The First Immortal of Destiny

Chapter 1036: Chapter 1036: Planting Peach Pits

Soon after Shen Mo ascended the Divine Bridge, in search of Feng Daogu and other sect disciples, he explored the Ghost Nation Ruins, which had been tainted by the aura of the Death Ghost Realm!

At that time, he mistakenly believed that the abnormality of the Ghost Nation Ruins was due to the forbidden land of the Nether Realm or the arrival of an Evil Spirit, at most, it was more dangerous than other forbidden lands, and the creatures within were more bizarre and powerful.

Later, his five senses penetrated the dense fog, revealing that the truth was not so simple...

In the Black Mountain Demon Suppression Cave and the surrounding immortal city guarded by human cultivators, there were no living creatures to be found, only cultivators, Heavenly Demons, and a large number of ghost shadows resembling Outer Zone entities, wandering within.

Some of these Outer Zone entities, who had become ghost shadows, belonged to the same tribe as those who descended upon the Primordial Realm, but most were unfamiliar to Shen Mo. It was later in the Immortal Realm that he recognized many; they were creatures from completely extinct worlds. Those residing in the Immortal Realm were the remnants of strong figures who, before their world’s demise, ascended to the Immortal Realm and flourished there!

Whether it was the ghost shadows of human immortals and mortals, Heavenly Demons, or other alien tribe entities from myriad worlds, their existence was strange—neither ghosts nor Evil Spirits—exuding an extremely frightening aura of decay and death. They were extremely eerie and terrifying.

”Insight into All Beings” had no effect on them, proving these ghost shadows were not living matter, not creatures of this world!

Besides this, the Ghost Nation Ruins contained many things he could sense yet could not comprehend, as if his entire sense was distorted and muddled, defying verbal description of this eerie sensation. What he perceived in one moment swiftly transformed in the next, becoming increasingly bizarre and incomprehensible!

Among them was a procession of mourning ghost shadows, whose incomprehensible ghost music steadily distanced from him, yet paradoxically seemed to approach him ceaselessly; together with many suspected Evil Spirits, these peculiar presences were terrifying at a glance, endlessly drifting and sinking within the ghostly mist.

Nearly triggering the Three Disasters and Six Tribulations, Shen Mo fled after a single glance, not daring to linger at the Ghost Nation Ruins!

Later, with enlightenment from Class V Flower Fairy A Yao, combined with his deepening cultivation level, he realized that the Ghost Nation Ruins had been infected by the Death Ghost Realm, and all those eerie, peculiar, and dreadful existences were ”Death Ghosts.”

When humans die, they become ghosts; when ghosts die, they become Death Ghosts.

The so-called Death Ghost Realm is a terrifying world where even ghosts cannot survive, without any living matter or a shred of vitality!

One could see it as an amalgam of countless ”Dead Realms,” the final destination of all Withering Worlds, representing Nirvana and the end; in the Death Ghost Realm, all creatures, all things are dead, even Spiritual Qi, Dao Methods, The Heavens, and other metaphysical existences assume the form of ”Death Ghosts!”

One might even say the Death Ghost Realm is the source of all Evil Spirits, as Evil Spirits are the residual resentment of the Withering World.

Anything living, be it a True Immortal, no matter how powerful or all-knowing, shall encounter death and annihilation upon entering the Death Ghost Realm... Even figures like the Heavenly Immortal White Venerable were besieged by leftover evil from the past, ultimately cast into the Death Ghost Realm, where Lord Blue Venerable and others believed his escape impossible!

With Shen Mo’s current cultivation level, there’s no way to venture into the Death Ghost Realm to uncover its secrets.

Thus, when divination regarding the whereabouts of Zhang Taian and Zhou Shili pointed to the Death Ghost Realm, Shen Mo could only assume they died there, becoming dreadfully eerie ”Death Ghosts.”

...

Shen Mo put away the jade divination chip and sighed softly.

He had some connection with Zhang Taian, though not deep. Zhang Taian had already become a Soul Ghost, so dying again meant little to him.

But Zhou Shili, the former Stars Peak Master, had greatly aided him during his early days; Shen Mo remained ever grateful for this kindness. Once separated, they never met again, and if Zhou Shili truly turned into a ”Death Ghost,” there would be no chance to properly repay him!

Afterwards, Shen Mo left GuanYun Mansion and wandered idly in the Fairyland to alleviate his melancholy thoughts.

”Mi!”

Beside a spiritual medicine garden in the Mountain-River Zone, Shen Mo saw the busy Flower Fairy Ami, and greeted her as he descended.

”Moro Shen...”

Ami fluttered onto his shoulder, continuously brushing her wings against his cheek; after the Flower Fairy clan transferred to Five Dragon Mountain, none were happier than Ami.

Years residing in the Red Flame Sect, despite the kindness of Shen Mo, Zhao Lingyin, and others, Ami always felt lonely and isolated. Bearing the clan’s heavy responsibilities mandated this solitude, so upon discovering her tribe’s whereabouts, she undertook long, perilous journeys every fifteen to twenty years to stay at Fairy Flower Valley on Cangwu Continent for a while.

Now that the Flower Fairy clan settled near the mountain gate at Fairy Flower Ridge, with a Teleportation Array established, Ami could visit Fairy Flower Ridge anytime she desired, never feeling lonely again.

”Greetings, Law Master!” In the spiritual plant garden, disciples tending to the spiritual plants approached Shen Mo to pay respects upon seeing him.

Shen Mo waved them back to their tasks and produced three Thunder Peach Cores, extending them before Ami: ”These are the seeds of a Class VII spiritual peach tree; see if you can plant them to cultivate three Class VII peach trees?”

The peach cores were clean, free of any flesh, resembling yellow jade, smooth yet unlevel, covered with lightning-like strange patterns.

Ami opened her arms to embrace the peach core larger than her head and surveyed it with spells, gibbering: ”Inside contains vibrant vitality; sprouting them is not very difficult. However, newly sprouted peach trees are only Class I, requiring time to grow. Ami doesn’t know if she can cultivate them to Class VII.”

”Let’s go to Jade Pool Zone!”

Shen Mo invited Ami to his shoulder, then with a thought, appeared above Jade Pool Zone.

The area was lush with fantastic flowers and grasses, precious spiritual plants grown using power of time and space from Death Jaw fostering the Ten Thousands Enlightenment Tea Tree, which thrived here, though the spiritual tea tree from Ancient Vine Sect had long been returned.

In Jade Pool Zone, time flows ten times faster than the Outer Realm; a mere decade outside allows a hundred-year harvest of spiritual medicine, so both during the Riverside Sect days and now as Red Flame Sect, this place is the primary cultivational garden for top-tier spiritual medicine, with the Drunken Immortal Pot for brewing spiritual wine kept here.

Due to time flow, disciples rarely linger here, and Shen Mo arrived with Ami to find it empty!

Ami flapped back and forth through Jade Pool Zone before selecting a spot atop a mountain, where numerous Thunder Light Grass sprouted: ”Moro Shen, this is the best place to plant.”