The First Immortal of Destiny-Chapter 452 Contradiction_1
Originally, Shen Mo intended to use [Martial Performance] to help Cao Ren extrapolate the [Dragon Transformation Spell].
However, after some careful thought, he abandoned this idea.
The extrapolation effect of [Martial Performance] is based on the original magic cultivation method, involving mending, repairing, and strengthening. The so-called extrapolation to the next stage cannot completely change the fundamental characteristics of the original method. The master of the Dragon Rearing Pool created the [Dragon Transformation Spell] to screen the world’s dragon breeds and cultivate them into dragon beast ingredients. Even if more than 600,000 Lower Grade Spirit Stones are spent on extrapolation, there’s no guarantee that the method’s improvement and enhancement will lead to severing the connection with the Dragon Rearing Pool. It might even enhance its "dragon transformation" effect, quickly reaching a state that could satisfy the Dragon Rearing Pool master’s palate!
Conversely, the [Reverse Dragon Curse] created by Cao Ren’s fortuitous Master held value for extrapolation and reinforcement.
Currently, it relies on cultivating Dragon Reversing Demonic Qi to maintain the stability of the cultivator’s soul and Dao Body, and the clarity of their gnosis. After extrapolating it to the next stage, it might be able to completely sever the connection with the Dragon Rearing Pool. Moreover, the Spirit Stone consumption is less, only requiring over 200,000 Lower Grade Spirit Stones!
However, at this moment, Shen Mo did not immediately lend a hand to help Cao Ren extrapolate the [Reverse Dragon Curse].
Firstly, there was still ample time. According to his fortuitous Master’s experience, Cao Ren likely wouldn’t be captured by the Dragon Rearing Pool before he established his Spirit Sea. Even if he did establish his Spirit Sea, he might not be taken away immediately. If he were strong enough, escaping a few capture attempts wouldn’t be too difficult!
Secondly, the required Spirit Stone resources were immense. Shen Mo could help Cao Ren bear a portion, but Cao Ren himself would still need to cover the majority. With Cao Ren’s current strength and assets, producing over 200,000 Lower Grade Spirit Stones at once would practically cost him his life. With such a sum of resources, it would be better to enhance his strength, increasing his chances of escaping the Dragon Rearing Pool. Using it to gamble on extrapolating the [Reverse Dragon Curse] was not the optimal choice.
Anyway, Shen Mo had already hinted at this to Cao Ren, both overtly and covertly. Of course, he hadn’t explicitly mentioned his special ability to extrapolate cultivation methods; instead, he had fabricated an excuse, claiming to know a Senior proficient in such extrapolations.
Although Cao Ren was tempted, he still chose to put it off for the time being. Shen Mo speculated that only when Cao Ren increasingly sensed the imminence of capture by the Dragon Rearing Pool would he desperately try to gather enough Spirit Stones to take the gamble.
In fact, compared to other Qi Gathering Realm disciples in the cultivation world, even inner disciples of the Five Great Sects, Cao Ren was already considered quite "wealthy," thanks to the advantage of his soul entering the Dark Blue Zone.
The [Dragon Transformation Spell] offered an incredibly attractive bait. After cultivating this method, one could obtain immortal arts, spiritual items to enhance cultivation, combat experience from a soul-roaming state, and more. It was as if someone was constantly spoon-feeding cultivators of the [Dragon Transformation Spell]! If not for the poisoned bait—leading to the cultivator ultimately being devoured by the master of the Dragon Rearing Pool... this immortal art alone would be enough to strengthen a major immortal sect!
Aside from Cao Ren, who possessed a "strange technique," Lu Ming cultivated the fastest among Shen Mo’s old acquaintances. It had to be said that a Spiritual Body truly offered a unique advantage in cultivation. Zhao Lingyin, being a Green Wood Spiritual Body, was in a similar situation. Despite much of her energy being devoted to the Alchemy Path, her cultivation hadn’t fallen behind. Quietly, she had also advanced to Layer IX of the Qi Gathering Realm, and establishing her Spirit Sea was merely a matter of course.
After discussing it with her, Shen Mo had made a preliminary decision: once she established her Spirit Sea, they would formally become Dao companions and announce it to the world.
...
