Immortal of the Nine Realms

Cough cough!

The emperor cleared his throat. “Fang Chen, our Great Xia’s soldiers are lacking compared to the Nightmare Knights, which would render the military exercise meaningless. Why don’t we…”

Before he could finish his sentence, Fang Chen interjected with a smile, “It has been years since our Fang Manor’s guards have been on the battlefield. This is a good opportunity for them to try their hand.”

Fang Manor’s… guards? He wants his manor’s guards to train alongside Chillwater’s most elite Nightmare Knights?

Everyone was bewildered.

The Nightmare Knights were infuriated. If not for Li Daoye’s sensitive background, they would already have blown their top.

Ji Lengyue also felt rage rushing into his head, but he clutched onto his rationality and calmly replied, “Our Chillwater’s Nightmare Knights have never crossed blows with your Fang Manor’s guards before. It would be good to broaden their horizons.”

“That’s good to hear,” Fang Chen replied with a smile. “I’ll have someone relay the news to Guhe, Yizhou, and Longdu. Let’s hold a joint military exercise together.”

Ji Lengyue’s face darkened. He thought that this military exercise would only take a day or two, and they could retreat from Great Xia afterward. At this rate, he would have to stay in Great Xia for an extended period of time.

“Your Majesty, what do you think?” Fang Chen asked.

The emperor spent a moment in thought before nodding. “That’s fine by me.”

“It’s decided then.” Fang Chen smiled. He clasped his fist and bade his farewell, “Your Majesty, we’ll take our leave first.”

With that, the Fang Clan turned around and left the imperial court.

Ji Lengyue dared not to stop them. He stared fixedly at Li Daoye, as he considered his next step.

…

Outside the Fang Clan, Niu Jue was overjoyed when he saw Fang Chen and the others returning safe and sound. He quickly jogged over to welcome him.

His subordinates, on the other hand, were stunned.

Even if Chillwater’s envoy was gracious enough to spare the Fang Manor, there should have been no reason he would let Fang Chen, Viscount Zhou Xiu’s murderer, return just like that. Could Chiliarch Niu have made the right bet here?

Fang Chen patted Niu Jue’s shoulder and chatted with him before dismissing them. Then, he led his clansmen into the manor and toward the main hall.

“Lad, how confident are you?” Fang Zhentian naturally made his way toward the main seat before posing this question to Fang Chen. He glanced at Li Daoye and remarked, “His means are formidable, but he’ll only take down a handful of Nightmare Knights at most.”

Li Daoye was indignant, but before he could say a word, Fang Chen replied with a smile, “Grandfather, I don’t plan on allowing any of the Nightmare Knights they brought here to leave Great Xia alive.”

Fang Canghai and Fang Cangyou were hesitant to hear that. Should we be offending our superior state when we haven’t even settled with Greenpine yet? It’s doubtful whether Great Xia can withstand Chillwater’s rage.

“Since you said so, I’ll trust that you have thought things through. But why resort to this? There’s the option to lie low and quietly grow. Once we become a grade-8 state, we will be free from Chillwater’s control. You do understand that this drastic move will spur Chillwater into action?”

Fang Zhentian narrowed his eyes before adding, “I doubt it’s a coincidence I met Ji Congyun back then. I suspect they were wary I might reach Ki Manifestation or even Earth Profound realm, so they decided to cut my path short.”

“Father, is that true?!” Fang Canghai and Fang Cangyou were enraged.

Fang Zhixue also bared her teeth in anger.

“It’s a guess, but that’s likely the case. Think about it. I was patrolling Great Xia’s outskirts to eliminate Guhe and Greenpine’s martial artists, who were disguised as bandits. What are the odds I would encounter Ji Congyun like that?” Fang Zhentian asked.

The Fang Clansmen clenched their fists. They hadn’t expected Chillwater to be so despicable as to resort to such lowly methods to ensure Great Xia remained firmly under their control.

“Old Master, our greatest threat right now is neither Greenpine nor Chillwater. Before dealing with the main threat, we ought to clear other obstacles so that we can focus our attention on it.” Fang Chen sighed before turning to Li Daoye. “Tell them about the Blood Spirit Cult.”

“Are you serious?” Li Daoye was startled. “But there’s no point telling mere mortals…”

“It’s only a matter of time before they learn about it,” Fang Chen replied.

“All right.” Li Daoye took a moment to gather his thoughts before he began explaining, “The Blood Spirit Cult is a terrifying sect with significant influence spanning across major empires. Their cultivators are powerful, and they often use countries as pill cauldrons to concoct their Blood Spirit Divine Pill…”

He explained the origin of the Blood Spirit Cult, their way of doing things, and everything they had done in Great Xia thus far.

Tie Ma and the others did know bits and pieces about the Blood Spirit Cult, but it was only now that they realized how formidable their enemy was…

Moments later, Li Daoye took a sip of tea. “I’m done.”

The Fang Clan descended into silence.

“Chen’er… You’re saying that someone is using our people to concoct pills?” Fang Canghai slowly asked in incredulity.

“That’s right.” Fang Chen nodded. “They had a hand in the Three Realms Mountain too.”

“Damn it! They are living and breathing humans, yet the Blood Spirit Cult are using them to concoct pills? How can there be someone so vile in the world?!” Fang Canghai roared in anger.

“If what he said is true, we are mere specks of dust to the Blood Spirit Clan. Do we really have the power to defy them?” Fang Cangyou murmured with a frown.

“Cultivators…” Fang Zhentian spoke up. “I have known about the existence of cultivators from a young age, and I was fortunate to meet one too. Their means are transcendental. However, they can’t be found in grade-9, grade-8, or even grade-7 states. There is not a single cultivator to be found in Chillwater. Their heritage is too precious, too rare…”

At this point, Fang Zhentian turned to Fang Chen and asked, “You’re a cultivator too?”

The crowd was taken aback.

Could it be…

Fang Chen nodded with a smile. “Old Master, I never regained my martial cultivation. My ki sea is shattered beyond repair. It was not too long ago that I found an alternative path to walk on.”

Everyone was flabbergasted. To think that Fang Chen was a cultivator! It immediately made sense to them why Li Daoye was residing in the Fang Manor too.

“Are you confident of dealing with the Blood Spirit Cult?” Fang Zhentian asked.

Those in the room were no longer concerned about Greenpine or Chillwater anymore. Rather, the Blood Spirit Cult was their main focus now!

Fang Chen shook his head. “Our chances are slim, but we have to give it a try.”

“Indeed. We have to give it a try even if it’s an impossible endeavor.” Fang Zhentian nodded.

Fang Canghai and the others also expressed their determination to clash with the Blood Spirit Clan even if the odds were severely stacked against them.

Li Daoye was dazed. These mortals know how powerful the Blood Spirit Cult is, but they still want to defy them?

“Actually… now that Fang Chen is a cultivator, you can develop into a cultivator clan, leave Great Xia, and take residence in a grade-6 state. They would be more than happy to accept you… You don’t have to go all the way with the Blood Spirit Cult…” Li Daoye suggested.

Fang Chen exchanged looks with the Fang Clansmen, and all of them chuckled. Even Abbess Clearlotus smiled as well.

Li Daoye was the only confused one in the room. What in the world are they laughing about?