The First Immortal of Destiny

"Flee!" Lu Yao was the first to react, screaming to everyone.

"Flee? Do you think you can escape?" The black-robed Heavenly Demon's voice had barely faded when he raised his palm and clenched it in mid-air.

BOOM!

Space twisted. Senior Brother Fang Ming, standing next to Shen Mo, was crushed by the distorted space, rendered immobile.

POP!

The black-robed Heavenly Demon tightened his grip again, and a loud noise echoed.

Fang Ming was shattered!

He exploded into a shower of blood and gore.

The black-robed Heavenly Demon then waved his sleeve, and a black curtain emerged from his body.

From within this dark curtain, countless weaker minor Heavenly Demons surged out, scrambling to devour the bloody remains.

The scene was utterly horrifying!

"Senior Brother Fang!" Lu Ming and the others cried out, their hearts trembling as they witnessed Fang Ming being crushed alive.

"Flee! The spatial rift is reopening! This is no small matter; someone must escape and inform the Peak Master!" Lu Yao's expression was unprecedentedly grave.

As they spoke, their bodies transformed into streaks of light, desperately trying to escape.

The Heavenly Demon before them possessed strength at least half a step to the Spirit Sea Realm; he was not someone they could contend with.

Therefore, their only option was to run.

They had to scatter and flee. If even one person could make it back to the sect, it would be a blessing from the heavens!

"Dragon Sparrow Sword!" Shen Mo cried, quickly summoning his Dragon Sparrow Sword and taking flight.

As everyone scattered and fled, the black-robed Heavenly Demon made his move.

He clearly had no intention of letting Shen Mo and the others escape so easily.

The moment Shen Mo began his escape, the Heavenly Demon casually struck out with his palm in mid-air.

RUMBLE!

A palm imprint materialized in the void, wreathed in endless Demonic Qi and Blood Qi. It transformed into a colossal hand, seemingly intent on swallowing Shen Mo whole.

"Soul Refining Flag, come!" Shen Mo yelled. Witnessing Fang Ming's fate, he knew that being swallowed by that palm meant certain death, so he unhesitatingly brought out the Soul Refining Flag.

He bit his tongue, forcing out a drop of essence blood, and frantically poured Mana into the Soul Refining Flag.

HUM!

The Soul Refining Flag, infused with an endless torrent of Mana, erupted with unprecedented brilliance.

A surge of blood-red light then clashed with the black, giant hand.

PUFF!

Shen Mo coughed up a mouthful of blood, injured by the force of the backlash.

But at the same time, the colossal black hand was completely shattered.

The dispersed remnants of the giant hand did not simply vanish.

The streaks of black fog reformed into numerous minor Heavenly Demons, one after another, all lunging at Shen Mo.

Each of these minor Heavenly Demons possessed strength at least equivalent to a Qi Gathering Realm cultivator.

The strongest among them had even reached Layer III of the Qi Gathering Realm.

"Earth Prison Talisman! Wind Wall Talisman! Firebird Talisman! Teleportation Talisman! Thunderbolt Talisman!"

He hastily retrieved all the remaining talismans from his storage bag and activated them.

He fled in a frenzy, desperately trying to withstand the siege of these minor Heavenly Demons.

Between life and death, there is great terror!

This was the closest he had come to death since his transmigration!

Before this, Shen Mo had always acted cautiously and maintained a low profile. He never easily made enemies. When entering instances or slaying demonic beasts, he always made thorough preparations.

Even if defeated, escaping wouldn't have been difficult. But this time, it was different!

This Foreign Realm Demon, having appeared so suddenly, truly made him feel the threat of death.

"Control Sword, speed up!"

He took a deep breath and activated the recently learned Control Sword technique.

As a spirit light from the Control Sword technique infused the blade, the Dragon Sparrow Sword beneath his feet accelerated, flying faster than ever.

If it's just these minor Heavenly Demons... I might still have a chance! Shen Mo thought, brandishing his Soul Refining Flag and continuously activating talismans.

What he feared most was the black-robed Heavenly Demon coming after him.

