Chapter 224: Laying a Trap for Zhao Tianheng
Xiao Nanfeng tentatively sent a burst of spiritual power into Zhao Yuanjiao's body.
His spiritual power surged like a roaring river. It flooded Zhao Yuanjiao's body and caused him to tremble. Red light gushed out of his body, and an arcane rune seemed to flare in its depths.
"How could this be? Your spiritual cultivation is at Lunar Deluge, too?!" Zhao Yuanjiao exclaimed.
"Focus, Senior Brother!" Xiao Nanfeng urged.
Zhao Yuanjiao held back his shock as he sent the spiritual power straight at the rune, cracking and dispelling it with the sudden surge of energy. Zhao Yuanjiao's body trembled and relaxed.
"Well?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.
"I've broken the compulsion. It's all gone now." Zhao Yuanjiao gaped at Xiao Nanfeng. "How could your spiritual cultivation be at Lunar Deluge?"
"If Zhao Tianheng can reach Lunar Deluge, why not me?" Xiao Nanfeng replied, smiling.
"He has two hundred years of cultivation under his belt, along with a significant influx of fortune from the Tianshu Empire to wipe out his karmic consequence! That's how he made it to Lunar Deluge. How many years have you been a cultivator?"
"What, can't I get some fortune of my own?" Xiao Nanfeng's smile widened.
Zhao Yuanjiao shook his head in disbelief.
"Senior Brother, Zhao Tianheng has maligned you of attempting to hurt fellow sect members. It's a huge crime, and you have to prove your innocence," Xiao Nanfeng urged.
"The situation's against me right now. Even if I were to argue against Zhao Tianheng immediately, it wouldn't be effective. It might even alert him and cause him to retaliate. We have to find Master. I'll continue pretending to be crazed. You have to find him as soon as possible."
Xiao Nanfeng shook his head. "Zhao Tianheng will learn of Elder Huang's injury in no time at all, considering how alert he is. He might notice that something is amiss sooner than you think. If I still haven't found Master by then, you'll be in danger."
"There's no other choice. How else can we go against him? You might be superior in terms of spiritual cultivation, but he's the division leader. If you make a move against him, he'll decry you and use it as an excuse to kill you!"
"Don't worry too much about it. Let me think up a strategy. Stay here for a moment," Xiao Nanfeng suggested.
"What are you doing?" Zhao Yuanjiao asked, perplexed.
Xiao Nanfeng stepped into the thick fog until he was far from sight.
"Madam Rouge? Are you here?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.
Madam Rouge suddenly popped into existence before him.
"What's the matter?"
"I'd like to enlist your help."
Madam Rouge was silent for a moment. "Do you really intend to treat me like a hired thug?"
"No, Madam Rouge! You won't have to attack anyone at all. I'm eyeing your superior control over illusory realms and your ability to lock them down, in particular. If I bring a group of people into this illusory realm, could you trap them within so I can put on a show?"
"Do you intend to lay a trap for that Zhao Tianheng?" Madam Rouge asked, suddenly far more animated.
"I do. He's tried to scheme against me multiple times, and I intend on crippling him. However, I'm acting without any justification. I have some plans in mind, but I need someone to vouch for my innocence," Xiao Nanfeng replied, smiling.
"Shameless, aren't you?" Madam Rouge replied.
"I'm simply acting in self-defense," Xiao Nanfeng argued.
Madam Rouge: ...
"Don't worry. I have some Talismans of Phantasmagoria, and I'll be able to bring all the Taiqing elders into the illusory realm. You simply have to trap them here and not let Zhao Tianheng discover them," Xiao Nanfeng said.
"It's not necessary. After swallowing three thousand red rope cursed effigies in the Ancestral Dragon's Hall, it's a piece of cake for me to bring some Stellar Lake cultivators into an illusion. There's no need for your talismans. You handle Zhao Tianheng and I can do the rest," Madam Rouge stated with her black smoke.
"Thank you! I'll figure out how to get into the Crystal Hall once we take care of Zhao Tianheng," Xiao Nanfeng pledged.
Madam Rouge nodded, then vanished in a flash.
Xiao Nanfeng felt far more at ease with Madam Rouge's promise. Madam Rouge still needed his help to reclaim whatever she sought within the Crystal Hall, so it was unlikely that she would attempt to kill anyone recklessly before then.
Back outside the Crystal Hall, Zhao Tianheng continued to stare at Xiao Nanfeng's physical body. Although he believed that Xiao Nanfeng could hardly be able to break Zhao Yuanjiao free of his compulsion, he was cautious by nature. Even when other elders sought him out for a conversation, he seemed rather distracted.
Suddenly, the elder that had entered the illusory realm with Xiao Nanfeng woke up in shock.
"Fellow elders, come quick! Help me stop the fight. If we're too late, Senior Brother Xiao is going to kill Elder Huang!"
"What?!" the three elders guarding Xiao Nanfeng cried out.
"Hold on. What's going on inside?" Zhao Tianheng shouted.
The elder was visibly anxious and hesitant to reveal what he knew.
"Say it!" Zhao Tianheng called out impatiently.
Everyone looked over.
