The First Immortal of Destiny

The Riverside Sect’s considerable relocation efforts naturally did not go unnoticed by the various powers within the Red Flame Zone.

Coupled with the large number of Outer Zone creatures and beings from forbidden lands who successively migrated away from this world, even the most obtuse individuals understood that something earth-shattering had indeed taken place.

Swiftly, news of ”Qingyun Immortal Master planning to refine the forbidden land and head to the rumored Immortal Realm” spread throughout the entire Red Flame Zone.

The Heaven Sword Sect, Ghost Corpse School, Seven Stars Altar, and Profound Moon School from The Four Great Sects, along with the Five Poisons Cult, Black Fish Gang, Lovebirds Valley, and many other Xiu Xian Forces across various regions, rogue cultivators, and even the Demon Kings from the Marine Race dwelling in the Immortal Burial Sea, all hurriedly made their way to Chong’a Mountain to pay their respects to Shen Mo, the newly ascended Heavenly Monarch of this realm. They hoped to enter the forbidden land to ascend to the Immortal Realm along with him.

As for these requests, Shen Mo generally had no intention of refusing.

Firstly, after attaining the position of Heavenly Monarch, his perspective broadened immensely; his mindset, vision, and aspirations far surpassed those of ordinary people, freeing him from parochial views.

Secondly, over the past century, due to the invasion of Heavenly Demons, drastic changes in the world, and many other reasons, the relationships among the Five Great Sects and the entire cultivation world of the Red Flame Zone remained relatively close and harmonious.

Furthermore, when Shen Mo faced his enlightenment tribulation, The Four Great Sects had stepped in to deal with Lin Zhaozai’s massive skeletal body. Although their attempts were feeble, their efforts did count for something.

Thirdly, heading to a completely new world, they had no idea what dangers and obstacles they might encounter. With each additional cultivator inside the Green Cloud Cave, there would be an extra bit of strength. Even if their individual powers were not strong enough to deal with formidable enemies, they could at least be useful in exploring new environments, excavating cultivation resources, and constructing big arrays.

After all, once Shen Mo arrived in this brand-new world, he would have to stay within the Green Cloud Cave for the initial few years, or even decades, to resist the forces of natural assimilation, unable to venture out.

Having said that, Shen Mo still harbored some concerns. If he were to accept various forces to settle in the Green Cloud Cave without any systemic restructuring and sorting, the heterogeneity of these numerous forces would undoubtedly breed chaos. Given Shen Mo’s origins in the Riverside Sect and the significant aid he received from the sect during his cultivation to the Divine Bridge Realm, he naturally had to grant more benefits to the Riverside Sect’s disciples. Under such circumstances, harmonizing relations between the Riverside Sect and outside forces would introduce potential risks. If managed poorly, other forces, cultivators, and Marine Race creatures could turn from assets into hazards hidden within the Fairyland. Even if, someday, a cultivator from an outside sect were about to cultivate to the Divine Bridge Realm, Shen Mo would still find himself in a predicament.

After much consideration... Shen Mo eventually passed the issue to the upper echelons of the Riverside Sect, asking them to formulate a solution and take responsibility for communicating, negotiating with other forces, and implementing it. Meanwhile, he focused wholeheartedly on researching the method to refine the forbidden land.

Before long, the Riverside Sect’s upper echelons presented an idea that satisfied Shen Mo. They began to negotiate with The Four Great Sects, various Xiu Xian Forces, rogue cultivators, Demon Kings of the Marine Race, and others. Under the irresistible allure of ”Ascension to the Immortal Realm,” this plan, after adjusting some minor details, was successfully implemented.

Consequently, a tremendous storm took shape on Chong’a Mountain and swept over the entire Red Flame Zone within a few months. In this storm, all Sect factions that intended to enter the Green Cloud Cave were disbanded—even the Riverside Sect was no exception—as a new immortal sect named the Red Flame Sect was reformed.