The black-robed Heavenly Demon's strength clearly surpassed the Perfection of the Qi Gathering Realm.

If that creature decided to hunt him down, Shen Mo felt that even using all his abilities, he would not escape death.

However, the black-robed Heavenly Demon didn't seem to be pursuing him.

He must have gone after the others!

"Soul Refining Flag, devour them!"

Faced with over a hundred minor Heavenly Demons, Shen Mo could only temporarily fend them off using his various Class II talismans.

But if the talismans' power ran out, he would inevitably be overwhelmed.

Therefore, he needed to find a way to reverse this dire situation.

Fortunately, the Soul Refining Flag had excellent properties.

Every minor Heavenly Demon I devour and refine becomes a Soul General under my command. Then, I can use these Soul Generals to fight the enemy. As my forces grow and theirs diminish, I can defeat them!

The only problem was that refining each creature with the Soul Refining Flag consumed a tremendous amount of Mana.

These minor Heavenly Demons were at least at the Qi Gathering Realm standard. Normally, Shen Mo's Mana would be depleted after refining just a few.

To refine most, or even all of them, into Soul Generals would require a colossal amount of Spiritual Qi.

I have a large number of Qi Restoring Pills, enough to replenish my Mana. However, taking too many elixirs in a short period will cause side effects!

I can't worry about that now! Survival is paramount!

Gritting his teeth, he shoved an entire box of Qi Restoring Pills into his mouth, swallowing them whole without chewing.

As Shen Mo ingested all the Qi Restoring Pills, their medicinal power quickly surged through him, causing his body to swell like an overinflated ball.

RUMBLE!

The unprecedented surge of Mana within him dramatically increased the speed at which he could channel it into the Soul Refining Flag.

With this continuous supply of Mana, the Soul Refining Flag's Bloody Fiend Qi grew increasingly dense.

Blood-red light shot towards the sky. Any minor Heavenly Demons that ventured within three feet of Shen Mo were instantly swallowed by the Soul Refining Flag.

Once devoured, the minor Heavenly Demons were refined into subservient Soul Generals within the flag. They were then summoned forth to help Shen Mo combat the overwhelming, tide-like horde of Heavenly Demons.

Even after continuously refining a dozen or so Heavenly Demons, the power of the Thunderbolt Talisman and Firebird Talisman that Shen Mo had activated was almost completely exhausted.

The powerful talismans that had formed a tight defensive barrier around Shen Mo during his sword flight suddenly showed a breach.

A large number of minor Heavenly Demons poured in, intent on killing him.

Fortunately, at that critical moment, Shen Mo waved his hand. Ten minor Heavenly Demons, already refined into Flag Souls, were summoned to intercept the attackers for him.

This isn't good enough! I need to speed up the refining process for these Heavenly Demons, or I'll run out of time! Shen Mo thought anxiously, continuously forming hand seals to drive the Soul Refining Flag to devour more Heavenly Demons.

With the Thunderbolt Talisman and Firebird Talisman already dissipated, two breaches had opened in his defenses.

These gaps were barely being held by the newly refined Heavenly Demon Flag Souls; otherwise, his defensive line would have been completely overwhelmed.

But this state wouldn't last long. The Earth Prison Talisman and Wind Wall Talisman, two Grade II talismans, were also nearly out of power.

At most, they could last for another quarter of an hour before dissipating completely.

When that happened, Shen Mo would be exposed on all sides, utterly defenseless.

The thought of dozens of Qi Gathering Realm minor Heavenly Demons swarming him made his scalp tingle.

He had to use the remaining time while his talismans held to refine as many minor Heavenly Demons into his Soul Generals as possible.

GULP!

He swallowed another entire box of Qi Restoring Pills. His Dantian, which had been nearly depleted from continuously channeling Mana into the Soul Refining Flag, regained a significant amount of its vitality.

However, a piece of bad news made Shen Mo's expression falter.

After swallowing this box of Qi Restoring Pills, he realized he couldn't find any more elixirs to restore Spiritual Qi in his Universe Bag!