Immortal of the Nine Realms

One by one, the group boarded the ship, and because they brought horses up with them, the fare increased significantly.

A crew member led Fang Chen and the others and jostled his way through the crowded corridor to a cabin reeking of sweat. ”Everyone, this is the only room we have. If you don’t mind, could you squeeze in together?” said the crew member.

Fang Chen nodded slightly. ”No problem.”

Xia Yu and the others didn’t mind either. With spiritual energy protecting them, no matter how dirty the environment was, they’d remain spotless. Moreover, as cultivators, they didn’t need to sleep; meditation was enough.

Suddenly, a young maid-like girl stomped her way over, her brows furrowed. She had a handkerchief over her nose and mouth, a clear effort to deter the unpleasant, musky odor. Her disdain was palpable as she shouted, ”Wait!”

Glancing at the cabin, the maid turned to the crew member and said, ”My young lady wants this room. We have many people, and the cabin you’ve allocated us can’t accommodate us all.”

The crew member was taken aback, and his eyes turned to Fang Chen and company. “Uh....”

Seeing this, the maid directly took out a large silver ingot and tossed it to the crew member. ”Hurry up. Stop wasting my time.” ℯ

The crew member immediately plastered a smile and turned toward the group with clasped hands. ”I’m sorry, everyone. If you don’t mind, could you squeeze in with the rest up on the deck? We’ll be in the capital in a few days. I’ll refund each of you with two taels of silver.”

Zhantai Qingxuan glanced at the arrogant maid and coldly snorted. ”Don’t you understand what the principle of ‘first come, first serve, means?”

The maid immediately sized up Zhantai Qingxuan and sneered. ”A woman traveling alone with several men and sharing a room.... A bit too shameless, don’t you think?”

Everyone’s expressions became somewhat strange upon hearing this.

Liu Suifeng couldn’t help but shake his head with a smile. He was well aware of his junior sister’s temper. This maid was probably in for a hard time.

Sure enough, the maid felt a gust of wind come over her for a moment, and before she knew it, someone was already standing in front of her. With a raised hand, a dozen slaps landed on her face, leaving her head spinning.

The crew member hurriedly stepped forward to dissuade them. However, Xu Ge turned and delivered him a slap across the face, sending him sprawling to the ground. The crew member lost his grip on the silver ingot, and it flew from his hand and into the river.

Many people suddenly showered Fang Chen and his group with curious looks.

It was only after about thirty slaps that Zhantai Qingxuan had finally vented her anger.

”Get lost,” said Zhantai Qingxuan.

The maid was barely able to regain her senses. All she could do was hold her swollen, blood-red cheek and glare at Zhantai Qingxuan with resentment. ”You...you...you....”

Unable to muster a response, she immediately whipped around and stormed off toward a group of people at the back of the corridor.

She recounted what had happened to them with some obvious exaggerations.

The group seemed to consist of merchants, but there were also quite a few martial artists with them as well. They didn’t look like easy characters to deal with. They turned their attention toward Fang Chen’s group and approached with hostile eyes. With the maid, they stomped toward Fang Chen.

The crew member couldn’t help but yell at Xu Ge and the rest indignantly after seeing the silver fall into the water. ”You... you guys are truly ignorant of the rules...!”

Xu Ge grinned. ”Rules? One rule I know is ‘first come, first serve.’” he said. ”That girl didn’t say a word to us. She didn’t even acknowledge us yet she wanted to take our cabin. Isn’t she the one not following the rules?”

The crew member was momentarily speechless.

A cold snort sounded, and the group had already approached. Their gaze was sharp as they scrutinized Fang Chen and the others. ”The words of our Song Family are the rules!”

The speaker was probably in their early twenties, holding a folding fan. Their eyes were full of vitality, indicating a cultivation level already at the Qi Manipulation Stage.

Beside the youth stood the maid who had just been slapped. She was glaring at Fang Chen’s group.

Surrounding them were many martial artists.

