Chapter 831: A Storm Is Brewing
Taihua Immortal Mirror is the lifebound magical artifact of the Jade Spring Fairy!
Today, she summons this treasure to enlist the cultivators on the mountain, to purge the demon forces in the southeastern Hundred Thousand Mountains, and to dismantle Wan Sheng Reverend’s schemes against her.
Initially, Shen Mo was somewhat doubtful whether the Jade Spring Fairy and the unknown female immortal who rescued him were the same person?
After all, Wan Sheng Reverend had been laying out plans in the southeastern Hundred Thousand Mountains for a long time. He was ceaselessly recruiting strong figures from various immortal mountains, preparing to create the mighty and terrifying God Slaying Array to annihilate his enemies. However, when Shen Mo was rescued by the unknown fairy, she presumably knew of this matter, yet there was no movement from Jade Spring Mountain!
Only today did Shen Mo confirm her identity.
The Jade Spring Fairy is truly a True Immortal character. She doesn’t act readily, but once she does, it’s a grand gesture...
While communicating with the Taihua Mirror’s Artifact Spirit, the mirror light around Shen Mo constantly flowed, swiftly manifesting a geomantic map of the Hundred Thousand Mountains, including Five Dragon Mountain. It marked the distribution of enemy and friendly forces and displayed a dizzying array of information!
Shen Mo, being an Immortal Master of Divine Bridge Realm, had an incredibly robust and powerful soul, quickly digesting it nearly completely.
The opposing side is naturally Wan Sheng Reverend, the True Immortal Realm demon known as Thousands Insects Evil Corpse, along with the various forces he gathered under his command over decades.
The Hou Corpse Cave demon forces from those years are one among them. However, now that Hou Corpse Cave has been eradicated by Shen Mo, there’s another force secretly controlled by Wan Sheng Reverend on the east slope of Five Dragon Mountain, possibly led by the escaped tiger demon Shan Hao!
Besides this, there are numerous demon forces which, although not yet subdued by Wan Sheng Reverend, are of the same stripe as Hou Corpse Cave demons, not tolerated by the righteous path and similarly targeted for elimination.
The righteous forces marked out, the vast majority are similar human factions like Azure Heaven Cave;
There are also many multi-racial creatures fiercely resisting demon forces, akin to the Flower Fairy from Primordial Realm, Gold Man, dark ice creature, Flame Worm, and other benevolent races that differ in ideology from demons, not using human immortals as cultivation resources, not colluding with Wan Sheng Reverend’s forces, and valuable for forming alliances to jointly counter demon forces!
It’s no wonder the Jade Spring Fairy hadn’t taken action earlier. Even though she is a True Immortal character, to understand the specifics of the Hundred Thousand Mountains under Wan Sheng Reverend’s manipulation takes considerable effort!
Shen Mo waved his hand, and blocks of treasure mirrors spun forth.
Above listed countless tasks: gathering intelligence, slaying demons, establishing sturdy strongholds, rescuing allied cultivators, supporting righteous forces in the Hundred Thousand Mountains, capturing demon caves, seizing regional resources and spiritual items, all of which offer merit based on the magnitude of accomplishments!
And the benefits that merit can be exchanged for are densely listed upon the mirror’s surface.
Top-grade spirit stones, high-class magic artifacts, elixir and herb, powerful talismans, mystical cultivation methods, rare spiritual materials, mountain blessed land, spiritual field, all spiritual item resources usable by cultivators can be exchanged for with merit.
Shen Mo even glimpsed the low-grade immortal artifact and the option for the Jade Spring Fairy’s personal discourse at the top!
He is uninterested in ordinary spiritual items, but the immortal artifact and the True Immortal’s discourse do stir his heart.
"Fellow daoist, don’t let these tasks dazzle your eyes, actually you needn’t choose deliberately!" The Taihua Mirror’s Artifact Spirit explained with a smiling face.
