Secular Immortal of the Nine Realms - Chapter 46
Chapter 46: Why Are You Reasoning With a Martial Artist?
“What’s their goal? What can they earn from a war between Greenpine and Great Xia?” Celestial Xiao’s face turned grim.
She thought that Greenpine attacking Great Xia was just natural selection at work, but she was unnerved by the knowledge that a third power had been nudging them along. Doesn’t that make our Greenpine a pawn on someone else’s chessboard? Does Greenpine’s upper echelon know this?
Many doubts surfaced in her mind.
“You just have to stay still,” Fang Chen said. “You don’t have to do anything.”
Celestial Xiao had more to say, but Fang Chen had already turned around and left. She tried to chase him, but Xu Ge stood in her way.
“Celestial Xiao, our young master has been patient with you. Don’t push your luck. You have nothing to gain from that,” Xu Ge reminded.
“Do you intend to imprison me here?” Celestial Xiao frowned.
“Our young master said that you’re free to leave.” Xu Ge stepped aside. “We won’t stop you.”
Celestial Xiao fell silent.
“Since you don’t intend to leave, you better stay still,” Xu Ge said with a smirk.
That night, Fang Chen ground the cinnabar, dabbed his spirit-ki-infused brush into it, and drew on his recently acquired stack of talisman papers to create more Purple Lightning Talismans.
“My spirit ki is depleting at a faster rate, but it’s flowing more stably now. Using equipment infused with spirit ki does make a difference when it comes to drawing talismans,” Fang Chen said with a smile.
Back when he used a normal brush, he felt like the spirit ki he infused into the brush was more unruly, and the slightest carelessness could result in his efforts being in vain. This feeling was greatly lessened now, but he was consuming spirit ki faster now.
On top of that, the Purple Lightning Talisman he drew would be significantly stronger now.
He would deplete his spirit ki once every two hours, but by daybreak, he had already drawn eight Purple Lightning Talismans. It was also around then that the surrounding spirit ki suddenly began converging into his body at a furious pace.
Within moments, another immortal vein formed inside his body. At the same time, his spirit ki capacity also increased by four to five times that of before.
“I’ve reached third stage Ki Refinement?” Fang Chen smiled as he felt the changes brought about by his breakthrough.
His progress hadn’t been so fast back when he was a martial artist. His rich soul was clearly helping him a lot in his immortal cultivation, which was why he caught Daoist Cloudcrane’s attention in the first place.
“I wonder if I’d get a chance to meet that fairy again. Was she the one who elevated my soul, or was there some other impetus?” Fang Chen wondered.
He might not be able to see anymore, but the benefits clearly outweighed the cons.
“Young master, Guhe, Longdu, and Yizhou’s scholars are berating us outside our manor!” Xu Ge said from the doorway with a seething voice.
“Why?” Fang Chen pushed the door open and walked out with a smile.
“They’re saying that you unreasonably massacred the cavalrymen of a Longdu noble!” Xu Ge reported with an irked voice.
“Ah, I remember that Zhou Xiu is entering the capital today. It looks like he’s still unhappy with what happened and wants to get even.” Fang Chen chuckled. “What’s the situation outside?”
“The second master is shouting back at them, but there are too many of them. What’s even more irksome is that they are well-learned, and they use esoteric words and phrases, so even I struggle to understand their insults,” Xu Ge replied.
“Let’s go out and take a look,” Fang Chen said. There’s no way second uncle could be a match for those scholars. I reckon he’s hopping with anger right now.
At Fang Manor’s entrance, Fang Cangyou and a squad of guards furiously stared down the scholars from the three countries, but their strong bodies provided little defense against those scholars’ psychological attacks.
“Great Xia should have been a cultured country that observes etiquette, but its reputation is dragged down by your Fang Manor. You martial artists might be uneducated, but you’re going too far to massacre the cavalrymen of my country’s viscount. Get Fang Chen out to give us an explanation!”
“Stop being a tortoise, Fang Chen! Come up and face the consequences of your actions!”
