Immortal of the Nine Realms

A low and heavy voice broke the silence.

“Blood Flesh Demon Immortal? There’s only one person I know who is a Blood Flesh Demon Immortal present in the Immortal Exchange.”

The speaker was draped entirely in a black mantle, only the twin antlers jutting from his head visible. He was Immortal Feilu, lord of another great marketplace within the Daotai Mountain, equal in status to Jidu Kongyuan of Shikong Market.

His voice deepened further, “This Immortal Exchange is being presided over by the four of us. For someone to kill within these grounds, what is this if not a humiliation? I propose we remove the restrictions, summon that Blood Flesh Demon Immortal here, and demand his explanation.”

Jidu Kongyuan shook his head slightly. “No.”

“Never has an Immortal Exchange lifted its restrictions before its conclusion. Should we break that precedent, then every such exchange overseen by us thereafter would be deemed a jest by the whole world.”

The other two sixth-transformation immortals nodded silently, showing tacit agreement with him.

“But someone here has already been murdered!” Immortal Feilu snapped, brows furrowing deeper. “We are already mocked. This matter cannot be silenced. News will escape regardless. How, then, shall we answer the outside world?”

“First, determine who the victim was,” replied Jidu Kongyuan calmly. “Then conduct a limited investigation, but do not in any way disrupt the final auction. Need I remind you how crucial that final item is? If this business is not handled cleanly, the fallout will strike each of us.”

The words had just left his lips when noise erupted from the courtyard outside.

“Wait, you can’t come in—Ah! Junior pays respects to Immortal Taixu!”

That title at the end drew the attention of the four sixth-transformation immortals. Their faces tightened and their complexion shifted.

They looked outward only to realize the courtyard was swarmed by throngs of cultivators eager to witness the commotion. And striding through the crowd was none other than Immortal Taixu himself, flanked by his two disciples.

The four immediately stepped forward, bowing low in salute.

Immortal Taixu’s eyes swept the chamber, his expression calm.

“I sensed someone taking action here,” said Immortal Taixu coolly. “Who was it that died? And tell me, have you found the murderer?”

Jidu Kongyuan, seeing that many nearby cultivators had already gathered, realized this was no time to conceal matters with half-truths. He could only speak plainly, “The moment we sensed the disturbance, the four of us rushed here immediately. Regrettably, by the time we arrived, the culprit had already departed.”

The courtyard stirred with alarm.

“So someone really was killed here?”

“Then there are bandit immortals infiltrating the Immortal Exchange. What safety do any of us have in this place? Who would dare continue trading here?”

“Shh! With four Immortal Sovereigns here, the culprit will certainly be found!”

Immortal Feilu’s expression turned dark as he listened to the whispers. He gave a respectful bow toward Immortal Taixu, drawing breath as if to speak, but before he could, another wave of commotion rippled through the crowd.

New figures entered.

It was Immortal Longfu and Immortal Dayu who strode in with a commanding presence, their auras vast.

Behind them trailed no fewer than seven or eight other Immortal Sovereigns of varying origins. All of them were sixth transformation, and each attended by more than a few fifth-transformation retainers.

With so many arriving at once, the atmosphere thickened palpably.

Immortal Longfu wore an easy smile, his eyes briefly sweeping across Immortal Taixu before moving away. “Daoist Ji, what has transpired here?”

Jidu Kongyuan visibly exhaled in relief at their presence. Quickly, he stepped forward and recounted the affair in detail.

When he revealed that the culprit bore the aura of a Blood Flesh Demon Immortal, Immortal Xingyu let slip a curved smile, playful and cold.

Taixu asked softly, his tone still detached, “Xingyu, have you discovered something?”

All eyes turned toward her in unison.

Everyone knew this woman to be Taixu’s most favored disciple, his final, closed-door disciple. And behind her lay the full might of the Myriad Immortals Palace, a ruthless and extreme force within the Ancient Desolate Realm. Few cultivators would dare offend her lightly.

Xingyu’s lips curved with quiet confidence. “In this very exchange, there is indeed a participant walking the Blood Demon path, and he is a fifth transformation. Such a one could certainly have slain the victim here, and then departed freely, long before any of you arrived.”

Her smile lingered as her words fell heavy into the room.

Jidu Kongyuan gave a small nod. “The one you speak of... must be Grand Desolate Immortal.”

The crowd stirred at once.

The Grand Desolate Immortal?

Looks were exchanged, uncertain and wary. Many recalled having just seen him earlier, locked in confrontation with Xingyu herself. Now, hearing his name raised here, those memories took on a far stranger hue.

