Chapter 193: Avatar of the Red Moon
A day later, Xiao Nanfeng stood on deck and beheld the sea before him.
"Young Master, this is the octopus' lair. There are countless octopi within," Ye Sanshui said, walking up to him.
Xiao Nanfeng looked toward the islands dotting the sea, octopi breaching the surface of the water and glancing eagerly at the approaching ships. Clearly, they were practiced with taking down ships that sailed over their waters.
"Mr. Zheng, you'll be responsible for activating the Ghosts' Parade. Ye Dafu and the others will help you set up the formation. Have the Ghosts' Parade strike at the octopus spirits' souls before the junior disciples make their move," Xiao Nanfeng instructed.
"Of course!" Zheng Qian nodded.
"Everyone else, guard the perimeter!"
"Got it!" Voices of agreement rang out through the ship.
Ye Dafu and the others quickly began setting up the formation as the junior disciples of the Taiqing Sect boarded smaller boats and cleared away the octopus spirits, giving Ye Dafu and the others room to work. When strong octopus spirits came to assail them, Zhao Yuanjiao, Croak, and Warble stepped forward to force them back.
The formation was quickly completed.
On Zheng Qian's command, the formation activated. Roiling fog filled the patch of sea. The mysterious black energy shone with light that penetrated through the seawater and filled the entire region.
Countless octopi were dragged into the illusion.
Within the illusion, Zheng Qian manipulated the Ghosts' Parade, commanding the hundred malicious ghosts to leap toward the octopus spirits.
Croak and Warble continued to swim outside the formation, herding the octopus spirits into the array.
Within a day, all the octopus spirits were badly hurt in terms of spiritual power. They floated up to the surface of the sea in a daze.
"Deactivate the formation. Kill the spirits!" Xiao Nanfeng then commanded.
As the formation dissipated, the fog cleared up to reveal countless octopus spirits that had floated up to the surface of the water. The Taiqing disciples, obeying Xiao Nanfeng's command, steered over with their boats and began killing them all.
The spirits were completely unable to resist, and they were easily slaughtered to the last.
Subsequently, the cultivators dragged their carcasses onto the fleet of ships.
This time, Xiao Nanfeng's expedition consisted of over a dozen ships. Even so, they were packed to the brim, like mountains in miniature.
With everything complete, Xiao Nanfeng headed to a rocky promontory and set up the Immortal's Destruction. Then, he sent Immortal-binding chains deep into the ocean.
As everyone waited expectantly, a dragon's roar rang out through the sea. Everyone clenched their fists in anticipation.
"Rise!" Xiao Nanfeng shouted.
A thousand-meter long giant golden dragon was dredged up from the depths of the sea. This particular draconic vein was even larger than that on Thousand-Serpent Island.
Everyone held their breaths.
Xiao Nanfeng jumped onto the dragon's head. "Everyone, dig in!"
The six thousand cultivators cheered and howled in excitement.
As Xiao Nanfeng began to absorb draconic aether, everyone joined him in the feast.
The draconic vein roared in outrage as its body was stripped away.
Xiao Nanfeng activated his aether-storing technique in full force, absorbing as much of the draconic aether as he could. It took a surprisingly long time for him to reach the peak of what he could withstand. By that time, the huge draconic vein had been all but consumed. Everyone's bodies glowed with golden light as they sat cross-legged and began to meditate, seeking a breakthrough in their cultivation.
Xiao Nanfeng did the same. He sent all the draconic aether surging toward his mindscape and activated Taiqing Yin Body at full strength. As all the draconic aether was distilled into spiritual power and flooded his stellar lake, more and more bursts of crimson starlight formed, until there were roughly equal proportions of silver and crimson starbursts in Xiao Nanfeng's stellar lake.
Even so, Xiao Nanfeng continued creating crimson starbursts. When they reached a critical threshold, all the crimson starbursts suddenly gathered near the middle. With a boom, they combined into a red moon that slowly floated out of the water and into the air. The crimson light that it gave off illuminated Xiao Nanfeng's entire mindscape.
Simultaneously, the radiant silver moon already in the air erupted with silver light, as though to counteract the Taiqing red moon. The two colors of moonlight clashed against each other in a bizarre rumble.
The superior yin pearl and black lotus seemed to have noticed something amiss, too. They detached themselves from the silver moon and stellar lake respectively, wondering just what Xiao Nanfeng had done to create this red moon.
Both moons grew brighter and brighter, as though neither was willing to submit to the other, almost as if they would choke each other to death.
Xiao Nanfeng blanched. He hadn't expected such an outcome. How had the two moons become rivals?
Suddenly, they smashed into each other in a burst of silver and red spiritual energy. The crash was severe enough that Xiao Nanfeng's head began to buzz.
