The First Immortal of Destiny

Chapter 568: Chapter 568: Visit to the Lifeless Sect_1

It’s worth mentioning that after visiting the Seven Stars Altar, Shen Mo also piloted the Heaven Patrolling Boat House to visit an immortal sect called the ”Lifeless Sect.”

This sect was renowned for its expertise in the Array Path. The defensive arrays of many lesser immortal sects and human cities had been designed and deployed by its disciples.

Over the years, the Red Flame Country’s cultivation world had experienced demonic disasters, cataclysmic changes in the world, and other calamities. Countless lives were devastated, and numerous small immortal sects and cultivation forces vanished like bubbles in the torrent of worldly change.

Yet the Lifeless Sect remained largely unscathed, still standing firm.

For one, Yu State was relatively peaceful. Unlike the border regions of You and Jing States, or the Sea State, it had not been infiltrated by Heavenly Demons from the Outer Zone. In those other regions, demonic caves had been established, causing the demonic disaster to become unstoppable and devastate vast lands.

Nor did it experience a Soaring Serpent disaster like Qing State’s, which was more terrifying than any natural calamity.

On the other hand, this was due to the Lifeless Sect’s exceptional overall mastery of the Array Path; they had established extremely robust formations at their mountain gate.

The protective formations at this sect’s mountain gate were even comparable to the Mountain Protection Arrays of the Five Great Sects.

The difference was that the Five Great Sects all possessed millennia of heritage. Every so often, one or two brilliant array geniuses would emerge. These geniuses would then consolidate, expand, and enhance the existing formations and prohibitions.

Accumulated over generations, this made the Mountain Protection Arrays of the Five Great Sects quite terrifying.

Even without an array genius currently present, simply maintaining the normal operation of their grand arrays allowed them to overwhelm most cultivation forces in Red Flame Country.

Had the Riverside Sect’s mountain gate not encountered a Sixth Order Peak Soaring Serpent, its formidable defenses could have withstood the fierce assaults of Class V Heavenly Demons or Outer Zone Demons until its reserves of Spirit Stones and the disciples’ Mana were exhausted. It was truly impregnable.

If an enemy dared to forcibly enter the Riverside Sect’s mountain gate without first completely destroying its Mountain Protection Array, even a Heavenly Monarch-level figure would be injured, and a moment of carelessness could lead to their demise!

The Lifeless Sect lacked such terrifying accumulation, but their legacy and mastery in the Array Path had truly reached an extraordinary, transcendent level.

Moreover, with the Array Path as the sect’s foundation, the Lifeless Sect could earn substantial Spirit Stones. This also allowed their disciples to constantly practice and refine their array skills, which in turn attracted array talents from various states and regions. Consequently, the sect had an unending stream of array geniuses.

In just two to three hundred years, the Mountain Protection Array they constructed had reached a level comparable to those of the Five Great Sects!

Currently, among all immortal sects and cultivation forces in Red Flame Country, the Lifeless Sect had the most resident Grade IV Array Masters.

Shen Mo visited the Lifeless Sect, naturally, to enlist their help in deploying formidable formations and prohibitions on the Heaven Patrolling Boat House, transforming it into a sturdy fortress to shelter those close to him.

Of course, considering Shen Mo’s personal wealth and the size of the Heaven Patrolling Boat House’s hull, it was impossible to construct a grand array on par with the Mountain Protection Arrays of the Five Great Sects.

Therefore, Shen Mo’s requirements weren’t excessively high.

The formations and prohibitions deployed on the Boat House only needed to be powerful enough to withstand the fierce attacks of Golden Core Realm experts and Class IV peak entities.

The Lifeless Sect was, of course, extremely welcoming of Shen Mo’s visit. They agreed to his request, specially dispatching three Array Masters and dozens of disciples with Grade II or Grade III proficiency in the Array Path. These individuals boarded the Heaven Patrolling Boat House and began to study and deploy the formations and prohibitions.

Compared to constructing formations and prohibitions on plains, mountains, or other terrains, deploying them on the Heaven Patrolling Boat House, a large-scale magic artifact, was more than doubly difficult.

Shen Mo had personally experienced the greatest difficulty in this regard.

That was to perfectly integrate the formations with the Heaven Patrolling Boat House’s hull and its inherent runes, merging them into a single, cohesive whole.

