Immortal of the Nine Realms

"After everything settles down, I will stay here for a month. If the Spirit Blood Sect’s Foundation Building Realm expert makes a move during that period, I will help you eliminate him. If he doesn't, I will bring my disciple back to the Concealed Moon Hermitage, and the transaction between us will be considered complete. The inheritance of the Purple Lightning Talisman must be handed over to Qing He at that time," said Abbess Zhu Yue calmly.

Qing He's expression changed slightly. She felt that this deal was not fair and it took advantage of the situation. But before she could say anything, Fang Chen nodded directly and agreed.

Seeing him readily agree, Abbess Zhu Yue frowned slightly. "Why are you so straightforward? The inheritance of the Purple Lightning Talisman is not a small matter."

Fang Chen smiled and said, "Compared to getting rid of the Spirit Blood Sect’s Foundation Building Realm expert, the Purple Lightning Talisman inheritance is not worth mentioning."

Abbess Zhu Yue revealed a strange expression as she glanced at Fang Chen from head to toe, and a hint of regret appeared in her eyes. "It's a pity you're not a woman. Otherwise, you could’ve joined my sect."

"It really is a pity," Li Daoye chimed in suddenly.

The others couldn’t help but shoot him a side eye.

Li Daoye shut his mouth awkwardly.

It was then that a voice came from outside the room. "My lord, someone from the palace has arrived," reported a servant.

Someone from the palace?

"Bring them in," replied Fang Chen.

***

An hour later, Fang Chen and the others, led by a eunuch, entered the palace and arrived at the Imperial Hall. The moment they stepped inside, they were met with a strange scene.

The Grand Xia Emperor was standing among the civil and military officials instead of sitting on his throne. And atop his throne was perched a group of people, some sat, and some stood beside it.

There were middle-aged men in scholarly robes; a woman who looked a farmer—she was holding an old mother hen in her hand; a strange man in a black feather robe; and a red-haired woman.

The expressions of the officials were strange, and the eunuchs and palace maids were frightened and bewildered. They couldn’t fathom the origin of those people who had the authority to get the Grand Xia Emperor out of his throne and with them, the common folk.

Abbess Zhu Yue's eyes swept over those present and her expression turned a little surprised. "They came rather quickly..."

The moment she arrived, Elder Jin Nan and the others sensed her presence. Rather, Abbess Zhu Yue did not try to conceal her aura.

They all looked at her one after another.

With a laugh, Elder Jin Nan was the first to greet her. "Abbess Zhu Yue, did you just arrive?"

Many of the cultivators cast friendly glances at Abbess Zhu Yue, but the farmer woman holding the old mother hen looked at Abbess Zhu Yue with disdain and unfriendliness.

Abbess Zhu Yue smiled and nodded in response.

Elder Jin Nan’s gaze passed over Abbess Qing He, falling on Fang Chen and Li Daoye. "These two are...?"

They knew that the Concealed Moon Hermitage did not take male disciples, so they found it a little strange that two men were following the abbess.

Elder Jin Nan quickly approached and whispered a few words to those in the group with him. Hearing his words, the expressions of the surrounding people became somewhat strange.

Daoist Ya looked at Li Daoye and said casually, "A wandering cultivator?"

"Yes, yes," replied Li Daoye awkwardly.

Abbess Zhu Yue glanced at him briefly, then turned to the others again, and announced, "Nonsense. He’s a disciple of the Eight Trigram Sect."

The initially contemptuous crowd nodded one after another. The Eight Trigram Sect was considered a well-established sect with a Foundation Building Realm cultivator at its helm.

In the Flame Empire, sects who only had Qi Refining Realm cultivators weren’t strong enough to be considered a part of the powers there. Just the fact that they couldn’t perceive that the birth of a Spiritual Marrow had taken place in the Grand Xia Empire was enough to prove that they weren’t in the same league.

"Sure enough, that's the Eight Trigram Sect for you," Daoist Ya sneered, "so... mysterious."

Li Daoye was instantly angered, but facing a Foundation Building Realm cultivator, he could do nothing but turn his head away and ignore him.

Ancestor Xia Yu and Junior Brother Liu glanced at each other strangely. They had initially thought that Li Daoye was a wandering cultivator, but it turned out he had a background of his own.

"Heh, the Eight Trigram Sect didn't come this time? Their divination technique is even more profound than ours. There's no reason they wouldn't sense the birth of the Spiritual Marrow, right?"

Some cultivators looked at Li Daoye with puzzled expressions.

"That’s indeed strange."

Fang Chen and Li Daoye understood that the Eight Trigram Sect was probably frightened off by the Spirit Blood Sect. Even if they knew about the Spiritual Marrow, they might not have the intention to come here.

Li Daoye clenched his fists. "They’re really heartless...." If these fellows hadn't reminded him, he wouldn't have recalled why his sect didn’t come.