Behind the youth stood a woman, her eyes were frosty and her expression cold.

Zhao Yan’s voice rang in Fang Chen’s ears. ”One of them is at the Vajra Qi Stage and the others are in the Human Profound Stage.”

The martial artist in the Vajra Qi Stage was actually an old man who was glaring at all of them with a fierce gaze. He stood behind the youth in silence and merely glared at Fang Chen and the rest.

”You’re from the Song family?” Xu Ge chuckled. ”I’ve only heard of the Ji family in the Frost Water Empire, never heard of any Song family. If your Song family is so powerful, does that mean you set the rules?”

”These guys don’t seem to be from the Frost Water Empire, right?”

“How can they have not heard of the Song Family? Although they can’t compare to the Ji Family, there are tens of thousands of members in the Song Family. You can see their family members everywhere! They’re in the temples, in the martial arts scene, and they’re spread out in various cities!”

”Even if they are not from the main branch of the Song Family, they are not to be easily provoked. Heh, those people are in trouble now.”

Many martial artists whispered to each other as they watched the commotion.

The youth scrutinized Xu Ge briefly, then shortly later broke out with laughter. ”After all this, it turns out you’re not from the Frost Water Empire.” He turned to the maid, “Xiao Cui, was he the one who hit you earlier?”

The maid glared at Zhantai Qingxuan with resentment. ”No! That bitch was the one who hit me!”

The youth glanced at Zhantai Qingxuan and was slightly surprised. It was only natural; Zhantai Qingxuan not only had a beautiful face but also exuded an ethereal aura due to her cultivation.

Although he was captivated by her beauty, he eventually came back to his senses and said in a deep voice, ”Elder Qin, this woman disrespected our Song Family. According to the rules, what should be done?”

The elderly man with a fierce expression smiled, ”Young Master, she should be taken as a slave of our Song Family!”

”Okay.” The young man nodded with a smile. In the next moment, Elder Qin suddenly shot forward and appeared before Zhantai Qingxuan. He seemed to have moved so quickly that no one was able to catch his movements, but that only applied to the ordinary martial artists and mortals.

Seeing this, Xia Yu and Liu Suifeng exchanged glances, showing no intention to intervene. Similarly, Fang Chen, Xu Ge, and Zhao Yan were just interested in watching the show play out.

Elder Qin was as quick as a gust of wind. He was surrounded by a layer of Vajra Qi. His cultivation made him invincible before those in the Human Profound Stage—weaklings of such a level could not even shatter his Vajra Qi. Moreover, it allowed him to unleash superhuman levels of strength.

Bang!

A crisp sound echoed through the air, and everyone saw Elder Qin’s claws crash into a seemingly invisible wall.

His fingers broke one by one.

The intense pain made him pull away instinctively. Rushing back to the side of his young master, he clutched his wrecked hand and stared at Zhantai Qingxuan in disbelief.

Song Yi and the others were all stunned. They hadn’t expected that Elder Qin would suffer a setback in front of such a young woman.

The maid looked astonished, and a chill suddenly ran down her spine. Even Elder Qin couldn’t deal with that woman, yet she....

A look of pity flashed in Zhao Yan’s eyes. Martial artists were truly too weak compared to cultivators. Even if he faced Zhantai Qingxuan, he couldn’t be confident of victory.

”Insects.” Zhantai Qingxuan looked at Song Yi and the others coldly, and a trace of killing intent flashed in her eyes. However, she quickly restrained herself. The Heavenly Southern Sect had its rules, and they couldn’t easily kill mortals.

Song Yi frowned. ”Who are you people?” he mumbled. Glancing over at the crowd that had gathered, Song Yi clasped his fist. ”It seems that there had been a misunderstanding just now. We’ll take our leave.”

With that, he turned around, ready to leave.

”Heh. Do you really think you can leave whenever you want?” Zhantai Qingxuan’s lips curled up, revealing a hint of cold mockery