The First Immortal of Destiny

”Senior, I have refined this batch of spiritual bricks. You can retrieve them at any time.”

Tai 26 walked in, carrying hundreds of jade bricks. After setting them down, it spoke respectfully to Shen Mo.

These jade bricks were primarily made of Yellow Bamboo Spirit Jade, mixed in specific proportions with top-grade Blood Silver, Seven-colored Black Marrow, Ghost Bone Copper, Fire Frost Gold, and other materials. They were then fused together and shaped into bricks, suitable for constructing the foundation of the Teleportation Altar.

The refining process wasn’t exceedingly difficult, but it was quite time-consuming. Shen Mo had delegated this task to Tai 26 of the Gold Man.

After these years of recuperation, Tai 26, whose foundation had been injured, reducing its height to only a little over ten feet, had grown another three inches. To completely recover to its thirty-foot Gold Man form, it would likely take another one or two hundred years.

However, due to their unique life form, Gold Men from the Outer Zone possessed a remarkable talent for processing spirit gold ores.

Tai 26 had not refined the Earth Fire Spirit Flame. When refining spiritual bricks, it would transform part of its body into molten gold, encasing materials like Yellow Bamboo Spirit Jade, Blood Silver, and Seven-colored Black Marrow. In a short period, it could merge these spiritual materials into one!

Moreover, it also possessed skills in the extreme refinement of spirit gold and jade stone, capable of extracting the essence of top-grade spiritual materials. It could refine a calf-sized crude ore down to the size of a thumb, achieving a state of nine extreme refinements.

Discovering this talent in Tai 26, Shen Mo felt as though he had stumbled upon a treasure.

He then gave it a large quantity of materials needed to refine Nine-Extreme Crystal Sand. After being extremely refined by Tai 26, the Nine-Extreme Crystal Sand, when gathered, was already as large as a millstone, so voluminous that Shen Mo’s Chakras could hardly accommodate it.

Afterward, he refined this Crystal Sand Energy once more, bringing it to the level of ten extreme refinements and further condensing it to the size of a fist.

Once Tai 26 refined more of it, Shen Mo planned to continue the process beyond the ten extreme refinements, until it surpassed the refining capabilities of Nether Fire or even Samadhi True Fire.

At that point, merely deploying a layer of Nine-Extreme Crystal Sand externally would likely be enough to block the Sword Qi unleashed by a Sword Path Heavenly Monarch!

However, due to this treasure’s special nature, existing somewhere between a magic artifact and defensive magic, it was very difficult for it to manifest an Artifact Spirit. Its rank had always stagnated at the top-grade profound level. Nevertheless, its current power had already far exceeded the scope of a top-grade profound artifact.

If it reached a state where it could no longer be extremely refined, it would directly ascend to become a high-grade or even top-grade Spiritual Artifact the day it manifested an Artifact Spirit!

Shen Mo nodded at Tai 26, reached out to pick up a spirit jade brick, and examined it closely. A satisfied look appeared on his face. ”All other spiritual materials have been perfectly integrated into the Yellow Bamboo Spirit Jade without compromising its spiritual nature. Truly excellent. You’ve worked hard. Go and rest now.”

As Tai 26 respectfully withdrew, a hint of regret flickered in Shen Mo’s eyes.

Such an excellent talent, a true gem, could have achieved extraordinary accomplishments in the paths of Forge and Array Path, far beyond ordinary people. But alas... It’s a true pity that Gold Men inherently cannot comprehend Dao runes. They can’t engrave runes in an Artifact Embryo, nor can they draw talismans or construct Formations. What a waste!

Through deep communication with Tai 26, Shen Mo learned that this was a common trait among all Gold Men.

Regardless of their Realm, they were all exceedingly proficient at processing spirit gold deposits, yet none of them could understand the Mysterious Dao Patterns.

Therefore, the strongest magic treasure of the Gold Man is their own Dao Body. Members of this race intentionally seek out various strange spirit golds to refine into their bodies, causing their forms, as if forged from pure gold, to exhibit many different characteristics.

It was somewhat similar to the Gold Sand Pagoda Magic practiced by Lou Feng, a rogue cultivator in the Spirit Sea Realm whom Shen Mo had once encountered, but its effects were far stronger than that particular magic cultivation method.

