Immortal of the Nine Realms

Wary of Immortal Qingyu had said about the difference between an Ancient Immortal and a six-transformation immortal, Fang Chen didn’t rashly project his soul ahead. Instead, he relied on his Primordial Immortal Eyes to observe the scene on the platform.

Nearly all the cultivators present were focused on the platform, so Fang Chen’s gaze wasn’t conspicuous.

On the platform, one figure immediately caught Fang Chen’s eyes—Immortal Taixu.

Compared to his appearance at the Daotai Mountain Immortal Exchange, he appeared slightly younger. His disciple, Ji Gang, was also present beside him, but there was no sign of Immortal Xingyu.

It was likely that she hadn’t entered the Upper Three Realm yet and was still in the Ancient Desolate Realm, gathering resources like immortal crystals for Immortal Taixu’s cultivation.

The Loose Immortals on the platform were mostly centered around Immortal Taixu. A few individuals, whose auras weren’t as prominent, interacted with him in a way that suggested they were of equal rank. Those should be the seventh-transformation Ancient Immortals from Langgui Constellation.

The others were only occasionally asked to speak during conversations and did not dare to interrupt on their own.

”Daoist Hong, Daoist Fang, have you both made up your minds about whether or not to join forces with us? This time, our opponents are not weak,” Qin Zhen approached the two, interrupting Fang Chen’s thoughts.

He glanced around as he spoke, his eyes scanning the Dao Union Realm cultivators aboard the Immortal Boat. Each of them was outstanding. With a casual glance, Qin Zhen sensed several deep and unfathomable auras. He had no confidence in defeating even one of them.

The shadow of uncertainty loomed over his mind regarding this assessment.

Little Immortal Honglian, however, calmly replied, ”We’ve thought it through and won’t be joining you.”

”...I see.”

Qin Zhen nodded, still smiling. ”I hope you won’t regret today’s decision. In such a competitive environment, it’s very hard to stand out without joining forces.”

With that, he didn’t say more and led his group to the side to discuss their strategy.

For cultivators at their level, the assessment mainly focused on strength, methods, and—to a lesser extent—talent.

Talent could only serve as a supplementary factor to stand out. They didn’t believe that Little Immortal Honglian would be able to stand out in this assessment; in fact, someone with her attitude would likely attract hostility and could very well be eliminated before them.

The group waited for several days. During this time, the Loose Immortals, including Immortal Qingyu, took turns going to the platform. When they returned, they each brought back a jade token.

”This is the jade token of the Enlightenment God Palace. But it’s not for you right now. It’s a requirement for the assessment,” said Immortal Qingyu, handing Fang Chen the jade token. ”Every token contains a strand of basic spiritual energy, personally infused by Ancient Immortals. It cannot be imitated by ordinary means.”

He explained, ”Everyone else’s tokens also contain this spiritual energy. If you seize theirs and infuse it into your jade token, its aura will grow denser. After reaching a certain level, it changes color. The colors are as follows: bronze, silver, gold, and purple, in that order.

”Based on previous years, a bronze color gives you an eighty percent chance of becoming an external member. For safety, you can aim for silver, but you can imagine just how hard that is.

”If you succeed and join the Enlightenment God Palace, this jade token will serve as your proof of admission and will accompany you thereafter. Its color will also affect your future path in the sect.”

He paused for a moment, then continued, ”In the Demonic Fiend Mountain Range, there is an overwhelming amount of demonic qi, which gives birth to demonic fiends. These demonic fiends are possibly the souls of Dao Union Realm cultivators or Tribulation Realm cultivators who died there in previous years. They are mindless creatures without intelligence, but if they target you, it can turn into a battle to the death. If you’re tainted with demonic qi, it’s extremely difficult to cleanse without the intervention of a Loose Immortal. You need to be careful.”

Fang Chen nodded. After a moment, he asked, ”Master, if I successfully join the Enlightenment God Palace, how will it benefit the Qingyu Immortal Sect?”

Immortal Qingyu’s lips curled up slightly. ”I thought you would already know this. If you successfully join them, the territory where the Qingyu Immortal Sect resides will be under our control. At the very least, we can add several hundred spiritual mountains to our foundation.”

Fang Chen silently thought to himself that this would indeed be a huge change for the sect. It seemed that all the sects present were aiming for this. There were likely some other subtle benefits that Immortal Qingyu hadn’t mentioned.

”The assessment will last for half a year. You already know the rules—Tribulation Realm cultivators cannot attack those below the Tribulation Realm. The assessment centers around killing demonic fiends.”

The voice of Immortal Taixu slowly reverberated through their ears. As his voice faded, the light barrier began to tremble.

”Set off,” Immortal Qingyu said gravely.

In an instant, millions of cultivators began moving toward the Demonic Fiend Mountain Range.

Fang Chen and Little Immortal Honglian flew side by side. Both were incredibly fast, becoming part of the first batch to enter the Demonic Fiend Mountain Range. Once the millions of cultivators had entered, the trembling light barrier began to stabilize.

The two didn’t linger, as a chaotic battle was bound to erupt at the beginning. They pushed forward at incredible speeds, heading deep into the Demonic Fiend Mountain Range.

A cultivator’s methods could often be inferred from speed alone. Only two or three hundred people matched—or slightly surpassed—their speed. Among a million, that number was tiny.

Their strength likely rivaled Little Immortal Honglian’s, but she still possessed a special origin. With a few special techniques, she could outshine most of those present today.

As everyone soared through the air, they assessed one another. Most didn’t focus on Fang Chen and Little Immortal Honglian, but rather on seven young men and women whose aura was clearly stronger than the rest.

Little Immortal Honglian immediately identified a few people. ”The one who looks almost like a woman, wearing a purple Daoist robe, is Yu Wuxia, from the Radiant Divine Dao Sect.”

”The dull-faced one with ordinary looks should be Lin Yuan, from the Demonic Insect Immortal Sect.”

”And that woman is from one of the five legendary sects of the Langgui Constellation, specializing in formations. She is a disciple of the Thunderfire Immortal Sect, named Meng Qingling. I hear she controls the Thunderfire Immortal Sect’s most powerful offensive formation, the Seven Killing Celestial Soldier Thunderfire Formation.”

The five legendary sects referred to those that focused on pills, formations, artifacts, escape techniques, and illusions. Those were the five areas in which the Langgui Constellation’s sects had the highest attainments. Each of those five legendary sects was guarded by a half-step Ancient Immortal.

As she spoke, Fang Chen suddenly reached out with his hand, spiritual energy gathering into a large hand that pulled her to his side.

Little Immortal Honglian was momentarily stunned. Just as a look of surprise and anger appeared in her eyes, she saw the spot where she had been standing torn open by a dagger.

An ambush?

Little Immortal Honglian’s expression darkened slightly. She was confident such an attack couldn’t kill her, but it would certainly injure her.

The assessment had barely started, and someone had already set their sights on her?