The First Immortal of Destiny

Shen Mo and his companions advanced along the path.

Along the way, the number of Demons showed no signs of diminishing. They could occasionally see the remnants of broken Prohibitions and Formations, as well as traces of battles fought by powerful experts. These were all left by their predecessors—the Silver-haired Child’s previous incarnation, Fulong Immortal Master, and Immortal Master Cizi, the Kang Family Patriarch, along with their group—who had cleared the path of its crises and perilous sections.

However, even with a path previously paved by others, the journey for Shen Mo and his companions was still incredibly challenging.

The mere swarms of ferocious Demons, drawn by their scent, posed a significant hindrance.

Moreover, many of the Prohibition Arrays and perilous zones that had been weakened or dismantled 6,500 years ago had since recovered. Overcoming each obstacle demanded considerable effort from them.

This path might offer easier access into the depths of the Immortal Mansion Dungeon compared to other routes, but it was by no means a smooth journey.

The deeper they ventured, the more formidable the Demons and monsters they encountered became. The various Prohibitions, perilous areas, and especially the Evil Spirits grew increasingly malevolent, making every step a struggle!

While Shen Mo and the others struggled forward, spatial rifts leading to the Immortal Mansion Dungeon began appearing successively in various places across the Immortal Realm. Although these spatial rifts were not as immense as the one in the Wind Flame Mountain Sky Pit, their sheer number and widespread distribution were enough to leave people speechless.

The entire Immortal Mansion Dungeon seemed like a boiled egg that had been brutally crushed onto the ground, its shell—the spatial barrier between the Dungeon and the Immortal Realm—riddled with countless cracks.

Normally, such a condition would not arise, whether in a cave paradise or a Dungeon formed after falling into the mortal realm. A Dungeon that has fallen into the mortal realm would, at most, generate one or two spatial rifts on its own. If left undisturbed, these rifts would gradually expand and merge into the world where they are located.

But the Immortal Mansion Dungeon defied this convention.

This situation implied that back when it was still a Fairyland, terrifying battles had erupted here more than once—battles capable of nearly causing the entire cave paradise to disintegrate!

At that time, the Fairyland had not been completely shattered, but it was left on the brink of collapse, its spatial barrier riddled with hidden wounds.

Subsequently, the master of the Fairyland perished. The cave paradise, unable to maintain its original state, degenerated and fell into the mortal realm, transforming into the Immortal Mansion Dungeon.

As time passed, this Dungeon began to show signs of fragmentation. Numerous spatial rifts started appearing on its spatial barrier, which indirectly validated Shen Mo’s speculation about the original purpose of this Cave Mansion.

This Dungeon is reaching the end of its lifespan and cannot exist much longer like other Dungeons. In as little as a few hundred years, or at most a million years, it will completely disintegrate, forming a vast and unique ruin within the Immortal Realm.

Some of the spatial rifts leading to the Immortal Mansion Dungeon were located in desolate and dangerous places, much like the one in the Wind Flame Mountain Sky Pit; ordinary beings would not only struggle to enter them but would find it extremely difficult even to detect their existence.

Others, however, appeared in bustling, prosperous areas of the Immortal Path, or in Demon gathering places!

This phenomenon was not unique to this year. In many locations, the appearance of these spatial rifts was a grand event that astounded regions for a million miles around. A multitude of cultivators, along with Demons and monsters of all kinds, swarmed in, continuously pouring into the Dungeon through these spatial rifts!

However, because the Immortal Mansion Dungeon was so incredibly vast, even with such a large number of outsiders entering, they were scattered across the various peripheries of the Dungeon and seemed relatively insignificant, like a basin of water splashed into the ocean.

Furthermore, the vast majority of cultivators, experts from various races, and Demons from the Outer Realm lacked the strength to venture into the Dungeon’s depths.

Only by drawing closer to the core region of the Cave Mansion would one have a chance to encounter other visitors from the Outer Realm like themselves. Anyone capable of reaching such a place was almost certainly an extremely powerful individual; the weak would have long been eliminated in the outer zones!

The Silver-haired Child was unaware of this.

He had always believed that the only way into the Immortal Mansion Dungeon was through the Wind Flame Mountain Sky Pit.

He also believed his previous incarnation, along with Immortal Master Cizi and the others, had perished because they encountered invincible native Demons or Evil Spirits from the Dungeon. Perhaps they had triggered deadly Prohibitions or entered forbidden, perilous areas. After all, he himself had died from an encounter with an Evil Spirit.

The Silver-haired Child never considered the possibility that after his demise, Immortal Master Cizi and the other three Formless Realm Immortal Masters might have continued deeper, only to encounter astonishingly powerful experts from the Outer Realm and fall at their hands one after another.

「...」

Shen Mo and his companions were completely oblivious to the large influx of outsiders pouring into the Immortal Mansion Dungeon.

Even if they had known, they currently had no time to devise countermeasures, as they were already deep in a quagmire, trapped by an Evil Land!

To be more precise, it was a treacherous region akin to a ”mirage.”

Slaying Demons and Eliminating Devils, and dismantling residual Prohibitions along the way, Shen Mo’s group of four had followed the passage carved out by Fulong Immortal Master, Immortal Master Cizi, and their three companions, penetrating a million miles deep into the Dungeon. Although the journey was perilous, they had managed to overcome all obstacles.

However, as they continued deeper along the path, they inexplicably encountered this Evil Spirit.

Before being trapped, they had detected no anomaly whatsoever ahead. Not only the Silver-haired Child, Qin Zhen, and Kang Haoxiu, but even Shen Mo, who possessed the [Danger Perception] Destiny, received no warning from his Destiny.

It’s highly probable that this Evil Spirit is relatively ’gentle.’ When I entered this Evil Land, I suffered no ’direct attacks’ from the Evil Spirit, nor was there any risk of demise, hence the predictive mechanism of my [Danger Perception] Destiny was not triggered.

By the time they realized what had happened, it was too late; they were trapped by the Evil Spirit and could not escape.

Fortunately, Evil Spirits were bizarre and varied greatly. The one Shen Mo’s party currently faced posed no overt risks, and the [Danger Perception] Destiny had yet to signal any danger.

”Back then, when I passed through this place with Immortal Master Cizi and other fellow daoists, it was utterly unremarkable. There were hardly any Demons, let alone any Evil Spirit!” the Silver-haired Child explained to Shen Mo and the others, his small face etched with bitterness.

”Perhaps back then, you didn’t meet the conditions to trigger the Evil Spirit’s manifestation!”

”It’s also possible that this is an Evil Spirit that emerged within the last 6,500 years. After so many millennia, it wouldn’t be strange for an Evil Spirit to descend upon this place,” Shen Mo said slowly after a moment of contemplation, withdrawing his focus from his [Danger Perception] Destiny.

In his understanding, Evil Spirits were neither living things nor creatures; they were exceedingly bizarre, defying conventional understanding.

It was highly probable they were the Residual Resentment of a decaying, corrupted world!

When a world like the Primordial Realm or the Cancering Realm declined, the collective ’will of heaven and earth’—formed from the consciousness of all beings and myriad things within that world—would not simply dissipate. Instead, it would transform into countless ’residual resonances,’ echoing throughout the cosmos.

Subsequently, these residual resonances would be drawn to certain creatures, objects, or specific environments, descending upon them and thereby forming what are known as ’Evil Spirits’!