The First Immortal of Destiny-Chapter 491 Cao Ren Visits_1

For two months, Shen Mo traveled through You State, Jing State, and Yue State, encountering countless dangers. However, things did not turn out as anticipated! He didn’t even see the Golden Core Realm patriarchs of the various sects.

The Ghost Corpse School was deserted, leaving only an empty sect. From the cultivators of other immortal sects within You State, Shen Mo learned that the Ghost Corpse School had largely completed the refinement of the Heavenly Monarch’s Ghoul and relocated the entire sect to the Ghoul’s cave paradise. No one knew where this Ghoul had gone.

Heaven Sword Sect had done similarly. They uprooted their sect’s main peak and fled to the Outer Zone, taking both people and mountain with them. As for the Profound Moon School, its sect entrance was hidden by a great formation, and even with Shen Mo’s abilities, he was unable to locate it.

Currently, only Seven Stars Altar could still be reached. However, Patriarch Zhou had already visited the Golden Core Realm experts of Seven Stars Altar but had failed to find a useful method.

After failing to find a method, Shen Mo went to the subsidiary courtyard established by Patriarch Zhou, where he began to earnestly study the Dragon Reversing Spell created by Cao Ren’s Master.

In Shen Mo’s view, there was a fundamental similarity between being mutated into a Double-winged Flying Snake by the life radiation of the Soaring Serpent Bizarre Dragon and practicing the Dragon Transformation Spell to become a dragon beast in the Dragon Rearing Pool. Both involved irreversible mutation of the Dao Body and soul, causing one to degenerate into another type of creature!

If he thoroughly studied the Dragon Reversing Spell, he might be able to use this method to neutralize the Soaring Serpent’s life radiation and freely enter and exit Mountain River Valley.

However, one prerequisite for cultivating this spell was to have previously practiced the Dragon Transformation Spell, with signs of Dragon Transformation already appearing on the body. The Dragon Transformation Spell was the method used by the Dragon Rearing Pool to select dragon-type beings from across the world, and not everyone could cultivate it!

Shen Mo, however, could forcefully extrapolate the Dragon Reversing Spell using the deduction ability of [Martial Performance]. However, he could not guarantee that the prerequisites for cultivating the next stage of the extrapolated Dragon Reversing Spell would disappear as a result...

In the past, the more than two hundred thousand Lower Grade Spirit Stones required for extrapolation were not a small sum. What’s more, his Spirit Stone income had now been cut off. Without a large influx of Spirit Stones, he needed to be even more frugal and use his resources only for critical matters!

Just as Shen Mo was hesitating, a sect disciple, following the information on the Stele left by Patriarch Zhou, rushed to the sect’s subsidiary courtyard and visited Shen Mo. The visitor was none other than Shen Mo’s old friend, Cao Ren, who had cultivated the Dragon Transformation Spell!

"You guy... you really have great luck and Fate!"

Seeing Cao Ren, Shen Mo was stunned for a moment, then laughed and welcomed him into the house, serving him Spirit Fruits and spiritual wine.

Cao Ren’s appearance hadn’t changed much, but his soul fluctuations and aura had become exceptionally strong; it was obvious he had opened his Spirit Sea. Such a cultivation speed was comparable to Shen Mo’s during his Qi Gathering Realm. This was likely related to his practice of the Dragon Transformation Spell, which allowed his soul to enter the Dark Blue Zone and obtain numerous benefits. But his face showed no joy from his breakthrough; on the contrary, he seemed worried.

After some conversation, Shen Mo learned the cause of his worry.

Firstly, naturally, he was worried about his father, Cao Shanyue. He didn’t know if his father, Cao Shanyue, was inside the sect and had successfully hidden in the Mountain River Dungeon when the Soaring Serpent Bizarre Dragon descended, or if he had been elsewhere in Qing State and was devoured by the Soaring Serpent.

Secondly, Cao Ren himself had a problem. With this drastic change in the world, he felt his connection with the Dragon Rearing Pool becoming increasingly stronger. Even the remnant origin power left by his Master Xiang Shengtian and the effects of the Dragon Reversing Spell could not completely suppress his tendency towards Dragon Transformation!

