Secular Immortal of the Nine Realms - Chapter 56

Chapter 56: You’ve Seen a Ghost?

“Vice Minister Qin, you should deliberate upon what you’re going to say,” Fang Chen said.

Qin Dong gritted his teeth and hissed with a suppressed voice, “War God Fang, you should have turned a blind eye to it if you knew about the Blood Spirit Cult! You can’t begin to imagine just how powerful and terrifying they are. Recklessly getting involved in this will only bring a catastrophe upon your Fang Manor!”

The gray-robed daoist thought about it before nodding, “He’s right. The Blood Spirit Cult is an influential power with many experts.”

“Vice Minister Qin, you should honestly answer my questions if you wish to live. Don’t bother spouting anything unnecessary,” Fang Chen said.

Vice Minister Qin’s face paled. “War God Fang, I only know about this Compassion Hall. You’re free to report me to His Majesty via a memorial if you wish to.”

It was then that he suddenly realized something and scoffed, “It’s not as if I have committed any evildoing here. Master Xu Hui is solely responsible for the corpses in the well. I have nothing to do with this at all. I’m only here to donate money to the Compassion Hall.

“War God Fang, you can report me to the Valiant Defenders or the Court of Great Brilliance if you wish. I’m innocent and have nothing to hide. I’ll be waiting here for you to make your move.”

The gray-robed daoist was flabbergasted. How could this fellow be so shameless? I saw him colluding with a Blood Spirit Cultist and trying to take advantage of an innocent lady!

“Vice Minister Qin, you seem to believe my only option is to resort to the authorities.” Fang Chen shook his head and smiled.

“What else do you want to do? We call you War God Fang out of respect, but you’re without an official title or position. You don’t even have the right to question me.” Qin Dong smirked.

He put on the airs he had built up over decades of being an official, knowing that his cowardice would only backfire on him. He hoped that his tough front would force Fang Chen to weigh his pros and cons and spare him for the time being.

“Based on what I know, the Blood Spirit Cult has seven cultivators lurking in Great Xia. I have killed three of them, and I’m hoping Vice Minister Qin can tell me who and where the remaining four are. If you confess, I’ll consider sparing your life,” Fang Chen calmly said.

“War God Fang, do you not hear me?! You have no right to punish me! I am Qin Dong, the Vice Minister of Rites!” Qin Dong roared authoritatively.

“Take him, Tie Ma. Use the means you learned from Greenpine’s Wolf Army on him. I want him to divulge every last detail he knows,” Fang Chen instructed.

“Yes, young master.” Tie Ma suddenly appeared behind Qin Dong, knocked the latter out, and dragged him away.

This martial artist is considerably strong, the gray-robed daoist thought.

“How should I address you?” Fang Chen asked the gray-robed daoist.

The gray-robed daoist looked at Fang Chen’s grayish-white eyes and instinctively waved his hand before them.

“I might have gone blind, but that doesn’t mean I’m truly unable to see.” Fang Chen smiled.

The gray-robed daoist scratched his head sheepishly. He dared not to show any disrespect after witnessing Fang Chen’s extraordinary means in killing that Blood Spirit Cultist. “You may call me Daoye.”

“Daoye?” Fang Chen frowned.

“Ah, please don’t misunderstand! That’s my real name. My full name is Li Daoye, and I’m from the Eight Trigrams Sect,” Li Daoye awkwardly explained. He gestured to the chanting little nun behind and said, “She is Abbess Clearlotus. We met by chance, but we became close friends as we traveled together to many places.”

“Brother Li, how much do you know about the Blood Spirit Cult?” Fang Chen asked.

“That fellow is right. It’s best not to interfere in the Blood Spirit Cult’s affairs. Even the major sects struggle to deal with them,” Li Daoye grimly said. “I would have never stepped into this place if I knew there was a Blood Spirit Cultist here.”

“Please enlighten me, Brother Li,” Fang Chen said.

Li Daoye looked at Fang Chen contemplatively before saying, “I don’t know a lot about the Blood Spirit Cult either. I only know that they are an enigmatic organization with many lackeys. From time to time, they would dispatch their disciples to infiltrate major empires and spark wars to gather human blood essence for their Blood Spirit Divine Pill.

“It’s not just grade-9 states like Great Xia; their trail could be found in grade-8, grade-7, and even grade-6 nations. On that note, which sect are you from? What are you doing in a grade-9 state?” Li Daoye asked out of curiosity.

“I am a wandering cultivator. I am a citizen of Great Xia, so where else would I be if not here?” Fang Chen smiled.

Li Daoye’s words had given him a deeper understanding of the Blood Spirit Cult. He was clearly up against something stronger than he had expected, if it could sink its fangs into grade-6 states too.

During his years as Great Xia’s marshall, he had tried to understand how strong grade-8 and grade-7 states were, and he found that their foundation far surpassed that of Great Xia. As for grade-6 states, he didn’t have the means to look into them, so they were like a mystery to him.

“What? You’re a local?” Li Daoye was stunned. “A cultivator actually came from a grade-9 state? How rare! And your cultivation is not low either…”

He briefly paused before adding, “That’s more reason for you not to get involved with the Blood Spirit Cult. They’ll leave once they forge enough Blood Spirit Divine Pills. The Blood Spirit Cult’s influence surpasses our wildest imagination. It’s rumored there are even experts from the Blood Spirit Cult in grade-1 states!”

“Is that true?” Fang Chen’s face darkened.

Grade-1 states? The Center Continent Country is also a grade-1 state. Does the Blood Spirit Cult have experts on par with Elder Yun He, who can travel with their soul?

“I can’t verify it since I didn’t personally witness it, but that’s what I heard from the rumors. It’s unlikely such rumors would come out of nowhere, and the fact the Blood Spirit Cult hasn’t been quashed even after so many years lends credibility to these rumors,” Li Daoye said.

He waved his hand and sighed. “Brother, I advise you to steer clear of such mundane affairs. You should hide before the Blood Spirit Cult learns about your existence. Cultivation is not easy. It’s rare that someone from a grade-9 state like you is able to walk on the path of an immortal cultivator; don’t ruin your future over this.”

“So I should turn a blind eye as the Blood Spirit Cultist poisons our Great Xia civilians and use their lives to forge their so-called Blood Spirit Divine Pill?” Fang Chen shook his head. “I have to do something about it at the very least.”

“What can you do about it? No matter how strong you are, you are still at Ki Refinement, right? Unless you reach Foundation Establishment… then perhaps you might be able to resolve the crisis in your Great Xia. The people the Blood Spirit Cult dispatched here won’t be any stronger than that,” Li Daoye replied with a frown.

“Daoye, let’s help them,” Abbess Clearlotus suddenly spoke up.

“Little Abbess, are you out of your mind? You want to go against the Blood Spirit Cult? You shouldn’t forget that you’re only at second stage Ki Refinement! A single sneeze from the Blood Spirit Cult, and that’ll be the end of you!” Li Daoye exclaimed in horror.

“But they begged me to stay behind and help War God Fang. They said War God Fang is their last hope. I’ve already promised them…” the little nun said with reddened eyes.

“Them? You saw ghosts again?” A shudder ran through Li Daoye’s spine. He walked a step closer to Fang Chen as he warily scanned his surroundings.