Immortal of the Nine Realms

Chapter 1639: Beating the Grass to Startle the Snake

The Sixth Star Lord stood with his hands behind his back before a group of Foundation Building Realm juniors. These disciples looked upon him with eyes filled with worship and awe.

He coughed lightly and then calmly said, ”Has anyone come to cause trouble for our Celestial Invincible Sect recently?”

”Reporting to Ancestor, in recent years, the neighboring sects have all been intimidated by your majestic might. They dare not encroach in the slightest!” a Foundation Building Realm female cultivator, still retaining her charm, said respectfully.

She stole a glance at the Sixth Star Lord, a faint blush creeping onto her cheeks.

The Sixth Star Lord nodded. ”It seems the last lesson I taught them was enough. This is good. Keep up the effort. I often go into closed-door cultivation for years at a time, so I rely on you to maintain order in the sect.”

With that, he slowly walked out.

He suddenly looked into the distance and saw a figure just leaving the Celestial Invincible Sect.

”Hmm? A mortal?”

His expression turned slightly odd, but his sect housed many mortals, so he didn’t give it a second thought.

Fang Chen’s divine soul had taken over Fang Renjian and was headed toward the Immortal Dynasty District at extreme speed. He did not fly. He simply walked. With every step, his figure flickered and reappeared a vast distance away. Even if a powerful immortal were to pass by, they would find it difficult to detect any traces of cultivation on him. Fang Renjian appeared as an utterly harmless mortal.

***

Immortal Origin District.

As Fang Chen stepped back into the area, he found that the Great Sorrow Army was nowhere to be seen. He purchased a few Immortal Origin and casually asked the shopkeeper, ”Shopkeeper, I heard some time ago that the Great Sorrow Army came here to conduct a thorough investigation for Evil Immortals?”

The shopkeeper laughed upon hearing that. ”You’ve heard too? It seems word has already spread across the entire Han Mountain region.”

He paused, then added, ”Not long ago, the Great Sorrow Army did come to the district. They didn’t explicitly say they were looking for Evil Immortals, but who else could they be looking for? Only an Evil Immortal appearing could make the Great Sorrow Army so anxious. However, they searched for a long time without finding a trace. Either the intel was wrong, or the Evil Immortal was too alert and fled early.”

The shopkeeper sighed with emotion. ”None of those Evil Immortals on the wanted list are easy to deal with. Take the Great Abbot of Han Mountain Temple recently, he was beaten so badly by Xie Wudi that he had to flee with heavy injuries.”

”Xie Wudi!” Fang Chen revealed a look of shock. ”This person must be the number one villain on the Evil Immortal List, right?”

The shopkeeper chuckled and shook his head. ”Not quite, but she is certainly in the top ten. A powerhouse like that is someone we likely won’t ever have the chance to meet.”

Fang Chen laughed secretly to himself. The notoriety that his Eldest Senior Sister had carved out in the Zhisheng Immortal Dynasty had already garnered her a bit of admiration from ordinary cultivators. It was clear that, besides the Great Abbot of Han Mountain Temple, she must have beaten quite a few other powerful figures before, giving her such a terrifying reputation.

After leaving the shop, Fang Chen settled back into Immortal Origin District, maintaining a steady income of a thousand immortal crystals per day. Some of the Immortal Origin he had set his eyes on earlier were still there, while others had likely been bought by someone else. The daily foot traffic here was immense, and the number of Immortal Origin Stones moving in and out was countless. Thus, every night, Fang Chen would release his divine soul to inspect the stock and decide on his targets for the next day.

In the seventh district, there was a fairly large Immortal Origin shop. Most of the sources sold in this shop were raw immortal crystal ores. These were the kind Fang Chen preferred. After cutting them open, he could polish the crystals himself, cutting out a step in the selling process.

Inside the brightly lit shop, a middle-aged cultivator dressed in a loose green robe sat in a grand armchair.

”Our previous move to beat the grass and startle the snake seems to have worked.”

To his left and right sat four grim-faced cultivators. The green-robed man’s cultivation wasn’t low. He gave Fang Chen the impression of someone who had reached the level of an Ancient Immortal. The other four cultivators were all sixth-transformation immortals.

