Immortal of the Nine Realms

”He is my teammate.” Little Immortal Honglian looked coldly at that core disciple. ”Before Senior Sister died, she did indeed say those words. He merely repeated them. What’s wrong with that?”

”There are indeed many problems surrounding Senior Sister’s death. The matter is vast and may reach farther than any of us can imagine. As for the Elders’ Council...” The Second Senior Brother nodded slowly. ”I’m afraid even they will need to conduct an internal investigation.”

Nanming Ruyue and Li Shanzi both agreed out loud, while the core disciple who had just berated Fang Chen looked rather embarrassed and said no more.

”The Elders’ Council does indeed need to investigate itself,” Elder Chen said with a slight nod. ”For now, spread all known clues and send people to visit the Rulai Monastery and the Five Poison Sect.”

”We should also send someone to the Lesser Underworld,” someone added. ”See if we can find Senior Sister’s wandering soul.”

Elder Chen glanced at him. ”Of course, we’ll send someone. The one going should be a cultivator of our Enlightenment God Palace, and their cultivation must not exceed a first transformation Immortal. I’ll handle this personally.”

The Third Senior Sister smiled. ”Then now... should we return to Enlightenment Star? Senior Sister’s body ought to be laid to rest. We can’t let her lie here forever for others to gawk at. That’s hardly proper.”

”Third Senior Sister, what kind of attitude is that!” barked the Seventh Senior Sister.

The Seventh Senior Sister’s rebuke emboldened her devoted followers, who immediately began chastising the Third Senior Sister too.

”It sounds like you’re happy she’s dead!”

”Have you no sense of fellowship at all?”

The Third Senior Sister didn’t care in the least. But she didn’t need to, because her own supporters had already begun lashing back.

Ji Sheng was one of her followers, but he did not have enough seniority to join in. So, the retorts came instead from older, higher-ranked core disciples.

Seeing the scene grow increasingly chaotic, Elder Chen snorted coldly. ”If you have energy to bicker here, use it to settle the aftermath of this affair instead of squabbling in our territory. Dismissed!”

With that, Elder Chen summoned his Black Dragon Immortal Boat and departed first. The other elders, seeing this, exchanged brief words with the Ancient Immortals of the Langgui Constellation and then left as well.

After exchanging glances, the Langgui Constellation’s immortals said, ”Fellow Daoists, we shall take our leave too.”

They bowed decisively before departing. They had no wish to get dragged into this mess.

Only the core disciples remained aboard the Black Dragon Immortal Boat, their gazes fixed upon the icy coffin.

The Third Senior Sister smiled softly. ”In that case, since we’re uneasy leaving Senior Sister’s coffin with Junior Sister Hong, why not let it accompany my Black Dragon Immortal Boat?”

”Leaving it with you makes me even less at ease,” the Fourth Senior Brother snapped. ”I’ll escort it instead! Our Chief Core Disciple dying in the Lower Six Realms is humiliating enough! If anything happens on the way back, what face would our Enlightenment God Palace have left?”

”Senior Sister herself said before her death that her remains would be escorted by me. There’s no need to trouble anyone else,” Little Immortal Honglian said coolly. ”I plan to depart for Enlightenment Star at once. Please, all of you, return.”

Seeing this, Nanming Ruyue smiled and said to the others, ”Since it’s a final wish from Senior Sister herself, we should respect it. If she learns about this from the underworld, she won’t blame us.”

”If she learns about this from the Underworld? Senior Sister always disdained the Ghost Immortal Path. She never spent any effort studying it. Even if she’s in the Underworld now, she’ll have little cultivation left. Why should we still defer to her? She’s been the Chief Core Disciple long enough.”

The Third Senior Sister snorted coldly, sweeping her eyes across everyone before giving Little Immortal Honglian a mocking look. ”In that case, be careful on your way back. If you lose her corpse, you’ll answer for it.”

She returned to her Black Dragon Immortal Boat and vanished into Qingming with her expedition team. The rest of the core disciples left one after another.

Before departing, Nanming Ruyue merely told Little Immortal Honglian to be careful on the road and said no more.

Once everyone was gone, Little Immortal Honglian turned to Fang Chen. ”Fellow Daoist Fang, do you think there will be an accident on the way?”

”Hard to say. If anyone dares to make a move now, that alone shows they’re connected to Senior Sister’s death,” Fang Chen replied. ”Even so, if someone wants to confirm whether she’s truly dead, this is the only window to act. Once we reach Enlightenment Star, the chance will be gone.”

Little Immortal Honglian nodded lightly. Then her immortal essence surged. The Black Dragon Immortal Boat, infused with her power, transformed into a streak of light and shot into Qingming.

For the first few months, the journey went smoothly, almost unimpeded. Even when they occasionally encountered other immortal ships, those Immortal Boats always steered clear upon seeing the Black Dragon Immortal Boat, not daring to approach rashly. After all, the title of core disciple of the Enlightenment God Palace carried unmatched prestige within the Fangcun Realm.

”Fellow Daoist Hong, I heard in the Enlightenment Underworld Realm that core disciples are allowed to study the Ghost Immortal Path ahead of time. How well do you know it?” Fang Chen asked casually.

”The Ghost Immortal Path cultivates the soul,” said Little Immortal Honglian. ”After I became a core disciple, during the years you went missing, the Enlightenment God Palace did indeed teach me about it. But they consume much cultivation time. Training in it means neglecting worldly cultivation. To quickly become a first-transformation immortal, I haven’t truly begun its practice.”

She glanced at Fang Chen. ”This method may not be passed to those who aren’t core disciples, Fellow Daoist Fang. I hope you understand.”

Fang Chen smiled unconcernedly. ”No problem. I’m just curious.”

Little Immortal Honglian looked toward the icy coffin, a hint of emotion flickering in her eyes. ”Senior Sister herself didn’t seem to care much about the Ghost Immortal Path either.”

Xie Aman’s methods were indeed extraordinary. None of the elders had realized she was only feigning death.

”With what I know of the Ghost Immortal Path, its existence makes up for certain weaknesses. Even if one dies unexpectedly, their cultivation isn’t entirely lost. They can continue existing in another form. Moreover, Ghost Immortals can directly absorb the life-essence of souls in the Underworld, granting them extremely long lifespans.”

She smiled faintly. ”If my guess is right, some of the powerful figures once born from the Enlightenment God Palace may have perished in the Mortal Realm, yet still live on in the Underworld, merely remaining hidden.”

Fang Chen said nothing. From the moment he learned that the Enlightenment God Palace possessed the Ghost Immortal Path, he had already guessed as much. The true strength of the palace likely lay hidden within the Enlightenment Underworld Realm itself. Over countless years, how many Ghost Immortals had they accumulated? The number had to be terrifying.

Not to mention, they possessed the Demon Refining Tower, able to refine Yin Demons and harvest pure essence to sustain an entire legion of Ghost Immortals.

Aside from the Enlightenment God Palace, the top powers of the Upper Three Realms probably did the same. The waters of the Floating Pagoda Realm ran far deeper than he had imagined. For that reason, possessing Monarch Yan’s Seal meant he already held a distinct advantage within this realm.

Little Immortal Honglian suddenly frowned. ”Something’s wrong, this doesn’t match the star map!”