Immortal of the Nine Realms

Two or three days passed, and Fang Chen began to get ready to leave the small island with Liu Mu.

”Lord Fang, you’ve promised me that you’ll escort me back,” said Li Huafeng firmly from his wheelchair, staring at Fang Chen.

”I have some urgent matters to attend to, so I can’t personally escort you back. Like you, they also don’t know the way back to Grand Xia. I’ll send you back after I’ve finished my business,” said Fang Chen with a faint smile. ”There is no one on this island that will take you as a guinea pig anymore. Don’t worry.”

Li Huafeng nodded slightly after a moment of contemplation. ”All right...”

With the old daoist and his disciples dead, there really shouldn’t be any more danger to his life if he stayed here.

”Farewell, Master.”

First Sky and the others bowed and bid farewell, watching Fang Chen and Liu Mu leave from afar.

First Sky pivoted around and smiled at Li Huafeng after Fang Chen and Liu Mu disappeared into the horizon. ”Brother Li, Master said that you are free to go wherever you want around. And if you want to leave alone, we won’t stop you.”

”How can I leave alone when I am crippled?” Li Huafeng’s eyes flickered. ”Can I stay in the old master’s former residence?” He knew there was a spiritual spring there, and the old Daoist and his disciples would drink from it regularly. That was definitely a valuable resource!

”Master also said that if you were to cause any trouble, he’ll throw you into the sea to feed the fish,” said First Sky with a smile that wasn’t quite a smile.

Li Huafeng’s heart sank, and he turned the wheelchair around and wheeled himself away, no longer harboring any hope.

***

Boarding a ship that passed through the Flame Empire, Fang Chen carefully examined Liu Mu’s condition and found that the poison in his body was slowly flaring, destined to erupt one day and causing his death.

Fang Chen looked at Liu Mu and smiled. ”Do you not fear death?”

Liu Mu shook his head slowly, not an ounce of fear in his eyes. Perhaps, he had grown numb to the feeling.

”As long as you’re alive, there’s hope. You can be not afraid of death, but you can’t lose the desire to survive,” whispered Fang Chen.

After a moment of silence, Liu Mu nodded slowly.

”When we arrive in the Flame Empire, I’ll take you to stay near the Concealed Moon Hermitage first. Abbess Zhu Yue is a good person. She’s a Foundation Building Realm cultivator. She might know a way to heal you.”

Liu Mu’s eyes brightened slightly, and he nodded heavily.

In the following days, Fang Chen spent each day making Purple Lightning Talismans. As the Thunderous Wood Talisman paper and Nine Tribulation Cinnabar diminished, the number of Purple Lightning Talismans in his storage ring piled up.

One day, Fang Chen suddenly had a premonition, and immediately, boundless spiritual energy rushed into the cabin, pouring into Fang Chen’s body.

His ninth immortal vein was slowly being condensed!

Spiritual energy could isolate the fluctuations of talisman-making, but it couldn’t conceal the commotion of a breakthrough!

Over a hundred cultivators on the ship sensed the abnormal fluctuations of spiritual energy and looked toward the cabin where Fang Chen resided, their eyes filled with contemplation and envy.

”This is a breakthrough from the eighth stage to the ninth stage at the very least!”

”Sigh. I’ve been stuck at the eighth stage for over twenty years. I wonder when I’ll have a breakthrough like this.”

”I remember him. I crossed paths with him when he boarded the ship. He doesn’t look very old. I wonder which sect in the Flame Empire he’s from.”

”Youth preservation techniques aren’t uncommon.”

”That’s true.”

The crowd discussed among themselves, but they stopped short of going too far. While ordinary people might freely chatter away, cultivators tended to be more cautious when it came to these matters. Those who dared to speak freely either possessed formidable means or had backgrounds that others wouldn’t dare to provoke.

An hour later.

”Huh, why is spiritual energy still gathering? Hasn’t his immortal vein formed yet?” A middle-aged woman looked surprised as she glanced at her husband, who sat beside her.

