Secular Immortal of the Nine Realms - Chapter 264

Chapter 264: Staying at the Ye Clan

A bitter smile emerged on Long Tianxing’s face.

“Your earlier attack would have killed me too. I am grateful to you for sparing my life. From this moment on, I will no longer be the Qing Province Sword Sect Master…”

“Sect master…”

The Qing Province Sword Sect’s cultivators tried to stop him.

“There’s no need to dissuade me. I am a man of my words. Do you intend to make me break my promise?” Long Tianxing sneered.

“Very well, I shall take your Qing Province Sword Sect then. Let’s continue the auctioning of the Spirit Heaven Sect’s location,” Fang Chen said. “Make your bids.”

The crowd exchanged looks before offering their bids.

The Spirit Heaven Sect’s first elder turned to Xia Xuanji and said, “Brother Xia…”

“I’m not afraid of the sword cultivator’s backing, but I’m not a match for him. I’ll find another base for you,” Xia Xuanji said.

The first elder’s face turned awful. He thought that he could redeem the Spirit Heaven today and push it to greater heights, but things weren’t going the way he expected at all.

“Let’s not go against him. You also saw how that late Foundation Establishment cultivator was slain in a single slash… Whoever’s behind him can probably kill a Golden Core cultivator with a single slash too!” the third elder said.

The second elder nodded. “Yes, we shouldn’t go against him anymore. Let’s just look for another base.”

The first elder fell silent.

Xia Xuanji stared at Fang Chen with a frown. For some reason, the latter gave off a familiar feeling to him, but that had to be an illusion as this was his first time meeting a sword cultivator.

The auction continued for an hour.

In the end, Spirit Heaven City’s Three Great Cultivator Clans won the bid. They had clenched their jaws and raised the bid from 2700 to 4000 in a single shot. No one dared to compete with them after that.

They knew that the Three Great Cultivator Clans had only offered such a high price to fawn on the sword cultivator. They were afraid that they would be implicated by Long Tianxing, but at the same time, they were also hoping that this gesture of goodwill could help them befriend him too.

“This place will be yours from now onward.” Fang Chen nodded as he accepted the 4000 low-grade ki stones.

He had more than 9000 low-grade ki stones in his storage ring now, which was a king’s ransom.

“Are you local cultivator clans?” Fang Chen suddenly asked.

The Ye Clan’s patriarch rushed to answer the question, “Indeed we are. I am Ye Zhenghe, the patriarch of the Ye Clan.”

“I presume you should know where I can buy spirit ores, right?” Fang Chen asked.

He thought that it would be more efficient to have little sword devour spirit ores than artifacts, since what it devoured was not the artifacts’ daosoul imprints but the spirit materials they were made of.

“Spirit ores? Of course!” the Ye Clan’s patriarch quickly replied. “Elder, you have asked the right person! We are merchants, so we can get you the best spirit ores! Why don’t you stay in our Ye Manor while we get things sorted out?”

The Xu Clan’s and Zhou Clan’s patriarch felt an urge to cut their tongues off. Argh, this useless tongue of ours! How can we let the Ye Clan’s old fogey beat us to the punch twice!

Just then, the Spirit Heaven City Lord walked up to Fang Chen and politely said, “Perhaps, I could be of assistance to you if you’re looking for spirit ores.”

The three patriarchs turned to stare at the Spirit Heaven City Lord. Shameless! Why is a Foundation Establishment cultivator like you fawning over a Ki Refinement cultivator?!

“Thanks for your offer, but I’ll stay at the Ye Clan for the time being. I’ll approach you if I require further assistance,” Fang Chen politely replied.

The Ye Clan’s patriarch was overjoyed. “Elder, follow me.”

The Qing Province Sword Sect’s cultivators exchanged looks. Before they could say a word, Fang Chen ordered, “All of you should stay here for the time being. I’ll follow you to the Qing Province Sword Sect after I’m done with my business here. I am your sect master, after all.”

“Yes, sect master!”

The hundred Qing Province Sword Sect’s cultivators clasped their fists.

Long Tianxing looked terribly awkward. He bade Fang Chen farewell before leaving in a hurry.

“Brother Long, the Qing Province Sword Sect’s possessions are now mine. I hope you aren’t thinking about taking anything away with you,” Fang Chen’s voice drifted with the wind.

Long Tianxing nearly staggered. “Of course, of course!”

Then, he quickly disappeared from everyone’s sight.

The crowd felt wistful. Who could have thought that such a plight would ever befall the lofty Qing Province Sword Sect Master?

After Fang Chen left with the Ye Clan’s patriarch, the Spirit Heaven City Lord let out a deep sigh. He thought that Fang Chen had gone with the Ye Clan because he still harbored hostility toward him for bringing the Flood Dragon Island Master here.

He felt bitter for having gotten the short end of the stick.

His ties with the Sea Dragon Sect would sour after today, as they would think that he had betrayed the Flood Dragon Island Master. At the same time, the sword cultivator had lumped him up as one group with the Sea Dragon Sect.

This put him in a terrible position.

“Zi Han, pack up. We’ll be leaving Spirit Heaven City today,” the Spirit Heaven City Lord told his daughter telepathically.

“Father? Why the sudden decision to leave?” Zi Han was still soaking in the joy brought about by the Flood Dragon Island Master’s death when she suddenly heard this news.

“We offended the Sea Dragon Sect. Only death awaits us if we stay here. Not even the imperial clan will be able to protect us from their wrath. For the time being, we should find somewhere to seek refuge and wait for the sword cultivator and the Sea Dragon Sect to thrash things out.

“If the Sea Dragon Sect is destroyed, we can return to Spirit Heaven City, though I doubt that it will still be called Spirit Heaven City then…”

The Spirit Heaven City Lord sighed.

Upon returning to the Ye Clan, Ye Zhenghe quickly arranged for Fang Chen to stay in an independent courtyard. At the same time, he asked the latter what kind of spirit ores he was looking for.

He was surprised to hear that Fang Chen was fine with any spirit ores as long as they could be used to forge artifacts.

The person in front of me isn’t just a sword cultivator but a blacksmith too! That’s an occupation as rare as being a sword cultivator in a grade-6 state!

Most artifacts in Infernoblaze either came from the previous generation or grade-5 or grade-4 states. There were blacksmiths there capable of forging artifacts.

“Elder, may I know your budget?” Ye Zhenghe carefully asked.

“9000 low-grade ki stones,” Fang Chen replied.

Ye Zhenghe gasped.

9000 low-grade ki stones?! That might be enough to buy an entire mine! If he uses this money to buy artifacts instead… he might be able to acquire a powerful 100 daosoul imprints artifact!

“If you don’t have the connections to acquire that many spirit ores, you can enlist the help of the other two clans too. I need them as soon as possible,” Fang Chen replied.

“Yes.” Ye Zhenghe nodded.

As soon as he left, Fang Chen astral projected his soul to search for Xia Xuanji and the others. To his relief, Xia Xuanji didn’t leave the city and was instead with the Spirit Heaven Sect’s three elders.

If Xia Xuanji was in a rush to leave, he would have no choice but to confront him right away, possibly having to use his Eight Barren Immortal Subjugation Peerless Swordsmanship to subdue him.

“Uncle, don’t be in a rush to leave. Let me acquire my spirit ores first,” Fang Chen murmured.

If he could sufficiently upgrade little sword, he would be confident of suppressing Xia Xuanji without relying on the Eight Immortals Immortal Subjugation Peerless Swordsmanship, so that he could force the latter to divulge the whereabouts of his aunt, Fang Cangyue!