“If we don’t receive a satisfactory explanation today, we’ll march to the imperial palace and report you! Let’s see if His Majesty will tolerate the lawlessness of the Fang Manor’s martial artists!”
“You brutes are ruining Great Xia!”
The scholars hurled a tirade of insults, and they would slip in some of their countries’ slang every now and then. Fang Cangyou turned livid in anger. He wanted to retort, but before he could say a word, he was immediately silenced by another wave of insults.
The spectating Great Xia’s civilians were at a loss. They dared not to speak up after hearing that Fang Chen had unreasonably massacred the cavalrymen of a Longdu’s viscount.
This matter was elevated to a diplomatic matter between two countries, after all!
There were also Great Xia scholars amongst the group who criticized Fang Chen’s actions too, but their words were much more polite. At the very least, they were objective in their criticisms and didn’t devolve into personal insults.
“How infuriating! Why do these dogshit scholars have such sharp mouths?” Fang Cangyou was so angry that he wanted to leap forth from his wheelchair and give these scholars a tight slap.
“Shut your mouths,” a cold bellow sounded.
The crowd instinctively fell silent.
Fang Chen walked out of the manor with Xu Ge and impassively looked at the scholars gathered at the entrance. “It’s early morning. What are you trying to do yelling at the entrance of our Fang Manor?”
Amongst the crowd, Long Huixin stepped forward and sneered, “Fang Chen, you brutally massacred our Longdu cavalrymen. You have to give us an explanation. It might be Longdu today, but it could be Guhe and Yizhou tomorrow. Is there no law in Great Xia anymore?”
“That’s right!”
“Our sentiments exactly, Miss Long!”
The crowd voiced their agreement with Long Huixin.
A Great Xia scholar clasped his fist and said, “War God Fang, this matter involves our diplomatic relationship with Longdu. It could bring trouble to our Great Xia if we don’t handle it properly. Our people hope that you can offer an explanation too.”
“Explanation? What kind of explanation are you looking for?” Fang Chen asked.
Those words stumped the crowd. Indeed, what kind of explanation are we looking for?
However, Long Huixin had already thought things through. “We want you to first head to our Longdu embassy and apologize for what you did before surrendering yourself to the judgment of Great Xia’s laws.”
“Slap her, Tie Ma,” Fang Chen instructed with a smile.
“Yes, young master.” A person flitted in front of Long Huixin and gave her ten tight slaps.
The crowd was dazed.
Fang Cangyou was startled. As much as he wanted to do the same, he knew that this could potentially turn everyone against their Fang Manor. “Chen’er, you need to calm down!”
“It’s as they have said, second uncle. We’re martial artists. Why are you wasting your strength debating with those scholars? You should have just beaten them up,” Fang Chen replied.
“We can do that?” Fang Cangyou was baffled.
“Why not?” Fang Chen asked with a chuckle.
The slaps left Long Huixin so disheveled that she looked like a madwoman. She stood in a daze until the stinging pain on her cheeks finally sank in, and she howled in disbelief, “Y-you dare to hit me?!”
“Fang…” a Guhe scholar roared in anger.
“Slap him.”
“Yes, young master.”
The angry Guhe scholar had his rage slapped out of him.
“You all…”
“Slap him.”
“Yes, young master.”
“You…”
“Slap her.”
The scholars who attempted to criticize Fang Chen were left with swollen cheeks. Not even Great Xia’s scholars were spared from the slaps.
The crowd glared hatefully at Fang Chen. If they stood a chance at all, they wouldn’t have hesitated to pounce on him and tear him into shreds.
Fang Chen chuckled. “I am a mere martial artist. Why bother reasoning with me? Try this once more, and it won’t end with just slaps next time. I’ll take at least a leg.”
The crowd felt chilled. How can he be so lawless?
“You still don’t want to leave?” Fang Chen asked with a smile.
The scholars knew better than to test Fang Chen’s bottom line, especially since the latter had already massacred Longdu’s cavalrymen. Thus, they turned around and left.
Long Huixin touched her cheeks before taking her leave. She turned around and angrily glared at Fang Chen