This was a family of three and they were all cultivators. The child, who appeared to be around ten, seemed to be already at the second stage of the Qi Refining Realm.

”The better the Qi Refining method, the denser the condensed immortal vein, and the longer it takes to condense,” answered the husband, his expression solemn.

The other cultivators also noticed this phenomenon. One cultivator at the ninth stage of the Qi Refining Realm muttered to himself, ”Back when I advanced to the ninth stage, it only took me the time it took to brew a pot of tea for me to condense my immortal vein.”

As time passed, spiritual energy continued to pour into the cabin where Fang Chen was located. Even the ship’s owner was alarmed by now and rushed over with his crew.

”Captain, do you know where that person is from? Is he from the Southern Heavenly Sect or the Spirit Beast Valley?” someone asked.

The captain’s expression turned serious, and he shook his head slightly. ”I’m not sure. Such matters shouldn’t be casually asked about.”

The inquirer smiled awkwardly. It was indeed taboo to inquire about others’ backgrounds without proper reason.

One of the cultivators frowned, and he said in displeasure, ”Captain, there are many sea beasts around, and they might be attracted by the spiritual energy. If his advancement isn’t completed yet, it might bring some trouble.”

The captain smiled bitterly. ”We can’t interrupt his advancement, can we?”

The crowd also showed bitter smiles; interrupting someone’s breakthrough was akin to committing a heinous crime, leading to an endless vendetta.

”No need to worry too much, everyone. My ship has twelve Soul Imprints. As long as the sea beasts aren’t at the Foundation Building Realm, we can easily handle them,” consoled the captain in a heavy tone.

In a corner of the crowd, a middle-aged man looked at a girl who appeared to be around fifteen or sixteen years and whispered, ”Young Lady, they wouldn’t think of this place unless they are specifically tailing us. It’ll be safe once we reach the Flame Empire.”

The girl looked worried. ”Uncle Zhong, can we really be safe in the Flame Empire? It’s only a sixth-tier....”

The middle-aged man nodded. ”That’s exactly why we are heading there. They’d never guess we’d go there.”

The girl nodded as if she understood, although she seemed a bit confused.

After a while, the spiritual energy anomaly gradually faded away. Encouraged, a cultivator mustered up the courage to approach the cabin and respectfully said, ”Congratulations on advancing further down the immortal path, Fellow Daoist!”

Many other cultivators followed suit, offering their congratulations, their eyes filled with curiosity.

They were very curious about the background of the person inside. For his breakthrough to last for two hours while he’s only at the Qi Refining Realm meant that he was a disciple from a major sect.

A few moments later, the door was pushed open, revealing Fang Chen.

When he saw the many cultivators standing in front of him, a faint smile rose on Fang Chen’s face. ”Apologies for the disturbance, everyone.”

What a nice guy!

The cultivators exchanged glances, their smiles turning even warmer.

Even the captain stepped forward to chat with Fang Chen for a few words.

At the same time, several dark shadows appeared in the deep blue sea. These shadows were swimming around the ship. Suddenly, one of the shadows fiercely slammed into the ship. The ship shook and rattled, causing everyone present to involuntarily stagger a few steps.

”A sea beast attack!”

Some of the cultivators were shocked! If the ship were to be destroyed by sea beasts in the middle of the vast ocean, even someone who had refined a treasure that would allow them to fly through the air wouldn’t be able to find a place to land before their spiritual energy was exhausted. Ultimately, everyone on board would perish at sea!

”Don’t worry, everyone,” the captain calmly shouted. Then, his spiritual energy surged, and the ship immediately erupted with a brilliant golden light. A huge spiritual shield enveloped the ship, pushing the few sea beasts that had previously collided with the ship away.

Following that, several dark shadows slowly emerged from the sea surface. The giant pupils half-exposed above the sea level stared coldly at everyone.