The First Immortal of Destiny

At this moment, Shen Mo could no longer concern himself with others. He opened his mouth, and a beam of Sword Light shot out. Within it was his destined magic artifact, the Demon Slaying Sword. With Starfall momentum, it slashed away from the core of the ruins, covering over a hundred li in the blink of an eye.

Immediately after, Shen Mo grabbed the horrified Lady Scarlet and directly activated his [Sword Escape] Skill. Shen Mo and Lady Scarlet vanished into thin air, reappearing at the Demon Slaying Sword’s location.

However, even having escaped a hundred li, they were still not safe from the unspeakable danger at the core of the ruins. Shen Mo clenched the hilt of the Demon Slaying Sword, his True Yuan surging as he channeled it into the blade, intending to once again unleash the flying sword and perform Sword Escape!

But at that very moment, the surging True Yuan in his body, as if frozen, suddenly fell inert. He was unable to mobilize even the slightest bit.

Without True Yuan to maintain the Escape Skill, the spirit light around Shen Mo extinguished like a candle in the wind!

Lady Scarlet beside him encountered the same situation. In an instant, both of them plummeted from a hundred zhang in the air, crashing to the ground.

THUMP!

RUMBLE!

A cluster of buildings standing amongst the mountains was smashed into ruins by the falling bodies of Shen Mo and Lady Scarlet.

This place had already been fully excavated. The Formation and Prohibitions that originally covered it were extremely weak, and the remaining cultivation resources were all mundane items. It must have been a residential area for low-level disciples of the Jade Flower Sect, so the construction materials of the buildings were not very sturdy.

Shen Mo crawled up from the rubble, lifted a heavy beam, and pulled Lady Scarlet out.

”Lady Scarlet, are you alright?”

Lady Scarlet was also a middle-stage Golden Core Realm cultivator. Although her physical body was not as robust as Shen Mo’s, it was still tougher than gold and iron. Additionally, her magic robe was of extraordinary quality. Thus, apart from being a little disheveled, she was largely unharmed.

She composed herself and said in a charming voice, ”Senior Brother Qingyun, why did the True Yuan in our bodies suddenly stagnate? Our five senses and Divine Sense, however, were not affected at all. Did Fu and Sister Leyao fall from mid-air for the same reason?”

”Look over there!” Shen Mo pointed towards the core of the ruins.

Following his gesture, Lady Scarlet extended her Divine Sense and immediately witnessed a shocking scene that made her turn pale with fright.

Previously, this area had only contained ancient palaces and pavilions. They were grand and imposing, yet possessed the dignified air of an immortal sect. Aside from the lack of people, it seemed no different from the core areas of other major immortal sects.

But now, an earthy yellow mass of flesh was slowly emerging from the ground, its size as enormous as a mountain seemingly ten thousand zhang high.

What was even more horrifying was that it was covered with human faces—men and women, old and young, so densely packed it was impossible to count them all. Judging from the style of their hair crowns and hairpins, it was highly probable that they were the cultivators from the Jade Flower Sect who had suddenly vanished!

However, not a trace of fear or pain could be seen on these faces. Instead, they were filled with peaceful smiles, as if they had attained unparalleled satisfaction and joy.

This meat mountain was constantly writhing, the expressions on the faces shifting with its movements, creating an extremely bizarre sensation.

Although its movements were incredibly slow, countless flesh tendrils were spreading out from its base. Upon closer inspection, these flesh tendrils appeared to be arms, though their texture was identical to that of the main body!

The flesh tendrils continued to grow. An elder from the Clear Heart Sect, who had fallen closest to the core area, saw this and immediately turned to flee at a sprint.

However, with their True Yuan rendered inert, even Golden Core Realm experts could not use any magic. To escape the flesh tendrils, they could only rely on their physical bodies to run, their speed far inferior to the tendrils’ growth.

Soon, this Clear Heart Sect elder was caught by the tendrils and, amidst his horrifying screams, was dragged bit by bit towards the meat mountain!

