Immortal of the Nine Realms

Pei Buliao was captured. Although it was Fang Chen who physically apprehended him, Fang Chen was someone Old Fei had brought along. This achievement was therefore credited as the very first success since Old Fei took up his post as Deputy Branch Officer.

Xiao Suan, who had originally intended to watch Fang Chen make a fool of himself so that he could then step in and slap Old Fei in the face, was left with no choice but to force a strained, hypocritical smile at the celebration feast to congratulate Old Fei.

Over the next dozen or so years, the fugitives that the Lishui City Inspection Division had been letting off the hook were basically rounded up one by one.

Xiao Suan and his cohorts had originally planned to capture one fugitive every once in a while to ensure a steady, orderly growth of their merits. However, seeing how diligently Fang Chen was working, they also grew anxious and threw themselves into action one after another, trying to secure more achievements for themselves.

In a short span of time, the registered fugitives under the Lishui City Inspection Division decreased by eighty to ninety percent. The few remaining were those whose whereabouts truly couldn't be discovered, making their arrest impossible.

***

The interrogation room.

Old Fei stood before Pei Buliao with a beaming smile and said to Fang Chen, "This old bastard has been interrogated for over a dozen years, and he has finally spat out a bit of useful information."

Fang Chen asked with a hint of curiosity, "What kind of useful information could he possibly have?"

Old Fei said in a highly mysterious manner, "Don't just look at him as a regular, ordinary fugitive who doesn't hold any real fame on the wanted list. Do you know who I was deployed to Lishui City specifically for?"

Fang Chen scanned Pei Buliao, a hint of curiosity surfacing in his eyes. "It couldn't be him, right?"

In reality, he already knew exactly who Pei Buliao was, and he also knew what information Old Fei had extracted from his mouth. Fang Chen felt a tinge of emotion in his heart. This seemingly ordinary fugitive before his eyes actually shared a connection with the fugitives of the Fang Clan.

To be precise, he was a lackey of the Fang Clan, helping them gather intelligence from various regions. Analogous to the Inspection Division, Half Saint Fang also seemed to have established an intelligence organization specifically designed to counter and resist the Luoxue Alliance. A huge portion of the people within this intelligence network had already landed on the wanted list.

There was another portion of individuals whose identities had not yet been exposed. They could be a certain inspector within an Inspection Division, a primary Branch Officer of a certain locale, or even a Commander of a certain war zone.

That indicated that the Luoxue Alliance had suffered quite a few overt setbacks while dealing with Half Saint Fang. Moreover, the reputation of Half Saint Fang made many people willing to actively follow him, hoping that one day, when Half Saint Fang ascended to the Saint Realm, they would be able to walk openly within the Nether Ruins and become the tenth major power!

The thoughts in Fang Chen's mind shifted as time wound back to the previous night.

Just like any other day, Fang Chen allowed his divine soul to exit his body to watch Old Fei conduct his interrogation of Pei Buliao.

He also knew exactly what kind of interrogation result Old Fei was looking for. He had thought that this night would end up as another fruitless effort. However, he had unexpectedly discovered something astonishing.

Old Fei stared at Pei Buliao with an icy expression. "I'm giving you one last chance. Give me a bit of intelligence regarding Xie Zhi. I didn't travel thousands of li all the way to this place just to end up with not a single shred of merit. If things don't go well for me, things won't go well for you either."

Pei Buliao's body was covered in signs of torture, but those wounds were nothing. A ninth-transformation expert tortured more than just the physical body.

Fang Chen's divine soul stood nearby, watching the scene play out.

On the day Pei Buliao was captured, he had already caught a hint of news regarding Xie Zhi from Old Fei's mouth.

If this is the same Xie Zhi as the one from the Nine Mortal Realms, then it means that the Xie Zhi Division of the Nine Realms era highly likely shares a connection with the Old Master and the others, or perhaps with Old Wang.

