The First Immortal of Destiny-Chapter 408 Hard to Get Away_1
As Shen Mo passed through the Eight Pains tribulation, these gold and black beetles no longer rushed toward him. They turned and surged toward Jiang Lingfeng, buzzing around her and scrambling to burrow into her orifices. In the blink of an eye, not a single Eight Pains Poison Insect remained outside the Treasure Hall!
At this moment, the golden and black lights emanating from her mouth, nose, eyes, and ears grew increasingly brilliant.
Shen Mo hurriedly picked her up and rushed down the mountain. Upon reaching the edge of the Suspended Fairy Mountain, he leaped with her toward the sea.
Instantly, he felt the unknown power that had imprisoned his Mana and Sense suddenly recede.
Without the slightest hesitation, Shen Mo sent a wisp of his Soul Power into Jiang Lingfeng’s Mind Sea, located between her eyebrows. He found her Mind Sea filled with a torrent of golden and black light, her soul mired in murkiness and obscurity, like a small boat on a vast ocean, in danger of capsizing at any moment!
Shen Mo’s Soul Power spread out, enveloping her soul and forming a Soul Mark.
Trapped in the Eight Pains tribulation, she had to rely on herself. All Shen Mo could do was provide her with an Anchor Point to prevent her from completely succumbing!
I had the Destiny Panel as an Anchor Point, so I was able to struggle free!
With Senior Sister Jiang’s determination and talent, and the Soul Mark I provided as an anchor, she will surely overcome this tribulation.
She won’t end up like one of those on the Suspended Fairy Mountain...
At this thought, Shen Mo was startled to find himself back on the Suspended Fairy Mountain. His Mana and Sense were once again imprisoned by the mysterious power. The situation was almost identical to when he had previously probed this floating mountain with his Sense!
He never went to the mountain, yet the mountain came to him.
The difference was that last time he had been in the Black Canopy Magic Boat. This time, he had just executed the Soar Cloud Immortal Method, soaring away from the Suspended Fairy Mountain in a rainbow of light.
Then, the scenery before him changed. His smoothly circulating Mana abruptly stagnated, the rainbow of light vanished, and his feet landed on the golden rocks. Only Senior Sister Jiang Lingfeng, with her delicate body, was still held tightly in his arms.
However, with his Soul Mark as an Anchor Point, the golden and black light in Jiang Lingfeng’s orifices had dimmed considerably.
How strange...
I didn’t turn to look at the mountain, nor did I use my Sense to probe it. Why was I pulled back?
A look of surprise flashed across Shen Mo’s face. After careful contemplation, he arrived at a possible explanation: merely thinking the words "Suspended Fairy Mountain" triggered the mountain’s strange power.
Let’s try again!
Holding onto this hypothesis, Shen Mo once again hugged Jiang Lingfeng and leaped from the edge of the Immortal Mountain toward the sea. This time, he tried to maintain a state of mental emptiness, transforming into a faint golden rainbow and flying into the distance.
Initially, Shen Mo did not return to the Suspended Fairy Mountain. But even for a cultivator, as long as they are alive—except at certain specific times—it is impossible to maintain such a state of mental emptiness constantly. Thousands of thoughts can flash through a person’s mind in an instant. A mortal who hasn’t practiced cultivation has a restless mind, filled with distractions. Cultivators are better, able to eliminate most distractions in a very short time, yet even so, countless thoughts still involuntarily spring up. The goal during cultivation is to constantly wipe away these thoughts, like dust on a mirror, but one can never stop them from appearing and vanishing like bubbles.
Shen Mo had only flown for roughly five kilometers while holding Jiang Lingfeng when a thought about the "Suspended Fairy Mountain" crossed his mind. The next instant, they once again found themselves at the foot of the Immortal Mountain.
As Shen Mo pondered a strategy, Jiang Lingfeng, who was in his arms, let out a soft hum and slowly regained consciousness.
"It’s wonderful that you managed to escape the Eight Pains tribulation," Jiang Lingfeng said softly.
Shen Mo sighed in relief. This trip had confirmed that Hall Master Yuan Chengshan had indeed perished. If Jiang Lingfeng had also met with misfortune and become one of those figures seated in the Treasure Hall, he wouldn’t know how to explain it to Peak Master Zhou Shili. He helped her sit down to the side to recover, then Shen Mo told her everything he had discovered.
Upon hearing about the bizarre nature of the Suspended Fairy Mountain, Jiang Lingfeng’s expression also turned grim. After resting for a moment, she personally tested Shen Mo’s theory and confirmed his deductions.
"It seems... Hall Master Yuan also overcame the Eight Pains tribulation," Jiang Lingfeng sighed. "But in the end, he couldn’t escape this mountain."
Shen Mo nodded slightly. He now understood why Yuan Chengshan, despite being able to send a talisman message, had sent such a vague one. When the Eight Pains Poison Insects had swarmed him, he hadn’t succumbed as easily as the Demon Soul General. Instead, with his exceptional Path Heart, he had struggled through the tribulations of birth, old age, sickness, and death. But when he tried to leave the Suspended Fairy Mountain, he encountered the same predicament they now faced.
Even someone as powerful as Hall Master Yuan couldn’t maintain a completely thought-free state at all times. Ultimately, he was trapped and perished on the Suspended Fairy Mountain, gradually consumed and assimilated by its aura, becoming one of the figures seated on a lotus throne within the Treasure Hall. He must have sent the talisman message in the brief interval after escaping the Immortal Mountain’s edge but before being pulled back to its foot. However, knowing that any thought of the "Suspended Fairy Mountain" would instantly return him to its base, he had deliberately avoided any information that could trigger such a thought when sending his message. This was why the sect, despite receiving his message, remained unaware of the true predicament he faced.
Shen Mo had also tried to seal or even erase Soul memories related to the "Suspended Fairy Mountain" or the "search for Yuan Chengshan at sea," but to no avail. They could only use Mana and Soul Power after leaping off the Immortal Mountain. However, when attempting to use a Soul Curse to seal or erase related memories, one had to actively search for and touch upon those specific memories. The instant this happened, they would be transported back to the Suspended Fairy Mountain, their Mana and Soul Power once again sealed.
Similarly, using magic and martial arts to attack the mountain was impossible. Forget turning to look at the Immortal Mountain or locking onto it with Sense; merely thinking "I must destroy the Suspended Fairy Mountain" would instantly return them to its base.
As for sending a distress message to the Riverside Sect like Hall Master Yuan did, unless a Patriarch of the Golden Core Realm was dispatched, even powerful experts like Zhou Shili, who were only a half step to the Golden Core Realm, likely couldn’t save them. In fact, even cultivators of Peak Master Zhou Shili’s standing might be lured in and trapped as well!
Moreover, the Supreme Elders were all stationed to defend against Class IV Heavenly Demons. They hadn’t even dispatched other Hall Masters to investigate Yuan Chengshan’s situation, so how could they possibly leave the Red Flame Country for just two disciples? Even if a Supreme Elder were dispatched, with the escape speed of a Golden Core Realm cultivator at fifty thousand kilometers per day, it would still take over ten days of non-stop travel to reach them.
Shen Mo didn’t believe he and Senior Sister Jiang could survive unscathed for over ten days!
Of course, any attempt was worth making.
After several more bizarre experiences of leaping into the sea only to return to the mountain’s foot, Shen Mo and Jiang Lingfeng finally managed to send out two talisman messages. These were similar to the one Yuan Chengshan had sent to the sect—equally vague. The only difference was the inclusion of a call for rescue from a Patriarch of the Golden Core Realm.
