Chapter 1035: Whereabouts of Old Friends, Divination and Prognostication

Chapter 1035: Chapter 1035: Whereabouts of Old Friends, Divination and Prognostication

After Chen Mengze adjusted her increased vitality, Shen Mo and she returned to the outer mountain gate of the Chiyan Sect and went to Jiang Yingying’s cultivation mansion!

Jiang Yingying seemed a bit flattered by Shen Mo’s visit. Although they had some ties during their early days, the years had widened the gap between their cultivation realms and social status;

Shen Mo is a No Phase State Grandmaster, able to converse freely with true immortals, and is also the Law Master of the Chiyan Sect and the master of Five Dragon Mountain; while Jiang Yingying had merely cultivated to the late-stage Golden Core level, just an ordinary elder of the Chiyan Sect. Without Chen Mengze as a mediator, Jiang Yingying would find it hard to speak face-to-face with Shen Mo!

"Senior Sister Jiang need not be so reserved. Our experience of exploring Ghost Nation Ruins with six others feels as though it happened just yesterday; the memories are vivid..." Shen Mo noticed Jiang Yingying’s embarrassment and proactively reminisced about the past.

"I still remember, back then, Junior Brother Geng fought fiercely with you and was taught a hard lesson by you. He later brought me and two other junior brothers, hoping we’d help him regain his dignity." Jiang Yingying, feeling more relaxed, recounted the incident with a gentle laugh, remembering how Geng Zheng looked so pitiful then, but her smile quickly transformed into a sense of loss.

By that time, of the four comrades from Heaven Sword Sect, only she was still alive.

Li Yu did not survive Death Jaw and perished within the dungeon...

Shen Mo knew this dungeon training served as Guan Ling’s means of filtering strong cultivators, yet entering Death Jaw was voluntary, with Li Yu deciding to partake seeking opportunities therein. While Shen Mo and Li Yu had merely a passing relationship, this incident never led him to harbor resentment toward Guan Ling.

Conversely, later when Guan Ling sent Shen Mo and Chen Mengze into the cultivation world, they were placed in the outer celestial realm above the main star, causing them to nearly fall to their deaths, which filled Shen Mo’s heart with grudges.

Geng Zheng forged the "Punish Demons" sword intent and was severely beaten by Shen Mo, later, during the Foreign Realm Demon invasion, he held to his punishing heart, slaying countless Heavenly Demons with his sword but ultimately perished in the demon tide, leaving nothing of his remains.

Peng Chenshu, who received a life-saving grace from Shen Mo and greatly revered him, was plagued by the Water Ghost Evil Spirit at the Sword Washing Pool, having all water drained from his body, resembling a desiccated corpse exposed to the desert for centuries, dying in a miserable state.

But Shen Mo later avenged Peng Chenshu, as now the Water Ghost Evil Spirit is suppressed under the Demon-Suppressing Tower.

Moreover, this Water Ghost Evil Spirit was Shen Mo’s enlightenment opportunity, illustrating the wonder of fate!

Speaking of Geng Zheng, Li Yu, Peng Chenshu, Shen Mo felt deeply moved; had they not met such fate, perhaps Chiyan Sect might have seen one or two more Golden Cores, and entering the cultivation world might have offered more companionship.

"By the way, Ghost Nation Ruins were tainted by the Death Ghost Realm, how are Ghost General and those Human Ghosts doing?" Jiang Yingying, seemingly having remembered something, suddenly spoke.

"Hmm?"

Shen Mo felt a sensation and set his mind on the Soul Refining Flag within the Sword Zone, unexpectedly discovering that Zhang Taian’s soul mark had vanished at some unknown time.

Back then, what he witnessed in the Death Jaw Dungeon where "Tianshun Country fell to become the Abandoned Ghost Country" had indeed occurred in history, yet what he saw was merely the fleeting glimpse of past, a "false" existence that, due to Destiny Panel’s presence, transformed into "reality."

Thus, after refining part of Zhang Taian’s soul within the dungeon using the Soul Refining Flag and exiting the dungeon training, Zhang Taian’s soul mark remained on the flag.

Later, Shen Mo revisited Ghost Nation Ruins, seeking Zhang Taian and the Human Ghost village but found nothing until the ruins succumbed to the Death Ghost Realm, leaving him to momentarily dismiss the matter!

However, for every soul general’s demise within the flag, he would sense it.

Mysteriously, Zhang Taian’s soul mark disappearance went unnoticed by Shen Mo until Jiang Yingying mentioned it today, leading him to discover the change.

"Zhang Taian’s soul mark, long after the Death Ghost Realm affected Ghost Nation Ruins, remained on the flag. I can confirm he was still alive before I propelled the Qingyun Cave to ascend to the Immortal Realm. But now it mysteriously vanished without my awareness?"

Shen Mo slightly frowned, falling into deep thoughts.

"What’s wrong?" Chen Mengze, noticing Shen Mo’s change in expression, inquired with concern.

"It’s nothing, just pondering the whereabouts of the Ghost General."

After relating old tales, Chen Mengze took out the Thunder Peach and handed it to Jiang Yingying, kindly advising her that the peach pulp would be extremely sour.

Jiang Yingying thanked profusely, consumed the peach under the protection of Shen Mo and Chen Mengze.

The process was very smooth, with no unexpected incidents, the thunder vitality within the peach heightened Jiang Yingying’s flesh and vitality by thirty percent, whereas Chen Mengze’s ascent was merely half a percent, and Shen Mo’s was insignificant, barely reaching one ten-thousandth!

After collecting the Thunder Peach Core, Shen Mo discussed his plans for entering the cultivation world with Chen Mengze and Jiang Yingying, advising them to prepare weapons, armor, and nourishing spiritual medicine.

After bidding farewell to Jiang Yingying, Chen Mengze returned to the Cold Jade Grotto;

Whereas, Shen Mo returned to Qingyun Cave, raising the newly refined divination chip to start calculations using the Divination Treasure Mirror!

The past "old friends" that Shen Mo still harbors feelings for were two people, one Ghost General Zhang Taian, the other was former Stars Peak Master Zhou Shili.

The former needs no further explanation.

The latter bestowed Shen Mo with nurturing kindness, thus Shen Mo once cast a hexagram to discern his life or death, at that time the hexagram presented a chaotic state, as though "Zhou Shili" never existed in the world...

Now Shen Mo is a No Phase State Grandmaster, having refined his divination skills significantly, prepared to expend lifespan and fortune to discern both their circumstances once more.

Jade chips began to fly, arranging complex sequences before Shen Mo, undertaking intricate calculations.

His longstanding divination chips were transformed into jade fragments, angered by the prediction of Zhao Lingyin’s inescapable death, leading to these newly crafted forty-nine pieces, each reaching Spiritual Artifact level. Due to their unique nature, the artifact spirits resemble segments of sentient programming, enhancing divination efficacy and minimizing extraneous factor interference.

After two iterations of calculations, Shen Mo’s expression turned grim.

The outcome was astoundingly clear yet peculiarly odd; both Ghost General Zhang Taian and Zhou Shili’s whereabouts pointed to the Death Ghost Realm!

"Zhang Taian being connected to the Death Ghost Realm isn’t peculiar, given that he is a soul ghost, and ghosts become deaths, landing in the Death Ghost Realm once deceased. However, Zhou Peak Master residing in the Death Ghost Realm, could it be he perished twice and exists in a unique form within?"