Immortal of the Nine Realms

Chapter 454: It's Time To Gather

The white-robed old man took Xia Ji and the others with him when he left. Before leaving, he left three sword intents at Fang Chen's grave. In his words, even if a cultivator in the middle three realms came here and saw the three sword intents, they would obediently leave without acting out of line.

Fairy Yu did not leave with them but chose to stay behind alone. She built a wooden house near Fang Chen's grave.

Fairy Yu looked at the tombstone with a sly smile, then sat in front of it. "Lord, I couldn't accompany you often before, but starting from today, I'll appear in front of you every day. Don't think of me as a burden."

She started sharing her experiences with the female sword cultivator after they went to the Virtual Immortal Sword Sect.

Fang Chen sat quietly beside her, listening occasionally and saying a few words. Unfortunately, Fairy Yu couldn't hear him. After a few hours, she finally grew tired of talking and went back to her house to meditate and cultivate.

Fang Chen's gaze shifted toward the direction of Grand Xia. He didn't go back with Xia Ji and the others because he knew that Xia Ji would be able to handle any problems with the white-robed elder and the female sword cultivator.

Half a year passed by quickly, and Xia Ji and the female sword cultivator returned, looking weary.

The female sword cultivator went to find Fairy Yu, while Xia Ji came to the grave and whispered softly, "In this half year, I rooted out some remnants of the Spirit Blood Sect. Now, Grand Xia, Qingsong, Longdu, and other countries have completely returned to normal, and there shouldn't be any problems in the short term. Senior Huang has also left seven sword intents in Grand Xia, which will be enough to protect it for a hundred years. After a hundred years, I should have enough strength to do something for Grand Xia."

He paused for a moment and continued, "By the way, the emperor that you have chosen is not bad. Although he's a bit young, with fifth uncle, Jiang Shangshu, and others looking after him, he'll become a wise ruler."

"I also visited your home. The old master is in good health and has advanced in cultivation. Your parents are traveling around, so I missed seeing them. As for your Second Uncle, he's always in a wheelchair, but I clearly saw that his legs are fine. Oh, and his martial cultivation has reached the Heaven Profound Stage. As for Fang Zhixue, that girl has become the top expert of Grand Xia now, challenging others everywhere. Honestly, her fighting with cultivation methods against them is somewhat unsightly; you should talk to her about it when you come back to life."

"Then there are your three demon disciples. I gave them some spirit stones, and they seemed quite loyal. With them guarding the Fang Manor, it's an additional security measure."

"Also, I went to that bun shop. The owner passed away last year, and his son took over. The buns are still good, and they taste exactly the same as how we remember them from our childhood. When you come back to life, you should try them."

Xia Ji rambled on for a while, and after some time, he suddenly fell silent for a few moments, then sighed and said, "I don't dare to tell them your current situation. They all think you're cultivating somewhere outside. I really don't dare. Don't blame me."

Fang Chen sighed softly. "Why would I blame you...."

The old master and the others didn't know his current situation, which was a good thing. At least Grand Xia won't experience any chaos because of him. Anyway, he was confident that he would eventually come back to life. Instead of letting them worry for no reason, it's better to keep it a secret for now.

Just then, the female sword cultivator and Fairy Yu walked over together. From Fairy Yu’s eyes, it was apparent that she had cried.

"Lord, I can't stay with you any longer. Senior sister said I've been stuck on the twelfth stage of Qi Refining Realm for quite some time, and it's time for me to return and enter the Foundation Building Realm. I'll come back after successfully establishing my foundation," choked Fairy Yu tearfully.

"Junior Sister, when that time comes, I'll accompany you here," the female sword cultivator said softly.

Then, she glanced at Xia Ji and said, "When you have time, you can come to Void Immortal Sword Sect to find us. Remember my name, I'm Jing Yuehan from the Extreme Sword Peak of Void Immortal Sword Sect."

With that, the female sword cultivator and Fairy Yu left.

