Immortal of the Nine Realms

Only cultivators could sense spirit ki.

Even a pinnacle Earth Profound martial artist like Ji Congyun was unable to sense spirit ki, not even in the slightest. Immortal Zuo understood just how devastating those purple lightning bolts were, which was why he fell in a daze.

There were also many others who were stupefied too.

Such as the officials of Great Xia’s imperial court.

Such as Great Xia’s civilians.

Such as Longdu, Guhe, and Yizhou’s envoys.

It was such an unbelievable sight that their brains stalled to a halt.

A hundred Nightmare Knights were instantaneously destroyed by purple streaks of lightning? Their first thought that surfaced in their heads was whether this was divine retribution, but they quickly snapped out of it.

Those purple lightning bolts didn’t come from the sky but the hands of the Fang Manor’s guards. They were the culprits behind this devastation!

“It’s the Purple Lightning Palm!” someone exclaimed.

Fang Chen had previously killed a commander of the Greenpine’s Wolf Army in the imperial palace and claimed that he had used a martial art called Purple Lightning Palm. This matter had spread since then, so there were quite a few people who knew about this.

Even so, they struggled to comprehend how these pinnacle Ki Control Nightmare Knights could have died so helplessly.

“What terrifying means! When did he build up such a powerful force…” Li Guozhu’s hands wouldn’t stop trembling as he looked at the Fang Manor’s guards with fearful eyes.

If his eyes weren’t playing tricks on him, what he had just witnessed effectively meant that the Fang Manor’s guards were stronger than any of Great Xia’s armies. To think that, a while back, the emperor issued a decree banning Fang Chen from ever taking charge of an army…

Looking back at it now, that decree was nothing but a joke.

Xia Yu, Tao Yu, Ye Qinghe, and the others were horrified. Today’s developments far surpassed their wildest imagination.

“This is impossible…” Ji Lengyue fell to his knees.

He had only survived because he didn’t charge alongside his Nightmare Knights. His eyes reddened as he looked at the charred corpses lying on the ground.

These Nightmare Knights have been with me for many years, but they died in the hands of the Fang Manor’s guards just like that? The lightning I saw earlier… Those are clearly a cultivator’s means, but how could the Fang Manor’s guards possess a cultivator’s means?

This is impossible!

I must be seeing things!

Ji Lengyue rubbed his eyes in disbelief, but the charred corpses remained. His face slowly turned ghastly pale. He collapsed to the ground as if someone had siphoned his energy, and he stared at Fang Chen with dazed eyes.

“Aren’t you going to move?” Fang Chen asked Immortal Zuo.

Those words dragged Immortal Zuo back to reality. He stiffly turned his head over to look at Fang Chen with uncertain eyes.

That’s the Purple Lightning Talisman, an extremely popular talisman in the world of cultivation! Its value, to Ki Refinement cultivators, is comparable to that of an artifact.

Purple Lightning Talismans are divided into four grades—low, mid, high, and pinnacle. I don’t know what grade the Purple Lightning Talismans they used were, but even a single low-grade Purple Lightning Talisman is already worth a few ki stones!

Even though Immortal Zuo was a sixth stage Ki Refinement cultivator worshiped by the Ji Clan, he had only managed to save 13 low-grade ki stones over the years, after spending the rest on furthering his cultivation.

At least a hundred Purple Lightning Talismans must have been consumed to create the earlier lightning bombardment. That was hundreds of ki stones going down the drain!

The thought of that filled Immortal Zuo’s eyes with fear. What’s their background to squander hundreds of low-grade ki stones to kill a hundred mortal martial artists? This is madness! What if those Purple Lightning Talismans were aimed at me instead?

Immortal Zuo shuddered. An amicable smile instantaneously appeared on his face, and he clasped his fist toward Fang Chen and Li Daoye and said, “I was just joking earlier. Please don’t take it to heart.”

“Joking? Is this something to joke about?” Li Daoye snorted. “Do you think I’d let you talk your way out of this after the threat you made?”

Immortal Zuo’s face darkened. He hurriedly telepathically relayed his voice to Ji Congyun, “Cover my escape. We’ll plan our next move once we return to Chillwater!”

