The First Immortal of Destiny

Chapter 905: Chapter 905: Steadfast as Ever, Ascending to Formless

Shen Mo, having successfully cultivated the Formless, brought great joy to the Red Flame Sect, which spared no expense in holding a promotion celebration at the outer mountain gate!

The ceremony was exceptionally grand and lively, with guests as numerous as clouds, creating a magnificent spectacle. Many old friends and acquaintances, along with Yuquan Mountain cultivators including several in the Formless Realm, came to offer their congratulations...

Shen Mo sat high in the main seat, surrounded by familiar sect members and numerous Divine Bridge and Formless Immortal Masters. Though he wore a smile on his face, he felt an inexplicable sense of oddness within his heart.

”I should have transcended the enlightenment tribulation, and my past experiences and memories don’t seem to be wrong. But why... do I feel that something is amiss?”

With a thought, he opened the Destiny Panel.

Subsequently, he alternately wore various Special Destinies in the Destiny Disc’s groove to verify their effects.

Everything was normal!

He then switched to ”Insight into All Beings,” using numerous Spirit Stones to delve into the background of the congratulating cultivators. The feedback from this Destiny still did not show any anomalies.

Yet the sense of oddness in Shen Mo’s heart grew even stronger.

Immediately, he used the Escape Skill to vanish from the Red Flame Sect’s outer mountain gate, leaving behind a crowd full of bewilderment!

In the following period, Shen Mo almost traversed the entirety of Yuquan Mountain, employing various methods, including the Soul Searching Spell, attempting to verify the authenticity of the feedback from ”Insight into All Beings,” still finding no errors or contradictions.

However, as he delved further into his investigation, he finally discovered a hint.

Upon consuming Destiny Points and drawing a new Special Destiny, the effects presented after wearing it were unremarkable and lacked the divine essence they originally possessed.

Moreover, it seemed that all True Immortal figures in the Universal Realm had inexplicably vanished at once. He went to the summit of Jade Spring Cave Heaven, to Dreamland, to Dongjie Continent... regardless of his relentless pursuit, regardless of his exploration over countless mountains and rivers, he couldn’t find a single Immortal!

”False, all false again!”

Shen Mo questioned his inner self, realizing that after the event of ”Consulting the Jade Spring Fairy,” he saw through the illusions and recovered his real memory;

However, the dream woven by the tribulation still did not cease!

The world he was currently in was still an illusion woven based on his memories and perceptions during the enlightenment tribulation, hovering between reality and falsity.

What he perceived as the ”Destiny Panel” was likewise an illusion grounded in his own understanding rather than something that truly existed. The new ”Special Destiny” drawn from the Destiny Pool, transcending his understanding, had also transcended the control of the tribulation, thus appearing ordinary.

Moreover, the True Immortal Realm also lay beyond the scope of his understanding, exceeding the reach of the tribulation’s weaving;

Consequently, all presences above the True Immortal Realm in the Universal Realm simply vanished. Whether Human Cultivator transcending to Immortality, or Demon, alien tribe ascending to Immortality, all disappeared under seemingly reasonable yet absurd reasons!

Realizing this, Shen Mo tried to sense the ”Destiny Panel of the real world,” and strived to find a way out of this false illusion.

...

In the Realm of Tribulation, time kept flowing.

A thousand years passed, Shen Mo’s former companions and old friends mostly grew old and died, except for the Immortal Masters in the Divine Bridge Realm;

Rumors began circulating in various places across Phoenix Continent about the ”Mad Daoist,” a person incredibly powerful yet utterly insane, with absurd and deranged conduct, speaking only lunatic ravings!

Three thousand years went by, even Immortal Masters of Divine Bridge Realm, who enjoyed a lifespan of three thousand years, had expended their Lifespan, and all the elders of Red Flame Sect had dwindled away. Shen Mo, now dubbed as the ”Mad Daoist,” returned once to the sect, finding none of his former friends or old acquaintances.