The Red Flame Sect governed nine peaks and one lake, supervising all mortals, cultivators, and foreign creatures within its Fairyland. The nine peaks referred to the nine Main Peaks: Green Cloud Peak, Rising Sun Peak, Jade Peak, Milky Way Peak, Heaven Sword Peak, Profound Moon Peak, Ghost Corpse Peak, Seven Stars Peak, and Myriad Phenomenon Peak. Even from the names of the Main Peaks, one could glean their profound mysteries. The first four were originally the four Main Peaks of the Riverside Sect. Since Bright Moon Peak and Stars Peak shared names with ’Profound Moon’ and ’Seven Stars’—designations for other Main Peaks in the new sect—they were renamed ’Jade Peak’ and ’Milky Way Peak’ respectively. As for the latter five Main Peaks, excluding Myriad Phenomenon Peak, the others corresponded to the Heaven Sword Sect, Profound Moon School, Ghost Corpse School, and Seven Stars Altar. The Myriad Phenomenon Peak included all small immortal sects, Cultivating Families, rogue cultivators, and others outside the Five Great Sects, making it the most populous and diverse branch.

The lake was named ”Ascending Lake.” Although referred to as a lake, it was actually a newly formed sea area, originally consisting of two oceanic Dungeons controlled by the Marine Race. After the Demon King of the Marine Race surrendered, Shen Mo refined them and integrated them into the southernmost region of the Green Cloud Cave. It comprised billions of Marine Race creatures that had all awakened their gnosis and were not ignorant beings.

This shift involved more than just a name change. All the cultivation method manuals, cultivation resources, Treasure Hall secrets, Dungeons, and sect foundations of all forces had to be handed over to the Red Flame Sect. The Dungeons of the Marine Race were an exception.

The current Ghost Corpse Peak, originally part of the Ghost Corpse School, controlled a Heavenly Monarch’s Ghoul that possessed a cave paradise. It was refined from the remains of a Heavenly Monarch jointly captured by the Five Great Sects. Later, due to drastic changes in the world, the Ghost Corpse School had no time to completely erase its consciousness. After hastily refining it, they moved the entire sect into this Heavenly Monarch’s Ghoul’s cave paradise to avoid the heavenly catastrophe. Today, this Heavenly Monarch’s Ghoul still retained most of the Corpse Spirit’s consciousness, and the Ghost Corpse School was helpless.

After it became part of the Red Flame Sect’s foundation, Shen Mo naturally would not allow such a significant hidden danger to exist within the Green Cloud Cave. He directly used the Soul Curse to completely wipe out the Corpse Spirit’s soul. Its cave paradise was also shattered by Shen Mo and re-refined into the Green Cloud Cave. The Ghoul, its consciousness completely extinguished, was stored in the Red Flame Sect’s Treasure Hall, becoming part of the sect’s foundation. It possessed combat power comparable to a Half-step Heavenly Monarch. When necessary, cultivators of the Ghost Corpse branch could command the Ghoul to kill enemies.

Furthermore, the Heaven Sword Sect and Seven Stars Altar each originally had a Dungeon, and there were several undisclosed small Dungeons belonging to some minor immortal sects; all these became the foundation of the Red Flame Sect and were then refined by Shen Mo into the Green Cloud Cave. When leaving this world, these Dungeons could not be carried away; there was no other way but to refine them into the Fairyland.

Including the ruined forbidden land obtained from Demons from the Outer Zone, although the size of the Green Cloud Cave had not changed, the sky had become more distant, and the earth had thickened by millions of feet, making the entire Fairyland increasingly resemble a real world.

In addition, great adjustments were made to sect positions and disciple statuses. The position of Supreme Elder was abolished. The highest status now belonged to the Law Master of the Red Flame Sect, personally held by Shen Mo. Beneath the Sect Master, three new Deputy Sect Master positions were added, held respectively by Yuan Heming, the former Supreme Elder of the Riverside Sect; Situ Huo, the former Supreme Elder of the Heaven Sword Sect; and Ming Cang, the former Demon King of the Marine Race. The previous Sect Master of the Riverside Sect, Yuan Qingshi, resigned from all his positions to focus on breaking through to the Golden Core Realm. As for other Golden Core Realm cultivators and Class-IV Demon Kings, if they were interested, they could hold important positions such as Main Peak Master, Deputy Peak Master, and various Hall Masters and Deputy Hall Masters. If they were not interested in mundane affairs, they could also be granted the status of Purple-robed Elder and still enjoy high status and honor.