The First Immortal of Destiny

Chapter 791 791: Testing the Waters_1

The Silver-haired Child's eyes lit up. He pondered for a moment, then said, "The population of immortals and mortals in Zuoli Country is less than one billion. If we were to lure a Class V demonic beast here, or provoke Divine Bridge Realm experts into a major battle, causing the population to plummet to a certain level, then the deceased might not be able to reincarnate... Perhaps, as fellow daoist Qingyun suggested, this could completely shatter the balance here, making it impossible for this Evil Spirit to continue existing!"

Mortals and cultivators in this Evil Land are not true living creatures. Thus, doing so would not truly count as committing boundless slaughter. Only the cultivator's own Path Heart might present a challenge, which was why Qin Zhen and Kang Haoxiu looked uneasy.

If their Path Heart wavered even slightly, and they consciously slaughtered millions of immortals and mortals, it could very well give rise to a Heart Demon, trigger the Three Disasters and Six Tribulations, lead them down the path of Evil Demons, or their Path Heart could become obscured, hindering their future cultivation.

However, for the Silver-haired Child and Shen Mo, there was no such concern. An Evil Spirit was just an Evil Spirit; they would not let the illusion before them affect their Path Heart!

Unexpectedly, Shen Mo did not endorse his idea. He shook his head and said, "Fellow daoist Fulong, you mustn't forget that this is an 'ideal world.' There are no natural disasters or wars. Your idea would likely be very difficult to realize and would probably backfire, leading to us being hunted by the powerful entities here."

"Besides," Shen Mo continued, "even if the population of one billion immortals and mortals were reduced to mere tens of thousands, the deceased might not reincarnate immediately. Instead, their numbers might gradually recover over the subsequent hundreds or even thousands of years of reproduction!"

The Silver-haired Child's small face wrinkled, and he said with an air of aged solemnity, "How can we know if it's feasible or not if we don't even try?"

As soon as his voice fell, his escaping light sped away from the cloud.

Over the next few days, Shen Mo, Qin Zhen, and Kang Haoxiu enjoyed spiritual wine and food atop the cloud, "watching" the Silver-haired Child bustle about.

First, he captured several Class III demonic beasts and threw them into mortal villages that had no cultivators of the Mechanic Path in residence. However, these demonic beasts did not attack anyone and instead immediately fled back to their original habitats.

Next, he concealed his cultivation and deliberately provoked demonic beasts and cultivators into chasing him, luring them towards densely populated areas. Yet, the mortals who died from the shockwaves of their attacks disappeared and "revived" just as those killed by Shen Mo and the other three had, their bodies vanishing and then quickly "resurrecting."

Undeterred, the Silver-haired Child remained convinced he was right. He used a Secret Technique to control a Golden Core Realm cultivator, forcing him to slaughter weaker cultivators and mortals... but a situation similar to the previous ones occurred again!

Only then did he cease his various attempts and somewhat dejectedly return to the cloud.

Shen Mo did not ridicule him for this. Instead, he personally poured the Silver-haired Child a cup of spiritual wine. After all, the Silver-haired Child's attempts had once again validated Shen Mo's own conjectures.

Kang Haoxiu frowned, his voice somber as he asked, "Since this method is unworkable, does fellow daoist Qingyun have any brilliant insights?"

"Before I met up with the three of you, fellow daoists, I had already made an attempt. It should be about time to see the results now." As Shen Mo spoke, a Sword Light flashed from his palm, and he retrieved the Demon-Suppressing Tower from his Sword Zone.

Shen Mo had possessed the Demon-Suppressing Tower for many years but still hadn't fully comprehended its profound mysteries.

He only knew that the tower's body and the ancient iron chains were made of exceptionally mystical materials. In addition to being forged from numerous extraordinary components, they were also imbued with a kind of unknown, intangible power. This power enabled the tower and chains to suppress and imprison entities such as Divine Bridge Immortal Masters and bizarre Evil Spirits!

Within the Demon-Suppressing Tower, a Water Ghost Evil Spirit had originally been suppressed, along with Cao Ren, who cultivated the [Transforming Dragon Curse].

