Secular Immortal of the Nine Realms - Chapter 61

Chapter 61: These Are Built With Our Blood and Sweat!

“What? A Longdu noble attacked our Great Xia’s merchant convoy?”

“Sheesh. I have long heard about it, but I never thought it’d be true. I heard our merchants have been having a tough time in recent years.”

“What nonsense is this? If War supreme-ruler Fang’s words are true, we definitely should execute that bastard viscount!”

The civilians of Great Xia were infuriated.

The emperor’s complexion was awful. The same went for the crown prince and the others too.

“Audacious, Fang Chen! What right does a civilian like you have to judge a person under broad daylight?” Tao Mingsheng roared in anger.

“I might be a civilian, but I’m also Great Xia’s Ki Manifestation martial artist,” Fang Chen replied. “If no one wishes to change the present situation, I’ll be the one to take the first step forward.”

“Fang Chen, release our viscount!”

“Are you waging war against our Longdu?”

The Longdu scholars raged.

Some Guhe and Yizhou scholars also revealed angered looks as they questioned the emperor.

The emperor coldly glared at Fang Chen and said, “Let him go, Fang Chen, and I won’t pursue your wrongdoings.”

“Your Majesty, I know you wish to slice this man into shreds, but you’re holding back because you’re worried that it’ll bring greater harm upon Great Xia. Allow me to quell your hesitations. I’ll behead this man on your behalf.

“I’ll shoulder all the responsibility alone. If a war is what Longdu wants, a war it will get! Our Great Xia was forged with the blood and sweat of our people. A Longdu viscount arrogantly thinks that our people are lowly peasants and hunts them down for sport. Needless to say, we should repay this favor correspondingly!” Fang Chen said.

His voice reverberated loudly like a massive bell, echoing even many kilometers away.

The crowd fell silent.

Li Guozhu first looked at Fang Chen, followed by Zhou Xiu, before shaking his head. Some of the officials who had sought to dissuade Fang Chen fell into deep thought before slowly taking a step back.

Minister of Justice Jiang Yushu stroked his beard as he watched this scene with turbid eyes. There was a hint of a smile on his lips. His attitude couldn’t be clearer.

Amidst the crowd, Fang Qingyao and her maid dazedly stared at Fang Chen, who had been surrounded by the Valiant Defenders and the imperial guards.

“Y-young miss, War supreme-ruler Fang intends to execute Zhou Xiu in front of everyone! I thought that he spared Zhou Xiu for the bigger picture!”

“This puts War supreme-ruler Fang in an even more dangerous position.” Fang Qingyao’s eyes brimmed with worry.

“Don’t worry, young miss. We have witnessed War supreme-ruler Fang’s means. He’ll have a way out!” her maid replied.

Fang Qingyao thought about what Fang Chen had accomplished and quickly calmed down.

“Step aside!” a roar echoed.

A general rushed through the crowd, leaped off his steed, and bowed to the emperor. It was Fang Canghai, who had been demoted to a city guard!

“Fang Canghai, look at what your son is doing!” the emperor roared.

“Pardon me, Your Majesty!” Fang Canghai first clasped his fist at the emperor before turning to Fang Chen. “Chen’er, must you kill that person today?”

“Yes, he has to die.” Fang Chen nodded.

“Very well. Go ahead and do it,” Fang Canghai replied.

The crowd was rendered speechless. Wait, we thought you came here to stop your son!

The emperor widened his eyes in disbelief. He wagged his finger at Fang Canghai, but he was so angry that he couldn’t utter a word.

“Will that lad really be able to return for dinner?”

By the corner of the crowd, Fang Cangyou looked at Fang Chen with an intrigued frown from his wheelchair. He hadn’t expected Fang Chen to stir such a huge commotion. He also didn’t think his older brother, who had always prioritized the bigger picture, would side with Fang Chen.

“But that’s how we of the Fang Clan roll.” Fang Cangyou burst into laughter.

Behind Fang Cangyou, Xu Ge’s lips crept up too.

Meanwhile, at a nearby building, a general dressed in silver armor coldly eyed Fang Chen with a bow in his hand.

