Immortal of the Nine Realms

At Cangyun Sect, Fang Chen and the others had just returned when they saw Dongfang Haojie and his wife, along with several of the old flood dragon’s juniors, preparing to go out.

”Eh? Elder Fang, you’ve just come down from the mountain?” Dongfang Haojie asked in surprise.

”You’re heading down the mountain?” Fang Chen asked instead of answering.

Dongfang Haojie nodded. ”Yes, I heard there’s a big fair at Qingyuan Market. We thought we’d go join in the fun.”

Fang Chen smiled. ”Wait a few days. There might be some trouble in the next couple of days.”

Rather than being alarmed, Dongfang Haojie’s expression lit up. He hurried closer and asked in a low voice, ”Is someone coming to make trouble for our sect again? You can’t keep something like that to yourself. My wife and I haven’t had a proper fight in a while. We’re practically rusting over here. Will we get a chance to stretch our muscles?”

Long Wu shot Fang Chen a helpless look.

”Probably not,” answered Fang Chen after a moment of thought.

Then, he said with certainty, ”If there’s no chance for you to act, there’s no chance for me either.”

Dongfang Haojie looked disappointed. At that moment, Long Wu had already heard from Fang Zhixue and the others what had happened down the mountain. While comforting Hua Yuhe, she also cursed fiercely in the direction of the Duan Family’s territory.

Everyone was furious when they heard of Hua Yuhe’s ordeal, itching to draw their swords and rush over immediately.

Dongfang Haojie lowered his voice and said, ”Only killed one of their Golden Core Realm disciples? That means they’ll come for revenge. I get it, you plan to use them to establish our prestige!”

The Duan Family had considerable prestige in Cang Mountain, being one of the top factions.

Although the Cangyun Sect had established itself during this period, there were still occasional rumors going around. Quite a few Cang Mountain cultivators were cursing them behind their backs.

If they could make an example out of the Duan Family, then for a long time to come, the Cangyun Sect wouldn’t have to deal with such people.

”By the way, just now a senior happened to pass by and met with someone here. The two of them are chatting inside, and it seems they’re getting along quite well.” Dongfang Haojie remembered something and quickly reported it to Fang Chen.

Fang Chen’s eyes moved. Anyone the old flood dragon was willing to chat idly with had to be either a fourth transformation or a third transformation Immortal.

If it were a second-transformation Immortal, they’d have been dismissed in a few words.

Long Wu, still cursing the Duan Family to high heaven to vent for Hua Yuhe, noticed people in the distance. She said, ”Dear, someone’s coming.”

Dongfang Haojie eagerly turned and saw a large group of cultivators approaching, their ill intentions as clear as day. Their auras were all impressive, but they were mostly in the Middle Three Realms. Only a few were in the Upper Three Realms.

Such a lineup, even in Cang Mountain, was enough to make all its cultivators tremble.

At this moment, their commotion was already causing great wariness among Cang Mountain’s factions.

They didn’t seem to intend to hide their arrival; in fact, they seemed to be letting the situation develop. Duan Feizhan didn’t suppress his own aura in the slightest.

The pressure from an Ascension Realm cultivator pressed on the hearts of the Cang Mountain factions like a towering mountain, making even breathing difficult.

”Are those... the Duan Family cultivators?”

”No, wait, there are also Guangyuan Hall cultivators mixed in there....”

”The man leading them... that’s Duan Feizhan, right, the Duan Family Patriarch?”

”Hiss...”

”What are they here for?”

”I heard from a friend that the Cangyun Sect offended the Duan Family in the market....”

In moments, Duan Feizhan and his group arrived at the Cangyun Sect’s entrance.

Xu Gaohu was positioned at the rear of the group, eyed closely by several Duan Family cultivators. His expression was grim; he wanted to send Fang Chen a sound transmission but feared Duan Feizhan might notice and kill him on the spot.

Wei Chen spotted Fang Chen immediately. A faint smile spread across his face, remembering Fang Chen’s unyielding attitude at the foot of the mountain. He couldn’t wait to see Fang Chen’s face as he begged for mercy.

