Chapter 108: Quintessence of Hegemon's Fist
The champions of the final few plazas all boasted fist techniques of immense strength, and Xiao Nanfeng spent a total of two days getting past them.
At this moment, he was standing in the last plaza, his eyes closed as he reflected on what he had learned to date. Rays of golden light poured out of his body, and a thousand arms sprouted amidst the light. Each arm moved independently of the others, sketching out a fragment of the manifold techniques that Xiao Nanfeng had now mastered. The thousand palms gave off intense pressure.
Not only had Xiao Nanfeng managed to master all hundred and eight fist techniques, he had even coalesced all that understanding into the quintessence of Hegemon's Fist.
"We are pleased by your mastery of Hegemon's Fist." A booming voice rang out by Xiao Nanfeng's ear.
Xiao Nanfeng reined in his spiritual power. The thousand arms bathed in golden light overlapped and condensed into his two physical arms. As the golden light receded, Xiao Nanfeng opened his eyes.
Before him stood a man dressed in a dragon's robe, with a crown on his head—Emperor Wei. The emperor gave off an aura of tremendous majesty.
"Thank you for imparting your fist technique to me, Your Majesty. Please give me a moment. An old acquaintance of yours has been waiting to be reunited with you. Allow me to lead her in." Xiao Nanfeng bowed deeply, then vanished in a cloud of smoke. Within moments, he had returned with the Red Emperor by his side.
The Red Emperor's body suddenly grew taut with tension as her eyes turned wet.
"Hong'er?" Emperor Wei couldn't suppress his delight. [1]
The Red Emperor took a few tentative steps forward. She caressed Emperor Wei's face, her voice choked with emotion. "Remnant that you be, do you still remember me?"
"You are part of my every thought," Emperor Wei replied warmly. The two figures embraced each other, sharing a long moment of affectionate silence.
Xiao Nanfeng waited patiently, standing not too far away.
The Red Emperor seemed to have far too much that she wanted to convey to Emperor Wei, but at that moment, caught tightly in his embrace, it felt as though words were entirely unnecessary.
The two reluctantly separated from each other after prolonged contact, but even as they drew apart, the Red Emperor held firmly onto his hand, refusing to let go.
"This is Nanfeng, who has mastered your Hegemon's Fist. You need not make further assessment of his nature. Blue Lantern has already left with Bai Ruoyi's truesoul, and he might come for mine at any moment. He might even come up with an excuse to take all your possessions for himself. Nanfeng helped Bai Ruoyi maintain her dignity to her last, and he gave me the power to confidently reject Blue Lantern's offer of assistance. I did not need to give up my pride or my lasting regrets to beg for his help. Give him your inheritance. Don't leave anything for Blue Lantern," the Red Emperor implored.
Emperor Wei was silent for long moments before he nodded. "As you will, my consort."
A golden ball of light manifested in Emperor Wei's palm, a large engraved seal slowly revolving within it.
"Nanfeng, take this Seal of Great Wei and head to my consort's tomb. His entire inheritance is there, and only with this seal can you claim it," the Red Emperor told him seriously.
"Thank you, Your Majesties!" Xiao Nanfeng bowed deeply to both esteemed figures. Then, he solemnly claimed the golden ball of light, which he absorbed into his mindscape. It floated above his stellar lake.
"Your Majesty, while ascending the Plaza Stairway, I encountered You Shi yet again. Although he was killed by the cursed effigy I brought in with me, I'm afraid that he might still have other spiritual avatars around." Xiao Nanfeng recounted what had happened.
"Consort, will you hand over control of this realm to me?" the Red Emperor asked Emperor Wei.
"Of course." Emperor Wei didn't hesitate at all.
A burst of blue light shot out of Emperor Wei's body and into the Red Emperor's.
Emperor Wei suddenly turned much more transparent than before. Clearly, what he had done had cost him. Meanwhile, the Red Emperor glowed with blue light. A dragon-quelling spike materialized in the air above her, resonating with the energy she now gave off.
With a wave of the Red Emperor's hand, the remaining nine champions transformed into a cloud of mist that gathered around Emperor Wei. The champions had been formed with his spiritual energy, and could naturally now replenish his expenditure.
With another wave of the Red Emperor's hands, the dragon-quelling spike in the air began to release pulses of blue light that encapsulated the world. The light quickly vanished.
"I have confirmed that You Shi retains no spiritual avatars in this realm," the Red Emperor stated.
"I understand, Your Majesty." Xiao Nanfeng nodded with a frown.
He had come up with another hypothesis, but he didn't want to waste more of the Red Emperor's time, so he said nothing.
"I won't be leaving. The dragon-quelling spike which I made my residence still possesses a measure of my consort's energy, which you can activate and shoot out with spiritual energy. You are intimately familiar with how strong it is. Come to my consort's tomb along with Yu'er. I've already told her where it's located," the Red Emperor continued.
"Understood!" Xiao Nanfeng nodded.
"Go, then." The Red Emperor's expression was calm and placid.
She stood by Emperor Wei's side in a moment of unadulterated peace.
Xiao Nanfeng bowed deeply to both members of royalty before his body dissipated in a cloud of mist. He awoke in reality.
Yu'er hurriedly stepped forward. "What happened, Nanfeng? Where's my master?"
Xiao Nanfeng relayed what had happened within the last few minutes. Yu'er sighed. "If only Emperor Wei and the others were still alive..."