"Perhaps they were delayed by other matters," said Elder Jin Nan and smiled. He then looked at Fang Chen, "And who is this?"

The officials present looked at Fang Chen with strange expressions.

Immediately, Ancestor Xia Yu stepped forward and quietly explained Fang Chen's background. Upon learning that he was just a mortal, they paid no more attention to him.

After Abbess Zhu Yue took her seat, Elder Jin Nan glanced at Ancestor Xia Yu and casually asked, "I remember you, your name is... Xia Yu, right?"

Ancestor Xia Yu nodded quickly. "Yes, that's right."

Xia Yu?!

Boom!

Some old ministers felt like thunder had exploded in their minds. The prime minister, Li Guo Zhu, rubbed his somewhat dim eyes, and his gaze widened in disbelief as he looked at Xia Yu. That was the great-grandfather of the current emperor!

Everyone had heard about the miracles of the great-grandfather. He didn't care about the throne and loved cultivation. When he was young, he left and roamed the world. It had been many years since then, and there was no news of him. Till now!

Who would have thought that they would see him in the flesh?

Not to mention that the emperor’s great-grandfather appearance was no different from his appearance at his prime when he was forty years old.

Could it be that...

Coming to that conclusion, the people were shocked, excited, and thrilled. They had vaguely guessed the truth, and they immediately understood the background of these peculiarly dressed people!

Elder Jin Nan smiled faintly. "Since this is your territory, you can handle the miscellaneous matters."

Ancestor Xia Yu felt secretly excited. "Disciple obeys!" he said.

"These are all elders from the sects in the Flame Empire. Our purpose here today is to recruit disciples aged thirty and below. In the next few days, there might be other cultivators arriving, so we can't waste any more time. Let's start making the arrangements today," announced Elder Jin Nan.

Ancestor Xia Yu immediately received the order and then informed all the civil and military officials about the matter of the spiritual rain. Upon hearing that, everyone was overjoyed. They felt as if a huge pie had fallen onto their heads right from the sky.

That was a rare opportunity of immortal fate!

It was a chance one might not encounter in a thousand years!

An hour later.

On the square in front of the main gate of the imperial palace, dozens of cultivators from the Flame Empire had already taken their seats. Yan Beihan led several thousand soldiers to stand guard over the area.

Special personnel had already gone to various households in the capital to inform them of the news, requesting individuals aged thirty and below to head over to test their aptitude.

Of course, those who would be tested first were undoubtedly from the royal family, their external relatives, and those from the ministerial households. Only after those were tested could the citizens be allowed to enter. Even palace maids had priority over them.

In less than an hour, the square and its surroundings were packed full of people. Those at the front were the sons and daughters of high-ranking officials, members of the royal family, and external relatives.

They were excited but dared not make any noise, as dozens of figures resembling immortals were seated nearby.

Stroking his beard, Elder Jin Nan smiled and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, would you like to use my Heavenly Southern Sect's Spiritual Measuring Bell, or would you prefer to use yours?"

"As everyone knows, the Heavenly Southern Sect's Spiritual Measuring Bell has the highest quality, with a total of thirty-six Soul Imprints. No sect within the Flame Empire has a better Spiritual Measuring Bell than yours,” said the farmer woman indifferently, the old mother hen still in her hand. “Let's use yours."

The others nodded in agreement. That was a well-known fact, and there was nothing to argue about it; using the Spiritual Measuring Bell of the Heavenly Southern Sect would yield more accurate results.

Elder Jin Nan smiled and waved his hand. A small bell flew out from his sleeve. It levitated in mid-air, then expanded constantly till it transformed into a giant bell over ten meters tall. With a low thud, it briskly landed in the center of the square.

His divine technique immediately drew exclamations from the crowd. Whether it was scholars, martial artists, merchants, or the citizens, all of them were deeply shaken by the extraordinary sight.

"Oh, immortals! They are truly immortals!"

"We pay our respects to the immortals!"

A commotion spread in the surroundings, but it was quickly suppressed by the Imperial Guards. Even though the people dared not make a commotion anymore, they were extremely excited as they looked at Elder Jin Nan.

"That has to be an immortal technique indeed,” muttered Tao Yu in shock.

At his side, Ye Qinghe pondered aloud, "With such means, they should be able to easily suppress someone like Fang Chen, right?"

Tao Yu glanced at him without saying a word, but his gaze fell on Fang Chen not too far away, who had the qualification to sit near those cultivators, just like the civil and military officials.

"Let the spirit testing begin,” said Ancestor Xia Yu as he activated his spiritual energy and slowly began speaking. His voice, under the surging of spiritual energy, instantly spread throughout the entire capital.

The young talents of the capital were all excited. They believed that with their outstanding aptitude, they should achieve excellent results in the test, allowing them to join the immortal sects and soar to new heights!

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