Chapter 952: Ancient Demon Palace and the Smoke Demon Clan

Chapter 952: Chapter 952: Ancient Demon Palace and the Smoke Demon Clan

"Fellow daoist Lingxiao is still alive, and for now his life is not in danger. As for his exact location, and when he can return to the Immortal Realm, that I have not managed to divine." After returning to the real world and using the Divination Treasure Mirror to cast a hexagram, Shen Mo entered the Dreamland again and informed Tang Chan of the result.

Tang Chan, in order to learn her Master’s situation, promised a generous reward of one thousand Dreamland copper coins.

And for Shen Mo as he was now, doing a rough divination was no difficult matter;

moreover, he had "purchased" the Great Dream Enlightenment Sutra from Dream True Master, spending all his copper coins, so he could just take this chance to recoup from Tang Chan!

In truth, Shen Mo was also somewhat curious where exactly Lingxiao Zi had been sent by the Void Gate. But continuing the calculation would greatly deplete his Lifespan and good fortune; to pay such a heavy price merely to satisfy curiosity would be somewhat not worth the loss.

"Thank you, senior brother." Tang Chan’s knitted brows finally relaxed. Though the divination result was not entirely satisfactory, knowing that her Master was unharmed still let her feel much more at ease.

She then took out copper coins one by one from her sleeve and handed them to Shen Mo.

"Junior sister Chan, you need not worry too much. With fellow daoist Lingxiao’s ability, I estimate that in a few years he will be able to return to Luofu Mountain..." Shen Mo comforted Tang Chan a few more sentences. His Consciousness body was gradually dimming; he still needed to go capture a Class VI Smoke Demon and had no time to wander idly in the Dreamland.

...

Cangwu Continent, Nine Abysses Sea.

Shen Mo stood upon the clouds, gazing down from afar, and could not help but sigh inwardly at how extremely perilous and vicious this place was. Calling it an immortal continent was less fitting than calling it Demonic Soil!

The Nine Abysses Sea occupied nearly seventy percent of this immortal continent’s area, vaster than over a thousand Immortal Burial Seas put together.

Within the sea, large and small reefs and islands were scattered like stars in the sky. Even the smaller islands, if placed in the Primordial Realm, would be comparable to the entire territory of Red Flame Country; the largest islands could even accommodate a whole world!

Due to the unique geographic environment here, uncountable demons and monsters were spawned, and large numbers of evil cultivator demonfolk were drawn to gather here and establish sects. It could be called a paradise for Evil Demons, and had even given birth to quite a few Demon Immortals and Evil Immortals; compared to the Corpse Mountain Range, where before the great war demons roamed everywhere, the Nine Abysses Sea made that place not worth mentioning at all!

On a gigantic island in the northwestern corner of the Nine Abysses Sea, named Kungu Island, stood the Ancient Demon Palace, a famed Xiu Xian Forces of Cangwu Continent.

Many years ago, when Shen Mo joined forces with the Silver-haired Child, Qin Zhen, and others to enter the Immortal Mansion Dungeon in search of treasures, he had already seen seven Divine Bridge Realm cultivators from the Ancient Demon Palace at the "Thirteen True Masters Preaching" Evil Spirit...

Among them, four listened to the "Immortal’s" tattle and prate, lost their Path Hearts, fell into the bitter sea, and became part of the Evil Spirit; one had his Three Disasters and Six Tribulations triggered and was burned alive by invisible tribulation flames; the remaining two also had their Path Hearts thrown into chaos, secretly bore a grudge against Shen Mo’s group, and after being wounded by them fled the Immortal Mansion Dungeon in panic!

This time, Shen Mo had come to Cangwu Continent, traveling untold billions of miles, yet his goal was not the Ancient Demon Palace.

In the sea area less than a million miles away from Kungu Island, there was another island named Bliss Island. This island was several times larger than Red Flame Zone, and more than tens of billions of creatures lived upon it. They were not only human immortal and mortal; virtually every race that could be found in the Immortal Realm was encompassed there.

