Immortal of the Nine Realms

According to the standards of the Immortal Exchange, Fang Chen was lodging in no more than a mid-range inn, so its location was somewhat remote.

Ji Tiandu walked beside him, speaking and smiling as though they were friends. Together, they entered the inn and stepped into a quiet meditation chamber.

The moment they sat, Fang Chen asked in eagerness, ”Daoist, what of those peak-grade spirit stones you spoke of? Take them out and let me see.”

Ji Tiandu chuckled softly. ”Before I bring them out, there’s one question I would like to ask.”

Fang Chen frowned. ”What question?”

Ji Tiandu’s smile widened faintly. ”The person you were speaking with on the street just now. Do you know him well? What is his background?”

Fang Chen waved a hand impatiently. ”What business of yours is that? He is merely a business partner. Let us leave it at that, and return to discussing the spirit stones.”

In that next instant, a terrifying aura erupted, enveloping Fang Chen like an iron cage. It was the crushing presence of a second-transformation immortal.

Ji Tiandu’s face had gone cold, heavy with threat. ”Tell me that man’s background honestly. How dare a mere Tribulation Realm cultivator posture before me?”

Fang Chen’s pupils dilated. His expression shifted. ”Tribulation Realm...? How do you know my true realm? Who exactly are you?”

Ji Tiandu’s lips curled upward. ”A petty little character, lugging heaps of immortal crystals about. Sooner or later, you’ll meet calamity. Consider today your good fortune. Confess everything about that old fellow’s identity, and when the Immortal Exchange concludes, I’ll see no need to trouble you further.”

The panic on Fang Chen’s face eased. He straightened his back, his gaze hardening. ”Then let’s make a deal. You can see through my cultivation, which means you possess a technique that bypasses this area’s restriction arrays—one that lets you perceive people’s true faces, auras, and cultivation levels. I can tell you about that man’s background and give you three hundred immortal crystals on top. In exchange, give me that secret technique.”

Ji Tiandu almost laughed.

Three hundred immortal crystals were a lot, yes, but the Ji Family’s ancient immortal arts weren’t things that could be traded for worldly wealth.

He sneered. ”You are not qualified to trade with me. Now cease your—”

Suddenly, a shadow appeared behind Ji Tiandu. A hand lazily clenched around him, and he exploded into a cloud of blood mist.

His consciousness froze.

The next thing he knew, another figure was standing in the room.

When he regained his senses, he was in shock to find out that there was another person inside the chamber. He tried to activate his immortal senses to probe the newcomer’s identity but couldn’t. Something had sealed his abilities.

The old flood dragon said mildly, ”Lord Fang, didn’t I already tell you? Immortals of the Minor Immortal Realm are excessively proud. How could they ever hand down their clan’s inherited technique to you?” ℴ

As he spoke, he stooped and picked up a piece of Pifu Sand, passing it into Fang Chen’s hand.

The soul imprint branded upon it had already been utterly erased, refined to nothing.

Ji Tiandu’s eyes went wide with disbelief. That’s mine!

That Pifu Sand held every single immortal crystal he had accumulated over so many years! Even worse, it held the seven hundred immortal crystals that Lady Suya had given him just earlier to bargain with Immortal Xingyu!

”You are courting death!”

He roared and reached out furiously, grasping to reclaim the Pifu Sand, only to see his palm pass straight through the pair before him. His hand closed on nothing but air, as though he himself had become smoke, incapable of touching them at all.

What... is happening?

Ji Tiandu froze in place, stiff with shock.

Fang Chen, by contrast, seemed altogether at ease.

Fang Chen wore a light, almost pleasant smile as he spoke to the old flood dragon. ”We shouldn’t meet again for a while. After all, there are sixth-transformation immortals here. If Ji Tiandu is slain, they’re bound to investigate.”

The old flood dragon answered with calm detachment, ”When I struck just now... I left a trace.”

”What trace?” asked Fang Chen, his brow creasing.

”The aura of a Blood Flesh Demon Immortal.”

Fang Chen frowned deeply. ”Doing that will cast suspicion upon the Grand Desolate Immortal. But should they choose to investigate thoroughly, your own path will be uncovered, and you will be placed under suspicion. You could hardly exonerate yourself.”

If the Underworld could have been opened freely here, they would have had a flawless retreat. But within the Nanqing Constellation, the Road of Yellow Springs was sealed. Their most vital escape route was denied, forcing every step to be more precarious.