Other Clear Heart Sect cultivators, such as Fu Jianghuo and Peng Leyao, along with the Golden Core experts who were assisting the sect in breaking the Formation, witnessed this scene. They all scattered and fled towards the far distance.

However, the flesh tendrils didn’t just sprout from the base of the meat mountain. Wherever cultivators stood throughout the entire ruins, these flesh tendrils suddenly emerged from the ground and coiled towards them.

Even in the ruins where Shen Mo and Lady Scarlet were, flesh tendrils grew from beneath the ground, successively grabbing their ankles!

SWISH!

SWISH!

Sword light flashed, and one by one, the flesh tendril arms were severed.

At the points of severance, no white bones or sinew were visible, nor did any blood flow out. It was as if they had sliced through a pile of soft mud.

Fortunately, Shen Mo had previously unleashed the Demon Slaying Sword and had not recalled it into his Dantian. Now, he could still rely on his physical power to execute swordplay and sever these flesh tendril arms.

However, even after being severed, these flesh tendrils did not lose their vitality. In an instant, the severed ends reconnected and continued to grab at Shen Mo and Lady Scarlet. Indeed, with each swing of Shen Mo’s sword, more and more flesh tendrils emerged from the ground, turning the ruins into a carpet of them!

In the next instant, a strange glint flashed in Shen Mo’s eyes. Wherever his gaze fell, plumes of Pure Yang Fire erupted, burning these flesh tendrils into wisps of black smoke.

Afterward, he gazed into the distance.

Wherever his sight reached, true flames surged forth, incinerating all the flesh tendrils on Fu Jianghuo and the others, as well as those on the ground, completely.

Even the Clear Heart Sect Elder who had initially been dragged away was saved because of this. He continuously conveyed his profuse thanks to Shen Mo via Divine Sense and implored him to continue using this True Fire technique to help him escape the danger!

”What in the world is this damned thing?”

With the ceaselessly sprouting flesh tendrils suppressed by Shen Mo’s Pure Yang Pupil, Lady Scarlet, Fu Jianghuo, and the others, finally able to catch their breath, began to communicate via Divine Sense.

”If I’m not mistaken, the main body of this thing should be longevity flesh.”

”However, for some unknown reason, this mass of longevity flesh has transformed into an Evil Spirit-like existence!” Shen Mo’s Divine Sense stirred, and he explained to everyone.

Previously, when his [Chanjue] Destiny had provided feedback of a dangerous scene, he had felt that this thing looked familiar.

Only after this meat mountain emerged from the ground and I perceived its aura did I have a sudden realization, Shen Mo thought. This damned thing is longevity flesh... Elder Li from the Riverside Sect, who was stationed outside the Jade Pool Dungeon, also transformed into a similar existence after consuming a Longevity Pill!

In his Universe Bag, he still kept a piece of flesh cut from ”Elder Li.”

Although its color and appearance were not entirely identical, it similarly lacked a head, limbs, or organs, resembling a lump of flesh.

His ’Insight into All Beings’ ability was unable to gather information from the flesh mass. It was not a creature of this world, yet it squirmed as if alive. Under his [Method Eye Candle Wisp], it appeared as a cluster of incredibly vigorous yet extremely chaotic life force, strongly resembling a certain type of spiritual medicine!

Therefore, this meat mountain surging from beneath the core of the ruins is essentially longevity flesh, Shen Mo concluded internally.

The difference is that this meat mountain, for some unknown reason, has transformed into an Evil Spirit-like existence. Thus, it’s no longer harmless to humans and animals like the longevity flesh ’Elder Li’ became, but is instead extremely dangerous.

The True Yuan in everyone’s bodies had fallen into complete dormancy, yet they hadn’t detected the slightest ripple of magic or Skill being used—this was a major characteristic of an Evil Spirit. It defies conventional understanding!

The faces on the meat mountain must be those of the Jade Flower Sect cultivators who had been killed by it.