After the Sixth Star Lord departed, Chen Enxue finally turned her gaze back to Yan Qianjun. She smiled and said, "Senior Yan, can this matter be considered settled?"

"Since even the Heavenly Immortal Clan isn't pursuing it, what more can this old man say?" Yan Qianjun replied with a faint smile.

"Then the Ji Family should at least be given an explanation, shouldn't they?" Chen Enxue pressed.

Ji Chunmei's expression turned awkward at that. She smiled and said, "Now that the truth has come to light, that is already more than enough. The Ji family doesn't dare demand any explanation, only that such a thing never happens again."

"That won't do," Yan Qianjun said after a moment of thought. "This time, the Fire Virtue Immortal Division was indeed in the wrong. The explanation that should be given must still be given."

His gaze fell on Fang Tong. "You were wronged this time, so you should be compensated. Which Immortal Path do you plan to take in the future?"

Everyone was surprised.

The Ji Family cultivators exchanged glances. Yan Qianjun was probably intending to compensate Fang Tong with an immortal herb. Such a gesture would indeed be reasonable. If word got out, it wouldn't look like the Ji Family had suffered a loss without receiving anything in return. That would have been far too embarrassing.

"The Immortal Path I plan to take?" Fang Tong's expression turned thoughtful. After a moment, he cupped his hands and answered, "In the future, I wish to walk the True Immortal Path."

Yan Qianjun fell silent for a moment. Then he casually tossed something to Fang Tong. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"This is the Corpse Transcending Immortal Path's first-transformation herb, the Pure Yin Bone. Consider it compensation to you and your family."

With that, he smiled and nodded to Chen Enxue. "Little Chen, we'll take our leave now."

"Safe travels, Senior Yan, I won't see you off," Chen Enxue replied with a smile, returning the gesture.

Before long, Yan Qianjun had departed with his people. From beginning to end, nothing unexpected happened, nothing like what Fang Chen had imagined. Ji Tianjun also appeared calm now, with no obvious signs of disturbance.

Perhaps they've decided to delay their plans because of all the preparations and maneuvers by Senior Sister and Third Senior Sister?

This made him both relieved and disappointed. Their restraint suggested that, at present, their strength wasn't enough to completely overwhelm everyone present today. However, if nothing happened on the trip, he would also lose a rare opportunity to observe their intentions up close.

The demonic calamities had already descended. This was their first layer of action. If there were still many hidden ninth-transformation True Demons in the world, their schemes would never be this simple. Those calamities were merely experiments. There would surely be more moves to come. If he could gather even a few clues, he might be able to infer their next steps, and respond accordingly, or even strike first.

Chen Enxue glanced at Fang Tong and teased, "You really have guts, kid, wanting to walk the True Immortal Path. Luckily, Senior Yan has a good temper and gave you the first-transformation herb for the Corpse Transcending Immortal Path. Do you know that even in the Lesser Immortal Realm, the True Immortal Path is held by only a handful within the True King Clan? Other factions don't even know what the first-transformation immortal herb looks like."

Ji Chunmei chimed in with a few words of agreement.

Chen Enxue gave Fang Tong a closer look and then shook her head. "No, this won't do. The more I look at you, the more you resemble Ninth Brother. Tell me, how's your talent? Why not cultivate under me? Start as an external disciple. Maybe you'll have a chance to become a core disciple in the future."

Everyone was stunned.

Nanming Ruyue and the others showed wry smiles.

Little Immortal Honglian chimed in, "Daoist Fang is Daoist Fang. That guy only resembles him a bit. Third Senior Sister, don't act on a whim and end up harming someone."

Chen Enxue burst out laughing. "Oh... Junior Sister Hong, are you jealous?"

Little Immortal Honglian glanced at her but didn't say anything.

"Well... can I really go to the Enlightenment God Palace?" asked Fang Tong, glancing at Fang Chen out of the corner of his eye.

He fell silent for a moment, then gritted his teeth. He seemed to have made an important decision.

"If that's possible... I can give up my former goal and not walk the True Immortal path."

