Chapter 304: Three Pillars

Xia Ji's expression turned serious. "I don't know a lot more than you do. What I know is that this sect likes to lurk in the shadows and scheme to use the blood of mortals in order to refine Blood Spirit Pills. The reason you lost at Three World Mountain wasn’t as simple as we thought. It may have appeared on the surface as though it was just the Yincang Empire making a move while the Frost Water Empire turned a blind eye to it, leading to you not receiving reinforcements and being defeated by Marshall Xiao Lang. But in reality, I've been investigating the Qingsong Empire for the past five years; Marshall Xiaolang himself was confused by how easily he defeated you."

Fang Chen's expression shifted slightly. "What do you mean?"

"Didn’t three of your Dragon Generals die? But that’s strange because Marshall Xiao Lang once told me that he didn't arrange for his experts to target your Dragon Generals. Considering the strength of the Qing Song Empire at that time, they couldn't afford to dispatch a full lineup of experts. He had deployed most of his forces elsewhere, in much more important areas. Your four Dragon Generals weren't his main targets.

"So, the killers who murdered three of your Dragon Generals didn't come from the Qingsong Empire. They were most likely from the Yincang Empire.

"But the Yincang Empire wouldn't go to such lengths just for Qingsong, so there had to have been more than meets the eye.

"The Spirit Blood Sect has to be the masterminds behind this, they are the only ones who could do this. They have cultivators within the Yincang Empire.”

Fang Chen fell silent, pondering. He had had suspicions that the Spirit Blood Sect were the ones behind this, but he had no concrete evidence to back them up.

Xia Ji suddenly smiled. "Fang Da, do you know why Marshall Xiao Lang didn't kill you back then?"

"Why?" asked Fang Chen. "According to him, staying alive would be more tortuous to me than death. And indeed, those five years didn’t pass easily."

Xia Ji's smile faded. "Because he sensed something was amiss. He didn't know what exactly was wrong, but he had a feeling that he had been playing into someone’s hand, so he spared your life. Now, in hindsight, this decision was quite wise. He left himself a way out." Pausing for a moment, Xia Ji continued, "Both Yincang and Qingsong likely had cultivators from the Spirit Blood Sect. If we have to take action, we must deal with them one by one to prevent another incident like the battle at Three World Mountain."

"The cultivators of the Spirit Blood Sect are elusive and it won't be easy to find and deal with them one by one. We need something to lure them out of their hiding."

A thoughtful expression appeared on Fang Chen’s face. "Aside from all that, about your father..."

"I told Tao Yu to warn you about him. I believe you sensed it too; my father is suspicious." Xia Ji nodded slightly. "I met my master when I was four years old. He taught me a lot, but I wasn’t a cultivator then. I condensed my first immortal vein only when I was thirteen years old. And from that day, I began to sense strange things around the palace.

"I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but I kept an open eye in the following years, and finally, one day, I saw something very bizarre; I personally witnessed my father refining a martial artist into a pill." Xia Ji's voice grew solemn. "At that moment, I knew that my father was the demonic cultivator my master had mentioned."

"Xia... Xuanji should have been at the Foundation Building Realm back then.” Fang Chen’s brow knitted. “Wouldn't he have noticed that you’ve become a cultivator?

Xia Xuanji hadn’t been able to sense Fang Chen’s cultivation because of his powerful divine soul. However, Xia Ji didn't possess such a mighty soul, nor did he have concealed treasures. How could he hide from Xia Xuanji?

Xia Ji smiled bitterly. "Did he notice? Did he not? I'm not sure. All I know is that, after I became a cultivator, my father had this strange glint in his eyes whenever he saw me. But he never inquired about it. His attitude toward me remained the same, too."

Xia Ji suddenly looked at Fang Chen. "What's happening in Grand Xia now? Is my father... still alive?"

Fang Chen nodded gently and recounted everything that had happened in Grand Xia over the past year, including the events in Spirit Void City.

After a moment of silence, Xia Ji suddenly said, "My father was involved in the battle of Three World Mountain."

"Yes, we were puppets, we were played and manipulated.” Fang Chen nodded. “Now that I think about it, many people from the Qingsong Empire also died."

"Fang Chen, have you ever thought about why my father chose to leave the capital without confronting you?” Xia Ji pondered. “Could there be some reason we don’t know about?"

"I don't know if there’s a reason he did that, but I do know that my aunt is in his hands. If that sword light I saw outside Spirit Void City didn't kill him, when I meet him again next time, I will do it myself."

Xia Ji sighed lightly. "Fang Chen, I don't blame you. My father did you wrong. If that sword didn't kill him, and I have the chance to meet him in the future, I will help you find out where the empress is."

"Let's set these matters aside for now.” Fang Chen smiled. “Tell me about yourself. How have you been?"

Xia Ji's expression turned strange. "My master is the abbot of the Profound Void Temple in the Grand Qian Empire, Master Chanyuan. Master has two more disciples, Senior Brother Liu and Senior Sister Wu."

"A while ago, I offended Daoist Jue Wudi, the current head of the Jue Family, at a debate. Not only did he order people to attack my senior brother and sister, but he also wanted to kill me."

"Is the Jue Family powerful in the Grand Qian Empire?" asked Fang Chen.

"Very powerful.” Xia Ji nodded. “Along with the Fang Family and the imperial family, they are the three pillars of the Grand Qian Empire. Their family ancestors are all Nascent Soul Realm powerhouses."

The Fang Family?

Fang Chen's thoughts stirred slightly. That was likely the main branch of the Fang Family. He hadn't expected their status to be so high, ranking alongside the imperial family.

𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

"Why haven’t you become a monk, since your master is a Buddhist?" asked Fang Chen curiously.

"It's a long story. Our Profound Void Temple once offended a powerful individual, and all the masters in the temple were slaughtered, leaving only my master alive. At that time, my master was just a new monk at the first stage of the Qi Refining Realm. The big shot spared his life but prohibited the temple from accepting any more Buddhist disciples. So, Senior Sister Wu, Senior Brother Liu, and I didn’t convert to Buddhism.”

Fang Chen nodded in understanding.

"Fang Da, where are you heading now?” asked Xia Ji, curious. “Why did you even come to the Qinghu Empire? And who are those two?"

"I'm planning to go to the Grand Qian Empire and I met them along the way. They are going there to seek refuge with some of their relatives, and I also have some matters to attend to there.” Fang Chen smiled. “We are planning to set off in a few days."

Xia Ji frowned. "I will definitely fall into the hands of Jue Wudi If i go back to Grand Qian."

"I'll take care of your matter while we're at it. If he tries to harm you, I'll kill him." Fang Chen smiled.

"No." Xia Ji shook his head. "Even if we want to kill him, we can't do it in Grand Qian. The Golden Core Realm cultivator can easily trap you there."

"My grandfather told me that our Fang Family ancestors were once a family of cultivators," said Fang Chen with a hinting smile.

Xia Ji froze for a moment, then seemed to realize something, his expression turning incredulous. "Grand Qian Empire, Fang Family?"