Immortal of the Nine Realms

Fang Chen was intrigued. The Ten Directions Immortal Sect? So that would make them natives of the Nanqing Constellation?

He asked curiously, ”Which generation disciple of the Ten Directions Immortal Sect are you?”

”How many generations does the Ten Directions Immortal Sect have now?”

Bixuan was stunned. He quickly realized what this entailed and asked, ”How many years have passed outside?”

Fang Chen shook his head. How would he know how many years had passed?

Bixuan frowned and said, ”I remember that when I died in battle, I had taken in three disciples. Presumably they passed down the legacy of the Ten Directions Immortal Sect. That must be why you asked me that question.”

”You died in battle?” Fang Chen was surprised. ”Fellow Daoist Bixuan, are you the founding ancestor of the Ten Directions Immortal Sect?”

Bixuan nodded. ”Exactly. Back then, when I came to the Nanqing Constellation to take part in the war, I knew there was a chance I might perish. So I founded a sect and left behind the Ten Directions Immortal Sect.”

Fang Chen hadn’t expected to reel in such a big catch.

This was the founding ancestor of the Ten Directions Immortal Sect. If he were to be taken out into the outside world and recognized by the Ten Directions Immortal Sect of the Nanqing Constellation, his status there would be extraordinarily exalted.

Unfortunately, they met at this moment. Fang Chen was already a core disciple of the Enlightenment God Palace, and his status was already exceptional. Had he encountered Bixuan during the earlier Immortal Exchange, there might have been room to make something of it.

”Fellow Daoist Bixuan, I’ll take you all to the Underworld City now. Sit tight,” Fang Chen said with a smile.

As he spoke, the Zhu Long began swimming toward the depths of the Forgotten River. The wandering souls on its back immediately sat up straight, not daring to show the slightest disrespect.

Being immersed in the Forgotten River was no pleasant experience. None of them wanted to suffer that torment again.

”Fellow Daoist, you must be quite an important figure in the Underworld as well, right? Do you know how the Ten Directions Immortal Sect is doing nowadays?” asked Bixuan, unable to help himself.

”The Ten Directions Immortal Sect is currently the number one sect in the Nanqing Constellation, an uncrowned king in every sense,” Fang Chen shared with a smile. ”It may even have a seventh-transformation Ancient Immortal presiding over it.”

Upon hearing that, Bixuan was stunned, ”A seventh-transformation Ancient Immortal?”

Prior to his death, Bixuan had only been a sixth-transformation immortal. He never imagined that the three disciples he had left behind could elevate the sect to such heights. He could hardly believe his own sect had birthed an Ancient Immortal!

After the shock came joy. Anyone would be happy to hear that their juniors had achieved such outstanding accomplishments.

”Fellow Daoist Bixuan, you mentioned that you died in the great war back then. Could you talk about the details? Who were you fighting?” Fang Chen asked casually.

”Chaos,” answered Bixuan, smiling bitterly. ”It was far too chaotic back then. Who I was fighting... even up until my death, I never figured it out clearly. All I knew was that something went wrong in the Greater Immortal Realm first, and then disturbances also arose here in the Underworld.”

He continued, ”Before that, cultivators in the Mortal Realm hadn’t thought much of it. Who would have known that the chaos would gradually spread to the Nine Mortal Realms, especially the Ancient Desolate Realm? At the time, all the major sects were fighting. No one even knew why the war had started. We only knew that some people were trying to rule the cultivation world.

”We cultivators seek great freedom and great ease. You can ask for my respect, and I’ll give it. But if you want my kind to live like dogs, absolutely not.

”I vaguely remember that when I arrived at the Nanqing Constellation, my opponent was the top sect of the Five Elements Realm, the Five Element Grand Sect. The Five Elements their cultivators wielded were all formed from origin qi. Their combat strength at the same level was terrifying. I died at the hands of a sixth-transformation Immortal from the Five Element Grand Sect.”

Fang Chen’s heart stirred. This time, he had really struck gold. From the looks of it, the era Bixuan lived in was infinitely close to that age of great turmoil. Or perhaps it was the very tail end of it.

