Immortal of the Nine Realms

Outside a certain Daoist temple in Thousand Dao Tower, groups of sword cultivators stood. The weakest among them was an upper three realm.

Passing Thousand Dao Tower cultivators couldn’t help but glance sideways, secretly exchanging looks.

Sword cultivators had changed drastically from the past. With the appearance of two third-transformation Loose Immortals among them, their status had risen significantly. The cultivators of Thousand Dao Tower no longer dared to gossip about them behind their backs, and could only secretly guess the purpose of these sword cultivators’ visit.

Fang Chen ignored the sword cultivators outside the temple and made his way smoothly to the depths of the Daoist hall. There, he saw Li Changsheng in conversation with a white-haired old Daoist.

In addition to Li Changsheng, there was also a sword cultivator standing nearby. His aura was comparable to that of Lu Qingshu, marking him as a first-transformation Loose Immortal. It was no surprise that this person was the sword cultivator who had deliberately flown over the heads of Yan Haoran and the others just moments before.

”Daoist Yun Ding, where is Qingmu?” Li Changsheng asked, cupping his hands and smiling.

The white-haired Daoist smiled faintly and made a simple gesture. A paper man appeared behind him.

Fang Chen’s eyes narrowed. His suspicion had been confirmed. Qingmu, like Hong Qing, had been turned into a paper figure.

The appearance of Qingmu’s face was expressionless, but when he looked at Li Changsheng, a trace of hatred flickered in his eyes.

Other than that, he was no different from the nearby paper figures.

When Fang Chen arrived, he noticed that there were many spirit-bound entities here. The Daoist Yun Ding in front of him was likely a practitioner with a deep fascination for spirit-binding techniques.

”They know very little. You specifically came here today. What else do you have to do?”

Daoist Yun Ding smiled faintly. ”With this much time, you might as well go find his junior. I believe his junior knows far more than he does. He’s merely a pawn in the hands of that anomaly, not even a true disciple.”

Li Changsheng smiled, his gaze lingering on Qingmu. ”That’s precisely why I’m here.”

Daoist Yun Ding suddenly understood. ”Oh, you’re planning to use them as bait?”

He paused for a moment, then furrowed his brows. ”Such a method... how could an ordinary person fall for it?”

”His junior is different. You can’t judge him by normal logic. Sometimes, even if they know it’s a trap, they will still choose to walk into it,” Li Changsheng replied with a smile. ”If we can obtain some inheritance from that anomaly, it would be highly beneficial to Thousand Dao Tower.”

”Indeed. That anomaly is also from a Daoist background, and it’s likely he holds many lost Daoist techniques.”

Daoist Yun Ding nodded. ”If I weren’t just a second-transformation Loose Immortal and didn’t lack the confidence to face him, I might have personally gone to your side to investigate.”

At that moment, Qingmu suddenly spoke, yelling, ”Li Changsheng, you’re colluding with outsiders, plotting against the talents of your own homeland! This is utterly shameless!”

Daoist Yun Ding’s expression darkened, and in an instant, an invisible flame began to burn around Qingmu.

He let out a pained scream and rolled on the ground in agony.

”You have already become a spirit-bound entity. I didn’t give you permission to speak, so how dare you speak on your own?” Daoist Yun Ding sneered coldly before handing Li Changsheng a jade slip.

”This person’s will is somewhat stubborn. This jade slip will allow you to control his life and death.”

Li Changsheng took the jade slip and casually asked, ”Where’s the other one?”

”Oh, my disciple is hosting a banquet today to celebrate his recent breakthrough to Loose Immortal. He’s short on staff, so he borrowed a few people. I’ll have someone go retrieve him. You can take them both with you when you leave.” Daoist Yun Ding smiled faintly. ”I was planning to visit your adopted father soon, but since you’re here today, there’s no need for me to make a trip.”

After saying that, he handed Li Changsheng another jade slip. ”There are 13 names inside. The tower master hopes that, within 3 months, they can quietly meet their end.”