As long as a cultivator enters the Mirror Realm, when leaving, they receive a bronze treasure mirror on their person.
Refining the bronze treasure mirror allows it to truthfully record a cultivator’s activities within the Corpse Mountain Range. When returning, the Taihua Mirror’s Artifact Spirit will assess their contributions and grant varying numbers of merit!
Shen Mo gently nodded, then with a slight intention, his body was once again enveloped in piercing mirror light.
In the blink of an eye, he appeared on an immortal mountain within the Corpse Mountain Range, as the Taihua Mirror’s Artifact Spirit mentioned, accompanied by a palm-sized ancient bronze mirror.
"Demonic monsters are rampant here, yet there’s such a magnificent human city nestled within!" Shen Mo expressed amazement after a brief survey, stowing away the bronze mirror.
Where Shen Mo appeared was a grand city where immortals and mortals cohabited, roughly estimated to have a population of at least a hundred million!
He also sensed several formidable yet hidden presences of Formless Realm cultivators in the city. He was uncertain if they were original powerhouses of the immortal mountain or transmitted there via the Taihua Immortal Mirror.
At the city’s center stood a massive treasure mirror several dozen zhang high, which Shen Mo had emerged from; clearly a replica of the Taihua Immortal Mirror, its grade not high, mere top-grade magic artifact, yet seemed to project a trace of the Taihua Immortal Mirror’s power, enabling access to the Mirror Realm!
According to the Taihua Mirror’s Artifact Spirit, every firm stronghold established within the Corpse Mountain Range would erect such a treasure mirror.
Although the Taihua Immortal Mirror had just risen, it had already attracted numerous powerhouses through the Mirror Realm to this place, bustling with activity, making Shen Mo feel a slight sense of crowding!
And the powerhouses stepping out from the mirror replica weren’t just Jade Spring Mountain cultivators, surprisingly there included cultivators from other immortal mountains, alongside formidable big demons and multi-racial supreme beings, likely righteous forces from various immortal mountains within the Corpse Mountain Range resisting Wan Sheng Reverend.
Clearly, the Jade Spring Fairy had long made arrangements over these years, yet for reasons unknown, delayed summoning Jade Spring Mountain cultivators!
The Taihua Immortal Mirror possesses means to identify demons and monsters, any formidable creatures that cultivate by harming or consuming people, regardless if born among the human race or other races, will be executed upon entering the Mirror Realm.
This aspect is unsurprising.
The human race is the most unique existence in the world, beings such as demonic beasts and spiritual monsters from alien tribes may retain their original forms, yet some intentionally cultivate human forms; moreover, even the most ordinary mortals without a trace of cultivation possess flesh and soul rich with immortal charm, enabling demons like Heavenly Demons to continually cultivate and flourish by consuming mortals, even attaining immortality!
This trait is not possessed by most alien tribes; only extraordinary beings are rich with immortal charm, allowing collection of exceptional materials and various powers from them.
Therefore, demons most favor using human immortals for cultivation, making their aura foul and impure.
Thus, discerning whether they are righteous forces or demons relies not only on stance but can be distinguished by the clarity and impurity of their aura... naturally, this poses no trouble for the Taihua Mirror, an immortal level magical instrument.
In this way, potential spies are unlikely to mingle among them!
Shen Mo toured this immortal mountain briefly, soon using the Taihua Immortal Mirror to return to the Sky Patrol Tower Ship.
Unlike the Corpse Mountain Range that requires erecting mirror replicas, the entire Jade Spring Mountain is enveloped in mirror light, enabling appearance anywhere via the Mirror Realm!
"Now, the Jade Spring Fairy has issued a decree to purge the Corpse Mountain Range, while not mandatory it presents a monumental opportunity to mountain cultivators, worthy of careful consideration."
The Sky Patrol Tower Ship turned direction, swiftly heading towards the Crimson Flame Sect Mountain Gate amidst flowing clouds and mist.