The First Immortal of Destiny

Chapter 931: Chapter 931: One Dragon, One Ghost, Two Immortals Confrontation

Shen Mo felt his heart stir.

The True Dragon Clan’s life-and-death nemesis, the one they had sent countless mighty True Dragons to crusade against for twenty thousand years—could it be the master of the Dragon Rearing Pool?

Yet by his estimation, the master of the Dragon Rearing Pool was at most of the Human Immortal or Earth Immortal sort. For the True Dragons to execute this person, there was simply no need to mobilize such a vast force; sending out a few Class VII (True Immortal Realm) powerhouses would suffice...

”Once we’ve beheaded the Longevity Demon Lord, I’ll ask Ao Hua about the details!”

The master of the Dragon Rearing Pool was a tribulation that befell Shen Mo’s friend Cao Ren, and had no direct stake with him; moreover, this was not the best time to dig to the root of the matter, so he temporarily suppressed his curiosity.

Immediately after, Shen Mo, Lingxiao Zi and the others also bowed from afar toward Taiao Tianhao high up in the Ninth Heaven.

Ao Hao inclined his head in acknowledgment, his gaze quickly falling toward Jiuli Mountain. With a faint smile at the corner of his lips, he said in a resonant voice, ”Jiuli Dark Lord, your old friend Ao Hao has come to pay a visit. I hope you will show yourself for a meeting!”

Jiuli Mountain was the source of the Hidden Dragon River. Before the Jiuli Dark Lord transformed into a Soul Ghost, Ao Hao had had some slight acquaintance with him, which was why he now called himself an ”old friend” upon coming to visit.

As soon as his words fell, yet another terrifying aura rippled out, faintly forming a stance of mutual opposition with Ao Hao’s qi. In the Ninth Heaven above, a vague figure shrouded in immortal radiance appeared out of thin air. Though ghostly qi pervaded around him, he did not give off a sinister or eerie feeling, but rather an air of grand uprightness.

Presumably, this was the Earth Immortal cultivated from Soul Ghost—Jiuli Dark Lord!

The two True Immortal level auras contended and opposed one another, quickly stirring nature’s spiritual energy into a state of Chaos. Even space itself seemed to twist.

Though the True Dragon Ao Hao and the Jiuli Dark Lord were still in the Ninth Heaven, Shen Mo and the others below could only make out waves of bizarre immortal light surging and swirling, as though weaving a separate Immortal Zone that severed immortal and mortal. Only occasionally could they glimpse a vague silhouette of the two from between the immortal rays.

”We have not met for twenty‑three thousand years. Fellow daoist, have you been well?” The Jiuli Dark Lord folded his hands toward Ao Hao and spoke languidly.

”Having received Heaven’s favor, I’ve managed to return with my body whole and intact, and did not die on the road of crusade!” A hint of relief showed on Ao Hao’s face. Clearly, the life‑and‑death crusade of the True Dragon Clan had been extraordinarily perilous; even a Class VII True Dragon such as he, whose might could rival True Immortal personages, had a very real chance of falling.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Ao Hao cast a spell to conjure a group of peerlessly beautiful immortal maidens, then brought out a great many rare fruits and spiritual wines, inviting the Jiuli Dark Lord to sit and drink with him.

The Jiuli Dark Lord did not take his seat. His gaze swept over Shen Mo and the rest below, the vast ghostly qi on his body surging like a tidal wave: ”Fellow daoist wishes to pin me here, so that these juniors may seize the opportunity to slaughter the Longevity Demon Lord?”

”Correct!”

Ao Hao poured himself a cup and drank, then continued, wine‑breath spilling from his mouth, ”I do not know what benefits that Evil Demon of the Longevity race has promised you, that he was able to win the protection of a figure such as yourself! Unfortunately, the blood‑debt cause and effect he bears is far too heavy. Even you, I fear, cannot dissolve this tribulation for him.”

”And if I insist on protecting him?”

”You are welcome to try.”

Ao Hao’s aura surged as well, making this ”Immortal Zone” flash with thunder and lightning, growing all the more overcast and oppressive.

However, he did not immediately strike at the Jiuli Dark Lord, but went on, ”Before that, I must remind fellow daoist...”

”These juniors who have come to make things difficult for the Longevity Demon Lord—each one of them is bound by countless threads of connection to True Immortal personages. With your cultivation level, so long as you have not had your mind clouded by tribulation Qi, it should not be hard to perceive this.”

