C15 The Mysterious Woman

"What nonsense is this?"

Before Su Mo and Shen Muxi could even respond, the white-clothed woman standing beside Elder Mo, herself a second-tier Dao Palace cultivator, interjected with a frosty tone, "Everyone else is having a normal discussion. How does it become an insult when it reaches your ears?"

Clearly, the white-robed woman's intelligence far surpassed Zhuang Yan's.

She understood the lay of the land!

Her most notable strength was her ability to read the room!

With both Elder Mo and the concealed Immortal Platform expert opting for restraint, Zhuang Yan's brash challenge to Su Mo was ill-advised. Did she truly believe she was in Purvavideha?

"Wu Qin! Enough with your charade. Don't think I'm oblivious to your desires for me to be killed, so you can greedily claim my cultivation resources and hasten your advancement to the third level of the Dao Palace!"

Zhuang Yan wasn't swayed by the white-robed woman's stance. After a snide remark aimed at Wu Qin, she turned her defiance towards Su Mo, "The humiliation I've endured today will be paid back to you twofold!"

"You wish for my death without a place to rest? To repay it twofold?"

Su Mo regarded Zhuang Yan as one would a simpleton. It was truly a vast world, filled with all manners of oddities.

He had encountered fools before, but none quite as foolish as Zhuang Yan.

"If you're capable, then kill me!"

Struggling to her feet, Zhuang Yan lifted her head defiantly, "I doubt you have the courage! Everyone from the Abandoning Continent is worthless, spineless..."

Swoosh!

Su Mo had no patience for Zhuang Yan's drivel. With a casual flick of his wrist, he sent a broken blade flying.

The blade cut through the void, instantly materializing before Zhuang Yan.

Gulp!

Confronted with the broken blade pulsing with terrifying Yuan Qi energy, Zhuang Yan's bravado faltered as she swallowed hard, her voice abruptly ceasing.

Being at the Second Layer of the Dao Palace meant Zhuang Yan wasn't entirely foolish.

Her taunts towards Su Mo stemmed from her belief that the presence of an Immortal Platform expert would deter him from acting. Su Mo wouldn't dare lay a hand on her—or so she thought.

Who could have predicted?

Su Mo played by no one's rules but his own!

The Yuan Qi fluctuations emanating from the broken blade signaled that Su Mo indeed harbored a lethal intent!

Ding!

In the nick of time, the space before Zhuang Yan abruptly tore open, a glint of cold light piercing through first, followed by a hand that reached out and firmly caught the broken blade Su Mo had hurled.

"Ah, why bother?"

With a flick of his wrist, the old man in brown tossed the broken blade aside and emerged slowly into view.

He was a Second Layer Almighty of the Immortal Platform!

To be precise, the First Layer of the Immortal Platform denoted a half-step Almighty, while only those on the Second Layer could truly claim the title of an Almighty.

The elder in brown had been concealed in the void, biding his time for the Blade Sovereign's arrival to launch a surprise attack and capture him.

Now, having revealed his power to protect Zhuang Yan, the elder's expression soured slightly.

Zhuang Yan held a unique status in Purvavideha, and with her grandfather's formidable strength, it was unthinkable to stand by and watch her fall.

The aura of the Immortal Platform around the brown-robed elder flickered and vanished as he spoke calmly, "Su Mo, our purpose here isn't to subdue the Blade Sovereign. We've come to shield him from the rule forces of the Abandoning Continent, to prevent him from being crushed by their weight."

"Rest assured, the rules won't constrain the Junior Brother," Su Mo bluffed, drawing on his master's reputation. He produced another segment of the broken blade, this one with a hilt, and tenderly stroked it as he added nonchalantly, "Once Master returns from the Immortal Burying Mausoleum, he will surely free Junior Brother from the rule's shackles."

"Very well, I shall await the Blade Sovereign."

The elder in brown seized Zhuang Yan's shoulder and whisked her away to Elder Mo's side, whispering a covert message, "Keep a close eye on her. Once the fight breaks out, capture Su Mo with utmost speed! There's something peculiar about him, I sense."

"Mission will be accomplished," Elder Mo responded through clenched teeth.

Afterward, a hush fell over the martial arts arena.

The patriarchs of the six major sects closed in around Su Mo, each harboring their own schemes.

