Immortal of the Nine Realms

Chapter 157: Be careful of the emperor

Several days later, Abbess Qing He, carrying the Purple Lightning Talisman inheritance, left with Abbess Zhu Yue and Fang Qingyao.

Fang Qingyao didn’t forget to remind Fang Chen to take good care of the orphans and widows back in the Hall of Compassion before she left, many times at that. It was clear that, during the period where she took charge of the hall, she had grown to consider them family.

Now, the only remaining cultivators in Grand Xia were a few wandering cultivators.

Standing beside Fang Chen, Li Daoye felt a sense of relief wash over him as he saw the others off. "Lord Fang, can I leave now that the matter with the Spirit Blood Sect has come to an end?"

Fang Chen found himself smiling. "Where do you plan to go?" he asked.

"The world is vast. I'll travel around. I won't return to the Eight Trigrams Sect for the time being to avoid my father forcing me into a marriage," replied Li Daoye.

"Come back for a visit whenever you have the time,” said Fang Chen, nodding. “Come, I'll see you off."

As the two of them just stepped out of the Fang Manor’s gate, they saw Ancestor Xia Yu, Liu Suifeng and Zhantai Qingxuan walking over.

"Do you have something you want to talk to me about?" asked Fang Chen with a smile.

The three of them didn't dare be the slightest bit impolite in front of Fang Chen and quickly clasped their fist in salute.

Ancestor Xia Yu, glancing over at Li Daoye, suddenly lowered his voice and quietly said, "Fellow Daoist Fang, Fellow Daoist Li, we three had originally come to Grand Xia because we had news that a damaged Immortal Cave is located around here. Are you interested in joining us on our expedition?"

"A damaged Immortal Cave?" Li Daoye was pleasantly surprised, and his eyes lit up. He nodded eagerly. "Oh, yes, I’m very interested."

Unfortunately for him, those three weren’t particularly interested in his response. The one who they truly wanted to invite was Fang Chen. That’s why they turned a deaf ear to Li Daoye’s immediate response and instead focused on Fang Chen, awaiting his.

"A damaged Immortal Cave?" Fang Chen's eyes flickered. "What kind of Immortal Cave is it? And what’s inside?"

Ancestor Xia Yu thought for a moment to organize his thoughts, then began, "Some time ago, the three of us passed through a certain market and bought a worn-out map. The cultivator selling the map claimed that it marked the location of an Immortal Cave left behind by a cultivator. But since the map was damaged, they couldn't pin-point its exact location and had to sell it at a low price, which was precisely why we three snagged it at the time."

Xia Yu couldn't help but smile as he spoke. "When I looked at it, I knew that the location was within the borders of the Frost Water Empire. The direction of the depicted mountain range on the map is close to Grand Xia."

"It’s thanks to Senior Xia that we were able to decipher the map. It might be fake, but since the mountains portrayed on the map are accurate, it might turn out to be authentic," said Liu Suifeng. "You can join us if you’re interested."

Fang Chen wasn't interested at first, but when he heard that last bit, he was slightly hooked. After all, the map of the Frost Water Empire was within the scope of the target marked by the map imprinted in his mind by Supreme Immortal Pudu.

Could both maps be pointing to the same place?

Thinking of this, Fang Chen contemplated for a moment and said, "Are you willing to wait for me for a while? There are still some things that I have to take care of here before I can leave."

Xia Yu's eyes brightened, readily agreeing, "No problem, no problem. We three will wait in the palace. When Senior Brother Fang is free, send someone to inform us."

Immortal Caves usually had extremely powerful restrictions. Even if those restrictions were damaged, they could still pose a threat to even Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators. With Fang Chen joining, the dangers of this journey would decrease significantly.

Fang Chen had used Purple Lightning Talismans to attack the Foundation Establishment cultivator of the Spirit Blood Sect just a few days ago. The scene was still fresh in their memories.

Now that everything was decided, the three of them left.

