Immortal of the Nine Realms

Fang Chen smiled faintly, ”That outsider has already returned to dust and ash. You wouldn’t actually think I would still keep her around, would you?”

Lu Fengshen barked in anger, ”Impossible! How could her soul scatter so easily? This matter is of vital importance!”

Jinyang smiled faintly. ”Indeed. As Monarch Yan, you ought to possess the vision of one. You wouldn’t easily let her soul disperse. The bones of your clan members are all quite hard. If you don’t hand her over, I will just come and take her myself.”

At that moment, another streak of flowing light charged toward him once more. Motian Dizang had struck yet again.

Jinyang’s expression darkened. This time, his counterattack carried even greater force. Motian Dizang failed to last even a single round before being sent flying again.

The Yin energy on Fang Chen fluctuated even more violently. Internal injuries had already begun to form and congest inside him.

Fang Chen could not resist transmitting to Motian Dizang, who intended to charge again, ”Don’t attack anymore. It’s very difficult for someone at the Second Step of the Limit Breaking Realm to defeat someone at the Third Step. Also, at this rate, I’d probably die before you do.”

Motian Dizang’s expression darkened. ”Then what else can we do? If you refuse to hand the person over to him, he will kill you all the same, and I will die with you.”

Fang Chen glanced at the Eighteen Heavens Prison Tower; its aura was gradually returning to tranquility.

”Help me obtain the Eighteen Heavens Prison Tower. I have a way to deal with him.”

Motian Dizang felt somewhat suspicious. ”That thing? Before all the trump cards were revealed, it was certainly a major card. But right now, I’m sure you’re well aware that it doesn’t offer much help to the overall situation.”

Fang Chen did not offer too much explanation. He simply answered, ”I am Monarch Yan. There are some things only I would understand.”

Shao Mengyuan had already led the God-Slaying Army to stand alongside the Dragon God Formation, shielding the space between Jinyang and Fang Chen.

”Are you all going to join forces with Saint Long to obstruct me?” Jinyang fixed his gaze on Shao Mengyuan. ”The Demon Race should not meddle in this matter.”

”You are about to uncover the very last foundation of the Demon Race, and you still expect us not to meddle?” Shao Mengyuan pointed the God-Slaying Sword at Jinyang from afar. ”Do you know the origin of this sword? It can kill you.”

Jinyang looked at the God-Slaying Sword imperceptibly, then smiled faintly. ”It certainly can, but that also depends on whose hands it is in. In yours, it cannot.”

Lu Fengshen, the first emperor of the Black Sun Empire, and Shi Xinghai had all led the experts under their command to stand on Jinyang’s side as well. Judging from how Motian Dizang had repeatedly suffered defeat at his hands, the strength of the two sides had already visibly tilted.

However, this occasion was clearly the most critical turning point for the situation of the Nine Realms. Even if the likes of Chen Feifei wanted to retreat, they had no path left behind them.

Looking at the group of fiercely staring combatants before him, a trace of faint disdain could not help but surface in Jinyang’s eyes.

”You’re all mantises trying to stop a chariot, completely overestimating your own strength.” He paused. ”Everyone, it’s time for you to come out. Having slept for so long, isn’t today exactly what you’ve been waiting for?”

Yin energy seemingly swept around Jinyang. One by one, surges of churning Yin energy parted to both sides, and over a dozen people walked out from within in perfect unison.

At a single glance, Fang Chen recognized three of them: Saint Heifo, Saint Chenxiang, and Saint Luoxue from the Nether Ruins era. Their attires were exactly the same as back then, but their auras were highly similar to Jinyang’s. They also had a wisp of dark qi running under their skin.

He was extremely unfamiliar with the others, but their cultivation levels didn’t seem much different from Jinyang’s.

These people are either Half-Saints I’ve never seen before or Human Saints who emerged later on. Why have they all chosen to side with Saint Jinyang?

Meanwhile, staring at the array of people before him, the Dragon God could not help but sigh with emotion. Interrupting Fang Chen’s contemplation, he remarked, ”As expected, you were all hiding in ancient forbidden zones. It’s a pity that after so many years, we were never able to dig you out. Still, walking this evil path is equivalent to ruining your future path. Is it truly worth it?”

Hiding within ancient forbidden zones?

Everyone sucked in a breath of cold air. Was there another reason they were sent to explore the ancient forbidden zones as the head of the many expedition teams over all these years?

Fang Chen’s expression stirred. He faintly caught what the Dragon God meant. Their power originates from the ancient forbidden zones? And the path they walk is related to those areas?

Jinyang and the others seemed to have reached their current cultivation levels due to their inextricable link to the ancient forbidden zones, and this path inevitably possessed massive defects. That was why the Dragon God and the others had chosen not to walk it.

Right now, the other cultivators cared far more about the new group than what the Dragon God had said. Jinyang alone had already turned the situation one-sided. Now, over a dozen people who seemed to be as strong as him had appeared. How were they supposed to win this war?

One of the new arrivals gave the Dragon God a look of cold mockery and playfulness. ”So what if we walk this path? At the very least, we can still preserve a portion of our strength. Meanwhile, you’re not even at the Limit Breaking Realm anymore. Instead of concerning yourself with us, you should care about your predicament instead. Delivering a criminal like you into the hands of the Qingming Supreme Alliance should be enough for them to fix the defects within us, shouldn’t it?”

”And those as well.” Another person looked at Shao Mengyuan and the others, unable to resist laughing. ”When I was a Saint, the God Race had already been declining for many years. I didn’t expect we would ultimately meet here; it can be considered fate. The remnants of the God Race must also be very valuable, right? The loyal lineage of Ancestor Xianhong is also quite valuable.”

Everyone understood now. Although they didn’t quite grasp what they meant exactly, they had gotten the enemy’s point. Very clearly, the new group of combatants intended to sell them all out to the outsiders, who seemed to hold them in quite a bit of value.

Chen Feifei murmured, ”There truly is no path of retreat left.”

Jinyang said calmly, ”When that batch of existences chose the path of the Yang God, you all ought to have anticipated today’s situation.”

The Dragon God’s massive dragon eyes merely watched Jinyang’s group without blinking once.

Someone pointed at Fang Chen. ”Saint Jinyang, that little fellow is a disciple of the Fang Clan?”

Jinyang smiled faintly. ”Yes. He carries Fang Lie’s aura.”

”Thinking back to the beginning, Fang Lie oppressed us quite miserably.” The one who had pointed at Fang Chen laughed. ”Now, the tables have turned. Allow us to make the first cut on that man.”

Fang Chen smiled at the Dragon God and cupped his fist. ”Senior, what defects are they talking about in the path they walk? Can they not employ their power lightly?”

Jinyang and the others’ expressions shifted slightly. Though they maintained an unmoved posture, they stared at Fang Chen as though they were already looking at a dead person.

Having been reminded by Fang Chen, everyone suddenly recalled that the few times Jinyang defended against Motian Dizang, he seemed to have been controlling his strength, as if deeply afraid of... breaking Motian Dizang?

Shao Mengyuan suddenly laughed. ”So that’s how it is. No wonder you all normally don’t dare show your faces at all. Turns out you were just pulling a tiger’s skin to use as a banner!”

Motian Dizang could not resist casting a glance at Fang Chen, a trace of peculiarity lingering in her eyes. He seemed to be even more sharp-witted than she had imagined.