Xia Ji watched them fly away, then took out wine and snacks, sitting at Fang Chen's grave with him, drinking all night.

The next day, Xia Ji slowly left with a slight hangover.

Fang Chen waved at his leaving back and smiled. "Let's meet again when the time comes,"

After Xia Ji had gone far, Fang Chen turned to look at the jade coffin, his gaze penetrating through the soil.

In the jade coffin, there were some changes in his corpse. Under the waxen-yellow skin, there was a faint hint of blood color. This was a good sign, indicating that his physical body was recovering. Given enough time, his body should be able to recover, and he'd come back to life.

In the blink of an eye, another six months passed. Fang Chen calculated the time and realized he had been away from Grand Xia for nearly two years.

During this time, occasional travelers passed by and stayed in the wooden house. They would also light incense in front of his grave, treating him as the owner of the wooden house.

"Is this the place?"

Suddenly, a figure appeared from afar, gradually approaching the grave. When the figure was about to reach the grave, it suddenly sped up like lightning and arrived at the grave.

"No, it can't be!"

Fang Zhixue looked at the words on the tombstone, her eyes becoming extremely red.

"How did you come here, little sister?"

Fang Chen furrowed his brows. Xia Ji clearly said he hadn't told them about his situation, so how did she find this place?

Fang Chen sighed lightly. "Um... maybe it was mentioned by Xiaoke or Qingyao?"

"My brother wouldn't die so easily! I don't believe it!" Fang Zhixue said while reaching out to dig the soil, but she immediately stopped. She remained silent for a while, then chuckled lightly. "They must be lying to me, I don't believe it!"

With that, Fang Zhixue turned and left.

Fang Chen smiled. "She's at the fourth stage of Qi Refining Realm now. It looks like her cultivation hasn't fallen behind."

He believed that Fang Zhixue would soon adjust her mindset. That girl had never needed others to worry about her from childhood to adulthood.

Fang Chen glanced at the jade coffin. Inside the coffin, his bones had changed slightly. The healthy redness under the skin was quite obvious, and even the body had become somewhat plumper than before, indicating his flesh and blood were replenishing.

"As long as there's enough time," murmured Fang Chen.

Fang Chen smiled faintly and turned back to the wooden house.

Time flew by, and another year passed in the blink of an eye, welcoming winter once again.

A massive tiger stepped on the thick snow and slowly approached the grave. It knelt down and kowtowed nine times before running into the mountain forest to settle down, occasionally coming back to the grave to wander around a few times.

Fang Chen shook his head lightly. "Mountain Tiger Lord came too...."

Several months later, Xu Ge, Tie Ma, Huang Sihai, Zhao Yan, and ten or so other figures arrived at the grave.

"We've come to see you, lord," Xu Ge said as he arranged the wine.

Fang Chen stood aside, watching these Grand Xia Hidden Guards, feeling somewhat relieved.

Zhao Yan hadn't started practicing the Purple Qi Technique yet, but his martial cultivation had firmly reached the Emperor Stage, the fourth stage of Heaven Profound Stage, Emperor Qi!

He could also sense that Xu Ge and Huang Sihai had spiritual energy in their bodies. They had reached the second stage of the Qi Refining Realm.

Tie Ma seemed to lack the innate talent for cultivation, but his martial cultivation was slowly increasing. He was now at the third realm of the Earth Profound Stage, Returning Essence Qi. The others were doing well too. Some had reached the first level of Qi Refining Realm, while others had strong martial arts cultivation. They had truly grown up. At night, they drank around Fang Chen's grave. Whenever someone took a drink, they poured one for Fang Chen too.

"With the way you're drinking, can I keep up? I'm not immune to getting drunk," Fang Chen muttered quietly.

Suddenly, Huang Sihai started crying loudly, and his crying even attracted Mountain Tiger Lord. However, it recognized Huang Sihai and just watched quietly from a distance.

The next day, everyone packed up and left. Fang Chen glanced at his own physical body again.

Hmm, not bad. It's recovering slowly but surely.