Immortal of the Nine Realms

“How long did it take you to forge your first immortal vein?” Fang Chen suddenly asked.

Li Daoye belatedly realized that Fang Chen was posing the question to him, and he hesitantly replied with a hushed voice, “Around a year? I don’t clearly remember anymore.”

A year? Fang Chen was astonished.

Li Daoye was not a wandering cultivator; his father was the leader of the Eight Trigrams Sect. With such a strong family backing, he should have eaten his fair share of spirit treasures from a young age. Yet, it took him a year to forge his first immortal vein.

“Young master Fang, I suspect there’s something special about your Fang Clan,” Li Daoye said.

“What makes you say that?” Fang Chen replied.

“You have reached a high level of cultivation despite your young age, so much so that you would have been considered a top-notch prodigy in Infernoblaze. Your Old Master is even more ridiculous, forging his immortal vein in a day. This is his first contact with cultivation methods, but he achieved such a feat through his own grasp of the Purple Aura Formula. I don’t think your Fang Clan can possibly be an ordinary clan,” Li Daoye said.

“I bet your Fang Clan used to be a major cultivator clan, just that you somehow ended up in this decrepit place.”

“That might be so, but it’s no longer important. Too much time has passed for us to trace our roots,” Fang Chen remarked with a smile. He didn’t think much about Li Daoye’s words.

Fang Canghai and the others gathered around.

“Chen’er, did your grandfather succeed?” Fang Canghai asked with a suppressed voice.

“That’s right. Grandfather has manifested his first immortal vein, which means that he has taken his first step into immortal cultivation. All things aside, it should extend his lifespan,” Fang Chen replied with a nod.

The Fang Clan was overjoyed. This was great news to them.

“Big brother, do we lack talent in cultivation?” Fang Zhixue was disappointed. “Me, father, mother, Second Uncle, and the others had cultivated together with grandfather, but there’s no result despite a day having passed.”

“It’s rare for one to forge their immortal vein in a single day,” Fang Chen explained. “Li Daoye is a disciple of Infernoblaze’s Eight Trigrams Sect, and he ate lots of spirit treasures in his younger years. Even so, it took him a year to forge his first immortal vein.”

Fang Canghai and Fang Cangyou nodded. If it’s that easy to become a cultivator, no one will take the hard path and train as a martial artist instead.

Fang Chen’s mother wasn’t as interested in this matter. She dotingly rubbed Fang Zhixue’s head and said, “Don’t worry, your big brother and your grandfather are cultivators. I’m sure you’ll be able to become a cultivator too.”

“Mm!” Fang Zhixue nodded with renewed fighting will.

Fang Zhentian’s spirit ki slowly calmed down. When he opened his eyes once more, the crowd could have sworn that they saw a gleam flashing across his eyes.

“Interesting. So this is spirit ki. It is stronger than the inner ki of martial artists, and it seems to have special effects. I can feel the spirit ki nourishing my body, healing my internal traumas… I should be able to make a full recovery soon,” Fang Zhentian remarked with a smile.

“Grandfather, is there anything confusing about the Purple Aura Formula?” Fang Chen asked with a smile.

“Not at all. The manual is clear,” Fang Zhentian replied.

The crowd was impressed. The Old Master must have superhuman intelligence. He’s able to easily grasp even immortal cultivation methods.

“Go ahead and do what you need to. I’ll guide the others on their cultivation in the meantime,” Fang Zhentian told Fang Chen.

“Father, I have to guard the eastern city gates, so I’m afraid…” Fang Canghai was taken aback.

“Is that more important than cultivation? The benefits of becoming a cultivator are greater than you can imagine. Send someone over to the imperial palace to inform the emperor that you’re quitting your post,” Fang Zhentian placidly ordered.

The Old Master is telling our patriarch to quit his post?

The crowd was startled.

Fang Chen’s mother, on the other hand, was overjoyed. She turned to Fang Canghai and said, “I think you should listen to father’s words.”

“Father, grandfather is right. There’s no point remaining as an official. It’s no longer important to our Fang Clan or Great Xia as a whole,” Fang Chen replied.

Fang Canghai wasn’t the type to be obsessed with power either. He pondered upon those words before replying, “I’ll tender my resignation today.”

“I don’t think I’m needed here anymore, so I’ll go find Little Abbess for a chat.” Li Daoye wanted to take this opportunity to slip away.

“Abbess Clearlotus has returned to Infernoblaze,” Fang Chen replied.

“What?!” Li Daoye couldn’t believe his ears. “She returned to Infernoblaze? Didn’t she promise to stay here with you to deal with the Blood Spirit Cult?”

“That’s the reason she’s making a trip back. I have eliminated the Blood Spirit Cultists stationed in Great Xia. She’s worried that a Foundation Establishment cultivator might come to check, so she’s returning to request help from her master,” Fang Chen replied.

Li Daoye widened his eyes in realization, only to panic right after. “Young master, how can you be so foolish? You should have let me go with her. With that brain of hers, even cunning mortals can take advantage of her!”

“Tie Ma is with her. She’ll be fine,” Fang Chen replied.

“Tie Ma?” Li Daoye thought of Tie Ma’s permanently stoic face and breathed a sigh of relief. “That fellow is a sharp-witted one. She should be fine with him around.”

“I gave her a couple of Purple Lightning Talismans. She should be able to easily deal with ordinary cultivators,” Fang Chen added.

“Ah! About that, young master, I spent quite a few ki stones purchasing your spirit materials. Shouldn’t you bestow upon me some Purple Lightning Talismans so that I can at least protect myself?” Li Daoye asked with a fawning smile.

Fang Chen chuckled. He was planning to give some Purple Lightning Talismans to Li Daoye as well, so he casually took out a stack of fifty and passed it to him.

Li Daoye was stupefied. His hands were shaking as he took the stack of fifty, and he stared at Fang Chen with an expression that said ‘Are you sure about this?’.

A low-grade Purple Lightning Talisman could fetch 5 to 6 low-grade ki stones, and Fang Chen was giving him mid-grade Purple Lightning Talismans. These talismans were powerful aces that could save one’s life!

Most Ki Refinement cultivators would feel assured with a couple of Purple Lightning Talismans in their pocket.

“You deserve it.” Fang Chen smiled.

Li Daoye was moved. He suddenly thought that it wasn’t that bad of an idea to follow this lunatic. Not even the Eight Trigrams Sect was so generous as to give out so many Purple Lightning Talismans at once!

Moved, he said, “Young master, you’re truly generous.”

Fang Chen chuckled. “Did you see anyone selling Bone Tempering Pills at Dragonback Lane?”

“Bone Tempering Pills? I don’t think I saw that. It’s quite rare to see such stuff, since no cultivator will specially concoct such pills.” Li Daoye shook his head.

“I’m glad I bought all the Bone Tempering Pills then,” Fang Chen murmured.

He bade Fang Canghai and the others farewell before leaving with Li Daoye and Xu Ge.

He was going to pick out a group of Fang Manor’s guards to participate in the upcoming military exercise with Chillwater and the other countries.