The First Immortal of Destiny

The one who was Demon-corrupted was a mortal with no cultivation. The mutated Heavenly Demon was blasted into debris without any resistance.

Shen Mo swept a glance and quickly retracted his gaze. "Senior Brother Li, do you know how the Peak Master and others are doing in sealing the Heavenly Demon passage?"

"No news has come out yet! But, Junior Brother Shen, you can rest assured."

Li Zhong slapped Shen Mo's shoulder forcefully, grinning. "As long as no Class III Heavenly Demons show up, it means that the Peak Master and the others are making smooth progress."

"Moreover, Rising Sun Peak Master Tang Lv, leading two core disciples and five Spirit Sea Realm Elders..."

"Went to aid our Peak Master with strong cultivators from other immortal sects!"

"If they still can't seal the passage with all this, the Five Great Sects deserve to be wiped out by the Heavenly Demons…"

Song Fang unleashed a palm strike. CLANG! It cut Li Zhong off.

Seeing the gloomy faces of his two friends from other sects and his own junior brother, Li Zhong chuckled sheepishly and closed his mouth.

The newly established Demon Slaying Hall was located near the Teleportation Array of the Five Great Sects. This area was about the size of a small Jiyun Town. It had been purposely reserved by each sect to connect with various states and cities and to control numerous industries. Cities in the Red Flame Country of a scale comparable to Tianshan City all had similar arrangements. If a demon calamity occurred somewhere, the Five Great Sects could dispatch cultivators and transfer various resources through the Teleportation Array.

When Shen Mo arrived, he saw spirit light constantly flaring above the Teleportation Array. Immediately afterward, disciples from the Five Great Sects, along with disciples from other smaller, closely affiliated immortal sects, flew up on their swords, rushing towards Tianshan Mountain. Looking at their expressions, they showed no fear, but were instead full of excitement and eagerness!

Shen Mo became increasingly convinced that the demon calamity in the Tianshan Mountain region would last for a very long time. However, he was unaware of the schemes and arrangements of the sect's upper echelons. Therefore, he didn't entertain any unnecessary thoughts.

The Demon Slaying Hall covered a vast area, its magnificence rivaling that of a royal palace. If not for immortal means, it would likely have been very difficult to construct such a grand edifice in just four or five Shichen.

The Defense Division was located to one side. Compared to its subordinate Demon Slaying Hall, it seemed rather dim and cramped.

Inside the main hall, there weren't too many sect disciples; they were likely still near Tianshan Mountain, battling Heavenly Demons. Consequently, the registration process was handled very quickly.

Shen Mo's identity jade pendant also recorded the battle merit for slaying the mutated Heavenly Demon Wan Wu. He could exchange it for cultivation resources now, or accumulate more battle merits to trade for higher-grade resources.

Shen Mo scanned the exchange list, and soon, a look of pleasant surprise appeared on his face.

They even have Thunder Killing Pearls! And so many spirit stones, magic, martial arts, magic artifacts, elixirs, talismans, exotic treasures… It seems the Five Great Sects have really gone all out this time!

Shen Mo's Big Dipper Seven Star Sword Formation required a large amount of extreme elements to enhance. Normally, collecting even one type of extreme element would take a very long time. Now, among the exchangeable resources, there was a complete set of Five Elements Thunder Demon Pearls. Even not counting the Thunder Killing Pearls, there were other rare and exotic treasures containing the extreme elements needed for Dao sword formation. There were also various other cultivation resources, enough to leave Shen Mo dazzled!

The cultivation methods and magic on offer are all common fare; they don't hold much exchange value for me.

Cultivation methods and magic were crucial to the rise and fall of an immortal sect. Naturally, what the Demon Slaying Hall could offer would not be the core cultivation methods of the major sects. However, for many disciples of smaller sects, or for rogue cultivators, these cultivation methods were coveted treasures.

