Immortal of the Nine Realms

As they prepared to set out for the Ancient Forbidden Zone, Yu Wuxia and the others felt a mixture of apprehension and excitement. The recent success of the Tiger King Expedition Team in obtaining an immortal herb had deeply motivated them all.

”Captain, shouldn’t our expedition team have a name?” Meng Qingling asked with a bright smile.

”What do you think it should be called?” Fang Chen asked casually.

”I think we should call it the Thunderfire Expedition Team,” Meng Qingling said. ”Don’t you think it sounds so bold, so vigorous? It exudes unstoppable momentum!”

Lin Yuan chuckled. ”Why not just call it the Qingling Expedition Team instead? ’Thunderfire’ sounds too much like your sect. The captain leads the team. How can the name be tied to your Sect?”

”How about Radiant Eyes?” Yu Wuxia suggested thoughtfully, glancing meaningfully at Fang Chen.

He was confident Fang Chen would approve. After all, Fang Chen possessed the Radiant Divine Eye and was, in a sense, someone like him.

”Didn’t expect Fellow Daoist Yu to be that way too...” Lin Yuan muttered with a shake of his head.

Little Immortal Honglian seemed to be seriously considering names, ignoring their playful argument.

”Nine Realms,” Fang Chen said suddenly.

”What?” everyone asked, not quite catching it.

Fang Chen smiled. ”Our team’s name. Let’s call it the Nine Realms Expedition Team. What do you think?”

”Nine Realms... the Nine Realms Expedition Team?”

Their eyes lit up.

Wasn’t the Mortal Realm itself divided into nine great realms?

The Nine Realms Expedition Team—the name carried a grand scope.

”I like it,” Lin Yuan said at once.

Little Immortal Honglian nodded as well, visibly relieved. Naming things was clearly not her strong suit.

”The Nine Realms Expedition Team... sounds good,” she said softly.

”Then it’s settled,” Meng Qingling said. ”Let’s hope no one else has already taken that name.”

”Now that we’ve decided on a name, we should also establish some rules, starting with how we’ll handle our explorations,” Fang Chen said. ”Here’s my idea. If our expedition targets a specific area based on someone’s information, the person who provides that lead will have sole rights to the profits from it, provided they pay the rest of the team a fee for following them into the Ancient Forbidden Zone.”

”If, on the other hand, we find something together during general exploration, the proceeds, after deducting the mandatory tribute, will be distributed based on each member’s contribution.”

”Captain,” Lin Yuan asked, ”so if I learn through my own channels that there’s something valuable in a certain part of the Ancient Forbidden Zone, I can pay everyone a set amount of spirit stones, and whatever I gain there will belong entirely to me?”

Fang Chen nodded lightly. ”That’s exactly right.”

Everyone fell silent, weighing the pros and cons of such a rule.

Meng Qingling spoke up. ”Let me add one more clause. If, during an expedition based on someone’s lead, we encounter danger that will threaten their life, that member has the right to suspend the exploration.”

The others nodded immediately. The first rule of any expedition was survival.

”You’re all the founding members of the Nine Realms Expedition Team,” Fang Chen said with a smile. ”So I’ll give each of you an elder’s token. Aside from my own veto right, the four of you can collectively decide on key matters of the team’s direction.”

”If there’s ever a tie, I’ll make the final decision.”

”Elder’s tokens? Heh, that means we’re elders now!” Meng Qingling said with a grin. ”I can already imagine the day when our Nine Realms Expedition Team becomes as big as the Tiger King Expedition Team. When that happens, we’ll all be major figures in our own right!”

”Fellow Daoist Fang,” Little Immortal Honglian said suddenly, ”do we already know where to go?”

”A direction?”

Everyone turned toward Fang Chen in surprise.

”That’s right,” he said. ”I recently came across some information that could lead to considerable profit, but all of that profit will belong to me personally. I’ll simply pay each of you the agreed fee. You can choose whether to join or not.”

He smiled. ”Fifty high-grade spirit stones per person for this trip.”

”Fifty?”

Four people meant two hundred spirit stones in total. Whatever Fang Chen sought was clearly worth far more than that.

”So even if the expedition bears no fruit, we’ll still receive those spirit stones?” Yu Wuxia asked, thinking carefully. ”Doesn’t that mean the captain alone bears the risk of loss?”

”Exactly,” Fang Chen said. ”And if any of you later post a similar mission, it will follow the same rule. To earn big, one must first accept the risk of losing big. It’s only fair.”

”Fifty high-grade spirit stones might be a bit much, though...” Lin Yuan said awkwardly.

He sent a quiet sound transmission to the others. ”If we come back empty-handed from our first expedition, and the captain even loses two hundred spirit stones, wouldn’t that be rather... embarrassing?”

Fang Chen noticed Lin Yuan’s hesitation and smiled. ”Rules are rules. Since I set them, that means I’m confident in this venture, and the potential reward will be well worth it. You only need to decide whether to come. Don’t worry about the rest.”

”I’m in,” Meng Qingling said quickly. ”Fifty high-grade spirit stones isn’t a small sum. It’s enough for me to break through to the Tribulation Realm!”

”I’ll come too,” Little Immortal Honglian said softly. ”Even though we’ve set our own rules, the merit we earn from contributions will still be shared among us. That’s part of the Enlightenment God Palace’s system—if we want to climb higher, merit matters more than spirit stones.”

”Oh, that’s right,” Lin Yuan said at once. ”Then count me in, too. I heard merit has special uses within the Enlightenment God Palace.”

”The Enlightenment God Palace wouldn’t create such a system without reason,” Little Immortal Honglian added with a faint smile, glancing at Lin Yuan.

Her tone seemed casual, but her eyes gleamed with subtle meaning.

Fang Chen, having observed her closely, could tell she already knew something about the true uses of merit. ℴ

Since everyone had agreed to go, Yu Wuxia naturally wouldn’t back out either.

With everything decided, they wasted no time. That very day, they departed for Ancient Forbidden Zone No.157.

In a tower elsewhere, Lin Dong stood with his hands behind his back, gazing at the countless Immortal Boats sailing through the sky, when his expression suddenly shifted.

A second-transformation immortal approached him. It was Wu Zhen, the overseer of the Hall of Merits.

”Your new disciple,” said Wu Zhen calmly, ”is already preparing to explore the 157th Forbidden Zone. Seems he’s got quite the ambition.”

”To have earned a bronze jade token, he must indeed have both skill and ambition,” Lin Dong said with a smile. ”As long as he can stay alive, perhaps one day he’ll be like me, guarding his own territory.”

Wu Zhen sighed inwardly. The man before him had started from far humbler origins, yet now his cultivation and future potential far surpassed his own.

Wu Zhen said, ”Fellow Daoist Lin, with your accumulated merit, shouldn’t you be close to exchanging for a fourth-transformation immortal herb?”

”I’m still a bit short,” Lin Dong replied, smiling faintly. ”If the youngsters keep performing well, perhaps within ten years I’ll be able to advance.”

”So long as nothing major happens, once the time comes, your ascension will come naturally,” Wu Zhen said, a trace of envy in his tone.

”Is the local guardian present?” a sudden voice echoed from the void.

A pitch-black Immortal Boat had appeared out of nowhere, hovering above the holy land.