Immortal of the Nine Realms

”Sword Chief Fang sent you to find me? I knew it.... How could he possibly have escaped the pursuit of a third-transformation Loose Immortal?”

Bai Lingyue let out a soft sigh as the last shred of hope in his heart dissipated. Now they were all wandering souls. They were all in a terrible situation.

After the duel ended, tranquility returned to the Sword Burial Palace. The Immortal Boats in the sky had long since vanished.

Now, what was being passed from mouth to mouth wasn’t the matter of the wager, but rather the rebellion of the Long and Sun Family sword cultivators.

Clearly, the latter had far greater repercussions for Prison Wind Lands than the bet ever could.

”The Long and Sun Families are finished this time. The other two families probably won’t have it easy either. I heard the sword cultivators on their side... have all defected as well.”

”It’s more than that. Sword cultivators from the three great sects and even those trained by the Nine Immortal Mountain Holy Lands have also deserted in large numbers.”

”In the past, would they have dared such a thing? But now, all sides are turning a blind eye.”

”I heard they’re planning to form a new sect and demand the return of sword scriptures from various factions. Anyone who refuses will end up like the Long and Sun Families.”

The expressions of the crowd instantly turned to shock.

Someone sighed. ”Looks like from now on, we’ll need to be more respectful when dealing with sword cultivators. We can’t treat them like we used to.”

”Exactly. Third transformation sword cultivators... It’s so bizarre. With that little lifespan of theirs, how did they even reach the third transformation?”

In a teahouse nearby, Fang Chen sipped his tea while listening to the cultivators’ animated discussions. Every word revolved around the Long and Sun Families.

Bai Qingming and Bai Lingyue soon arrived at the teahouse. Seeing the lively, down-to-earth atmosphere, Bai Lingyue’s expression grew even more desolate.

Once a promising genius among sword cultivators, he was now a wandering soul. He couldn’t even become a normal mortal even if he wanted to.

Bai Lingyue weakly nodded at Fang Chen and then sat across from him. ”Sword Chief Fang.”

It looked like he was sitting, but in reality, he didn’t touch the stool at all. It only appeared that way.

A young waiter passed by and asked politely, ”Would the two of you like more tea?”

”Refill the tea, and bring a few plates of pastries as well,” said Bai Qingming with a cheerful smile.

”Right away!”

After the waiter left, Bai Lingyue stared blankly at Bai Qingming and Fang Chen, remaining silent for a long time.

Only after the tea was refilled and the pastries were served did he finally speak in disbelief, ”Why... Can he see you? You’re not dead!?”

That didn’t make sense.

If Bai Qingming wasn’t dead, how could he see him? And how did he enter the Sword Burial Palace as if it were empty?

Given the current turmoil, if Bai Qingming and Fang Chen were still alive, just showing their faces would definitely bring a deadly pursuit!

”I’m dead. Junior Brother Fang is not,” said Bai Qingming, tossing a peanut into his mouth. His eyes lit up instantly. ”That’s the taste. Not much different from when I was alive.”

This scene immediately made Bai Lingyue crave it terribly. He never expected that one day, he’d be tempted by such ordinary mortal food.

Bai Lingyue urged anxiously, ”You two, stop keeping me in suspense. What’s going on?”

”We’ll talk on the way,” replied Fang Chen with a smile.

He stood up and walked out of the teahouse.

The two quickly followed.

Bai Qingming didn’t forget to stuff the pastries into his pocket, munching as he asked, ”Where are we going next?”

”The Long Family. I need to pick up a few people.”

Bai Qingming looked at him oddly. ”The Long family? Isn’t that walking right into a trap?”

”We’re in the dark; they’re in the light. What’s there to fear? And you’re no longer a mortal cultivator. You’ve got even less to worry about,” said Fang Chen with a grin.

”Oh, right...”

A smile gradually appeared on Bai Qingming’s face.

Soon, the two followed Fang Chen into the Yellow Springs Road.

Along the way, Bai Lingyue was also bestowed a title by Fang Chen, allowing her to have a physical form in the mortal world.

