After a moment of silence, Xia Xuanji waved his hand to Immortal Fire Cloud and the others. "All of you, leave."

Immortal Fire Cloud stood up, looking puzzled. She saluted and turned to leave with the sixth princess and the others.

After they left, Xia Xuanji looked at Fang Chen with a smile that wasn't quite a smile. "Are you not afraid... that I'll kill you if you try and stop me?"

Fang Chen smiled. "You can try."

Xia Xuanji squinted slightly, sizing Fang Chen up. "You should have met Xia Ji."

Fang Chen's smile deepened.

It seemed that Xia Xuanji was finally going to be straightforward, which was a good sign. He would rather hear the truth from Xia Xuanji than guess on his own.

Fang Chen said, "I saw Xia Ji in the capital. He's now the adopted son of the Corrosive Dragon King. He said that the Corrosion Dragon King looks exactly like you."

Xia Xuanji laughed, "Since that's the case, aren't you afraid I might be the Corrosive Dragon King? A cultivator at the Ascension Realm could deal with you in the blink of an eye, don't you think?"

"So what if you're the Corrosive Dragon King? Are you stronger than a First Rate Sect Leader?" Fang Chen's smile grew wider. "If you're really the Corrosive Dragon King, why don't you show up in person? I'll be here waiting."

Xia Xuanji furrowed his brow slightly, and his smile faded a little. He then casually said, "Oh? You have a First Rate Sect Leader with you? Is it the one from the Desolate Academy?"

Fang Chen smiled. "Guess."

Xia Xuanji remained silent for a moment, then sighed softly. "Speak, what do you want?"

Fang Chen replied, "It's not about what I want, it's about what you want. If you can't explain it clearly, then it doesn't matter to me even if the Corrosive Dragon King isn't your true form. As long as you look exactly like him, I will come and pay you a visit."

Xia Xuanji's expression darkened. "Is that person from the Desolate Academy treating you this well?"

Fang Chen smiled but didn't speak. He simply stared quietly at Xia Xuanji.

After a few moments, Xia Xuanji sighed softly. "Yes, I am the Corrosive Dragon King."

"You're the Corrosive Dragon King's split soul?" asked Fang Chen flatly.

"His split soul?" Xia Xuanji sneered. "I am the Corrosive Dragon King himself. The one in the Northern Continent is the split soul."

Fang Chen frowned slightly. "Don't joke around; this isn't funny."

"A joke?" Xia Xuanji let out a self-deprecating laugh. "I knew you wouldn't believe me, but the truth is as I say. Believe it or not, I am the true Corrosive Dragon King."

Fang Chen didn't buy it. "You say you're the Corrosive Dragon King, but I remember you were only at the Foundation Building Realm back then. You even died at my hands once. And besides, the mighty Corrosive Dragon King had to join the Spirit Blood Sect? To covet that little bit of Blood Spirit Pill?"

"Join the Spirit God Sect?" Xia Xuanji thought for a moment, and then shook his head. "It's useless to tell you these things. I have my own considerations. You only need to know that my connection to the Spirit God Sect is not as you think; it's much more complicated."

"I said the Spirit Blood Sect," reminded Fang Chen.

Xia Xuanji was slightly stunned, then nodded. "Yes, it's the Spirit Blood Sect. Since you're here, with your temperament, you should have already investigated what I've been doing recently. Everything I've done has nothing to do with the Spirit Blood Sect, nor has it caused harm to Grand Xia. You can rest assured."

Fang Chen said lightly, "How can I rest assured? You just mentioned the Spirit God Sect. If this matter isn't cleared up, you know that I would rather kill wrongly than let someone go, even if you are my uncle."

Xia Xuanji's brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"

Fang Chen looked at Xia Xuanji. "I've heard that, in some places, the Spirit Blood Sect is referred to as the Spirit God Sect."

