Immortal of the Nine Realms

Shi Xinghai’s words plunged the cultivators of all factions into silence.

If one were to set aside the conflicts among the Demon Race, the Demonic Beast Race, and the Human Race, the greatest crisis facing the Nine Realms was that the immortal essence had already vanished. The immortals of the present era were all relying on immortal crystals to prolong their existence. That had resulted in the total amount of immortal crystals being depleted by more than half over countless years.

The disadvantages of this were visible to the naked eye. Without immortal essence, many techniques would be difficult to cast, and every time they were used, the immortal essence would fail to recover in time. Certain cultivation methods would be difficult to practice because the speed of absorbing energy from immortal crystals was far inferior to directly drawing immortal essence from heaven and earth.

The depletion of immortal crystals was accelerating.

Originally, immortal crystals were accumulations of immortal essence, which slowly built up over years and months to form the massive quantity seen today. Now that more than half had been consumed, even if the remaining portion was enough for all the immortals in the Nine Realms to linger on for another hundred thousand years or two, so what? No new immortal crystals would appear in the future. Once the very last immortal crystal was consumed, the Nine Realms’ End of Transcendence would come.

As this was the most critical problem, all factions had been searching for a solution. That was why so many expedition teams had been formed, constantly heading into the ancient restricted zones to look for an answer. Unfortunately, even after so many years, they still hadn’t been able to find a way to resolve this issue.

The master of Qingkong Mountain, a robust ninth-transformation immortal with thick eyebrows and large eyes, asked calmly, ”You mean because the immortal essence of the Nine Realms is exhausted and the immortal crystals will run out as well sooner or later, you intend to join forces with the God Dao Sect to sell the Nine Realms to outsiders in exchange for a new ’Nine Realms’ to pass down the methods of the immortal path?”

Shi Xinghai nodded gently, his gaze earnest and firm. ”That is the only true solution to the problem of the Nine Realms.”

Chen Feifei smiled faintly. ”Our foundation lies in the Human Race. Without mortals, how can there be immortals? Even if we are as strong as we are now, can any of our children be born as immortals? By selling out the Nine Realms, you are effectively cutting off ninety-nine percent of the mortals in the Nine Realms, severing the roots of the Human Race.”

Another ninth-transformation immortal calmly replied, ”Have you ever considered what Brother Chen said? It is precisely because of the countless humans in the Nine Realms that we, the ninth-transformation immortals here today, exist. Have you ever wondered how many of us would still be here today if ninety-nine percent of the mortals had been gone from the very beginning?”

The Dragon God smiled faintly. ”Calculating it that way, perhaps not even one of us could have emerged.”

Shi Xinghai answered, ”But you do not have a better way. Although my plan causes severe damage to the foundation of the Human Race, the Seeking Dao Faction of the Demonic Beast Race has already established a foundation in the outside world. With their protection and the benefits exchanged from the Nine Realms, we won’t be lacking a foothold. As long as we accumulate over years and months, humanity will only become stronger than before.”

He failed to notice that a trace of faint mockery flashed deep within the eyes of Chen Feifei, Shao Mengyuan, the Dragon God, and even the first emperor of the Black Sun Empire.

”It seems that you can no longer be reasoned with. Since he is dead set on standing with the demonic beasts, then let us see the truth through our skills. I just didn’t expect that the final ally of my race would be the humans.”

Holding the God-Slaying Sword, Shao Mengyuan’s utterly domineering Sword Domain had already enveloped the entire God-Slaying Army, causing its combat power to surge endlessly.

The expressions of the ninth-transformation immortals from all factions shifted slightly. The immortal essence around them also surged.

The first emperor of the Black Sun Empire narrowed his eyes and slowly took a step forward. Behind him, over a thousand ninth-transformation Great Yin Demons also stepped forward in unison, their aura refusing to yield even a little to the God-Slaying Army.

The Fallen Immortals of the God Decree Ranking behind Lu Fengshen had sinister grins, their eyes fixed steadily on the cultivators of all the factions, as if they were already calculating where to make the first cut.