”And the moment you cross hands with me, you will be taking upon yourself this piece of cause and effect on behalf of the Longevity Demon Lord. Acting so contrary to the natural order—if anything goes awry, even you may be dragged into the tribulation and fall alongside him.”

”...”

Shen Mo and the rest below had yet to attain True Immortality, so even Lingxiao Zi, whose Realm was the highest among them, did not dare easily extend his five senses and sense into the ”Immortal Zone” to probe the dragon and the ghost within, for fear that their confrontation would warp his own understanding of the Great Path.

Thus, for the moment, none of them knew what Ao Hao and the Jiuli Dark Lord were saying.

But after a short while, they glimpsed from one corner of the immortal light that the Jiuli Dark Lord was no longer opposing Ao Hao, but had taken his seat and begun drinking with him.

Seeing the two Xian Dao Strongholds ”pushing cups and trading drinks, conversing with smiles and ease,” everyone’s faces lit up with joy, knowing that the greatest obstacle to this campaign to besiege the Longevity Demon Lord had vanished!

”It seems the True Dragon Clan of the Hidden Dragon River does not wish to forge a death feud with their neighbors.” Shen Mo, the Chu sisters, and Ning Qingnv quickly exchanged thoughts via Divine Sense.

Previously, they still had their doubts.

Ao Hua and Ao Kang, those two True Dragons, had clearly invited Ao Hao, this Class VII True Dragon, to pin down the Jiuli Dark Lord. Under such circumstances, they fundamentally had no need to involve outsiders; they only needed to invite more of their own clan to come and encircle and kill the Longevity Demon Lord. After all, within the Hidden Dragon River there dwelled several thousand True Dragons, and quite a few possessed strength at the Formless Realm!

Yet they had deliberately used Lingxiao Zi as the hub to rally Shen Mo and several other powerhouses who had old grudges with the Longevity Demon Lord, and marched on Jiuli Mountain.

Now there was a reasonable explanation...

If it were merely a group of True Dragons coming to seek vengeance, then it would be nothing more than a feud between the True Dragon Clan of the Hidden Dragon River and the Longevity Demon Lord.

The Demon Lord, sheltered by the Jiuli Dark Lord, would only need to bow his head and accept punishment, hand over the Thunder Dragon Pearl, and bleed a little to compensate Ao Hua whom he had injured—then the matter could be put to rest!

If the True Dragon Clan refused to agree, they would instead become the ones being unreasonable and overreaching, and it would very likely escalate into a feud between the two great forces of the Hidden Dragon River True Dragons and the Jiuli tribes. From then on, the Hidden Dragon River and Jiuli Mountain would know no peace; and the Class VII True Dragons who could contend with the Jiuli Dark Lord had to tread the road of crusade and could not remain in the Hidden Dragon River forever. Thus, not wishing to fall out with Jiuli Mountain, after weighing pros and cons they would for the most part have no choice but to march in with great fanfare and leave in dismay!

Ao Hua and Ao Kang did not want events to develop in this fashion. Merely inviting a Class VII True Dragon to step forward had already cost them dearly. If all they gained in return were the recovery of the Thunder Dragon Pearl and some resources as compensation, it would barely cover the reward they owed Ao Hao, much less quell the hatred in their hearts.

Only by utterly slaying the Longevity Demon Lord and taking his life along with all his possessions would Ao Hua and Ao Kang be satisfied.

Thus, Ao Hua sought out Lingxiao Zi, and through him contacted Shen Mo and the others. Human cultivators, Ice‑Spirit Creatures, and True Dragons were all represented, and each bore irreconcilable enmity toward the Longevity Demon Lord. In this way, the affair was no longer solely the business of the True Dragon Clan. Even someone as formidable as the Jiuli Dark Lord had no means to unravel, one by one, all the chains of cause and effect between them and the Longevity Demon Lord, leaving only the path of ”breaking the game with brute force” as the way forward. Yet with Taiao Tianhao providing a counterbalance, the Jiuli Dark Lord could not simply rely on his own strength to force everyone to yield!

Furthermore, even if their group slew the Longevity Demon Lord, it would be the tribulation he had incurred by failing to sow good karma and instead provoking evil retribution. Naturally, the Jiuli Dark Lord would not, for this reason, forge a death feud with the Hidden Dragon River True Dragons.

Spoken at length, it was complex and hard to untangle. Simply put, it was nothing more than going along with the势 of the times.