The flood dragon merely chuckled. ”No matter. Better they hound the Grand Desolate Immortal than lay blame at my door. It is risky, but the treasure is not in my hands, which makes me a lesser suspect. Between an old man who’s already drawn their ire, and a fifth-transformation Blood Flesh Demon Immortal who’s crossed their path—tell me, who makes the likelier scapegoat?”

With that, he turned and departed. From the moment he left the chamber to the time he reached the front of the inn, his appearance shifted ceaselessly, changing again and again as he merged into the milling crowds. Another few shifts and his presence vanished entirely.

Ji Tiandu stood rooted, stunned senseless, his mind a roiling mire. They... they knew of Grand Desolate Immortal? They even knew his name?

That meant the one who killed him was none other than the same old man who had fought him for the Yang Essence earlier!

But why? Why would he...?

Fragmented clues began to piece together in Ji Tiandu’s mind, like a fiendishly complex puzzle. When he recalled the words ”Blood Flesh Demon Immortal,” the picture snapped into place.

The Blood Flesh Demon Immortal... Back then, when Myriad Immortal Palace’s enmity with the Grand Desolate Immortal started because their four Guardian True Immortals had all perished at the hands of a Blood Demon Immortal? And Grand Desolate Immortal himself was a fifth transformation Blood Demon Immortal, yet he had sworn it was not his hand that slew them.

Ji Tiandu’s mind spun. Could it be that this old man... was the true culprit?

”This decrepit old man gave rise to the blood feud between Myriad Immortal Palace and Grand Desolate Immortal. He sabotaged Tuxiong Star’s plan from behind the scenes. He even competed against me for the Yang Essence! They must be my elder brother’s enemies! They are pawns set down by some great figure from the Minor Immortal Realm!”

His face darkened, veins bulging with rage, yet within his eyes flickered also a strong shiver of dread.

The truth struck him cold.

When he turned back to look at Fang Chen, his gaze brimmed with a grotesque cocktail of fury, fear, and grim realization. As a scion of the Ji Family, he had actually approached them on his own, trying to swindle them out of immortal crystals!

But now he understood. No doubt those immortal crystals came from that same powerful figure in the Lesser Immortal Realm. They must have learned about his elder brother’s plan to walk the Immaculate Immortal Path and were secretly sabotaging it.

His heart turned cold.

Yes! They hail from the Minor Immortal Realm, which is why they can see through my disguises and my true cultivation. Their little show of talking in the streets was all bait, meant to lure me in, to prevent me from making an alliance with Immortal Xingyu from Myriad Immortal Palace!

But then, how did they know I even intended to contact Immortal Xingyu in the first place...?

The more he thought, the colder he felt.

If his enemy had been a mere cultivator of the Nine Mortal Realm, he could still carry with him a vestige of superiority and control. But when facing people from the Minor Immortal Realm, arrogance was the height of folly. In their eyes, he was less than a pawn.

Tuxiong Star, the Immortal Exchange... both missions had been sabotaged without him even realizing until now that every thread had been tangled by their hand. If not for his own sudden death in this chamber, he would never have glimpsed the truth.

Ji Tiandu clenched his fists in frantic resolution. No. I must follow him. Once we leave the Nanqing Constellation, I will make straight for the Underworld. My elder brother... with his methods, he will surely send someone to walk the Path of Yin. When they find me, I can pass this crucial information on to him. Yes. My brother must be warned.

He could already see Fang Chen departing the room. Ji Tiandu did not hesitate a moment. He rushed out, following close behind.

Barely ten breaths later, however, a suffocating pressure descended from above.

Jidu Kongyuan appeared, flanked by three other sixth-transformation immortals who had helped preside over the Immortal Exchange. The four descended straight into the inn’s meditation chamber.

The instant a fourth transformation moved to annihilate a second transformation, the release of power was difficult to hide. This disturbance was precisely what had drawn them. Four sixth-transformations together would never leave such an anomaly unanswered.

Sure enough, within moments of their arrival, a grim rumor spread swiftly across Nanqing Constellation. Inside one of the inn’s chambers, someone had been killed.

Jidu Kongyuan stood silently within the room, eyes closed as he probed the lingering auras. Then slowly, he opened them again, his face dark.

He said grimly, ”This is the aura of a Blood Flesh Demon Immortal.”