The First Immortal of Destiny-Chapter 437: Killing the Enemy from a Thousand Miles Away_1
Shen Mo was very satisfied with the power of this sword strike!
It was just slightly weaker than the Demon Slaying Sword Qi he personally unleashed, likely because it hadn’t received the amplification from the Skill [Sword Body] and the Destiny [Uncommon Victory].
Even so, late-stage Third-order or even peak Third-order Heavenly Demons would find it hard to withstand this strike. Unless they possessed formidable life-saving measures, their only fate would be a tragic death!
However, that alone wasn’t enough to satisfy Shen Mo.
He immediately took out the Soul Refining Flag, shook it gently, and summoned the Ghost Bride, a mutated Demon Soul General at the peak of the Third Order.
With a mental command, the Ghost Bride flew towards the Demon Slaying Sword. After reaching it, she held the sword with both hands and, cloaked in turbid light, flew it three to four thousand li away!
This location was still within Sea State, where a sealed spatial passage lay.
Just like the demonic cave at Wolf Howling Ridge, after the two-realm passage was disrupted and destroyed, the cultivation world, led by the Five Great Sects, had built high walls here, set up a Prohibition Array, and transformed the site into a formidable fortress.
At this moment, hundreds of thousands of Heavenly Demons, including over ten Third-order Heavenly Demons and several hundred Class II Heavenly Demons, were assaulting this fortress, intending to destroy the sealing Formation!
When the Ghost Bride, holding the Demon Slaying Sword, appeared in the sky above this place, these dozen or so Third-order Heavenly Demons quickly sensed something amiss and launched their attacks towards her.
Through their spiritual connection, the Demon Slaying Sword Spirit conveyed to Shen Mo its intent to draw upon his Mana and True Yuan.
A Soul Splitting Rune had been imprinted into the Ghost Bride’s body. Through her five senses, Shen Mo had a clear view of the situation and immediately released the restrictions on his Mana.
At the same time, he commanded the Ghost Bride to raise the Demon Slaying Sword high.
The ocean of Mana within his body instantly diminished by a small fraction...
The Demon Slaying Sword danced of its own accord.
Shen Mo heard the Demon Slaying Sword Spirit’s crisp yet fiercely murderous cry:
"Universal Demon Slaying!"
The Sword Light flashed, dazzlingly bright.
A terrifying Sword Qi erupted, surging towards the attacking Third-order Heavenly Demons and the hundreds of thousands of Heavenly Demons massed behind them!
"Damn it! It’s that Sword Path cultivator from the Riverside Sect!"
"This man’s methods are profound and his attacks devastatingly potent! We must flee..."
"We can’t escape! No matter how fast we are, we can’t outrun this Sword Qi! Quickly, use your strongest techniques to block this strike!"
"..."
Within moments, these dozen or so demon heads, communicating via sense, reached a consensus to collectively resist the sword’s might.
Among them were human-shaped Demon-corrupted cultivators, bizarre-looking Demon-corrupted Marine Race members adorned with fish scales, and even a Demon-corrupted Soul Ghost. They all unleashed their most powerful abilities—magic artifacts, magic, and Skills flashed with spirit light as they attempted to intercept the Demon Slaying Sword Qi!
But it was utterly futile.
Like slicing through foam, the Sword Light instantly shattered the magic artifacts, obliterated the magic, passed through their bodies, and plunged into the assembled Demon Tide!
BOOM!
PUFF! PUFF!
Only after the Sword Light had passed did the successive sounds of exploding magic artifacts and demon bodies being torn asunder ring out.
Every one of those Third-order demon heads had perished.
The hundreds of thousands of Heavenly Demons besieging the fortress stronghold were also almost entirely wiped out; only a few thousand remained, barely clinging to life. But they were grievously wounded, missing limbs and in a horrific state. They were swiftly dispatched by cultivators who flew out from the fortress.
Through the Ghost Bride’s five senses, Shen Mo had a perfect understanding of this sword strike’s power, and a satisfied smile touched his lips.
Although the Demon Slaying Sword was held in the Ghost Bride’s hands, it wasn’t Shen Mo wielding it through her. Rather, it was the Demon Slaying Sword Spirit itself that executed the swordplay, unleashing that terrifying Sword Qi!
