Immortal of the Nine Realms

Chapter 1585: Suppressing the Demon

Evening fell, and the wedding celebration could be considered to have been nearly perfect, save for the mid-ceremony disruption caused by Zhang Xizhou. After Ning Beiyou and Xu Linjun finished their ceremonial toasts, they were escorted back to their cave dwelling according to custom.

The sixth-transformation immortals of the Ning Clan and Tianshui Manor were eager to exchange more pleasantries with Fang Chen and Huang Qingque. However, Huang Qingque had business to attend to and needed to depart, while Fang Chen intended to consume the Sword Bone to advance to the third transformation. After a few brief words of conversation, they took their leave.

Fang Chen found a spot within the Linglong Constellation with beautiful scenery and decent spiritual energy. After laying down a formation, he took out the Sword Bone and swallowed it.

As the Sword Bone entered his abdomen, the object, originally incredibly hard, was instantly melted by his sword intent upon contact with his immortal essence. In a mere flash, Fang Chen felt as though he were standing in the middle of a desolate canyon.

He opened his eyes and surveyed his surroundings, certain that this was the Sword Domain contained within the Sword Bone. It was the concentrated essence of that third-transformation immortal’s lifelong cultivation.

Little Sword appeared beside Fang Chen in a shimmer, curiously eyeing the area. ”Little Chen, so this is the Sword Domain hidden in that Sword Bone? Doesn’t seem like much of a big deal.”

Her multicolored long hair fluttered in the wind as the surging energy of the Five Elements seemed to be testing the boundaries of the space.

”Sword cultivators have short lifespans. Anyone who can reach the third transformation and leave behind a Sword Bone is undoubtedly a genius of their generation. We must show respect to such seniors,” lectured Fang Chen.

Little Sword remained noncommittal. She didn’t care for grand principles and only wanted to know what secrets the Sword Domain held and how long it would take to digest.

Fang Chen said suddenly, ”There seems to be a village up ahead. It just appeared.”

Little Sword looked up, and sure enough, a village had materialized not far away.

This surprised her. There’s stuff like this inside a Sword Domain?

Fang Chen smiled. ”Let’s go take a look.”

The Sword Domain refined by that sword cultivator before his death might be different from what he had imagined. It was getting interesting.

***

The village was ordinary and showed no signs of strangeness. And it was precisely this normalcy that made it bizarre. This was the Sword Domain of a third transformation Sword Immortal. A place identical to a mortal village couldn’t exist here without reason.

A group of rowdy children appeared to be returning from playing in the river, chasing each other with boisterous shouts. They soon brushed past Fang Chen and Little Sword.

One of the children suddenly stopped in his tracks and stared at Fang Chen and Little Sword with wide, curious eyes.

”Hey, kid, what are you looking at us for?” Little Sword growled, putting on her most menacing face.

However, with her delicate features, no matter how hard she tried to look fierce, she couldn’t pull it off.

The child burst into laughter. ”A mere flying sword, yet you dare to take human form!”

Little Sword huffed, ”You’ve gone too far! I may be a flying sword, but you’re just a fragment of a Sword Domain. You’re lower than I am.”

Fang Chen smiled and asked, ”I have consumed the Sword Bone, child. How do I go about refining this Sword Domain?”

”You swallowed the Sword Bone? Then it seems he has passed away... Does that mean we... can finally escape this place?”

The child was stunned, his eyes glazed over. Slowly, a hint of joy crept in, turning into excitement, until he finally couldn’t help but throw his head back and laugh toward the sky.

His laughter drew out the villagers of all ages. Soon, word of the third-transformation Sword Immortal’s passing spread from one person to the next like wildfire. From the farmwife holding a spatula, an old woman who had just been feeding the chickens, a child clutching a steamed bun, to the young girl carrying a laundry basin. Every single one of them became ecstatic in that moment.

