Immortal of the Nine Realms

In order to ascertain that the calamity had indeed passed, Fang Chen retrieved five hundred mid-grade spirit stones and attempted to enter the Three Thousand Dao Realm. The moment he fed the stone bead with the spirit stones, it stirred, sending him into the Three Thousand Dao Realm.

Fang Chen let out a breath of relief. ”As expected, the misfortune calamity has passed.”

The next moment, a frown quickly creased his brow. This calamity, at first glance, didn’t seem dangerous and caused him to suffer only some hardships. However, when that mysterious woman appeared and unleashed that dazzling divine light, even a cultivator at the Tribulation or Dao Union Realm might not have survived, not to mention a mere Enlightenment Realm cultivator like him.

Fang Chen’s thoughts churned. The woman’s arrival must have been the final killing blow the Misfortune Calamity had prepared for me. As for why I survived.... Could it be that this woman shares the same origin as the fairy I encountered a long time ago?

They felt uncannily similar regardless of the aura or the dazzling divine light.

Back then, he hadn’t died under the dazzling divine light. He merely lost his sight and gained the ability to project his divine soul outside his body. His divine soul had also been strengthened, making it much stronger than the soul of any ordinary cultivator.

Now, once again, he had survived the ordeal, though his body remained unchanged.

Fang Chen smiled to himself and murmured, ”The mysterious woman was chasing the Crimson Fiend Demonic Sovereign. With their cultivation level, they likely won’t linger in this place for long. I wonder what kind of spectacle it will be when Li Changsheng crosses paths with Crimson Fiend Demonic Sovereign.”

Fang Chen pulled out a pile of storage rings. These rings had come from the likes of Xue Shan and others. Some had even belonged to Immortal Kings.

After sorting the storage rings, the biggest haul was the spirit stones. Originally, he had just over twenty high-grade spirit stones. Now, after raiding these storage rings, he had more than fifty. As for mid-grade spirit stones, their number had skyrocketed to sixty thousand.

It was a bit disappointing that none of these cultivators carried peak-grade spirit stones. Thus far, he had seen immortal crystals but not peak-grade spirit stones.

Aside from spirit stones, there were scattered pills and spiritual materials. As for their Destiny Flying Swords, those had disintegrated the moment their owners perished.

Standing before the three divine statues, Fang Chen gave a respectful bow. Then, he opened a drawer and retrieved the Three Thousand Dao Soul Splitting Chapter. It transformed into a dazzling beam of golden light and merged into his brow.

Fang Chen stood utterly still. After about half an hour, he finally digested the contents of the Soul Splitting Chapter.

Soul Splitting, as the name implied, was a specialized technique to split one’s primordial spirit. Each primordial spirit was no different from the original and shared the same memories and perceptions. They were essentially clones of the original. Moreover, a person’s cultivation level wouldn’t be significantly weakened by the process.

Fang Chen mused, ”It’s similar to growing three heads and six arms. The only difference is that the three heads and six arms share a single body, while soul splitting works independently and forms its own physical bodies.”

He summarised, ”Additionally, ordinary cultivators attempting to split their souls would need ample spirit stones and Condensing Spirit Liquid. Yet the Three Thousand Dao Soul Splitting Chapter requires an extra ingredient, the blood essence of a Zhu Long.”

Both the Nascent Soul Chapter and the Soul Splitting Chapter required the blood essence of a Zhu Long. Clearly, this Dao Art had a profound connection to that ancient creature.

Luckily, Fang Chen happened to have a living Zhu Long under his command, saving him much of the trouble.

As for spirit stones, he had an abundance of them, whether that was mid-grade, high-grade, or even the rare immortal crystal.

The real concern now was the Condensing Spirit Liquid. According to the introduction, the more soul splits a person had, the harder it would be to fuse them later. However, if the fusion was successful, the foundation would become more stable, and the cultivation level would be higher.

Ordinary cultivators, aiming for stability, typically split their souls into one or three. Those with more resources might attempt to make four or even six splits. The more ambitious, unwilling to remain mediocre, would take the risk and make seven to nine splits.

”Nine is the maximum, but perhaps it is not the true limit,” pondered Fang Chen.

Fang Chen summoned the Mirror of the Universe and asked, ”Little Mirror, is it better to split into more primordial souls?”

”Hmm... Cultivation isn’t really my specialty, but from what I know, anything beyond nine primordial souls could cause terrible consequences...” replied Little Mirror.

Fang Chen raised a brow. ”Terrible consequences? Even you aren’t sure?”

”Hey, I’m just a mirror spirit. If you’re serious about this, you should consult a real cultivation senior,” huffed Little Mirror.

Fang Chen nodded thoughtfully. ”Fair enough.”

He planned to visit the Desolate Academy to ask Elder Xun and also pick up some Condensing Spirit Liquid.

***

Ten years passed in the blink of an eye.

After leaving the Three Thousand Dao Realm, Fang Chen made his way to the Desolate Academy.

The moment Elder Xun saw him, he playfully asked, ”You survived the misfortune calamity?”

”By sheer luck.” Fang Chen chuckled. ”Though I must say, this calamity brought me to meet two Loose Immortals. One calls himself the Crimson Fiend Demonic Sovereign, and the other was a mysterious woman hunting him down.”

Elder Xun looked at him speechlessly for a moment. Finally, he said, ”In all these years, Loose Immortals rarely come by, maybe one from the Prison Wind Land once in a while. Yet, your Misfortune Calamity managed to draw two of them at once”

”Elder Xun, what’s your opinion on Inverse Immortal Demonic Embryo?” asked Fang Chen suddenly.

”My opinion?” Elder Xun raised an eyebrow. ”I don’t have one. I don’t even understand it.”

He shook his head and fell silent for a few moments before adding, ”The paths of cultivation are endless and varied. Even loose immortals can’t understand it all. Most of us are merely fumbling forward through the dark.”

”So... You mean the Inverse Immortal Demonic Embryo could be a legitimate cultivation path? Like the Sword Cultivator path?” asked Fang Chen thoughtfully.

”Perhaps? Maybe? Who knows?”

Elder Xun gave no definitive answer. After a pause, he changed the topic and reassured, ”You don’t need to worry about those two Loose Immortals. There’s nothing here worth their time. They’ll soon leave. Now, you came today because you want to ask about the Soul Splitting technique, right?”

Fang Chen clasped his hands in admiration and awe. ”Elder Xun, your insight is truly remarkable.”

”Let’s get straight to it. How many primordial souls are you planning to split into?” asked Elder Xun. He suggested casually, ”I advise aiming for three to six. That’s the most stable range. Of course, if you want to fuse sooner, one primordial soul could suffice, but that would affect your foundation once you become a Loose Immortal.”

Fang Chen blinked. He asked, ”Has anyone ever tried splitting into ten primordial souls?”

Elder Xun laughed. ”Ten? You’d be hard-pressed just finding enough Condensing Spirit Liquid for that. I once heard of a guy who did nine splits. His strongest soul reached mid-stage Soul Splitting. The others stayed at the early stage.”

He smiled meaningfully and advised, ”As for ten? Forget it, nine is already the maximum. If you exceed it, it could affect your original body. When the time comes to fuse, you might find that you’re no longer the ’you’ you once were.”

He lightly tapped Fang Chen’s shoulders.

”You mean... if I split more than nine, the extra souls might become entirely different people?” asked Fang Chen in surprise.

”You could say that, though not entirely someone else. It would still be you, but not you ’you,’” said Elder Xun softly.