Although Su Mo's master is a top-tier almighty on the Immortal Platform, he might not be able to make it back from the Immortal Burying Mausoleum in time.

The brown-robed elder, on the other hand, is a bona fide powerhouse of the Second Layer of the Immortal Platform.

Blade Sovereign, who has only recently ascended to the Immortal Platform, how could he possibly stand a chance against the brown-robed elder?

It's no overstatement to say that the spiritual hopes of the elders, sect masters, and deputy sect masters of the six major sects rest entirely on Su Mo's shoulders!

Being a disciple of an elite Immortal Platform, Su Mo is expected to have a unique foundation.

Tick-tock! Tick-tock!

Seconds ticked away as time slipped by.

In what seemed like an instant, several hours had passed.

During these hours, Su Mo was relentless in consuming medicinal pills and drawing upon the origin energy from the origin crystal to cultivate.

Simultaneously.

Su Mo discreetly extracted his blood essence and, unnoticed by the others, he let drops of it fall onto the Heaven Devouring Devil Pot.

With the nurturing of a few drops of blood essence, the fourth character 'pot' on the Heaven Devouring Devil Pot began to emit a faint glow.

Whoosh!

Before Su Mo had a chance to take a closer look at the Heaven Devouring Devil Pot, it shrank to the size of a speck of dust and abruptly burrowed into Su Mo's mind.

This sudden turn of events truly startled Su Mo.

The Heaven Devouring Devil Pot was not without an owner—it had one!

"Your bone structure is quite impressive."

Just then, a woman's voice emerged out of nowhere, resonating beside Su Mo's ear.

After a brief moment of shock, Su Mo quickly regained his composure.

What's meant to be a blessing will be just that; a disaster, on the other hand, cannot be avoided.

"The Other Shore Stage? Far too frail. It can't even withstand one-thousandth of my power."

After a brief silence, the woman's voice rang out again, this time with a touch of perplexity: "Why would the Heaven Devouring Devil Pot choose a cultivator of the Other Shore Stage as its master? Even the weakest among its nine previous owners was at the Saint Level."

Su Mo shivered slightly upon hearing her words.

Half-Saints, Immortal Level Two Almighties, Immortal Level Three Dao Slashing Kings, Immortal Level Four Half-Saints!

And above them, the Saint Level.

If the weakest of the Heaven Devouring Devil Pot's former owners was at the Saint Level, as the woman claimed, then was she not even more formidable than those at the Saint Level?

No way!

Suddenly, a realization struck Su Mo.

The Heaven Devouring Devil Pot had once belonged to the Devil Sovereign Di Shitian, whose cultivation level was limited to the Dragon Transforming Nine-change.

"Humph! That worthless fool could never have earned the Heaven Devouring Devil Pot's recognition!"

The woman seemed to read Su Mo's mind, her voice dripping with disdain. "Enough of that. Since the pot has chosen you, I'll just boost your cultivation to the Dao Palace Stage myself, so you don't burst at the seams later on."

Hiss!

Before Su Mo could grasp what was happening, a torrent of Origin Energy flooded his Sea of Bitterness.

Transitioning from the Other Shore Stage to the Dao Palace Stage was no small feat.

He had to shatter the barriers of the Other Shore, harness the Origin Energy within his Sea of Bitterness, and purify the Divine Bridge to finally step into the Dao Palace Stage.

Su Mo's grasp of the Other Shore and Dao Palace was superficial at best, but the woman was a recluse with profound knowledge.

With her guidance, it took mere minutes for Su Mo to effortlessly ascend from the Other Shore Stage to the first level of the Dao Palace Stage, the Profound Opening Realm!

"What's happening?"

As Su Mo ascended to the Dao Palace Stage, the elders from the six major sects, including Elder Mo from Purvavideha, were utterly confounded.

Without any formal cultivation, how had Su Mo inexplicably advanced to the Dao Palace Stage?

"A bunch of fools."

Shen Muxi was no longer surprised by Su Mo's extraordinary feats.

Pretending to be weak while hiding his strength, Su Mo was in a league of his own.

Whether Su Mo had just ascended to the first level of the Dao Palace Stage or even if he soared to the third level, the Heavenly River Stage, or further to the Nirvana Stage, nothing would faze her.