Lu Fengshen stared fixedly at Fang Chen. ”Monarch Fang, I will ask you one last time. Are you going to hand Gu Yueling over to us? I respect you as Monarch Yan of the Underworld. Otherwise, given your cultivation level, you wouldn’t even be qualified to sit at this negotiation table. If you hand Gu Yueling over to me, I, Lu Fengshen, swear to give you a hundred thousand slots to leave the Nine Realms with us!”

”A hundred thousand slots... That’s quite a lot,” Fang Chen could not help but chuckle.

The expressions of the master of Qingkong Mountain and the other ninth-transformation immortals instantly darkened.

Fang Chen asked curiously, ”I wonder how many slots you gave to the True Immortal Clan?”

Shi Xinghai smiled faintly at Fang Chen. ”I can take away all living beings in the Minor Immortal World, including every tree and blade of grass, as long as I am willing.”

Lu Fengshen added indifferently, ”Daoist Shi is different from you. Since he played a vital role in driving this matter forward, his slots are far more than yours.”

The crowd exchanged glances, their expressions turning slightly solemn. If Shi Xinghai could take away all living beings of the Minor Immortal World, the four factions of ninth-transformation immortals—the Corpse Immortal Clan, the Heavenly Immortal Clan, Weapon Liberation Clan, and the Earth Immortal Clan—would all stand on Shi Xinghai’s side. The Minor Immortal World would remain as solid as a monolith.

Since those four ninth-transformation immortals had not come to the Floating Pagoda Realm today, it indicated they were currently on a battlefield elsewhere.

Fang Chen smiled back faintly at Shi Xinghai. ”Fellow Daoist Shi, your method is indeed correct, but it is a risky move that stakes the most critical element entirely on the demonic beasts. If those ancestors of your family knew you were doing this, they would definitely be angry enough to flip their coffin lids.”

He knows about that too? The first emperor of the Black Sun Empire could not help but stare at Fang Chen. He had originally thought the other party might just be a junior whom the Fang Clan had pushed to the forefront, but looking at it now, perhaps it was not that simple.

”I know what you intend to say. You want to establish a foothold outside the Nine Realms to add another Heavenly Dao to the Nine Realms and, under secured circumstances, send out a Seeking Dao Faction just like the demonic beasts did.”

Shi Xinghai nodded gently. ”I have considered the pros and cons. The time required for this is simply too long. Perhaps before we even make any progress, the Heavenly Dao would already completely drag down the Nine Realms. You know what the Heavenly Dao means to the Nine Realms, don’t you?”

Fang Chen nodded. ”I know, and that’s exactly what I thought. However, you are wrong about one point: the time we need to establish a foothold outside is shorter than you think.”

Everyone’s expressions stirred. The crowd, including Chen Feifei and others, all looked at Fang Chen with very serious gazes, attempting to understand what he truly meant.

”Shorter?” Shi Xinghai’s brow furrowed slightly. ”I have deduced this for thousands of years; my findings cannot possibly be wrong.”

Fang Chen smiled. ”Why don’t you take a gamble? If you stand on the side of the Human Race, you won’t have to stake your life and wealth on the demonic beasts.”

Shi Xinghai fell silent for a few breaths, then shook his head gently. ”Apologies, but I dare not gamble, nor can I gamble. You are merely a seventh-transformation immortal. Even if you have Yang Gods behind you, they are still unable to reverse the current decline of the Nine Realms.”

He paused for a moment, then added, ”Speaking of which, this decline of the Nine Realms, as well as the feud with the Demon Race, is closely related to the two Yang Gods behind you. If they hadn’t made the wrong decision, the time left for the Nine Realms wouldn’t be so short.”

”Oh?” Fang Chen smiled. ”I trust the elders of my family unconditionally. No matter what you say, it will not change my view. Is it important how the Nine Realms became like this?”

Shi Xinghai replied calmly, ”Of course it is. If the Yang Gods behind you hadn’t actively plotted against the Demon Race, the Demon Race wouldn’t have followed the clues and pursued us here.”

Actively plotted against the Demon Race?

The likes of Nanming Ruyue all looked bewildered.

Wasn’t it the Demon Race that coveted the Nine Realms, actively attacked, and only implemented the ’boiling the Nine Realms in warm water’ plan in the end because nothing else worked?