Things were starting to make sense now. This person, or rather, the Corrosive Dragon King, very likely came from another region and was not from the Ancient Desolate Region.

Xia Xuanji's face changed slightly. "Where did you hear that?"

𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Fang Chen smiled. "I don't know, you tell me."

Xia Xuanji's expression became a bit more serious. "During your disappearance, did you go to another region? Which First Rate Sect Leader sent you out, and to which realm did you go?"

Seeing that Fang Chen only smiled and did not respond, Xia Xuanji hesitated for a few moments. In the end, he said in a deep voice, "Fine, I admit that I'm not a cultivator from the Ancient Desolate Region.

"I come from the True Martial Region. There, I am the Corrosive Dragon King, and I have already reached the Half-Step First Rate Sect Leader realm. Just a little more, and I could become a Loose Immortal. You should show me more respect, regardless of my current or former identity."

Hearing that, Fang Chen caught on to something. "Almost became a Loose Immortal? So, you failed in your ascension. But why come to the Ancient Desolate Region?"

Xia Xuanji's face darkened. "Because before my ascension, I was ambushed by the Spirit God, causing my soul to split. Do you think I wanted to come to such a place? Compared to the True Martial Region, the Ancient Desolate Region is far weaker. But my split soul formed an alliance with that Spirit God, and I had to come here to recover my cultivation."

Fang Chen frowned, his expression skeptical. "What are you saying? Does this mean the Corrosive Dragon King and the First Rate Sect Leader of the Spirit Blood Sect are allies? He's your split soul?

"The Corrosive Dragon King is an Ascension Realm cultivator, an Immortal King powerhouse. You are only at the early Nascent Soul Realm. You say he's your split soul? If this gets out, it'll be the laughingstock of the world. If I believe you, I fear I'll be a laughingstock too."

Xia Xuanji's face flickered with various emotions. His face alternated between pale and green, his eyes flashing with bursts of anger.

It took him several moments to suppress his anger, tapping into his last bit of patience. "Yes, the Corrosive Dragon King is my split soul now. But because the Spirit God meddled, it developed its own consciousness. The reason you detected that I was a cultivator of the Spirit Blood Sect earlier is because of this.

"To defeat an opponent, one must understand both themselves and the enemy. Even if I hadn't intervened in the battle at the Three World Mountain, someone else would have taken charge."

Xia Xuanji's voice was heavy. "You can't blame me for this. If it weren't for my efforts over the years, do you think that with Qing Song's strength back then, they wouldn't have easily destroyed Grand Xia? The fall of Grand Xia would have resulted in countless lives being refined into Blood Spirit Pills. That is exactly what the Spirit Blood Sect cultivators want."

Fang Chen thought for a long time before replying, "What you're doing now, how does it relate to your original goal? You want to reclaim your split soul and fully recover your cultivation, right? But what does the expansion of the Grand Xia have to do with the Corrosive Dragon King? You haven't explained why you're even in the Grand Xia. What is it here that attracts you?"

Xia Xuanji scoffed and replied indifferently, "Ask your grandfather. I'm not wasting time with you. Even if you want to kill me, you can't. Even the First Rate Sect Leader wouldn't be able to do anything. I have my father-in-law protecting me."

With that, Xia Xuanji stood up and left, not worried at all about Fang Chen ambushing him from behind.

Fang Chen, however, fell into silence after hearing Xia Xuanji's last words. After a few moments, he transformed into a sword light and disappeared into the skies over the capital.

***

The sixth princess was puzzled upon seeing that Xia Xuanji was alone. She asked, "Father, where is Fang Chen?"

"Him? He's probably gone to the southern region. But meeting the old man now... it's probably impossible," Xia Xuanji gloated. "I know how he is. If he can't clear the doubts he has, it will be like trying to scratch an itch through shoes. He'll probably be quite uncomfortable.

Hahaha.

"

The Sixth Princess looked stunned, her expression strange. She rarely saw her father smile so smugly.