Immortal Feilu’s face darkened, his antlered head turning sharply as he swept his gaze across the hall.

“Is Grand Desolate Immortal present?”

His eyes probed each figure one by one, shifting over every face.

For a long moment, there was silence. Then, at last, a figure stepped forward, stiff-backed, his expression sour. He cupped his hands to the assembled Immortal Sovereigns.

“I am present. But today’s matter has nothing to do with me.”

The crowd murmured and exchanged glances. Seeing him take the initiative to step forth, most nodded faintly. Guilty or not, his willingness to face them openly would at least hasten resolution.

Immortal Xingyu gave a soft laugh. “Nothing to do with you? What a coincidence. There aren’t many cultivators who walk the Blood Flesh Demon Immortal path, are there? If it wasn’t you who killed him, then who was it?”

Grand Desolate Immortal’s face turned ashen. Grinding his teeth, he forced the words out. “I am not so arrogant as to kill wantonly in this place, at such a gathering. If I truly sought to kill, I would wait until after the Immortal Exchange. With so many seniors present, I would never act with such madness.”

“Your words alone are no proof.” Xingyu’s smile thinned, her tone cool. “You claim you’re not so foolish, but you did strike against a fourth-transformation immortal of my Myriad Immortal Palace. Who’s to say that the one you slew just now wasn’t also a fourth transformation? Perhaps even one from the Killing Spiritual Division?”

She pressed, “Everyone knows the Killing Spiritual Division and the Spirit God Sect are bitter enemies. Is it that your Spirit God Sect can no longer restrain itself, striking down their cultivators even here?”

Her words cut like poisoned blades, a charge designed to blacken his name before all. At once, Grand Desolate Immortal’s features contorted between rage and unease. Around them, whispers surged louder.

At that moment, another figure entered the chamber.

When several cultivators moved as if to bar her, she simply lifted a hand. The concealment veiling her form fell away, revealing a breathtakingly beautiful woman, her presence austere yet noble.

It was Lady Suya.

She raised a jade token in her slender hand, her tone calm and even, “I am of the Ji Family of the Minor Immortal Realm.”

The Minor Immortal Realm?

Shock rippled outward. Even the sixth-transformation immortals present grew solemn.

Grand Desolate Immortal froze, his expression turning unpleasant.

Such a coincidence? Why is she... here?

Lady Suya continued without faltering, “The one killed here was a disciple of the Ji Family.”

BOOM!

Her words struck the crowd like thunderclaps.

A cultivator of the Minor Immortal Realm... slain within the Immortal Exchange?

One by one, the gathered immortals’ expressions deepened, tightening. If the deceased was from the Minor Immortal Realm, this incident could have enormous repercussions—even war.

To Grand Desolate Immortal’s own shock, no fear bloomed within him, but rather delight.

If the dead man is of the Ji Family, then doesn’t that rule me out entirely?

His suspicion might, in fact, be washed clean in one breath.

But even as that thought flickered through his heart, Lady Suya’s gaze turned and locked him in place.

The Grand Desolate Immortal tried taking a step toward her. “Daoist, perhaps you and I could—”

“Stop.”

Madam Suya’s voice snapped out like steel.

His step faltered, arrested mid-stride, his face stunned.

Expressionless, her eyes swept down on him, filled with disdainful authority as though a sovereign queen addressing a transgressor.

“Ji Tiandu of the Ji Family. A direct disciple. Today, he lies dead within this Immortal Exchange. I demand the overseers punish the murderer with utmost severity.”

At that, Jidu Kongyuan’s voice interjected, deliberately, “Daoist Lady... who do you believe to be the culprit?”

At once, she raised her finger and pointed, firm and unhesitating, at Grand Desolate Immortal.

“I have heard that a Blood Flesh Demon Immortal aura lingers here. Then it can only be him. Y-You are the murderer!”

Grand Desolate Immortal’s complexion shifted violently, his voice taut with desperation, “On what grounds!? We signed an Immortal contract before this debate, how could I strike against you!?”

Madam Suya’s voice was sharp, merciless. “Do we believe in coincidences so uncanny? Ji Tiandu was on his way to seek cooperation with Immortal Xingyu. Then, he was suddenly attacked? Grand Desolate Immortal, has your Spirit God Sect become so lawless, so reckless, that you dare slaughter even here under everyone’s eyes?”

Though merely a second transformation, her tone was imperious, words dripping with the weight of the Ji Family’s authority. In that moment, the rebuke of her voice carried the lofty pressure of one who commanded from above, and Grand Desolate Immortal was the one thrown beneath it.