The First Immortal of Destiny

Chapter 209: Chapter 209: Digging Underground _1

The ”kin” Heavenly Demon Wan Wu believed to be its own were not ordinary Native Heaven Demons. Instead, they were Minor Heavenly Demon Soul Generals summoned by Shen Mo from the Soul Refining Flag! All were middle-stage Class II, numbering over fifty.

WHOOSH!

WHOOSH!

WHOOSH!

Sword Qi rampaged at the bottom of the abyss. One by one, the Minor Heavenly Demon Soul Generals were constantly being killed by Heavenly Demon Wan Wu.

It wasn’t until almost half an incense stick’s worth of time had passed that this mutated Heavenly Demon began to realize something was amiss. The number of strange ”kin” it had slain did not diminish at all. It looked around and found that one after another of its ”kin” was constantly crawling out of a hole at the bottom of the abyss. For every one it killed, another would appear. The walls of the cave opening were incredibly smooth, clearly excavated by someone.

The ferocious light in Heavenly Demon Wan Wu’s eyes intensified. It released strange syllables from its mouth, sounding like beastly roars, yet also like it was chanting a curse. In the very next moment, the Native Heaven Demons that had surged into the chasm with it shrieked and charged towards the Minor Heavenly Demon Soul Generals. Two groups of similar-looking, yet distinct, creatures instantly engaged in a frenzied slaughter—a brutal, savage, bloody, and incredibly tragic scene!

Simultaneously, above the abyss, a continuous stream of Heavenly Demons was being summoned by Heavenly Demon Wan Wu. Demonic figures howled as some joined the fray, while others dived directly into the newly dug hole.

「Within the tunnel.」

Shen Mo held the Demon Slaying Sword, constantly using sword Qi to break apart the soil and rock walls, carving out a passage wide enough for one person. Behind him, Zhao Lingyin, also holding a crystal-clear green jade sword, followed his every step. A blood-red long banner trailed behind Zhao Lingyin, its sanguine light blocking the passage. Continual demonic figures emerged from the banner, charging out along the passage to fight.

「Previously.」

The moment Heavenly Demon Wan Wu caught up to him, Shen Mo knew it would be very difficult for the two of them to escape back to Tianshan City. With this peak Class II mutated Heavenly Demon blocking their path, any slight delay would lead to them being surrounded by an overwhelming tide of Heavenly Demons, including many middle-stage and late-stage Class II Native Heaven Demons. Killing all of them was simply unrealistic!

Even if he employed the Soul Refining Flag, he could at most entangle Heavenly Demon Wan Wu for a while. After all, the strongest Soul Generals in the flag, such as Ghost Bride and Master Hong Jue, were only late-stage Class II. As for the mutated Demon Soul Generals and Minor Heavenly Demon Soul Generals within it, they did have the potential to advance to peak Class II. However, right then, it was too late for a temporary advancement.

Consequently, Shen Mo had not initially used the Soul Refining Flag, his trump card. Aside from potentially being seen by disciples of other immortal sects and causing trouble for himself, it would have been useless for the overall situation.

Subsequently, during his clash with Heavenly Demon Wan Wu, he feigned defeat and was knocked into the collapsing chasm. Only then did Shen Mo summon a large number of Soul Generals to engage Heavenly Demon Wan Wu. Meanwhile, he used the Soul Refining Flag to block the path and kept digging downward through the earth and rock. This way, even if Heavenly Demon Wan Wu pursued him with other greater and lesser demon heads, he would only need to deal with an attack from one direction, unlike outside, where he would have to divide his attention to guard against demonic figures from all directions!

They just had to be careful while digging. If they accidentally dug into the bedrock beneath Tianshan Mountain, that would be a huge problem!

”Hmm...” Shen Mo’s expression flickered. Through the feedback from the Soul Refining Flag, he learned that Heavenly Demons had already entered the passage. A newly materialized Minor Heavenly Demon Soul General was torn apart even before it could crawl out of the opening.

”Senior Sister Lingyin, you take over digging the tunnel for me,” Shen Mo said. ”A demon head is catching up. I need to focus on dealing with them! Just dig forward... Tianshan City is in that direction. Once we’ve dug far enough, we’ll head upwards!”