The situation on the island was somewhat similar to Red Flame Zone after Outer Zone races descended. Great and small forces were beyond counting; in order to survive and grow, they waged constant wars and endless bloody battles against each other;

even the immortal sects on Bliss Island walked the path of evil cultivators. They were not only belligerent and bloodthirsty; in order to raise their Cultivation Realm they would do anything, without the slightest moral or ethical bottom line, worse than beasts that ate raw meat. Using their own kind to refine Elixirs, forge magic artifacts, and the like was utterly commonplace...

Yet even so, throughout countless years, including human immortal and mortal among them, the myriad races on the island had almost never produced a single fifth Dao Realm powerhouse!

The reason was none other than this.

The creatures on the island were nothing more than penned-up cultivation fodder. Pressing down upon them were over several hundred thousand Smoke Demons, and the entire Bliss Island was the cultivation field of the Smoke Demon clan, relying on draining the seven emotions and six desires of billions of creatures to cultivate.

Leaving aside their inability to control their own Fate, even the thoughts in their hearts, their emotions, their desires, were all under the manipulation of the Smoke Demons. How could true Xian Dao Stronghold possibly be born under such circumstances?

Bliss Island lay extremely close to Kungu Island. The Ancient Demon Palace understood the situation on the island like the palm of its hand, yet this human sect had not the slightest intention of cleansing the demons there. On the contrary, the Ancient Demon Palace was extremely close with the Smoke Demon clan and had formed a "mutually beneficial" cooperative relationship with them!

All because the Ancient Demon Palace did not walk the way of justice. The cultivators of this sect not only lived side by side with demons, they even took powerful demons as their teachers.

Their cultivation ideology was contrary to the "The Way Follows Nature" viewpoint of righteous path cultivators. They sought to imitate the most powerful, most aberrant demons in the world to complete the transformation of their own life form, thereby cultivating into True Immortals and seeking longevity; the cultivation method and magic they practiced were deduced and improved upon from Demonic Path laws, not only aberrant but powerful. The Divine Bridge forged with such methods likewise led onto the Demonic Path!

Among the demons of the world, the Smoke Demon clan was considered powerful both in cultivation methods and Innate Divine Ability. The Ancient Demon Palace would dearly love to learn more from them; how could they possibly clear out Bliss Island for the sake of so-called "human kin"?

For the human immortal and mortal on Bliss Island, perhaps the best path out was to learn Demonic Path laws from the Smoke Demons;

after displaying exceptional Talent, they might be noticed by the evil cultivators of the Ancient Demon Palace, who came periodically to Bliss Island to recruit disciples, and then be brought to Kungu Island’s Ancient Demon Palace to become sect disciples of that sect!

"The Ancient Demon Palace has a True Immortal sitting in town. Given the selfish, cold-blooded nature of evil cultivators, if I strike at the Bliss Island Smoke Demons, he most likely won’t intervene. But all things fear the word ’if’; this time I still need to finish things quickly!" Shen Mo looked toward the direction of the Ancient Demon Palace, only to see sinister yin energy surging and Demon Clouds blotting out the sky, even more foul and murky than Bliss Island.

Immediately, he put on the Destinies of [Danger Perception] and [Uncommon Victory,] then transformed into the Three-headed Six-armed state, his hands gripping the Taiyi Sword, Demon Slaying Sword, Green Cloud Umbrella, Soul Refining Flag, Immortal Binding Rope, and other magic treasures;

Cloud Thunder Wing rose behind his back, and by the method of summoning wind and rain he called down roaring gales and torrential storms, lightning flashing and thunder rending, and he plunged fiercely downward!

Even before setting foot on Bliss Island, Shen Mo’s keen five senses and vast sense had locked onto the island’s strongest being... a Sixth Order Peak Smoke Demon whose aura was terrifying.

A trace of surprise flashed across Shen Mo’s face.

According to the information he had gleaned from intelligence peddlers in the Dreamland, the strongest member of the Bliss Island Smoke Demon clan only possessed late-stage Class VI cultivation.

It seemed that previous intelligence was a bit outdated. Though this Smoke Demon great demon’s strength was formidable, its aura was somewhat hollow, clearly having only broken through to this level in recent years!

And this Smoke Demon powerhouse also sensed an enemy invading at the very first instant. Like a column of black smoke it rose into the air, then, after stopping in midair, appeared before Shen Mo in the form of a human woman of peerless beauty.