Immortal of the Nine Realms

A total of over a hundred cultivators were brought before Li Shanzi and the young man.

All eyes immediately turned to them.

Most were sizing up Yu Tiange and the other two cultivators who held silver jade tokens.

Lin Yuan noticed a few familiar faces and couldn’t help but send a private message. ”You weren’t planning to explore, were you? What are you doing here then?”

Those few blushed slightly and ignored him.

Li Shanzi noticed Fang Chen’s presence. He nodded slightly in acknowledgment, a soft smile on his face. ”Among these external cultivators, quite a few have already advanced to the Tribulation Realm. Some even made it to the mid-stage of the Tribulation Realm. Junior Brother Ji, do you think we should have this group compete among themselves, or should we let the Dao Union Realm disciples spar as well?”

Lin Yuan and the others began to breathe heavier. If they could stand out in this competition and perform brilliantly, it would greatly benefit their futures.

At this moment, among the hundred or so people, about twenty were still in the Dao Union Realm; the rest had already advanced to the Tribulation Realm. Those twenty or so looked a little embarrassed standing there. They hadn’t advanced yet, and the only excuse left was that their talent simply wasn’t as strong as the others.

The young man smiled and waved his hand. ”Forget the Dao Union Realm ones. Step back.”

The Dao Union Realm cultivators all sighed in relief, though they were a little disappointed as they withdrew to the side.

”Those without bronze jade tokens, fight a mixed battle, just like in the assessment. After that’s done, the remaining ones will duel one-on-one.” The young man smiled faintly. ”Whoever takes first place will follow me personally for cultivation.”

He was referring to the cultivators under his command, naturally excluding Fang Chen and his group. When they heard the reward, the cultivators on his side all widened their eyes and began to breathe harder.

To follow a core disciple directly was infinitely better than struggling for years on some expedition star. It was like skipping several ranks, saving centuries of effort!

”Whoever takes first place on our side, I’ll personally reward them with ten immortal crystals,” Li Shanzi said with a light smile.

Yu Tiange felt a faint disappointment. If only Li Shanzi could be as generous as the other core disciples.

Li Shanzi personally cleared an area for the mixed battle between Yu Wuxia and the others. Although only participating in the mixed fight left them a bit disappointed, Yu Wuxia and Lin Yuan still perked up with determination.

”The four of us will go together. We’ll use the Thunderfire Seven Immortal Soldier Kill Formation. Just follow my lead,” Meng Qingling quietly sent a voice transmission.

Little Immortal Honglian seemed uninterested in the contest, but given the situation, she couldn’t refuse.

The participants entered one after another, and at Li Shanzi’s signal, the melee began.

Fang Chen stood beside Lin Dong, watching as the four, Little Immortal Honglian, Meng Qingling, Yu Wuxia, and Lin Yuan, fought fiercely.

But their opponents were all top-tier geniuses. Even though Meng Qingling unleashed the Thunderfire Seven Immortal Soldier Kill Formation, they were soon defeated and forced to withdraw.

”Well, not too embarrassing. At least they managed to knock down a few,” said Lin Yuan, rubbing his nose as he returned to Fang Chen’s side.

”Your strengths are all about the same, so even the slightest advantage can tip the scales of a battle significantly,” Fang Chen said casually. ”When you activated the Thunderfire Seven Immortal Soldier Kill Formation just now, your opponent countered with another formation, limiting the power of your own formation.

Meng Qingling’s face darkened. ”Didn’t expect them to be proficient in formations as well.”

”You should’ve anticipated that and prepared a backup plan. In a real fight, you can’t know your opponent’s methods in advance,” Little Immortal Honglian said calmly.

Meng Qingling glanced at her but didn’t argue this time. She truly had been careless.

Last time, Fang Chen had broken her formation out of nowhere, and she had brushed it off. But now, it happened again, this time with someone else countering her with a formation. There was always someone stronger. Clearly, the Langgui Constellation’s Thunderfire Sect wasn’t the only faction skilled in formations.

”Captain, how high do you think you’ll rank this time?” Lin Yuan asked curiously. ”I checked just now. On our side, only Fellow Daoist Yu has a silver jade token. The other side has two. If both of them take part, the top three will definitely go to them.”

”But including you, we have nine bronze jade token holders on our side, and they have only seven. So that’s at least one small advantage.”

”They might reshuffle the matchups,” Fang Chen replied.

Yu Wuxia frowned. ”So that means... you might face Fellow Daoist Yu?”

That would make predicting rankings tricky. Unlucky ones might be eliminated in the first round, losing their chance to shine before the two core disciples.

A few hours later, the melee participants were gradually eliminated one after another until only two remained, barely holding on. It seemed they had reached the point of exhausting their spiritual energy, unable to decide the winner.

After a while, Li Shanzi waved his hand lightly, separating them with a burst of immortal energy. ”Alright, you two can share first place.”

The two looked slightly disappointed. Shared first place was never as satisfying as taking the top alone. Still, they each received a reward of one immortal crystal.

For Tribulation Realm cultivators, that was already quite a good income. They both thanked him respectfully and withdrew.

”Good. Now the real duels begin.” Li Shanzi smiled slightly and glanced at the young man. ”The numbers aren’t even. How should we arrange the matches?”

”How about we mix everyone together?” the young man suggested. ”No need to separate yours from mine; they’re all external cultivators under the Enlightenment God Palace anyway. Whoever takes first place, you give ten immortal crystals, and I’ll take them under my wing.”

”That doesn’t sound quite right.” Li Shanzi smiled faintly. ”Why don’t you give them ten immortal crystals, and I’ll take them?”

The young man chuckled. ”Then, Senior Brother Li, why don’t we set some proper rules? The rewards have to be given anyway. After all, these people may ascend in the future. They could join either of our teams.”

”They can be shuffled and compete together, but as for rewards, you give yours, I’ll give mine. I can’t just hand over the talents I’ve recruited to you. People would laugh at me for having no backbone,” Li Shanzi said with an amused smile.

The young man nodded. ”Fair enough. Let’s each give our own reward. We’ll settle it after the matches.”

After that, the participants, including Fang Chen, were all reshuffled.

They drew lots to determine opponents.

Soon, the first matchup was announced. When the names were read aloud, Yu Wuxia and the others froze for a moment.

”Looks like our junior brother’s luck isn’t all that great...” Wang Xuan said with a wry smile.

Fang Chen’s opponent... was Yu Tiange. He was the silver jade token holder on their side.

Lin Dong frowned, glancing at the fifth-transformation immortal standing beside Yu Tiange before smiling at Fang Chen. ”It’s alright, don’t sweat it. Just show your face out there. Losing’s fine.”

”I’ll... do my best,” Fang Chen replied softly.

He looked at Yu Tiange, who was also looking at him, smiling and nodding slightly.

Sorry, Fellow Daoist Yu... Fang Chen thought inwardly.

He wasn’t planning on lying low this time. He needed to get closer to Li Shanzi.