Immortal of the Nine Realms

Thinking about the strength of early-stage Foundation Building cultivators, Fang Chen couldn’t help but admit that they did surpass Qi Refining cultivators by a significant margin—saying they were ten times stronger would be an understatement.

As for the power of mid-stage Foundation Building cultivators, Fang Chen had experienced it firsthand with Elder Jin Nan. They were at least seven to eight times stronger than those of the early-stage.

This was the standard for cultivators in the Flame Empire. The Sea Dragon Sect, with a Golden Core ancestor presiding over it, was an even more terrifying existence.

The strength of the Green Mountain Island Master surpassed that of early-stage Foundation Building Realm cultivators like Yao Dan and the Flying Eagle Gate Master. He was even stronger than the Spirit Void Citylord.

To Fang Chen’s knowledge, since the Passing Dragon Island Master was a late-stage Foundation Building Realm cultivator, he was likely overwhelmingly strong. Even the first move of the Eight Desolation Supreme Sword Scripture might only be able to injure him, with zero chance of it killing him.

Unless I can condense my 11th immortal vein and further enhance the power of Little Sword, I might not be able to fight him....

Fang Chen’s divine soul returned to his body.

When he opened his eyes again, the three elders of the Spirit Void Sect were still in the midst of a discussion.

”First Brother, Second Brother, if he really is a sword cultivator, we can only give up the Spirit Void Sect.”

”As long as we’re still breathing, the Spirit Void Sect will never truly be considered gone. Perhaps, the sect master can find a better place for us in the future,” he said. “But if we all die, the Spirit Void Sect will truly be completely annihilated!”

”Third Brother, I think we have the strength to fight back, don’t we? I don’t think he is at the Foundation Building Realm ....”

”Don’t speak lightly... The heritage of a sword cultivator is much more terrifying than you two imagine!”

”A single sword cultivator most likely has a group of formidable line-up of experts behind them, and sword cultivators stand at the apex of offensive power! You can clearly see that by looking at how strong that sword cultivator is!”

”Do you think the few Spirit Void Sect cultivators we have here are enough to handle those experts behind him?”

”Well...”

”Stop hesitating already. It’s not like this is the first time such a thing has happened in the Flame Empire. Think about how those sects acted to save their lives.”

”A moment of fleeting dignity is nothing compared to life!”

”Let’s leave it at that for now. We’ll discuss it further after convening with the sect master in the future.”

”Let’s just bow our heads today....”

With that, a moment of silence ensued. Seeing that they had finally stopped talking, Fang Chen smiled. ”Have you come to a decision?”

”Yeah, we did.” The Grand Elder nodded slowly, his face dark. ”We will follow your request, and we hope you will keep your word and not harm us.”

”Remember, you can’t take anything else from here apart from yourselves. Everything here now belongs to me,” said Fang Chen.

The three men’s faces turned a shade darker at that reminder, but they dared not refute him.

The several Heaven Profound Stage guards and the disciples around were now even more submissive, not daring to utter a peep.

One by one, the Spirit Void Sect cultivators passed by Fang Chen, each one thoroughly searched to ensure they hadn’t taken anything with them. In less than half an hour, all the Spirit Void Sect cultivators had left, following the three elders down the mountain.

They didn’t even have a single low-grade spirit stone on them as they descended the mountain. Their most precious treasures and pills had been left behind.

”Are we really just leaving like this, Grand Elder?” asked a Spirit Void Sect disciple, unable to help himself. The unwillingness in his tone was evident as his eyes drifted up the mountain, seemingly on guard.

”What else can we do?” answered the Grand Elder. ”When you’re under someone’s roof, you have to bow your head. It’s already good enough that we can leave with our lives.”

”Let’s go to the City Lord’s Mansion first and explain the situation to the City Lord,” said the Second Elder. “There might still be a glimmer of hope for us.”

The morale of the group lifted slightly.

