’s West Slope. It was an ancient sect with thousands of years of heritage, specializing in the creation and control of puppets. However, over a thousand years ago, after all its senior Divine Bridge Realm experts perished, the Mechanic Sect began to decline. This decline continued until four hundred years ago, when a disciple of exceptional talent emerged. With his Golden Core Realm cultivation, he perfectly controlled several Class V puppets passed down from his ancestors, enabling them to exhibit formidable strength comparable to a Divine Bridge Realm Immortal Master. This achievement single-handedly reversed the sect’s downward trend!

This individual was Qin Zhen. Due to his great contributions to the sect, he later assumed the position of Law Master of the Mechanic Sect. Leveraging the capabilities of the Class V puppets, he gathered Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures for himself. Over the following two hundred years, he cultivated step by step to the Divine Bridge Realm. Perhaps due to a peculiar personality or for other reasons unknown to outsiders, Qin Zhen never revealed his true form to others after reaching the Golden Core Realm. The older generation of Mechanic Sect cultivators who had seen his true form were mostly deceased from old age. The sect’s newer generation of cultivators had almost never seen his real face, which is why the Silver-haired Child told Shen Mo to treat Puppet Yama as Qin Zhen himself!

In fact, his real body was hidden inside Puppet Yama. A spatial treasure had been integrated into this puppet’s core. Qin Zhen resided within a unique space, similar to a ”Sword Zone” or ”The Smallest Space,” from which he controlled the puppet using a Mechanic Sect Secret Technique. Moreover, he possessed more than one Class V puppet; nearly all the mighty puppets refined by previous generations of the Mechanic Sect were in his hands. However, this ”Yama” puppet was one he personally created after reaching the Divine Bridge Realm. He could control it with the greatest proficiency and unleash formidable combat power, so he often used this puppet when appearing before others.

Red light flashed in Puppet Yama’s eyes. It raised its arms, which were thicker than a normal person’s torso, and agilely performed a Daoist salute towards Shen Mo. ”Greetings, Fellow Daoist Qingyun...” Its voice, emerging from the humanoid puppet, sounded somewhat deep and muffled, with a metallic quality. The tone was also peculiar; it was likely not Qin Zhen’s original voice but a sound produced by activating a magic artifact in the puppet’s throat.

Shen Mo also performed a Daoist salute in return, smiling as he exchanged pleasantries with ”Qin Zhen.”

Even though he generally understood Qin Zhen’s background, Shen Mo still wanted to use various methods to probe him further. After all, the journey to explore the True Immortal’s Cave Mansion was fraught with immense risks. The way this Law Master of the Mechanic Sect concealed his true self was unsettling. Who knew what kind of unexpected troubles might arise after entering the Immortal Mansion Dungeon!

However, Qin Zhen’s true body was hidden within a spatial treasure and isolated by spatial barriers. Consequently, the five senses, divine sense, and even ”Insight into All Beings” were ineffective. Furthermore, the two had only recently met, and arbitrarily probing him might be offensive. It would be better to find an opportunity to investigate his secrets in the future.

After Shen Mo, the Silver-haired Child, and Qin Zhen convened, they each employed their respective methods and flew eastward from Jade Spring Mountain.

After approximately a month of travel, the three arrived beside a lake even more vast than the Immortal Burial Sea. There, they met the final Divine Bridge Realm cultivator invited by the Silver-haired Child to join their expedition. This man, surnamed Kang and named Haoxiu, was known by the Daoist title Longyuan Immortal Master and was a direct descendant of Immortal Master Cizi!

The Kang family was the cultivation family from which Immortal Master Cizi had originated. It boasted a legacy spanning nearly twenty thousand years and was incredibly prosperous and illustrious. The human kingdoms and billions of immortals and mortals under its rule resided by the lakeside. Even after the demise of Immortal Master Cizi, the Kang family still had a Formless Realm Immortal Master presiding within, showing no signs of decline whatsoever. Moreover, the human kingdoms and billions of immortals and mortals around the lake represented only a part of its power. The Kang family also owned a cave paradise located deep beneath the lake, inhabited by countless creatures, much like the Green Cloud Cave.

Longyuan Immortal Master Kang Haoxiu had sword-like eyebrows and star-like eyes, yet he also possessed an aquiline nose. Combined with his gloomy and cold gaze, he immediately gave Shen Mo the impression of being a sinister and formidable individual upon their first meeting. He appeared to be around forty years old; of course, this was not his actual age. Although he had cultivated to the Divine Bridge Realm, Immortal Master Cizi had passed away six thousand five hundred years prior. As his direct bloodline descendant, Kang Haoxiu was not particularly favored by the Kang family’s current Formless Realm patriarch. Perhaps this contributed to his gloomy and cold temperament.

With the Silver-haired Child making the introductions, Shen Mo and Qin Zhen met Kang Haoxiu and exchanged some pleasantries. Afterward, the four of them set off once more. However, this time they did not head east but changed direction, flying due north.

The journey was long. To reach the Immortal Mansion Dungeon as quickly as possible while maintaining their peak condition, Shen Mo’s group discussed and decided to take turns leading the way. One person would travel at maximum speed, carrying the other three using a spatial treasure or other methods. Once their Mana was nearly depleted, they would step down, and another would take their place, maintaining their terrifying pace of a million miles per day.

The spatial treasure for the other three to rest in was provided by Kang Haoxiu; its interior space was roughly the size of the Golden Flowery Realm of the Flower Fairy clan.

When it was Shen Mo’s turn, he did not use the ”Sword Escape” Skill. Instead, he released the middle-stage Class V Evil-eating Sky Centipede. He also didn’t have the Silver-haired Child and the other two enter a spatial treasure; the Evil-eating Sky Centipede simply carried all four of them as it flew north.

Ultimately, the Silver-haired Child had some peculiarities and could not be easily trusted. As for Qin Zhen and Kang Haoxiu, Shen Mo had only just met them, so it was better to reveal as few of his capabilities as possible.

Even using this method to travel day and night, they still spent a considerable amount of time on the road. Along the way, they encountered regions suspected to be inhabited by terrifying beings, as well as perilous areas that even Divine Bridge Realm cultivators would find difficult to traverse. They had to make wide detours around such places.

That was not all. To reach the Immortal Mansion Dungeon, they had to traverse an exceedingly vast and peculiar region. Crossing it directly was a distance of several tens of millions of miles. However, upon entering this area, everything—including the circulation of Mana, the speed of magic and sword Qi, and even mental perception—slowed by a factor of ten. Their Flying Escape speed was similarly affected.