Immortal of the Nine Realms

"My name is Lu Yuan. In the future, I hope for Monarch Fang's guidance."

Lu Yuan, the Spirit God Sect Ancestor, offered a salute toward Fang Chen. Her face was expressionless without any flicker of joy or anger.

"Ancestor, this is a joyous occasion! By following Monarch Fang, we will surely drive the demon race out of the Nine Realms," Kong Lin chimed in with a smile from the side.

Lu Yuan turned her gaze toward him. Her deep pupils seemed to transform into endless void vortices, threatening to swallow everything in sight. The smile on Kong Lin's face vanished instantly. He lowered his head and dared not meet her eyes again.

Fang Chen asked with a smile, "Who inflicted the wounds on your body? And why choose such a small, unremarkable location to rest and heal?"

"One year, I traveled to the Shenwang Realm to visit a friend. On the way, I was ambushed by two ninth-transformation immortals. The injuries were left from that encounter. As for who they were... I cannot say for certain. It is possible they were ninth-transformation True Demons," Lu Yuan replied flatly. "As for why I chose to heal here? It is because I was born here."

Born here?

Fang Chen was startled. Previously, he had made all sorts of conjectures regarding Three World Mountain. He had assumed her choice was due to some hidden property of the mountain itself. He never expected it was simply because it was her birthplace.

"Do you find it strange, Monarch Fang? Do you think only a genius like you can emerge from this place and not a demon like me?"

"It is indeed a bit surprising. Tuxiong Star is utterly unremarkable within the Ancient Desolate Realm. Previously, the strongest existence here was a first-transformation Immortal," Fang Chen admitted with a laugh. "Thus, I entertained many guesses, even thinking Three World Mountain possessed some divine anomaly. I didn't consider that Ancestor Lu was simply born here."

"Tuxiong Star is indeed mediocre. Even before the Three Realm Upheaval, there were few experts known." Lu Yuan's gaze drifted through the rotted window frame and looked toward the sky outside. "Were it not for the Three Realm Upheaval, perhaps I would have long since returned to the dust, experiencing countless cycles of reincarnation and forgetting my past and present lives."

"So, the turning point that allowed Ancestor Lu to become a ninth-transformation immortal was the Three Realm Upheaval?" Fang Chen asked thoughtfully.

Lu Yuan seemed to recall something as a rare smile formed on her face. "Indeed. Back then, so many people fanned the flames and wished for the Three Realms to fall into chaos just so they could snatch an opportunity for themselves. However, few of them met a good end. Instead, a plain girl like me managed to obtain a fortune that was never meant for her."

"I would like to hear the details," said Fang Chen.

He glanced at Kong Lin. "Pour the tea."

Lu Yuan was stunned. By the time she snapped out of it, Kong Lin had already prepared the tea.

She frowned. "Monarch Fang, these events have no bearing on the present. Is it all right if I do not speak of them?"

"No, both Kong Lin and I wish to listen," Fang Chen refused.

Lu Yuan remained silent for a short while before slowly beginning her tale.

"I was born the daughter of a farmer. Due to a famine, I fled with my kinsmen. In those years, only one dynasty reigned on Tuxiong Star, called the Astral Sword."

The Astral Sword Dynasty?

Fang Chen noted the name, though he had never heard a single whisper of information regarding such a dynasty. Since Lu Yuan was a figure from the Three Realm Upheaval, it meant she came from an incredibly distant era. That dynasty had likely been obliterated for aeons.

"On the road of our flight, we encountered bandits. My father and mother died under their blades and were treated as 'human livestock' to be consumed. My older brother fought with everything he had to hold back a bandit, giving me the chance to escape."

Lu Yuan's expression was cold, as if she were telling a story that didn't belong to her. Perhaps the passage of time was so vast that she had lost all emotional connection to that period.

Kong Lin was shocked. He had been born into a cultivation-immortal family and had access to cultivation from a young age. He never imagined that this Ancestor, who had ruled the Spirit God Sect for ages, came from such an ordinary background. How exactly did she step onto the cultivation path and eventually join the ranks of the ninth-transformation experts?

"After my kin were all dead, I continued the journey alone. At the time, I thought that as long as I reached the most prosperous Beishu City, I would survive. On the road, I merged with other fleeing refugees. With great difficulty, we reached Beishu City, only to find it heavily guarded. We couldn't get in.

"Days passed. People were dying of hunger; there wasn't even tree bark left to gnaw on nearby. Some people would go to sleep and simply vanish by the next morning. As a woman, I was seen as easy prey. One night, I heard a noise while sleeping. When I opened my eyes, it was Li Erbo, the very man who had told me during the day to be careful. His eyes looked exactly like those of a coyote in the forest."

"At that moment, I thought I would be joining my parents. I didn't expect the midnight sky to suddenly turn as bright as day."

Lu Yuan walked to the window and looked up, as if she could still see the scene from that night. "Everyone was stunned by the change. We saw divine soldiers and generals slaughtering each other in the heavens. Heavenly fire, falling stars—a kaleidoscope of colors."

"The sight lasted for an unknown amount of time. One side was eventually slaughtered to the last man. The victors simply stood there in the sky. Some of the refugees knelt. Even Li Erbo, who was about to eat me, knelt on the ground with a face of piety and prayed to the immortals above."

"Then, one of the immortals asked if we were willing to become soldiers and fight against the external race. Serving as a soldier for immortals? There was no reason to refuse. At the very least, one could eat their fill. Many went. I went as well. Even people from Beishu City joined. From then on, I came into contact with the Immortal Dao. Through battle after battle, I honed my edge.

"From there, I rose, step by step. From the Lower Four Realms, the Middle Three Realms, to the Upper Three Realms. When I looked back one day, I found I had already ascended to the level of the Immortal Realm. Only then did I realise—oh, it turns out I am an immortal now."

"It was also then that I understood the famine of the Astral Sword Dynasty was caused by immortals fighting, which resulted in weather anomalies. The impact of the sky turning a bit hotter or colder did not bother an immortal. But such a change is enough to prevent rice from growing and leave mortals starving."

Lu Yuan gave a faint, cold smile. "And the root of that war lay with the demon race. From then on, I was mobilised and appeared on many battlefields. The number of demons who died by my hand is beyond counting."

Suddenly, Fang Chen asked, "Was that already the end of the Three Realm Upheaval?"

Lu Yuan glanced at him and nodded. "I only learned this later. The Three Realms Upheaval had actually been chaotic for an extremely long time. In my era, the demons had already fought through the Immortal Realm and the Underworld."

"They had stolen the Reincarnation Mirror of the Underworld and used it to allow their kinsmen to reincarnate into our world continuously. At that time, our perception was locked, so we didn't sense this at all. Later, a group of Yang Gods used the enemy's own methods against them by sealing the gates for the Awakened Demons. The war gradually ended from that point on."

"But, you haven't said where your immortal fate originated from?" Fang Chen noted.

"All of my cultivation was bestowed by the immortal who first asked if we were willing to be soldiers. I spent half my life in war, following by his side. His surname was Jiang. Later, he achieved the Dao of the Great Heavenly Sovereign. He was not a ninth transformation, yet he was superior to one."