The First Immortal of Destiny

"Death Jaw Dungeon?" Shen Mo murmured.

Besides confirming that he had indeed stumbled into Death Jaw and entered a Dungeon similar to the Mountain River Realm, he had not received much more information. However, from what he knew before, the Death Jaw Dungeon seemed different from other Dungeon relics. In his understanding, the existence of the Ghost Nation Ruins was closer to the Mountain River Realm. The environment and situation encountered by different cultivators upon entering Death Jaw were not the same; it seemed more like a unique cultivation trial. Only by fulfilling the conditions of the task could one leave the Death Jaw Dungeon! "Besides sensing a trace of ghostly Qi in the air, I haven't received any task prompts." "According to the pioneers who made it out, the challenger must discover for themselves what conditions need to be met!" "When personally experiencing it, some signs can be sensed." "Generally, it is a major revelation, a calamity of life and death, or a test of certain aspects!" "The signs have not yet appeared, so the only choice right now is to take it one step at a time!"

However, before that, it's better to find a place first and repair my magic robe and inner armor. In whatever situation, maintaining his peak strength can't be wrong.

With this in mind, Shen Mo descended on his Flying Sword.

Due to the influence of the ghostly Qi, a sense of oppressive wilderness filled the surrounding landscape. The land was not as barren as in the Ghost Nation Ruins, but it was not much better. Many plants were dead; the plains and hills seemed desolate and decaying. Only a few tenacious weeds and shrubs still showed some signs of life. Creatures such as frogs, birds, fish, and insects, let alone flying birds and running beasts, were extremely rare. Those that had survived all appeared somewhat bizarre.

For example, the Poisonous Mosquitoes buzzing around Shen Mo's ears had their blood-sucking proboscises covered with sharp teeth. He witnessed a skeletal rabbit beast get swarmed by them. In just a few breaths, only a ghastly white skeleton remained. The swarm of Poisonous Mosquitoes was not satisfied. They seemed to have caught Shen Mo's scent and rushed towards him like black smoke. Then, under the harsh Nether Fire, they burned into specks of sparks with a CRACKLE.

There were also small fish in a mountain stream. The front half of a fish's body might be normal, but the back half was rotted to the bone, yet it still swam happily in the stream. Shen Mo saw faint, cold ghostly Qi entwined around the fish bones.

There were many more such oddities.

Suppressing his doubts, Shen Mo quickly found an inhabited mountain village. Before he could get close, he heard a clamor of fighting coming from within. He saw a large-bellied, grotesque Hungry Ghost on a Small Path in the village, engaged in a fierce fight with farmers and village women armed with hoes and carrying poles.

Perhaps because the ghostly Qi was not as dense as in the Ghost Nation Ruins, this Hungry Ghost was not strong, barely comparable to an early-stage Body Tempering cultivator. Ordinarily, even so, the Hungry Ghost was not something these villagers could resist. Yet strangely enough, using only their ordinary farming tools, they held off the Hungry Ghost's onslaught. Only a few people were injured, their fresh blood staining the ground.

CRUNCH! CRUNCH!

The sound of mastication was sickening. The Hungry Ghost didn't care about being hit by hoes or carrying poles. Instead, it crouched on the ground, greedily grabbing blood-soaked soil and stuffing it into its mouth. Wolfing it down was insufficient to describe the Hungry Ghost's eating. It grabbed with its hands and chewed with its mouth, seeming to enjoy the most delicious meal in the world.

It seems their injuries weren't necessarily caused by the Hungry Ghost's bites, but deliberately inflicted to hinder it! Shen Mo thought, no longer pondering it, and flicked his finger. A stream of vital energy shot out, instantly killing the Hungry Ghost on the ground. After the ghostly Qi dissipated, only a handful of ruined and filthy dirt remained.

This sudden turn of events stunned the villagers clutching their farming tools. When Shen Mo landed on his Flying Sword, over a hundred villagers knelt in unison, shouting their thanks to the Immortal Master for his kindness.

Soon, a mature-looking man in his thirties or forties stepped forward and kowtowed, "Thank you, Immortal Master, for your help. We, the villagers of Horse Head Village, will never forget your great benevolence."

"It's nothing," Shen Mo waved his sleeve, gently lifting the man and the other villagers. "I've been on a long journey. Does your village have an unused house where I can rest?"

In an unfamiliar land, one never knew what strange things might be encountered. Therefore, he didn't want to stay in the wild to mend his magic robe and recover his state! Places with people indicated that there was no significant danger, much safer than choosing a place at random.

The mature-faced man was the head of Horse Head Village. Upon hearing that Shen Mo intended to stay, his face lit up with joy. He eagerly invited Shen Mo to rest at his house, while his family moved to a dilapidated house next door.

There's something strange about this Horse Head Village! Shen Mo thought. His five senses and his sense were exceptionally sharp. When he entered the village on his Flying Sword, he had, in fact, already sensed various anomalies.

Firstly, apart from the over one hundred villagers who were relatively healthy and holding their own against the Hungry Ghost, the other several hundred villagers were so weak they were barely recognizable as human. Considering the influence of the Nether ghostly Qi, with crops yielding little or nothing, and wild vegetables and game from the mountains being hard to come by, it was understandable that the villagers were starving and emaciated. However, it was highly abnormal that over a hundred people, including the village head, were strong enough to fight a formidable Hungry Ghost.

Secondly, there were no old, weak, sick, or disabled people in the village! In such a large village, surely there would be at least one elderly person or someone with a disability?

Especially among those hundreds of frail villagers, not even adolescents were to be seen, only men and women in their prime.

Lastly, Shen Mo smelled the cloying, fleshy odor of human meat in the village head's house.

The truth about Horse Head Village was all but obvious!

Shen Mo cast a minor cleansing spell to sweep away the odor in the house. Then he took off the Blue Soul Red Carp and began to repair it.

He was not a villain, nor was he a perfect saint! Before fully understanding this Dungeon, he didn't plan to do much. After all, given what he knew then, cannibalism didn't even seem like such a heinous act!

With the help of the Nether Fire, it didn't take Shen Mo long to successfully repair his magic robe and inner armor.

[You have repaired the profound low-grade inner armor "Red Carp". During the repair process, you gained a lot of Forging experience and insights, deepening your understanding of the Forging Path. Forging experience +20.]

[You have repaired the profound middle-grade magic robe "Blue Soul". During the repair process, you gained a lot of Forging experience and insights, deepening your understanding of the Forging Path. Forging experience +100.]

He put on the inner armor, then the magic robe, and finally an ordinary robe over them.

Subsequently, Shen Mo took five Realm Breaking Talismans out of his Universe Bag.

Outside Death Jaw, he hadn't yet had time to open the Universe Bags obtained from killing Master Hong Jue and the four rogue cultivators. Compared to the others, Shen Mo was more interested in Master Hong Jue's Universe Bag. Perhaps there were still some Water-Thunder Demon Pearls inside.