Chapter 140: Emperor Wei's Downfall
A windstorm in the air swept across the valley.
Xiao Nanfeng immediately raised his head, only to see that the aerial battle had concluded.
The Red Emperor and Bai Ruoyi had much of their bodies chipped away. A large pile of treasures floated by the cursed king's side, many having shattered over the course of the battle. Even a corner of the Seal of Great Wei had been turned to powder.
The cursed king seemed to have two heads—one of its own, and the other of which belonged to the skeleton into which Emperor Wei had transformed.
"Divine undying king though you might be, it looks like I've won this match, haha!" Emperor Wei's skull roared in laughter.
It combined with the cursed king's head as they touched.
"I knew you were up to no good when you came to find me back then, but to think you would be willing to wait for an entire millennium before you struck. If I weren't this weak at the moment, and if I hadn't just formed twenty avatars, you would never have succeeded," the cursed king howled.
"That year, I begged you to assist in my revival. You promised your assistance if I were to defeat you, but you never set a timeline for that offer. Now, you've lost, and everything you own is mine. Don't try to find an excuse to squirrel out of this defeat—I'll only look down on you the more you try. Don't resist. Hand over your body, and I'll promise to return it to you a millennium later when I leave it," Emperor Wei informed the cursed king coldly.
By then, their two skulls had merged into one cohesive whole, as if they had become the same skeleton.
"Has Master won?" Xiao Nanfeng murmured, watching from down below.
In the air, the Red Emperor and Bai Ruoyi clenched their fists tightly, jubilant and exhilarated by their consort's victory.
"Stealing my power and expecting me not to resist? Emperor Wei, do you think me such a fool?" The cursed king grimaced fiercely.
"I've calculated and forestalled everything you could possibly do. Your soul is at the nadir of its strength. You can't hold me back now. Give up, and give in. I'll only borrow your body for a thousand years—my word on it," Emperor Wei proclaimed.
The cursed king's body glowed with golden radiance as Emperor Wei's possession neared completion.
"Don't struggle any longer, you divine undying king! This cursed spiritual avatar now belongs to us. We—what? What are you doing?!" Emperor Wei shouted in a panic.
"What's the matter, Consort?" The Red Emperor and Bai Ruoyi immediately drew near.
"Don't come over!" Emperor Wei shouted.
Suddenly, a wave of energy burst out of the cursed king's body.
"You're self-destructing? Are you crazy?" Emperor Wei howled.
Cracks were propagating throughout the body; it seemed about to split apart.
"I am. Even if my cursed spiritual avatar dissipates, I won't allow you to succeed. Do you think you've won? No! Don't forget that you have a debilitating weakness. You're not a cursed effigy at heart, but rather a parasitic truesoul! Cursed effigies can revive from the dead, but you can't!" the cursed king taunted.
"No!" Emperor Wei cried out.
Not only was the cursed king's body splitting apart, so too were the Red Emperor and Bai Ruoyi's bodies.
"Do you know what price I had to pay to transform into a cursed effigy in the past? Do you think that we cursed effigies are all easy to manipulate? I lived far before your time, fool! Do you think your little tricks can seize everything I am, everything I own? Ha! Even the heavens were unable to claim me for themselves. Who do you think you are?!" the cursed king bellowed.
"I promised you that I would only borrow your body for a thousand years. Why would you self-destruct? It'd take you ten thousand years, maybe even longer, to reconstitute yourself. Don't you see how this is a losing proposition?!"
"I could wait ten thousand years if I had to. Enslave me? Don't even dream of it. We might both lose, but you'll never win!" the cursed king cried out triumphantly.
Its body cracked, dissipating blue mist. The specter of Emperor Wei could be seen from within it. He tried to grab onto the blue mist all around him, but to no avail.
"No!" he shouted desperately. His thousand-year plan had gone up in smoke! Emperor Wei couldn't accept this reality.
As he self-destructed, the cursed king's subordinates and even the two empresses were likewise obliterated. Blue fog exploded from their bodies, revealing the spectral figures of the Red Emperor and Bai Ruoyi.
The two women flew toward the raging emperor.
"Forget it, Consort. I've had a thousand years to process my death. Even if we can't live forever, we can die together. I'll accompany you on this last journey. We won't be lonely along the way," the Red Emperor stated.
