The First Immortal of Destiny-Chapter 640 Weighing the gains and losses_1
"Congratulations on escaping your captivity, Senior!" Shen Mo said, cupping his fists as Lin Zhaozai looked at him.
Simultaneously, he had silently activated the Destinies "Danger Perception" and "Indestructible Body." The Demon Slaying Sword, channeled through his internal Chakra, appeared in his hand, while his other magic treasures were primed for use. The True Yuan within him surged like a roaring river, ready for battle at any moment.
Lin Zhaozai's eyes shimmered with strange lights, but he didn't attack Shen Mo immediately. Instead, he laughed heartily, "You're as stubborn as a ghost! You hindered my plunder in the Vacuous Realm and tampered with the Formation outside the tower, increasing the difficulty of my escape.
"I finally saw daylight again and just wanted to gather some cultivation resources. I didn't expect to become intertwined with you again.
"What? Are you planning to stop me today as well?"
He responded with laughter, yet his hands didn't stop. He continuously waved them, launching magic attacks against the Ancestor Hall of the Ancient Vine Sect.
Inside the Ancestor Hall, Qin Wenzhen, Ge Qing, and two alien ministers of the Golden Core Realm were relying on internal and external Prohibitions. They desperately fended off his attacks using defensive magic, magic treasures, talismans, and other means. However, the Prohibitions here were far inferior to the Mountain Protection Array. Though they struggled to hold on, the spirit light of the Prohibitions dimmed bit by bit.
In their midst stood an ancient and robust Enlightenment Tea Tree. Even the soil, extending over three meters around its roots, had been dug out and was enveloped in magic to prevent any damage to its spiritual nature.
Upon learning that the plunderer of the Ancient Vine Sect was Lin Zhaozai, Shen Mo had an inkling. For some reason, this man had escaped from the ancient battlefield of immortals and demons along with the Demon-Suppressing Tower, but clearly, he had not fully recovered his Divine Bridge Realm power. If he wanted to regain his peak strength as soon as possible, the Ancient Vine Sect was undoubtedly the best target.
Because the ancient battlefield of immortals and demons had appeared within Caiyi Country, the Ancient Vine Sect had reaped considerable benefits over the past year. The top-grade cultivation resources gathered within the sect probably far exceeded those of an average immortal sect, and they even possessed Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures like the Enlightenment Tea Tree! Unfortunately, the Ancient Vine Sect was extremely weak; their strongest member was a late-stage Golden Core patriarch whose lifespan was nearly exhausted. This was a far better prospect than raiding an immortal market and offending numerous major immortal sects.
Once he destroyed the Ancient Vine Sect, Lin Zhaozai could not only use the flesh and blood of its disciples to recover some of his strength but also obtain abundant top-tier resources for his cultivation. After all, he had been imprisoned in the Demon-Suppressing Tower and stripped clean of Spirit Stones, elixirs, and magic treasures. When he fought Shen Mo earlier, he had to conjure Flying Swords with his fingers, a clear indication of his desperate situation!
"Speaking of the Formation outside the tower," Shen Mo began, "I distinctly recall resetting it, making it difficult for ordinary people to enter and help you escape, Senior. Could it be that you had the means to break free as soon as my friends and I left?"
Seeing that the Prohibition in the Ancestor Hall could still hold for a while, Shen Mo wasn't in a hurry to act. He appeared to be making casual conversation, but in reality, he wanted to gather more information about Lin Zhaozai's current state.
Using "Insight into All Beings," he probed this Evil Monarch again. The description was largely similar to before, only lacking the restriction that prevented him from leaving his original location. This made Shen Mo somewhat unsure of Lin Zhaozai's true strength. It mattered whether this man had escaped his previous predicament through his own power or with the help of other cultivators...
Lin Zhaozai apparently guessed Shen Mo's intention. However, he was still somewhat wary of Shen Mo and also wanted to buy time to breach the Ancestor Hall of the Ancient Vine Sect. So, he feigned confusion, continuing to use magic to break the Prohibition while vividly describing his escape.