The elder frowned. "When Senior Brother Xiao was inspecting Zhao Yuanjiao's body and found whip marks all over, he was enraged that Elder Huang would strike Zhao Yuanjiao. He began to beat up Elder Huang, who begged and pleaded for mercy, claiming that the whip could awaken Zhao Yuanjiao's psyche. However, Senior Brother Xiao refused to believe him and continued to pummel Elder Huang. Elder Huang tossed me the whip and had me come seek help."
"What? Xiao Nanfeng's beating up Elder Huang?"
"Elder Huang's talking nonsense! If he could have awakened Zhao Yuanjiao, why wouldn't he have done so already?"
"Xiao Nanfeng's a hooligan!"
The elders angrily criticized Xiao Nanfeng. They wanted to see what was going on for themselves within the illusory realm.
Only Zhao Tianheng frowned. He knew that Elder Huang hadn't been 'talking nonsense'—but was a beating all it took for him to reveal such an important secret? How useless he was!
"Enough. Wait here. I'll have a look myself," Zhao Tianheng declared firmly.
"Division Leader, let us accompany you!" The elder who had just emerged from the illusion seemed unwilling to remain outside.
"Didn't you hear me? None of you are to enter the illusion. I'll handle it myself," Zhao Tianheng replied.
"Understood!" The elders sighed, but none would defy Zhao Tianheng's direct orders.
Zhao Tianheng stepped forward, touched the red pillar, and entered the illusion.
The elders murmured and pointed.
Just then, a burst of red light emerged from Xiao Nanfeng's physical body, shining far more brightly than the red pillar and illuminating his surroundings.
"What?" all the elders exclaimed.
They felt a falling sensation as the burst of red light struck their skin. When they landed, they looked all around them in surprise. They seemed to be in the sky.
"Where are we? Shouldn't we be outside the Crystal Hall?"
"Look down there. That's Xiao Nanfeng and Zhao Yuanjiao, and Zhao Tianheng as well! Is this an illusory realm?"
"We've entered the illusion too?"
The elders quickly recognized where they were, but there seemed to be a transparent barrier beneath them that prevented them from drawing near.
"What's going on? Why is this illusion so strange? I can't seem to get down there!"
"Division Leader Zhao, we're over here!"
"Can't they hear us or see us?"
"Have we been trapped here in the middle of the air?"
No matter how loudly or vigorously the elders shouted, Zhao Tianheng didn't seem to hear a thing. However, strangely enough, they could hear the conversation unfolding down below.
The moment Zhao Tianheng entered the illusory realm, he saw that Elder Huang had been knocked unconscious.
In addition, the chains around Zhao Yuanjiao's body had been taken down. He was already clear-headed. Xiao Nanfeng stomped on Elder Huang with a foot, as though still in rage.
When the two cultivators saw Zhao Tianheng enter the illusion, they were instantly on guard.
"You've awoken?" Zhao Tianheng narrowed his eyes at Zhao Yuanjiao.
"Zhao Tianheng, I'm your nephew! Not only did you gang up on me, you even compelled me and manipulated me in an attempt to kill the other elders! You're vicious and cold-hearted. Don't our familial bonds mean anything to you?" Zhao Yuanjiao gritted out.
Zhao Tianheng stared at Zhao Yuanjiao for some time, then turned toward Xiao Nanfeng. "The rune of compulsion is gone. Were you the one who did it?"
Zhao Tianheng's question shocked the elders. Had he been the mastermind of Zhao Yuanjiao's madness?
Xiao Nanfeng snorted, not providing an explanation.
"How could you possess more spiritual power than I do? It hardly looks as though you have such strength. I suppose I'll find out for myself," Zhao Tianheng said.
He cocked his arm as he prepared to punch Xiao Nanfeng.
"Be careful!" Zhao Yuanjiao warned.
Xiao Nanfeng stepped forward and struck at him with a palm. His spiritual technique cracked and almost shattered; it was evident he was no match for Zhao Tianheng. Just then, Xiao Nanfeng's body shook as spiritual power suddenly welled up around him. His technique glowed with blinding light as it dispersed along with Zhao Tianheng's own. He stumbled back a few steps before he regained his footing.
"You possess two types of spiritual power? I get it now. You must have some spiritual treasure that allows you to store someone else's spiritual power and make use of it. And here I thought you were strong! But your cultivation's only at Stellar Lake, and you were only able to remove Zhao Yuanjiao's compulsion because of that spiritual treasure." Zhao Tianheng sneered.
Having tested the limits of Xiao Nanfeng's strength, he was confident in his own victory.
"Senior Brother, we have to escape and expose Zhao Tianheng's scheme!" Xiao Nanfeng urged.
He tried to activate the whip, but it seemed to have lost its effect. They were trapped in the illusion.
"What?" Xiao Nanfeng exclaimed.
"While you were exchanging blows, Zhao Tianheng did something to the whip. It won't let us leave the realm anymore. He's trapped us!" Zhao Yuanjiao said.
"What?" Xiao Nanfeng immediately grew alarmed.
"What could you do even if you were to escape? Do you think the elders would believe me, the division leader, or two arrogant upstarts? Don't be fools!" Zhao Tianheng said disdainfully.
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