The First Immortal of Destiny

Without the Taihua Mirror, the righteous path forces battling the demons in the Corpse Mountain Range would become extremely disadvantaged due to the inconvenience in communication.

Moreover, they wouldn’t be able to settle merits or exchange rewards!

Except for a few benevolent individuals, most of the strong cultivators of the righteous path wouldn’t risk continuing the fight against demons without any benefits, and before long, the demons would gain the upper hand.

Furthermore, as the Taihua Mirror is the Lifebound Magical Artifact of the Jade Spring Fairy, its destruction would also severely injure the Jade Spring Fairy.

As one declines, the other thrives.

In this struggle, the possibility of the Jade Spring Fairy being severely harmed by the Hallow Venerable increases significantly.

...

"Fellow Daoist, do you still have any Elixirs to feed me?"

Cheng Qianbao, the Master of Jade Verdant Cave, spoke in an extremely parched voice, pulling Shen Mo back to reality.

"This Elixir is of Grade Six, and I haven’t refined many. I only have two left; I fed one to this girl in my arms and gave the other to fellow Daoist; there are no more Elixirs left. Moreover, creatures turned into evil insects have their souls long extinguished, and even if fed this Elixir, they cannot return to normal!" Shen Mo shook his head, his eyes full of helplessness.

"Understood. Cheng Qianbao, a cultivator of Jade Verdant Cave, thanks Qingyun fellow Daoist once again! If I get the chance for reincarnation, I am willing to repay your great kindness."

As he spoke, Cheng Qianbao took out a Universe Bag from his chest and lovingly tied it to the waist of the little girl with horn braids.

He patted the girl’s head, then transformed into a streak of escaping light that soared into the sky, bursting into bright blood light, resolutely charging towards the Thousands Insects Evil Corpse Roc that had stepped into Jade Verdant Cave!

Shen Mo could see that he had embraced death, so he did not intervene to stop him.

However, Cheng Qianbao was only a mid-stage cultivator of the Divine Bridge Realm, whereas the Roc possessed the strength of the Formless Realm. The moment he charged at the demon with a will to die, his fate was sealed.

In an instant, an ugly evil insect flew from the Roc, piercing through Cheng Qianbao’s Magical Barrier and Protective Spirit Energy like lightning. Amidst a nauseating screech, it burrowed into his nose; in a blink of an eye, Cheng Qianbao’s flesh and soul were drained, leaving nothing but a shriveled, weightless human skin, slowly falling from the sky!

Even so, the Thousands Insects Evil Corpse Roc had no intention of letting go of his remains, catching the human skin to refine it into a human skin magic robe.

"Fellow Daoist, go in peace!" Shen Mo sighed.

Initially, Shen Mo thought Cheng Qianbao was just throwing his life away in vain, but the next moment, something happened that surprised both Shen Mo and the Roc.

When the evil insect was retrieved back into the Roc, a blood-red crying face, almost identical to that of Cheng Qianbao, emerged on the Roc’s body surrounding the insect... Clearly, the Master of Jade Verdant Cave, in his final moments, sacrificed everything–flesh, soul, cultivation level–to cast the most venomous curse on the Roc!

As the curse of the blood face emerged, the Roc’s aura suddenly weakened, dropping from the middle to the initial stage of the Formless Realm, with hints of further decline.

Given time, this great demon of the Formless Realm could suppress and remove the curse to return to its peak strength.

But how could Shen Mo, whose intent to kill was already raging, possibly give it time?

In the next instant, Shen Mo waved his sleeve, putting the girl with horn braids and the ashen-faced Lv Xiangtai into the Sword Zone.

Then, he wielded the Taiyi Sword, slashing out a Demon Slaying Sword Qi toward the imitation immortal mirror swarmed by evil insects, destroying the mountain of insects and the treasure mirror altogether.

"Clatter, clatter!"

The blood flag flapped vigorously as Shen Mo summoned the Soul Generals Array to protect himself, utilizing the Cloud Thunder Wing to charge towards the Roc.

