280: What does it mean that there are nine Heavenly Courts?

Time passed by quickly.

Half a month later, Fire · Lin Chen left the galaxy where he had descended (a galaxy the size of the Milky Way), crossed the void between galaxies, and entered a new one.

"In the galaxy where I first descended, those life-bearing planets were inhabited by anthropomorphic animal races. Those races seemed never to have thought of looking up at the sky or exploring the unknown world beyond their planets."

"They cultivated their own small plots of land on their planets, practicing cultivation only to become immortals. They never delved deep into the essence of the world, as if as long as they became immortals, everything would be worth it."

Stopping at the edge of the new galaxy, Fire · Lin Chen summarized all the information he had collected and found that there was a major problem.

Those anthropomorphic animal races were clearly restricted by a mysterious power; their actions were fixed within the framework of becoming an immortal. Except for becoming an immortal, they could ignore everything else.

Fire · Lin Chen didn't know if this situation was a special case or a common occurrence, and he felt slightly irritable.

Ultimately, his strength was limited, so he could only use the slow method of exploring this universe bit by bit. If he could encounter an immortal of equivalent strength, it would be an even better situation, as he could gather more information.

The new galaxy gave Fire · Lin Chen a somewhat different feeling.

The empty space was filled with dense Water Laws. Such a place with heavy Water Laws was somewhat unfriendly to a Fire-type Lower God like him.

However, before Fire · Lin Chen could take any action, space fluctuated in front of him, and a magnificent blue palace slowly emerged from the spatial ripples.

This special situation made Fire · Lin Chen alert.

He perceived a God Rank being inside the blue palace. From the perspective of rules, the intensity was much higher than his, at the level of a veteran Lower God.

In a word, this unknown God Rank existence was stronger than him.

"It's a human!"

"A human from legend, a human who lives in the legendary Supreme Immortal Court!"

..."Human, why have you come here?"

"Human, are you a good person or a bad person?"

"Human, are you as powerful as Big Sister Lilia?"

"Human, you are so warm!"

Fire · Lin Chen looked at the water blobs floating around him, asking all sorts of questions, and many doubts surfaced in his heart.

These blob-like Water Spirits had floated out of the blue palace. Each of them was at the first or second stage of Ascension to God, capable of mobilizing the power of Water Laws for their use.

There were mischievous Water Spirits attacking Fire · Lin Chen with small water balls, but before the water balls could even get close to him, they were evaporated by the temperature naturally emitted by his scorching fire-type divine body.

"Children, are you not afraid of me?"

"Humans won't and cannot hurt us. We and humans are good friends."

"Am I a human you know?"

"No, but you are a human, so you won't and cannot hurt us."

Fire · Lin Chen knew he had entered the main exploration questline.

This universe also had humans, or at least human-shaped beings like him, and the "humans" here seemed to have a good relationship with the suddenly appearing Water Spirits.

Otherwise, how would a group of Water Spirits dare to surround him, a Fire-type Lower God, the moment they met? There was no fear, only curiosity.

"Little ones, stop playing and invite our guest in."

"Okay, Big Sister Lilia."

At this time, the owner of the palace, the unknown God Rank being, spoke to invite Fire · Lin Chen in. Fire · Lin Chen, being bold due to his skill, accepted the invitation without hesitation.

Surrounded by the Water Spirits, Fire · Lin Chen entered the blue palace. He saw a blue anthropomorphic Water Spirit standing with a dignified expression before a divine throne, looking at him gently.

This water deity stepped down from the platform where the divine throne was located and asked about Fire · Lin Chen's origin.

"Human friend from afar, I am Lilia, the Guardian of the Water Domain. May I know your name, and what business brings you to the Water Domain?"

"Water Domain?"

Fire · Lin Chen showed confusion at the right time and then fabricated an identity as someone who had lost his way.

When away from home, one's identity is whatever one gives oneself.

"Fellow Daoist Lilia, my Daoist name is Qingyuan. I didn't know which realm this was. I was previously swept away by a spatial turbulence, and after leaving it, I arrived at the neighboring galaxy inhabited by many beastman races."

