Immortal of the Nine Realms

“There’s absolutely no such possibility! Your human race is doomed to defeat, and the glory of the demons will shine once more across the Nine Mortal Realms,” proclaimed Yu Feng with conviction.

After saying that, he stepped forward toward Fang Chen, malice surging within him. He trembled in agony with each step he took, his soul constantly being scorched. But this time, he did not fall to his knees. He forced himself to endure the piercing pain.

One step.

Two steps.

Three steps.

He slowly raised his hand, as though trying to grasp Fang Chen. But in the end, he turned into a wisp of green smoke and dissipated between heaven and earth.

The remaining demons wore complicated expressions. They had already guessed why Yu Feng had done it.

Fang Chen looked at the remaining awakened demons. “Are you all planning to take your own lives as well?” ℴ

One of them sighed softly. “Even if we don’t, you’ll kill us anyway.”

“Between you and us, it’s always been a fight to the death. We won’t serve you.”

Fang Chen smiled. “What does life-or-death enmity matter? Don’t dwell on it. After you reincarnate hundreds or thousands of times, you’ll naturally become human cultivators.”

He raised the Yin Gourd and gave it a light shake toward them.

Reincarnate hundreds or thousands of times?

A flicker of panic appeared in the awakened demons’ eyes. Before they could react, they were already absorbed into the Yin Gourd.

Ye Qinghun nodded with a smile. “So you plan to assimilate them through reincarnation? Not a bad approach.”

Fang Chen smiled faintly, his gaze falling on Yun Xiujie. “I didn’t come up with the idea myself, but it’s worth trying.”

This man had been writhing on the ground in agony the entire time, rolling about, ignored by everyone.

With a thought from Fang Chen, a strand of Yin energy drifted away from Yun Xiujie, and the smooth, featureless surface of his face once again formed seven orifices.

Yun Xiujie dropped to his knees, gasping for breath.

That feeling of being unable to breathe yet unable to die was unbearable.

After a long while, he finally recovered and glared up at Fang Chen. “What exactly are you trying to do? If you’re going to kill me, just do it! Why torture me?”

He quickly noticed something and asked in shock, “Where are Yu Feng and the others? Have you already killed them?”

“I heard your father is a ninth-transformation immortal. What path does he cultivate?” Fang Chen asked.

“Afraid, are you? Do you think I’d tell you?” Yun Xiujie sneered. “I imagine the Black Sun Empire already knows you’re the one who killed me. Once my father frees up his hands, he’ll personally go to the Enlightenment God Palace, meet your Palace Master, and kill you while he’s at it.”

After speaking, he turned to Ye Qinghun and said reassuringly, “Fellow Daoist Ye, don’t worry. Even if we’ve fallen into his hands, he won’t fare any better in the future. He’ll come down here to join us in death.”

At that moment, Ye Qinghun stepped behind Yun Xiujie, looking at Fang Chen with fear. “Fellow Daoist Yun... he just said that if you don’t answer his questions, he’ll...”

“What!?” Yun Xiujie flew into a rage, pointing at Fang Chen and shouting, “We’re both core disciples, how can you stoop to such despicable methods!?”

Ye Qinghun grabbed his arm, looking pitiful. “Fellow Daoist Yun... Even if I must have my soul scattered, I still want to go clean.”

Yun Xiujie looked conflicted for a moment but then seemed to come to a decision. “Fine.”

He suppressed his anger and coldly looked at Fang Chen. “My father’s cultivation path isn’t some great secret. If you want to know, I’ll tell you. He is a ninth-transformation War Immortal!”

Fang Chen was surprised. “War Immortal?”

He remembered that the Ghost Mother of Self-Transformation had once said Jiang Tianai had cultivated the path of the War Immortal.

When a War Immortal’s lifespan ends, even their primordial spirit is completely worn away. Death meant true death.

Fang Chen nodded. “So that’s why your father is honored as the God of War.”

