Secular Immortal of the Nine Realms - Chapter 163

Chapter 163: Kidnapped

“Grandfather.”

“Father, mother.”

“Second Uncle.”

Fang Chen greeted them one after another. Noticing the conspicuous absence of one person, he asked, “Where’s Zhixue?”

“She’s at the Auspicious King Manor. She has gotten close with the Auspicious King’s Sixth Daughter in recent days,” Fang Canghai replied.

Fang Chen nodded before turning to Fang Zhentian.

The latter had made some progress in his cultivation—he appeared to have manifested his second immortal vein. In contrast, Fang Canghai and his wife, as well as Fang Cangyou, still hadn’t manifested their immortal vein yet.

“Grandfather, how do you feel?” Fang Chen asked.

“I feel fine. I’m cultivating faster with the help of the ki stones,” Fang Zhentian said with a laugh. “How’s your business in the capital coming along?”

Fang Chen told them about the emergence of the Spirit Marrow, the arrival of the major sects in search of disciples, their suppression of the Foundation Establishment Blood Spirit Cultist, and the execution of Xia Yu, Xiao Shence, and the others.

Fang Zhentian and the others turned grim listening to his stories. They didn’t expect so many things to happen within such a short time.

“How can Xia Yu be so foolish? He’s our crown prince! How could he help outsiders to harm our people?” Fang Canghai was seething with anger.

“Good riddance!” Fang Cangyou scoffed.

“Great Xia should be at peace now that the Foundation Establishment Blood Spirit Cultist has died. At least the worst is over,” Fang Zhentian said. “I’m surprised to hear that Xia Yun joined the South Heaven Sect. He had been engrossed with seeking a path toward immortality, but to think that he really found a way out.”

“What a pity we weren’t around when the Spirit Marrow emerged,” Fang Cangyou said with a sigh. “We could have benefited from it otherwise. Who knows? We might have manifested our first immortal vein by now.”

“Such fortuitous encounters can’t be forced. It happens, or it doesn’t. There are no what-ifs,” Fang Zhentian calmly replied. “The Purple Aura Formula will nourish your body even if you fail to manifest an immortal vein. That will greatly benefit your martial cultivation.”

“Indeed, Second Uncle. You would be much stronger than first stage and second stage Ki Refinement cultivators if you become a Heaven Profound martial artist in the future,” Fang Chen said.

All of a sudden, Fang Chen stopped talking and his face turned grim. His abrupt change in attitude made Fang Zhentian and the others realize that something had gone awry.

“Chen’er, did something happen?” Fang Canghai asked.

“My aunt… she has been taken away by Xia Xuanji.” Fang Chen told them about his conjecture, which astonished Fang Canghai and the others.

“You’re saying that dog scum could be a cultivator? And he took away our little sister to threaten you?!” Fang Cangyou’s face reddened in anger.

Fang Zhentian remained calm in contrast. “Don’t panic. It’s unlikely that he’ll harm Cangyue since he chose to take her away, unless he’s confident of dealing with Chen’er.”

“Chen’er, is there no way to find them? Who could have thought that Xia Xuanji is so scheming? He even used his own son as a scapegoat!” Fang Canghai clenched his fists.

Fang Chen thought about it, but he shook his head. “It’ll be hard to find him if he sets his mind to hide from us.”

“He is a Xia Clansman. He’ll eventually return to Great Xia,” Fang Zhentian said. “I’ll have a talk with him when the time comes.”

Fang Cangyou, who was getting sick of cultivating, set up his mind to master the Purple Aura Formula so that he could teach Xia Xuanji a lesson when they met again!

“Grandfather, Xia Yun invited me somewhere. I intend to head over to take a look. Here are 300 low-grade ki stones. You can use them as you please. Also, I have a Spirit Gauging Bell here.”

Fang Chen handed over 300 low-grade ki stones, keeping just 300 low-grade ki stones in his storage ring for emergency use. At the same time, he handed the Foundation Establishment Blood Spirit Cultist’s storage ring to Fang Zhentian.

Fang Zhentian’s interest was piqued. The storage ring was a good thing. It would be convenient to have such an artifact with him.

“You mentioned that this Spirit Gauging Bell can test one’s cultivation talent?” Fang Cangyou curiously wheeled his wheelchair over to take a look.

Fang Chen eyed Fang Cangyou’s legs. Second Uncle sure has a terrible personality. He wants to maintain the act even in front of our grandfather.

“Indeed. Let’s call my Little Sister back, and we can try it together. If anyone displays signs of having cultivation talent, we can also use it to gauge their aptitude. It is damaged though, so we can’t use it too many times. It’d be best to use it sparingly for now. I’ll bring back a better Spirit Gauging Bell in the future.” Fang Chen smiled.

Fang Canghai ordered someone to head to the city and call Fang Zhixue back.

Following that, Fang Canghai and the others tried striking the Spirit Gauging Bell.

The result was unsatisfactory. Fang Canghai and his wife didn’t have any cultivation talent, falling to evoke even a single toll. Fang Cangyou, however, managed to evoke two tolls.

“Are our Fang Clansmen that untalented? Both big brother and sister-in-law have no cultivation talent at all?” Fang Cangyou exclaimed.

“That works too.” Fang Canghai breathed a sigh of relief. He took his wife’s hand and turned to Fang Zhentian, saying, “Father, we shan’t keep you company here. We intend to travel around the southern region. It has been a long time since we had time to ourselves.”

“Go ahead, but bring some people with you. Someone might go after you to deal with Chen’er,” Fang Zhentian said.

“We’ll be fine. Chen’er has given us some Purple Lightning Talismans. We’ll be able to deal with even Ki Manifestation martial artists with those talismans,” Fang Canghai replied.

He turned to Fang Cangyou and said, “Second Brother, you shouldn’t waste your cultivation talent. It doesn’t matter how far you can go; it’ll be to the benefit of our Fang Clan to have as many cultivators as possible.”

“I understand, Big Brother.” Fang Cangyou nodded.

“Grandfather, it’s your turn,” Fang Chen said.

“Me?” Fang Zhentian’s lips crept up. “I’ll pass on the spirit assessment, lest it shakes my heart. It’s me—and not the Spirit Gauging Bell—who shall decide how far I’ll go on this road.”

“…” Fang Chen nodded.

Two hours later, the guard who went to the city to call Fang Zhixue back returned with bad news. Fang Zhixue was kidnapped while playing with the Auspicious King’s Sixth Daughter.

The guard returned with the Auspicious King’s First Son, Xia Song.

Xia Song’s face was covered in cold sweat. His face paled when he saw Fang Chen and the others, and the first thing he said was, “Imperial Duke Fang, this matter has nothing to do with our Auspicious King Manor.”

“She was kidnapped in your turf, and you say it has nothing to do with you?” Fang Chen sneered.

Xia Song immediately kneeled on the floor and lowered his head. His body wouldn’t stop trembling. “Imperial Duke Fang, my father has already dispatched our men to comb the area. We should be able to find Miss Zhixue’s whereabouts very soon.”

“Rise. I already have an idea where she is,” Fang Chen placidly said.

Xia Song was taken aback. Fang Chen knows who made a move? He breathed a sigh of relief. Prior to coming here, his father had told him that it could spell the end of their Auspicious King Manor if Fang Chen thought that they were behind this matter.

“Do you know a one-eyed scholar who looks to be around his twenties?” Fang Chen asked.

Xia Song’s face warped in incredulity. “It’s him?!”