Immortal of the Nine Realms

“A sect can be auctioned off?” Inside the Concealed Moon Hermitage, Fang Chen’s face revealed a hint of surprise as he learned this piece of astonishing news from Abbess Zhu Yue.

”The founding site of a sect either has spiritual springs, spiritual fields, or spiritual veins. So the land itself can’t be ordinary, and it naturally has its value, and anything valuable can be auctioned off in the cultivation world,” Abbess Zhu Yue explained with a faint smile. ”That is if you can snatch that place for yourself and make others acknowledge you as its owner.”

”So, the sites of the Spirit Void Sect and the Flying Eagle Gate can be exchanged for spiritual materials,” mused Fang Chen.

”Do you want spiritual materials to refine a weapon, Young Master Fang? I see that your flying sword is already of very high quality,” remarked Abbess Zhu Yue.

”One can never have too many spiritual treasures.” Fang Chen chuckled, not elaborating further. ”How much can sect sites like those of the Spirit Void Sect and the Flying Eagle Gate be exchanged for, in terms of spirit stones?”

”The Spirit Void Sect has a spiritual spring. While it isn’t exactly large, it can produce a pound of spiritual spring water daily. Other than that, they own half an acre of spiritual fields. If it were to be auctioned off, there should be Foundation Building Realm cultivators willing to bid around 2000 spirit stones for them. Of course, the worth of a sect site is much higher than two thousand spirit stones; however, such estate... carry risks for the buyers, so the price people offer may not be too high,” said Abbess Zhu Yue. ”As for the Flying Eagle Gate, it has a residual spiritual vein, making the area within several miles have about fifty to sixty percent more spiritual energy than the outside world. It’s enough to sustain one Foundation Building Realm cultivator and over a hundred Qi Refining cultivators. It’s worth at least 2500 spirit stones.”

Abbess Qing He’s small mouth opened slightly, a hint of shock flashing in her eyes. She hadn’t expected sect sites to be worth so many spirit stones. She could hardly imagine this number, and she kept comparing it to the price of the many other items she was familiar with. ”2000, 2500... How much is that?”

”We don’t have any time to lose, Abbess Zhu Yue. Let’s set off now,” said Fang Chen with a smile. “We’ll split the spirit stones evenly when the time comes.”

”Uh....” Abbess Zhu Yue shook her head. “I’d rather not.”

Fang Chen chuckled. ”Why? Abbess, surely you’re not so detached from the world that you don’t care about spirit stones.”

Abbess Zhu Yue smiled. ”Of course not. But selling sect sites has a prerequisite: your status must be respectable. I’m only in the early stage of the Foundation Building Realm. This is not a realm that people will take very seriously. If there were any issues that pop up, I’m afraid I wouldn’t be able to bear it. But you, Fang Chen, are different.” Abbess Zhu Yue’s face had turned solemn at this point. “Dare I ask, are you a sword cultivator?”

Fang Chen nodded with a smile. ”I am, indeed.”

When he first heard about sword cultivators, he was only acting the part to facilitate his interactions with others, but now that he had obtained the Eight Desolation Supreme Sword Scripture, he was a genuine sword cultivator. Just his current sword body alone made him immune to many techniques!

”I see...” Abbess Zhu Yue sighed softly. ”Since you’re a sword cultivator, you have the qualifications to sell the sites of the Spirit Void Sect and the Flying Eagle Gate. Others wouldn’t dare to say anything.”

After discussing it for a while, they decided to start with the Spirit Void Sect first. The situation with the Flying Eagle Gate might take a little longer to be known, given that the Master of the Flying Eagle Gate had just died.

”I’ll stay behind the scenes for this one.” Abbess Zhu Yue smiled lightly. ”I’ll have Qing He accompany you.”

”That’s fine, but I can only bring one person, so Liu Mu will have to stay at the Concealed Moon Hermitage for now. I don’t know if that’s fine?”

Abbess Zhu Yue nodded with a smile. “Don’t worry about it, he’s just a kid.”

***

Fang Chen traveled with Abbess Qing He. They transformed into a sword, moving at extremely fast speeds. They moved so fast they could cover 2000 miles per hour. However, even so, it took them a whole day of travel to reach the Spirit Void Sect.