Without any probing or buildup, his hands were filled with the most ferocious killing intent from the start!

Within the Soul Generals Array, Demon Soul Generals and ordinary Soul Generals bared their fangs and claws, their menacing appearances providing an endless supply of True Yuan Mana to operate the formation. Amidst the flashing fierce runes, scenes of thunder, fierce soldiers, flames, and gloomy winds unleashed their ultimate destructive force, intending to obliterate everything before them.

"Hiss, hiss!"

"Rustle, rustle!"

"Buzz, buzz..."

The Roc wielded the human skin magic robe, setting up a terrifying prison of countless evil insects, where each insect possessed unique abilities and was difficult to exterminate, barely withstanding the Soul Generals Array’s assault.

While the Soul Generals Array confronted the insect prison, Shen Mo summoned wind, cloud, thunder, and lightning, maneuvering continuously with the Cloud Thunder Wing. Meanwhile, various attacks erupted from his body, including Universe Sword Qi, Constellations Palm, Soul Curse, The Big Dipper Sword Array, Mountain Pearl, Pure Yang Fire, and many other means, all clashing intensely with the emerging evil insects;

Aiming to break through the defense of the human skin magic robe and directly injure the Roc itself!

However, even with the curse of the blood face, the Thousands Insects Evil Corpse Roc, though no longer at its peak, still possessed the strength of a powerful being in the Formless Realm, always able to evade or withstand Shen Mo’s relentless attacks with extraordinary means, not losing its footing.

"Boom!"

"Rumble!"

The aftershocks of the battle swept in all directions, causing countless evil insects transformed from the creatures of Jade Verdant Cave to explode into powder.

The already riddled spatial barriers suffered further damage, torrents of floodwaters pouring down from the sky and gradually merging with the Jadeite Pool!

"Hisssss~~~~"

The slender insects on the Roc swayed continuously, raising their heads to emit bursts of hissing, their strange and sinister voices also reaching Shen Mo’s ears: "It’s useless. Today, I cannot deal with you, and you cannot kill me!"

"By the order of the Venerable, I am here to collect billions of celestial insects, with no intention of entangling with you for long."

"Why don’t we part here, and when the Venerable and Jade Spring Fairy duel another day, we will decide our life and death then..."

The sixth Dao Realm, the Formless Realm, is just one major realm away from becoming a True Immortal. Not to mention its numerous techniques, its divine and wondrous nature far exceeds ordinary imagination, making it indeed difficult to completely slay such a strong opponent without absolutely overwhelming power.

Shen Mo let out a cold snort, ignoring the Roc’s proposal.

Then, he shook the blood flag, and the Soul Generals Array scattered, with nearly half of the Soul Generals being reabsorbed into the Soul Refining Flag.

Among them, top-tier Class V Demon Soul Generals such as Fairy Pei Yu, Ghost Bride, Master Hong Jue, Possession Ghost Yang Chengxiong (Horse Groom Lv), Gold Piercing Ghost, Serpent-Eel Heavenly Demon, Thousand-eyed Demon, Banzhi Jiaming, Fox Demon Pei Wanchen, Corpse King, Pig Demon Heisha, and others totaling twenty-eight, were taken into the flag.

Only nine Class V Demon Soul Generals remained on site, continuing to act as the array cores of the God Slaying Array.

Below Class V, half of the Demon Soul Generals and ordinary Soul Generals were taken, leaving only over three hundred Class IV Demon Soul Generals, five thousand Class III Demon Soul Generals, tens of thousands Class II Demon Soul Generals, and nearly a million ordinary Demon Soul Generals, instantly shrinking the Soul Generals Array by more than half.

The Roc seemed to sense something, and the expression on its face made of slender evil insects changed slightly; it immediately put away the human skin magic robe, wrapping it around itself, transforming into an evil light and fleeing far away.

"Trying to escape? Too late!"

Shen Mo brandished the Taiyi Sword, drawing a circle in the air.

Instantly, the evil light was encircled by the Universe in the Sword and vanished from where it was!