First Immortal of Destiny

Chapter 156: The Attack of the Bandit Cultivators

The Spirit-Hiding Rat couldn't sense it, not because there were no treasures nearby, but because the existence of the Ghost Gate severely disrupted its innate sensing ability. It was like standing at the foot of a towering mountain of gold, but only being able to see a few inconspicuous copper coins. Even if one had excellent eyesight, they would only see the mountain of gold and not the copper coins.

Helpless, Shen Mo gave the little guy a few pieces of dried meat and put it back into the spirit pet bag. If one could survive after entering the Ghost Gate, they could generally come out within an hour, regardless of what the cultivator experienced inside.

Shen Mo wanted to continue using the Spirit-Hiding Rat to search for treasures, but he could only wait for Chen Mengze and the others to come out before continuing their treasure hunt, keeping a distance from the Ghost Gate.

One hour wasn't a big deal!

"Shen Junior Brother, it seems like we're being watched," said Tianjian Sect's Peng Chen Shu, holding a magic weapon sword and approaching Shen Mo in a low voice.

Although Peng Chen Shu referred to Shen Mo as Junior Brother, he had witnessed his abilities and didn't treat him as an ordinary cultivator at the Second Stage of Qi Gathering. He somewhat relied on him.

Shen Mo glanced over and indeed saw two groups of people slowly approaching them. None of them were dressed as disciples of immortal sects. Or rather, even if they were cultivators from other sects, they would disguise themselves when doing dirty work and not easily reveal their identities.

Four of them were in a group, with cultivations ranging from the Third to Fifth Stage of Qi Gathering. There was also a lone cultivator who had reached the Seventh Stage of Qi Gathering, considered to be in the late stage of Qi Gathering.

No matter how you looked at it, these two groups had the strength to easily deal with a cultivator at the Fourth Stage of Qi Gathering and a cultivator at the Second Stage of Qi Gathering.

"They saw the six of us coming together! Aren't they afraid of Jiang Senior Sister and the others coming out and causing trouble for them?" Peng Chen Shu's face looked grim. Anyone who was targeted by bandit cultivators wouldn't be in a good mood.

"Alas! I'm afraid these wolves are eyeing the opportunities that Jiang Senior Sister and the others will obtain," Shen Mo sighed and continued, "If they can capture the two of us and disable our Qi Sea Dantian before they take action, they will have two less combat forces when dealing with Jiang Senior Sister and the others."

"They can also use our lives to threaten Chen Senior Sister and Jiang Senior Sister."

"At worst, they can also take our wealth and resources..." Peng Chen Shu nodded slightly, agreeing with Shen Mo's judgment.

"Do we need to avoid the conflict for now? After all, they have more people. We can wait for Jiang Senior Sister and the others to come out before joining forces," Peng Chen Shu suggested, which was quite appropriate.

As long as Shen Mo stayed with him and they escaped the Ghost Gate before the others, the two groups' plans would naturally fail.

Unfortunately, Shen Mo's mood wasn't very good at the moment.

In addition, he had just refined a new robe and wanted to test the defensive ability of the "Qing Soul," so he rejected Peng Chen Shu's proposal. "There's no need for that! If they dare to come, I dare to kill."

"Whoosh!"

"Whoosh!"

The lone cultivator couldn't hold back any longer and took the initiative, unleashing a torrent of poisonous water like a river.

The onlookers who were originally watching the excitement quickly flew away on their flying swords, avoiding the surging poisonous water one after another.

Those with broad knowledge transmitted their voices to their companions who didn't understand, introducing this lone cultivator.

"Hong Jue, a lone cultivator at the Seventh Stage of Qi Gathering. He cultivates the 'Thousand Poisonous Water Technique'!"

"He collects over ten thousand types of poison from the world and refines them into a specially made water-shaped magic weapon. It is extremely poisonous. Even if it contains only ten poisons, it can kill cultivators at the early stage of Qi Gathering."

"Judging from the power of his poisonous water, it should surpass a hundred poisons and reach the level of a thousand poisons."

"With such poisonous water, even cultivators at the late stage of Qi Gathering can be killed."

