Immortal of the Nine Realms

In order to prevent the swordsman from escaping, Tu Qingqiu and the other eight surrounded the cave dwelling. Even Zhou Wuji had been forcibly assigned a position.

There were a total of ten Foundation Building Realm cultivators encircling the cave. This was a force to be reckoned with anywhere in the world!

”Should we wait for the ruler?” asked the mid-stage Foundation Building Demon King hesitantly.

”He’s already here. Proceed as planned,” said Tu Qingqiu calmly.

He’s here?

The spirits of the Demon Kings were uplifted. They were much more confident with the ruler around. After all, he was at the grand completion stage of Foundation Building Realm; with someone like that around, their chances of resisting the fearsome sword cultivator would be much higher.

Facing the cave-dwelling, King Lu smiled, bowing with clasped hands. ”I’d like to request a conversation with you, esteemed sir.”

King Lu’s majestic voice was booming, and it had caused the flocks of birds perched on the trees to be startled onto flight.

The Demon Kings watched the cave-dwelling solemnly.

After a brief moment, a figure soared into the air and stood in the void, calmly staring at the Demon Kings.

That figure was shrouded in terrifying sword intent. The Demon Kings in the early-stage Foundation Building Realm felt their hairs prickle from the sense of impending danger that washed over them.

”What terrifying sword intent!”

The Demon Kings grew even more wary, their eyes flickering.

”No wonder Demon King Tianfeng was slain with a single sword strike....”

The only ones who were unaffected by the sword intent were King Lu and Tu Qingqiu. The restless undead creatures also began to quieten down.

Both Zhou Wuji and his son Zhou Huayu showed expressions full of surprise; even the Walking Corpses seemed scared.

Fang Chen smiled under the mask. ”Are you all the so-called ‘Demon Kings’ of this empire?”

King Lu nodded slightly. ”We are here under the orders of the ruler to take the little princess away.”

The princess, who was holed up inside the room in the cave, heard King Lu’s voice, and she was delighted. She shoved the door open and went outside quickly. She couldn’t contain her joy. “Eight Demon Kings are here! Even Aunt Qingqiu is here too! There’s a Foundation Building cultivator from the Blood Corpse Sect here as well!”

”Eight Demon Kings. It seems your empire’s ruler really dotes on you.” Xia Ji walked over slowly, standing side by side with the princess as they looked up at the sky.

Behind them, Jiang Zhong comforted Jiang Tianai in a low voice while keeping an eye on the sky.

The fact that they were surrounded by ten Foundation Building cultivators made him feel uneasy.

”Xia Ji, no matter how strong that friend of yours is, even if he’s a sword cultivator, he’s no match for the combined strength of the eight Demon Kings. King Lu is the number one Demon King of the empire.” The princess sneered. “He’s a league above Demon King Tianfeng.”

Xia Ji nodded. ”Indeed, I have heard of King Lu.”

Cold mockery flashed in the eyes of the princess. ”That friend of yours had been too complacent with arrogance. How dare he stay here for so long? Now that the Demon Kings found him, they will surely take me away. Demon King Tianfeng’s debts will definitely also be settled.”

Glancing at her, Xia Ji suddenly smiled. ”You don’t know my brother. If he dared to stay here, he must have confidence in himself.”

The princess was surprised. Brother?

She suddenly felt very curious about the relationship between Xia Ji and Fang Chen. How could a Qi Refining Realm cultivator from a backwater place be considered a brother to a terrifying sword cultivator who single-handedly killed Demon King Tianfeng?

”If I refuse to release her, what will you do?” asked Fang Chen.

Refuse to release her?

The expressions of the Demon Kings changed slightly, but King Lu remained composed, smiling faintly. ”The empire has no feud with you. What led to all of this was just a misunderstanding,” he said. ”We don’t want anything, we’re just here to take the little princess away. Nothing else.”

”She plotted against my brother. How do you think this should be settled?” Fang Chen smiled. ”You better think about it very carefully. You can only bring her away if I deem I’m satisfied.”

The Demon Kings frowned. They were the ones who should be asking for an explanation over Demon King Tianfeng’s death, yet he was the one saying he wanted to settle scores over what the princess did?

”You killed Demon King Tianfeng, isn’t that enough?” King Lu smiled. “Isn’t that enough for you to bury the hatchet with us?”

”Those are two separate things. Demon King Tianfeng died at my hand because of what’s between me and him, not what’s between your princess and my brother,” said Fang Chen lightly. ”Speaking of which, it’s your princess’s fault all to begin with. She likes to poke her nose where it doesn’t belong and it got her in trouble.”

The princess’s face turned ugly.

Tu Qingqiu suddenly spoke up. ”What kind of explanation do you want? As long as you guarantee the safety of the little princess, we will consider it.”

King Lu and others turned their gaze to Tu Qingqiu.

Tu Qingqiu’s words represented the will of the ruler!

Fang Chen smiled lightly. ”How much is your little princess’s life worth in spirit stones?”

The princess was surprised. ”He actually wants to exchange me for spirit stones?”

Xia Ji couldn’t help but laugh. ”Now you know why he didn’t leave? You still have some value he can squeeze out. This is one habit of his,” he said. “Consider yourself lucky, if you didn’t have any value, you’d probably be dead by now.”

The princess’s face turned ashen, feeling like she was being put up for sale. I feel like a fish on the chopping block!

Disdain flashed in Tu Qingqiu’s eyes as she nodded. ”How many spirit stones do you want?”

Fang Chen smiled. ”Will five thousand low-grade spirit stones be an issue?”

All the Demon Kings sucked in a cold breath.

That was simply an outrageous demand!

Five thousand low-grade spirit stones?

They’d only consume seven or eight hundred low-grade spirit stones in an entire year of cultivation, at most! And they had that luxury because they controlled many resources and held real power in the Qinghu Empire!

Those wandering cultivators at the Foundation Building Realm couldn’t even earn three hundred spirit stones in a year!

Tu Qingqiu nodded slowly. ”Okay, five thousand low-grade spirit stones it is. As long as you release the little princess, I can agree to this condition.”

King Lu couldn’t help but glance at her.

”I’ll release her once I have the spirit stones,” said Fang Chen.

Xia Ji had thought that Tu Qingqiu might hesitate, or even try to pull a few tricks, but he unexpectedly saw her take a pile of spirit stones from her ring and send them to Fang Chen with her spiritual energy.

”I’ve given you the spirit stones. Release the little princess,” said Tu Qingqiu.

”Alright.” Fang Chen took the spirit stones and then waved his hand lightly. Immediately, the princess was wrapped in spiritual energy and sent in front of Tu Qingqiu.

”We’re even now,” said Fang Chen, and with that, he turned into a sword light with Xia Ji and the other two, disappearing into the sky.

”Giving him five thousand low-grade spirit stones like this is too much of a loss...” muttered one of the Demon Kings.

Zhou Wuji was relieved that the situation was resolved easily. He thankfully didn’t form an enmity with the sword cultivator.

”Those five thousand low-grade spirit stones were fake. Did you forget that my Qinghu clan is best at illusions?” said Tu Qingqiu calmly.

Shock appeared on everyone’s faces. After a brief moment of silence, the Demon Kings burst into laughter.

”Hahaha. That sword cultivator must be so happy thinking he’s struck it rich! Little does he know, it’s all up in the clouds!”

“I really want to see his face when he finds out!”

Tu Qingqiu turned her attention to the princess, concerned. ”Are you alright, little princess?”