Immortal of the Nine Realms

Fang Chen frowned. “Your voice sounds weak.”

He was currently at the point between the 67th and 68th level of the Heavenly Steps.

“I lost both legs. Of course I sound weak.” Bai Qingming rolled his eyes and said, “Yan Kun has joined forces with them now. They’ve all agreed to set aside everything else to take you down first.”

Fang Chen looked up and, sure enough, spotted several heads sneaking peeks downward. He looked down at Bai Qingming and asked in a hushed voice, “Senior Brother, your condition isn’t great. How long can you hold out?”

Bai Qingming weakly replied, “I think I can survive for a good while as long as I have food and water. I plan to crawl my way down slowly. Once I leave this place, my cultivation will recover. My legs should grow back after a while.”

He looked at Fang Chen and asked, “But what about you? Those guys aren’t pushovers. If you go up, you might not be able to take them all on.”

Fang Chen said casually, “They’re just mortals right now. No matter how clever they are, there’s only so much they can do.”

He glanced at Bai Qingming and added, “As for you, I don’t recommend heading downward. There are Sun Family sword cultivators below, and they hate me to the bone. They won’t let you go either.”

“You’re just realizing that now?” Bai Qingming gave a bitter smile. “You’ve really made a lot of enemies. Your master told you to keep a low profile, and you’ve completely ignored that advice.”

Fang Chen replied, “I heard you get your cultivation back when you reach the top. There’s no need to go back the way we came.”

Bai Qingming was slightly taken aback. ”What are you planning to do?”

Moments later, he was fastened onto Fang Chen’s back, wrapped tightly by a dozen slender vines. Even if Fang Chen moved violently, Bai Qingming wouldn’t fall off.

Bai Qingming looked worried. ”Junior Brother, doing this will likely keep you from reaching the top.”

Fang Chen replied, ”How would I know if I don’t try? Or are you planning on following in Bai Lingyue’s footsteps? Want me to put you out of your misery?”

Bai Qingming sighed softly. ”I haven’t reached that point yet.... If I can stay alive, then that’s what I will do. It’s just that... I don’t want to become your burden, Junior Brother.”

”You lost your legs, Senior Brother, not your arms. You can still wield a sword. How are you a burden?”

Smiling, Fang Chen took a deep breath and continued on his climb.

***

In the main hall of the Immortal Boat, Chen Qingtai and the others frowned slightly.

”Just as we were saying this young man is worth cultivating, he goes and burdens himself. It is already difficult enough for him to reach the top. Now he has to carry someone else to the top, too.”

Someone chuckled and remarked, ”Fortunately, Brother Li’s disciple is performing well. He also has a shot at the peak.”

Li Changsheng remained silent.

Far away, some cultivators stood in the void, watching from a distance. When they saw Fang Chen carrying Bai Qingming on his back, their faces nearly turned green.

”I thought this boy had a great chance of reaching the top. I even bet heavily on him. Looks like I’m going to lose everything now.”

”Utter foolishness. Where does he think he is, trying to play the hero? Are the Heavenly Steps a place where you can mess around? It’s already hard enough for him alone, and now he’s carrying someone else.”

”I say he’s carrying half a person, though.”

”That’s still dozens of pounds.”

Among the Sun Family, a group of Loose Immortals glanced over at the Long Family with mocking smiles. With how things were looking, the Sun Family had a far better chance at reaching the top than the Long family.

On the 68th level of the Heavenly Steps, the Sun Family’s sword cultivators had already begun their climb, while the Long Family’s sword cultivators were all waiting.

The Long Family had nine sword academies, but only half of their sword cultivators had reached the 68th level. They peeked downwards and saw Fang Chen climbing up with Bai Qingming. They couldn’t help but laugh.

”I was wondering where Bai Qingming went. Turns out he was hiding in the vines,” Lu Bingbing said with a smile. ”No worries. He’s dead weight now, just one more thing for Fang Chen to drag along.”

It was he who had personally cut off Bai Qingming’s legs.

