The First Immortal of Destiny

Chapter 472: Chapter 472: A Corner of the Truth_1

Since this ”person” was not the true body of the nameless Heavenly Monarch, but an evil spirit born from his remains, Shen Mo felt no reverence!

Then, with a single thought, he transformed into a three-headed, six-armed form, holding the Demon Slaying Sword, the Green Cloud Umbrella, the Soul Refining Flag, and other magic treasures, and bravely rushed towards the Corpse Spirit of the Heavenly Monarch on the Star Observation Deck.

Before this, he had not forgotten to pass on the details of this evil spirit to Chou Jiuyian, Giant Corpse Master, Chu Zhen, and others through Divine Sense. The other cultivators from various immortal sects had some inklings but were still unable to confirm whether the ”Heavenly Monarch” before them was dead or alive, leaving them unavoidably apprehensive. Thus, they did not act like the Yuxin Sword Master by attacking the Corpse Spirit immediately.

Now that they had received Shen Mo’s message and learned its origin, Chou Jiuyian and the others immediately reacted in the same way as Shen Mo. Once the leaders of each immortal sect took action, the other disciples naturally didn’t want to be left behind.

In a flash, a cluster of spirit light, numerous streaks of multicolored sword Qi, and various unique magic treasures were all targeted at this evil being!

”To dare to attack this seat, quite a bold move...”

The Heavenly Monarch’s Corpse Spirit’s hollow, lifeless eyes swept over everyone, a faint hint of mockery on its face.

Then, it opened its mouth and spat. A pitch-dark iron sword, enveloped by thick corpse Qi, flew into its hand with a roar. It was the iron sword from the Heavenly Monarch’s afterimage. It seemed ordinary but could withstand the erosion of thousands of years, so it was definitely not an ordinary item!

With the iron sword in hand, the Corpse Spirit swung it several times. Accompanied by the turbulent corpse Qi, several dark Sword Lights lashed out towards the Yuxin Sword Master, Shen Mo, and the others.

After its fall many years ago, the Chakra and Dantian within the Heavenly Monarch’s remains were all exhausted. Only a single breath of pure corpse Qi remained; like the Mana and True Yuan of cultivators, it could be used to stimulate magic and enhance the power of magic artifacts.

However, the different nature of this corpse Qi, serving as its True Yuan, ultimately affected the power of its magic.

In Shen Mo’s eyes, these dark Sword Lights, impressive as they were, still couldn’t reach the standard of the Heavenly Monarch’s afterimage; they appeared formidable yet lacked true divinity.

Facing the incoming Sword Lights, he swung the Demon Slaying Sword, releasing several streaks of Universe Sword Qi in a counter-attack.

”BOOM!”

”BOOM!”

”BOOM!”

The sword Qi clashed like two armies in fierce battle. In an instant, they shattered upon impact, leaving only remnants of Sword Light, like scattered embers from a kicked bonfire, blooming one last time in the air with a final brilliance!

The Corpse Spirit’s Proficiency in Swordsmanship couldn’t match that of the Heavenly Monarch’s afterimage. The Yuxin Sword Master, Chou Jiuyian, and the others each used their own methods to deal with the dark Sword Lights aimed at them.

A few more Sword Lights were directed at the disciples of the various immortal sects.

Although Shen Mo didn’t seem overly strained in his response, the Corpse Spirit was, after all, a Class IV powerhouse. It could kill a group of Qi Gathering Realm cultivators with a single breath, let alone with its Sword Lights.

The tide-like attacks of magic, talismans, and magic treasures surging towards it were instantly destroyed by the dark Sword Lights, which then swept towards the group of cultivators from the immortal sects.

Seeing this, Shen Mo immediately threw the Green Cloud Umbrella from his hand. The arms on his left side and a second pair of arms quickly formed hand seals and recited incantations. The Green Cloud Umbrella instantly enlarged into a giant shield, its canopy swirling with mysterious runes and a layer of dim green light, spinning to protect all the disciples of the immortal sects.

