Immortal of the Nine Realms

Upon returning to his courtyard, Fang Chen laid down a restrictive barrier, then retrieved the Eighteen Heaven Prison Tower to observe it closely. It was made from a highly unusual material. The blackness covering it was exceptionally pure and translucent.

If it were placed in the darkness of night, even those with excellent eyesight might completely overlook its existence. Aside from this, just like the Sin Mace, it lacked the skyrocketing, overwhelming aura of a Spiritual Treasure, appearing ordinary and low-profile.

"Since the eighteen purgatories inside are Inner Domains, does that mean I can also go in and take a look?"

A thought suddenly stirred in Fang Chen's mind. In the next instant, he felt his origin spirit being pulled by some kind of force. Within a split second, everything before his eyes changed completely.

He seemed to be standing high in the sky, with a panoramic scene of purgatory stretching out below him. Over a hundred figures were inside, screaming and wailing in agony.

He recognized quite a few faces among them. They were the Limit Breaking experts who stood within the clouds. They were those who intended to pressure the Fang Clan and back the Jinyang Alliance and Zangxue Alliance!

"That one is Old Ghost Xu..."

"Shentu..."

It dawned on Fang Chen that this place must be the Fifteenth Heavenly Purgatory. Currently imprisoned here to suffer and be refined were all Three Steps Breaking Limit experts!

These people had once stood high above others, rulers in their own right. Yet now they could do nothing but wail in agony. Seeing this gave Fang Chen a much clearer understanding of the Eighteen Heaven Prison Tower's might.

"However, the reason they are here is ultimately due to the Old Master's Immortal Suppressing Style."

Fang Chen's train of thought was quickly interrupted by streaks of curses and insults.

"Fang Lie! You old bastard! You will die a horrible death!"

"We were mighty Limit Breaking cultivators, yet you humiliated us like this! You will not come to a good end!"

Similar curses rang without pause. As Third Step Limit Breaking experts, even their insults were remarkably varied.

Fang Chen observed silently and discovered that, just as the Old Master had said, these guys were fundamentally all remnant souls right now. Although they retained a portion of their previous cultivation and divine abilities, they were far from comparable to when they were alive.

"Even though they are Third Step Limit Breaking cultivators, once they are refined and suppressed, they will probably be among the weakest of the same level. No wonder he said they can only be used as cannon fodder."

"Still... I will eventually have to return to the Nine Realms. In the Nine Realms, there are only Half-Step Heavenly Daos. Even if this cannon fodder cannot match a Half-Step Heavenly Dao, they will still be much stronger than a bunch of ninth-transformation experts."

Fang Chen was reminded of He Zhenxian and Lu Fengshen, both of whom were experts at the Half-Step Heavenly Dao level, as well as Motian Dizang. There was no denying that obtaining the Eighteen Heaven Prison Tower, along with the experts imprisoned inside it, would greatly improve Fang Chen's current situation. At the very least, it provided an opportunity to resolve the internal strife of the Nine Realms within a short time, establish balance, and bring the era of chaos to an end.

"But if the Nine Realms want a long period of stability, it needs a Heavenly Dao. This is the only way to gain the recognition of the Supreme Qingming Alliance, allowing us to borrow their prestige to deter others, so our race does not degenerate into slave soldiers."

Fang Chen pondered for a moment, then went to take a look at the other purgatories. Just as the Old Master had stated, remnant souls of different cultivations were arranged into different purgatories. However, among the souls absorbed, none were below the seventh transformation. Thus, only Purgatories tenth through fifteenth were in use. The remaining Purgatories were empty.

Fang Chen's thoughts stirred, and his origin soul immediately returned to his body.

"The gains from this trip have far exceeded my expectations. I successfully advanced to the fifth transformation, and now even the sixth transformation immortal herb and the Eighteen Heaven Prison Tower are in my hands. The only thing is that there is no way to take the Saint Canon back with me."

Just as this thought crossed his mind, Fang Chen realized something. "No... perhaps within the Nine Realms, the Saint Canon already exists."

The Inner Domain condensed by the Old Master still existed during the Nine Realms Era. It remained the headquarters of the Xie Zhi Division, and even abilities like the Xiezhi Gate could still be used. Then that grand hall where the Saint Canon was kept should also still exist, right?

"If this deduction is correct, then there is no need for me to bring back the Saint Canon at all. It has always existed in the Nine Realms from the very beginning. I just don't know whether those ninth-transformations followed the method of the Saint Canon."

According to the information Fang Chen had already gathered, the Xie Zhi Division was not exclusively owned by one party. He had previously seen cultivators from the Ancient Dragon God Palace of the Shenwang Realm inside it.

"Once I return this time, I will also have to make a trip over to the Wandao Immortal Sect. If it evolved from the Wandao Alliance, then it shares a deep connection with the Three Thousand Dao Sects, as both share the exact same patriarch."

After a moment, Fang Chen suppressed his thoughts and immediately retrieved a portion of Primal Beginning Origin Milk to consume.

***

Over the next few decades, because a Saint had emerged within the Fang Clan, they naturally had to shoulder the burden of the conflict against the Flame Race. The war zones that originally belonged to the Nine Great Alliances were scaled back, clearing out a portion of those war zones for the Fang Clan to take over.

Because many Half Saint clans had chosen to stand with the Fang Clan, it took the Fang Clan only a very short time to completely take over these war zones.

The divine ability experts of the Fang Clan were also dispatched to the war zones one after another, both to resist the Flame Race and to temper their divine abilities.

On this day, Fang Chen completely refined the Primal Beginning Origin Milk. His cultivation finally broke through, entering the sixth transformation.

It had to be said that his gains inside the History Immortal Book this time were frighteningly massive.

In just a few short centuries, he had leaped directly from the fourth transformation into the sixth transformation. Had he stayed in the Nine Realms, this would have taken him at least a thousand years.

Fang Chen stood up and walked out of the cultivation room, only to see Fang Cangyou drinking tea and admiring the flowers all by himself in the courtyard.

Seeing Fang Chen come out, he merely smiled faintly and said, "Broken through?"

Fang Chen smiled and nodded. "Yep."

"The Old Master asked me to ask you: when are you leaving?"

"Not that soon." Fang Chen smiled. "I still need three types of immortal herbs. Once I gather them, I will see when to leave."

Here, the Fang Clan possessed immense power, with countless hands available to help him search for the immortal herbs needed after the sixth transformation. There was also the Saint Tower, a prime sanctuary for cultivation.

Furthermore, he didn't sense any rejection from the History Immortal Book yet. That meant he could stay for a while longer. Naturally, he was unwilling to leave just like this.

"I have already instructed my subordinates to search for them as quickly as possible on your behalf, but there hasn't been a single shred of news yet. If they can't be found, are you really not going to leave?" Fang Cangyou was somewhat curious. "Logically speaking, you people from the Reincarnation Immortal Sect have no way of staying in the same place for too long."

"No way of staying for too long?"

Fang Cangyou smiled and nodded. "Yeah, the Old Master said that everyone from your Reincarnation Immortal Sect is extremely busy, as if you all have a mountain of things to do. For someone like you to stay on our side for this long is truly a rare sight."

Fang Chen smiled. "Then I must certainly be an exception. Is today the day the Saint Tower opens?"

"You want to enter the Saint Tower right after breaking through?" Fang Cangyou's expression stirred. "It looks like your injuries are currently recovering. Was that Primal Beginning Origin Milk you took earlier also used for recovering from injuries? Go on then, today is indeed the day it opens."