Chapter 272: Broken Lead

Xia Xuanji was very fast. The treasure he controlled was a Nine Legged Cauldron, which looked clumsy, but with the support of his mid-stage Foundation Building Realm cultivation, it burst forth with extremely high speed.

Fang Chen's cultivation was far inferior to Xia Xuanji's, so the difference in spiritual energy of each of them might as well have been between a drop and a bowl full of water.

However, what Fang Chen was using to fly was the Sword Transformation Technique, which was famed for its break-neck speed. Pushing himself to the limit, he was barely able to keep up with Xia Xuanji.

Cranking his head back to take a look, Xia Xuanji was met with a sight that left him surprised.

Why is Fang Chen almost as fast as me?

The day Fang Chen killed the Lord of Passing Dragon Island with a single sword strike, the terrifying sword intent Fang Chen burst forth made him think that Fang Chen was also at the Foundation Building Realm.

Could it be that he’s only at the Qi Refining Realm? Was it only because he’s a sword cultivator that he had enough offensive power to kill the Passing Dragon Island Master?

𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

Xia Xuanji’s face turned gloomy. "Impossible, no matter how terrifying the offensive power of a sword cultivator is, a Qi Refining cultivator should not be able to kill a late-stage Foundation Building cultivator with one move. There must be something else I don’t know!"

He didn’t dare fight Fang Chen head on. He was scared that he’d die in one move just like the Passing Dragon Island Master. All he had on his mind right now was to flee!

Suddenly, as Xia Xuanji passed over an old temple, a huge horsetail whisk whipped out from within the temple and into the air!

"A Foundation Building Realm cultivator!" shouted Xia Xuanji loudly.

The nine-legged cauldron under his feet burst forth with a blue glow, shattering the horsetail whisk into pieces. The sudden attack had hindered his speed for a moment, however, allowing a glint of sword light to use that crack to land a blow.

Xia Xuanji stared blankly at his stomach, where a bloody hole had appeared. Blood was gushing out.

Taking that opportunity, Abbess Zhu Yue joined the fray.

Xia Xuanji tried to use his spiritual energy to suppress his injuries, attempting to rely on the treasure under his feet to break through the encirclement of the two. However, Little Sword hacked the Nine Legged Cauldron into pieces in just a few strokes.

Without his treasure, Xia Xuanji could only use the Five Element Technique to guard against Fang Chen’s attack while trying to maneuver around the two; however, it was clear that he couldn’t hold on for much longer; his defeat was at hand.

Before long, Xia Xuanji landed heavily in front of the temple’s broken gate.

Although it may have looked like Abbess Zhen Yue had worked hand in hand with Fang Chen, helping him defeat Xia Xuanji, all she had really done was land that first blow, so Abbess Zhu Yue couldn't help but look at Fang Chen; she was really amazed. They had mostly been able to defeat the mid stage Foundation Building Xia Xuanji because of Fang Chen’s flying sword.

But, credit where credit was due, if it weren’t for Abbess Zhen Yue, Fang Chen probably wouldn’t have been able to catch up to Xia Xuanji and land that blow on him and capture him. At the very least, capturing him alive wouldn’t have been very likely without her.

"Can you tell me where my aunt is now, uncle?" asked Fang Chen calmly.

Little Sword hovered point blank between Xia Xuanji's brows.

Xia Xuanji stared at Fang Chen intently for a moment before he suddenly sneered. "The more you ask me, the less I will tell you. Kill me if you want, but if you do so, your aunt will accompany me in death."

Abbess Zhu Yue frowned. "You’re a cultivator at the Foundation Building Realm. How can you threaten to kill your own wife?"

Xia Xuanji grinned wickedly. "Abbess Zhu Yue, you dare to meddle in the enmity between me and Fang Chen? Don’t you fear that your paltry Concealed Moon Hermitage will be annihilated?"

Abbess Zhu Yue's expression darkened, but she remained silent, evidently scared of the Spirit Blood Sect.

"You'd rather die than speak?" Fang Chen frowned. "Let’s strike a deal: hand over my aunt, and I'll let you go."

