"Senior Sister, Third Senior Sister, how many immortal crystals do you have on you? Lend me some. I'll pay them back with merit points once we return to the Enlightenment God Palace," Fang Chen said.

They had been discussing Fang Chen's trip to the Mysterious Immortal Division, so when he suddenly asked to borrow immortal crystals, both Xie Aman and Chen Enxue were a little surprised.

"How many immortal crystals do you need? I heard that after you returned from the Great Thunder Sound, you never went out exploring. That's a bit strange. Maintaining an expedition team costs a huge amount in every aspect," Chen Enxue said with a half-smile.

"I have about 2,200 immortal crystals on hand. I can lend you two thousand," Xie Aman said straightforwardly.

She took out 2,000 immortal crystals and handed them to Fang Chen.

"I'm not as rich as she is. I can only lend you 1,000," Chen Enxue said, producing her share.

Still 3,000 short...

After thinking for a moment, he left the room to look for Ji Sheng and the others. He borrowed from a few people and finally managed to scrape together the six thousand immortal crystals he needed.

When the others learned that Fang Chen planned to use those immortal crystals to enter seclusion for some time, they were all rather surprised.

Ji Sheng wore a complicated expression. "You've only just advanced to the third transformation, and you're going into seclusion again? Aren't you afraid that rapid progress will destabilize your foundation?"

"I'm just settling things a bit. I'll proceed steadily," Fang Chen said with a smile.

He cupped his hands and then headed for a chamber.

Xie Aman and Chen Enxue watched the entire process and couldn't help feeling a bit impressed.

"Ninth Brother really puts on a complete act," Chen Enxue remarked.

Xie Aman nodded. "Right now, everyone thinks he's going into seclusion."

"Senior Sister, can you check? Has Ninth Brother already left?" Chen Enxue asked.

"I checked just now. He's gone," Xie Aman replied, impressed. "That escape technique of his really is special. Even I didn't notice when he left."

"He really left?"

Chen Enxue was a bit doubtful. She immediately released her divine sense and swept it toward Fang Chen's chamber.

Since this was her Black Dragon Boat, opening the chamber's restrictions was no more than a thought.

When her divine sense entered the chamber, Fang Chen was indeed nowhere to be seen.

"He really left? That is one interesting escape technique," Chen Enxue marveled. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

***

Hidden within shadows, Fang Chen steadily distanced himself from Chen Enxue's Black Dragon Boat, heading off in a completely different direction.

Xie Aman had given him a complete route to take. Following it, he should reach his destination in about three months.

During this time, he couldn't use a Black Dragon Boat, and even when he occasionally revealed himself, he couldn't expose his identity as a core disciple of the Enlightenment God Palace. Everything had to be done with the utmost discretion.

"That should be enough."

Fang Chen took out the immortal crystals and tossed them to the Mirror of the Universe.

Before long, the Mirror of the Universe returned a response, outlining a map of a hundred-thousand-li region.

"This area should still be within the Lesser Immortal Realm, right?" Fang Chen asked casually.

"That question isn't worth any money. Yes, it's in the Lesser Immortal Realm," Mirror of the Universe replied briskly. "But brother, a 100,000-mile region is pretty big. You won't find it quickly. If you can give me 60,000 immortal crystals, I can narrow it down to a 10,000 li range."

"You think I wouldn't be feeding you already if I had the immortal crystals? It's just that in all my years of cultivation, I've never even seen 60,000 immortal crystals piled together," Fang Chen scoffed. "That amount is enormous! Even a ninth-transformation immortal might not be able to produce it all at once, let alone me."

Mirror of the Universe seemed to understand this and abandoned its unrealistic idea.

***

Several months later, Fang Chen arrived at Immortal Rock City, a massive city within the territory of the Mysterious Immortal Division.

He never once left the shadows. Through conversations among nearby cultivators, he gained a rough understanding of the city. Vaguely, he also guessed whom Xie Aman was targeting with this move.

