Immortal of the Nine Realms

Chapter 540: I am Dongfang Haojie!

Little Sword's voice was filled with pain. "Little Chen, I feel terrible! I want to puke!"

Even though it knew it couldn't devour the rest of the Profound rank treasures, it was reluctant to return to Fang Chen's body.

"Finish digesting this one first before moving on to the remaining four. I will temporarily keep them for now," said Fang Chen, sighing softly.

He collected the four treasures and let Little Sword return to his body.

Little Sword was usually quite mature, but it turned into a greedy child at the sight of food.

As long as it was something it loved to eat, it would take another bite even if meant losing its lunch.

Fang Chen gave the corpses of Yu Donglai and the others a final look before saying, "It's time to go."

Melting into the shadows, he left the underground riverbed.

Not long after Yu Donglai's death, Fang Chen heard the toll of the death bell echoing through the heavens and earth. By now, the Innate Dao Sect should have known that another Immortal Seedling had perished.

About two months after Fang Chen left the underground river, an invisible force peeled away the stone layer above the river.

The underground river, devoid of daylight, was suddenly flooded with sunlight.

Under the scorching sun stood several figures quietly looking at the corpses of Yu Donglai and the others.

"It's Senior Yu," said a man with a hint of schadenfreude. "For such a mighty Immortal Seedling to fall in a barren place as this is truly tragic and pitiful."

Another person's face darkened. "Junior Brother Liu, don't revel in others' misfortunes. This isn't a good thing for us. Three of the Innate Dao Sect's Immortal Seedlings have died, leaving only one."

He cautiously scanned the surroundings. Seeing no traps, they proceeded to retrieve the corpses of Yu Donglai and the others from the river.

“Huh?!”

The man who had been gloating earlier was somewhat surprised when he saw the fatal wounds covering everyone. Yu Donglai especially had over a hundred sword wounds all over him, each one deadly. Some even stabbed into his Sea of Consciousness.

"How is it? Did Senior Yu's Nascent Soul manage to escape?"

"There's no sign of a Nascent Soul escaping. It seems it was destroyed within the Sea of Consciousness. Who could have done this? Senior Yu and the others didn't even have a chance for their Nascent Soul to escape..."

"It must have been the work of a Dao Union Realm cultivator. It couldn't possibly have been Xia Xuanji, right? Senior Yu said he would avenge Junior Zhou, but in the end, during the battle at the Immortal Dynasty Manor, he didn't even dare show his face. It made people think we were too scared to speak up for our deceased Immortal Seedling."

"Let's take him back first and see what the higher-ups have to say."

Taking Yu Donglai's corpse, the group quickly departed.

***

Over the next few months, Fang Chen traveled through nine teleportation arrays, finally approaching the Azure Dao Manor after much effort.

The Central Continent Empire's territory was vast and boundless. Without these teleportation arrays as transit points, even Middle Three Realms cultivators would find traveling cumbersome

He was now very far from the Immortal Dynasty Manor and the Greenwood Sect.

Gradually, Fang Chen began to notice that the number of mortals he saw increased while cultivators thinned out. Without surprise, the Azure Dao Manor seemed to be in a very remote area of the Central Continent Empire.

Little Sword's digestion of the flying sword had been progressing poorly during the past few months. On the other hand, Fang Chen had been practicing the Spiritual Attachment Technique while on the road.

Fang Chen had reached a point where he could now easily condense a Soul Flame, a special fire fueled by his soul, with a thought.

This was the only type of flame that could potentially deal with the nine consciousnesses in the immortal blood. It also possessed immense lethality against other cultivators, especially those of a dark and evil nature. The Spiritual Attachment Technique was truly an excellent immortal art, excelling in both offense and defense.

"Is there anyone nearby? It seems there's an immortal tomb emerging in the Black Mountain Valley, perhaps the work of the Spirit Blood Sect. If there are fellow cultivators nearby, please investigate as soon as possible!"

"Is there really no one? What a barren place. I can't handle the riffraff of the Spirit Blood Sect alone."

"Is anyone there???"

Fang Chen's expression grew odd as he held the communication token from the Killing Spiritual Division. Ever since he learned that Dao Union Realm members of the Spirit Blood Sect could be impersonating his colleagues, he had grown fearful and vigilant toward his fellow division members.

However, whether or not the person who spoke was a member of the Spirit Blood Sect messing around, he still wanted to check it out.

He didn’t respond, but instead, he spent 500 low-grade spirit stones to look for the Black Mountain Valley with Mirror of the Universe.

Several days later, he noticed more and more cultivators rushing in the same direction.

Some of them were in the Qi Refining Realm, and even fewer were in the Foundation Building Realm. There were no Golden Core Realm cultivators to be seen among them.

Fang Chen couldn’t help but wonder why it was getting more and more barren as he traveled closer to the Three Thousand Dao Sect. Not only were the cultivators he was encountering weaker the more he neared his destination, the spiritual energy in the air was also getting thinner.

The Three Thousand Dao Sect is really located in a place like this?

Suddenly, a young man flew over from behind, calling out to Fang Chen repeatedly. "Excuse me, fellow cultivator, excuse me! Could you help me with directions?"

Fang Chen turned to look at the young man calling for him.

The young man's cultivation seemed to be around the sixth level of the Qi Refining Realm. Not far away stood a group of young men and women, among whom the highest cultivation was an indifferent-looking elder at the early-stage Foundation Building Realm.

"Friend, I'm not a local here. Asking me for directions might be a mistake," Fang Chen replied calmly.

"Don't be so formal!" said the young man bubbly. "I'm not from around here either. Judging by your appearance, I am guessing you're heading to Black Mountain Valley? Do you know how far it is from here?"

Fang Chen was surprised. "Are you also going to find that immortal tomb?"

The young man chuckled. "Indeed, I heard that an immortal tomb has emerged, attracting various big shots to Black Mountain Valley. Even if we can't gain any benefits from the tomb itself, perhaps we can pick up some of the leftover opportunities these big shots overlook. Aren't you thinking the same, friend?"

Fang Chen seemed to recall some discussions among his fellow members from the Killing Spiritual Division, mentioning a common tactic of the Spirit Blood Sect to lure and manipulate cultivators using opportunities, ultimately causing severe injuries or deaths, all without leaving obvious traces. Only the Killing Spiritual Division cultivators could discern such clues.

"Are there many cultivators coming?" Fang Chen asked.

"Many indeed. Even my family, the Chai Family, has received the news. I'd say at least tens of thousands of cultivators will gather this time, right?"

Fang Chen nodded slightly. "It's 8,000 miles to Black Mountain Valley. You're almost there."

"8,000 miles? Not too far indeed," the young man muttered to himself.

Seeing that Fang Chen was preparing to leave, the young man's eyes suddenly lit up. He hurriedly stepped forward with a smile. "Friend, wait a moment. I see you're traveling alone. You might face some disadvantages going to Black Mountain Valley alone, right? How about traveling with me and my family? We can help each other and avoid taking the wrong path or missing any opportunities."

"You want me to travel with you?" Fang Chen sized up the young man and then nodded with a smile. "That sounds good. Traveling together will indeed be safer."

The young man clasped his fist. "How should I address you? I'm Chai Shun."

Fang Chen clasped his fist in return. "I am Dongfang Haojie."

"That family name...?" mumbled Chai Shun, his eyes lighting up.

After getting Fang Chen's name, he led him toward his group.