Immortal of the Nine Realms

After a friendly inquiry, Fang Chen learned all the details about the Pitu Ruins from the green-headed sea turtle.

The ruins belonged to a top sect from Northern Dipper, and unless you were a disciple of that sect, ordinary Immortal Seedlings had to pay 200 mid-grade spirit stones to enter.

The fee was not cheap. Not to mention Immortal Seedlings in the Golden Core Realm, even those in the Nascent Soul Realm or Middle Three Realms would find it difficult to gather the required spirit stones. Fang Chen himself had once slain several Nascent Soul cultivators from the Innate Dao Sect, and the total amount of mid-grade spirit stones they had on hand only amounted to around 200 or so.

"How long would it take us to reach the Pitu Ruins from here?" Fang Chen asked flatly.

The sea turtle dared not delay. After all, his life was at stake. After thinking for a moment, it replied in a low voice, "I know a shortcut. If there are no storms along the way, we can reach it in about a year."

Fang Chen raised an eyebrow. "A shortcut?"

"Uh... the Immortal Demonic Sea is filled with countless uninhabited islands. Some of these islands still have functional teleportation arrays, but very few people know about them," the turtle explained.

"Alright, lead the way." Fang Chen smiled and nodded. "But you should understand what's awaiting you if you deceive me."

"Of course, of course!" the sea turtle hastily replied.

During the journey, Fang Chen passed through three uninhabited islands and used the ancient teleportation array erected on each one to reach the depths of the Immortal Demonic Sea. In just a few months, he had traveled a distance that would have taken decades by ordinary sword flight. Without the teleportation arrays, this journey would have cost him at least 10 to several dozen years, even with his speed.

At that moment, the sea turtle spoke up. "Master, it seems something is happening ahead. This sea area seems to be blocked."

Fang Chen, standing on its back, saw the scene a few miles ahead. Countless ships were stationed there, seemingly forced to a halt.

"Let's go check it out," Fang Chen said.

The sea turtle didn't say anything. When it swam closer, a cultivator from one of the ships called out to them, "You shouldn't go any further. The monks from the Haiye Temple are exterminating demons."

The green-headed sea turtle instantly grew angry. "Exterminating demons!?"

However, it quickly remembered that Fang Chen was present and reigned in its anger. It asked the cultivator, "What demons are the monks of Haiye Temple exterminating? Why would we, as demonic cultivators, offend the Haiye Temple?"

The cultivator stared at the sea turtle for a moment. Just as he was about to speak, another person next to him stopped him. The other cultivator gave a subtle signal and glanced at the sea turtle, obviously signaling him not to engage in conversation with the demon turtle to avoid causing trouble.

The sea turtle was furious. It was already humiliating enough to be captured and made into a mount as an Enlightenment Realm demonic cultivator, but now these mere Lower Four Realms cultivators even dared to ignore it.

"Don't cause trouble," Fang Chen said coldly, his voice laced with calm authority.

"Yes, Master."

The sea turtle suppressed its anger and buried its head into the sea, leaving only its shell above the water.

Fang Chen projected his divine soul and rose to the sky. Only then did he realize that the blocked fleet was far larger than the few hundred ships he had seen. Everywhere he looked, large and small ships filled the sea.

Looking further into the distance, he saw a golden curtain that stretched over an enormous area, covering countless miles. Inside the golden curtain, cultivators were engaged in battle. On one side, there were bald monks, and on the other, various demonic cultivators.

However, the demonic cultivators had little to no chance of resisting those monks.

It was a one-sided slaughter. Countless demonic cultivator corpses floated on the surface of the Immortal Demonic Sea, and the bloody scene caused the nearby cultivators to feel uneasy, their faces showing fear and caution.

Among the monks, one stood out. A young monk, dressed in moon-white robes, did not participate in the fight but remained floating in the air with his hands pressed together in prayer.

The young monk exuded the aura of a peak-stage Enlightenment Realm cultivator, his eyes slightly closed as if chanting a scripture. From time to time, he would raise his hand and hurl a Buddhist bead at the demonic cultivators.

Each demonic cultivator struck by the Buddhist bead would be immediately killed.

Many demonic cultivators tried to rush toward him, but as soon as they moved, nearby monks would intercept or kill them.

"Haiye Temple's demon monks, why must you go so far as to exterminate us all? We have only eaten a dozen of your novice monks! You have killed thousands of our people, isn't that enough?" one bloodied demonic cultivator suddenly shouted in anger.

The demonic cultivator's aura confirmed that it was also at the Enlightenment Realm, though slightly weaker than the young monk. It seemed to be in the late Enlightenment Realm stage. At the moment, there were three monks in the mid-stage of the Enlightenment Realm surrounding it, and it was struggling to break free from their encirclement.

"Amitabha. Blood for blood, that is all," the young monk said indifferently.

The demonic cultivator's anger flared, and he showed a bitter smile. "Blood for blood, you say? If that's the case, why take our clan's essence blood and our inner cores?"

"We don't let anything go to waste," the young monk replied calmly. "Your essence blood and inner cores are rare spiritual treasures. Since you're dead, it would be wasteful not to use them."

The young monk suddenly launched another Buddhist bead. The demonic cultivator was too slow to react, and the bead struck his head. The spiritual barrier around the demonic cultivator shattered, and the three monks immediately summoned their flying swords, piercing the demonic cultivator's body.

Despite seeing that they had lost the battle, some of the remaining demonic cultivators continued to fight desperately, while others began to beg for mercy.

A few attempted to ambush the monks from beneath the Immortal Demonic Sea, only to discover that the surrounding formations extended even underwater, trapping them with no chance of escape.

The monks of Haiye Temple showed no mercy. Whether the demonic cultivators were still fighting or pleading for their lives, they were all swiftly eliminated.

Fang Chen, observing the situation, quickly understood that this was a personal grudge between the two sides. The demonic cultivators had killed Haiye Temple's novice monks, so the monks were retaliating by wiping out the demons in this area.

It seemed this matter would be resolved before the day ended.

With his divine soul returning to his body, Fang Chen silently waited.

The sound of the battle gradually faded, and the vicinity turned completely quiet.

The young monk watched intently as his monks gathered the essence blood, inner cores, and spiritual treasures from the demonic cultivators. Once the task was completed, he bowed to the surrounding cultivators. "Thank you for your patience, esteemed guests."

The golden curtain slowly dissipated, and the cultivators who had been waiting breathed a collective sigh of relief. After more than a month of delay, the situation had finally come to an end, allowing them to continue their journey.

"It's over," Fang Chen said lightly, stamping his foot. "Let's continue."

The sea turtle, seemingly in a bad mood, silently swam forward at great speed.

However, at that moment, one of the cultivators noticed the sea turtle and quickly shouted to the monks of Haiye Temple, "Hey, there's another demonic cultivator here!"

The monks who were about to leave paused and turned, scanning the surroundings. Their gazes eventually locked onto Fang Chen and the green-headed sea turtle.

The young monk frowned slightly, staring at the sea turtle for a while. Then, his voice turned cold. "Is that the Turtle Demonic Wanderer under the Falling Whale King?"

His gaze shifted to Fang Chen, and he spoke again with a sharp tone, "You are a human cultivator. Why are you mingling with demonic cultivators? You may leave, but it cannot."