Secular Immortal of the Nine Realms - Chapter 118

Chapter 118: Migrating Southward

Yuan Zhuang had been in the southern region, aiding Jue Panshi in cleansing the sects in the South Immortal Province. However, the tension arising from the massacre of the Heavensword Mountain Villa hadn’t fully calmed down yet.

Jue Panshi had announced that the culprit behind the massacre had been killed, but the sects maintain a skeptical attitude regarding the matter.

To make things worse, the Valiant Defenders suddenly began purging the smaller sects, raiding their den, arresting their disciples, killing their elders, and exiling the others. This caused a huge stir in the pugilistic world.

This prompted one of the southern region’s Four Great Sects, Greatsword Gate, to step forward and rally the other sects together to demand an explanation from the Profound Saber Sect.

As a result, the Profound Saber Sect had been encircled, and Jue Panshi and his subordinates were trapped inside. Yuan Zhuang was able to slip out, and he immediately rushed to the capital to inform Fang Chen of the matter.

“What about Carefree Palace?” Fang Chen asked.

Carefree Palace was one of the Four Great Sects, but they were an elusive group as their disciples appeared in public. Little was known about them.

“They haven’t made an appearance yet,” Yuan Zhuang said with a suppressed voice.

“What are the other Valiant Defenders and local magistrates doing? One of the imperial court’s officials is trapped in the Profound Saber Sect, but no one is stepping up?” Fang Chen asked.

“Yes, all of them are lying low,” Yuan Zhuang replied with a frown. “They appear to have implicitly permitted Greatsword Gate’s doing. I suspect that the southern region’s politics might be even more complicated than we expected.”

“I thought they would keep it down for now, but they jumped out faster than I anticipated. The minor sects we are dealing with must have infringed on their interests, prompting them to make a move,” Fang Chen sneered. “The southern region is lacking in resources, and strong-arming is a common practice there. It’s inevitable that officials dispatched there would have ties with the local sects. It looks like that place has become rotten to the core.”

“Young master, you knew this might happen?” Yuan Zhuang was startled

Fang Chen turned to Xu Ge and said, “It has been a while since our Fang Manor went on a trip. Tell the Old Master and everyone else that we’ll be heading to the southern region.”

Xu Ge was taken aback. The entire manor? Does the young master plan on migrating out of the capital?

“Young master, we aren’t leaving some servants around to maintain the manor?” Xu Ge asked.

“It’s fine. You can call them over to help out,” Fang Chen instructed.

Xu Ge’s eyes narrowed as he caught Fang Chen’s drift. The latter was planning to disguise the Great Xia Shadow Guards as the Fang Manor’s servants and maids.

On the other hand, Li Daoye saw Fang Chen’s actions as preparation against the Blood Spirit Cult’s Foundation Establishment cultivator. The latter was planning to first evacuate the Fang Manor from the capital lest they be taken as hostage.

“Young master Fang, this is for the best.” Li Daoye nodded with a smile.

“You’ll be staying in the Fang Manor,” Fang Chen replied.

“What?!” Li Daoye was startled.

Four hours later, the Fang Army marched out of the capital as an army. Those living in the capital were taken aback by the sight, and they couldn’t help but speculate what was going on.

The Fang Clan had let out word that they were going on a trip, but it was unthinkable that all of them would travel together. The nobles of the capital naturally reserved their doubts regarding the matter. However, they had no right to question the Fang Clan, and they dared not do so.

“Lad, the problems scourging the southern region were accumulated over a long period of time. I couldn’t find a solution for it back then. What are your plans? Are you going to cleanse them in a single sweep?” Fang Zhentian asked.

Many soldiers in the capital were born in the southern region, and some of them were even disciples in the Four Great Sects in their younger years. This complicated web of relationships made the southern region hard to deal with.

Often, the capital would issue an order, only for it to take another meaning once it reached the southern region. However, there was nothing the capital could do about it. If they sent soldiers to suppress the southern region, they would risk a civil war.

The backlash would be severe.

To put it plainly, the capital’s influence over the southern region paled in comparison to the Four Great Sects. Officials who wanted to change the southern region often died in mysterious ways, their murderers never found. There was no way to find the culprits, as they could be anyone in the pugilistic world!

Fang Zhentian had wanted to rein in the southern region in his younger years, but he had no choice but to give up due to the pressure from the imperial court and the southern region.

“The problem of the southern region lies with those sects. They have the advantage in their turf, so they don’t fear even Ki Manifestation martial artists,” Fang Chen replied. “But the enemy they are up against now isn’t just a Ki Manifestation martial artist. The best way to curb chaos is to move decisively, so that they don’t have any chance to react.”

“Many people in the military have intimate ties with the southern region. There will be chaos in the military if you touch the southern region. But again… you just defeated Chillwater and raised Great Xia to a grade-8 state. With the prestige you have accrued, those people will have to think twice before making a move,” Fang Zhentian replied contemplatively.

He added, “Those people are still in shock over what happened, so this is the ideal opportunity to make a move. If we give them some time to recover, their fear will lessen. Some of them are obstinate fools. They might choose to rather go down than to surrender to us.”

Fang Chen nodded with a smile. “I have another thought in mind too. The chilled spirit spring water I brought back a few days ago comes from the southern region. Most sects in the world of cultivation have a spirit mountain or a spirit spring as their foundation. We might not be able to move the spirit spring to us, but we can head there ourselves to build a manor there.”

He didn’t know when the Blood Spirit Cultists would get to the capital. On the one hand, he wanted to evacuate the Fang Clan elsewhere lest they be caught in the crossfire. At the same time, this spirit spring could become the foundation for the Fang Clan to thrive as cultivators.

The Fang Clan didn’t have any officials anymore, so there was no reason for them to remain fixated on the capital either.

“Oh?” Fang Zhentian’s eyes lit up.

Ever since he became a cultivator, he had become certain that this was the path they had to take for the Fang Clan to last through the generations. If Fang Clansmen could consume the spirit spring water everyday, that should at least squeeze out some cultivation talent in them.

Besides, cultivators also needed resources to cultivate. While a spirit spring might not be as effective compared to ki stones, it had the superiority in terms of quantity!

“Zhixue is starting to sense spirit ki. It won’t be long before she forges her first immortal vein and becomes a cultivator. Once that happens, the burden on your shoulders will be lessened. You’ll eventually be able to freely explore the larger world out there,” Fang Zhentian said.

“That’s good news.” Fang Chen nodded with a smile.

Fang Zhixue hadn’t been hanging out with the other martial artists in recent days. She spent most of her time trying to comprehend the Purple Aura Formula. Clearly, the path of immortality held greater allure to her than martial cultivation.

Fang Canghai and Fang Cangyou had also made some progress. Their talent was mediocre, but it should be enough for them to reach third stage or fourth stage Ki Refinement.

Immortal cultivation was not an easy feat. Fang Chen dared not dream that the Fang Clan could become a huge cultivation clan, but it shouldn’t be difficult for them to nurture tens of cultivators.