Chapter 652: That Possibility Is Too Small to Consider
Shiluàn was both shocked and furious, "Who are you, boy? Which Sage's successor are you?!"
"Nine Yin? Rune Emperor? Martial Ancestor? Flame Emperor? Divine Phoenix? Great Desolation Lord? Or some other Sage?"
Shen Mo merely smiled faintly, saying nothing.
Did it have to be a Sage's successor?
He slightly moved his hands.
The Nine Nether Ice Flame and Nine Heavens Divine Thunder Flame gradually approached Shiluàn's head.
The Corpse Clan of the demon race cultivated an unorthodox path—their demon core resided in the head.
Because of this, they could hurl the rest of their bodies as high-powered self-detonation weapons.
"If you help me revive, I can give you anything you want!" Shiluàn cried out in despair.
The head was everything to him.
If even the head was lost, he would truly die—forever incapable of resurrection.
Not even a Demon Saint could save him!
"To me, your only value is as nourishment for my eternal flames," Shen Mo said calmly.
Shiluàn gritted his teeth and cursed venomously, "You damn human slave! My father, Demon… will definitely avenge me, you—"
Before he could finish, his head was engulfed in Nine Nether Ice Flame.
The rest of his words turned into muffled wailing—
Then silence.
The Demon Sovereign of the Corpse Clan, Shiluàn, was completely annihilated.
Dead beyond death.
At the moment his head was refined, the Dao markings on the Primal Elephant Manifestation surged upward!
Forty-three!
Forty-five!
Forty-eight!
Fifty-five!
They finally stopped at seventy.
But the markings were still continuing to appear, visibly growing in number.
Once Shiluàn's entire corpse was fully refined, it might even break through a hundred Dao markings!
Shen Mo remained patient and calm, silently refining further.
Time passed quickly.
In the blink of an eye, another three months had gone by.
Outside the Cangqing Grotto Heaven—
The team with Xiang Bai and Yin Zanghua, all visibly exhausted, was on its way back.
Suddenly, Yin Zanghua's expression shifted slightly. She looked around at the surrounding demonic soil.
This patch of demonic soil had yet to be purified. The demonic aura remained thick and oppressive, making her feel extremely uncomfortable.
She had been traveling back and forth these past few days and had long since memorized the sensation.
Yet just a moment ago, she clearly sensed the demonic aura beginning to recede on its own.
As if someone had eliminated the source directly.
Xiang Bai, being from the White Elephant Clan, had even sharper senses.
Just moments ago everything was pitch black, and now it was quickly turning white.
The speed was far faster than what they could achieve using the Demon-Suppressing Artifacts of the Myriad Phenomena Holy Land!
"What on earth just happened?" Xiang Bai was stunned.
And it wasn't just him—other teams, numbering in the thousands, were having the same reaction.
Beyond the demonic soil—
Ximen Changqing and Xiang Heng, both at the Supreme Realm, stood suspended in mid-air, overlooking the demonic land below.
The two of them kept their auras extended at all times, preventing the spread of the demonic soil beyond.
Naturally, their perception of the demonic soil was the most sensitive of all.
"The demonic soil is beginning to contract on its own," Xiang Heng said in astonishment.
Ximen Changqing, who had been resting with his eyes closed, suddenly opened them, a glint of surprise flashing across his gaze.
"What's going on? Could the source of the demonic aura have disappeared?"
Xiang Heng turned to Ximen Changqing, "Old Ximen, what do you think?"
Ximen Changqing glanced at him and said flatly, "Most likely, the Demon Sovereign is hiding and no longer releasing demonic aura."
A flicker of surprise passed through Xiang Heng's large eyes. "That's odd. A Demon Sovereign of the Corpse Clan, on the verge of resurrection—why would he suddenly hide? Did he sense our arrival?"
"Heh, looks like my name still carries some weight after all."
Ximen Changqing was speechless.
After a brief pause, he added, "There is one more possibility."
"The Demon Sovereign perished on his own."
He paused again and said, "But that possibility is too small to consider."
Xiang Heng also nodded in full agreement.
A dignified Demon Sovereign of the Corpse Clan—how could he possibly perish on his own?