“Good that you understand. How about this, you let me and Fellow Daoist Ye go, we can bury the hatchet right here.” Yun Xiujie asked. “We don’t have any deep hatred between us anyway. Even though you killed me, I can still take the Ghost Immortal Path. It doesn’t count as true death.”

Fang Chen’s response was to simply seal the man in the Yin Gourd.

Fang Chen looked at Ye Qinghun. “Fellow Daoist Ye, what are your plans next?”

“Of course, I need to possess another body. But I hadn’t even gathered all the materials I needed before you killed me.” Ye Qinghun sighed. “You’ll have to help me find those spiritual materials. Once you do, we can find a suitable target for me to possess.”

“In your current state as just an ordinary wandering soul, you can still perform possession?” Fang Chen asked curiously.

“That’s the might of the True Immortal Path. I’m indeed just an ordinary wandering soul right now, but with the True Immortal Possession Technique, I could potentially possess even a ninth-transformation immortal.” Ye Qinghun smiled confidently. “As long as I can get close to them, subdue them, and prevent them from resisting for ten years, that’s enough.”

Fang Chen pondered. The True Immortal Path is that powerful? A mere wandering soul claiming it can possess a ninth-transformation immortal? Though those conditions are basically impossible to achieve, unless an expert in the half-step Heavenly Dao were to assist.

He asked curiously, “Fellow Daoist Ye, as far as I know, the key to possession lies in the karma surrounding the target. Can the True Immortal Possession Technique ignore karma?”

“No one can ignore karma, not even True Immortals. But the True Immortal Possession Technique can devour the target’s karma. That makes all the difference,” Ye Qinghun explained with a faint smile.

Devour karma?

That sounded somewhat similar to the Skin Peeling Technique.

Fang Chen suddenly thought of something.

“Fellow Daoist Ye, you said the previous Monarch Yan attained the Dao through Yin. As far as I know, there was once a Yin Divine Beast in the Nine Mortal Realms... they...”

“Of course, it was her. The Yin God Beast—Ye.” Ye Qinghun smiled. “The one you’re referring to is indeed the previous Monarch Yan. She had many aliases and countless avatars in the Underworld, some male, some female. That’s why most people get confused about her true identity.”

Fang Chen sighed with emotion. “So it really was her...”

He had encountered the Yang God Beast Mu, and learned of the Yin God Beast Ye.

Fang Chen looked at Ye Qinghun expectantly. “Fellow Daoist Ye, with your vast knowledge, you must also know of the Azure Lightning God Beast, Cang?”

A trace of nostalgia appeared in Ye Qinghun’s eyes. “The Azure Lightning God Beast... I know a bit. I remember one year, the Heavenly Cloud Emperor of the Three Qing Supreme Sect obtained a cask of fine wine from the Qingming and invited all immortals to share it.”

“I was there too, though seated in a corner. I did get a cup that day, and it was truly excellent. After drinking it, I was drunk for over ten years. The Azure Lightning God Beast attended that banquet as well. He drank more than a dozen cups.”

Fang Chen was delighted. “You actually attended a banquet hosted by the Heavenly Cloud Emperor of the Three Qing Supreme Sect? At the time, what was the Heavenly Cloud Emperor’s cultivation level? Was he a half-step Heavenly Dao?”

“The Heavenly Cloud Emperor followed the Divine Path, not the Immortal Path. How would I know his exact realm?” Ye Qinghun shook his head. “My memories from that time are a bit hazy. That’s all I can recall.”

After a pause, Ye Qinghun suddenly frowned. “There’s something I almost forgot, didn’t I say earlier that the Heavenly Dao of the Demon Race and the Heavenly Dao of the Nine Mortal Realms perished together?”

Fang Chen nodded. “I remember.”

Ye Qinghun took a deep breath, his gaze turning serious as he looked at Fang Chen. “Then the reincarnated bearer of the Heavenly Dao they’re searching for now... which Heavenly Dao does it belong to?”