The First Immortal of Destiny-Chapter 492: Deduction _1
Half a day later, Shen Mo’s figure appeared in the sky above a human city in the northeastern corner of Yu State. His spirit light retracted, and he descended into the city.
The city was named Sophora City. Within it once stood an enormous Sophora tree, over three thousand years old. The early mortal settlers had named the city after this very tree. Although the tree had long since died and decayed, the name Sophora City endured.
The surroundings of the city were relatively peaceful, with the sole exception of an ancient well that had manifested ten miles beyond its walls. Nearby residents quickly discovered that if they tossed living creatures such as chickens, dogs, cattle, or sheep into this well, a powerful surge would erupt from it, carrying gold and silver. The value of these precious metals far exceeded the profits from selling livestock. As a result, the livestock within Sophora City were quickly exhausted. The market price for livestock brought in from other areas also soared, making it increasingly unviable to purchase them merely for tossing into the ancient well in exchange for gold and silver.
Later, some people turned their attention to living humans. After some attempts, they discovered that throwing live humans into the well also resulted in gold and silver being ejected. Consequently, this practice led to an unknown number of deaths both inside and outside the city!
A minor immortal sect nearby also sent cultivators to try and destroy the ancient well. However, every time the ancient well was destroyed, it would be restored to its original condition by the following day. After repeated failures, this small immortal sect eventually gave up. Afterward, cultivators from the immortal sect cordoned off the ancient well and prohibited the killings both within and beyond the city, allowing Sophora City to temporarily regain its peace...
Compared to other creatures from the Outer Zone and Evil Spirits, the harm posed by this ancient well was not considered excessive, which is why Shen Mo felt at ease landing in Sophora City. The ordeal of this city was merely one corner reflecting the changing situation in the Red Flame Zone. However, the Five Great Sects were struggling to protect themselves, and the various local Defense Divisions existed in name only. In the face of such a world-shattering torrent of change, let alone Shen Mo, even a Heavenly Monarch could do little. The only hope was for the immortals and mortals everywhere to find their own way to live!
...
Upon entering Sophora City, Shen Mo found an abandoned courtyard. He set up formidable Prohibitions around one of the rooms within. Immediately, he slapped his Universe Bag. A spirit light flashed, and over two thousand middle-grade Spirit Stones piled up before him like a small mountain!
"Let’s get started!"
Shen Mo sat cross-legged and activated the deduction function of [Martial Performance].
[Consume 207,000 low-grade Spirit Stones to deduce the [Reverse Dragon Curse] to the next stage?]
Without hesitation, Shen Mo affirmed it in his mind. In the next instant, a golden radiance resembling an eye overflowed from between his brows, completely draining the Spiritual Qi contained within the pile of Spirit Stones. And the Martial Performance Body in the Profound Space also began to deduce the [Reverse Dragon Curse].
Unusually, the insights welling up in his mind were exceedingly obscure and abstruse, flickering past and vanishing in an instant. Only the recompiled cultivation method itself remained clearly etched in his mind. This was because Shen Mo had never practiced the [Reverse Dragon Curse]. He was forcibly deducing this technique by relying on his Destiny. Naturally, he could not comprehend the true profundities of this cultivation method. However, when [Martial Performance] completed the deduction and the cultivation method was fully formed in his mind, Shen Mo suddenly realized, to his astonishment, that he could now cultivate this magic... After consuming a massive amount of Spirit Stones to deduce this technique to the next stage, he had, in effect, bypassed the prerequisites for cultivating it! Even though he had anticipated this, Shen Mo still felt a surge of pleasant surprise at how smoothly it had proceeded.
Without any hesitation, he took out another middle-grade Spirit Stone. After dedicating it to [Martial Performance], he immediately began to cultivate the newly deduced [Reverse Dragon Curse] to the introductory level!
In an instant, a warm current arose from his heart. It followed the flow of his blood, spreading through his limbs, bones, and every tiny part of his body.
Is this the strange Demonic Qi that Cao Ren mentioned?
