The First Immortal of Destiny

Chapter 1095: Chapter 1088: Heavenly Demon Threat, Cause and Effect Entwined_2

Either they are cultivators from other cultivation blessed lands, or they are returning members from the Red Flame Sect and its vassal forces...

The number of Heavenly Demons scattered across the Immortal Realm is not small. Cultivators below the Spirit Sea Realm can be demon-corrupted if they are not careful. Even those at the Spirit Sea Realm and above can end up demon-corrupted during focused cultivation, serious injury, or when abducted by powerful Heavenly Demons, becoming new mutated Heavenly Demons.

However, cultivators who have stayed long-term at Five Dragon Mountain do not have the means to encounter Heavenly Demons and are almost impossible to be demon-corrupted.

Of course, there are also a few extreme situations... For example, if a certain magic artifact or pill flowing from the outside into Five Dragon Mountain contains a sealed primal Heavenly Demon, if an unsuspecting cultivator refines such a magic artifact or consumes the pill with delight, they might fall victim.

However.

After the changes in the Immortal Path, even among cultivators who do not venture out, many have been demon-corrupted by primal Heavenly Demons, becoming demon-corrupted cultivators. This year alone, there have been over two hundred cases.

If a large number of primal Heavenly Demons came to Five Dragon Mountain, the Red Flame Sect, who controls the Earth Yuan Array, would surely be aware and dispatch cultivators from the Evil Punishing Hall to eliminate them.

Therefore, this matter is quite unusual!

”What are the results of the Evil Punishing Hall’s investigation? Have they found the specific cause of this anomaly?”

Hearing Shen Mo inquire about this matter, a hint of difficulty appeared on Lu Ming’s face.

”For now... we cannot determine.”

”I originally suspected that there was a problem with a certain batch of spiritual item resources flowing to Five Dragon Mountain.”

”After all, over the past decades, our sect has set up immortal workshops in places like Jade Spring Mountain, Luofu Mountain, Hidden Dragon River, Xuanyuan Mountain, among others. With the establishment of large teleportation arrays, exchange and interaction with True Immortal Powers like the Taiqing Sect and the Southern Desert Monster Kingdom have become increasingly frequent.”

”And finished magic artifacts, pills, and talismans dominate trade, with annual transaction volumes in the billions. Any mishap in these interactions could cause a vast number of spiritual items sealing primal Heavenly Demons to flow to Five Dragon Mountain.”

”It’s just that... our Enforcement Hall cultivators, through various methods of investigation, found that there seems to be no overlap among the demon-corrupted inner disciples and external sect cultivators, and powerful beings from alien tribes. The pills, talismans, and magic artifacts they used also come from different sources; no peculiarities were found.”

”We’ve also performed soul-searching on more than a hundred demon-corrupted cultivators captured. Their memories remain relatively clear, verifying that the Heavenly Demons did not arise from magic artifacts or other spiritual items. However, their memories as primal Heavenly Demons are muddled and fragmented, making it impossible to know how they came to Five Dragon Mountain!”

Seeing Shen Mo’s expression gradually turn unpleasant, Lu Ming hastily added, ”However, during the investigation, I noticed a rather strange phenomenon. Before being demon-corrupted, these individuals seemed to not be in good condition. Some failed to break through realms, some saw their Dao paths as hopeless, some had relatives or friends die of old age, and some encountered other changes. In other words, they had gaps in their Path Hearts when alive...”

A glint of thought flashed in Shen Mo’s eyes, and he soon called upon Lu Ming to proceed to the immortal prison holding demon-corrupted cultivators in the Evil Punishing Hall.

He personally cast a soul-searching spell, conducting soul searches on more than a hundred mutated Heavenly Demons in the immortal prison.

The results he gained were not much different from what Lu Ming had previously stated.

However, Shen Mo, being a No Phase State Grandmaster, could see clearly places that many Evil Punishing Hall cultivators could not probe. In the deepest memories of these demon-corrupted cultivators, he discovered a rather profound cultivation method.

Concealed in the depths of the soul of every demon-corrupted cultivator was this method, and there were no similar cultivation methods or magic in the Red Flame Sect’s Magic Tower. It was definitely not something the original master had practiced before.

”Strange! This cultivation method seems to be...”

After organizing and studying the cultivation method, Shen Mo was instantly drenched in cold sweat.

In the next moment, he employed a technique to manifest forms, condensing a should-be body outside the Taiqing Sect’s mountain gate. After the gatekeepers reported his arrival, his form smoothly entered the sect gate and met Meng Chenyang, the Taiqing Sect Leader.

”Sect Master Shen’s visit, may I inquire as to the purpose?” Meng Chenyang received Shen Mo with a should-be body as well.