He quickly stabilized both moons with his spiritual power; fortunately, neither resisted his grasp. The moment he relented, however, the two moons smashed into each other again.
Neither moon seemed able to tolerate the other, as though they wouldn't back down until one of them were defeated.
Xiao Nanfeng's brain was throbbing. He too was shocked by what had happened. There was no record of such an anomalous event in either Body of Yin or Taiqing Yin Body.
The situation devolved into a stalemate. Xiao Nanfeng was unable to calm down either moon; he had no choice but to retain control over both of them to ensure that they didn't smash into each other. He would have to enter secluded cultivation to resolve this unexpected dilemma.
Xiao Nanfeng opened his eyes.
Before him, many Taiqing disciples had already gotten up. four of them were even floating in the air. When they saw Xiao Nanfeng awaken, they dropped down to the ground.
"Thank you for your generosity, Senior Brother Xiao." The four disciples bowed toward Xiao Nanfeng respectfully.
"You've all reached Spiritsong?" Xiao Nanfeng exclaimed.
"Yes, Senior Brother Xiao! Without this draconic aether, it might have taken us months or even years to reach this level of cultivation," the four disciples replied excitedly.
"In that case, you're all to be considered elders of the sect. There's no need to call me Senior Brother any more. My name will suffice." Xiao Nanfeng smiled.
The four disciples shook their heads. One of them began, "You're our senior brother no matter what, even if we reached Spiritsong before you, Senior Brother Xiao! Furthermore, we believe that you'll reach Spiritsong in no time yourself."
The other three disciples nodded resolutely.
"As you will." Xiao Nanfeng nodded and smiled.
The four disciples bowed again in gratitude. As the other Taiqing disciples awoke, they glanced at the four disciples in admiration and envy.
Reaching Spiritsong was equivalent to becoming a high-ranking member of the Taiqing Immortal Sect; Xiao Nanfeng had essentially elevated these four disciples to a status most ordinary disciples could only dream of.
"Elder, I need to enter secluded cultivation for some time. Please guard the ships as we return to the sect," Xiao Nanfeng requested of Zhao Yuanjiao.
Zhao Yuanjiao nodded. "No problem."
Xiao Nanfeng stored the Immortal's Destruction and stepped toward one of the ships. He entered the cabin and began secluded cultivation.
The four Spiritsong-realm disciples immediately flew toward Xiao Nanfeng's ship and guarded him.
On the island, the Taiqing disciples gradually awoke one after another. They were all exhilarated by their gains—their cultivation had improved by leaps and bounds.
They wanted to thank Xiao Nanfeng, but couldn't find him.
When everyone woke up, Zhao Yuanjiao instructed them all to board the ships immediately. The fleet of ships sailed back toward the Taiqing Immortal Sect.
Within the cabin, Xiao Nanfeng devoted all his attention to manipulating the two moons in his mindscape. He used every trick he could think of, but the two moons refused to submit to his control—or to each other. The moment Xiao Nanfeng relaxed, they began to smash into each other once more. The resulting cacophony caused Xiao Nanfeng's head to buzz.
"Things can't keep going like this. The two moons won't be able to get along in harmony, so I have no choice but to separate them," Xiao Nanfeng eventually muttered, sighing.
He retrieved the ghostly blue skin that the Pestilence Sage's avatar had left behind. It had taken a tremendous amount of work for the Pestilence Sage to make such a skin, and it was a treasure in and of itself.
"I did manage to learn a secret technique from the Vault of Scriptures. Should I attempt to condense an avatar myself, then?" Xiao Nanfeng glanced at the skin expectantly.
He tentatively manipulated the red moon out of his mindscape. The red moon acceded, but only after sweeping up a large cloud of water from his stellar lake.
Wreathed in his spiritual power, the red moon was covered in a sheen of water and gave off gorgeous crimson light. Xiao Nanfeng sent the red moon into the mindscape of the ghostly blue skin.
The skin radiated with light. Its original ghostly blue color retreated as it swelled up, manifesting in the form of a human body.
Xiao Nanfeng saw the avatar before him, made with sinister arts, transform from the Pestilence Sage into him as the crimson light shone down from the red moon.
"These skins are supposed to slowly transform into whoever's spiritual power nourishes them, but it should be a process that takes several years. How could the transformation have happened instantly? Could there be something unusual about this red moon?" Xiao Nanfeng wondered.
He frowned at the avatar. Except for its clothes, which were different, everything else looked exactly like him. The red moon relaxed as it grew used to its new environment, and the crimson light faded away.
Xiao Nanfeng manipulated his avatar with surprising ease.
"It feels like a natural extension of my body... What a strange, fascinating sensation. However, this skin doesn't look to be of particularly high quality. Well, let's go test it out."
He had his avatar put on the same clothes that his main body wore. Then, with his main body seated in his cabin, he piloted his avatar outside.
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