Upon careful perception, Shen Mo realized this warm current was an intangible force similar to True Yuan, but its properties were distinctly different from True Yuan Mana. At this point, it had already dispersed into every inch of his flesh and blood, skin and bones, becoming untraceable! As he continued to cultivate the [Reverse Dragon Curse], a faint warm current would still generate from his heart, continuously spreading throughout his entire body.
Shen Mo was not in a hurry to return to the sect’s subsidiary courtyard. Instead, he continued to use [Martial Performance] to maintain his cultivation of this technique...
Three days later, having cultivated the [Reverse Dragon Curse] to the Senior level, he finally left Sophora City and returned to the sect’s subsidiary courtyard to find Cao Ren!
"Fortunately, I have fulfilled my mission!" Shen Mo smiled faintly and handed Cao Ren the jade slip recording the deduced version of the [Reverse Dragon Curse]. "Practice it for a while and see if you can suppress the signs of Dragon Transformation."
"Okay..." Cao Ren looked quite excited. After receiving the cultivation method jade slip, he immediately began to recultivate it on the spot.
A moment later, a look of pleasant surprise appeared on his face. He exclaimed, "This Senior is truly a God-man! I feel that the current version of the [Reverse Dragon Curse] is far more miraculous and profound than before. Its effects are also much more remarkable!"
Saying this, Cao Ren pulled open his collar. The patch of fine scales around his heart, which had grown somewhat larger, actually began to gradually shrink. Even though they didn’t vanish completely, this sight still confirmed that the current [Reverse Dragon Curse] cultivation method was more effective than the original version!
"As long as it’s effective. This way, in the short term, you shouldn’t need to worry about transforming into a dragon and being captured by that Dragon Rearing Pool."
"Moreover, thanks to that Senior’s deduction, I can also cultivate this technique... Once this cultivation method reaches a higher level, I can attempt to approach the Soaring Serpent Bizarre Dragon and enter the Mountain River Valley!" Shen Mo’s mood also brightened; those two hundred thousand-plus low-grade Spirit Stones had not been spent in vain!
However, a trace of worry surfaced on Cao Ren’s face. "While this technique can resist the aberrant power of the [Dragon Transformation Spell], whether it can negate the transformative mutation caused by the Soaring Serpent’s life radiation is still uncertain... In these past few days, I also captured a Class III demonic beast to test it. It transformed into a Double-winged Flying Snake in a mere instant. It’s good if it works, of course. But if it doesn’t, you won’t even have time for regrets!"
Shen Mo, however, waved his hand with full confidence. "It’s fine. I have my own countermeasures."
One month later, Shen Mo and Cao Ren appeared near the Linjiang Mountain Range. During this time of cultivation, Shen Mo had already cultivated the [Reverse Dragon Curse] to a more profound degree; he could completely give it a try. Cao Ren, on the other hand, was worried and insisted on coming along. According to his words, if Shen Mo failed and perished, he would at least know which Double-winged Flying Snake Shen Mo had transformed into. If there was a chance, he could kill it and bring it back for burial!
Having opened his Spirit Sea and temporarily resolved the hidden issues in his body, Cao Ren had reverted to his old caustic self from when the two of them guarded the mountain gate together, sometimes speaking quite indelicately. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶
Shen Mo didn’t bother bickering with him. He found a mountaintop to land on and immediately activated the [Three-Heads Six-Arms True Immortal Technique], transforming into the god demon phase with multiple heads and arms... Then, he activated the [Gecko Divine Skill] again and swung the Demon Slaying Sword in a downward slash.
SHLICK!
The Sword Light flashed, and the head on the left instantly flew up, without a single drop of blood splashing out. Afterward, this head slowly grew a neck, torso, and other limbs, quickly transforming into another ’Shen Mo’! Its soul aura, Cultivation Realm, appearance, clothing, and so on, were all identical to his.
The Separation created by the [Gecko Divine Skill] possessed a full ten-tenths of the original body’s cultivation methods and magic, making it the best choice for testing the effects of the [Reverse Dragon Curse].
