Immortal of the Nine Realms

Time flew by, and nearly a hundred years passed since the conclusion of the Saint Tower Battle. The chaotic events surrounding the God Race have mostly quieted down over the course of this century.

According to sporadic information obtained from Xie Zhi, the God Race had completely dispersed. Once the strongest race that had guarded the Divine Realm generation after generation, they had now been reduced to a fragmented race of exiles. Some God Race Half Saints have pledged allegiance to other races, while others have led their clansmen completely out of the Divine Realm.

Naturally, quite a few members of the God Race had also fallen victim to treachery during this period, enduring hardships and perils that outsiders could scarcely imagine.

”Ancestor Chen, someone has come to see you again. However, this time, I am afraid you truly must meet them,” said Fang Ding as he materialized outside the small courtyard, a bitter smile gracing his face as he looked toward Fang Chen, who was currently brewing tea.

Fang Chen asked casually, ”Is the visitor someone of extraordinary status?”

He had spent all these years consolidating his cultivation at the seventh transformation realm, making occasional trips to the Xie Zhi Saint Tower whenever he found the time. Using the intense pressure of the Saint Tower, he repeatedly depleted his immortal essence, pushing himself back to the peak of the seventh transformation before he even realized it. Concurrently, the time for his departure from the Nether Ruins was drawing closer.

During this period, divine ability cultivators from powerful races occasionally came looking for him, hoping to gauge their own level of strength by fighting Fang Chen so that they could achieve better results in the next Saint Tower Battle.

Back when the God Race was still powerful, they hadn’t been qualified to seek out the strongest cultivators of their rank among the God Race. Later on, after the decline of the God Race, those individuals who had once held the top ranks were hidden away by unknown entities, their tracks so elusive that they were impossible to find. Ultimately, they turned their attention toward Fang Chen. One would arrive every few years, and Fang Chen had already dealt with dozens of them.

”From the Twelve Top Races... the Shadow Race,” whispered Fang Ding.

As he spoke those words, he found it somewhat difficult to believe that a practitioner from one of the Twelve Top Races would travel all this way specifically to find Ancestor Chen. Among those who had visited previously, the highest-ranking individuals had been merely from the top one hundred races.

Fang Chen’s expression shifted slightly. ”The Shadow Race... then let us meet them.”

He nodded and followed Fang Ding toward the reception hall.

He had always believed that the Shadow Buddha Technique was an ancestral Heaven Abhorrence Technique passed down through the Three Thousand Dao Sect, just like the Skinning Technique and the Azure Lightning Technique. It was not until he participated in the Saint Tower Battle that he discovered the Shadow Buddha Technique was actually the innate divine ability of the Shadow Race, one of the Top Twelve Races.

Inside the guest hall, a slender woman of the Shadow Race sat quietly. She remained completely motionless, like a statue, imparting an eerie sensation that time itself had suddenly ground to a halt. Three golden lines extended from her face down toward her chest. Aside from a silhouette similar to that of the Human Race, her facial features differed greatly from humans. However, the cultivators of the Fang Clan who had seen her found her exceptionally beautiful and captivating.

The woman seemed to sense something. She rose slowly and looked out toward the entrance. Fang Ding did not step inside, choosing to keep watch outdoors instead. Fang Chen entered the hall alone, nodded gently upon seeing the woman, and took his seat at the head of the room.

Fang Chen sat while the Shadow Race woman stood. The two looked at each other in silence for a long time before the woman spoke softly.

”Young Master Fang, I am Wu Xinling of the Shadow Race.”

Her voice was soft and delicate, giving her the impression of being exceptionally quiet and gentle. Yet, anyone familiar with the methods of the Shadow Race would never mistake her for a genuinely harmless or gentle individual. Every member of the Shadow Race was a born assassin and a natural warrior. The Shadow Buddha Technique possessed an immense advantage in survival, surprise attacks, or full-frontal assaults!

”I am Fang Chen,” replied Fang Chen, nodding. ”I perceive that your aura is not weak. Are you at the Limit Breaking Realm?”

Wu Xinling replied, ”Yes, I am at the Third Step. I am on the verge of condensing my Inner Domain.”

Fang Chen inquired, ”When cultivators came to find me in the past, they were always of the same rank as me, hoping to judge their own strength by trading blows. But you are different. May I ask what you have traveled such a great distance for?”

”I wish to borrow your seed,” Wu Xinling stated, her demeanor remaining completely calm and gentle.

Fang Chen fell silent.

Finally, he explained, ”Intermarriage between different races yields no results. You are aware of this, correct?”

He really didn’t know what to make of this. Years ago, the Vajra Race had wanted to take Lang Yu’er to serve as a breeding vessel. Now, the Shadow Race had flipped the script, directly sending a woman to borrow the seed of the Fang Clan?

”Indeed, different races cannot intermarry, and forcing the conception of offspring causes severe damage to the mother’s body.” Wu Xinling nodded. ”However, I believe your bloodline might help us contend against the Radiant Buddha Technique.”

Fang Chen was slightly startled. ”The Radiant Buddha Technique?”

From the name alone, he could already infer something about it. This was likely a divine ability power specifically designed to counter the Shadow Buddha Technique.

Wu Xinling explained, ”As a human, you managed to awaken the Shadow Buddha Technique. This matter has already spread through our Shadow Race, giving rise to all kinds of speculations. The Divine Realm has existed for countless years, but you are actually the first outsider ever to awaken this divine ability. If I can give birth to your descendant, the child would possess both Shadow Race and Human bloodlines while also being capable of awakening the Shadow Buddha Technique. There would also be a very high possibility that the child would be unaffected by the Radiant Buddha Technique.”

Fang Chen murmured thoughtfully, ”During the Saint Tower Battle, I traded blows with cultivators from the Twelve Top Races. Yet, I have never heard of any clan that has awakened the Radiant Buddha Technique...”

”Those who can awaken this divine ability power are also of the Shadow Race, but they belong to a branch of our clan. The reasons for this date back a million years, to a time before Saint Long was even stationed here. I am not particularly old myself, so I do not know the exact details. I only know that a branch of the Shadow Race currently resides beyond the Divine Realm, always eyeing our main clan with hostility. The Radiant Buddha Technique they possess is the only counter that our Shadow Race currently fears.”

Having said her piece, Wu Xinling looked at Fang Chen with utmost seriousness. ”My arrival this time is due to a senior of my clan proposing this method, so I hope you can fulfill it. Though I cannot marry you, if we establish a bond, and if there comes a day when you no longer wish to remain with the Human Race, you may come to the Shadow Race, and we will welcome you.”

Fang Chen pondered, ”How about this? I shall give you an answer in a few years, Lady Wu.”

”In a few years?” Wu Xinling was slightly taken aback. ”Exactly how many years?”

Fang Chen said, ”Roughly three to five years. This matter is no joking affair. I must give it proper consideration.”

Wu Xinling nodded. ”Very well. Then during these three to five years, I shall temporarily trouble your clan and reside here.”

Fang Chen smiled. ”Then please, make yourself at home. I will have someone arrange a residence for you.”

In a few more years, he would be leaving the History Immortal Book. According to Fang Lie, all memories concerning him would be stripped from the minds of everyone who had interacted with him by a miraculous power. When that time came, Wu Xinling would forget this matter, and the Shadow Race would forget it as well. The reason Fang Chen hadn’t rejected Wu Xinling outright was simply that he feared the Shadow Race might resort to some other troublesome scheme after being refused.

Borrowing anything else was perfectly fine, but borrowing this was absolutely out of the question.