They all shared a common trait. Their entire bodies exuded a chilling, somber aura, making them look like five living corpses.

Fang Chen’s eyes narrowed. Fallen Immortals? The Great Sorrow Army? Beating the grass to startle the snake?

He moved closer to the five men.

One of the four men looked at the green-robed cultivator and said calmly, ”My Lord, are you certain that such a move will truly make the big snake feel that Immortal Origin District is no longer dangerous?”

The green-robed cultivator glanced at the man. ”What? Are you questioning my methods?”

His aura surged violently, and waves of coldness filled the surrounding air.

Fang Chen noticed that their immortal essence was far colder and more sinister than that of ordinary cultivators.

”I wouldn’t dare!” screamed the cultivator, backing down at once.

Only then did the green-robed cultivator withdraw his aura and let out a cold snort. ”If you weren’t my subordinate, I would have eaten you. It just so happens I haven’t fed in a long time and my stomach is growing restless.”

”My lord, as long as we catch that big snake, we can all have a hearty meal,” another cultivator whispered.

”Let me analyze the situation for you, lest you think I am doing something unnecessary,” the green-robed cultivator said indifferently. ”I have already received word that a big snake will arrive at Immortal Origin District in a few days for a gambling match. Not long after receiving that news, someone sent me another tip, claiming that renegade immortals have arrived in the district. Who do you think sent that tip?”

The four men looked at each other. One of them said hesitantly, ”The big snake?”

”Exactly,” replied the green-robed cultivator, nodding with a smile, his expression softening as if gratified by his subordinate’s wit.

”It’s that big snake. They certainly wanted to see if our Great Sorrow Army would take action and how much importance we would place on the matter. Currently, the outside world thinks we came to catch Evil Immortals, but they know we are here for renegades. That is why I had the Great Sorrow Army underlings put on a show and search for a while before letting them withdraw.

”If I hadn’t sent anyone, it would show I had a guilty conscience, which would have made them alert. By doing this, they will surely believe I am completely oblivious. Once things settle down, this place will seem like the safest location because the Great Sorrow Army has already swept it.”

After he finished speaking, the green-robed cultivator scanned the four men as if waiting for something. They immediately broke out in praise, ”Your Lordship’s foresight is truly thorough.”

”Mhm.” The green-robed cultivator nodded. ”According to my precise information, the big snake will arrive here in seven days. At that time, you will join me in the hunt. Once we capture this big snake, it will be a significant merit for all of us. The superiors will surely reward us. I will have hopes for the eighth transformation, and you all will have the chance to advance to the seventh transformation.”

Excitement flickered in the eyes of the four men.

Fang Chen’s expression was quite strange. The information Xu Kun and the others had provided couldn’t be false, especially since they had been conferred as True Gods of the Underworld. And the one who reported renegade immortals here was undoubtedly Xu Kun. Yet, this Great Sorrow Army Ancient Immortal, who was likely a Fallen Immortal, actually thought it was a test?

Could the big snake he mentioned be Eldest Senior Sister and the others? Probably not. If it were them, they wouldn’t just send one seventh-transformation Ancient Immortal. Regardless, I’ll wait and see when the time comes. Perhaps their target is the demon race.

Just as Fang Chen was about to leave, he saw the shopkeeper approach. The five men, whose auras had been incredibly somber moments ago, instantly returned to normal, appearing no different from ordinary immortals.

”My-My lords, the owner sent me to ask... will the upcoming operation affect the business here?” asked the shopkeeper cautiously.

The green-robed cultivator wore a warm, gentle smile. ”Rest assured, the Great Sorrow Army acts without involving the innocent. Tell your boss not to worry too much. Cooperating with us to complete this mission is also a great merit.”

The shopkeeper breathed a sigh of relief and nodded repeatedly. ”That’s good then, that’s good. We will definitely cooperate!”

After a few more words, both sides departed.

Seeing that, Fang Chen continued inspecting the goods.

Seven days later, the district might experience some turmoil, so he planned to speed up his progress and make a massive fortune before then.