Immortal of the Nine Realms

In the Heaven Profound Mirror, two old men sat cross-legged in mid-air. They were seated approximately a hundred feet apart and facing each other. Before them lay a chessboard constructed of spiritual energy. Whenever they made a move, they would extend their hands, and a massive mountain would be uprooted and transformed into a chess piece. This chess piece would then gracefully land on the board.

"Using mountains as chess pieces…" Jing Xu's pupils dilated, his astonishment palpable.

The mountains were towering, some reaching heights of a thousand feet. Destroying such a mountain wasn’t particularly difficult, but to instantly refine it into a chess piece? It was likely that even a Profound Immortal wouldn’t be able to perform such a feat with such ease.

Fang Chen, however, was not focused on the ancient figure of Senior Yun He. Neither was he shocked by this display. Instead, his gaze was fixed intently on the old man sitting opposite Senior Yun He.

This old man wore an expressionless face and remained indifferent, only occasionally furrowing his brow as he studied the chessboard.

Fang Chen's heart raced uncontrollably as he watched the old man. He looks exactly like the old man… Is it a coincidence or…?

If it was a coincidence, then the similarities in demeanor between the two was astonishing.

The old man had cultivated the Purple Qi Manual of the Heavenly Southern Sect to embark on his path of cultivation, so how could he have reached such a level in just a few decades, where he could now compete with Senior Yun He in chess?

"Impressive indeed. Unfortunately, we are too far away to see real-time imagery. I wonder if this game has concluded."

"If only we could move a bit faster, we might have the chance to witness this match in person," Jing Xu sighed with regret.

Saying that, he glanced at Fang Chen, only to find him looking a bit off.

Assuming he was astonished by the skills of the two seniors, Jing Xu couldn’t help but chuckle, "Junior Brother Fang, this is the level of Immortal Kings."

"Are both of them… Immortal Kings?" Fang Chen replied slowly.

Jing Xu's expression turned thoughtful. "They should be. But I am not sure though. Judging by their ability to refine mountains into chess pieces, they’re likely not far off from being Immortal Kings. Hmm… which one could be…?"

It was clear that he had never seen Yun He and could not distinguish which of the two old men was the ancient powerhouse who had survived to this day.

Fang Chen suddenly entertained a hypothesis. "What if… What if he really is the old man?"

If the old man sitting opposite Senior Yun He was indeed Fang Zhentian, then when Yun He passed through Grand Xia… could it have been mere coincidence?

This wouldn’t be the first time a coincidence turned out otherwise. Master Chanyuan had claimed to have coincidentally passed through Grand Xia, but in reality, he had had other motives.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

After contemplating for a while, Fang Chen’s thoughts became increasingly tangled. He couldn’t seem to piece together any clues from the memories of his childhood with Fang Zhentian, struggling to recall every detail, every image.

At that moment, the image in the Heaven Profound Mirror suddenly vanished, and a round, plump face appeared.

The owner of the plump face radiated excitement as he said, "Jing Xu, don’t say I didn’t take care of you, but hurry over when you see this news, or you might miss this astonishing chess match!"

After delivering the message, the face turned into a mist and dissipated, leaving the Heaven Profound Mirror’s surface calm once more.

Jing Xu felt like a thousand ants were crawling in his heart. "What a pity. If only the distance weren’t so far, we could watch it in real-time.…"

"Senior Brother Ji, let’s not wait for them. We should push forward with all our strength," Fang Chen suggested suddenly.

"Oh? That sounds good. I’ll inform Li Chuan first."

Jing Xu nodded immediately and contacted Li Chuan through the Heaven Profound Mirror. After exchanging a few words, he joined Fang Chen as they flew toward their destination with all their might.

***

Meanwhile, Li Chuan was left speechless. "So those two went ahead?"

"Senior Brother Ji and Junior Brother Fang are much faster than us, so it makes sense for them to do so. We can meet up with them over there," Cheng Yuhan said nonchalantly.