He must have gone into hiding, restrained his demonic aura, and is now waiting for a chance to escape the Cangqing Grotto Heaven.
"The demonic soil has already begun to contract!"
"Seal off ten thousand miles around the Cangqing Grotto Heaven. No one is allowed to enter or leave."
"Even if a fish swims past, scrape its scales—we must see if anything is hidden!"
Xiang Heng swiftly issued orders.
His booming voice echoed across the entire ten-thousand-mile radius of the Cangqing Grotto Heaven.
"Yes!" All cultivators of the Myriad Phenomena Holy Land responded in unison.
Xiang Bai said seriously, "Scrape the scales? I think we should dig out its guts and throw it on the fire too."
"Only then can we be sure whether that fish is hiding demonic aura inside."
"Old Ancestor's methods are still not thorough enough."
Yin Zanghua stood beside him and rolled her eyes—beautifully.
Xiang Heng's voice ignited the spirits of all the cultivators.
The demonic soil had persisted for nearly a year, and complete purification always seemed far away.
Now, they could finally see the end approaching.
The cultivators chattered excitedly.
Something must have changed within the grotto heaven, causing the demonic aura to withdraw and the demonic soil to shrink.
Within the grotto heaven, at the bottom of the abyss—
A pair of radiant eyes suddenly burst open.
They pierced through the rock wall, leaving two deep holes.
The light didn't fade for a long time.
It was dazzling.
Shen Mo slowly exhaled, eyes brimming with excitement.
The mountain-sized corpse of Shiluàn had now been fully absorbed, completely transformed into boundless energy within him.
He had just finished counting carefully.
The Primal Elephant Manifestation now bore one hundred Dao markings!
Among all five of his manifestations, the total number of Dao markings had reached one hundred fifty-nine!
At this moment, Shen Mo could easily crush any Nirvana Realm cultivator with one hundred Dao markings.
Even if facing two such cultivators alone, he would still have absolute confidence in victory.
If three hundred-mark cultivators appeared together, he was still confident he could remain unscathed.
Of course, such a scenario was highly unlikely.
After all, cultivators with a hundred markings were all leaders of the five top powers.
Such as Gu Qiong, the Grand Cave Master of Xuanyin Cave Heaven.
Zhao Qingtian, the Sect Master of the Heaven Rune Sect.
Ao Yue, the Palace Lord of the Flame Flood Dragon Palace, and others.
To unite such figures against him would take an astronomical amount of effort.
"It's time to leave."
Shen Mo suddenly rose to his feet.
With a gentle step, the solid ground beneath him cracked with a deep footprint.
After a few steps, he still couldn't control his strength well.
He left behind a trail of heavy footprints.
He couldn't help but laugh wryly.
The rocks here had endured tens of thousands of years of demonic aura and had long become unimaginably dense.
Even Nirvana Realm cultivators could barely leave a faint white mark.
But now, his strength had surged so drastically—
He was trampling the rock like it was soft mud, leaving a deep print with every step.
Shen Mo paused, adjusted to his new strength, and finally regained full control.
He pushed off lightly, and his body drifted upward like flowing clouds.
Soon, he left the bottom of the abyss and crossed the Spirit Sea.
But he did not stand at the grotto entrance.
Instead, he moved southeast across the Spirit Sea.
With demonic soil erupting around the Cangqing Grotto Heaven, it would surely attract many experts.
Some of them were undoubtedly Supreme Realm powerhouses.
His possession of three top-grade sacred artifacts had likely already become known.
To walk out now would be to step into danger.
He couldn't gamble his life on the supposed righteousness of Supreme Realm cultivators.
So he would leave through another route.
He knew there was another exit here.
Back then, Shi Tianhao had been fleeing from him. Thanks to the interference of the Evil Dragon Whale, Shi Tianhao managed to escape—and it was through this exit.
Hey readers! If you're eager to dive into advanced chapters, consider joining our Patreon. By joining, you'll get access to 20 chapters ahead and enjoy 8 new chapters per week. Plus, we have 2 more exciting fics with the same chapter release rate, giving you a total of 32 chapters per week! Join now and keep the adventure going!
Patreon: https://patreon.com/Alex_Cruise