Even by the time the two had arrived, Abbess Qing He was still very shocked. ”Lord Fang Chen’s cultivation is unfathomable....”

Abbess Zhu Yue had brought her to the Spirit Void Sect before, and they had traveled her by flight, too, but it had taken Abbess Zhu Yue two days to reach their destination, with a few breaks in between so that her master could recover her spiritual energy. But Fang Chen didn’t need to rest at all, only slowing down a few times along the way.

”So, the Spirit Void Sect, the Flying Eagle Gate, Qingzhou Sword Sect, as well as your Concealed Moon Hermitage, Li Daoye’s Eight Trigrams Sect, are all in this empire? How many prefectures does the Flame Empire have?” asked Fang Chen casually.

Abbess Qing He pondered for a moment, then said, ”There are four prefectures: Qingzhou, Xuzhou, Hongzhou, and Weizhou. The capital of the Flame Empire is located in Xuzhou. The Southern Heavenly Sect is also in Xuzhou.”

”Hongzhou and Weizhou belong to the northern region, which is under the jurisdiction of the Spirit Beast Valley. Demonic beasts are commonly seen there.”

”How long does it take to travel from Qingzhou to Xuzhou?” asked Fang Chen again.

”Master once told me that it would take her six or seven days, but I reckon two or three days are enough for you.”

Fang Chen nodded. ”Thankfully that isn’t too long.”

”Lord Fang, Spirit Void City is up ahead. The Spirit Void Mountain is located there,” said Abbess Qing He as she pointed up ahead.

Fang Chen looked up and saw a vast and majestic city, like a primordial beast crouching in the distance. It looked much more magnificent than the capital of Grand Xia.

”This is just one of the hundred cities in the four prefectures of the Flame Empire. One can imagine how much more magnificent the capital of the Flame Empire must be!”

”Lord Fang, according to the law of the empire, it’s illegal to fly in a city,” said Abbess Qing He, then she suggested, “I think it’s better if we land outside the city gate.”

Fang Chen was curious. ”Which is stronger, the imperial family of the Flame Empire or the Southern Heavenly Sect?”

”Of course the royal family is stronger. The sects in the Flame Empire almost all rely on the royal family for their existence, just like the martial sects in Grand Xia,” replied Abbess Qing He.

Fang Chen nodded. This was a more reasonable power structure. If the sects were stronger than the imperial family, problems would inevitably arise. For example, some laws issued by the imperial family may not be respected in certain areas. Imperial family members may even lose their lives in the more remote places of the empire if they weren’t respected. If the imperial family was overthrown one day by a powerful sect, then there would be no one left to govern the land and their territories would fall into chaos instantly! There would be countless casualties... This was the way Grand Xia should also develop in the future.

Since Fang Chen didn’t want to step on the toes of the imperial family here, he landed with Abbess Qing He at the city gate.

Though there were quite a few cultivators in the Flame Empire, those who could fly were rare, and most were powerful figures.

Near the city gate, the citizens of the Flame Empire saw Fang Chen and Abbess Qing He descending from the sky, and awe appeared on their faces.

”Where are you two from?” asked the city guard politely. Based on the law, even cultivators needed to register when entering the city.

”Guhe,” replied Fang Chen casually.

The city guard didn’t even bother to ask where “Guhe” was. He simply registered them and let them pass. Obviously, this was all just a formality, and the city guard wasn’t responsible for verifying the authenticity. As long as he registered them, he would have done his job.

Meanwhile, in the lord’s mansion of the Spirit Void City, a banquet was underway. Beautiful singers danced gracefully, and sumptuous delicacies adorned the jade tables. Two incense sticks were lit, filling the room with abundant spiritual energy.

The Spirit Void City Lord had white hair cascading down his temples and he possessed a towering figure.

Smiling, he toasted a thin elderly man who was sitting with him.

”Passing Dragon Island Master, here, let me offer you another toast!”

The thin elder nodded faintly and drank the spiritual wine in his cup. ”Spirit Void City Lord, I don’t know many people in the Flame Empire. I came to you hoping that you could help me find someone.”