The First Immortal of Destiny

Chapter 790 790: Discussing Strategies_1

Shen Mo spent several days exploring the Capital of Zuoli Country. Although he still had no clue how to escape, he gained a deeper understanding of this Evil Spirit.

First, outsiders like them could interact normally with everything within this Evil Spirit, but they had almost no influence on it. Even a blade of grass or a stone couldn't be easily destroyed. If forcibly destroyed, the object would instantly be restored to its original state.

The creatures of this area, according to Destiny's "Insight into All Beings" judgment, were not "living beings." However, to the five senses and spiritual sense of Shen Mo and others, there was no difference between them and the normal creatures of the Outer Realm. The only difference was that when mortals, cultivators, demonic beasts, and other beings died at their hands, their bodies would disappear in a very short time without leaving a trace. Then, they would "resurrect" at the initial point of contact Shen Mo and the others had with them, even retaining memories from before death, yet unaware they had died previously.

Secondly, the creatures of the Evil Land seemed to have obtained a different kind of "immortality." Excluding humans, there were too many other creatures, making it impossible to observe and count them all for now. However, among the cultivators and mortals, those who died at the hands of the natives, from various accidents, or of old age, would soon reappear in the world as newborns.

For example, in the Capital of Zuoli Country, with a population of tens of millions, about three hundred people died every day, and at the same time, about three hundred people were born. The numbers were not precise, but they were close. When extended to the whole of Zuoli Country, over a period of time, the number of deaths and births was roughly balanced. Moreover, among the newborns, Shen Mo found several individuals who had died previously.

After death, they might be reborn elsewhere, so not all the three hundred-odd newborns were people who had died in the city. Each day, Shen Mo could find three or four newborns whose soul auras had not changed in the slightest; they were indeed people who had recently died in the Capital. When a Soul Curse was cast on them, it was found that they did not retain any "past life" memories.

Then, Shen Mo purposely avoided areas suspected of housing powerful experts, released a large number of Class IV Demon Soul Generals, and monitored almost more than half of Zuoli Country. By collecting numerous soul auras of deceased and newborn individuals, he quickly confirmed this point. The cultivators and mortals here were indeed "indestructible" beings. Perhaps it was not only humans; other creatures might also be constantly "reincarnating."

Thirdly, there were no natural disasters or man-made calamities in this Evil Land, no irresistible natural disasters, and no calamities of war such as foreign invasions. By casting a Soul Searching Spell on a large number of mortals and cultivators, Shen Mo discovered that they had no concept of disaster in their minds. It was as if this kingdom had been peaceful since ancient times.

Moreover, Zuoli Country had a bountiful harvest every year. Mortals were never short of food, and cultivators did not lack resources for their cultivation. Shen Mo intentionally visited various resource production sites and found that, after a period, the spiritual medicine, spiritual items, and mined resources that had been taken away would be restored to their previous state, as if they were inexhaustible and could be used endlessly. And the cultivators and mortals of Zuoli Country didn't seem to notice anything anomalous, nor did anyone investigate this matter.

This was clearly illogical. With a bountiful harvest year after year, the population of Zuoli Country should have grown endlessly, soon exceeding tens of billions and even hundreds of billions. With sufficient resources, countless Golden Core Realm and Divine Bridge Realm cultivators should have emerged over innumerable years. Then, on this foundation, a large number of Formless Realm and True Immortal Realm powerhouses should have been born. However, the secular population of Zuoli Country had not changed for years, and the number of cultivators and powerful individuals also remained within a normal range.

...

Shen Mo couldn't understand all of this. However, considering this was an Evil Spirit and not a truly existing world, anything that contrasted with common sense actually aligned with his understanding of Evil Spirits.

「One month later.」

Shen Mo left the Capital of Zuoli Country and went to the agreed-upon location to meet up with the Silver-haired Child and the others. They found a suitable cloud high in the sky and landed on it. Taking out fruits, tea, spiritual wine, and other food from their storage spaces, they gathered around to exchange the information and clues each had found during this period. They dared not casually consume the delicacies of this Evil Land; the food and drink they enjoyed were all brought in from the Outer Realm.

The other three had also become aware of what Shen Mo discovered.

"I have encountered many Evil Spirits. They can be simply understood as the manifestations of the obsessions of billions of creatures in a Withering Realm…" Shen Mo poured a cup of spiritual wine and drank it in one gulp. After calming his vexation, he slowly voiced his thoughts. "An Evil Spirit should be the Residual Resentment of the 'will of heaven and earth' from a Withering Realm. Since cultivators are a part of the world's creatures, the Evil Spirits they encounter generally lean towards aspects of creaturely obsessions. Residual Resentments formed from the consciousness of mountains, rivers, flora, and fauna might harm a world, but cultivators, being creatures themselves, do not easily perceive them! The Evil Spirits Shen Mo had encountered so far, such as the Suspended Fairy Mountain, the Heaven Patrolling Boat House, the longevity flesh Evil Spirit, the Water Ghost Evil Spirit, and so on, were mostly related to concepts like 'procreation,' 'immortality,' 'reaching the other shore,' or 'sharing suffering.' Conversely, this particular Evil Spirit, by merely trapping Shen Mo and the others in a 'mirage' without revealing any other obvious 'intentions,' seemed rather inscrutable."

"The existence of this Evil Spirit might also represent a beautiful aspiration of the creatures from the Artificial Realm... As their world approached annihilation, they yearned for an ideal world—one without wars or disasters, and with no lack of food or cultivation resources. That's why we are merely trapped by this Evil Spirit and haven't been attacked in any way, nor have we encountered any lethal dangers. The powerful experts here have also not made a move against us outsiders."

"Brute force alone cannot dispel this Evil Spirit... However, if we disrupt the underlying rules and order it depends on for its existence—for instance, by breaking the 'Reincarnation and indestructibility' state of the creatures in this world, thereby preventing it from achieving a certain 'equilibrium'—perhaps this Evil Spirit will reveal its flaws and loopholes. Then we can seize the opportunity to escape this prison!"

Based on his own experiences and the information he had gathered, Shen Mo proposed what seemed to be a viable hypothesis.

"It's worth a try!"

The Silver-haired Child continued, "However, the creatures that die at our hands—be they mortals, cultivators, or demonic beasts—will resurrect in an instant, reverting to their previous state. It's difficult to truly eliminate them. So, how can we prevent them from undergoing Reincarnation?"

As he said this, the Silver-haired Child suddenly noticed peculiar expressions on Kang Haoxiu's and Qin Zhen's faces. After a moment's thought, he quickly understood. Those who die at the hands of the natives here undergo a 'normal death' and are then reborn as new infants. The number of men and women in Zuoli Country capable of reproduction is finite... This means there's room for manipulation!