Li Daoye, who had been planning to leave, decided to stay once again. He was keen on exploring the Immortal Cave together with Fang Chen. He was even pretty excited. "Hehe, I wonder what we can get our hands on."

It was then the two heard a voice call out, "Duke Fang."

A figure stood not far away.

Glancing at the newcomer, Li Daoye’s brows scrunched up. "Why is this guy here?"

The person who had come was none other than Tao Yu.

Fang Chen smiled lightly. "Weren't you recruited by a wandering cultivator? Why haven't you left yet?"

"There were many things that I had to take care of before I could leave. Now that I have settled everything, I am leaving with my master,” said Tao Yu, smiling back.

Fang Chen nodded slightly. "And why are you here?"

Tao Yu didn’t seem too keen on talking outside, and he asked, “Can we talk inside your manor, Duke Fang?”

Fang Chen nodded in response.

Once inside the manor, Tao Yu sighed lightly. "Now that the third prince has left, he won't be back for a quite a while, right?"

Fang Chen was surprised. "How did you know that he didn’t die?”

Fang Chen had spread the news of Xia Ji's death back then with the help of the marshal. He had no clue as to how Tao Yu had come to learn that Xia Ji was still alive.

"The third prince isn't so easy to kill," said Tao Yu with conviction. "Actually, I saw some of the third prince's skills a long time ago, and I have to admit they were quite extraordinary. Thinking back now, he must’ve joined some immortal sect a long time ago.

“I was the one who tipped off the third prince when Xia Yu mobilized his undercover experts in the Qingsong Empire to assassinate him.”

"Uh..." Fang Chen’s brow scrunched up, and a faint, absurd smile appeared in his eyes. Unable to help it, he shook his head and said, "So, you've been on the third prince's side all along?"

"Yes." Tao Yu nodded, revealing an inscrutable smile. "The third prince said that no matter how smart you are, you wouldn’t be able to guess that I'm actually on his side. Not only that, but besides me, the third prince has many eyes and hands in the capital. I wonder if you’ve noticed this, Duke Fang?"

"It was that guy who told you to come and tell me all this, right? Does he want to watch me embarrass myself?" Fang Chen laughed. "Speak; you didn't just come here to tell me this, is there something else I don't know? Tell me everything."

Li Daoye listened with interest. He was secretly curious about this third prince they were talking about.

Tao Yu's face turned somber. "The third prince said... to be careful of the emperor."

Fang Chen's expression flickered. Be careful of the emperor?

Before he could think further, Tao Yu continued, "It seems that the third prince had sensed something amiss back then. That’s why, when he volunteered to be taken captive by Qingsong, it was partly to help you escape punishment and partly because he himself wanted to leave Grand Xia." After a pause, Tao Yu sighed. "We always believed that you were the only one in the capital beside Xia Yu who could threaten the third prince. Therefore, we targeted you whenever we had the chance,” he confessed. “We were afraid you might accumulate power and snatch the throne, but now it seems we were overly concerned; your ambitions don’t lie in Grand Xia."

Fang Chen didn't care about whatever he was saying at the moment. A frown had long appeared on his forehead as he thought about what was important. "Xia Ji told you to warn me of the emperor. Why does he say that? What did he discover?"

"The third prince didn't say, and I don't know either." Tao Yu shook his head slightly. Then he clasped his fist. "It's about time for me to leave,” he said. “Duke Fang, if fate allows, we'll meet again in the future."

"Yeah.” Fang Chen nodded. “Go ahead."

After Tao Yu left, Fang Chen returned to his seat and fell into contemplation. Scenes and images flashed through his mind as he tried to grasp at some clues. Li Daoye remained silent amid his brainstorm, waiting on the side.

After about an hour, Fang Chen suddenly sneered and looked toward the direction of the imperial palace.

"What a ruthless move, using his own son as a shield. Xia Yu was so foolish that, even at the moment of his death, he still didn’t realize the truth."

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