"I'm just teasing you," Chen Enxue laughed. "If you really want to go to the Enlightenment God Palace, then do it the same way Ji Sheng did, by relying on your own strength."

Fang Tong instantly deflated. However, his former ambition soon flared up again. Since he couldn't go straight to the Enlightenment God Palace, pursuing the True Immortal path still seemed more promising.

"Third Sister, this time it was all thanks to your preparations that the matter was resolved smoothly. Otherwise, my family would likely have suffered a great loss," Ji Sheng said, cupping his hands emotionally.

"You're my junior brother; if I don't look out for you, who will?" Chen Enxue smiled. "Besides, this matter was suspicious from the start. The fault was never with your Ji Family."

With that, she rose and turned to Ji Chunmei. "The matter is resolved. We'll be heading back now."

Ji Chunmei froze for a moment, then quickly said, "Daoist Chen, you're not staying here for a while? After all, coming to the Lesser Immortal Realm isn't easy..."

"We won't stay at the Ji Family," Chen Enxue said with a smile. "But we're not leaving the Lesser Immortal Realm right away either. Since we've come all this way, how could we not take a look at the Greater Immortal Realm?"

"The Greater Immortal Realm?!"

The core disciples were taken aback, Fang Chen included. He noticed that Little Immortal Honglian looked equally surprised.

Ji Chunmei exclaimed, "Daoist Chen, you plan to go to the Greater Immortal Realm? That place is in ruins, full of demonic beasts and fiendish monsters. It's extremely dangerous!"

"If you're afraid, why cultivate at all?" Chen Enxue said. "Since we've come to the Lesser Immortal Realm, not exploring the Greater Immortal Realm would make this trip pointless. The resources there are far better than out here. With a bit of luck, we might even find quite a few immortal herbs."

So it was for immortal herbs.

Everyone understood. Some suspected that Chen Enxue might be planning to advance to the seventh transformation, and that this trip served her own purposes. Given her status as the third-ranked core disciple of the Enlightenment God Palace, obtaining intelligence on the Greater Immortal Realm would indeed not be difficult. It was rumored that even ninth-transformation immortals, who rarely showed themselves, would occasionally venture into the Greater Immortal Realm, simply because the resources there were far less scarce than those in the Nine Mortal Realms or the Lesser Immortal Realm.

"Third Sister, are we really going to the Greater Immortal Realm?" Nanming Ruyue asked, looking uneasy. "We haven't made thorough preparations. Going like this... isn't it too dangerous?"

Li Shanzi and Ji Sheng also looked hesitant, and they tried to dissuade her.

"Yeah, yeah, it's a bit too risky," Xianyue Guan chimed in.

Most of the core disciples present felt the journey was dangerous and weren't very willing to go, though a few showed anticipation, with a faint glimmer of excitement in their eyes.

"No one wants to go?" Chen Enxue sneered. "Don't forget who you are, core disciples of the Enlightenment God Palace. Afraid of wolves ahead and tigers behind, and you still want to cultivate immortality? You might as well go back, start a family, and become some ancestor who minds nothing at all."

Everyone felt embarrassed.

Ji Chunmei squeezed a smile. Those words sounded suspiciously like a roundabout insult aimed at the Ji Family's Grand Ancestor.

"Don't worry," Chen Enxue continued. "We won't go far, just take a look around the outer regions. If there's any danger, we can still retreat to the Lesser Immortal Realm in time."

With that, she walked out of the reception hall. "You have three days to rest and prepare. We depart in three days."

"I won't be accompanying you on this one," Xianyue Guan said with a slight smile to Nanming Ruyue and Li Shanzi. Then his gaze fell on Fang Chen. "Daoist Fang, it's been many years since we last parted. Your battle at Great Thunder Sound back then was truly spectacular. Your name has already spread across the entire Fangcun Realm. Many of the younger generation now take you as their role model."

Ji Chunmei was momentarily stunned, surprise flashing through her eyes. She hadn't expected that this seemingly low-key core disciple had an even greater reputation than she had imagined.