Yan Kun glanced at Lu Bingbing. ”You purposely left Bai Qingming with a breath, didn’t you?”

Lu Bingbing smiled but said nothing.

”We won’t get involved in this,” said Fu Donghai as he led Zhang Gaotian toward the vines.

”I also don’t want to make things too ugly,” said Yan Kun. ”I’ll lead them ahead.”

Lu Bingbing waved his hand. ”No worries.”

He didn’t mind that they were leaving first, as he would always catch up eventually.

With that, the Sun Family sword cultivators left, followed by Fu Donghai and Yan Kun. Now, only about ten Long Family sword cultivators, who were friendly with Lu Bingbing, remained on the stairway.

These were all geniuses. If nothing unexpected happened, they would all reach the 80th or 90th level.

***

Looking up, Bai Qingming saw several Long Family sword cultivators holding long swords. They seemed ready for action.

He glanced down at Fang Chen and warned, ”Junior Brother, be careful.”

”Tighten your grip on your sword, Senior Brother,” said Fang Chen.

Bai Qingming nodded and firmly gripped the long sword in his hand.

The two men were getting closer to the stairway. When they were only a few feet away, someone struck with a sword. Bai Qingming immediately swung his sword to block, but the immense force almost made the sword fly out of his hand.

Lu Bingbing stood in place, a half-smile on his face, not intervening. He simply watched.

Several Long family sword cultivators laughed eerily.

”Want to climb up? Dream on,” someone mocked.

They began to attack in unison. Some struck at Bai Qingming, some aimed at Fang Chen, and others cut directly at the vines.

Their goal was to make sure these two fell to their deaths.

Bai Qingming’s expression became serious. All he could do was block as many of the attacks as he could for Fang Chen. However, he could only hold out for ten moves. After that, it would be up to fate.

While thinking this, Bai Qingming found a brief opening and swung his sword to strike. Suddenly, he felt the direction of his sword change mid-swing.

It turned out that Fang Chen had leaped several feet forward and grabbed onto another vine. But whether by coincidence or not, Bai Qingming’s sword just happened to stab straight into the chest of a Long Family sword cultivator.

He didn’t have time to think, and immediately jerked the sword up. The cultivator’s face turned pale, and he died on the spot.

The cultivators watching the scene exchanged glances.

”Was that a coincidence?”

”Luck, I suppose?”

But before long, another scream was heard, and yet another Long family sword cultivator was pierced through the heart by Bai Qingming’s sword.

The expressions of everyone became serious. Once could be a coincidence, but twice was no longer just a simple coincidence.

They all looked at Fang Chen, their eyes filled with a hint of caution.

After becoming a mortal, he was still able to turn a burden into a weapon in his hands. This kind of battle awareness was truly terrifying.

Realization dawned on Bai Qingming, and he started laughing loudly. ”Hahaha! Junior Brother, today, I am your sword! Kill!”

A few breaths later, Fang Chen landed firmly on the ground. Several corpses lay nearby, and Lu Bingbing stood in the distance, watching him thoughtfully.

”Your sword technique is unparalleled even among the Nine Sword Academies. Since we are both sword cultivators, why not put our earlier misunderstanding to rest?” Lu Bingbing said. ”I don’t want to see a genius like you perish in such a meaningless conflict.”

At that moment, Fang Chen had already picked up another sword and handed it to Bai Qingming. With Bai Qingming holding two swords and Fang Chen holding one, they had three swords in their arsenal.

Hearing Lu Bingbing’s words, Fang Chen smiled. ”Like I said, you might know how to swing a sword, but you are no sword cultivator. We don’t walk the same path.”

Bai Qingming grinned. ”My Junior Brother doesn’t listen to advice. Today, either you fall, or we fall.”

Lu Bingbing’s face darkened. He turned to someone with him and said, ”Leave it.”

With that, they both walked toward the vines.

The remaining Long Family sword cultivators exchanged looks. In the end, they gritted their teeth and raised their swords, heading toward Fang Chen and Bai Qingming.