The inauguration ceremony of the Riverside Sect’s fourth Main Peak, and Shen Mo’s formal appointment as Peak Master, though immensely grand and solemn, was still but a single ripple in the surging tide of the current cultivation world’s grand scheme.
「A dozen or so days later.」
The distinguished guests gradually departed, and the entire sect returned to its usual tranquility.
Meanwhile, Shen Mo was busy with several tasks: selecting suitable candidates from the multitude of Deacons, constructing special cultivation grounds similar to Spirit Ponds on Green Cloud Peak to facilitate the practice of the Bloody Fiend School disciples, and refining the cultivation and combat system for the Bloody Fiend lineage.
Fortunately, as the Riverside Sect had been established for a thousand years, there were many manuals on the combat methods of external cultivators to reference, so there was no need to figure everything out from scratch. Bloody Fiend School disciples who had reached the Qi Gathering Realm and entered the Inner Door would not lack combat abilities and wouldn’t be much weaker than ordinary disciples. Of course, whether it be various spells, magic artifacts, talismans, or similar items, they had to earn them through their own efforts. This was a common practice even among the Five Great Sects.
While Shen Mo was busy, he received a talisman message from Jin Chinian, the Hall Master of the Enforcement Hall, asking him to visit the Outer Door area where the Bloody Fiend School disciples resided.
When his escaping light landed in the Outer Door area, a sweep of his spiritual sense allowed him to grasp the situation fairly well. The hundred-odd Bloody Fiend School disciples teleported from the Wando Archipelago had clearly clashed with the regular outer disciples. Dozens of injured individuals lay scattered on the ground, and all standing disciples, from both factions, bore injuries.
"Hall Master Jin, what happened?" Shen Mo asked calmly as he stepped out from the radiance, addressing Jin Chinian, the Hall Master of the Enforcement Hall.
Jin Chinian, who had overseen the sect law for many years, had an expression even more stern and severe than Elder Shentu Gui. "Peak Master Shen," he began, "these Sect Disciples disregarded the Sect’s regulations and engaged in a mass brawl..."
Actually, the matter was quite straightforward. For the peak inauguration ceremony, the Riverside Sect had brought over a hundred Bloody Fiend School disciples and specially designated an area in the Outer Door for them to live and cultivate. However, to facilitate the smooth integration of the Bloody Fiend lineage into the Riverside Sect, no barriers were erected to separate them from the regular outer disciples.
Due to various factors such as differences in background, customs, speech, and behavior, the ordinary outer disciples generally looked down upon the Bloody Fiend School disciples, considering them barbarians from impoverished and remote regions. This led to frequent conflicts between the two groups of disciples.
Today, the situation had simply escalated. A few outer disciples, who had initially taunted and made sarcastic remarks about the Bloody Fiend School disciples, were taught a harsh lesson. Afterward, they called upon their friends and allies, gradually gathering several hundred of them, and engaged in a large-scale brawl with the Bloody Fiend School disciples. What lay before them now was the aftermath of this brawl involving hundreds of people.
Similar incidents, some even more severe, occurred annually in the Riverside Sect’s Outer Door, and the Enforcement Hall would typically handle them according to sect regulations. This particular incident, however, was sensitive because it involved the Bloody Fiend School disciples. Consequently, it had alarmed Jin Chinian, the Enforcement Hall Master, who had even gone so far as to notify Shen Mo via a Sound Transmission Talisman. After all, everyone in the Riverside Sect knew that Shen Mo, the Peak Master of Green Cloud Peak, was effectively the representative of the Bloody Fiend lineage’s interests within the sect.
"Patriarch, please listen to our explanation..."
A stalwart youth stepped forward, knelt before Shen Mo, and began to plead his case with an aggrieved expression. Shen Mo recognized him. Back on the Wando Archipelago, he had been among the first batch of disciples to join the Bloody Fiend Sect; both his parents had been killed by evil cultivator Priests. This young man possessed considerable Talent for cultivating the [Dragon Elephant Blood Fiend Body] and had soon obtained the complete cultivation method. He had now reached the late-stage of the Body Tempering Realm.
"Silence!" Shen Mo interjected. "Within the Riverside Sect, there is no ’Bloody Fiend Patriarch,’ only the Peak Master of Green Cloud Peak."