"Senior Sister, thank you for working hard to guard me," Xiao Nanfeng replied.
"There's no need to stand on formalities with me. Furthermore, over the last few days, Master has been imparting me with all the techniques she knows. I've been doing quite a bit of work, and I'm now at the fifth stage of Ascension." Yu'er puffed out her chest proudly.
"Are you still feeling uncomfortable?" Xiao Nanfeng asked, glancing at her worriedly.
When Empress Bai Ruoyi passed on all her techniques to the Lady Arclight, she had developed a splitting headache that she wouldn't be able to recover from for a month. Surely the Red Emperor's inheritance was no less inferior than Empress Bai's?
"Don't compare me to the Lady Arclight. I bear fortune," Yu'er replied proudly.
"You really are strong, Senior Sister," Xiao Nanfeng praised. Yu'er's sixth sense was far too developed. How could she have guessed whom he was thinking of?
"I'll reach Spiritsong in no time. At that point, please address me as Lady Yu'er."
"Very well," Xiao Nanfeng replied, smiling. "You really are strong, Lady Yu'er."
"That's not bad." Yu'er's eyes lit up with satisfaction. For some reason, she felt a need to compete against the Lady Arclight.
"We need to head to Emperor Wei's tomb as quickly as possible. I wonder if the serpent is already standing guard there? We have to have a look. On our way back, we'll see if You Jiu was lying to me," Xiao Nanfeng planned.
"Who's You Jiu?" Yu'er asked in confusion.
As the two cultivators moved aside the rock blocking the entrance to the cave, Xiao Nanfeng explained to Yu'er what had happened there. Yu'er roared in outrage. "Xiang Kun really doesn't have a trace of humanity in him!"
The two cultivators left the mountain cave and headed toward the peak within which Emperor Wei's tomb was. Suddenly, a blizzard launched at the mountain's peak struck near the foot of the mountain.
"Haven't you heard me? All those who attempt to approach will be shot and killed! There are only a few of you. How dare you attempt to sneak your way in?" the serpent howled as it dove down into a valley.
The two cultivators sighed. Although they didn't know who had incited the serpent's assault, it was clear that the serpent had no intention of allowing others to approach the peak.
The two cultivators had no choice but to avoid the mountain as they strategized. They found that the crow spirits were streaming back into two locations of the valley. One was the black-armored cultivators' camp; the other had to be what You Jiu had mentioned.
There was a cave within the valley, filled with patrolling guards. While one of them went to relieve himself, Xiao Nanfeng, dressed in black suddenly appeared behind him and knocked him unconscious. Xiao Nanfeng dragged him to a secluded location outside the valley and began interrogating him, confirming that what You Jiu had described to him was, in fact, the truth.
"There's only a single Ascension-realm black-armored cultivator by that cave. I'll handle him. The other ten at Immanence, I'll leave to you," Yu'er volunteered.
"Got it. There are still a few crow spirits patrolling by the cave, and I promised You Jiu that I'd rescue his sweetheart. Just in case they attempt to harm his companion, I think you should change into the black armor as well."
"Alright!"
After some preparation, the two cultivators emerged with black armor. They lowered their heads so that the crow spirits nearby wouldn't notice anything amiss. Only when they were close to the mouth of the cave did a patrolling guard notice that they seemed unfamiliar.
"Who are you?" he questioned.
The other guards by the cave looked over, but by then, the two cultivators were so close that they couldn't alert anyone even if they wanted to.
Yu'er rushed deep within the cave, while Xiao Nanfeng stood by its mouth. His Immortal Cicada flashed, beheading a significant number of the guards.
The crow spirits shrieked as Xiao Nanfeng followed Yu'er into the cave.
A huge bang could be heard from within. The Ascension-realm cultivator had taken up arms against Yu'er, but he was weaker and had been sent crashing against the wall of the cave.
"They must be here for that woman. Quick, take her hostage!" the Ascension-realm cultivator shouted as he vomited blood.
The other black-armored cultivators in the cave all rushed toward the woman in a corner of the cave, but Xiao Nanfeng cut them all down with his Immortal Cicada. They perished on the spot.
At the same time, Yu'er struck the Ascension-realm cultivator once more.
"No!" the man screamed shrilly. He died right then and there. All the black-armored cultivators had fallen. Only then did the crow spirits arrive to investigate the commotion.
"Kill them!" The two cultivators quickly eliminated all the crow spirits that had flown into the cave.
Xiao Nanfeng and Yu'er rushed out, startling the crow spirits outside. They fled, intending to raise an alarm.
"Immortal Cicada, go!" both cultivators shouted.
Swathes of crow spirits were cut down with every cleave from the two flying swords. One golden crow spirit swooped down, intending to hold the two of them off, only to be struck by their Immortal Cicadas. Its feathers fell out, and blood stained its heavily wounded body. It turned to flee in fear.
The two cultivators rushed back into the cave, where they found that the female hostage was unconscious. Her body was ice-cold, and she was terribly weak.
There was no time to waste. Yu'er cradled the unconscious woman as the two cultivators ran away from the cave. Xiao Nanfeng had prepared three flares in advance, which he now lit up to send three clouds of black smoke into the air.
1. 红 ('hong') for red, as in Red Emperor. 儿 ('er') is a common diminutive added to a person's name to signify affection. Consider the English equivalent John → Johnny. ?
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