An old man rushed over excitedly, pushing the child aside. He looked at Fang Chen with pure joy and asked, ”Is what you said true? That Sword Immortal has passed away, and you swallowed his Sword Bone?”

”It is true.” Fang Chen nodded. ”You all seem quite happy about it?”

”Happy? How could we not be happy! We’ve been stuck here for so many years. To finally have a chance to see the light of day again, how could we not be happy! Hahaha!”

The old man waved his walking stick and roared with laughter.

”Little Chen, their aura is rather strange,” Little Sword whispered.

”Mhm, I’ve noticed. This aura... it belongs to the demon race, doesn’t it?” remarked Fang Chen as he studied the old man.

The old man ignored the duo and joyfully announced to all the villagers, ”This person has swallowed the Sword Bone. As long as we devour him, we can seize his physical body to be reborn and finally escape this Sword Domain!”

In an instant, the once-kindly faces of the villagers began to transform. Green fur sprouted from faces, and jagged fangs protruded from mouths. Among the thousands of villagers here, from children to the elderly, every single one was of the demon race.

”So that late senior’s Sword Domain was related to Demon Suppression?” noted Fang Chen curiously, watching the transformations unfold.

The old man had grown to over ten feet tall, shifting into a hyena-like upright monster. He looked down at Fang Chen from his towering height and demanded, ”You swallowed the Sword Bone to advance to a third transformation sword immortal, right?”

Fang Chen nodded. ”Correct. You seem well-informed; it appears you spent a significant amount of time with that Sword Immortal.”

”Of course it wasn’t short! That bastard suppressed us for countless years, imprisoning us here to use us as tools against his enemies! Who do you think we are!? We are dignified third-transformation demon immortals. How could we endure such humiliation?” The old man chuckled darkly. ”Now that he has met his retribution, it is time for us to rise again!”

Fang Chen asked curiously, ”He used you to fight? How? What was his Sword Domain like?”

”Village Chief, don’t talk so much. Let’s just eat him!”

”Exactly, stop wasting words!”

”That girl looks quite tender; eating her would be a great tonic.”

Several demons looked at Little Sword with eyes full of greed. Little Sword flared with rage. Had Fang Chen not remained silent, she would have struck already.

”No rush, no rush. This lad is a second-transformation Sword Immortal. If he hadn’t swallowed the Sword Bone, we wouldn’t have this chance. As demons, we must know how to return a favor,” said the old man with a mocking smile as he looked at Fang Chen.

”Since you’re so curious, I’ll tell you. Back then, that sword immortal’s domain was named Demon Suppression. You catch the meaning, don’t you?”

The old man sneered. ”Suppressing demons, suppressing demons... from the very start, his goal was to crush innocent demons like us! For every demon he suppressed, his cultivation would grow a fraction, and his Sword Domain would strengthen a degree. Count how many of us are here, every single one a third transformation immortal!”

Fang Chen nodded. ”Thousands of third-transformation demon immortals are suppressed here... it certainly sounds like something a sword cultivator would do.”

Aside from a sword cultivator, what other third transformation immortal could be so defiant of heaven as to suppress thousands of his own rank?

”His domain was especially designed to counter the demon race, so our power was weakened by thirty percent the moment we encountered him. That’s the only reason we were easily suppressed. However, his domain also targets other cultivators. The longer you stay here, the more your strength is suppressed!”

A ferocious, predatory grin spread across the old man’s face as he lunged forward, jaws snapping toward Fang Chen.

What they failed to notice was that a completely different Sword Domain had already spread out silently, thoroughly blanketing the area.

Thud.

The old man suddenly collapsed to the ground. A foot slammed onto his back. His ten-foot-tall frame shrank down to barely a foot in size. Not only that, his ferocious appearance reverted to that of a cub, looking almost harmless and adorable.

”What’s happening!?” roared the old man, but then he froze, his face turning a deep shade of red.

Why was his voice so high-pitched and piercing? He sounded exactly like a toddler.