Not only could it strengthen the Dao Body, making it incredibly resilient to destruction, but it could also grant many miraculous effects...

For instance, constantly infusing Spirit Banned Frost Sand could immunize its Dao Body to the majority of magic attacks. Of course, this would also make casting magic extremely difficult for this Gold Man, leaving it capable only of engaging enemies in close-quarters combat.

If refined with Fire-type spiritual materials like Fire Frost Gold, its Dao Body could withstand the burning of true flame, allowing it to swim in magma unharmed, and even imbue its spells with a trace of fire’s destructive might.

If refined with Illusionary Stone, its Dao Body could become tougher than a magic treasure while remaining as light as willow fluff, allowing it to far surpass peers in speed when fleeing.

Such examples were too numerous to list!

It could be said that for each Gold Man, their Dao Body was a magic treasure with unique characteristics, enhanced using numerous gold, stone, and jade materials with extraordinary attributes to improve their combat capabilities and advance their life’s transformative stages.

The alien Gold Man race possessed such an extraordinary, enviable talent, but naturally, they also had flaws that were difficult to rectify.

Their inability to understand Dao runes was one such flaw.

Shen Mo attempted to teach Tai 26 the simplest and most basic runes for magic artifacts. However, Tai 26 was never able to perceive the effects of the runes. Runes that an ordinary disciple in the Body Tempering Realm could master in a few days were like heavenly script to it. After several months, it couldn’t even manage a simple imitation!

According to Tai 26, such Dao runes had never appeared among the Gold Man throughout their entire history.

For this reason, Tai 26 was incapable of forging magic artifacts, drawing talismans, or setting up Formations, as these skills all involved Dao runes to some extent. At most, it could assist Shen Mo as it did now, by processing spiritual materials.

Of course, with its talent, it could perfectly craft an Artifact Embryo on its own; it just couldn’t engrave the runes to complete the magic treasure.

Thus, aside from having Tai 26 refine Nine-Extreme Crystal Sand, Shen Mo also selected some easily crafted, standardized magic artifacts for it to create Artifact Embryos, with Shen Mo himself completing the final forging.

The profits earned from this were shared with Tai 26, exchanged for the spirit gold it needed to recover and grow stronger.

...

With Tai 26’s assistance, Shen Mo’s progress in setting up the Formation was incredibly swift, and more than half was completed in a very short time.

Soon thereafter, Lady Scarlet arrived, inviting Shen Mo to meet her biological father, Duanmu Yuan. Shen Mo had no choice but to set aside his current tasks and fly away from Wangxian Mountain with Lady Scarlet.

The meeting was not arranged at the LiMountain Elixir Sect’s gates but rather in an uninhabited sea area west of the River of the Dead, not far from its banks.

Shen Mo could understand this. After all, no one in the LiMountain Elixir Sect, including Duanmu Yuan, had officially acknowledged Lady Scarlet’s status, so it was inconvenient for them to be seen by outsiders.

A thin sea fog drifted above the waters. If cultivators were to probe the area with their sense, they would find it seemingly empty, with nothing out of the ordinary.

As Shen Mo and Lady Scarlet passed through the sea fog, the scene before them suddenly opened up!

They saw clouds that had transformed into tables, chairs, and pavilions. A middle-aged man sat within one such pavilion. He was handsome and his features refined, his demeanor scholarly. A gentle breeze caused his robes to flutter, lending him an air of indescribable elegance and freedom. Shen Mo knew at once that this refined man was Lady Scarlet’s biological father, Duanmu Yuan, the Sect Master of the LiMountain Elixir Sect.

”Xiang’er, is this the Array Master and gifted swordsman, Shen Qingyun, whom you praise so highly?” Duanmu Yuan’s gaze swept towards Shen Mo as he spoke, his tone casual.

Before Lady Scarlet could answer, he suddenly flicked his sleeve, sending a teacup gliding over to Shen Mo.

The tea in the cup appeared crystal clear and tranquil, yet it actually carried an extremely sharp and profound Sword Qi, swirling within the vessel like a tea leaf.

”Shen, please drink this tea!”