The Ghost Bride’s Mana and True Yuan consisted of a turbid amalgamation of Bloody Fiend’s Resentment Qi, ghostly Qi, and Demonic Qi. Directly channeling this into the Demon Slaying Sword would not only contaminate the blade but also corrupt the pure spirituality of the Demon Slaying Sword Spirit.
The role of this peak Third-order Demon Soul General was merely to provide Shen Mo with a vantage point!
In reality, Shen Mo’s connection with the Demon Slaying Sword Spirit far exceeded his bond with the Demon Soul General, even though a Soul Splitting Rune had been imprinted within the Ghost Bride’s Soul Body.
However, the Demon Slaying Sword is fundamentally a weapon of slaughter. Thus, the Demon Slaying Sword Spirit’s perception of the myriad things is entirely different from Shen Mo’s.
For instance, if I were facing a late-stage Third-order demon head, I would use my own five senses to observe its appearance, judging whether it was a Demon-corrupted cultivator or a Demon-corrupted demonic beast. I’d listen to its words to discern its gender and origin, and probe its aura fluctuations to determine the demon’s Cultivation Realm. In the blink of an eye, hundreds, even thousands, of thoughts would flash through my mind—this is perfectly normal. If engaged in combat, my thoughts would flicker with the speed of lightning!
The Demon Slaying Sword Spirit, however, perceives slight vibrations of the blade, the ambient temperature, whether an aura is repulsive to it, the toughness of an opponent’s body upon impact, and so forth.
Although this information, when relayed to Shen Mo, was useful, it was far from sufficient in actual combat and could only serve an auxiliary role.
Within the range of his own sense, Shen Mo could easily grasp the combat situation. However, once the Demon Slaying Sword was more than two hundred li away, beyond the reach of his sense, he could only rely on feedback from the Demon Slaying Sword Spirit. It was at such times that a Demon Soul General imprinted with a Soul Splitting Rune became invaluable.
He merely needed the Demon Soul General to be near the Demon Slaying Sword, and he could then utilize its five senses to perceive the situation on the battlefield.
All Shen Mo had to do was select the target and then decide whether to channel the Mana and True Yuan from his body into the Demon Slaying Sword.
What was even more ingenious was that a Demon Soul General imprinted with a Soul Splitting Rune could promptly relay all kinds of information back to him, even if it was four to five thousand li away!
Thus, even if Shen Mo remained comfortably at home, he could rely on the Demon Soul General and the Demon Slaying Sword Spirit to slay enemies five thousand li distant.
Of course, the low-grade Spiritual Artifact, the Ruyi Soul Stealing Needle, and the skull Spiritual Artifact I recently subdued could also be employed in this manner! However, I don’t possess cultivation methods capable of fully unleashing the power of these two. I can only rely on their inherent characteristics and superior quality in battle; their might is naturally far inferior to the Demon Slaying Sword, which benefits from my mastery of swordplay!
Just as Shen Mo was comparing the efficacy of the three Spiritual Artifacts, several Spirit Sea Realm cultivators flew over from the stronghold sealing the Heavenly Demon passage.
Apart from one Spirit Sea Realm cultivator, who seemed to be an Elder from the Seven Stars Altar, Shen Mo didn’t recognize the others. They likely hailed from minor immortal sects, like the Black Fish Gang, or were unaffiliated rogue cultivators.
All the Spirit Sea Realm experts cupped their hands and bowed towards the Ghost Bride in gratitude.
They weren’t bowing to this Imperial Soul, but rather expressing their gratitude to the master controlling it from behind the scenes.
Shen Mo, controlling the Ghost Bride, scanned the surroundings of the stronghold.
Sure enough, about ten li away, he found a dark, deep pool. Probing it with his sense, he discovered tens of thousands of water snakes of various colors, coiled together and hibernating at the bottom.
Since they were ordinary water snakes and not demonic beasts, they hadn’t been entirely killed or driven away. Thus, naming this place Thousand Snakes Pool was quite apt.
Immediately, with a thought from Shen Mo, the Ghost Bride, using vocal cords that had long been silent, spoke slowly in a hoarse voice, "There’s no need for thanks. As cultivators of the Red Flame Country, slaying Heavenly Demons is our inescapable duty!"