It turned out that several months after Shen Mo, Lady Scarlet, and the others had left, a few more Golden Core Realm cultivators found the Demon-Suppressing Tower. Among them was an immortal sect cultivator particularly adept in the Array Path. According to Lin Zhaozai's description, this person was likely from the Profound Invisible Sect, a sect as renowned as the LiMountain Elixir Sect. This sect boasted extraordinary achievements in the Array Path, with formations as its foundation, somewhat similar to the Lifeless Sect of the Red Flame Zone. Of course, the Profound Invisible Sect, possibly with a Heavenly Monarch presiding over it, was incomparable to the Lifeless Sect in terms of scale, power, and mastery of the Array Path.
Thanks to the efforts of this Profound Invisible Sect cultivator, the Natural Killing Array, which Shen Mo had reinforced, was successfully dismantled. Afterward, with a mindset similar to Shen Mo's group previously, they entered the Demon-Suppressing Tower...
Shen Mo could guess what happened next without Lin Zhaozai needing to elaborate. The Profound Invisible Sect cultivator and his companions all perished at Lin Zhaozai's hands; their flesh and blood, and their souls, became nourishment for this Evil Monarch to restore his strength!
However, perhaps due to the Demon-Suppressing Tower's immense power, Lin Zhaozai hadn't completely escaped its suppression. He had left the ancient battlefield of immortals and demons with the tower itself. Even so, he was no longer confined to the tower, and his strength was on a completely different level than before.
"Sword immortal boy," Lin Zhaozai said, a hint of danger in his gaze, though his smile remained, "months ago, you told me that once I was freed, I could enjoy the world's delicacies! Now, I, Lin, am merely acting on your words. You should just be an alien minister of this sect. If you leave quietly, I, Lin, will not hold past grudges against you. But if you insist on obstructing me further, then between you and me... it will be a battle to the death!"
BOOM!
BOOM! BOOM!
The methods employed by Qin Wenzhen and the others were unable to completely block Lin Zhaozai's assault. Amidst a flurry of blood-red light, another section of the Ancestor Hall's Prohibitions collapsed.
"This Evil Demon is inherently cruel and cunning, Alien Minister Shen! You must not easily trust him!" Qin Wenzhen's expression was alarmed, tinged with deep resentment towards Lin Zhaozai, as she transmitted to Shen Mo via Divine Sense. "Our patriarch sacrificed himself to protect us. He was eaten by this Evil Demon, not even a single bone was left.
"If you believe his treacherous words, once he breaks through the Prohibition, devours everyone in my Ancient Vine Sect, and seizes resources like the Enlightenment Tea Tree, his strength will drastically increase!
"At that time, when he turns back to kill you, what will you do?
"I have already sent messages via Flying Sword to our allied sects for help. It won't be long before the Heaven Patrolling Temple learns of our sect's calamity and dispatches powerful cultivators to assist. You only need to delay him for a short while!
"Alien Minister Shen, please, honor our previous agreement and help our Ancient Vine Sect survive this crisis!"
Hearing Qin Wenzhen's Divine Sense message, a hint of hesitation flickered across Shen Mo's face. After a moment of contemplation, he replied via Divine Sense, "Sect Master Qin, it's not that I, Shen, am unwilling to honor our agreement. However, this person is originally a Heavenly Monarch of the Divine Bridge Realm. Even with the Demon-Suppressing Tower's imprisonment, his strength far surpasses that of a typical cultivator at the peak of the Golden Core Realm. This is indeed beyond my capabilities!"
BOOM!
Another section of the Prohibition shattered.
Seeing the Ancestor Hall on the verge of being breached, a look of utter desperation spread across Qin Wenzhen's face. "If this continues, all the top-grade resources in our sect's Treasure Hall, the Enlightenment Tea Tree, and everything else will fall into the hands of this Evil Demon! We won't be able to offer them to you anymore! If you are willing to fight him, for the next hundred years, you can have fifty percent of all new leaves from the Enlightenment Tea Tree..."
