Immortal of the Nine Realms

Nanming Ruyue and the others had captured over a dozen core members of the Rulai Monastery, along with their Immortal Boats. Even the non-core disciples of the Rulai Monastery weren’t spared. They, too, had been taken captives.

The number of captives was so large that even Fang Chen’s group was assigned to watch over 20 to 30 of them. Fortunately, the arrangement of captives followed certain rules—since Fang Chen and his companions were in the Tribulation Realm, they wouldn’t be tasked with guarding Ascension Realm captives. Thus, the 20-odd captives before them were at the Tribulation Realm.

As long as these captives wished to live, they would obediently await the future exchange of captives.

Lin Yuan, eager to gather information, struck up conversation after conversation with the captives, asking about the Rulai Monastery.

Fang Chen originally wanted to check out how Nanming Ruyue and the others handled the Rulai Monastery’s core disciples. He also wanted to find out whether the Immortal Boats they had seized were the so-called Formation Hearts.

Unfortunately, after the battle ended, Nanming Ruyue and the rest immediately set out at full speed. Under such circumstances, Fang Chen didn’t dare split his divine soul from his body, as that would be no different from suicide.

***

Another half year passed.

During this time, more and more core disciples from the Enlightenment God Palace joined their formation, and the fleet grew ever larger. There were now dozens of Black Dragon Formations.

Fang Chen glanced at Little Immortal Honglian and murmured as if to himself, ”I wonder just how many core disciples the Enlightenment God Palace has.”

”I bet not too many,” Lin Yuan said with yearning. ”If all their core disciples are like the ones we’ve met, how could there be many? Now I finally understand why they’re called core disciples. Captain, you’ve got to strive to become one too, then we’ll have a chance to make our mark across the Qingming!”

Yu Wuxia nodded. ”Compared to these core disciples, the lives of the cultivators we once knew seem like a joke.”

”Actually... the Enlightenment God Palace has many core disciples,” Little Immortal Honglian shared after a moment’s hesitation. ”After all, if they didn’t have a lot of core disciples, how could they control twenty-three Ancient Forbidden Zones? How could they have the strength to keep expanding outward, searching for new ones?”

”Many? How many is ’many’?” Meng Qingling asked instinctively.

”Probably close to a thousand,” Little Immortal Honglian replied.

A look of shock appeared on everyone’s faces.

Seeing the disbelief in their eyes, Little Immortal Honglian explained solemnly, ”A thousand core disciples might sound outrageous to you, but for the Upper Three Realms, it’s really not that many. Just a single battle over an Ancient Forbidden Zone might see hundreds of core cultivators thrown into the fray by the various powers. The Immortal Boats we’re riding—even those used by the core disciples—where do you think the forging materials came from? They most likely originate from those Ancient Forbidden Zones.”

”Seriously? How would you know that?” Meng Qingling asked, startled.

Everyone else also turned to look at Little Immortal Honglian.

She was silent for a few breaths before saying softly, ”You’d know if you read more. Long ago, there were no such Immortal Boats in the Upper Three Realms. Back then, even the core disciples of the Enlightenment God Palace were nothing like those of today. Their exploration of Qingming was nowhere near as vast or grand as it is now.”

The others still didn’t believe her, assuming it was only her speculation, but Fang Chen believed her. He suspected that Little Immortal Honglian’s knowledge came from Wang Chongsong.

Fang Chen thought to himself, The Formation Heart is the true goal of the Enlightenment God Palace, and perhaps also of Wang Chongsong. I just don’t know which faction he’s currently hiding within.

One day, the speed of their Immortal Boat formation slowed. They had encountered another formation, though the opposing side was far smaller in number than the Enlightenment God Palace’s fleet.

After a brief discussion between Nanming Ruyue and the other group’s leader, the Rulai Monastery captives were handed over, and part of their own prisoners were returned.

No battle took place this time. Both sides parted peacefully.

Coincidentally or not, one of the Loose Immortals who came to collect prisoners was Ji Tianjun. He personally came aboard Fang Chen’s Essence Long to take the captives away.

The exchange had taken place a while ago, yet the fleet had not yet resumed travel. Instead, Little Immortal Honglian was summoned away by another cultivator, who said an immortal wanted to meet her.

Watching her departing figure, Lin Yuan and the others couldn’t help but whisper among themselves.

”Could it be a non-core cultivator who once came out of the Honglian Immortal Sect?”

”Probably. Must be some senior of hers.”

”Looks like her background isn’t simple after all.”

Meanwhile, Little Immortal Honglian arrived at the Black Dragon where Ji Tianjun was.

”Cousin, you know this Tribulation Realm woman?” Ji Cheng asked casually, seeing that Ji Tianjun had especially summoned her.

”I had some acquaintance with her sect’s elders when I was in the Langgui Constellation,” Ji Tianjun answered lightly. ”I happened to see her, so I called her over for a chat.”

Ji Cheng thought nothing of it and flew toward Nanming Ruyue’s Immortal Boat.

Ji Tianjun glanced at Little Immortal Honglian and said indifferently, ”Come with me.”

The two entered a quiet chamber.

Ji Tianjun set up several layers of restrictive spells. After confirming that they were the only ones present, he spoke a sentence in a language Fang Chen didn’t understand.

Little Immortal Honglian casually responded in reply, using the same language.

Ji Tianjun’s expression eased slightly. He switched back to the common tongue of the Nine Mortal Realms.

”Which family are you from?”

Little Immortal Honglian was silent for a few breaths before she replied, ”I come from the Abyss of Demons.”

She paused, then spoke several syllables again in that unknown language.

Ji Tianjun’s expression suddenly changed dramatically, and he replied in a rapid string of the same unintelligible words.

Little Immortal Honglian only looked at him coolly. ”Aren’t you afraid the Yang Gods will notice you speaking that tongue here? Not all of them have lost their memories.”

Ji Tianjun hurriedly restrained his excitement and actually half-knelt before her. His face showed reverence, even awe. ”Your Highness, Princess.”

He marveled, ”I never imagined that even someone like you would reincarnate into this realm.”

Princess?

Fang Chen was stunned. He had suspected that Little Immortal Honglian’s identity was unusual, but not that unusual.

For someone like Ji Tianjun, a third-transformation Immortal, to kneel willingly before her with such genuine respect in his eyes was beyond anything he had expected.

”Why shouldn’t I come?” Little Immortal Honglian frowned slightly. She said coolly, ”We are not supposed to meet. Things here are far worse than what was originally planned. If you have something to say, say it quickly, and then send me back.”

”Your Highness... is our homeland truly in peril, that even you were forced to reincarnate here?” Ji Tianjun asked cautiously, carefully watching her expression.

When he saw her face flicker with displeasure, he hastily added, ”After I recovered my memories, I missed home dearly. I only wanted to know what has become of it.”

”When I left, the situation was indeed dire.” Little Immortal Honglian sighed softly. ”Progress here has been too slow. Several critical problems remain unresolved. I hope you can accelerate your efforts. Once everything is settled, we will be reborn anew. The scenery here is far more beautiful than our homeland... I wish to remain here, not merely to live a single lifetime.”

Fang Chen felt that what he had gained this time was truly enormous.

It seemed that Little Immortal Honglian’s and Ji Tianjun’s homeland was in grave danger, perhaps even under attack from an external enemy.