Immortal of the Nine Realms-Chapter 1391: Like a Shadow

Wang Xuan withdrew his gaze from Fang Chen and looked at the junior martial sister beside him. "Junior sister, how long has junior brother been in the sect?"

Xu Qian thought for a moment and replied with slight hesitation, "Just a few decades, I think..."

She still felt a lingering sense of shock from the battle between Fang Chen and Nanming Shaoze.

She and Fang Chen were both bronze jade token holders, and both were at the Tribulation Realm, yet she wouldn't even be able to withstand one move from Nanming Shaoze. But Fang Chen hadn't just held his ground against Nanming Shaoze—he had thoroughly defeated him, and in a way she couldn't even understand.

He had dealt with the Heavenly Sniping Art inexplicably.

Wang Xuan asked, "Several decades in the sect, late Tribulation Realm, defeated a golden Jade Token holder... his talent far exceeds what we imagined. When you went to recruit him, did you offend him in any way?"

Xu Qian thought carefully, then shook her head lightly. "I didn't say anything that could have offended him."

Wang Xuan nodded. "Good."

Xu Qian clearly saw that he seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and hesitantly said, "Senior brother, no matter how talented he is, he still isn't a first transformation immortal. You don't have to worry about him."

"I'm just afraid... that once he becomes a first-transformation immortal, he'll be directly promoted to a core disciple."

"Is that even possible!?" exclaimed Xu Qian.

She found it hard to believe. Although Fang Chen had defeated Nanming Shaoze, she couldn't imagine him becoming a core disciple because of it.

It had to be understood that the Enlightenment God Palace housed countless external cultivators. Yet it had been who knows how many years since an external cultivator had leapt directly into the ranks of core disciples. Across the entire history of the Enlightenment God Palace, the number of people who had done that could be counted on one hand.

The Enlightenment God Palace basically didn't select core disciples from external disciples. They had other channels for that.

Wang Xuan said, "By the way, next time you see Xiao Chenghe, be sure to remind him. If he really wants to go teach our junior brother a lesson, he might end up being the one taught instead."

Xu Qian nodded lightly. "I'll let him know next time I see him. He is probably also in the Formless Purgatory now?"

"Very likely."

***

"So this is the Heavenly Sniping Art. Its power depends on the cultivator's own cultivation level, and the boost it provides in terms of raw force actually isn't that significant."

Fang Chen studied the contents of the jade slip for a while and had already grasped the basics of the Heavenly Sniping Art. The technique was divided into nine levels.

Even when cultivated to the Ninth Shot, its raw power was still far inferior to the Desolation Supreme Sword Scripture. But its terrifying aspect lay not in its power, but in its range and its connection to karma.

He had already tasted its prowess in Nanming Shaoze's hands. When spiritual energy was cut, the arrow disappeared. But when the opponent activated his spiritual energy again, the arrow reappeared.

What did this show? It showed that once the Heavenly Sniping Art was activated, even the caster couldn't end it unless the karma link with the target was removed.

That was the technique's core principle. The second was its range.

Its range was measured in miles, but in truth, its manifestation didn't follow a visible trajectory or process. Once karma was established, the arrow would follow the target like a shadow unless the target moved beyond the maximum range. Otherwise, the arrow would appear from the void in various ways, with no trajectory at all.

Fang Chen had already mastered the First Shot. What followed was a gradual process of refinement. Once he mastered the Ninth Shot, the full power of the Heavenly Sniping Art would be unlocked.

At that point, he would be able to fire nine arrows at once.

As Fang Chen finished studying, Yu Tiange and the others walked up to him.

Fang Chen cupped his hands in greeting. "Daoist Yu, how far has Nanming Shaoze cultivated the Heavenly Sniping Art?"

"I am not exactly sure, but back when I defeated him, he had already mastered the Third Shot," answered Yu Tiange. "If not for his lack of cultivation, his understanding of this technique would have gone even deeper. Now, I suspect he's at least reached the Fifth Shot."

Fang Chen nodded slightly. The core of the Heavenly Sniping Art was cultivation. Without sufficient spiritual energy to sustain it, it wouldn't be nearly as terrifying. It might even seem rather underwhelming.

That was also why very few cultivators chose to focus on this technique.

However, Fang Chen was different. His cultivation level wasn't very high, but he had three first-transformations avatars within him. Moreover, once his spiritual energy was depleted, it would recover with astonishing speed.

In this regard, he had a clear advantage. It was as if he was born for this Heavenly Sniping Art.

"Fellow Daoist Fang, while this art seems powerful, it actually doesn't rank very high in the cultivation world," said Yu Tiange after a moment of hesitation. "It's not even as strong as the Nine Tribulations Lightning Body that I practice."

"Instead of wasting your time and effort on this technique, I think it might be better to choose a more powerful one. You can use merit points to exchange for techniques, and you'll have a lot of options to choose from. Once this journey ends, we should be able to earn a fair amount of merit. You could exchange them then."

Fang Chen replied, "Thank you for the reminder. I was only sampling it lightly. I won't delve into it too deeply."

Yu Tiange nodded slightly and extended an invitation. "Shall we explore this place together next?"

Just as Fang Chen was about to respond, Little Immortal Honglian jumped into the conversation and declined on his behalf, then quickly pulled him away.

Watching them leave, Meng Qingling bit her lip in frustration. "Still insisting they're not Dao Companions? Look at them. If that's not Dao Companions, what is?"

Lin Yuan and Yu Wuxia exchanged a glance and laughed it off.

Lin Yuan said, "They were together even during the entrance trials. It's perfectly normal for them to be exploring together now. Enough idle talk, where should we head next?"

"Uh..."

Seeing their uncertainty, Yu Tiange stepped in again with an offer.

"Why not come with us?"

Under normal circumstances, Yu Tiange wouldn't have thought highly of the three of them. But this unusual experience had changed his perspective.

"That works. We'll trouble you then, Fellow Daoist Yu."

"No trouble at all."

Fang Chen continued exploring with Little Immortal Honglian for several more years. During that time, he gradually realized she was moving with clear intent, as if using some secret method to head toward a specific destination. The clues were subtle. If Fang Chen hadn't already suspected it, he likely wouldn't have noticed.

One day, Little Immortal Honglian saw him practicing the Heavenly Sniping Art again and casually asked, "Fellow Daoist Fang, didn't you say you weren't going to study that technique?"

Fang Chen smiled. "Just dabbling a bit."

Dabbling... and already reached the Third Shot?

Little Immortal Honglian pouted slightly.

Just moments ago, they had encountered three Formless Void Beasts. The first such encounter since they began their exploration. These beasts had no true form, appearing like clumps of stardust, and arrived without warning, exuding a devastating aura. Their attacks were extremely aggressive.

But before Little Immortal Honglian could even act, Fang Chen had already used the Heavenly Sniping Art to slay all three.

Three arrows at once. It was clear proof he had already mastered the Third Shot.

Fang Chen said casually, "Enough about that. Did you notice? I think the Black Dragon Boats just flew by."

A flicker of concern flashed in her eyes, though she quickly masked it.

"I did. They seem to be heading in the same direction as us."

"Let's go check it out."

Fang Chen immediately activated his Sword Transformation Technique, grabbed her, and shot forward at great speed.

Several days later, they began to slow down.

Ahead, in the distance, hundreds of Black Dragon Ships were gathered in one place. It seemed all the core cultivators who came this time had gathered here.