Immortal Rock City was one of the thousand cities under the Mysterious Immortal Division. It had been guarded generation after generation by the lineage of Meng Tianshu. Even though the Mysterious Immortal Division had claimed that Meng Tianshu had long since been expelled and had nothing to do with them, Immortal Rock City was still firmly in the hands of Meng Tianshu's line.

"Aside from Meng Tianshu himself being an eighth-transformation Ancient Immortal, his line also has two seventh-transformation Ancient Immortals below him. Among the younger generation, there's even one who has obtained an Immortal Register and is currently in seclusion attempting a breakthrough. If he succeeds, their line will have three seventh-transformation Ancient Immortals. Their overall strength will rise dramatically."

Moving through the shadows, Fang Chen soon arrived at the Meng Clan's ancestral grounds. The place was rather lively. People came and went, and there were no notable restrictions set up. Clearly, the Meng Clan's status was unshakable. No one would court death by causing trouble here.

"Have you heard? The Enlightenment God Palace is incredibly overbearing. They were the ones who killed Old Ancestor Meng, yet they still want to send people to make a big show of accusations, demanding that the Mysterious Immortal Division deal with the Meng Clan."

"I've heard a bit. But the Enlightenment God Palace is dreaming if they think that'll work. This is the Lesser Immortal Realm. It's not their place to point fingers. Old Ancestor Meng's death will be avenged sooner or later."

"What does the Heavenly Immortal Clan say? Are they really just going to let Old Ancestor Meng die in the Lower Realms?"

"That's hard to say. Old Ancestor Meng really was expelled from the Mysterious Immortal Division, so he naturally has no connection to the Heavenly Immortal Clan anymore..."

"What a pity. People from the lower realms are truly audacious, daring to kill an immortal of the Lesser Immortal Realm."

"No matter. Once that leading figure of the younger generation breaks through to the Ancient Immortal realm, he'll naturally make a trip to the Enlightenment God Palace. Then we'll see how the Enlightenment God Palace responds."

Several cultivators paused to chat as they passed by the Meng residence. One of them confidently said, "That chief among the younger generation... his methods are top-tier even among the Hundred Divisions. In the Hundred Divisions' trials a few years ago, below the Ancient Immortal level, he was firmly ranked in the top three. Once he breaks through to become an Ancient Immortal, he'll be no ordinary seventh-transformation. When he openly goes to the Enlightenment God Palace, we'll see how many core disciples there can match him."

Anticipation showed on their faces.

Fang Chen sighed inwardly as he watched them leave.

Being targeted by an eighth-transformation Ancient Immortal, that so-called chief would likely find it exceedingly hard to break through. Perhaps even the other two seventh-transformation Ancient Immortals of the Meng Clan might suffer losses.

Without hesitation, Fang Chen casually tossed the black stone by the wall and turned to leave.

He would have liked to stay and see what effect the black stone would have, but Xie Aman hadn't given him much time. It was better to regroup with them first and see how Ji Tianjun and the person behind him planned to act.

At that moment, an idea struck Fang Chen.

"Perhaps there is a compromise...."

By the time he left Immortal Rock City, there was now one more Fang Renjian within the city.

***

The Black Dragon vessel raced through the void. Passing through layers of dense spiritual mist, the view ahead suddenly opened up.

Below lay vast clusters of islands. The islands were like stars encircling the moon. At the center was an enormous island. If the Black Dragon Boat flew any lower, its boundaries would almost be impossible to see.

"Tenth Brother, your family really occupies a fine piece of land. This is a natural formation," Chen Enxue said with a half-smile.

The core disciples nodded in agreement.

They could all see that the island clusters below formed a natural formation, wildly gathering spiritual energy and channeling it into the central main island. The spiritual mist the Black Dragon Boat had just passed through was also produced by this formation.

Before Ji Sheng could reply to Chen Enxue, more than a hundred figures had already burst into the air from the direction of the main island, flying out to greet them.