The First Immortal of Destiny

Chapter 601: Chapter 601: Trade-offs (Seeking Subscription)_1

”BOOM!”

Two Sword Arrays collided with a resonant crash, exploding into two balls of dazzlingly bright light.

Even though the power was restrained to its utmost, residual sword Qi still spread, enveloping everyone in the tower room.

The phantoms of Wall Water Badgers covering Lady Scarlet and the other four, along with the defensive magic they themselves had invoked, quickly crumbled in the shockwave, and all of them suffered injuries of varying severity!

However, the inward-collapsing tethering force also significantly decreased due to Lin Zhaozai diverting his attention.

”Go!” Shen Mo cried out sharply.

Immediately, Lady Scarlet, Song Han, and Peng Lexiao no longer hesitated. They spurred the True Yuan in their bodies at full strength, resisted the enormous force, and began to flee. The spirit light around their bodies was stretched and distorted like the tails of comets by the pulling force.

Among them, Peng Leyao, the weakest, was severely injured by the shockwave. Blood streamed from her seven orifices as she fell into a coma, being pulled towards Lin Zhaozai.

Fu Jianghuo activated his spirit light to envelop her, attempting to flee with her.

However, he realized that given his cultivation level, he simply couldn’t bear the combined pulling force for two people; he too was dragged towards Lin Zhaozai!

Damn it! A look of struggle appeared on Fu Jianghuo’s face, yet in the end, he chose to abandon Peng Leyao. He transformed into a long, narrow beam of light, escaping the seventh-floor tower room at a speed much slower than usual.

”WHIZ!”

”WHIZZ~~~~”

Amidst the whistling, the seven Big Dipper Swords hovered and flew back into Shen Mo’s sleeve.

Ignoring the clamorous, praise-seeking Dao swords and Sword Spirits, Shen Mo’s spirit light flashed abruptly, and he appeared next to Peng Leyao. He grabbed her ankle with one hand and, with the other, brought out the Golden Flowery Realm.

As a hazy spirit light glowed, Peng Leyao was taken into the Golden Flowery Realm, shielded from the monstrous pulling force.

At this time, the treasured sword, which resembled a broken finger and had previously transformed into a Flesh and Blood Sword Array, reverted to its original form, landing in Lin Zhaozai’s hand.

Seeing the prey that was about to be his taken away by Shen Mo using a spatial treasure, Lin Zhaozai’s previously ’kind’ facade vanished, his eyes now filled with a ruthless and malicious glare!

”PSHH!”

He flicked his wrist, unleashing a blood-colored sword Qi towards Shen Mo. Within the Sword Light, ghastly figures of demons from the Outer Zone could be vaguely seen struggling in agony, their mournful cries echoing like the wailing of ghosts and the howling of wolves.

Merely hearing the faint wails made Shen Mo’s mind reel, as if he were plunging into an endless Hell.

The next instant, the Scorching Sun Soul Phase deep within his Mind Sea burst into brilliant radiance, and the pure soil of Green Cloud Peak echoed with chanted sutras...

Almost in an instant, Shen Mo shook off the influence of this swordplay!

Simultaneously, he retaliated by executing the Reincarnation Sword Style in response to Lin Zhaozai.

The Reincarnation Sword Qi and the blood-colored sword Qi collided head-on. The demons from the Outer Zone, who had been struggling and wailing within the blood-colored Sword Light, showed expressions of relief as they silently dissipated into nothingness. This significantly reduced the power of the blood-colored sword technique, which was then completely obliterated by the Reincarnation Sword Qi!

The residual might of the sword strike hit Lin Zhaozai with a CLANG but was blocked by the glaze-like radiance he emitted.

However, this powerful evil cultivator, resurrected from bones, still couldn’t evade the Sense of Reincarnation within the sword Qi and fell into a brief trance.

Seizing this opportunity, Shen Mo’s eyes flashed with a peculiar gleam, and he instantly activated the [Pure Yang Pupil] Skill.

FWOOSH!

Pure Yang Fire erupted from Lin Zhaozai’s body, instantly engulfing him and turning him into a human torch.

