The First Immortal of Destiny-Chapter 482
From the outfits of the figures on the Boat House, they did not seem to belong to the same immortal sect and might even... not be from the same era! Some were clad in ancient garbs, while others resembled what Shen Mo had seen in the Heaven Patrolling Zone. It was as though every one or two hundred years, this magic ship would acquire a few beings of the "current era"!
If the development of clothing styles in the Heaven Patrolling Zone was similar to that in the Red Flame Zone, the individuals dressed in the oldest clothes might well be cultivators from over five thousand years ago. Yet this Boat House magic ship was extraordinarily new, showing from its level of wear and tear that it had been forged no more than a hundred years ago.
Even if the progression of time on this ship was different, and the "cultivators" on board were, like the ship, unaffected by the passage of time; nevertheless, to Shen Mo’s knowledge, the Heaven Patrolling Temple was only established after the Heavenly Demon invaded from the Outer Zone, having existed for just over a thousand years. How could this Boat House magic ship, supposedly from thousands of years in the future, carry ancient people from thousands of years ago?
Under the probe of his five senses, Shen Mo found that the breathing, heart rates, blood flow, body temperatures, and soul vibrations of the people on the ship were all normal; and yet, he found it impossible to associate them with living beings!
Facing the eerie and decidedly discordant scene before him, Shen Mo felt an urge to flee. Fortunately, his Destiny [Danger Perception], which he always wore, sent no signal of impending danger.
After some thought, Shen Mo attempted to activate the effect of [Insight into All Beings]. However, this Special Destiny gave no feedback at all; it was unable to peer into anyone on the ship!
They’re not really alive... Shen Mo thought.
Cultivators rely heavily on their five senses, much as ordinary people trust what they see and hear. But the cultivation world is rife with techniques to deceive the senses, creating situations where what one sees is not what it seems, and what one feels is not what one would expect. That was under normal circumstances, but the Boat House magic ship before him was clearly not normal! Therefore, Shen Mo was more inclined to trust the effects of his Destiny.
At this point, he had a rough guess about this Boat House magic ship. To verify his conjecture, Shen Mo removed [Insight into All Beings] from the Destiny Disc and replaced it with [Uncommon Victory], a Destiny that inflicted increased damage against Demons. At the same time, his gaze fixed intently on a woman dressed in white on the deck.
The makeup and clothing of this female cultivator were very old, likely styles popular in the Red Flame Zone three or four thousand years ago. Furthermore, according to Shen Mo’s sense, her aura and soul vibrations were the strongest. Compared to the others on the ship, she was like a brilliant torch among oil lamps. This enabled him to roughly determine her Cultivation Realm, which had exceeded the peak of the Spirit Sea Realm but not yet reached the Golden Core Realm! In other words, under normal circumstances, this white-clothed female cultivator would be a powerful being half a step to the Golden Core Realm.
Of course, she wasn’t really alive; she was just the most noticeable in the group, which was why Shen Mo had picked her out at first glance...
With a single thought, Shen Mo instantly activated the power of his Pure Yang Pupil Skill. A strand of True Fire, resembling sunlight, WHOOSH, ignited on the white-clothed female cultivator! The next moment, layers of spirit light flared on her body—the manifestation of her using magic and invoking the power of her robe armor and magic artifacts. Very quickly, regardless of defensive magic, magic treasures, or other means, all were burned through by the Pure Yang Fire. The flames instantly spread across her body.
She immediately twisted in pain, letting out constant, piercing screams. The Pure Yang Fire raged, incinerating her clothes bit by bit, burning her flesh and bones to ruin. After a few breaths, the woman in the white robe was completely burned away. Not even a speck of ash remained, only a wisp of faint blue smoke drifting upwards, slowly disappearing into the air.
In that state, it seemed no different from a living being burned by True Fire. Indeed, if she were truly alive, truly a cultivator half a step to the Golden Core Realm, her response would not have been so "calm." At the very least, she would have looked at Shen Mo—the culprit who set her on fire—and then fought back desperately, attempting to take her tormentor with her before death! But from beginning to end, this woman in white never gave Shen Mo a single glance.
Just as Shen Mo was pondering this, the "ancient and modern" people on the ship seemed to hear his thoughts. In an instant, they all raised their heads in unison, looking towards Shen Mo with expressionless faces!
At the same time, his [Danger Perception] Destiny also began to send frantic warnings. After he had spent many Destiny Points to upgrade this Special Destiny to Purple grade, the effect of [Danger Perception] was further enhanced. The time to perceive dangerous auras was extended from three breaths to ten breaths... This allowed him to calmly deploy countermeasures!
Under the effect of his Destiny, Shen Mo saw that he was about to be dragged onto the ship by this group of "cultivators." Then, he would disappear with them from the Boat House, and the premonition image would fall into a void of silence! Needless to say, by that time, he would already be dead.
With the premonition from [Danger Perception], Shen Mo dared not hesitate a moment longer. He immediately used his Escape Skill and transformed into a pale Gold light rainbow, rushing away from the Boat House magic ship. With Shen Mo’s escape speed, ten breaths were enough for him to flee twenty to thirty li. However, as he hastily fled from this eerie Boat House magic ship, the premonitory scene from [Danger Perception] remained unchanged... meaning he had not escaped the danger!
By the eighth breath, the crisis persisted.
Seeing this, Shen Mo could no longer worry about the cost. He quickly took out a Grade IV Feather Transformation Charm from his sleeve, channeling his Mana and True Yuan to activate the talisman’s power. The Feather Transformation Charm instantly turned into a wisp of blue smoke. Shen Mo was enveloped by the talisman’s power, and his figure vanished.
A moment later, Shen Mo appeared sixty li away, even faster than Starfall Sword Qi. However, even when he was almost a hundred li away from the magic ship, the ominous premonition from [Danger Perception] did not stop!
PUFF!
Shen Mo activated another Grade IV Feather Transformation Charm. His figure flashed and disappeared once more into the blue smoke. In this way, Shen Mo continuously used Feather Transformation Charms. His figure kept appearing and disappearing, as if he had mastered the skill to shrink the ground. In a single breath, he had traveled almost five hundred li!
When he had only three Feather Transformation Charms left in his sleeve, [Danger Perception] finally settled down, and the premonitory image fed back into his mind also dissipated.
Shen Mo sighed with relief. Thankfully, I always keep more than ten Feather Transformation Charms on me. Otherwise, I would have truly capsized in the gutter. He tucked the remaining talismans back into his sleeve.
His current attainment in the Alchemy Path was only Grade III, still some distance from being a Grade IV Talisman Maker. Furthermore, his proficiency with this talisman was not very high. Therefore, every Feather Transformation Charm Shen Mo crafted was quite valuable. Having used nine in one go, even if he was usually extravagant, he couldn’t help but feel the pinch!
Fortunately, he had finally managed to escape that weird Boat House and the malevolent entities on it.
