The First Immortal of Destiny

"If this is Prince Yongzuo's burial site, we indeed need to be cautious!" After some thought, Chen Mengze nodded in agreement.

Yongzuo was not an official era name of the Red Flame Country's previous dynasty. Rather, it was a title adopted by a deposed prince nursing a grievance. He refused to acknowledge either the old dynasty or the current new one, so he created his own era name and took it as his title. His last public appearance before his death was at Layer IX of the Spirit Sea Realm. Some even speculated that Prince Yongzuo had successfully formed his Golden Core, left the Red Flame Country, and departed to establish his own nation elsewhere. Now, however, it seemed he had failed in his attempt to form a Golden Core. He remained at the peak of the Spirit Sea Realm until his demise! Otherwise, with the lifespan of a Golden Core Realm expert, Prince Yongzuo should not have vanished so completely.

Even so, the tomb of a peak Spirit Sea Realm powerhouse would not be easy to navigate. From the Spirit Storage Rat's description alone, Shen Mo had identified numerous dangers. This was why he had invited Li Zhong, Yao Ting, and the others. Otherwise, wouldn't it have been a larger harvest if only he and Chen Mengze were present?

While the two were talking, streams of light descended one after another. Lu Ming and Yao Ting from Stars Peak, Jiang Yingying from the Heaven Sword Sect, and others arrived in quick succession.

Shen Mo noticed that of the Heaven Sword Sect members, only Jiang Yingying and Peng Chenshu had arrived. He couldn't help but ask, puzzled, "Senior Sister Jiang, why isn't Brother Geng here?"

"He's entirely focused on slaying demons and doesn't wish to be involved in this matter." Saying this, Jiang Yingying walked over to Chen Mengze and began speaking with her in hushed tones.

Shen Mo made no comment. If Geng Zheng didn't want to come, so be it! It was understandable for a Sword Path cultivator who had comprehended the Punish Demons sword intent to be solely focused on slaying Heavenly Demons.

Not long after, Li Zhong and his two friends also landed on the cliff, having arrived by sword. However, as soon as Shangguan Jie from the Heaven Sword Sect saw Jiang Yingying, his expression soured, and he flew off without a backward glance. Li Zhong gave chase for a while but returned empty-handed. "That fellow said he didn't want to see Miss Jiang, so he left first."

This remark naturally earned him a slap on the back of the head from Song Fang. Li Zhong, long accustomed to this, just shrugged.

Shen Mo glanced at Jiang Yingying. Her expression was as calm as usual, and she said frankly, "Brother Shangguan pursued me once. After I rejected him multiple times, he began to avoid me."

"..."

Shen Mo's mouth twitched; he barely managed to suppress his laughter. If he had known about the history between Shangguan Jie and Jiang Yingying, he wouldn't have invited them both.

Thus, only eight people remained to venture into the Underground Palace. Li Zhong was at Layer IX of the Qi Gathering Realm. Yao Ting and Song Fang were in the late-stage Qi Gathering Realm. The others, aside from Lu Ming, were all at the middle-stage of the Qi Gathering Realm. However, Lu Ming possessed the Thunder Body and had been personally instructed by the Stars Peak Master; his strength was not inferior to that of an ordinary middle-stage Qi Gathering Realm cultivator. Such a lineup should indeed be sufficient to breach the Prohibition outside the Underground Palace!

Then, Shen Mo flew to the base of the mountain and, activating the Demon Slaying Sword, began to dig downwards. He had previously excavated a passage to the Underground Palace. Upon leaving, he had collapsed and reburied it to prevent others from discovering the tomb. Now, with the help of Li Zhong and the others, it didn't take much time to once again dig down to the vicinity of the Underground Palace. The entrance on the surface was also concealed with several talismans.

"What a magnificent Underground Palace! Truly worthy of being Prince Yongzuo's mausoleum." As the majestic Underground Palace came into view, the group couldn't help but marvel.

"The Underground Palace is fraught with danger... If anyone wishes to withdraw, now is the time!" Before casting the spell to break the Prohibition, Shen Mo once again reiterated the risks of the expedition.

