Immortal of the Nine Realms

Little Immortal Honglian looked conflicted. That alone showed that—over the past thirty years, and especially during the last few months—she had come to acknowledge Fang Chen in her heart.

While she was struggling with her thoughts, Fang Chen quietly observed her. Though with his eyes closed, Little Immortal Honglian didn’t notice.

Looks like not everyone from the demonic side is as feisty as Fairy Yu. Little Immortal Honglian’s personality seems rather gentle.

To Fang Chen, this was undoubtedly a good thing. The gentler her personality, the easier it would be for him to extract information from her.

After much hesitation, Little Immortal Honglian sighed softly and said, ”Daoist Fang, you and I... we really cannot become Dao Companions. My situation is a bit complicated. For me, a Dao Companion... may be something of a luxury.”

Complicated? Why? Does she think that because she has broken the veil of cognition, she can’t be with someone who hasn’t? Or does she believe that cultivators who hadn’t broken the veil aren’t considered Demons?

Or maybe her human memories outweigh her demonic ones, and now she feels she isn’t a proper human cultivator, so she refuses to form ties with human cultivators?

Fang Chen smiled. ”Daoist Hong, there’s no need to be so serious. I was just making a suggestion. If we can’t be Dao Companions, we can at least be friends. Isn’t the path of cultivation one where mutual support allows us to go farther?”

Little Immortal Honglian visibly relaxed. She really didn’t know how to respond if he had insisted strongly on the matter.

She smiled and said, ”What you said makes perfect sense.”

***

Over the next few months, the two traveled to many places and witnessed a confrontation between a Tribulation Realm cultivator and a Demonic Fiend.

This particular demon had similarities to the ghosts from the Underworld. Fang Chen specifically sought out several demons to fight and eventually confirmed that they were essentially ghosts from the Underworld. But these ”Underworld ghosts” had lived in the human world, born from the souls of the deceased.

The most likely reason was that when these beings died, their souls couldn’t pass into the Underworld and were forced to roam the Mortal Realm. As their numbers grew, they eventually began devouring one another like the wandering souls of the Floating Pagoda Realm. This was a way for them to replenish their Yin Lifespan.

However, devouring other souls corrupted their minds. Those who won and devoured another ghost would grow stronger, but at the cost of their sanity. They would turn aggressive and bloodthirsty.

The Yin energy in the Demonic Fiend Mountain Range was too dense. In many ways, the environment was similar to that of the Floating Pagoda Realm.

As a result, many wandering souls had been drawn here, and due to the unique environment, demons akin to Underworld ghosts had been born.

Immortal Qingyu had been quite wary of the Demonic Fiend Mountain Range. One of the key reasons for that was that these demons retained the special ability of the wandering souls. As long as they wished, cultivators couldn’t detect their presence. Only when they launched a hunt would they reveal themselves, often catching unsuspecting cultivators off guard.

Fang Chen suddenly had a thought. He looked at Little Immortal Honglian and said, ”Daoist Hong, in the Langgui Constellation, are there many places like the Demonic Fiend Mountain Range?”

”Places like the Demonic Fiend Mountain Range?”

Little Immortal Honglian thought carefully for a moment, then shook her head. ”No, at least not that I heard of. But I have heard other cultivators mention that there are demons in other constellations.”

Fang Chen fell silent, deep in thought.

His gaze drifted deep into the Demonic Fiend Mountain Range.

Why would demons be born here? Why aren’t there any other places in the Langgui Constellation?

If something exists, there has to be a reason for it. That’s something Fang Chen firmly believed.

Thinking of the sealed Yellow Springs Road and the proliferation of demons here, a sudden hypothesis formed in his mind.

Could the sealed Yellow Springs Road be located deep within the Demonic Fiend Mountain Range?

That would explain why countless wandering souls drifted here, only to find themselves unable to enter the Yellow Springs. They became contaminated by the Yin energy here, devoured each other, and gave birth to the demons that cultivators now refer to as Demonic Fiends

If I can open the Yellow Springs path here, I could access all sorts of resources from the underworld... Not only would it greatly benefit my current situation, but the underworld itself would benefit. The only question is whether the corresponding city of the Langgui Constellation is located within the Lesser Underworld or the Floating Pagoda Realm.”

”It’s Fang Chen! Run!”

A startled voice came from the distance, breaking Fang Chen’s train of thought.

He looked up to see Little Immortal Honglian already turning back with a frustrated expression.

”They ran too fast,” she sighed.

A wry smile couldn’t help but form as she glanced at Fang Chen. ”Your infamy has spread to every cultivator by now. Everyone runs when they see you. We won’t be getting any more strands at this rate.”

”That’s fine. It’s not like we need more anyway,” replied Fang Chen, chuckling as he glanced at the jade token at his waist, now glowing with a bronze hue.

He already had around thirty thousand strands of spiritual energy, all earned by repeatedly robbing Lin Yuan, Yu Wuxia, and the like.

He hadn’t bothered much with ordinary cultivators, but many of his robberies had been witnessed by passing cultivators, and the news spread fast.

As for Little Immortal Honglian’s jade token, her own strands had long surpassed ten thousand. By the time the assessment ended, she would likely break twenty thousand and receive a bronze jade token.

Fang Chen said, ”My cultivation seems a bit unusual recently. I need to find a place to go into seclusion. How do you plan to proceed from here? If you stop now, you should already qualify to pass the assessment.”

Little Immortal Honglian pondered for a moment, then replied, ”Ten thousand spiritual energy is still not enough to be safe. I will find a way to gather another five thousand.”

Fang Chen nodded. ”Be careful. The Divine Light Sect has been planning to take revenge on us recently.”

Little Immortal Honglian’s expression grew more serious. ”Understood.”

Fang Chen found a secluded spot and set up several layers of protective formations. He had Fang Renjian personally guard his physical body before his divine soul separated and flew deep into the mountains.

If Fang Tianzun and Fang Xuanyang appeared, their presence would surely be detected by powerful figures like the Immortal Taixu. Among the cultivators in charge of the assessment this time, besides the seventh-transformation Immortal Taixu, there were a few fifth and sixth transformation cultivators.

None were easy to deal with, and they had to ensure that no Loose Immortals entered the Demonic Fiend Mountain Range to assist in cheating. Only Fang Renjian’s presence was undetectable to them, something Fang Chen was quite confident about.

His divine soul flew swiftly, and in the blink of an eye, it had penetrated deep into the mountains.

During this process, he witnessed countless cultivators fighting for the spiritual energy in the jade tokens, their struggles turning deadly.

Many Tribulation Realms cultivators were also fighting for the meager four spots, battling against the demons.

The deeper he went, the denser the Yin energy became, and the more demons appeared. Compared to the demons at the outer edges, the ones deeper in the mountains were all at least at the Ascension Realm in strength.

These demons seemed to retain some of their intellect, aware that the outside world was dangerous. They avoided leaving their territory, especially if they encountered cultivators.

At this moment, Fang Chen was not traveling in the ”Path of Yin” state, so the demons could not perceive him at all.

After an unknown amount of time, Fang Chen suddenly stopped.

In front of him, an illusory mountain appeared, flickering between existence and nonexistence!