"That’s not right. Something must have changed at the Ancient Immortal Road; otherwise, Senior Brother Ji wouldn’t have left us behind," Li Chuan countered, shaking his head. He looked at Cheng Yuhan. "I’ll go ahead too. I won’t wait for Langya Wenqiu and the others."

With that, Li Chuan transformed into a beam of sword light and disappeared from sight.

"Guess we should go too." Many others decided to follow suit, leaving only Cheng Yuhan and Wang Hu behind.

"Those guys are really inconsiderate, aren’t they?" Cheng Yuhan grumbled, visibly annoyed.

Wang Hu hesitated for a moment before saying, "Senior Brother Cheng, why don’t you stay here to wait for them, and I’ll go ahead to scout the path for you?"

Cheng Yuhan looked at Wang Hu in disbelief. "You’re not being very loyal either!"

However, before he could scold him further, Wang Hu had already started circulating his sword technique to the limit, vanishing into the sky and leaving Cheng Yuhan no chance to voice his frustrations.

Feeling restless and anxious about missing out on opportunities, Cheng Yuhan weighed his options. In the end, he decided to stay behind and wait.

Cheng Yuhan shook his head. "Sigh… I guess that’s what being a senior brother means."

***

About an hour later, Wang Hu and the others finally arrived, only to find Cheng Yuhan waiting alone. They were immediately taken aback.

Langya Wenqiu looked around, puzzled. "Where’s Senior Brother Fang?"

"Don’t even mention him; even Li Chuan and the others went ahead. It seems something has changed at the Ancient Immortal Road," Cheng Yuhan explained, noticing all three of them were present. "Let’s not wait for anyone else; we should head out ourselves."

***

To the south of the Immortal Dynasty Manor lay a desolate area known as the Ancient Demon Wasteland. This region was rarely traversed by cultivators and was notorious for its vastness, filled with treacherous mountains and turbulent waters. Even mid-level cultivators would think twice before passing through, often choosing to take longer routes.

The dangers of this area were not only due to ancient remnants of fierce traps left behind but also because of rogue cultivators and demon practitioners that lurked there.

The Ancient Immortal Road lay deep within the Ancient Demon Wasteland. Now, about a hundred miles away from it, two figures sat cross-legged in the air, playing a game of chess.

The area was packed with people, yet it was eerily quiet; cultivators from all over were silently observing, too wary to make a sound. Any discussions were conducted through voice transmission to avoid disturbing the game.

"Finally made it. Looks like the game isn’t over yet," Jing Xu said, his face lighting up with excitement upon spotting the two figures.

He quickly used the Heaven Profound Mirror to contact his friend and brought Fang Chen along to join them.

"You guys got here pretty quickly, just half a month?" Jing Xu’s friend, a rather plump fellow, greeted them.

This person’s body was composed of an unusual amount of flesh. His flesh seemed to be infused with a rich aura of spiritual energy.

He’s likely a body cultivator, Fang Chen thought, stealing a glance at the plump man before turning his gaze back to the two elders.

At that moment, it appeared to be the turn of the elder who bore an uncanny resemblance to Fang Zhentian. The elder lifted his robe sleeve and gently squeezed the air. This simple motion caused a distant mountain to rise from the ground.

As if compressed by an invisible force, the mountain shrank visibly until it landed on the chessboard, transforming into a piece as large as a grinding disc.

Throughout this process, no one, including Fang Chen, sensed any fluctuations in spiritual energy. It was as if the mountain had simply shrunk and floated over, and the elder who resembled Fang Zhentian had merely raised his hand….

"Brother Jing, who is this?" the plump man asked quietly, glancing curiously at Fang Chen.

For some reason, he felt that the young man looked familiar. However, he found that strange, as he didn’t personally know anyone from the Void Immortal Sword Sect aside from Jing Xu.