Upon hearing those words, Ji Congyun immediately leaped away from Immortal Zuo.

“You cowardly scum!” Immortal Zuo cursed.

He quickly turned tail and fled. His movement skill was superior to that of martial artists, as he could even temporarily flit across the air. It took a mere moment for him to flit several hundred meters away.

“Is he an immortal?!”

The ignorant civilians were stunned by that sight.

“That’s the means of a cultivator…” the officials of Great Xia’s imperial court murmured under their breath.

Compared to Ji Lengyue’s earlier leap, Immortal Zuo’s movement skill resembled a deity’s feat more.

Just as the crowd thought Immortal Zuo would gracefully depart from the scene, dozens of lightning bolts suddenly crackled in unison. All of them consecutively struck Immortal Zuo.

There was a howl of agony before his charred body plummeted into the dense jungle below.

A few figures discreetly flitted into the forest to confirm Immortal Zuo’s death before carrying his corpse and possessions away.

Those seated on the platform were startled. All of them turned to Fang Chen. There was no doubt that the dozens of lightning bolts that had appeared out of nowhere was his doing.

“Elder Ji, what do you think of my guards? Will they be able to stand their ground against Chillwater’s hundred thousand Nightmare Knights?” Fang Chen looked at Ji Congyun with a casual smile.

Elder Ji?!

It finally dawned on the crowd that Ji Congyun was someone important, though the fact that he was the Ji Clan’s Old Master still eluded them. They merely thought that he was an influential figure in the Ji Clan.

“Of course.” Ji Congyun nodded with a strained smile.

“Do you think our Great Xia is worthy of being deemed a grade-8 state?” Fang Chen asked.

Grade-8 state?

The crowd gasped. They could fathom what Fang Chen’s goal was!

“A single Earth Profound martial artist wouldn’t be enough… but the means you have displayed qualifies Great Xia as a grade-8 state.” Ji Congyun slowly nodded.

Boom!

The crowd was shocked.

The officials of Great Xia’s imperial court traded gazes, and slowly, their bodies began trembling in excitement. They sensed that they were about to witness history in the making.

The civilians did a sharp intake in breath too as they stared fixedly at Fang Chen.

“Let it be known that our Great Xia is a grade-8 state from this day on,” Fang Chen calmly declared. “Elder Ji, I’ll trouble you to inform your emperor that Great Xia won’t be Chillwater’s vassal state anymore.”

“I will.” Ji Congyun nodded.

“Also… now that Great Xia is a grade-8 state, it’s only right for us to have vassal states too. Longdu, Guhe, and Yizhou shall be our vassal states from now on,” Fang Chen said.

“This… I’m afraid this matter requires further discussion with our emperor.” Ji Congyun was stunned by Fang Chen’s greediness.

Longdu, Guhe, and Yizhou’s envoys turned pale too. They couldn’t imagine how miserable their lives would become if they became Great Xia’s vassal states.

“There’s no need for that. This is not up for negotiation.” Fang Chen smiled at Ji Congyun.

Ji Congyun fell silent. Moments later, he slowly nodded. “All right.”

The officials of Great Xia’s imperial court were stunned. They couldn’t believe that they had advanced to grade-8 state just like that, and they even gained three vassals right off the bat!

“Milord…” The three envoys anxiously looked at Ji Congyun.

Ji Congyun paid no heed to them. Chillwater had plenty of other vassal states, so losing these three wouldn’t hurt them much.

“Young master Fang, is there anything else you’d like to say? My grandson is severely injured. I’ll have to take him away for treatment,” Ji Congyun politely asked.

“I have nothing else for you. As for Ji Lengyun… I’ll be keeping him here as a hostage from your Ji Clan. Elder Ji, you may leave now,” Fang Chen said.

What?! He’s keeping Ji Lengyun here as a hostage?

The crowd was flabbergasted. Only Fang Chen would dare to do something this bold. Yet, for some reason, they felt inexplicably comforted by this.

“All right.”

Without any hesitation, Ji Congyun turned around and left.

“He knows when to bow his head.” Fang Chen chuckled.