Immortal of the Nine Realms

Everyone was stunned and frozen in place. They stared blankly at Fang Chen with a look of disbelief in their eyes.

”Grandmaster Xing knows him!?” exclaimed Song Chang. Dumbfounded, he exchanged shocked glances with his family’s disciples.

The Seven Kill Hall Master and Huyan Bing gasped sharply. The Seven Kill Hall Master suddenly realized that earlier, Xing Jintuo hadn’t been looking at him but rather the young man beside him! Now, he wasn’t so sure that this young man was a mere junior.

Xing Jintuo had reversed his aging, regressing from an elderly man to a teenage boy. He might not be the only one to have achieved such a feat!

Could it be that this young man and woman before them were the same kind of beings as Xing Jintuo?

Cold sweat poured down the Seven Kill Hall Master’s face. Are they both powerhouses who have broken through the void!?

Shi Yu went deathly pale; he was stunned speechless. He no longer dared to meet Fairy Yu’s gaze.

Fang Chen withdrew his gaze from the fallen Crimson Fiend Demonic Sovereign and looked at Xing Jintuo with a complicated expression.

”Brother Xing, that punch just now...”

The power of Xing Jintuo’s punch had been overwhelming.

To think a third-transformation Loose Immortal was smacked down in one blow?!

The punch didn’t leave the Crimson Fiend Demonic Sovereign fatally wounded, but the force of it did send him flying and then crashing to the ground. It could definitely kill a second-transformation Loose Immortal!

Xing Jintuo wasn’t even that old and was still considered a junior in the cultivation world. He had lost all of his cultivation in the Immortal Dao, but he had found an entirely new Dao and even attained such immense strength with it.

That confirmed one thing. In the Nine Mortal Realms, the Immortal Dao was not the only path to power!

Before this day, Fang Chen had only known of two heaven-reaching Daos: the True Immortal Dao and the Ghost God Dao. Now, there was one more—the Martial God Dao!

However... Fang Chen could sense that Xing Jintuo’s lifespan was rapidly being consumed.

If the Martial God Dao couldn’t grant lifespan, then it would fade like a flower that blooms for a fleeting moment—brilliant but short-lived.

Xing Jintuo said with a small smile, ”Sword Chief Fang, I’ve only taken the first step on this path, but its future remains shrouded in mist. I cannot see its end. If I had more years to live, perhaps I could explore it further. It’s a bit of a pity. You’re not suited to walk this road, but I hope that you’ve gained some insight into it today. Perhaps you can pass it on to someone destined for it one day. Martial warriors should have a place in the transcendent realm too. It shall begin with me, but it will not end with me.”

With those final words, Xing Jintuo sat down cross-legged, hands resting on his knees. His head slowly drooped as his life force drained away from his body.

A peaceful smile lingered on his lips. It was clear he had no regrets about his life.

Everyone stared in disbelief. ”He... He’s dead!?”

The martial artists present were especially sensitive to life force, and they could sense that Xing Jintuo gave off the same feeling as a rotting piece of dead wood. He had appeared to return to youth, but the transformation had been skin-deep. Internally, his body had already run its course.

Fang Chen sighed softly. ”I’m far inferior to you when it comes to the Martial God Dao... so you’ll have to teach it yourself.”

The others thought it was merely a respectful lament over Xing Jintuo’s passing. None of them noticed that Fang Chen’s gaze was fixed on the space behind Xing Jintuo’s body.

There, the spirit of a young Xing Jintuo was hovering silently with a dazed expression. Then he noticed that Fang Chen could see him.

”Sword Chief Fang, can you see me? Have I become a wandering ghost after death?” asked Xing Jintuo cautiously. He felt as light as mist; he was invisible and incorporeal.

Fang Chen smiled. ”With me here, you won’t be a wandering ghost.”

Everyone watched in shock as Fang Chen casually summoned a golden writing brush and wrote a long, ancient, complex script in midair. It was an Imperial Decree.

The technique was far beyond anything they could associate with martial arts. At that moment, awe filled their eyes as they stared at Fang Chen.

He instantly cast it into Xing Jintuo’s spiritual form. The others watched the script shoot into the void.

In the next moment, a familiar yet unsettling figure appeared from nothingness. Xing Jingtuo’s incorporeal and ethereal spirit had begun to take on a corporeal form.

”Grandmaster Xing!?”

The crowd froze, their expressions filling with fear. They looked at Xing Jintuo’s corpse and then at the new figure who looked exactly like him. Someone’s legs buckled in terror, thinking they had seen a ghost.

”What kind of... technique is this?”

The few cultivators from the Great Expansion Dao Sect looked at each other in alarm.

One of them muttered, ”Maybe it’s a Spiritual Attachment Technique. Xing Jintuo’s powers were abnormal. Perhaps he had already become something demonic, and Fang Chen has now refined him with a Spiritual Attachment Technique!”

”No wonder...”

They nodded in realization. They weren’t ignorant like the common folks; they’d seen plenty and quickly pieced together a logical explanation.

”This is...” Xing Jintuo uttered, looking down at his hands and the rest of his body. Then he looked back up at Fang Chen, his eyes filled with confusion.

Smiling, Fang Chen sent a voice transmission, ”Brother Xing, you’ve now entered the Ghost God Dao. Dying isn’t so easy anymore. You have all the time you need to continue studying the Martial God Dao. You can even gather disciples far and wide. Perhaps one day, in the Nine Mortal Realms, there will be a grand era of three-way supremacy.”

This Martial God Dao had shown him a glimmer of hope. He hoped that one day it could rival the dominance of the Spirit God Sect.

If there can be one Xing Jintuo today, then what about tomorrow? There could be a second Xing Jintuo, a third, or countless more! Even if none of them ever matched his breathtaking talent, the mere existence of such a Dao meant that there could be a new force capable of standing against the Spirit God Sect.

Xing Jintuo had gained such terrifying power in such a short time. The Martial God Dao might one day gather momentum and rival even the great immortal sects.

The Crimson Fiend Demonic Sovereign staggered to his feet. His head was reeling, and he was filled with a mix of fear and fury. He stared at Xing Jintuo, then he shot a venomous glare at Fairy Yu. In the end, he just shot into the sky, vanishing in a streak of light.

Moments later, the mysterious woman appeared again. She scanned the scene with a frown, then swiftly took off in pursuit of the Crimson Fiend Demonic Sovereign.

Everyone’s hearts pounded wildly as they watched the two people fly through the sky. Even the most powerful martial artists had never possessed such divine abilities!

However, they had witnessed several who did, all on the same day. One had been knocked out of the sky by a single punch from Xing Jintuo. Another had been obliterated with just a glance!

Fairy Yu sent a solemn voice transmission to Fang Chen. ”My lord, just now... That woman’s gaze caused a strange reaction in my Inverse Immortal Demonic Embryo. It seemed afraid.”

Her expression was grave.

Before Fang Chen could respond, the woman suddenly returned and appeared directly in front of him, staring at him without blinking.

Fairy Yu’s expression changed subtly. She suppressed a deep, inexplicable fear and immediately grabbed Fang Chen’s arm. Her large, round eyes were fixed warily on the mysterious woman.

”When I was pursuing the Crimson Fiend Demonic Sovereign earlier, I accidentally affected you. I’m glad to see you’re unharmed,” said the woman with a clear and melodious voice, like a divine tune descending from the heavens.

With that, she turned and once again flew off in the direction the demonic sovereign had gone and disappeared in the blink of an eye.