Immortal of the Nine Realms

People lined the sidewalk, but they didn’t dare block the road itself, let alone stand in front of the figure walking. That person was none other than the Spirit Void Sect Leader. She was expressionless as she kowtowed once for every three steps she took. She didn’t seem to care about the stares and whispered directed at her.

”What is the Spirit Void Sect Leader doing?”

”I think... she’s apologizing? She must be apologizing to that sword cultivator who is staying at the Ye Family’s.”

”Oh! That must be it. If the Spirit Void Sect hadn’t offended that sword cultivator, they probably wouldn’t have had their sect site raided and sold!”

”She truly lives up to being a Foundation Building Realm cultivator; she can really take a loss. She’s given that senior enough face by apologizing. I think they’ll bury the hatchet after this.”

”I was just thinking the other day whether the Spirit Void Sect would disband because of this. Who would’ve thought that this would happen?”

The Spirit Void Sect Leader seemed oblivious to their discussions, continuing to walk and kowtow.

”Wenxiu, do you think what they’re saying is true? Is the Spirit Void Sect Leader really apologizing to that sword cultivator?”

”Maybe....” Ye Wenxiu wasn’t entirely sure. ”If that’s not it, I really can’t think of any other reason that would make a Foundation Building Realm cultivator lower themselves to do this.”

A Ye Family youngster nodded slightly. ”Yeah. But I think the Spirit Void Sect Leader is really doing the right thing here. If she doesn’t do this, the sword cultivator will probably end up killing her one day.”

Before long, the heads of the three major cultivation families soon received the news and hurried over. When they saw what the Spirit Void Sect Leader was doing, they were shocked.

The Spirit Void Sect Leader had always been held in supreme regard as she had reached the Foundation Building Realm at a very young age. Even the Spirit Void Citylord had always shown her respect for that.

”The three Elders must be nearby,” whispered the Xu Family Head.

The Zhou Family Head looked at the Ye Family Head. ”Should we tell senior about this?”

”I’ll go and tell him. You two stay here and observe,” said the Ye Family Head before he turned around and hurried off to find Fang Chen.

The Xu Family Head and the Zhou Family Head exchanged looks. ”That old fox, he sure knows how to seize an opportunity!” They couldn’t help but feel that their minds were always one step slower than that of the Ye Family Head, which left them annoyed.

At the Ye Family residence, the head of the Ye Family hurried to the courtyard where Fang Chen was.

Seeing Fang Chen sitting with Abbess Qing He, he quickly approached and said, ”Senior, the Spirit Void Sect Leader is here, and she’s doing ‘three steps, one kowtow’ while walking in our direction.”

Abbess Qing He was taken aback. What’s she doing? Is she apologizing?

She looked toward Fang Chen, hoping to see his reaction. However, Fang Chen remained motionless with his eyes closed. He said nothing.

Seeing that the courtyard had fallen into silence, the Ye Family Head started to sweat. He backtracked each of his words back in his mind to see if he had said anything wrong.

After a dozen breaths, a faint light suddenly surged from Fang Chen’s body. Before the two could react, a terrifying sword intent swept outwards.

Being closest to Fang Chen, the two of them keenly felt the power of his sword intent.

Even the Ye Family Head, who was a cultivator at the twelfth stage of the Qi Refining Realm, felt stiff all over. He turned icy cold. He couldn’t move a muscle.

Abbess Qing He had it even worse since she was closest to Fang Chen. Her forehead trickled with cold sweat.

Just as the sword intent was about to surge and spread beyond the courtyard, Fang Chen’s eyes snapped open!

A sharp gleam flashed in his gray-white pupils, and the terrifying sword intent instantly receded, returning to him.

Little Sword had awakened, and its awakening had brought Fang Chen a lot of surprises. He could feel that his sword body was several times stronger than before!

If he were to face a cultivator at the mid-stage Foundation Building Realm now, he was confident he could handle them with ease. He wouldn’t need to use the Eight Desolation Supreme Sword Scripture.

When the sword intent faded, the pressure on the head of the Ye Family and Abbess Qing He instantly disappeared. Breathing a sigh of relief, the two wiped off the cold sweat from their foreheads.

The Ye Family Head shuddered all over. ”What terrifying sword intent!”

He had been pinned in place from the pressure to the point where even a mortal would’ve been able to kill him then and there if they wished.

Fang Chen looked at the head of the Ye Family and smiled faintly. ”Did you just say that the Spirit Void Sect Leader is doing “three steps, one kowtow” while heading in our direction?”

The Ye Family Head nodded hastily. ”Exactly. I believe she’s here to apologize to you, senior.”

At that moment, a commotion suddenly arose from outside the Ye Family residence.

Fang Chen rose and walked outside.

Seeing that, Ye Family Head hurried to follow.

However, Abbess Qing He remained seated without moving. Fang Chen had told her not to show herself. If Xia Xuanji saw her, he might immediately figure out that Fang Chen was here.

***

Outside the Ye Family residence.

The Spirit Void Sect Leader, refusing to rise from her prolonged kowtow, elicited silent admiration from the onlookers. Faced with the supremely skilled sword cultivator, even the once lofty Spirit Void Sect Leader had to humble herself and beg for mercy.

”So she was really apologizing to that senior.”

”Of course she was. Only that sword cultivator deserves to have the Spirit Void Sect Leader apologize to him in this way.”

The crowd whispered among themselves.

Within the dense crowd, The Xu and Zhou family heads watched from the sidelines as well.

Meanwhile, the three Elders had already arrived behind the Spirit Void Sect Leader. They fell to their knees, as did the other cultivators of the Spirit Void Sect.

Xia Xuanji stood among the crowd, watching the scene with a faint smile, his expression calm and assured.

”If I can become a sword cultivator, perhaps one day I can have the same demeanor as that senior.”

In the crowd, Ye Wenxiu’s determination to apprentice himself to Fang Chen became even stronger than ever.

Finally, after a while, the Ye Family gate opened slowly, and they finally saw the terrifying sword cultivator appear, the very same cultivator who had slain a cultivator at the late-stage Foundation Building Realm with a single sword strike.

Standing behind the swordsman was the Ye Family Head. He was almost like a follower with his head lowered.

”There you are. How dare you show your face again?” said Fang Chen with a faint smile.

”I have come to apologize,” answered the Spirit Void Sect Leader. “I hope you can forgive my unintentional mistakes in the past.” She slowly hung her face down.

The Elders followed suit.

The onlookers couldn’t help but sigh. Who would’ve thought that the Spirit Void Sect would ever end up in such a situation. However, the sincerity shown by the sect leader and her followers was undeniable. With her taking the lead in such a humble apology, most grievances could be resolved as long as they weren’t too severe.

”I see that you’re very sincere, so I’ll put what happened before aside. Please rise,” said Fang Chen lightly.

The Elders felt joy in their hearts. Without hesitation, one of them took out a teacup. Filling it up with tea, he handed it to their sect leader.

The Spirit Void Sect Leader rose slowly and respectfully presented the tea with both hands. ”Please drink this cup of tea for me to express my sincerity, senior.”

The expressions on the faces of the family heads changed slightly.

Their expressions appeared somewhat strange. If Fang Chen didn’t drink the tea, it would seem a bit cowardly in the eyes of the crowd. It wouldn’t match the dignity of a sword cultivator. But if he did drink it... what if it was poisoned?

The cultivators standing around also seemed to have thought of the possibility, their expressions becoming slightly odd.