Immortal of the Nine Realms

Chapter 1770: Ten Days Earlier

Feiyu Constellation, Qishan Wangtian Tower.

One immortal boat after another emerged from the horizon, arriving one after another. It was snowing here, and thousands of miles of land were blanketed in white.

Fang Chen gently lifted a snowflake, murmuring to himself, "It's snowing."

"Ten days early."

At that moment, several figures were standing on the Watching Heaven Tower. When they saw the immortal boats arriving, faint smiles appeared in their eyes.

A burly man flew out from within the tower and stood in midair, looking at Fang Chen and the others.

Qu Wanli cupped his hands in greeting, "Qu Wanli of Qingkong Mountain. Greetings, core disciples."

"Elder Qushan."

Upon hearing that, Li Yanjun's eyes lit up with surprise.

Qu Wanli looked at Li Yanjun and smiled. "How was the journey? Was it smooth?"

Li Yanjun sighed a little. "More or less...."

Reaching here meant their mission could be considered complete.

The other core disciples had no reaction, only scanning their surroundings with their eyes. They did not see any familiar cultivators here.

Fang Chen glanced at Wang Ye. "Isn't senior sister here?"

Wang Ye also showed a puzzled expression, then shook his head slightly. "I don't know where she is, but if she were here, she would have come out to receive us."

In other words, he also believed Xie Aman was not here.

"Everyone, hand these people over to us. Your mission ends here."

"Next, it's our turn."

Qu Wanli said with a smile, "You may rest and recuperate in the Feiyu Constellation for a while."

Xian Yueguan frowned slightly. "Something's not right. My mission was assigned by the Taiyi Immortal Sect. The people I brought should be received by the cultivators of the Taiyi Immortal Sect."

Several core disciples echoed him, their gazes toward Qu Wanli carrying a hint of distrust. Li Yanjun did not say anything, but he was also feeling doubtful.

Could it be that this place isn't arranged so that each sect has a few people stationed?

Qushan Wanli explained patiently, "Everyone, listen. This mission is far more difficult than you imagine. You all have completed the first stage. Next, we will handle the second stage. And after that, there will be a third stage and a fourth stage. The people stationed at the Wangyue Tower are only part of the arrangement. Some of the cultivators you are familiar with are waiting in the next stage."

Everyone exchanged glances.

Is that so?

None of the mission details they had received mentioned that. But they quickly understood that perhaps the higher-ups had deliberately withheld the information in case they were captured. If they knew too much, it might be extracted from them under interrogation.

Wang Ye said solemnly, "Do you have proof? If there's no proof, we cannot hand the people over."

"Of course we do."

Qushan Wanli took out several jade slips. After confirming which faction each group belonged to, he handed out a jade slip to each faction.

The jade slip for the Enlightenment God Palace was given to Fang Chen. When handing it over, Qu Wanli politely addressed him as Monarch Yan. It was clear that something unusual had occurred in the Feiyu Constellation, and they already knew his identity and background.

Fang Chen accepted the jade slip. His divine sense surged into it, where he saw a projection left behind by Xie Aman.

"You may hand the people over to Wangyue Tower. They are trustworthy. After that, you can rest well in the Feiyu Constellation. Your mission in the Taicang Realm has already been completed. Leave the rest to us."

After reading it, Fang Chen passed the jade slip to Wang Ye and the others. Everyone examined it one by one, but doubts still lingered. After all, projections inside jade slips could also be forged. The main issue was that before coming here, they had expected to meet the high-level figures of all parties. They had not expected this to be only the first stage.

Xian Yueguan frowned. "If this is only the first stage, then who are the escorts for the second stage? There should also be core disciples from each faction."

Qu Wanli smiled. "The escorts for the second stage are best known by as few people as possible. Their identities are absolutely confidential, and only a few of us old fellows stationed here know them. We will also be handing the people over to them after receiving them from you, but they are not currently at Wangyue Tower. Little Brother, are these jade slips still not enough to convince you all?"

Wang Ye calmly replied, "This is a matter of great importance. We've suffered a lot on our way here. The mission is so important that we cannot hand the people over easily."

"If even one elder from the Enlightenment God Palace were present, we would not have such concerns."

Ye Qingqiu suddenly frowned and looked toward Fang Chen. "Monarch Fang, something is off here."

Xian Yueguan quickly asked, "Core Disciple Ye, what exactly did you notice that's wrong?"

"I didn't notice anything. It's just intuition," replied Ye Qingqiu.

Li Yanjun gave a wry smile. "Everyone, this person is indeed Elder Qu Wanli of my Qingkong Mountain. He would not lie to us."

"In any case, if you cannot truly earn our trust, we will not hand anyone over," a core disciple said indifferently.

"Do you all understand what the consequences are if the timing is missed and this mission is ruined?" Qushan Wanli frowned slightly. "From beginning to end, your mission was only to deliver the people to Qishan Wangtian Tower in the Feiyu Constellation. Now that you've arrived, you just need to hand them over, and the mission is complete. Why insist on doubting everything?"

Fang Chen suddenly said, "What if this isn't the Feiyu Constellation, and this isn't Qishan Wangtian Tower?"

Qu Wanli froze slightly. "What do you mean?"

One of the core disciples was shocked. "Monarch Fang, are you saying... we've fallen into an illusion?"

An illusion?

Immediately, everyone's divine sense surged outward, seeking flaws in the surroundings. Upon closer inspection, they found some inconsistencies. For example, the snow didn't feel particularly cold.

Fang Chen said with a smile, "Illusions can be indistinguishable from reality, but when the target's cultivation is not weak, flaws tend to appear. It becomes impossible to make everything perfect."

Qu Wanli frowned. "Monarch Fang, you're overthinking it. But what exactly here makes you think it's a flaw?"

Fang Chen replied with a faint smile, "I actually haven't found any obvious flaws here."

Then he looked at the core disciple who had said the snow wasn't cold. "The snow isn't cold because your internal fire energy is too strong."

That core disciple was stunned.

Fang Chen said, "Mainly, I've studied star charts and have always been calculating time. Based on our route and travel speed, we arrived ten days earlier than expected. That is your biggest flaw."

Ten days early?

Everyone was startled. They had also estimated the timing, but in the vast Qingming region, an error of ten or so days in travel time was not unusual at all.

Qu Wanli couldn't help but laugh and shake his head. "You must be joking. Speeds vary constantly while traveling through Qingming. How could anyone calculate the exact arrival time? That's simply impossible."

Fang Chen smiled. "Why is it impossible? I have been calculating the time all along. Even if there is an error, it would be within three days at most. A ten-day deviation is impossible."

He looked at Qu Wanli. "I'm just a little curious... Are you really a cultivator from Qingkong Mountain?"

Hearing Fang Chen's certainty, the expressions of the crowd subtly changed. Compared to the man before them, they were more willing to trust Fang Chen.