The sword Qi that the Corpse Spirit slashed at the immortal sect cultivators all landed on the Green Cloud Umbrella, causing the green light to tremble violently and damaging the canopy.

Fortunately, most of the sword Qi was blocked. The remaining sword Qi that penetrated the Green Cloud Umbrella was shattered and dissipated by the combined efforts of the Spirit Sea Realm cultivators present!

Shen Mo immediately reached out and recalled the damaged Green Cloud Umbrella. Ignoring his heartache, he declared, ”This fiend is too fierce! You won’t be able to help in this fight. Retreat quickly!”

The cultivators in the Heavenly Monarch’s tomb were all exceptional individuals in their respective fields. If they all perished here, it would undoubtedly be a crippling blow to the Red Flame cultivation world!

Otherwise, Shen Mo wouldn’t have risked damaging his magic artifact just to protect them.

Following Shen Mo’s order, the disciples of the Riverside Sect dared not delay. Led by Guo Bai Ge, Wu Gong, Elder Xu, and other Spirit Sea Realm cultivators, they retreated out of the tomb.

As for Ming Yu, Shen Mo didn’t ask her to stay either. Before a Class IV powerhouse, her The Smallest Space wouldn’t be able to conceal her, and her self-preservation abilities were insufficient!

The other immortal sect cultivators hesitated slightly, but after receiving orders from the Yuxin Sword Master and others, they quickly activated their escaping lights and artifact controlling techniques, retreating out of the tomb with the Riverside Sect disciples.

In the blink of an eye, only Shen Mo and a handful of others remained in the vast underground tomb—all top-notch powerhouses with combat strength of the Half-Step Golden Core Realm.

The Corpse Spirit, this demonic entity, didn’t prevent the cultivators from leaving. Its hollow eyes swept over Shen Mo and the others as it grinned. ”This seat has been slumbering for thousands of years and is now famished...

”With such delicacies before me, how could I possibly pass them up? After I’ve devoured all of you, it won’t be too late to enjoy the other morsels!”

At these words, the Yuxin Sword Master and the others cursed in anger; being regarded as a tasty meal was undoubtedly a great humiliation.

But Shen Mo knew this evil spirit devoured human brains and souls for reasons beyond merely satisfying its palate.

Originally, he’d felt the arrangements in this tomb were illogical. But after careful consideration, he could finally glimpse a corner of the truth from the information known so far!

First, the nameless Heavenly Monarch had built this tomb for himself. From its layout, it was clear he wasn’t seeking to pass down his legacy, nor did he intend to kill those who disturbed his slumber.

The most likely reason was that he was preparing for a ’second life’!

The intricate details of the Star Observation Deck trial and the imagery on the golden coffin indicated that the Heavenly Monarch, when alive, possessed profound attainments in divination and deduction.

It wasn’t impossible that he had paid a great price to foresee today’s events.

Therefore, the Heavenly Monarch probably knew before his demise that his remains, after the long erosion of time, would give birth to a Corpse Spirit.

In the eyes of others, an Evil Spirit born from a corpse and the original owner were two completely different creatures... somewhat akin to a Demon-corrupted cultivator and their original self!

However, for an elderly powerhouse whose Lifespan was nearing its end, a Corpse Spirit inheriting part of his memories and origin power could be considered his ’reincarnation.’

Even if the Heavenly Monarch didn’t view the Corpse Spirit as his ’second life,’ he might have considered it his heir, the inheritor of his legacy...

In any case, this tomb was most likely built by the nameless Heavenly Monarch... for the Corpse Spirit!

Holding this view, all the previously encountered anomalies could be reasonably explained.

The nameless Heavenly Monarch had foreseen that the Five Great Sects, for some reason, would jointly excavate his tomb. Thus, he set up mechanisms and Prohibitions to prevent the Ghost Corpse School from obtaining his remains too quickly.

The reason was simple: excavating the coffin and remains prematurely would interfere with the Corpse Spirit’s birth.

He hadn’t constructed deadly killing arrays but merely laid out trials akin to assessments—this was to select ’food’ for the Corpse Spirit!