"Consort, to be able to witness you at the last was all that I could hope for. I'll accompany you as well," Bai Ruoyi added, smiling.
The two women tugged on each of Emperor Wei's arms, consoling him. Their eyes, though sad and regretful, were simultaneously calm and satisfied.
The emperor slowly calmed down.
"I don't know how long ago this mental instability started to occur. I had been prepared to fail a thousand years ago—so how could I be so upset about it now? Hong'er, Bai'er, thank you for being by my side all this time. I regret I was unable to protect either of you."
Emperor Wei hugged both women. Frank though his words were, he couldn't help but feel a sense of resigned desolation.
"This isn't bad, Consort." The Red Emperor smiled sadly.
"Consort, together we lived, and together we shall die. I have no regrets," Empress Bai Ruoyi said.
Emperor Wei patted both women on their back, quashed his desolation, and regained full lucidity.
"Give me a moment."
The two women looked at each other in confusion as Emperor Wei gathered all the blue fog in an exercise of spiritual power, reforming himself as the cursed king temporarily.
"Blue Lantern, you've assisted me for a thousand years. Though I might have failed, I keep my word to the last. Be a slave no more!" Emperor Wei shouted, pointing at the unconscious Blue Lantern.
Blue Lantern's body cracked and filled with blue smoke. He immediately shriveled, but he regained consciousness.
Blue Lantern unsteadily got to his feet. He raised his head to the air and witnessed what had befallen Emperor Wei, as though understanding all that had transpired since his unconsciousness.
"Thank you, Emperor Wei." Blue Lantern bowed down in a doddering fashion. He had been entirely freed from the cursed king's control.
Emperor Wei then turned to Xiao Nanfeng. "Nanfeng."
"Yes, Master! Master, a group of cursed effigies have gathered around me. Would you be able to help me eliminate them?"
Emperor Wei shook his head. "There's no time. Nanfeng, I must admit that when I took you as disciple, I intended to make use of you. That was why I refused to tell you about the truth behind these cursed effigies."
"I guessed that, Master, but I don't blame you any longer." Xiao Nanfeng sighed.
Emperor Wei stared at Xiao Nanfeng for a long moment before sighing. "Very good, very good. If nothing else, I will leave a disciple behind in the world."
The damaged Seal of Great Wei flew toward Xiao Nanfeng.
"Nanfeng, the Seal of Great Wei has been all but destroyed, and the fortune within used up. Even so, I've left you a kingdom founding technique within, Imperial Court of Heaven. May you build a kingdom free from strife, beyond the likes of which this world has ever seen, breaking the curse of the strong. Do not become a cursed effigy forced to skulk in the darkest corners of the world," Emperor Wei spoke, smiling wryly.
Xiao Nanfeng accepted the damaged seal. "Yes, Master! I promise I'll spread your inheritance and make it known far and wide!"
The copper body dispersed, revealing the specter of Emperor Wei once more.
Emperor Wei's specter held firmly onto the Red Emperor with one hand and onto Bai Ruoyi with the other. He flew toward the altar down below. "Nanfeng, bury my consorts' and my coffin on this altar. I don't wish to go anywhere any longer. Let us end it all here."
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
Xiao Nanfeng retrieved Emperor Wei's coffin from his storage ring. He uncovered it, allowing Emperor Wei, the Red Emperor, and Bai Ruoyi's specters to seep into their bodies with one final sigh.
Xiao Nanfeng then moved the cursed king's coffin, which had quieted down, aside, then cleared the immobile cursed slaves from the altar. He placed Emperor Wei's three-person coffin in the center, then erased the words 'Divine Undying King' from the stone tablet by the side of the altar, replacing them with the names of Emperor Wei and his two consorts.
"May you rest in peace, Master." Xiao Nanfeng bowed toward Emperor Wei.
Blue Lantern, lurching forward, likewise bowed toward Emperor Wei.
Just then, a mocking voice came from mid-air.
"A millennium of planning all for naught. A divine emperor, yet to inherit a heavenly body, dares to scheme against me? Did he really think me so easy to defeat?"
Xiao Nanfeng frowned as he raised his head. "Didn't the cursed king self-destruct?"
"Impossible! How could he have revived so quickly?!" Blue Lantern cried out.
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