Immortal of the Nine Realms

As soon as Fang Chen entered the grand hall, his attention was drawn toward a jade platform not too far away. On the platform were neatly arranged piles of low-grade spirit stones.

Fang Chen began secretly calculating. Twenty-five horizontally, eight vertically, one pile equals two hundred low-grade spirit stones. There are a total of five piles... it seems that the wealth of the Supreme Immortal Pudu is quite significant. Although he’s not around anymore, he left behind so many spirit stones.

In addition to these spirit stones, there was a jade box on the platform and a silver object that seemed to be suspended in mid-air, rotating slowly.

"Senior brother, a thousand low-grade spirit stones! There's also a sword embryo! The contents of that box must be extraordinary!" exclaimed Mi Sheng with excitement.

Li Xiuming remained calm. He closed his eyes and tried to sense any hidden danger, and after a few moments of careful probing, he walked up to the jade platform.

With a gentle wave of his hand, the over a thousand low-grade spirit stones disappeared. There was a storage ring on his right hand’s ring finger.

Li Xiuming then opened the jade box, revealing a blood-red ginseng inside.

"Junior Sister, it's a hundred-year Blood Ginseng. Its medicinal properties are two or three times stronger than a hundred-year Vermilion Fruit," said Li Xiuming with a smile.

"Our trip wasn’t in vain. With these, both our cultivation levels can quickly advance to the 12th stage of Qi Refining!" exclaimed Mi Sheng joyfully.

Fang Chen's thoughts fluctuated. Could it be... that Supreme Immortal Pudu didn’t leave behind any traps? Have I been overly cautious and misunderstood him?

It was then that Fang Chen heard the sound of flesh being torn followed by a splash and a splatter, snapping him out of his thoughts.

Puff!

Mi Sheng staggered backward, retreating to Fang Chen's side. She grabbed Fang Chen's shoulder to support herself, her eyes staring incredulously at Li Xiuming. Her face was wreathed in disbelief.

Fang Chen saw that a wound had appeared on Mi Sheng’s chest. Her chest was soaked in blood. It had been clearly pierced by a sword, all the way to her back. Blood was flowing everywhere.

Even though a cultivator's vitality was tenacious, it didn’t matter when one’s opponent was a cultivator as well.

Now that Mi Sheng had suffered such a terrible wound, her life force began rapidly diminishing. Without the help of a spiritual herb, she would probably die in a short time, filled with regrets.

Mi Sheng struggled to speak. “Wh...why?”

Putting away the Blood Ginseng, Li Xiuming tidied his clothes, then smiled faintly. "Because Senior Sister Chen is willing to become my Dao companion. So, your existence hinders my path."

Mi Sheng's eyes were full of resentment. "S-Senior Sister Chen? Did she ask you to kill me!?"

"Not really. She only asked me to leave you. However, everyone at Wuchang Mountain knows that we are close. If we go our separate paths, how would others perceive me? Senior Sister Chen has a Golden Core Realm expert backing her up. If I want to advance to the Foundation Building Realm, I need Foundation Building Pills. These pills are extremely rare. If I am not together with her, I won't even have a chance to obtain them," explained Li Xiuming with a smile. "I was originally going to trouble myself and find a suitable place to kill and dispose of you. But this place is not bad at all, it works out nicely. Hundred-year Vermilion Fruit, hundred-year Blood Ginseng, spirit stones, and a sword embryo. Even without relying on Senior Sister Chen, I can easily advance to the 12th stage of the Qi Refining Realm with these items."

Mi Sheng felt heartbroken. "If that's the case, why did you still have to kill me? You could have just... told me, and I would’ve given you all these things willingly!"

"As I told you, Foundation Building Pills are key. Even with these valuable items, how can they compare to those pills? Wuchang Mountain only produces five Foundation Building Pills every hundred years. These pills are too scarce, and there are many talented people in the sect. There are dozens of cultivators with skills surpassing mine. Without some extraordinary means, I'm afraid I won't be able to advance to Foundation Building Realm in this lifetime," said Li Xiuming with a faint smile.

Foundation Building Pills are so rare? Senior Yun He wanted me to advance to the Foundation Building Realm before entering the Three Thousand Dao Sect. It seems like this is his way of testing me, thought Fang Chen silently, then chimed in. "Excuse me for interrupting. I'll pretend I didn't see anything. You've got the items, can I leave now?"

Li Xiuming's gaze fell on Fang Chen. He had a smile on his face that didn’t quite reach his eyes. "Since I've decided to kill her, you think I’d let you leave here alive?"

A flying sword shot out from his sleeve, heading straight for Fang Chen.

Suddenly, a hand appeared and caught the flying sword in mid-air. The flying sword trembled violently in that hand, trying to break free. Moments later, it calmed down.

A look of shock appeared in Li Xiuming's eyes.

Mi Sheng wore an astonished expression.

The hand belonged to a figure draped in a black robe. The figure’s hand was dilapidated and seemed to have been forged from gold and stone. It held the flying sword in its hand, which had not been damaged in the least from that interaction.

Li Xiuming was at the tenth stage of Qi Refining. Someone who could stop his flying sword in such a manner had to be at least a Foundation Building cultivator!

Li Xiuming clasped his hands in salute. "Who are you, Senior?" He spoke with great courtesy.

The person in the black robe chuckled. "You come to my territory and ask who I am?"

All three of them showed a trace of horror in their eyes.

Supreme Immortal Pudu? Fang Chen suppressed his astonishment, quietly assessing the figure. Unfortunately, the face of the person was obscured by the black robe. He couldn’t even make out the contours of his face.

"So, you’re the owner. I was impolite," apologized Li Xiuming quickly.

The person in the black robe smiled lightly. "Now that you know, shouldn’t you return what you took back to where they were? "

Li Xiuming's expression changed slightly. Despite his reluctance, he had no choice but to return everything he took. The spirit stones, Blood Ginseng, and sword embryo were all placed back onto the jade platform.

"And the three Vermilion Fruits as well," added the person in the black robe.

Li Xiuming was shocked in his heart. He has been watching us!

With a sheepish smile, he took out the three Vermilion Fruits and carefully placed them on the jade platform.

The person in the black robe nodded in satisfaction.

“Senior, may I leave now?” asked Li Xiuming.

"It has been a long time since my flesh and blood have been replenished, and it can only support me for another two or three years at most before it dries up. Since you’re here, how about you be a good person to the end?" said the person in the black robe with a chuckle. He raised his hand.

Li Xiuming was instantly pulled into the clutch of the person in the black robe with no resistance what-so-ever, and with but a thought, all of the blood qi within Li Xiuming surged out of him and into the person in black, slowly being absorbed.

Li Xiuming turned frantic. "Senior, you!"

He never expected that the cultivator in front of him would be a demonic cultivator who flourished by absorbing the blood essence of others!

Watching this unfold, Mi Sheng suddenly burst into laughter, her eyes full of mockery. "Senior Brother, even with all your schemes, you still ended up in such a situation. Senior Sister Chen will probably have to find herself another dao companion."

The person in the black robe chuckled, ignoring Li Xiuming's struggles. He continued to absorb his blood essence, and Li Xiuming's resistance became increasingly futile.

"I cannot die here. I will ascend to Foundation Building in the future, and even cultivate to the Golden Core Realm. How can I die here? How can I?!" roared Li Xiuming, shouting desperately.

After several moments of struggle, Li Xiuming finally resigned to his fate. No matter how much he circulated his spiritual energy, he couldn't break free from the man’s grasp.

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