Immortal of the Nine Realms

Xia Ji had managed to deceive everyone, including Fang Chen.

If Fang Chen hadn’t been a cultivator, he wouldn’t have known that Xia Ji was a cultivator too. He would have thought that the latter was just a slacker with so-so martial cultivation.

“You saw it yourself, Wolf Marshall Xiao. Xia Ji came out by himself. You wouldn’t have been able to stop him, so this favor doesn’t count. Rather, you owe me one,” Fang Chen said.

“Did he… join some major martial arts sect? Is that person from a grade-8 or grade-7 state?” Wolf Marshall Xiao asked.

“How am I to know?” Fang Chen shrugged. “Remember what I told you. Take a closer look at if there’s anything amiss in your country. Quite a number of your people died at the Three Realms Mountain back then too.”

“I will.”

Wolf Marshall Xiao stared deeply at Fang Chen before leaving with Celestial Xiao and the hundreds of Wolf Army elites. Slowly, they disappeared from Fang Chen and Xu Ge’s sight.

“Young master, why didn’t you keep him here?” Xu Ge was confused.

This was a good opportunity to take down Wolf Marshall Xiao. It would be a huge blow to Greenpine if they lost their marshall and a Ki Manifestation martial artist here.

“Issues on the battlefield should be settled on the battlefield,” Fang Chen replied. “Besides, I need him to verify whether there are Blood Spirit Cultists stationed in Greenpine. Compared to the Blood Spirit Cultists, Wolf Marshall Xiao can be considered to be a good person.”

Xu Ge nodded. The Blood Spirit Cult was indeed the bigger threat here.

“It’s a pity about the Third Prince. We came here to fetch him, but he left with someone else,” Xu Ge said with a sigh.

“That’s better for him. He has already squandered five years for me. He shouldn’t waste any more time,” Fang Chen said with a smile. “There’s nothing pitiful about it. At least we managed to see him off.”

He was glad that he made it on time, or else he wouldn’t have been able to see Xia Ji one last time. That Senior Liu didn’t look like a patient person. The only thing he lamented was Xia Ji not being able to tell him which sect he had joined, else he could have looked for him in the future.

“Boat… That’s a good clue. I should ask Li Daoye about it when I return,” Fang Chen murmured.

The two of them made their way back to the capital.

Two more days passed.

Guhe, Longdu, and Yizhou had received word that Great Xia was going to conduct a joint military exercise with Chillwater, so they dispatched their envoys along with hundreds of their elites.

At the same time, rumors began spreading in Great Xia’s capital that Third Prince Xia Ji had been killed by Wolf Marshall Xiao.

Fang Chen chuckled when he heard the rumor. He knew it was Wolf Marshall Xiao’s doing; the latter was doing him a small favor here.

This rumor would tempt those in Great Xia who intended to do Xia Ji harm into action, while explaining Xia Ji’s disappearance at the same time.

“Brother Li, do cultivators take boats when traveling too?” Fang Chen casually asked.

“Sometimes, yes.” Li Daoye nodded. “Some places are simply too far, and normal cultivators aren’t capable of riding on swords. Naturally, they’ll have to travel via boat. There are many boats on the sea that look normal on the surface but only ferry cultivators. These boats utilize the formations on the sea left behind by predecessors to shorten their traveling time.

“You also have to take a boat to travel from Great Xia to Infernoblaze Country. Little Abbess and I had to take quite a few boats before we finally arrived at your Great Xia.”

“What if one is heading to the Center Continent Country?” Fang Chen asked.

“Center Continent Country?!” Li Daoye was taken aback. He gave Fang Chen a long hard stare before continuing on, “That’s a grade-1 state. It’s very far from where we are. It’s not just about whether to take a boat or not; we don’t even know where it is!

“One of our Infernoblaze’s Foundation Establishment cultivators once tried to travel to the Center Continent Country, only to return to Infernoblaze a hundred years later. What do you think happened?”

“What happened?” Fang Chen asked.

“He got lost. He didn’t even get to see the Center Continent Country. He ended up wandering aimlessly for a hundred years.” Li Daoye burst into laughter. “The closest he got was a grade-3 state, but he offended someone there and had to escape back to Infernoblaze.”

I don’t think Elder Cloudcrane told me how to get to Center Continent Country… Fang Chen’s expression stiffened up.

If Li Daoye wasn’t lying, it wouldn’t be an easy feat for him to reach the Center Continent Country and join the Three Thousand Dao Gate after reaching Foundation Establishment. However, he did give Elder Cloudcrane his word, after all, so it wouldn’t be good for him to break his promise.

“Young master Fang, you need not dream about the Center Continent Country. That’s a place where sages live. It’s one thing if you’re born there, but otherwise, it’s unlikely you’ll ever reach there,” Li Daoye said.

“My father told me that this kind of place is filled with treasures, precious medicinal herbs, spirit springs, spirit mountains, and so on. It’s truly a paradise.”

While the two of them were chatting, two figures appeared in front of the Fang Manor.

One of them was a white-haired elder who stood with a straight posture. Veins were popping from his temples, and his muscles were well-defined as if they were carved from marble. His body clearly harnessed tremendous strength.

The other one had a sharp mouth, emaciated cheeks, and a ‘八’-shaped mustache. His beady eyes made him look cunning.

“Great immortal, we have arrived at the Fang Manor. My grandson told me that Infernoblaze’s cultivator is inside here,” the former said with a respectful attitude.

“Ji Congyun, I only came here out of respect for you. I’ll put it out here first. Don’t expect me to help you if that cultivator has a powerful background,” the latter nonchalantly said.

“I understand,” Ji Congyun replied with a humble nod.

“Knock on the door,” the Ji Clan’s cultivator said.

Ji Congyun walked up and knocked on the Fang Manor’s door. The butler opened the door, eyed the two of them, and frowned. “You are?”

“Tell Fang Zhentian that I, Ji Congyun, am here,” Ji Congyun said.

The butler shuddered. He immediately rushed back in to relay the news, but he relayed it not to Fang Zhentian but Fang Chen.

“Young master, someone named Ji Congyun is at the door. He’s here to meet our Old Master!”

Fang Chen’s eyes gleamed with mirth. “How many of them are there?”

“Two.”

“Invite them in,” Fang Chen instructed. He waited for the butler to leave before he turned to Li Daoye and said, “Ji Lengyue has a cultivator on his side. The two of them are here to probe us. Make sure you don’t cower at a time like this.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t cower as long as he’s only a wandering cultivator,” Li Daoye replied confidently.

Wandering cultivators were of extremely low ranking in the world of cultivation. They had no background and no resources, which was why some of them ended up getting worshiped by mortal clans.

Li Daoye had always looked down on those people.

Soon, Ji Congyun and the Ji Clan’s cultivator were brought to the main hall. The Ji Clan’s cultivator immediately turned to Li Daoye, and the latter looked over too.

“Third stage Ki Refinement?” The Ji Clan’s cultivator smiled.

His soul was stronger than Li Daoye’s due to his higher cultivation, so he could see through Li Daoye’s cultivation at a glance. The grimness in his eyes vanished without a trace.

“That fellow is stronger than me,” Li Daoye whispered to Fang Chen.

“You must be Fang Zhentian’s grandson, Fang Chen?” Ji Congyun looked at Fang Chen with an enigmatic smile as he discreetly unleashed a terrifying aura.

He might not be a cultivator, but he was a pinnacle Earth Profound martial artist.