Li Zhong grinned and declared boldly, "On the path of cultivation, where is there no danger?"

"Cultivating cultivation methods is dangerous, slaying demon heads is exceedingly perilous, and consuming too many elixirs... can lead to sudden death."

"Even if Prince Yongzuo reanimates, I, Old Li, would still want to grab a couple of things before fleeing!"

The others had strange expressions but didn't refute Li Zhong's point. Shen Mo wasted no more words. "Let's begin!"

HUM!

The Demon Slaying Sword vibrated and shot forth, a sword light like a rainbow slashing towards the Underground Palace's Prohibition. Chen Mengze, Li Zhong, Jiang Yingying, and the others, not wishing to be outdone, all unleashed their most powerful attacks. Among them, Li Zhong, Lu Ming, and Song Fang employed the most distinctive methods to break the Prohibition!

Li Zhong's body radiated a metallic golden sheen, like a humanoid magic artifact forged from refined steel, as he repeatedly slammed his body against the Prohibition's spirit light. Lu Ming was entirely enveloped within a purple thunderbolt wave. He continuously launched thunderbolt arcs, striking the Prohibition. Song Fang of the Profound Moon School produced a number of small flags, set up a Formation, and used it to bombard and wear down the Prohibition.

BOOM!

RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

The Formation safeguarding the Underground Palace trembled ceaselessly. Within the gloom, a pale golden light flickered intermittently. Profound patterns materialized, only to gradually disintegrate.

CRACK!

Several Shichen later, the Underground Palace's Prohibition finally succumbed to the assault, and a large gap tore open. However, upon closer inspection, one could see the gap in the Prohibition slowly mending itself at an extremely slow rate.

"This Formation can draw upon the Qi of Earth Fiend to repair itself," Song Fang, the most skilled in formations among them, remarked with surprise.

"If we leave it alone, how long will it take to completely heal?"

Song Fang examined it carefully before replying, "Approximately three days."

"Three days is too fast!"

"If something unexpected happens, we'll likely be trapped and unable to escape."

Shen Mo pondered for a moment, then resumed launching sword Qi to widen the gap in the Prohibition. "We need at least a ten-day window! Continue breaking it."

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

Under their combined assault, the gap in the Prohibition grew ever wider...

Another two Shichen passed. Only when Song Fang confirmed that the Prohibition could not repair itself within ten days did everyone cease their efforts. They each consumed elixirs and began to recover their mana outside the Prohibition.

While the others were recuperating, Yao Ting approached Shen Mo and asked in a low voice, "Junior Brother Shen, didn't you invite Junior Sister Lingyin to join this treasure hunt?"

"She gifted me many elixirs recently; their quality was excellent!"

"Unfortunately... all of them were bought by other Senior Brothers."

"I was hoping to buy more Demon Suppressing Pills and Qi Coalescing Pills from her."

Shen Mo couldn't help but chuckle. During the Tianshan demonic calamity, Yao Ting had also rendered a life-saving service to Zhao Lingyin, so Zhao Lingyin naturally wished to show her gratitude. The method of repayment, surprisingly, was through elixirs! It seemed that in Zhao Lingyin's eyes, there was no problem that gifting elixirs couldn't solve. If one batch wasn't enough, she would simply gift more, higher-grade ones!

And indeed, this held some truth. In many ways, elixirs were comparable in value to spirit stones. There was even a time in the Red Flame Country's cultivation world when the most basic Grade I elixirs were used as common currency for pricing and trade.

"A few days ago, Lingyin returned to the sect with her Master!"

With the demonic calamity looming, the sect had assigned all Alchemists in the Alchemy Zone with elixir-concocting tasks. Wu Gong, as the sole Grade IV Alchemist in the Riverside Sect, was tasked with refining high-grade elixirs for the sect's experts. Naturally, he had no free time, not even to return to the Alchemists Alliance branch to research ancient formulas. Zhao Lingyin was in a similar situation, burdened with the task of concocting Grade III and Grade IV elixirs in the Alchemy Zone!

In other words, apart from Shen Mo, every Alchemist registered with the sect was so busy that their cauldrons were practically smoking.