He chuckled. ”With your methods, this should be easy enough.”

Fang Chen’s gaze sharpened slightly.

The Thousand Dao Tower wanted Li Changsheng and the others to kill these people. The method was eerily similar to that of the Spirit Blood Sect. It could be inferred that the one overseeing all affairs related to the Spirit God Sect in Qiufeng had to be the tower master of Thousand Dao Tower.

Li Changsheng glanced at the contents of the jade slip, his expression changing faintly. ”These 13 people are all major figures from Longyuan and Sihuo. Is your Spirit God Sect planning to go after them?”

Daoist Yun Ding laughed softly. ”They were already at odds; we’re just adding fuel to the fire. It’s important that you handle this matter beautifully. With the scarcity of immortal crystals in the world today, if we don’t use the Blood Spirit God Pills as substitutes, how else could we hope to achieve immortality?”

Li Changsheng nodded. He then casually asked, ”By the way, did the Loose Immortals from the Long and Sun families manage to form pills recently?”

”You know as well as I do. They’re Loose Immortals and need special pill formulas to refine them. It will take at least a hundred or two hundred years to form a pill.”

”If you’re too eager, you won’t be able to fully refine the karma on their bodies. Even if there’s just a trace left, eating it could cause a major problem.”

Daoist Yun Ding smiled and said, ”Don’t worry, my senior brother is deeply versed in this art. There won’t be any mistakes along the way. By the time the pills are completed, you should be able to advance to the second tribulation.”

”Your adopted father is a sensible man. Cooperating with us is the wisest choice.”

”Isn’t it about time?” said the Loose Immortal sword cultivator in the distance, sounding rather impatient.

Daoist Yun Ding chuckled, glanced at the sword cultivator, but did not engage with him further. He continued to address Li Changsheng, ”I still have some matters to attend to. You all know the way, so I won’t see you off.”

Li Changsheng clasped his hands in thanks. ”Thank you, Daoist Yun Ding.”

After Daoist Yun Ding left, he turned toward the Loose Immortal sword cultivator and casually tossed two jade slips to him.

”Adopted father said that your lineage needs to contribute a bit this time. These tasks are assigned to you.”

”Heh, you’re just afraid the anomaly will come knocking, aren’t you? Even the anomaly is something to fear, and yet you’re still calling yourselves sword cultivators. Such existences are often unpredictable. Who knows when they’ll snap back to their senses.”

The Loose Immortal sword cultivator sneered. ”Leave it to me. Once the people Thousand Dao Tower wants dead are dealt with, I’ll visit your place and help you fish out that little fish.”

”Suit yourself.”

Li Changsheng smiled and turned to leave.

***

”Master, since Li Changsheng entrusted this task to you, could it be that they’re just trying to avoid danger? Agreeing so easily might mean we’re falling into their trap...” said a sword cultivator at the Ascension Realm cautiously.

The nearby sword cultivators also seemed to be contemplating. When they learned that their master had accepted the two tasks, they felt something was off.

A Loose Immortal sword cultivator’s eyes flashed with a faint trace of disdain. ”The people Thousand Dao Tower wants dead are no stronger than first-transformation Loose Immortals. This task is nothing to us.”

”Are you all worried about the other tasks related to the anomaly?”

Everyone nodded, their gazes falling on the paper figures of Qingmu and Hong Qing.

From their experience, whenever something was related to an anomaly, many variables would emerge.

The Loose Immortal sword cultivator chuckled faintly. ”Do you really think I’m helping Li Changsheng fish out the anomaly? I’m simply using this opportunity to visit his place of origin. A small place that has produced two anomalies might be hiding some secrets.”

Everyone understood, and their hearts relaxed.

”Who’s there?”

Suddenly, the Loose Immortal sword cultivator let out a loud shout and swung his sword to slash.

At the same time, three illusory figures appeared out of thin air, each launching their own killing moves at the cultivator.

The nearby sword cultivators didn’t even have time to react before they were caught up in the aftermath of the battle, dying instantly.