The First Immortal of Destiny

The deeper Shen Mo went into the Underground Palace, the more he felt something was wrong.

Grand halls were scattered in an orderly fashion, with pavilions and towers winding and soaring, giving the impression of a new hall every five steps and a new pavilion every ten. It was like stepping into a giant maze; for a moment, Shen Mo couldn't distinguish east from west, north from south. Even his five senses and his spiritual sense were deceived. This was likely due to the layers of Formations and Prohibitions suppressing everything within the Underground Palace.

Shen Mo activated his Flawless Dharma Eye, but due to the Prohibitions enveloping the entire Underground Palace, he couldn't fly very high. He could, at best, survey an area of about one mile. His mind faintly warned of impending danger, but upon careful discernment, this premonition vanished without a trace. The Sound Transmission Talisman had also lost its effectiveness, making Shen Mo increasingly worried.

He spent nearly an hour wandering among the halls and towers. Finally, he spotted Chen Mengze and the others.

"Senior Sister Chen..." Shen Mo quickly flew over, his brow furrowing immediately. "Why are only the three of you here? Where are Senior Sister Jiang and Senior Brother Li?"

With Chen Mengze were Yao Ting and Lu Ming. Besides these three, Shen Mo saw no one else.

"They should be nearby. Come and see for yourself," Chen Mengze said, leading Shen Mo and the other two into a large hall before them.

"Huh?"

Soon, Shen Mo noticed something peculiar about the hall. Its furnishings and layout resembled those of a secular government office. A gaunt figure, holding a jade plate, sat high at the front of the hall, a Prohibition veiling its front. On the jade plate, a Flying Sword was conspicuously displayed. Judging by its form and aura, it appeared to be a high-grade profound-level magic artifact.

"My young friends, have you figured out how to pass this trial?" the gaunt figure, an old man in official robes, asked.

Obviously, like Wei Bai before him, he's also a Human Ghost, buried alive in this tomb, Shen Mo thought. He didn't skimp on Spirit Stones and directly activated "Insight into All Beings."

[Human Ghost: Fu Zexian]

[Realm: Peak Class I]

[Profile: This ghost was originally a native of Zhong State in the Red Flame Country, and a high-ranking official of the Ministry of Finance during the Liewu Dynasty. At the fall of the dynasty, he was saved by Prince Yongzuo and buried alive in his tomb, transforming into a Human Ghost. During his life, this ghost excelled at extorting wealth from the common people. Apart from fighting with its Human Ghost body, it possesses no other means of combat.]

[Weakness: This ghost is greedy and fears death.]

...

"Senior Sister Chen," Shen Mo began, "are you saying that if we fill this urn with worldly gold and silver, the Prohibition in front of this Human Ghost will automatically disperse?"

Shen Mo tentatively struck the Prohibition before the elderly Human Ghost a few times and found it to be even more formidable than the ones outside the Underground Palace. Faintly, its aura seemed connected to the Formations and Prohibitions of the entire Underground Palace. Breaking it by brute force would be extremely difficult, he mused.

From this, Shen Mo inferred that Prince Yongzuo didn't seem to entirely forbid outsiders from entering the Underground Palace. Otherwise, he could have just made the outer Prohibitions as strong as those inside the halls. In that case, let alone them, even if several more peak Qi Gathering Realm cultivators came, they wouldn't be able to break in!

And deep within the Underground Palace, every one of these grand halls seemed to have similar arrangements. To proceed further, they would have to solve the puzzles in each hall. Of course, once a trial was overcome, the Prohibitions around the Human Ghosts and magic artifacts would disperse on their own. At that time, they could claim the treasures within.

What does Prince Yongzuo mean by this arrangement? Shen Mo pondered deeply, but he had no clue.

Generally, there are two types of tombs where powerful beings are buried. The first type is like that of the Barbarian Bull Venerable, intended to find an inheritor for their legacy. Their tombs typically don't feature deadly traps or fatal arrays; instead, all arrangements serve the purpose of testing and selecting candidates. The second type belongs to those who detest having their eternal rest disturbed. Their tombs are filled with numerous dangers, designed to kill any cultivators who dare to intrude. Prince Yongzuo's Underground Palace didn't seem to fit into either of these categories. On the contrary, it seemed more like he wished to use the hands of trespassers to complete some kind of ritual!

At this moment, Lu Ming and Yao Ting had already left this grand hall. They wanted to try their luck in other halls. If they found an easy puzzle, they might be able to break the Prohibition and obtain the treasure inside with little effort. Li Zhong, Song Fang, Jiang Yingying, and Peng Chenshu had similar ideas. Furthermore, sensing that this place didn't seem dangerous, they had decided to split up and act separately.

"Before you arrived, we entered many halls. Some Prohibitions were easy to break. Others, like this one here, were a bit difficult," Chen Mengze explained calmly.

It wasn't to say they were extremely difficult, but how could cultivators like them carry piles of gold and silver while traveling? That would just needlessly take up space in their Universe Bags. Chen Mengze and the others had tried earlier. All the gold and silver they had on them, even when pooled together, could only form a thin layer at the bottom of the urn.

"If you have any gold or silver on you, you can give it a try. If not, we can only go elsewhere."

After saying this, Chen Mengze left the grand hall. She intended to go to other halls, attempt to break their Prohibitions, and collect treasures.

Seeing that only he and the elderly Human Ghost were left in the grand hall, Shen Mo no longer hesitated and took out his Soul Refining Flag.

He didn't even need to look. The gold and silver in his Universe Bag were nowhere near enough to fill the iron jar in the grand hall. Shen Mo estimated that to fill this urn and break the Prohibition, at least 50,000 catties of gold and silver would be needed!

However, he had refined a Gold Piercing Ghost Soul General within his Soul Refining Flag. Although it had now been Demon-corrupted into a variant Demon Soul General, it still retained its Innate Divine Ability to spit out Gold Ingots and Silver Ingots. What it spits out may not be real worldly gold and silver, but rather a manifestation of its Skill. But how could he be sure it wouldn't work if he didn't try? Anyway, it wouldn't take much time!

"Jinshan. Spit out Gold and Silver Ingots and fill this iron urn!" Shen Mo commanded with a thought.

The next moment, the gold-and-silver-adorned ghost opened its massive maw.

CLANG!

CLANG! CLANG!

One by one, Gold and Silver Ingots clattered into the iron urn.

In less time than it takes for half an incense stick to burn, Gold and Silver Ingots filled the large urn, overflowing from its mouth and piling up.

PFFT!

The Prohibition in front of the elderly Human Ghost suddenly dispersed.

This former official from the Ministry of Finance, now a Human Ghost, seemed quite satisfied with the mountain of Gold and Silver Ingots. It nodded at Shen Mo and, holding the jade plate with both hands, presented the Flying Sword.

Without any change in expression, Shen Mo unleashed a strand of sword Qi at the elderly Human Ghost.

WHOOSH!

The elderly Human Ghost's figure instantly sank into the ground and vanished. Its speed was so great that even the sword Qi couldn't catch it.

Only the Flying Sword, along with the jade plate, remained, falling to the ground with a CLATTER!

It seems Prince Yongzuo doesn't want us to kill this former official! Shen Mo mused. He then reached out and grabbed the Flying Sword from the ground.

With a sweep of his sense, he confirmed that it was indeed a high-grade profound-level Flying Sword, and its quality was quite good. It possessed the [Burn] sword intent! If sold in the immortal market, it could fetch a rather handsome price.

This made Shen Mo even more curious about Prince Yongzuo's intentions.