Five thousand years passed, Red Flame Sect also began to decline, with no new Immortal Masters of Divine Bridge born within. Only a few Yuan Dan cultivators lingered, guarding the Green Cloud Cave Heaven.

Over eight thousand years, Shen Mo’s lifespan also came to an end. After Chen Mengze and others died inside the sect, he never returned to Yuquan Mountain, nor to Green Cloud Cave Heaven; the faces of past beloved and old friends had become obscure and unclear, and thousands of years of solitude and despair nearly drove him thoroughly insane.

However, Shen Mo’s Path Heart, his pursuit of the Immortal Path, was never completely worn away by time.

Until his nine thousand-year lifespan depleted, dying in an anonymous barren mountain, he began yet another reincarnation!

Scene after scene, continually changing.

Shen Mo’s memories were no longer suppressed by tribulation Qi, allowing him to clearly distinguish what was real and what was illusory.

Even with despair as deep as an abyss, he never gave up, repeatedly trying to sense the true Destiny Panel, trying to pierce through this false world!

...

In the real world, within the secret chamber of GuanYun Mansion.

This was already the fourth year of Shen Mo’s secluded retreat for breakthrough. The Heavenly Thunder Tribulation, Formless Fire Tribulation, and ghostly wind, among the Three Disasters and Six Tribulations, had all subsided, but the Internal Demon Tribulation and Confusion Tribulation persisted, and the ”Suspended Fairy Mountain” had thoroughly suppressed the pure soil of Green Cloud Peak in his Mind Sea, radiating with brilliant light as if burning the sky and scorching the land!

Suddenly, a subtle and nearly imperceptible thought touched the Destiny Panel.

In just a few breaths, this thread of thought, as if finding a breakthrough, swiftly surged and grew, causing Shen Mo’s already deathly silent soul, mana, and even consciousness to suddenly become incredibly active.

Simultaneously, nature’s spiritual energy crazily surged towards Shen Mo, creating a terrifying phenomenon throughout the Vacuous Zone!

Shen Mo’s aura abruptly began to swell, his tattered Daoist body and mind continually healing, and his depleted mana rapidly recovering...

Who knows how long had passed before Shen Mo slowly opened his eyes, his gaze once clouded and ancient, instantly regaining clarity.

As his eyes opened, the dissipating pure soil of Green Cloud Peak in the Mind Sea suddenly became incredibly solid. The high-suspended Scorching Sun Soul Phase above the firmament shone even more brilliantly; their presence thoroughly suppressing the ”Suspended Fairy Mountain,” ultimately driving this bizarre Immortal Mountain completely out of the Mind Sea!

”Reincarnation for countless lifetimes... yet I persevered...”

Shen Mo’s voice was somewhat dry, and a faint smile gradually emerged on his face, ”After enduring countless tribulations, I finally achieved the Formless!”

As his voice fell, various auspicious phenomena appeared one after another.

Not only in the Vacuous Zone, not only in Green Cloud Cave Heaven, but even above Yuquan Mountain, phenomena arose, and every cultivator with a sliver of mana heard the echoes of profound Daoist sounds.

At the same time, the countless memories of reincarnation over countless lifetimes in the Realm of Tribulation surged like tides in his mind; he swiftly began to process his thoughts, actively erasing most of the memories of ”reincarnation,” preserving only the insights related to cultivation!

The Realm of Tribulation existed between reality and illusion, unable to ”fabricate the real” with the True Immortal path, but the cultivation insights below the True Immortal Realm were genuinely authentic.

This enlightenment tribulation was both a disaster for losing the path and a creation for enlightenment... if Shen Mo failed to withstand this tribulation, naturally no more words would be needed, as certain demise awaited him. However, his steadfastness through countless lifetimes prevented him from completely succumbing, and upon awakening, he immediately reaped the benefits of countless lifetimes of cultivation memory and insight!

It was just that many of these memories and insights were absurd and erroneous, and only by discarding the false and retaining the true could they be used by him.

After several months of recuperation and digestion, Shen Mo collected a multitude of broken magic treasures and walked out of the secluded secret chamber!