NOVEL NEXT Chapter 89: Promise
It was soon nightfall.
“Abbess Clearlotus, your cultivation is different from that of normal cultivators?” Fang Chen’s curiosity was piqued after seeing how she manifested her third immortal vein from cleansing the souls of the dead.
“Those from our lineage enter the secular world to temper our hearts. Through saving others we save ourselves,” Abbess Clearlotus replied with a nod.
“Through saving others we save ourselves…” Fang Chen echoed her words.
“But… my master also said tempering hearts in the secular world is no easy feat, which was why she and many others eventually chose an alternative path.” Abbess Clearlotus pondered about it before adding, “I might do the same too.”
“Why?” Fang Chen asked.
“Back then, my master entered the secular world and manifested five immortal veins within a single night, but since then, her personality became extremely cold. She was no longer able to raise her cultivation through tempering her heart,” Abbess Clearlotus muttered. “I might become like my master very soon. What I see today might no longer faze me in the near future.”
“Those who see too much sorrow become numb to it… Looks like the first hurdle to tempering one’s heart is the inability to lie to oneself. Someone who’s cold in nature won’t benefit even if they cleanse thousands of deceased souls with a hypocritical heart,” Fang Chen said.
“It’s no wonder I hardly see any Buddhists on the battlefield. Through saving others we save ourselves—it’s noble, but how many can hold onto their hearts amidst the dust of the secular world?” Fang Chen paused for a second before asking Abbess Clearlotus, “Have you seen an immortal before?”
“Immortal?” Abbess Clearlotus was surprised by the question. “I have never seen an immortal before. My master told me that there are countless cultivators in this world, but no more than a handful reach immortality. Those who become immortals may lose their humanity. Immortals have hearts as cold as frost, and they see mortal life as transient. To them, there might be no difference between us and the Blood Spirit Cultists."
Fang Chen recalled the fairy amidst the searing sun he had seen in the Three Realms Mountain, and he had to admit that there might be some credibility behind those words.
All mortals might be equal in the eyes of an immortal, regardless of good or evil.
“Little nun,” Fang Chen suddenly said with a smile.
Abbess Clearlotus was taken aback. It was rare for Fang Chen to call her little nun, and it was even rarer for him to show such a smile. This reminded her of Li Daoye, and her face reddened.
“Let’s make a promise,” Fang Chen said.
“What promise?” Abbess Clearlotus was intrigued.
“If we do get a chance to reach immortality, let’s become secular immortals, immortals with mortality in our hearts. How does that sound?” Fang Chen suggested.
“Secular immortals…” Abbess Clearlotus murmured with an intrigued frown. “Young master, do you think there are secular immortals in the world?”
“Why not? There will be once we become immortal ourselves.” Fang Chen burst into laughter. “That’s why, no matter how many joyful moments or tragedies you encounter in the future, you have to make sure to retain your current heart. Don’t ever lose your emotions and turn cold.”
Abbess Clearlotus thought about it before vigorously nodding. “Mm!”
“It’s getting late. You should take a rest.” Fang Chen stood up and saw her off.
Shortly after seeing her out, he drew out his soul and watched the sky from above.
The Blood Spirit Cultists are the ones absorbing the blood essence of the southern region’s martial artists, but why now? They are already scheming a war to bring about great casualties in Great Xia so as to forge their Blood Spirit Divine Pill. There’s no reason for them to do this now.
“Xu Hui mentioned back then that his Senior Bei took the remaining Blood Spirit Cultists out of Great Xia. He should have been the one responsible for overseeing the situation in Great Xia to ensure that nothing went out of hand, but he suddenly left with all other cultivators except for Xu Hui, Goldflower Granny, and Daoist Xue… Could he have been trying to settle a private grudge?
“He headed to the southern region to absorb the blood essence of martial artists… It could be that he was injured and was trying to use the Blood Spirit Art to recover as fast as possible… And the reason he is in such a rush to do so suggests he might have pursuers!”
Fang Chen slowly analyzed the situation and came up with a conjecture. If his conjecture was right, this might be a good opportunity for him to strike.
Without a doubt, Senior Bei must be much stronger than Xu Hui. There was no guarantee that Fang Chen could take Senior Bei down if the latter was at his peak.
He couldn’t afford to drag things out either. There was a risk Senior Bei might inform the Blood Spirit Cult about his existence, and that would bring about even more trouble in the future.
But what if Senior Bei was wounded?
If he could defeat the remaining Blood Spirit Cultists in a single swoop, it would take some time before the Blood Spirit Cult realized what happened here. This would buy time for him to raise his cultivation, so that he would be in a better position to deal with stronger cultivators from the Blood Spirit Cult.
Thus, Fang Chen swiftly scanned the South Immortal Commandery with his soul.
In one of the South Immortal Commandery’s remote mountain valleys, a white-robed man sat under the moonlight, and spirit ki gathered around and seeped into his body.
A moment later, he opened his eyes. His face looked beautiful under the cold moonlight.
“The blood essence of a martial artist is much purer than that of mortals. I should be able to make a full recovery with another two hundred martial artists. Heh! Those dogs probably can’t imagine that I could heal up so quickly through the Blood Spirit Art!
“It’s just a pity that the people I brought there are all dead. Luckily, there’s still Xu Hui and the others, so this setback shouldn’t affect our plans at Great Xia. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to explain the situation to the deacon.
“I should quickly forge the four remaining Blood Spirit Divine Pills so that I can be promoted to a deacon. By then, I wouldn’t have to waste my time in grade-9 states anymore,” the white-robed man muttered with eyes gleaming with greed.
Martial artists from grade-8 states had much purer blood essence than those from grade-9 states. There were hardly any martial artists who had reached pinnacle Human Profound here, whereas grade-8 empires had Earth Profound martial artists. Those were much more useful to his cultivation.
“Once I advance to ninth stage Ki Refinement, I’ll be able to return to my clan. Let’s see who dares to look down on me by then. Hahaha!”
“The likes of you hope to advance to ninth stage Ki Refinement? Zhou Yizeng, let’s see where you can escape this time!”
There was a cold sneer, and numerous figures appeared around the mountain valley.
The white-robed man was stunned, but a cold smile quickly formed on his lips. He looked at the uninvited guests and said, “You South Heaven Sect’s cultivators sure are persistent!”
“You shouldn’t have offended our First Senior. You’re indeed a wandering cultivator with no backing whatsoever, or else you wouldn’t have escaped to this remote place.”
“A seventh stage, two sixth stage, and four fifth stage Ki Refinement cultivators. Such a line up, and you think it’s enough to deal with me?” the white-robed man sneered.
“Zhou Yizeng, you have been severely wounded by our First Elder. Even a sixth stage Ki Refinement cultivator can easily take you down, let alone a seventh stage like me,” the leader of the group, the seventh stage Ki Refinement cultivator, sneered.
“That would have been true if I was still severely wounded.” The white-robed man stood up, and the sword he carried behind him rose from its sheath and floated in mid-air.
“He has recovered from his injuries?!”
The cultivators from the South Heaven Sect were startled. From what they remembered, the other party had been so severely injured that he couldn’t even use artifacts!
Meanwhile, a soul watched what was happening from the sky.