Fang Chen felt a surge of emotion in his heart. He obtained a few more pieces of useful information. Although the news did not bring him any immediate, direct benefit, on many occasions, such intelligence could grant him a more accurate understanding of events, thereby enabling him to make relatively correct decisions.

Once he returned to the Nine Realms and collected some more key information to cross-reference, he might be able to figure out a few things that he was still uncertain about right now.

The corner of Pei Buliao's mouth twitched, his smile carrying a trace of mockery. "I am just an insignificant figure in Xie Zhi. What useful information could I possibly know? On the contrary, why does your Inspection Division constantly keep clawing at us? Isn't the Wang Family backing the Inspection Division? Why would the Wang Family be willing to risk their lives for the Luoxue Alliance? I once heard a senior mention that when Saint Luoxue was young, she seemed to be nothing more than an adopted daughter taken in by a certain clansman of your Wang family."

Old Fei smiled. "That may be true, but Xie Zhi's master, Half Saint Fang, took something that shouldn't belong to him, and the Wang Family happens to need that item too. If he were willing to hand it over, forget about the Luoxue Alliance, even the Wang Family wouldn't choose to make an enemy out of him. Look at all these years; we haven't gone to the mortal realms to make trouble for the Fang clan either."

Fang Chen's heart stirred. They all want the Eighteen Heavens Prison Tower so badly...

Fang Chen was becoming increasingly certain that the Ten Great Treasures of the Underworld were far more miraculous than he had imagined. And as of right now, he held mastery over at least two of them—Monarch Yan's Seal and the Sin Mace. At the same time, he could also utilize the Forgotten River and the Naihe Bridge, though that did not count as full mastery.

Old Wang reached the Nine Realms and learned about the Eighteen Heavens Prison Tower. By cross-referencing the two, he guessed how the Eighteen Heavens Prison Tower ended up in Half Saint Fang's hands during the Nine Realms era, thereby becoming aware of the Reincarnation Immortal Sect. That's why he told me back then that the location of the Eighteen Heavens Prison Tower was highly unique, and that only a resurrected powerhouse of the Reincarnation Immortal Sect could obtain it.

A powerhouse of the Reincarnation Immortal Sect being resurrected... It must be that during this Nether Ruins period, he witnessed something that caused him to conclude that the powerhouses of the Reincarnation Immortal Sect had died. Could it be that during this era, some extraordinary events will take place? Perhaps it is precisely this matter that will cause the human race to lose nine of their bones and be forced to migrate to the Nine Realms?

Suppressing the thoughts in his heart, Fang Chen continued to keep his eyes fixed on the two individuals before him.

"You haven't gone to make trouble for the Fang Clan? Do you even dare to?" The look of mockery on Pei Buliao's face grew even heavier. "Isn't it simply because you are afraid Half Saint Fang will lead his people to defect to the Flame Race? That's why you are acting so timidly. You want the Eighteen Heavens Prison Tower he has, but you don't dare drive him into a corner!"

Old Fei's expression shifted slightly.

Pei Buliao smiled faintly. "This is a highly peculiar equilibrium. It looks like our Xie Zhi is on the defensive, but in reality, your Luoxue Alliance is the one on the defensive. You neither dare to deal a fatal blow to Half Saint Fang, nor can you accept that the item remains in his hands. When Half Saint Fang ascends to the Saint Realm in the future, you will even have to offer your apologies. The reason you've grown increasingly anxious in recent years is precisely because of this, isn't it?"

A cold gleam flickered in Old Fei's eyes. "That is a matter for the higher-ups. I only want military merit and don't care about any of that. Give me some useful information to let me rise through the ranks and gain nobility."

Pei Buliao nodded. "Sure, I'll give you something."

Old Fei looked as though he had misheard, finding it somewhat difficult to believe. Soon after, a joyful smile surfaced on his face. "Wouldn't it have been better to say it from the start? Spill it quickly."

"On the day of the Saint Scripture longevity celebration, Zanglong City, Chaoxian Tower." Pei Buliao smiled faintly. "If you have the courage to go, then go."