He finally understood why Fang Chen had told him to wait in place and felt deeply grateful.

***

Long Family, Ancestral Shrine.

From the second branch, there were Long Jingyao and Long Jingguang. From the third branch, the Heaven Calamity Dragoness and Long Jingchun. And from the fourth branch, a few first and second transformations Loose Immortals. All of them looked pale, clearly having suffered severe injuries.

Behind them stood disciples from all branches of the Long Family. Some looked dejected, some red-faced with fury, and others were bowing their heads, not daring to meet the eyes of the nearby sword cultivators.

Among them, the Heaven Calamity Dragoness had the highest status and cultivation. The crowd surrounded her like stars around the moon.

Not far in front of them stood a white-haired youth, his hair cascading to his waist. His eyes were as deep as the starry river, and his skin fairer than winter snow.

”The Long Family has over ten thousand bloodline descendants scattered across Prison Wind Lands. Not long ago, I sent someone to pay them a visit. I imagine most of them are already dead,” said the white-haired youth with a soft smile.

The Long Family members were instantly furious upon hearing this. They never expected that the sword cultivators they had raised would all betray them.

Even more unexpected was the sheer ruthlessness with which they struck against the Long family.

The Heaven Calamity Dragoness stared hard at the white-haired youth, a flash of surprise suddenly flickering in her eyes. ”You are...”

The white-haired youth looked at her with a cheerful smile. ”Heaven Calamity Dragoness, you remember me?”

”Aunt, who is he exactly?” asked Long Jingchun through gritted teeth.

It was this white-haired youth who had killed their family’s third transformation Loose Immortal and stolen their clan’s guardian Spiritual Treasure.

By the time they had returned, nearly seventy to eighty percent of their family’s bloodline had already perished. If the external descendants were wiped out as well, it would be as if the Long Family’s bloodline had withered overnight!

”A long time ago, the Long Family had only one Sword Academy. Back then, there were only twelve Long family’s sword scriptures, one of which was called the Illusionless Sword Scripture,” said the Heaven Calamity Dragoness with a grave expression.

”The one who reclaimed that scripture for the Long Family was a posthumous child of a sword cultivator. His father had died in battle many years prior. Our Long Family took pity on the orphan and his widowed mother, took them in, and raised them within the family. Back then, he didn’t even have a name. Later, after he reclaimed the Illusionless Sword Scripture, he was granted the name Wuwang and took his father’s surname—Li.”

Everyone was shocked. The era of the Illusionless Sword Scripture! That was far too long ago...

”I remember now! Li Wuwang, the former headmaster of the Sword Academy!” Long Jingchun’s eyes dilated. ”Didn’t you die in that sword duel...?”

Long Jingyao and the others gradually recalled his background, and their expressions turned utterly horrified.

The younger ones, though they had never seen Li Wuwang in person, had still heard his name.

He had once been the Long Family’s most monstrously talented sword cultivator, having reached the first transformation Loose Immortal Realm before his fall!

Li Wuwang said with a soft smile, ”I didn’t die. Even though that sword duel lasted a full seven years, and nearly all the Sword Academy’s disciples were killed or wounded, in the end, I still crawled back out from the Underworld.”

He paused briefly.

”I dragged my crippled body back to the Long Family, only to discover that my wife and daughter, unable to bear the humiliation, had taken their own lives. The Long Family was far too ruthless. Even if I lost that duel, what did it have to do with them?”

The Long Family members fell into silence. Some averted their eyes, some looked in disbelief, and others were filled with fear.

At that moment, countless sword lights tore through the sky, and Li Changsheng and the others landed one after another behind Li Wuwang.

Li Changsheng stepped forward and clasped his fist. ”Father.”

Yan Kun froze.

Father!?

Li Changsheng’s wife froze.

Long Xuan froze.

Fang Chen froze.

All the Long family members were stunned as well.

Li Changsheng, the Long family’s live-in son-in-law, was actually Li Wuwang’s son!