“General Yan, His Majesty has already issued his order. You have to stop Fang Chen no matter what it takes. Zhou Xiu mustn’t die!” a eunuch said with a suppressed voice.

“His Majesty should know that Fang Chen has regained his Ki Manifestation martial cultivation. My arrow can’t hope to hurt him,” Yan Beihan grimly replied.

“General Yan, do you intend to defy an imperial order?” the eunuch coldly asked.

“I understand.” Yan Beihan slowly nodded as he drew his bow.

…

“It’s getting late. Zhou Xiu, you should get going. I pray you’re born as an ordinary person in your next life; you should at least live a longer life than being a Longdu viscount,” Fang Chen looked at the sky and sneered.

Zhou Xiu’s face turned pale. “You really intend to kill me? Our emperor won’t let this slide!”

“That’s a matter for us to worry about. You don’t have to bother about it since you’ll be dead by then.” Fang Chen smiled.

Just then, a sharp whooshing sound echoed. Fang Cangyou was the first one to realize what had happened, as this was an awfully familiar noise to him. Yan Beihan, our Great Xia’s number one sniper, has made a move!

“Commendable courage.” Fang Chen shook his head with a smile.

He raised his hand and suddenly clenched it tight. An arrow magically appeared in his grasp, with its tail still vibrating intensely from coming to an abrupt halt. He had caught Yan Beihan’s arrow!

The emperor’s expression crumbled at that sight.

Fang Chen casually tossed the arrow back in the direction it came from, producing an even louder whooshing sound. A figure plummeted from a nearby building.

“General Yan!”

The soldiers from the Divine Sniper Battalion widened their eyes in disbelief. They couldn’t believe that someone had one-upped their commander with an arrow!

Both of Yan Beihan’s legs had been pierced by the arrow. After his subordinates helped him into a sitting position, he gritted his teeth and pulled out the arrow.

“War supreme-ruler Fang is indeed formidable,” Yan Beihan remarked with a bitter smile.

He knew Fang Chen had done it on purpose. This was exactly how he crippled Fang Cangyou back then.

A wave of deafening cheers broke out on the street.

“He’s dead!” Countless Great Xia civilians roared.

Yan Beihan closed his eyes in resignation. He knew that Zhou Xiu was dead, and he could imagine what would happen next.

“War supreme-ruler Fang, I hope you have a countermeasure in place. I’d willingly take more of such arrows if you can save Great Xia, or else…” Yan Beihan murmured.

Before the imperial palace’s gate, Zhou Xiu’s head dropped to the ground and rolled a far distance away. The Longdu scholars gasped in shock. Those from Guhe and Yizhou felt a sense of camaraderie with Longdu, as they imagined the same happening to them too.

The officials of the imperial court fell silent.

The dust has settled.

“Tell your people that even though I, Fang Chen, no longer have an army, I am still a Ki Manifestation expert. Not even your imperial palaces can stop me. Show some respect to our Great Xia’s merchants. If anyone dares to harm our people, you can be certain I’ll personally pay you a visit.” Fang Chen looked at the scholars from the three countries and smiled.

“Your Majesty, we need to take him down!” the crown prince exclaimed with a pale face.

The emperor was silent for a few seconds before he let out a cold harrumph, flung his sleeves, and walked away. The officials of the imperial court had no choice but to follow him.

The crown prince was stunned.

The smarter ones could tell that those words were directed not just those from Longdu and the other countries, but those within Great Xia too.

“Your Highness, you shouldn’t associate with such small fry. Far from reinforcing your position, they’ll only drag you down.” Fang Chen directed a smile at the crown prince before kicking aside Zhou Xiu’s head. He then turned to Fang Canghai and said, “Father, let’s head home for dinner.”

Just like that, Fang Chen took his leave.

But many amidst the crowd couldn’t recover from their shock.

Tao Yu and Ye Qinghe took a while before they snapped out of their daze and rushed over to the crown prince’s side.

“Is it possible that… Fang Chen might stage a revolt in the future?” the crown prince asked.

The two of them were shocked speechless.

“Hmph!” The crown prince harrumphed. He glanced at Zhou Xiu’s corpse before he turned around and took his leave. Somehow, his departing figure looked a little defeated.