Immortal of the Nine Realms

Xia Ji’s eyes flickered as he looked at Master Chanyuan. ”Yes, Master, how did you know about this?”

Wu Ruochou was shocked. How could there have been members of the Fang Family in such a remote area?

”I had been in contact with that genius, and I learned from him about the whereabouts of his descendants,” said Master Chanyan, then turned to Fang Chen. “When you were one, you met me, and when you were four, you saw me. However, you were too young to remember.”

Upon hearing that, memories flooded Fang Chen’s mind.

That’s right, he had met this monk before. Not only had he met him, but when he was one year old, this monk had held him and told him some things he didn’t understand. When he was four, he had seen the monk again, but it was just a glimpse, and the monk disappeared into the crowd. So his impression of the old master was not deep.

It all suddenly struck Xia Ji. No wonder master appeared in Grand Xia. He was there specifically to see Fang Chen’s family. He only happened to notice my talent by chance, which is why he took me in as his disciple.

He had always thought that his master had passed through Grand Xia by chance amidst his travels, but unbeknownst to him, Grand Xia itself had been his master’s destination.

The faces of Lin Quan and the others grew even more unsightly.

”Benefactor, the descendant of the Fang Family is not an evil cultivator, and I don’t sense any evil qi from him,” Master Chanyuan said to Lin Quan with a smile.

”There must’ve been a misunderstanding somewhere.” Lin Quan forced a smile. He turned to Fang Chen and clasped his fist. ”We’ve troubled you. We’ll take our leave now.”

With that, he led the Grand Qian Guards away without waiting for Lin Yu’s opinion.

Lin Yu and the others remained rooted in place. Seeing that, Xia Ji couldn’t help but laugh and say, ”What? The Grand Qian Guards have all left. Do you want to stay and burn a few sticks of incense and pay respects to Buddha?”

Lin Yu’s face contorted. Trying his best to suppress the anger within, he spoke with feigned calmness. ”Xia Ji, we just happened to come up the mountain with them. We were here for another reason, and that is to advise you to apologize to Jue Wudi and stop smearing his reputation.”

”Jue Wudi is a hypocrite, and I stand by what I said. I won’t change my words even if it kills me,” replied Xia Ji with a confident smile.

Sensing the firmness in his words, Lin Yu and the others’ expressions changed repeatedly. In the end, they turned and left without a word.

”The flies have finally buzzed off.” Xia Ji chuckled. He then couldn’t help but look at Master Chanyuan. ”Master, why didn’t you take Fang Chen as your disciple back then? His talent is even better than mine.”

”Back then, This monk examined him and found that he had no talent for cultivation,” said Master Chanyuan, his expression strange.

Xia Ji was stunned. ”He has no talent for cultivation?”

Wu Ruochou didn’t think much about it since she had already thought that Fang Chen hadn’t even condensed his first immortal vein. She was just curious about how Fang Chen had come here as it was difficult for ordinary people to cross such a distance in their lifetimes.

”However, the path to immortality is unpredictable, and it holds many possibilities. It seems that Benefactor Fang has managed to find his own way to embark on this path, which is worthy of congratulations,” said Master Chanyuan.

Pausing for a moment, he looked at Fang Chen for a few breaths. ”Benefactor Fang, have you been in a fight and injured your foundation? This old monk sees that your blood and qi are weak. You seem to have lost years off your lifespan, too.”

Xia Ji was very surprised. ”Fang Chen, you’re injured?”

Fang Chen nodded lightly, then removed his silver mask, revealing his aged face.

Xia Ji was immediately stunned, and Wu Ruochou was also shocked. That face wasn’t the face of a young man at all, instead it looked like it belonged to a mortal in his fifties.

”How could this be?” murmured Xia Ji in disbelief.

Master Chanyuan sighed softly. ”The battles among cultivators are fierce, often resulting in death. Those who dared to fight Benefactor Fang definitely weren’t simple characters.”

”Master, isn’t he someone who hasn’t even condensed a single immortal vein? How could lose years off his lifespan if he’s just a martial artist?” asked Wu Ruochou in astonishment.

”Although this old monk cannot discern his cultivation level, both the fact that he was able to come to this place and the fact that he lost some lifespan suggest that his cultivation is not shallow,” said Master Chanyuan.

”Senior Sister, a while ago back at the Qinghue Empire, Fang Chen killed a mid-stage Foundation Building Realm cultivator. Not only has he condensed his immortal veins, but he’s stronger than those at the same realm as him. Forget Jue Wudi, compared to Fang Chen, he’s just an ant. Moreover, Fang Chen is even younger than Jue Wudi! If I remember correctly, Fang Chen’s only twenty-four!”

”He killed a mid-stage Foundation Building Realm cultivator?” Wu Ruochou’s eyes widened in disbelief, and she subconsciously said, ”How is that possible? Even if one starts cultivating in their mother’s womb, achieving such cultivation at this age is unheard of....”

”It’s absolutely true! I saw it with my own two eyes. He killed the Qinghu Empire’s Demon King Tianfeng. If I hadn’t encountered him along the way, I would have been handed over to Jue Wudi by the Qinghu Empire’s princess!”

Xia Ji turned to Fang Chen, his gaze heavy. ”Is there a way to restore the lifespan you’ve lost?”

”There is, but it’s not urgent.” Fang Chen smiled and simply put away his silver mask. There was no need to wear it now.

”That’s good to hear,” said Xia Ji, then added, “And that person you fought...?”

”He’s dead.”

Xia Ji nodded. ”Good.”

Master Chanyuan spoke slowly. ”The ultimate goal of cultivators is usually longevity, a testament to the difficulty of the immortal path. Losing lifespan is almost irreversible unless one has access to rare elixirs and pills, but such items are exceedingly rare.”

Xia Ji was stunned. Would that mean that Fang Chen’s lost lifespan would be difficult to restore?

A faint smile on his face, Fang Chen said, ”A person may not necessarily seek longevity in their lifetime, and the pursuit of immortality may not necessarily be for longevity either. What I seek is not longevity. Therefore, the loss of lifespan is inconsequential to me. If one can live for thousands of years, yet all their loved ones wither away with old age, then what’s the point of becoming immortal? To live a few decades and accomplish what one wants is enough. That’s a life of no regrets.”

”Fang Chen, you can’t say such things! If you could live longer, you could accomplish even more!” Xia Ji’s eyes flashed with urgency as he looked at Master Chanyuan. ”Master, is there a way to compensate for his lost lifespan? They say you’ve lived for a long time, far beyond what ordinary Foundation Building cultivators can live to. There must be some special way, right?”

Wu Ruochou couldn’t help but admonish him, yelling, ”Junior Brother!”

Amusement appeared in Master Chanyuan’s eyes as he gently waved his hand to indicate that it was okay. Then, he looked at Fang Chen.

”Benefactor Fang, I have a scripture that may be related to longevity. However, it’s useless for ordinary people to cultivate it. If you are destined, perhaps you can learn of its secrets.”

Fang Chen was slightly surprised. ”This is your secret technique. How can I take a look at it so casually?”

Master Chanyuan smiled and waved his hand in the air. ”It’s not really a secret technique. Most of the prominent cultivators in the Grand Qian Empire have all seen it. This is also why the Profound Void Temple can still exist on Profound Void Mountain.”

Fang Chen suddenly realized. He had been puzzled before. Although the spiritual energy here might not be as rich as in the inner city, it was still a paradise in the outer city. Logically, it should have been divided up by all the powers who had their eyes on them by now.

As it turned out, Master Chanyuan had used the scripture to exchange for favors.