Secular Immortal of the Nine Realms - Chapter 138

Chapter 138: The Emergence of the Spirit Marrow

“You seem to disagree.” Xia Yun looked at Fang Chen and laughed. “I don’t blame you. You aren’t a cultivator. We appear lofty before mortal eyes, but we are treading on thin ice. We have to contemplate again and again before making a move lest it bring disaster upon us.

“The recent incident revealed that Chillwater’s Ji Clan was worshiping an immortal, but who knew before that Chillwater was backed by a cultivator? While you took down the cultivator, his friends and family might not be willing to let things slip. Chillwater might have more than one cultivator too.

“If we go a step further, Guhe, Longdu, Yizhou, and Greenpine might have cultivators too. Perhaps, they might have ancestors who sought the path of immortality like I did and returned after reaching a high level of accomplishment.

“What I’m saying is that it never hurts to be prudent. It’s one thing if the enemy is weaker, but a stronger foe can easily end me. The path of immortality is long and arduous. To lose everything over something so petty is nothing short of foolishness…”

Fang Chen chuckled. “Elder, why did you return then?”

“I came to check if Chillwater has any other cultivators. If he’s weaker than me, I’ll step in and handle it on your behalf. Otherwise, I’ll mediate between the two of you,” Xia Yun said. “Also, I didn’t make a trip here just to visit Great Xia. I just happened to pass by while traveling elsewhere.”

“Senior Xia, have you resolved the matter yet? Do you need us to make a move?” a voice was relayed to the crowd’s ears.

It was another cultivator!

Li Daoye’s eyebrows shot up. Fang Chen feigned ignorance since Xia Yun thought that he was an ordinary martial artist.

Two figures suddenly appeared behind Xia Yun—it was a man and a woman. Both of them looked young, and the pride in their eyes couldn’t be concealed.

“Junior Brother Liu, Junior Sister Tantai, I have kept you waiting. Allow me to introduce you to this daoist over here. He is…”

Xia Yun was extremely courteous to his two juniors, so much so that his attitude felt fawning, but their cultivation was only at fifth stage Ki Refinement.

“I am Li Daoye,” Li Daoye said.

“Li Daoye?” The two of them frowned with disdain in their eyes.

“Senior Xia, let’s pay a visit to your great grandson and see if that item you can’t see through is of value,” the man urged.

Xia Yun nodded before leaving with the two of them. He didn’t bother bidding Fang Chen or Li Daoye farewell.

Shortly after they left, Li Daoye harrumphed. “Why is he acting so smug? He’s just an ordinary disciple of the South Heaven Sect, whereas I am the young master of the Eight Trigrams Sect!”

“You’re lacking as the young master, being only at third stage Ki Refinement. The other two don’t look that much older than you, but they have already reached fifth stage Ki Refinement,” Fang Chen said.

Li Daoye was infuriated. “Our Eight Trigrams Sect practices the art of omen reading, so it’s inevitable that we’re lacking in terms of cultivation stage. However, we can do what they can’t!”

“If so, why don’t you look at the imperial palace and see if there’s anything amiss?” Fang Chen suddenly asked.

“The imperial palace? There’s nothing amiss there.” Li Daoye shook his head. “I have already taken multiple looks there.”

Fang Chen fell into deep thought. He had previously felt a sliver of threat from the imperial palace when he astral projected, which was why he avoided approaching the imperial palace in his soul form.

And that man earlier said that he wanted to take a look at something in the imperial palace. Could there be a link between the two?

“Are you sure?” Fang Chen asked.

“Of course!” Li Daoye said. “Did you notice something amiss? Is there a priceless treasure hiding in your Great Xia?”

“You might be lacking practice.” Fang Chen chuckled.

The arrival of Xia Yun and his juniors caught Fang Chen off guard, but this wasn’t bad news. Should the Blood Spirit Cultist appear now, he would drag them into the fray whether they liked it or not.

…

In the Shadow Courtyard, Jade Fairy sat on the door ledge with her hands propping up her chin. When Fang Chen appeared, she stood up in delight. “Young master, I was still wondering when you’ll drop by.”

“Are there any movements from the palace while I was away?” Fang Chen asked.

“There isn’t anything much, though Tao Yu, Ye Qinghe, and the others are taking on higher profiles than usual. They often organize gatherings for the young scions and talents, and the crown prince would occasionally show his face too,” Jade Fairy replied.

Fang Chen nodded. “Is the corpse inside?”

“Yes. I have been keeping watch over it,” Jade Fairy replied.

“You haven’t been to the Jade Fairy Boat for a while. Those fellows must have thought that something has happened to you,” Fang Chen remarked.

“I told them I have a cold. What can they do about it?” Jade Fairy replied coyly.

The two of them entered the room. Immortal Zuo, the immortal worshiped by the Ji Clan, was lying quietly on a bed.

“It’s truly mystical. His corpse showed no signs of decomposition,” Jade Fairy said.

“That’s because of the spirit ki inside him. His flesh and blood won’t easily decompose as long as there’s spirit ki lingering inside.”

Fang Chen searched Immortal Zuo’s body, only to find a four daosoul imprint artifact and not a single ki stone at all. He must have been really poor, for a sixth stage Ki Refinement cultivator to still be using a four daosoul artifact.

He first took the artifact before gently tapping with his finger.

A fireball fell on Immortal Zuo’s corpse and instantaneously burned him into cinders. Perplexingly, the flame didn’t burn anything else in the room.

“Young master, when can I learn such means too?” Jade Fairy’s eyes lit up.

“I’ll impart to you a Ki Refinement formula to see if you are suited for this path. Otherwise, it’d be best not to force it,” Fang Chen said.

He had personally picked out the members of the Great Xia Shadow Guards, so there was no question about their talent for martial cultivation. However, that didn’t necessarily mean that their talent spilled over to immortal cultivation.

All of a sudden, Fang Chen widened his eyes and turned in the direction of the imperial palace. Then, he turned to Jade Fairy and said, “Wait a moment.”

He drew out his soul and instantaneously arrived above the imperial palace. The threatening aura he felt was becoming stronger, such that he could even sense it before he astral projected.

Something is happening in the imperial palace!

In the imperial palace’s rear garden, the Great Xia’s emperor had already dismissed everyone in the vicinity, leaving behind him, Xia Yun, and the other two cultivators.

Floating in front of the four of them was a faintly glowing jade object.

“Senior Xia Yun… why is there a Spirit Marrow in your Great Xia?!” the two junior cultivators exclaimed in astonishment, but there was also a hint of greed in their eyes.

“Spirit Marrow?” the Great Xia’s emperor murmured.

Xia Yun gasped. He turned to his two juniors and asked, “Junior Brother Liu, Junior Sister Tantai, you’re saying that this jade object is the legendary Spirit Marrow? If I’m not mistaken, even swallowing a bit of the Spirit Marrow can greatly enhance one’s talent, aiding one’s pursuit of immortality!”

Spirit Marrow? Fang Chen stared at that jade object from the sky. The threatening aura he felt came from the jade object; it felt like the object itself possessed sentience.

“Quick, suppress it! Don’t let it get away. If the Spirit Marrow emerges, it’ll morph into an immortal rain and choose its own owner. We can only suppress it now before it fully awakens,” Junior Brother Liu urged.