"Strike a deal, you say?" Xia Xuanji's gaze flickered, and he smiled slyly. "How about this? If you join the Spirit Blood Sect, I’ll give you back your aunt. You have astounding abilities at such a young age, so if you join us, we can mold you into the world's youngest Nascent Soul cultivator!” he rumbled. “When we join hands, Grand Xia can become a sixth-tier or even fifth-tier empire. It will not be oppressed no more!"

"What oppression do you speak of? If Grand Xia’s emperor was at the Foundation Building Realm, the empire could have prospered. The people could have lived lives full of peace,” said Fang Chen. “But look at you, what did you do? You ran to collude with the Spirit Blood Sect, threw your own soldiers to the jaws of death, and used their blood to refine your so-called ‘Blood Spirit Pill.’” Fang Chen sneered coldly. “Isn’t your cultivation all thanks to those pills anyway?”

"Those were just ants. Their sacrifice makes me stronger, and the stronger I am, the more prosperous Grand Xia is. If it weren't for you, how could the situation come to this? I am still the emperor of Grand Xia, and you are still my nephew," said Xia Xuanji

Seeing that the man had been so brainwashed by the Spirit Blood Sect, Fang Chen cut himself short; his words only fell on deaf ears. This wasn’t about good and evil anymore, it was all about perspective.

"I'll give you ten breaths to weigh your decision. But if you don’t tell me what I want to know after those ten breaths, I’ll kill you."

Xia Xuanji laughed wildly, his face contorted with madness. "Do you really dare to kill me? If you kill me, you'll never ever find Congyou.

Hahaha...

"

"Time's up,” said Fang Chen, deadpanned. “I’ll be sending you on your way. As for my aunt, I'll find her on my own eventually."

Sword light flashed, and a hole appeared, through Xia Xuanjie’s skull and out the back.

Even with his head pierced through, Xia Xuanjie continued to laugh with madness, his voice filling the air.

Little Sword didn’t take any chances and hacked Xia Xuanjie into pieces with hundreds of slashes. Gradually, Xia Xuanjie’s voice died down, and the light in his eyes started to fade away, but before he completely fell into darkness, his voice suddenly sounded, one last time. “ We shall meet again... Chan’er.”

With that, Xia Xuanji's head slowly dropped.

Abbess Zhu Yue stepped forward to take a closer look. "He's dead through and through. Don’t let his last words get to you. Just a few words to unsettle you, that’s all."

Fang Chen frowned slightly, then sighed softly. "It's a pity I didn't bring Abbess Qing He with me. Perhaps we would be able to glean some clues from her Yin Yang Eyes since it could see dead souls."

Abbess Zhu Yue was surprised. "You think he’s alive?"

Fang Chen remained silent for a moment before shaking his head gently. "I don't know."

Perhaps he was, perhaps he wasn’t.

He had seen what Supreme Immortal Pudu could do. He was able to put a wisp of his soul into a soulless body. It wasn’t completely out of the question that Xia Xuanji might have obtained a way to do something similar. Fang Chen really couldn’t help but suspect that Xia Xuanji had been possessed by an old monster similar to Supreme Immortal Pudu, even.

Fang Chen went to check Xia Xuanji's belongings and found that he didn't even have a storage ring on him. He must have hidden it before coming to Spirit Void City. His cautiousness was truly someone who had once been an emperor! There was nothing on him that could prove the whereabouts of Fang Cangyue. The lead... was broken again.

Feeling disheartened, Fang Chen let Little Sword devour the fragments of the Nine Legged Cauldron. After thanking Abbess Zhu Yue, he transformed into a sword light and returned to Spirit Void City.

When he arrived, he found that everyone was still around. They had probably been waiting for Fang Chen to return so that they could dispose of the bodies littered around, those of the Spirit Void Sect Master and the others.

As the sword light landed, the head of Ye Family hurried forward. "Senior, how should we dispose of these corpses?"

"You don’t have to dispose of them. You can bury them around here, it’ll increase the spiritual energy in the area," replied Fang Chen.

With that, Fang Chen went around and collected the treasures and storage rings of these guys then he entered the Ye Manor. Someone will naturally take care of the corpses, so he didn’t concern himself with that.