As he spoke, Shen Mo pressed close to Zhao Lingyin’s body as he squeezed towards the back. However, to prevent a large number of Heavenly Demons from breaking in, the tunnel had been dug extremely narrow, barely allowing one person to pass through facing forward. The two of them had to turn sideways, slowly maneuvering their bodies to swap places.

Zhao Lingyin’s face quickly turned an intense red! The flush spread from her neck all the way to her slender, jade-like fingers; her very fingertips turned a rosy pink. Although she and Shen Mo often had physical contact when they were alone in the Cuizhu Elixir Room, and their relationship had grown closer—she had even been held in Shen Mo’s arms for a long time as he flew just moments ago—such intimacy as this was unprecedented. For a moment, her Path Heart was inevitably thrown into turmoil. Within her heart, she felt a mix of shame and annoyance, along with an indescribable, strange emotion.

The faint, refreshing fragrance of spiritual medicine reached Shen Mo’s nostrils. Noticing Zhao Lingyin’s unusual state, even his usually composed face reddened slightly. He muttered apologetically, ”Sorry, Senior Sister Lingyin...”

Then, he silently began to circulate the Three-Heads Six-Arms True Immortal Technique. After a moment, Shen Mo’s body shrank by a fraction, allowing him to barely squeeze to the back. Then, his figure returned to normal.

He hadn’t fully mastered this external magic yet! He could only manifest an extra head and two arms; the change in body size couldn’t be too drastic. Otherwise, if he could shrink to the size of an infant, he would have passed through easily.

Zhao Lingyin adjusted her disheveled and wrinkled robes, glared at Shen Mo with her face still red, and then urged her emerald jade sword to continue excavating the stone passage. Faintly, the sounds of Heavenly Demons and Soul Generals battling drifted over.

Shen Mo suppressed the amorous thoughts in his heart, consumed several Grade II Elixirs, and focused on activating the Soul Refining Flag. This time, however, the entities emerging from the flag were not Minor Heavenly Demon Soul Generals, but rather mutated Demon Soul Generals.

This was similar to the difference between Native Heaven Demons and mutated Heavenly Demons. Generally speaking, as long as the one Demon-corrupted wasn’t utterly useless, a mutated Heavenly Demon was usually stronger than a Native Heaven Demon. Therefore, a mutated Demon Soul General was naturally stronger than a Minor Heavenly Demon Soul General.

As for Ghost Bride and the other eighteen late-stage Class II Soul Generals, I have no plans to summon them. Who knows if there are any late-stage Class II Heavenly Demons among those pursuing us. If Ghost Bride and the other Soul Generals were Demon-corrupted by them, I couldn’t guarantee I could still control them with the Soul Refining Flag! It’s better to reserve these eighteen Soul Generals for my own Minor Heavenly Demon Soul Generals! Once a Minor Heavenly Demon Soul General advances to late-stage Class II through devouring, then it can Demon-corrupt Ghost Bride and the other Soul Generals. That way, it would be more reliable!

The mutated Demon Soul Generals, each retaining their strength from when they were alive, charged out to kill the moment they stepped out of the blood-red curtain. Soon, shrieks, the explosions of magic, and the sound of collapsing rock merged into a tumultuous din! As the Soul Generals and Heavenly Demons fought fiercely in the narrow stone passage, large sections of the tunnel began to collapse.

「An hour later.」

The sounds gradually subsided.

”The tunnel has collapsed. If that demon head wants to pursue us, it will have to honestly dig its own passage. This should buy us some peace for a while!”

As for why I didn’t just collapse the stone passage from the start... Firstly, it would have made too much noise. I was afraid of immediately attracting Heavenly Demon Wan Wu’s attention, which would negate the effect of using the Minor Heavenly Demon Soul Generals to delay it. Secondly, it would consume a lot of Mana. Since I had to fight the Heavenly Demons anyway, letting them do some of the work would save me considerable effort.

A little under an hour later, the Soul Generals Shen Mo had left stationed at the collapse site began to be shattered again, their remnants flying back to the Soul Refining Flag.

Evidently, Heavenly Demon Wan Wu had not given up on Zhao Lingyin, this humanoid spiritual medicine. This time, it had learned its lesson. It no longer dispatched other Native Heaven Demons but came to kill its way through personally. Amidst the explosive roar of sword Qi, the mutated Demon Soul Generals summoned by Shen Mo died extremely quickly!