”The City Lord has connections with the imperial family. Maybe we can flip the situation if he decides to help us.”

***

Back on the mountain, Fang Chen counted his treasures one by one. There were a total of fifty-three treasures, each with a different number of Soul Imprints.

”This flying sword is quite good; it has ten Soul Imprints,” said Fang Chen as he picked up one of the treasures around and turned to Abbess Qing He. “Here, you can have it.”

Abbess Qing He was surprised. The value of this treasure was definitely not cheap. ”Can I really have it?” She had long outgrown her spiritual treasure. It was really not fit for her cultivation anymore.

Fang Chen nodded with a smile as he chucked the treasure into her hands. “Take it.” He then fed the remaining treasures to Little Sword. Among them were the treasures of Yao Dan and the Flying Eagle Gate Master.

Little Sword happily devoured them all. Its aura became stronger with each treasure it ate.

After devouring all the treasures, Little Sword returned to Fang Chen’s body to digest them.

Seeing this, Abbess Qing He was secretly very curious. She didn’t know what Fang Chen was doing exactly, but she thought Fang Chen might’ve been integrating those treasures into his flying sword through refining techniques. It never really crossed her mind that Little Sword could be directly swallowing these treasures whole.

After sorting out the rest of the treasures, Fang Chen began to count his harvest of spirit stones. It had to be said that conquering a sect netted an extremely high yield of spirit stones. There were over 3600 low-grade spirit stones, most of which came from the three Elders and the treasury of the Spirit Void Sect.

Fang Chen’s stash of spirit stones had skyrocketed to over 5400, a fortune that would likely leave even those in the Golden Core Realm speechless.

He had also obtained several storage rings, which he could use to exchange for other treasures or spiritual materials in the future.

As Fang Chen went through everything, he found a round and golden pill. ”What kind of pill is this?”

Abbess Qing He approached and took a closer look, then said, ”Lord Fang, this is a Spirit Essence Pill. Consuming one Spirit Essence Pill is equivalent to cultivating for three months. It’s refined by an elder of the imperial family who is proficient in alchemy. These kinds of pills are not commonly seen on the market. I’ve only seen it once after my master obtained one at a banquet in the capital.”

”Three months worth of cultivation?” Fang Chen nodded. The Spirit Void Sect had three Spirit Essence Pills in total. If he consumed them all, it’d probably increase his cultivation by nine months. Now that he was about to face a late-stage Foundation Building Realm cultivator from the Sea Dragon Sect, these three pills might help him condense his 11th immortal vein!

For an hour, the two of them thoroughly organized the treasures obtained from the Spirit Void Sect. They didn’t miss a single spirit stone, pill, spiritual material, or herb. After everything was done and dusted, the Spirit Void Sect was left spotless.

”Abbess Qing He, I’m going to take these three Spirit Essence Pills. Please watch the area. If anything happens, remember to prioritize your safety and hide,” said Fang Chen.

Abbess Qing He nodded, although she was somewhat confused. What else could happen? The Spirit Void Sect Master dared not return at all.

Fang Chen found himself a quiet room, swallowed the three Spirit Essence Pills in one go, and then took out materials for crafting peak-grade Purple Lightning Talismans.

***

In the Spirit Void Citylord’s mansion.

The steward of the City Lord’s Mansion respectfully led the senior members of the Spirit Void Sect into the reception hall, then said, ”Please wait here for a moment, the Citylord is hosting esteemed guests. I will inform him of your presence.”

The name ”Spirit Void City” originated from the Spirit Void Sect, and even the steward of the City Lord’s Mansion dared not be presumptuous in front of the Spirit Void Sect’s cultivators. However, he was quite curious. Why did three elders from the Spirit Void Sect, who could be patriarchs of their own sects, all come down from the mountain together, and why did they bring dozens of disciples with them?

Could it be that .... they’ve learned that an esteemed guest had arrived at the Citylord’s Mansion and wanted to pay their respects?