After some basic pleasantries, Shen Mo got straight to the point, stating that he had come to purchase the ”Selfless Sutra.”

During the joint ceremony of the Taiqing disciple Luo Chen and the Xuanyuan Family’s young ancestor Xuanyuan Luan, a mini-trade meeting was convened by various True Immortal figures to exchange for the spiritual item resources they and their disciples needed!

And what the Taiqing Sect Leader Meng Chenyang presented was the immortal-level cultivation method, the ”Selfless Sutra”...

This method was not the fundamental inheritance of the Taiqing Sect but was acquired by Meng Chenyang through a fortuitous chance, following the path of Taishang Forgetting Emotions. Practitioners of this method would gradually shed personal desires and emotions, using absolute reason to perceive the wonders of the Immortal Path. Ultimately, becoming heartless and desireless people.

It can be described as without heaven, earth, kin, teachers, or self, leaving only the eternal pursuit of the heart of the Immortal Path!

Furthermore, practitioners of the ”Selfless Sutra” have an incredibly rapid cultivation speed, even with immense Talent or holding a Taqing Pearl, Taiqing disciples find it difficult to surpass it. Typically, one could become a True Immortal within a millennium.

However, at the moment of becoming an immortal, practitioners of this method, in pursuit of a higher ”Dao,” reach the genuine ”Selfless” state and choose to merge the body with the Dao.

Due to this method’s overly enigmatic and sinister nature, by the end of the trade meeting, no one had purchased this method from Meng Chenyang.

Shen Mo even suspected that the ”Selfless Sutra” was a malicious scheme concocted by Cosmic Will, allowing practitioners to progress terrifyingly fast in cultivation realm, spell proficiency, and more, benefiting from the ”favor” of Cosmic Will. This would entice more cultivators to practice this method, become True Immortals, and ultimately merge their bodies with the Dao, helping to repair and strengthen the fragile parts of the Immortal Path!

His purpose in purchasing the ”Selfless Sutra” was not for cultivation.

But rather, the cultivation method obtained from the soul-searching of demon-corrupted cultivators seemed to share origins with this sinister method. He wanted to observe and verify it!

”Sect Master Shen, you came a bit late. Half a year ago, this method was purchased by a fellow daoist Wang Hong of Little Penglai. I signed a contract with him, so I can no longer sell the ’Selfless Sutra’ to others,” Meng Chenyang said. He was quite puzzled why such an arcane method that usually attracted no interest had become so sought after.

”Wang Hong... thank you, Sect Master Meng, for informing me. I’ll visit again another day!”

With that, Shen Mo withdrew his mind and consciousness, and his should-be body dissipated into a mass of nature’s spiritual energy.

Wang Hong, a person from the Heavenly Immortal Ashram of Minor Penglai—though Shen Mo had never interacted with him, he was aware of his existence!

Within the True Immortal Realm, the superior Immortals, while guarding the Heavenly Gateway, set up Ashrams in the heavens to preach to the world, gaining achievements in heaven and earth, as well as superior conditions for cultivation. Some ashrams are cave paradises, Immortals with profound Taoism open up a Minor World, and some directly migrate a section of the Lower Realm.

The Lord of Little Penglai, the Wuchen Ancestor, is a Heavenly Immortal, hailing from the Penglai Immortal Continent.

His Heavenly Immortal Ashram is a Minor World, a thousand times more vast than Lower Realms like the Primordial Realm or Dragon Heart Realm, and even comparable to the Penglai Immortal Continent of the Immortal Realm, hence named ”Little Penglai,” also referred to as the Penglai Realm!

Wang Hong is the successor of the Wuchen Ancestor. Back then, the Jade Spring Fairy and four Earth Immortals in Dongjie Continent, in their ”Slaying Demons and Eliminating Devils, and Gaining Achievements” endeavor, had barely managed to eradicate big and small Heavenly Demons like Chunyang Zi. By relying on the refining power of the Earth Yuan Array and spending several years, they could refine the demonic primal intent scattered throughout the land. By then, they would achieve Perfection in contributing to heaven and earth, gaining an additional achievement.

However, Wang Hong emerged midway. Upon descending from Beyond the Heavens to Dongjie Continent, without notifying Jade Spring Fairy and the others, he directly unleashed the ”Nine Heavens Thunder God Water,” transforming the godly water into a heavy rain that covered the entire western part of Dongjie Continent.

This Nine Heavens Thunder God Rain lasted for three whole months. After the rain stopped, the corrupted demonic primal intents were completely swept away, and Jade Spring Fairy and the others’ final achievement in heaven and earth was thus seized by him!

Shen Mo also had a share of that achievement in heaven and earth, so there was some Cause and Effect connected between him and Wang Hong.