During the conversation, Cao Ren unfastened his upper robe, revealing his chest. There, a peculiar scale, resembling that of a snake or a flood dragon, was growing. Shen Mo had seen it before, but it was different now. Around the scale on his chest, a dense circle of fine scales had grown, deeply rooted in Cao Ren’s flesh and blood, showing signs of spreading throughout his body.

"In addition to the recurrence of my dragon transformation symptoms, I occasionally lose consciousness after certain intervals!"

"When I come to, I discover that during these periods, I’ve been going around searching for cultivators to spread the cultivation method of the Dragon Transformation Spell."

"I have a premonition that in less than half a year, I will completely transform into a dragon beast and be captured by the Dragon Rearing Pool!"

After speaking, Cao Ren raised a jug of fine spiritual wine and GULP, GULP, downed it.

He wiped his mouth, calmed his emotions, and then continued, "You mentioned before that you know a Senior who excels in deducing magic, but he charges an exorbitant price in Spirit Stones every time he takes action!"

"I wonder if you could still get in touch with him?"

"Ever since I received this information, whenever my soul enters the Dark Blue Zone, I’ve been collecting the magic cultivation methods there. Most are not high-grade, but fortunately, by selling them repeatedly, I’ve earned quite a few Spirit Stones."

"Right now, I have saved up one hundred and thirty thousand Lower Grade Spirit Stones!"

"If you can contact that Senior, could you help me bargain? Ask him to deduce the Dragon Reversing Spell further to enhance its power!"

Shen Mo shook his head and said, "As far as I know, that Senior never bargains."

He didn’t actually know any senior expert proficient in deducing magic; it was merely his "Performance Martial Arts" Destiny. He couldn’t reveal this to others, so he had fabricated the ’senior expert’ as a cover.

Seeing the disappointment on Cao Ren’s face, Shen Mo quickly added, "I can cover the shortfall of Spirit Stones. Bring your Spirit Stones; I’ll leave the subsidiary courtyard later to find that Senior at his secluded residence!"

"But we’re still short seventy to eighty thousand Lower Grade Spirit Stones..." Cao Ren’s eyes lit up, but he quickly hesitated again. For anyone, tens of thousands of Spirit Stones was not a small amount. Moreover, the Riverside Sect had undergone a drastic change, and the sect’s subsidiary courtyard was being maintained by Patriarch Zhou’s personal assets, so naturally, the monthly stipends for disciples couldn’t be issued.

After some thought, Shen Mo decided to fully disclose his ideas. He explained in detail to Cao Ren the similarities and differences between the mutation from the Soaring Serpent’s life radiation and the Dragon Transformation Spell. He also shared his conjecture that the Dragon Reversing Spell might counteract this type of mutative power!

"I already intended to deduce the Dragon Reversing Spell, so you don’t need to feel like you’re taking advantage of me."

As for what he would do if he still couldn’t cultivate the Dragon Reversing Spell even after it was deduced... Shen Mo didn’t elaborate.

Although Cao Ren had already cultivated this spell and was the best candidate to test the Soaring Serpent’s radiation and mutative abilities, this course of action was extremely dangerous. If Shen Mo’s guess was wrong, Cao Ren would instantly mutate into a Double-winged Flying Snake. This outcome would be no different from becoming food for the master of the Dragon Rearing Pool—both fates were incredibly tragic!

Cao Ren fell silent for a moment and was about to promise something when Shen Mo interrupted him, "Say no more! The more than one hundred thousand Spirit Stones you’ve contributed are sufficient."

Then, with a complex expression, Cao Ren took out a pile of middle-grade Spirit Stones, numbering as many as one thousand three hundred.

After accepting these Spirit Stones, Shen Mo left the Riverside Sect’s subsidiary courtyard. Ostensibly, he was going to visit that ’senior expert,’ but in reality, he was searching for a safe place to use [Martial Performance] to extrapolate the Dragon Transformation Spell to its next stage!