When Shen Mo had rushed to Jade Spring Mountain, the unidentified female immortal who saved his life had also conveniently shielded Cao Ren from the senses of the Dragon Rearing Pool's master. Consequently, Cao Ren had long since left the Demon-Suppressing Tower. Like many Golden Core cultivators of the Red Flame Sect, he had gone elsewhere on Jade Spring Mountain to gain experience and seek opportunities!

Only the Water Ghost Evil Spirit remained suppressed in the seventh-floor tower chamber.

And in the sixth-floor tower chamber, hundreds of native creatures from this Evil Land were still suppressed. These included mortals, cultivators, demonic beasts, and Spiritual Monsters. Among the human immortals and mortals were men and women, ranging from the Body Tempering Realm to the Golden Core Realm. After Shen Mo gained a deeper understanding of this Evil Land, he had captured them and suppressed them in the sixth-floor tower chamber.

While discussing matters with the other three, he had also been constantly monitoring the condition of the creatures inside the tower.

He had not directly killed these immortals, mortals, and demonic beasts. Instead, he relied solely on the Demon-Suppressing Tower's own power to keep them suppressed, thereby minimizing his personal interference as much as possible. There was no water or food in the tower. High-class cultivators and demonic beasts could endure longer, but mortals and low-class demonic beasts would soon die of thirst and starvation. By now, they were likely at their limit.

Not long after Shen Mo produced the Demon-Suppressing Tower, a petite woman among them could hold on no longer. She collapsed to the ground, her legs kicked out, and her life signs ceased.

It's starting!

Shen Mo's attention was fixed on the woman's corpse, afraid of missing the slightest, most subtle change.

However, he soon averted his gaze, disappointed.

Her corpse vanished in an instant, just like those who had died at their hands. Simultaneously, the Class V Demon Soul General stationed in the Capital of Zuoli Country transmitted an image: at the very spot where Shen Mo had captured the woman, a figure had appeared out of thin air. It was precisely this "deceased" woman. Lingering fear was still etched on her face as she turned and fled back to her home without a backward glance!

Subsequently, the native creatures imprisoned in the Demon-Suppressing Tower "died" one after another. Their corpses vanished swiftly, and then, one by one, they "revived" at the locations where Shen Mo had initially encountered them.

Throughout this, the Silver-haired Child, Qin Zhen, and Kang Haoxiu sensed no change whatsoever in this Evil Land!

Shen Mo sighed helplessly. "Can it be that even with the Demon-Suppressing Tower's mystical power, the rules of this place cannot be broken?"

The expressions of the other three also turned somewhat grim.

Puppet Yama suddenly spoke, "Fellow daoist Qingyun, I recall you mentioning that a Water Ghost Evil Spirit is suppressed in the seventh-floor tower chamber. Why not release it? It might be able to completely kill the creatures here and thereby affect the Artificial Realm Evil Spirit!"

The Water Ghost Evil Spirit was suppressed on the lowest level, bound by ancient chains, and thus incapable of causing mischief.

Shen Mo pondered for a moment, then decisively rejected this proposal.

This was the first bizarre Evil Spirit he had ever captured. Moreover, this particular Evil Spirit had helped him glimpse an opportunity for enlightenment, making it profoundly significant to him.

Even if he were to release it directly, the scenario Qin Zhen envisioned was highly unlikely to occur. Evil Spirits are not living creatures. Once it escaped, it wouldn't obediently remain here. It would more likely reappear in the spring waters of the Xianluan Sword's Sword Washing Pool on Heaven Sword Peak and resume its harmful activities.

Even if it didn't reappear in the Sword Washing Pool, it would go elsewhere. One couldn't expect it to affect this local Evil Spirit in the way they hoped!

Seeing Shen Mo's direct refusal, disappointment was evident on the faces of Qin Zhen and the others.

"I have one more idea," Shen Mo said. "We could find a Divine Bridge Immortal Master of the Mechanic Path and teach him the method for refining a forbidden land. He could then carve out a small world and refine it into a forbidden land. By using this method to descend into another world, it might be possible to disrupt the stable equilibrium of this Evil Spirit!"