Immortal of the Nine Realms

Lin Yuan and Meng Qingling were currently chatting through voice transmissions.

”Why has the captain been so gloomy lately?”

”Seems like he’s been like this ever since he spoke with Senior Lin.”

”Was he scolded? But in the last match, the captain defeated a silver jade token holder like Yu Tiange...”

Little Immortal Honglian and Yu Wuxia kept a wary eye on their surroundings, though such vigilance was pointless. If a battle really broke out, the only thing they could do was pour spiritual energy into the ship.

Meanwhile, Lin Dong’s words kept echoing in Fang Chen’s ears. He couldn’t stop sighing.

Possible foreign enemies... and the Immortal Boat Formation is prepared for them...

The cultivation path of the Upper Three Realms was truly ahead of its time, and their high command was broadening their horizons, ultimately creating a super-weapon like the Immortal Boat Formation.

Their suspicions might not be misplaced. After all, in a vast, boundless universe, there very well could be unknown enemies. Or rather, there had to be unknown enemies.

Their planning showed far-reaching strategic vision. It was worthy of respect.

But they probably had no idea that they themselves were the unknown enemy of someone else.

If one day everyone recovered memories of their past lives and discovered they were actually demons who had chosen to reincarnate in the Nine Mortal Realms to plunder it, then the Immortal Boat Formation would become the final straw that crushed the old man and the others.

Because of that, Fang Chen, too, had to seek control of the Formation Heart and master the Immortal Boat Formation.

He hadn’t known the situation in the Upper Three Realms before, but now that he did, he had to start planning ahead.

If you know your enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.

Fang Chen’s mindset had shifted. He realized that even if he developed quietly and reached the eighth or even the ninth transformation, a ninth-transformation immortal piloting an Immortal Boat Formation could blast him into pieces with a single attack.

There’s another viable path. If I can lead the core disciples of the Enlightenment God Palace—or those of other powers—to the Lower Six Realms, I can drag them into the Underworld and turn them into Ghost Gods. That way, I would have indirectly gained control of the Immortal Boat Formation.

The plan sounds feasible, but it’s hard to implement.Every move a core disciple makes is under scrutiny. Getting them out of the Upper Three Realms alone won’t be easy. Still... I have to try.

”Captain, it’s starting!” shouted Lin Yuan suddenly.

Fang Chen didn’t need the reminder. He had already felt the vessel tremble from Li Shanzi activating the Immortal Boat Formation.

Without a word, everyone started channeling spiritual power into the Essence Long, which then funneled that power through its core into Li Shanzi’s Black Dragon.

At some point, a dozen Immortal Boat Formations had appeared in the nearby starry void. The leading formation was terrifyingly large, twice the size of a normal one, and all of them shared a common feature. Each was a Thousand-Armed Guanyin.

The two sides didn’t start fighting immediately, but instead began negotiating.

Then, everyone saw Li Shanzi and the others exchange the captured Yuan Guang for a pale female cultivator at the second transformation.

As soon as she returned to their side, she threw herself into the arms of a core disciple. The core disciple glared at the largest Thousand-Armed Guanyin Formation opposite them with venomous hatred, eyes blazing with fury.

”We’re exchanging captives? No fighting? Works for me.” Lin Yuan blurted out.

”Who said no fighting? The moment the exchange ends is when the fighting begins,” Fang Chen said casually. ”Get your spirit stones ready to replenish your power at any time. Don’t forget the pills. This one might be a war of attrition.”

They had only seven Black Dragons, which meant seven Black Dragon Formations. The Rulai Monastery had over a dozen.

The numbers didn’t match.

But Fang Chen felt that since the Fifth Senior Brother could command Li Shanzi’s allegiance, he must have a few cards up his sleeve.

Perhaps he is one of those geniuses Lin Dong spoke of, the ones who can wield Formation Immortal Arts and become one with a Formation Heart?

Sure enough, it was as Fang Chen had said. As soon as the exchange ended, the battle erupted.

This time, Li Shanzi did not merge with Ji Sheng. They fought separately.

With Nanming Ruyue as the center, seven Black Dragon Formations clashed in the void against more than a dozen Thousand-Armed Guanyin Formations.

The terrifying tremors filled those below Loose Immortality with the constant fear of imminent death.

If they were actually fighting personally, they might have felt better. As it was, they were nothing more than a patch of dragon scales on the Black Dragon Formation.

While channeling power, Fang Chen observed the clash between formations.

Li Shanzi’s Black Dragon Formation fought fiercely, but so far had only mobilized the formation’s inherent power. He had not displayed the Formation Immortal Art Lin Dong spoke of.

”Even like this, it has the power of a half-step Ancient Immortal, but Li Shanzi can’t summon this strength at will; only under special conditions. By comparison, a real half-step Ancient Immortal is more stable and straightforward.

”But within the Nine Mortal Realms, the number of half-step Ancient Immortals is probably fewer than the number of ship formations each power can field...”

Aboard the Black Dragon, Li Shanzi’s face had gone pale. A strange power surged from within him, linking him to the Black Dragon’s core.

Pressed by two Thousand-Armed Guanyin Formations, he had been on the back foot. In a short time, over a hundred Immortal Boats had been obliterated, which, in effect, weakened his formation.

Li Shanzi gritted his teeth. ”I can already control 4,000 boats! I should have the qualifications to perform a Formation Immortal Art. Why... why can’t I activate it yet...?”

His gaze subconsciously swept over his nearby team members.

Those first, second, third, fourth, and even fifth-transformation Immortals were his trusted followers who had advanced step by step with him to this day. Even now, facing the deadly siege of two Immortal Boat formations, with the risk of death hanging over them, they voiced no complaint. Instead, they continued to burn away their meager stores of immortal essence without pause.

The number of immortal crystals consumed each moment was terrifying.

For Loose Immortals, immortal essence was essentially lifespan—the two were almost equivalent.

Ordinary Loose Immortals would never squander their immortal essence like this.

Just then, a Thousand-Armed Guanyin Formation suddenly erupted with dazzling divine light. A razor-sharp hand speared straight through the belly of the Black Dragon Formation.

With that single strike, hundreds of core ships were annihilated.

Fang Chen and the others saw it clearly as well, since they were not far from it.

”Holy shit! I don’t wanna die! Can Core Disciple Li hold the line or not?!” Lin Yuan cursed wildly, pouring spiritual energy into the formation like a madman.

At that moment, a voice suddenly rang in everyone’s ears. ”Sword of Annihilation!”

They saw the Black Dragon Formation under Nanming Ruyue explode with a single sword shadow.

”Formation Immortal Art?! Sword of Annihilation?! You’re Nanming Ruyue?!”

A clearly terrified voice came from the Thousand-Armed Formations, shrill with terror.

Then, the battle was over. All Thousand-Armed Guanyin Formations ceased movement.

”We surrender!”

But it was already too late. The largest Thousand-Armed Guanyin Formation was cleaved into ash by that one sword.

Thousands of Immortal Boats—along with countless cultivators aboard, some possibly fifth or fourth transformations—were all slain by that one strike.

Fang Chen blinked. ”What power... Lin Dong wasn’t exaggerating.”