Shen Mo naturally couldn't hear any of this, but it didn't affect his ability to make the right judgment in the first place.

The poison water is extremely fierce and devastating, as long as one doesn't get close to it!

"Clang!"

"Clang!"

"Clang!"

With a flick of his five fingers, Yao Guang Dao Jian led six Bei Dou sword embryos, whistling as they flew out from his sleeve.

A brilliant light flashed!

In the blink of an eye, the sword energy soared and had already formed a formidable sword formation in front of Shen Mo!

"Bei Dou Seven Stars Sword Formation, rotate!"

Shen Mo coldly snorted, and the sword formation instantly enveloped Hong Jue, the lone wanderer, along with the poison water he had released, all being forcefully pushed back.

"This is... a sword formation technique? It's unexpectedly so powerful!" exclaimed the knowledgeable cultivator who was watching.

It's not uncommon to use sword formations with Dao swords!

What's rare is that Shen Mo's Bei Dou Seven Stars Sword Formation is incredibly powerful!

Even with only a cultivation level of the second stage of Qi Gathering, he was able to activate the sword formation and resist the proud immortal technique of a cultivator at the seventh stage of Qi Gathering.

Although there is only a difference of five stages between the second stage and the seventh stage of Qi Gathering, in reality, it is a gap between the early stage and the late stage of Qi Gathering!

Even for talented disciples from major sects, being able to cross a small stage and fight evenly against someone in the middle stage while at the early stage of Qi Gathering is already quite remarkable.

Not to mention, to contend against someone in the late stage of Qi Gathering!

At this moment, Shen Mo indeed felt a bit overwhelmed.

The spiritual energy in his body was flowing like a tide, continuously pouring into the sword formation.

This cultivator at the seventh stage of Qi Gathering, who was wandering alone, indeed had the ability to explore the Ghost Country ruins by himself.

The sword formation's formidable and terrifying sword light seemed to be unable to quickly dissipate the poison water artifacts entangling him.

It was like using a plane to shave wood. Although it could grind the poison water layer by layer, it still took a considerable amount of time.

He shifted his gaze to another group of bandit cultivators.

The strength of these four people was far inferior to Hong Jue, but when they saw him take the lead, they had some foresight and wanted to take advantage of the situation.

However, as soon as they made contact, Hong Jue was surrounded and overwhelmed by the sword formation, leaving them no time to take care of themselves.

The four of them immediately extinguished the greed in their hearts.

They each summoned their flying swords and fled in the direction opposite to Shen Mo's back.

"If you can win, kill and take the treasure; if you can't win, run away. There's no such thing as an easy deal."

While controlling the Bei Dou Seven Stars Sword Formation to trap Hong Jue, Shen Mo also divided his attention to summon the Soul Refining Banner. "Soul Refining, come out!"

"Splash!"

A dense and unbreakable sea of blood flames swept towards the group of four.

In the blood light, the figures of soul generals began to appear.

For certain reasons, Shen Mo did not summon the Little Heavenly Demon Soul General, but instead summoned the Bride Ghost, as well as hundreds of high-quality starved ghosts, hanged ghosts, and drowned ghosts that he had recently refined.

The sky was covered in blood, and the ghostly figures were eerie.

The four bandit cultivators who were fleeing on their flying swords felt their scalps go numb when they turned their heads to look back.

They were so scared that they almost fell off their flying swords.

Under Shen Mo's command, the Bride Ghost regained her former glory and led a large number of ghost creatures to rush towards the four cultivators.

Originally, if the Bride Ghost had used her "Gaze" Divine Ability, they would have had no chance of escaping.

However, near the Ghost Gate, where there were many people and many eyes, Shen Mo didn't want to expose the Bride Ghost's strange methods. Instead, he ordered her to lead a large number of ghost creatures to tear and devour them.

Without any surprises.

In just a dozen breaths, the four cultivators at the Qi Gathering stage were devoured and turned into dry bones!

Their souls were captured by the Soul Refining Banner, and their belongings, such as the Qiankun Bag, were held by the Bride Ghost and handed over to Shen Mo.

(End of this chapter)