A simple Spirit Gathering Array, which Shen Mo, with his Grade II Array Master proficiency, should have been able to set up with ease, ended up consuming a significant amount of his time and effort when deployed on this Boat House.

Fortunately, the Array Masters of the Lifeless Sect were all exceptionally skilled, and Shen Mo was willing to invest a large quantity of spiritual materials and resources.

Three months later, the formations and prohibitions on the Boat House began to take initial shape. When activated to their maximum power, they were already sufficient to withstand the fierce attacks of Golden Core Realm cultivators and late-stage Class IV entities.

Afterward, Shen Mo and his party piloted the Heaven Patrolling Boat House and departed from the Lifeless Sect.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to continue perfecting the formations on the ship, but he had genuinely run out of funds. Not only did constructing the formations and prohibitions require a vast amount of precious spiritual materials, but he also had to pay remuneration to the Lifeless Sect’s Array Masters.

In just a few short months, Shen Mo’s Universe Bag was nearly emptied.

Fortunately, the foundation of the formations and prohibitions had been laid. Once Shen Mo accumulated another batch of formation-laying materials in the future, he could perfect the ship’s formations himself.

Moreover, observing the Lifeless Sect disciples deploy the formations and personally participating in the process had benefited Shen Mo greatly.

His Array Path proficiency had, as he wished, advanced to Grade III. By the time he completely perfected the formations on the Boat House, he would likely not be far from Grade IV. The Riverside Sect was also preparing for the matter of Chong’a Mountain’s Mountain Protection Array. At that time, he could personally take action and continue to elevate his formation standards!

With his current strength and status, he could gradually reveal some of his proficiency in auxiliary professions like alchemy, talisman crafting, artifact refinement, and array formation. Even if someone in the sect grew suspicious, it wouldn’t be a significant issue.

Even against Patriarch Yuan Heming, the strongest individual in the sect, Shen Mo was confident he could defeat him, provided he didn’t have to rely on the sect’s foundational reserves.

After leaving the Lifeless Sect, Shen Mo and the others continued their previously planned journey.

The Heaven Patrolling Boat House departed from the Southern Poison Zone, emanating a faint halo at an altitude of one hundred thousand zhang, breaking through the dense clouds and heading towards Yu State.

In Shen Mo and Zhao Lingyin’s bedchamber.

Zhao Lingyin lazily rose from the jade bed. After playfully nipping Shen Mo’s lip, she donned a loose, elegant Alchemist robe and entered the adjacent alchemy room to concoct a cauldron of Grade IV Elixirs.

Unlike Shen Mo, she didn’t possess the Destiny Panel. Thus, despite her exceptional talent, she needed to diligently refine elixirs every day to reach the rank of Grade IV Alchemist.

However, over these years, her attainments in the Alchemy Path had advanced further, and she was no longer far from the Grade IV level.

Once she advanced to the ranks of Grade IV Alchemist, the Riverside Sect would, on the surface, suddenly possess two top-tier Alchemist masters!

At that time, Shen Mo could use Zhao Lingyin to deposit the Chaotic Yuan Pill and the recovery elixir recipes into the sect’s Manuals Library, as he couldn’t openly hand them over himself. He could also then produce many High-Grade Spirit Pills, exchanging them for needed resources and Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures from the Treasure Hall.

This time, as I travel, thanks to the convenience of the Heaven Patrolling Boat House, my own cultivation hasn’t been delayed!

Shen Mo, dressed in thin plain clothes, sat cross-legged on the bed, murmuring to himself, But after achieving the Golden Core, the progress of my cultivation level has slowed considerably.

Although this is the norm, it is somewhat unacceptable to me!

At this rate of cultivation, even if I don’t encounter any bottlenecks, it would take a sixty-year cycle to cultivate to the peak of the Golden Core Realm.

The higher the cultivation realm, the slower the improvement. This is an iron rule recognized by the cultivation world and other extraordinary creatures.

Consider the Riverside Sect’s four previous patriarchs—Yuan, Zhou, Feng, and Gongsun. Many years had passed since they achieved the Golden Core, yet only Yuan Heming had managed to cross the threshold from the early stage to the middle stage of the Golden Core Realm.