"I didn't find any beings of the same status as you or me in that galaxy, so I came here. I am only passing through your esteemed land to find the way home."

"So, where is this place, which faction rules it, and how should I return to the Supreme Immortal Court? I cannot ascend right now."

Fire · Lin Chen displayed the anxiety typical of a lost person and spoke earnestly, hoping Lilia would clear his doubts.

After hearing Fire · Lin Chen's description, Lilia frowned and looked at him with doubt, clearly not understanding.

Seeing her expression, Fire · Lin Chen knew there was a problem with his description, exposing his lack of common knowledge about this universe. He was bound to be suspected.

"Fellow Daoist Qingyuan, this place is the Water Domain, one of the three thousand realms under the Supreme Immortal Court. You probably aren't someone born in the Supreme Immortal Court, are you?"

"Aha, Fellow Daoist Lilia, I did lie about that. I'm indeed not a local. I ended up here by accident and didn't dare to reveal too much of my identity. I hadn't even heard of the Supreme Immortal Court before."

Hearing this, Lilia felt that Fire · Lin Chen's previous words had a bit of a basis, but she still frowned, feeling that there was something wrong with him.

How could an immortal from the Supreme Immortal Court not know about the Water Domain? How could they not know that one can only travel between the upper and lower worlds through an Ascension Platform?

There was only one explanation: this immortal came from another Heavenly Court, perhaps with an unknown purpose. She needed to be alert and ready to call for help at any time.

"I wonder if Fellow Daoist Qingyuan comes from the Lingxiao Heavenly Court, the Haotian Divine Court, or the even more distant Xingchen Celestial Realm?"

"????"

Fire · Lin Chen was a bit stunned now.

As of now, he already knew of four Heavenly Courts.

The Supreme Immortal Court, Lingxiao Heavenly Court, Haotian Divine Court, and Xingchen Celestial Realm. From their names, these four factions should be at the same level, belonging to the upper world.

He just didn't know if they were independent realms or different factions within a single immortal world.

"*Cough*, none of them."

"Could it be from the Taiyi Divine Court?"

"No."

Lilia continued to question him. As the Guardian of the Water Domain, she needed to figure out Fire · Lin Chen's identity.

An unknown immortal appearing in the lower world was already unusual. Not being an immortal of the Supreme Immortal Court was an even bigger problem.

"Ancient Immortal World?"

"No."

"Daoshi Celestial Realm?"

"No."

"Then only the Five Emperors Celestial Realm and the Terminus Evil Heaven are left. No wonder you wanted to hide your identity; the immortals from those two Heavenly Courts are all bad seeds."

"..."

Fire · Lin Chen listened to the names of the nine factions. According to the terminology of this universe, these were all Heavenly Court-level powers.

Seeing that Fire · Lin Chen did not refute her, Lilia's expression remained unchanged, but she became even more alert.

Secretly, she quietly activated the Guardian Token issued by the Supreme Immortal Court to report the matter.

Fire · Lin Chen didn't notice this. At this moment, he was thinking about how to get from this lower world to the upper world where the Heavenly Courts were located to gather information about them.

His purpose in exploring this universe was essentially to collect information and provide intelligence support for his Main Body's future conquest of this universe.

At this time, in the realm called the "Supreme Immortal Court."

An immortal who was slacking off and sleeping was startled awake by a sudden message and hurriedly checked the sender's identity.

"Today isn't the day for debriefing. Why did the Guardian of the Water Domain report information? It seems there's a problem."

After the immortal finished checking Lilia's report, he knew the matter was of no small importance and immediately reported it to the Hall Master of the Sky-Patrol Hall, who was in charge of lower world affairs.

"Send two Sky Patrol Immortal Generalss to deal with it."

"Yes, Hall Master."

The Hall Master of the Sky-Patrol Hall wasn't very concerned about the matter, but he still dispatched Sky Patrol Immortal Generalss to solve the problem.

While Fire · Lin Chen knew nothing about it, two Sky Patrol Immortal Generalss at the Middle God level had already descended to the lower world through a special method to capture this "bad seed."