The flames of war spreading to the Mortal Realm meant that the Immortal Realm and the Underworld had already fallen, or at the very least, the situation had turned grim. It had to have been the result of a war that had gone on for a very long time.

”Fellow Daoist, has this age of chaos ended now? Who won?” Bixuan suddenly asked, his eyes full of curiosity.

”The age of chaos has ended. As for who won...” Fang Chen chuckled, shaking his head. ”That’s hard to say.”

Hard to say?

Bixuan froze. He didn’t understand what Fang Chen meant. Winning or losing, shouldn’t that be obvious at a glance?

Fang Chen’s eyes narrowed slightly. ”By the way, are there any cultivators from the Five Element Grand Sect here?”

Bixuan immediately nodded. ”Yes, definitely. The Five Element Grand Sect also lost many people back then. They must be here as well.”

”Help me find them. I want to ask some questions,” Fang Chen said.

Bixuan immediately began searching among the many wandering souls for traces of cultivators from the Five Element Grand Sect.

But there were too many wandering souls here. He was now just an ordinary wandering soul with no cultivation at all. After looking for a while, he could only show a helpless, bitter smile.

”Fellow Daoist, I’m afraid I can’t find them.”

”No matter,” Fang Chen said with a faint smile and a nod. Then he spoke loudly, ”Are there any fellow Daoists from the Five Element Grand Sect present? I would like to ask a few things.”

The scene fell deathly silent. No one responded.

Fang Chen already understood some things. Earlier, he had still harbored doubts about Bixuan’s stance. Now it seemed that the Five Element Grand Sect was likely one of those factions Wang Chongsong had mentioned, those who tried to collude with demons and profit from the chaos. It was likely that only some core members of those sects knew the truth. An outsider like Bixuan would naturally have no understanding of what the Five Element Grand Sect had been doing. That could be seen from his earlier look of confusion.

In that age of chaos, perhaps ninety-nine percent of the cultivators who died never even brushed against the edge of the truth. From beginning to end, they believed it was merely a period of disorder. In reality, what they faced was likely a catastrophe of annihilation.

Fortunately, that battle was still ongoing even now, with no clear victor.

”Fellow Daoist, it seems these turtles are too scared to come out. They were the ones who started the war back then,” Bixuan said with a cold laugh, his gaze sweeping around in mockery. ”Now that my sect in the Nanqing Constellation is the uncrowned king, it shows that the Five Element Grand Sect has already been completely defeated.”

Fang Chen wore a faint smile. ”It doesn’t matter if they don’t come out. Once we arrive, you can stand at the city gate and identify them one by one. Whoever you recognize, I’ll throw straight back into the Forgotten River.”

Quite a few faces turned stiff. Finally, one person couldn’t hold back any longer. He stepped forward and cupped his hands toward Fang Chen with an awkward smile. ”I am a cultivator of the Five Element Grand Sect.”

Bixuan took one look at him and immediately laughed. ”So it was you. Turns out you died in battle too! Oh, I thought you were something special.”

He then said to Fang Chen, ”I died at this fellow’s hands back then.”

”What’s your name?” Fang Chen asked.

”Zhou Huaiyu of the Five Element Grand Sect.”

”What was your cultivation level?”

”A sixth-transformation Immortal.”

”Which Immortal Path did you follow?”

”One of the Five Elements Immortals, the Wood Immortal Path.”

Fang Chen’s heart jolted. ”Five Elements Immortals?”

He hadn’t heard of this Immortal Path before. And from the way the man spoke, this path seemed to be divided into five types.

Metal, wood, water, fire, earth? The Five Elements Realm... Five Elements Immortals... It looks like after that war, this Immortal Path was... wiped out?

With that thought, Fang Chen nodded. ”Come over here and talk. Tell me about the stance of the Five Element Grand Sect back then, and the purpose of starting a war in the Nanqing Constellation.”

Zhou Huaiyu gritted his teeth and, under the watchful gaze of countless hidden looks, walked toward Fang Chen.

The owners of those gazes all wore grim expressions, thinking that their subtle changes in expression would go unnoticed in the crowd.

Little did they know that in the world seen through Fang Chen’s eyes, every abnormal fluctuation in every single line lay fully under his scrutiny.