Secular Immortal of the Nine Realms - Chapter 22

Chapter 22: Advancing to Second Stage Ki Refinement

The upper echelons of the Court of Great Brilliance, including Supervisor Li Huafeng, were gathered in the High Court, as they looked through stack after stack of documents.

Recorded in these documents were the details of the deceased Greenpine martial artists.

“Good riddance,” an elder suddenly sneered with enlivened eyes.

The crowd was startled.

Li Huafeng turned to the elder and coldly asked, “Good riddance? Do you know how much danger Fang Chen has brought to our Great Xia through his actions? How long can we last if Greenpine Country invades us over this matter?”

“Lord Supervisor,” the elder said. “The Greenpine martial artists have killed hundreds, if not thousands of our civilians over the past five years. Their atrocities have been piling up as cases on our desks. War supreme-ruler Fang did us a favor by eradicating them, thus sparing us the burden of going through those cases. Isn’t this good news?

“As for Greenpine Country… that’s not something for us to worry about. War supreme-ruler Fang has his own considerations for doing what he did. I heard he has regained his martial cultivation. Our Great Xia isn’t as weak as it was before.”

A few people nodded in agreement.

Li Huafeng’s eyes turned grim. “I understand why you think that way, but it’s a fact Fang Chen was defeated in the Three Realms Mountain. Our Great Xia is no match for Greenpine Country. I called you here today to discuss how we should deal with him. I suggest throwing him into the imperial prison and having him deported to Greenpine Country. This way, we can appease their anger.”

The crowd was alarmed. You want to send Fang Chen to Greenpine? How can we do that?

Just then, a guard rushed over and reported with a suppressed voice, “Milords, there’s a large group of people gathered outside the Court of Great Brilliance.”

“Are they here to demand Fang Chen’s release?” the elder asked.

“No…” The guard had a weird look on his face. “They are people from Guhe, Longdu, and Yizhou. They heard about Fang Chen massacring Greenpine martial artists, and they insist that he must be severely punished, or else foreigners in Great Xia’s capital won’t be able to live in peace.”

Guhe, Longdu, and Yizhou were grade-9 states, though none was in a military conflict with Great Xia. They were focused on commerce and had many merchants, so it was common for their people to reside in Great Xia’s capital.

“Rubbish! What does this matter have to do with them?” the elder sneered.

“How is it unrelated?” Li Huafeng glanced at the elder. “Director Zhao, you shouldn’t overlook Guhe, Longdu, and Yizhou’s relationship with Greenpine. A huge amount of trade goes to and fro their countries each year. Fang Chen’s actions must have provoked them. What will we do if they begin exerting pressure on Great Xia too? We’re already struggling to deal with Greenpine. It’ll be over for us if we turn those three countries against us too.”

The crowd slowly turned grim.

Li Huafeng was right. The last thing Great Xia wanted was for those three countries to get involved in this matter. The problem was that those three countries were unlikely to back down if they couldn’t give a satisfactory explanation.

“The Court Master is here.”

“Court Master.”

The crowd rose up to welcome a middle-aged man wearing a flood dragon robe. The middle-aged man acknowledged them with a nod before settling down on the main seat.

“You have been discussing the matter for some time now. Have you decided on a procedure?” the court master asked.

“Court Master, I believe that we should hand Fang Chen over to Greenpine,” Li Huafeng clasped his fist and replied.

“Ey, this matter is truly a headache.” The court master massaged his temples. “Fang Chen is a troublesome figure to deal with. We could have traded him for years of stability for our nation if he hasn’t recovered his martial cultivation, but now that he has, it doesn’t matter how we sentence him. Ultimately, the problem is whether he’s willing to obey our sentence or not.”

The crowd was stunned. Frowns formed on their faces, as they hadn’t thought of this.

Li Huafeng hesitated. “But… does he dare to defy orders?”

“Are you going to put that to the test?” the court master sneered. “I might be the court master and Great Xia’s king, but do you think he wouldn’t dare slap me if I give him a long lecture?”

The crowd fell silent.

“That settles things. Don’t waste your time. Our Court of Great Brilliance won’t be getting involved in this matter. Let Fang Chen deal with it himself.” The court master stood up. “We have done our part by capturing him. As for how it goes, that’s none of our business.”

The court master strutted out of the High Court.

The others also stood up and left one after another.

“Lord Supervisor, I suggest you should wash your hands clean of this matter. You’ll only look bad no matter how it goes.” Director Zhao smiled at Li Huafeng before casually walking out.

Li Huafeng’s face turned livid.

Outside, Yuan Zhuang rushed up to Director Zhao and asked, “Milord, what did the upper echelons say?”

“I never thought you would be able to apprehend War supreme-ruler Fang. That’s something you can boast about for the rest of your life.” Director Zhao chuckled. “As for the rest, let the others hash it out. I’m in a good mood today. I’ll treat all of you to a performance at Great Xia River.”

Yuan Zhuang was surprised. Director Zhao had never stepped into the entertainment district since Great Xia’s defeat five years ago. Did something good happen today?

…

Thunderous rumbles could be occasionally heard in the prison. The flabbergasted prisoners crouched in front of their cells, curious to know what was going on.

Soon, from the wardens’ idle chatter, they learned that Fang Chen had regained his martial cultivation, and he even grasped an extremely powerful martial art that sparked lightning when executed. Many enemies had been reduced to cinders by his attack.

Xian Tianci, Greenpine Superior Dojo’s Master, had died from that too.

They were initially struck with terror, but they quickly got used to it. Soon, the thunderous rumble sounded reassuring to them instead.

“The stronger War supreme-ruler Fang is, the more powerful Great Xia is. Heaven has not forsaken us!”

“There’s bound to be a battle between Great Xia and Greenpine Country that will determine our fates. It’ll be an even more grueling battle than that of the Three Realms Mountain. The stronger War supreme-ruler Fang is, the greater our chances at victory.”

“Wardens! How long are you going to keep War supreme-ruler Fang imprisoned here? Let him go! He’ll suppress Greenpine Country on behalf of our Great Xia!”

The wardens revealed bitter smiles. They would have already done so if they had the authority.

In the single cell, Fang Chen quietly drew his Purple Lightning Talismans. His brush strokes were fluid and forceful. The rate at which he was drawing the talismans gradually hastened.

His spirit ki was slowly becoming stronger and more concentrated. It was already several fold stronger than the day he first forged his immortal vein. Each time he expended his spirit ki, its capacity would increase when he recovered it.

“Immortal cultivation isn’t that tough, after all…”

Fang Chen put down his weasel hair brush as he quietly sensed the billowing spirit ki in him. A smile formed on his lips as he knew his spirit ki was strong enough for him to forge the second immortal vein.

With a thought, the surrounding spirit ki began surging toward his body. It didn’t take long for a second pristine immortal vein to appear.

He advanced to second stage Ki Refinement!

— — — — —

Quick context about Chinese robes:

Dragon is a symbol of the Chinese emperor, so wearing and possessing anything related to a dragon is strictly forbidden (you’ll be executed under high treason, even if you are the empress or a member of the imperial family).

However, in the very rare case where a person has greatly contributed to the country, the emperor may bestow an official with the right to don a ‘flood dragon robe’. Flood dragons are thought to be half-dragons, but just the association with dragons makes it extremely prestigious.