Just then, two figures emerged from the Cangyun Sect, chatting and laughing.

Duan Feizhan was about to speak when he suddenly froze.

Xu Dongjiang’s expression changed slightly. Thinking he’d imagined it, he rubbed his eyes and looked again. Soon, his face turned deathly pale.

Peng Cheng, as a Dao Union Realm cultivator of the Ice God Sect, had followed his sect’s patriarch on travels before and had seen much of the world. Precisely because of that, he recognized at a glance the identity of the man speaking with the old flood dragon, and his heart thumped violently.

Within Daotai Mountain’s territory, there were many markets like Qingyuan Market—some weaker, some far stronger.

The man before them came from a market far, far stronger than Qingyuan, known as the Dongsheng Market.

Unlike Qingyuan’s fragmented control, Dongsheng Market had a proper lord. That man they were seeing was that very man, a third-transformation Loose Immortal named Zhu Tongshu!

”Fellow Daoist Duan, you didn’t mention that Senior Zhu Tongshu was at the Cangyun Sect,” Peng Cheng sent a voice transmission, his tone solemn.

Duan Feizhan finally confirmed he wasn’t mistaken. The person in front of him was indeed Zhu Tongshu, the Dongsheng Market’s Master. Cold dread welled up in his chest, and he didn’t know how to answer.

Xu Dongjiang also sent a transmission. ”Why is Senior Zhu Tongshu here!?”

Duan Feizhan’s face was extremely ugly.

Why?! How the hell would I know?!

He still didn’t reply, just stood there dazed.

”Daoist Zhu, these are all my juniors. What do you think of my Cangyun Sect?” the old flood dragon beamed, sweeping his gaze over Fang Chen and the others.

Zhu Tongshu glanced casually, then broke into a warm smile. ”Your sect’s disciples are all outstanding talents. It is their great fortune that you’re the one taking charge here, Senior.”

What the—Senior?!

Duan Feizhan and the others felt their throats go dry.

Did they hear that right just now?

The old flood dragon chuckled, exchanged a few more polite words with Zhu Tongshu, then sent him off.

But Zhu Tongshu’s gaze happened to sweep over the gathered crowd—he paused upon seeing Xu Dongjiang.

He pointed at Xu Dongjiang. ”You are...?”

Xu Dongjiang hurried forward, bowed deeply, and said, ”Junior Xu Dongjiang, my ancestor is Xu Guangyuan.”

”Oh, so you are a disciple under Guangyuan.” Zhu Tongshu nodded with a smile. ”I was just passing by Qingyuan Market this time, with other matters at hand, so I didn’t visit you guys. How is Guangyuan’s health recently? It should be fine, right? With his aptitude, after more tempering, he might yet have a chance to advance to the second transformation.”

”M-my ancestor is in good health. Thank you for your concern, Senior,” Xu Dongjiang replied respectfully.

Turning to the old flood dragon, Zhu Tongshu said with a smile, ”Senior, their ancestor is a first-transformation Loose Immortal named Xu Guangyuan, a junior of mine. If you ever need someone to lend a hand around Qingyuan, he’d be a good choice.”

Xu Dongjiang trembled, his waist bending even lower.

Duan Feizhan felt a chill run through his whole body. He dropped his gaze and stared fixedly at his toes.

Peng Cheng’s back was already drenched in cold sweat.

The old flood dragon waved with a smile. ”What would I need to call on a first-transformation Loose Immortal for? If you’ve got other matters, be on your way.”

Zhu Tongshu cupped his hands with a cheeky smile. ”You are absolutely right, Senior. Then I will take his leave.”

After giving Xu Dongjiang one final glance, Zhu Tongshu vanished into the sky.

The old flood dragon looked from Duan Feizhan and his group to Xu Dongjiang, then turned to Fang Chen and asked, ”What are they doing here?”

Everyone trembled at once. Xu Dongjiang hurriedly bowed and said, ”I heard rumors of someone attacking disciples of Cangyun Sect, Senior, so I came to investigate the matter personally.”