Immortal of the Nine Realms

Master Chen Ignored Yu Zhang's pleading and casually spoke up. "I have to say, Yu Zhang might be a bit stubborn, but he’s a good kid in every way. Well, aside from the fact that he doesn’t like women, that is."

He doesn't like women?

The crowd found it rather hard to believe, and the students from the academy even took steps back, away from Yu Zhang. Their faces turned green as they inched away.

"Oh, by the way, you may not know yet, but he is rather fond of Zhao Yan. Sigh. Love runs deep, hatred is intense." Master Chen carried a rather sorrowful expression. "How many people can escape the feeling of love?”

Yu Zhang's face turned pale, slowly closing his eyes. He wished he could die right now, never letting out another breath in the mortal realm!

"..."

Fang Chen didn’t know what to say.

Everyone fell into silence.

Zhao Yan was left dumbfounded upon hearing these words. He, a peak expert in the Earth Profound Stage, struggled to control his inner qi, and it almost went berserk.

After a few breaths of silence, Fang Chen looked at Yu Zhang and said, "So what if you like men? Be bold and say it. You had a chance to tell Zhao Yan, why did you try to kill him instead? Why let yourself be controlled by Master Chen and become his accomplice?"

Yu Zhang didn’t answer. After a brief pause, he fell to his knees and began banging his head on the ground.

Bang, bang, bang...

Using all his strength, he repeatedly hit his head until he passed out on the spot.

Fang Chen shook his head lightly. "I thought it was a normal murder case, but turns out it was a rather tragic drama of ethics and morality."

Perhaps that was what it meant to face death without fear and to keep one's innocence in the mortal world. Yu Zhang was not afraid of death but feared exposing his orientation to the public.

Jue Panshi approached to check on Yu Zhang. Moments later, he said, "Duke Fang, he's dead."

"Now that he’s dead, throw him out of here," said Fang Chen offhandedly.

Jue Panshi nodded slightly. "Yes."

Just then, people in the crowd finally began to recognize who the dead women were, as well as the two surviving women, causing chaos to erupt. Insults, cries, and shouts filled the air.

Upon witnessing the scene, Master Chen revealed a peculiar smile, as if he were thoroughly enjoying the chaos.

"King Xiang, handle this matter properly," instructed Fang Chen calmly.

"Yes." King Xiang nodded slightly and immediately ordered the local officials to address the situation. It took a full hour for the turmoil to gradually subside, with the corpses being gradually removed.

Master Chen was also taken away by the guards and brought to the station. Before leaving, he had asked Fang Chen, "How do you plan to deal with me?"

"You'll find out tomorrow," Fang Chen had answered.

Standing in the crowd, Zhao Yan watched as Master Chen was taken away. Afterward, he took a deep breath and looked up at the sky with his sole eye.

Fang Chen came over. "What are you looking at?" he asked.

"I'm looking at the sky. It's the first time it's been so blue," answered Zhao Yan.

"It will be this blue in the future too,” replied Fang Chen, then smiled. “Unless it rains."

Zhao Yan slowly turned his gaze toward Fang Chen and then looked at King Xiang, Xu Ge, and the others behind Fang Chen. Suddenly, he knelt down and kowtowed to Fang Chen.

Fang Chen didn't stop him.

After kowtowing, Zhao Yan didn't stand up. He whispered, "Duke Fang, I have nowhere else to go. Please take me in. I'm willing to teach martial arts to the young talents of the Fang Family."

The crowd was momentarily surprised, but then they felt it wasn't all that strange. If Fang Chen hadn't helped with the case, Zhao Yan's innocence would have never been proven. Nobody had expected Master Chen to be the true culprit. Some people still felt a lingering fear, as many local officials in the Southern Immortal Prefecture had connections with Master Chen to some extent.

"What about the literary arts?" Fang Chen asked with a faint smile. "I heard you are also proficient in that field."

Zhao Yan smiled. "I won't engage in literary pursuits anymore."

The surrounding martial artists whispered, expressing approval, and even King Xiang and others felt a bit awkward since they advocated for a balance between martial and literary arts.

Fang Chen nodded. "Get up."

It was then that Xia Song approached them. He looked at Zhao Yan with embarrassment. "Brother Zhao, I was wrong about you all these years. Maybe If I was able to see it back then, then you wouldn't have lost your eye."

"Losing my eye might’ve allowed me to see the hearts of people more clearly. It's not necessarily a bad thing. Look at Duke Fang; he is blind in both eyes, but his heart is bright and clear," said Zhao Yan calmly.

The people around felt rather strange. Zhao Yan had quite the audacity to say that. They would never dare mention such a thing themselves.

But who would have thought, Fang Chen didn't get angry, which the people found peculiar. Fang Chen valued Zhao Yan that much?

"Do you not blame me?" asked Xia Song awkwardly.

Zhao Yan shook his head. "If I really blamed you, the King's Manor would have been razed to the ground long ago. Duke Fang knows I have that capability; he can vouch for my words. Not to mention, I understand where you were coming from back then. You didn't help me because you believed I was the murderer. You were not wrong, and the others weren’t wrong either. The ones at fault are Master Chen and Yu Zhang."

Xia Song's lips held a bitter twist. "If only I had known, then—"

Zhao Yan interrupted him. "Even if you had known, you might not have been able to change anything. The blame lies with those two.”

Huangfu Jie frowned slightly, glanced at Fang Chen, then turned to Zhao Yan. "Young man, you speak quite boldly. Although the Profound Blade Sect does not interfere in worldly affairs, we won't let anyone easily disrupt King Xiang's Manor."

Zhao Yan smiled before waving his hand gently. The seven blades around Huangfu Jie flew into the air and started spinning around Zhao Yan.

Everyone was shocked.

Huangfu Jie was also stunned. He tried to control the seven profound blades with his inner qi, but it seemed to be blocked by an invisible force. Wu Changhuan and other martial artists suddenly felt a deep shock; Zhao Yan's martial cultivation might be much higher than they had imagined. Even the master of the Profound Blade Sect couldn't control all seven profound blades, yet Zhao Yan, a student from the academy who had never joined the Profound Blade Sect, could sever the blades’ connection from Huangfu Jie and control them himself.

"Huangfu Jie, as I've said, there's always someone better out there. If you don't strive to improve, you'll be surpassed by others. Zhao Yan's martial cultivation has already reached the Earth Profound Stage. You're not his match,” said Fang Chen with a light chuckle. He then turned to Zhao Yan. "Alright, you can return him his blades now."

Zhao Yan nodded slightly. With another wave of his hand, the blades returned to Huangfu Jie.

Earth Profound Stage?

The onlookers were shocked by the revelation.

Wu Changhuan and others found it hard to believe that a martial artist at the Earth Profound Stage could end up in such a situation. Who in the entire Southern Immortal Prefecture could deal with a martial artist at the Earth Profound Stage? Unless tens of thousands of troops charged at him together, they might not be able to take him down.

"So, he’s at the Earth Profound Stage... I never expected such a martial genius to appear in the Southern Region," mouthed Huangfu Jie with a peculiar expression. He couldn’t help but cast Fang Chen a few glances.

Zhao Yan seemed to guess what he was thinking and smiled, "I'm not Duke Fang's match. If he wants to kill me, it would be effortless."

Everyone let out a breath of relief. So Duke Fang is still more formidable.

It was then that King Xiang asked, "Duke Fang, how will Master Chen be dealt with? Should we behead him tomorrow?"

Fang Chen's lips curled. "No, that would be merciful."

The expressions of the crowd changed.

It seemed that Master Chen had an extremely brutal fate awaiting him.

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