The First Immortal of Destiny

Delayed Spirit Zone.

This place seemed enveloped by a mysterious force, making everything extraordinarily slow!

The clouds in the sky, due to the astral wind, moved at only a tenth of their original speed. They appeared to hover motionlessly high in the sky, showing no change.

The flowers, plants, and trees on the plains and mountains also swayed slowly in the breeze.

Wind-blown dust, dead leaves, and similar objects seemed trapped in an impossibly viscous and formless substance. Their ascent, rotation, or fall were all extraordinarily slow, as if time was being stretched endlessly.

The falling raindrops were no exception. They transformed into fine, misty droplets that seemed suspended in the air. Slowly and continuously, they landed on the Protective Spirit Energy surrounding Shen Mo and his party, bursting into tiny puffs of water mist before slowly drifting away with the wind.

Being in this place, everything slowed down, creating a strangely serene feeling!

At this time, it was Shen Mo’s turn to expend his energy, carrying the Silver-haired Child, Qin Zhen (hidden within the Puppet Yama), and Longyuan Immortal Master Kang Haoxiu on their journey. As usual, he released the Evil-eating Centipede, using its gigantic body to transport the four of them northwards.

However, even though the Evil-eating Centipede exerted all its effort to swim and fly, its speed didn’t increase much.

Having benefited from the Immortal Evil Qi, it was already a middle-stage Class V big demon. By conjuring its demonic wind and baleful light to fly at full speed, its velocity was no less than that of a middle-stage Divine Bridge Realm cultivator. It was capable of traveling fifty to sixty miles in a single breath (five seconds) and, by not sparing Mana and traveling day and night without stopping, it could cover a million miles!

Yet now, it could only fly five or six miles in a single breath. Even by traveling day and night, it could only cover about a hundred thousand miles.

”Fellow Daoist Fulong... do you know... the origin of this Delayed Spirit Zone? If we cultivate here, could our lifespans increase tenfold, to thirty thousand years?”

Shen Mo sat on the head of the Evil-eating Centipede. While operating his cultivation method to absorb nature’s spiritual energy and refine it into the power of chaotic Yuan—to supplement the daily Mana consumption for maintaining his cultivation level—he asked the Silver-haired Child seated behind him.

However, his voice was drawn out exceedingly long; each word took a considerable time to utter, much like the slow-motion audio and video from his previous life.

Furthermore, the speed at which he absorbed and refined Spiritual Qi to recover his Mana had also slowed tenfold. If he weren’t constantly cultivating, and without consuming High-Grade Spirit Pills or Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, he wouldn’t even be able to replenish the Mana routinely consumed just to maintain his cultivation level.

Feeling that this mode of communication was exceptionally strange, Shen Mo simply stopped speaking and began to communicate directly with the Silver-haired Child and the other two via mind transmission.

Although the flow of thoughts and spiritual sense had also become extraordinarily slow, this method of communication was inherently swift as a flash of thought, so it was still considerably faster than speaking aloud!

Hearing Shen Mo’s question, the Silver-haired Child replied via mind transmission, ”This Delayed Spirit Zone has existed for countless tens of thousands of years. How could I possibly know its origin?”

”However, according to the speculations of myself and a few fellow daoist friends like Immortal Master Ciji, there are two possibilities. Either the earth vein and spiritual vein here are anomalous, naturally forming an effect similar to a Formation Prohibition. Or, in the distant past, a True Immortal or an even higher being perished here. The erosion and distortion caused by that being’s Great Path force field created this unique environment where all things are incredibly slow!”

”When my previous incarnation and the other fellow daoists entered this place, they also found that everything—from their escaping light and cultivation to their spellcasting—slowed down considerably. Even Formless Realm cultivators couldn’t avoid it, and Divine Bridge Realm cultivators could only adapt to the current situation.”

”As for lifespan, I’m afraid I must disappoint you, Fellow Daoist! Divine Bridge Realm cultivators have a limit of three thousand years. However many years they have left to live in the Outer Realm, they will only live for that remaining duration even if they stay in this Delayed Spirit Zone for an extended period. Besides affecting cultivation, there are no benefits whatsoever.”

”Otherwise, this region would have long ago become an Immortal’s Blessed Land, attracting countless cultivators like us!”

”But in reality, let alone cultivators, even ordinary mortals find it difficult to settle and procreate normally here. Apart from a few demons with extraordinary talents, common creatures are pitifully scarce.”

After careful consideration, Shen Mo realized that it would indeed be tough for mundane creatures, whether human or otherwise, to survive in this Delayed Spirit Zone.

Putting other things aside, just the act of acquiring food to fill one’s stomach would take ten times longer than in the Outer Realm. Where would they find the time for procreation, mating, or nurturing offspring? Over time, even common creatures like flying birds and running beasts have become exceedingly rare in this land.

As for extraordinary creatures with certain cultivation Realms, they wouldn’t struggle just to fill their stomachs.

However, the higher their Realm, the greater the Mana consumption required to maintain their existence. In this zone, they would likely spend most of their time just maintaining their existing cultivation, making any improvement extraordinarily difficult.

Furthermore, since their lifespans wouldn’t extend, extraordinary creatures would not normally consider settling here!

As Shen Mo and the others were conversing, an incredibly fierce demonic aura arose from an Immortal Mountain the Evil-eating Centipede was passing. A demon with two pairs of feathered wings and a torso resembling a human skull, pursued them at astonishing speed!

This was a middle-stage Class V demon. Thanks to its racial talent, its flying escape speed was considerably faster than the Evil-eating Centipede’s.

Before Shen Mo could act, Qin Zhen, whose real body was inside the puppet, drove the Class V Puppet Yama. Its arms transformed, one into a blade and the other into a shield. Swinging the iron-winged magic treasure on its back, it charged the Four-winged Skull Demon!

The journey spanned tens of millions of miles. Under normal circumstances in the Outer Realm, Shen Mo and his group would have completed it in just thirty to forty days.

However, in this Delayed Spirit Zone, they spent over a year. Fortunately, although there were many demons in this region, there weren’t many Class VI or higher demons that could force them to detour; otherwise, they would have spent even more time circumnavigating!

During this period, Shen Mo and the others became somewhat more familiar with each other. However, for cultivators at their Realm, it was exceedingly difficult to truly trust one another.

After leaving the Delayed Spirit Zone and traveling north for another half a year, the group finally reached the location of the Immortal Mansion Dungeon.

However, what unfolded before their eyes was not some Immortal Blessed Land, but a perilous region several times more desolate than the Delayed Spirit Zone!

A mountain, as vast and majestic as Jade Spring Mountain, stood towering over the wilderness.

But this was no Immortal Mountain; it was an evil mountain. Its form roughly resembled a volcano, with a collapsed summit that formed an immense, bottomless sinkhole.

A demonic fire wind, filled with smoke and destructive power, constantly erupted from the volcanic crater. It billowed towards the sky and in all directions, dyeing the heavens a somber, dark hue, so much so that not even a wisp of cloud could be seen. The land within a million-mile radius had been eroded away, forming a treacherous landscape of countless gullies and ravines, leaving various underground mineral veins exposed!

After spewing the destructive wind for a period, the volcano would suddenly generate a terrifying suction force, swallowing everything nearby into the great pit.