After Shen Mo had reached the middle-stage of the Golden Core Realm, the might of his various Skills had also increased. The intensity of the Pure Yang Fire now surpassed that of ordinary Spiritual Fire-level true flames, almost reaching a point where it could incinerate anything!

However, Lin Zhaozai was, after all, a Heavenly Monarch-level existence. Even if most of his strength was suppressed by the Demon-Suppressing Tower, he was not someone a Golden Core Realm cultivator like Shen Mo could kill.

The glaze-like radiance on his body flowed continuously, like ceramic glaze melting in intense fire. It blocked the searing Pure Yang Fire, preventing him from being incinerated into a wisp of blue smoke like other cultivators or spiritual items!

At this point, I’ve roughly assessed the strength Lin Zhaozai can exert... Shen Mo thought. Aside from being unable to move freely, his current strength is comparable to a peak Golden Core Realm cultivator. Since he was originally a Heavenly Monarch of the Divine Bridge Realm, his various techniques and magic are extraordinary. All things considered, he’s even a notch stronger than a typical peak Golden Core Realm cultivator! If I want to completely annihilate him, I’ll have to engage in a war of attrition. By leveraging my ability to recover True Yuan and the abundance of Elixirs I possess, I could gradually deplete Lin Zhaozai’s residual origin power, wearing him down until he’s completely exhausted. Only then could I kill him in one fell swoop. However, the costs and benefits of doing so are not proportional! Lin Zhaozai is an evil cultivator who has survived for who knows how many years. Even without any magic treasures or spiritual items, his repertoire of magic and martial arts is endless and extremely treacherous. It’s entirely possible that while I’m trying to wear him down, he could unleash some bizarre technique or Evil Magic, putting me at high risk of serious injury or even death! In addition, even if I were willing to risk consuming Elixirs to destroy him, the rewards wouldn’t be substantial. The only thing about Lin Zhaozai that I find worthwhile is his ’White Bones Path’ cultivation method, which allows for ’Resurrection’ after death. It’s incredibly miraculous. However, this method is ultimately an evil cultivation method. Even if I obtained it, I would only study it, not cultivate it directly, which greatly reduces its value. As for other magic and martial arts, I don’t covet them too much. After all, I possess [Martial Performance]. As long as I have enough Spirit Stones, I can deduce even a Profound-level cultivation method to a transcendent degree! Conversely, Lin Zhaozai himself... if I could refine him into a Soul General, my Soul Refining Flag would gain a Class V entity. However, with my current cultivation strength, I can’t support a late-stage Class V Soul General. I’d likely suffer a backlash and perish! Thus, I have no real motivation to stay and fight him to the death.

With these thoughts, while Lin Zhaozai was enveloped in Pure Yang Fire and unable to attend to anything else, Shen Mo mobilized his True Yuan and fully activated the Ascending Cloud Immortal Method.

Empowered by the [Control Wind] and [Cloud Transformation] Skills, he rapidly fled towards the exit of the Demon-Suppressing Tower, achieving an escape speed of four to five li per breath!

Lin Zhaozai, his body covered by the glaze-like radiance and Pure Yang Fire, watched through the halo and flames as Shen Mo retreated rather than advanced. The brutal and fierce look in his eyes flickered, ultimately suppressed by a hint of clarity.

If I were to use that previous ability again and increase the pulling force, I could still stop him from leaving. However, the combat power Shen Mo displayed is truly astonishing, not at all like that of a middle-stage Golden Core Realm cultivator. After weighing the pros and cons, Lin Zhaozai ultimately made the same choice as Shen Mo!

「HUM!」

A faint golden streak of light flew out from the first floor of the Demon-Suppressing Tower, and the immense pulling force vanished instantly without a trace.

Evidently, although the Demon-Suppressing Tower’s power had waned over the long eons, it still maintained an immense suppressive force over the evil cultivators and demons imprisoned within.

Lady Scarlet, Song Han, Fu Jianghuo, and Peng Lexiao had already escaped the Demon-Suppressing Tower a step ahead and were now in the mountain hollow. Seeing Shen Mo emerge, they all rushed forward to greet him.

”Fellow Daoist Shen, was Leyao eaten by that Evil Demon?”