Shen Mo didn't have a great need for elixirs and talismans either. He himself was a Grade III Alchemist, and his Talisman Path was at Grade II; he was fully capable of gathering resources and refining them himself.

On the contrary, magic artifacts, exotic treasures, and items like the Thunder Killing Pearls piqued his interest considerably!

"Junior Sister," Shen Mo began, "I would like to exchange my demon-slaying merit for a Wood-Thunder Demonic Pearl. Is that possible?"

After selecting for a while, Shen Mo still decided to first invest the battle merits he had earned into his Big Dipper Seven Star Sword Formation. He aimed to transform the remaining sword embryos into complete Dao swords as quickly as possible. Once the Sword Array's power surged, if he were to fight Heavenly Demon Wan Wu again, he could trap and slay it relying on the Sword Array!

"Please forgive me, Senior Brother. The Demon Slaying Hall was established only recently, and many spiritual materials have not yet been delivered to the Treasure Hall!"

"Spiritual items like the Wood-Thunder Demonic Pearl, due to their unique properties, were not sent in the first batch."

The disciple responsible for resource exchange was from the Profound Moon School. She possessed a Qi Gathering Realm Layer II cultivation. With a rather demure and pretty appearance, she replied apologetically, "However, Senior Brother, you can come back in two days to make the exchange. By then, the Thunder Killing Pearls and other items should have arrived."

Shen Mo nodded, put away his identity jade pendant, and left the Demon Slaying Hall.

Just as he exited the main hall, Li Zhong and the others approached him.

"Junior Brother Shen, the three of us are heading to Tianshan Mountain to slay demons and obtain battle merits! Would you like to accompany us?"

After a moment's thought, Shen Mo politely declined their invitation.

If I team up with them, firstly, I wouldn't be able to freely use the Soul Refining Flag, a magic artifact. Without this flag, with my current combat power, I should be able to easily defeat a Class II middle-stage primal Heavenly Demon. I could also defeat a Class II late-stage primal Heavenly Demon, but the fight would be prolonged. With the Soul Refining Flag, however, I could even contend with a Class II peak primal Heavenly Demon. As for mutated Heavenly Demons like Wan Wu, who demon-corrupted cultivators… their strength is variable, and they are extremely rare, so I won't consider them for now. Secondly, among the four of them, my cultivation is the lowest. I would definitely be at a disadvantage when distributing battle merits. Even if I went through great effort to slay a Class II peak Heavenly Demon, the battle merits obtained would only be enough to exchange for a single Wood-Thunder Demonic Pearl. If I took all the merit for myself, I could exchange it for four Thunder Killing Pearls. Therefore, accompanying Li Zhong and the others is not an ideal choice for me!

Li Zhong wanted to try persuading him further, but he was forcibly pulled away by Song Fang from the Profound Moon School.

At this moment, Shen Mo also saw Zhao Lingyin, her eyes smiling as she gracefully walked towards him.

"Are you returning to Tianshan Mountain… to slay demon heads?" Zhao Lingyin asked, walking beside him.

If this were before the Tianshan Grand Ceremony, Shen Mo would definitely have tried to keep his distance. At that time, Zhao Lingyin's bounty for "Mo Shen" had caused a huge stir in the Alchemy Zone. In the eyes of outsiders, he had no connection with her. Suddenly appearing very close to her would easily lead to speculation and expose his "Mo Shen" alias. However, now, after experiencing the Tianshan Grand Ceremony and the demon calamity, even if he and Zhao Lingyin were closer, others would only assume it was because he had aided her during the demon calamity. They wouldn't connect him with "Mo Shen". Therefore, Shen Mo's demeanor became much more open. He no longer acted furtively as he had around the Cuizhu Elixir Room, as if he were doing something that couldn't see the light of day!

"The rewards offered by the Demon Slaying Hall are quite good," Shen Mo said. "Many of the treasures are useful to me."

"So…"

"I was thinking of going to kill some more demon heads to earn battle merits."