Chapter 238: Blue Lantern and the Dragon King
In the undying realm, Xiao Nanfeng's main body was listening to a report from You Jiu.
"The spectral guards have finally discovered some information about what's going on, but it took them some time to capture people who knew more," You Jiu began.
"What did they say? What happened to the Eastern Sea Draconic Palace?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.
"Two months ago, by the entrance to the Seaquell Hall, the soldiers of the Tianshu Empire activated a formation to begin killing skeletal dragons rapidly. The crux to their method was to destroy Immortal relics and use the resulting explosion to kill the dragons. Then, they would reclaim the Immortal relics in the dragons' bodies and continue destroying them. They did so for a full month, finally clearing out the skeletal dragons by the entrance to Seaquell Hall. Thus, the soldiers of the Tianshu Empire were able to get inside," You Jiu said.
Xiao Nanfeng frowned. "The skeletal dragons must bear some connection to the halls they guard. If all the skeletal dragons are gone, the barrier to the Seaquell Hall would dissipate... This must be a plan hatched by that Mr. Wen. What incredible decisiveness. They must have spent thousands of Immortal relics to accomplish this..."
"A day after they entered Seaquell Hall, they immediately departed from the draconic palace. Everyone knew that they had to have obtained something good. Just then, a ray of red light burst into the air above Seaquell Hall. Many followed after it. As it arrived at the other two halls, the skeletal dragons in the vicinity all exploded, releasing countless Immortal relics and red rope. Everyone fought over them."
"A ray of red light? The cursed king's main spiritual avatar?" Xiao Nanfeng's frown deepened.
"According to the informant we found, the red light rapidly vanished, but as the skeletal dragons erupted, a layer of red fog slowly formed across the top of the palace. It spread quickly, but few cultivators paid it any mind. The informant, realizing that something seemed amiss, gave up on the Immortal relics and escaped before the red fog could cover up the draconic palace."
"Smart." Xiao Nanfeng nodded.
"Only a few cultivators were able to escape. None remaining did. Some cultivators even headed back in to investigate, but none ever returned."
Xiao Nanfeng thought about the information he had just received. "I see. Thank you for your hard work."
Back in the draconic palace, Xiao Nanfeng's avatar finally figured out what had happened as he stared at the hung bodies everywhere.
"The red rope cursed king's main spiritual avatar was unsealed and quickly killed everyone within the draconic palace thereafter. Has he taken full control over this territory? Will any cultivators die as they step in from the outside?" Xiao Nanfeng frowned.
The cultivators who had been hung had surely tried to escape, but no one had succeeded. The red fog hanging around the barrier could not be ordinary; he didn't dare to touch it himself.
The Seaquell Hall had collapsed into a pile of ruins. He looked around himself. "Am I and the red rope cursed king the only souls here? If it were to find me—the outcome would be disastrous."
He rummaged through his storage ring and retrieved a compass of white jade.
Blue Lantern had given this to him as a parting gift, and he had promised that, if Xiao Nanfeng were to crush the compass, Blue Lantern would find him as quickly as possible and lend him assistance once.
"Blue Lantern brought Ao Zhou to the draconic palace before being dragged away into the fog by a Whip of Order. I don't know if he's alive. If he's dead, this compass would be useless, regardless. Why don't I try it?"
Xiao Nanfeng crushed the white jade compass in a flash of golden light which quickly vanished.
He stood patiently and waited, but no response seemed forthcoming. After some time, however, golden light suddenly burst from his feet.
The golden light formed concentric wheels, each manifesting runic text. He stood in the middle of the compass-like construction, which began to revolve.
"Blue Lantern isn't dead! He's responding to me!" Xiao Nanfeng's eyes lit up.
Just then, the red fog, seemingly having noticed the commotion, sent hundreds of strands of red rope down toward Xiao Nanfeng.
Xiao Nanfeng's face stiffened. "Blue Lantern, look at what you've done!"
Xiao Nanfeng had been carefully staying away from the red fog, but the moment the golden compass activated, it had attracted the red fog's attention. He was going to die!
Just then, the black silt at his feet collapsed. The center of the golden compass had transformed into a hole. A cloud of black fog surrounded him and dragged him in.
The hole then vanished, as though it had never been there, and the golden light from the compass dissipated as well.
The hundreds of strands of red rope in the air struck the ground and sent clods of silt flying into the air, but to no avail.
Xiao Nanfeng continued to be dragged down into the earth. He knew that Blue Lantern had to be responsible for this, so he wasn't particularly concerned. This mode of transportation was particularly interesting. Where he fell, a hole would form; above him, the hole would immediately close up as black silt filled it.
"Blue Lantern's techniques really are sinister..." Xiao Nanfeng murmured.
After quite some time, Xiao Nanfeng found himself in a giant, cavernous space underground.
Countless black smoke seeped around the cavern, with some red light peeking out that illuminated his surroundings. A red giant, almost three hundred meters tall, had noticed him.
"You brat, you're here too? Die!" the red giant roared, punching toward him.
Even from afar, Xiao Nanfeng could sense the potency of that punch. It tore apart the void; a frightening amount of killing intent surged toward him.
"The red rope cursed king!" Xiao Nanfeng exclaimed.
A pitch-black palm reached toward him, blocking the red giant's fist. A black giant appeared and careened toward the red one, knocking him flying. As the red giant flew backward, a Whip of Order quickly seized him and dragged him into the depths of the black fog.
"You brat, I'll be back in no time. You're dead, haha!" the red giant cursed as he was dragged away.
The black giant waved a hand, bringing Xiao Nanfeng over to his shoulder.
Only then did Xiao Nanfeng realize that the giant had the look of Blue Lantern.
"Elder Blue Lantern? Is that you? What happened?" Xiao Nanfeng cried out.
"You're at the draconic palace, too? How do you know the red rope cursed king? Why does he hate you?"
Xiao Nanfeng had yet to reply when a voice came from the source of the red light. "Blue Lantern? This is the 'hope' you were talking about? This lad's only at Spiritsong, isn't he? How do you think he can help? Were you mistaken?"
"I'm not mistaken," Blue Lantern replied. He turned to Xiao Nanfeng. "You haven't answered me. How do you know the red rope cursed king?"
"I destroyed the red rope cursed king's subordinate avatar at the Crystal Hall, arousing its hatred," Xiao Nanfeng replied.
"Impossible. You're just a Spiritsong-realm cultivator. How could you take on the red rope cursed king—let alone destroy his subordinate avatar?" The voice coming from the source of the red light was clearly dubious.
"I wasn't the one who took it down, but I was responsible for its defeat. What's so special about cursed kings? It's not the first time I've destroyed them. There's a group of cursed kings surrounding me back home, too." Xiao Nanfeng frowned.
"Ridiculous! Blue Lantern, what's the meaning of this?" the voice continued irritably.
Blue Lantern shook his head. "He's being quite serious. I'm aware that there are a few cursed kings that seem to be deeply entangled with him. He was the one who caused the destruction of the undying cursed king, too."
"Blue Lantern, you know what our situation is. I don't have time to joke around with you." The voice was audibly vexed.
Blue Lantern stepped toward the source of the red light and finally saw the identity of the voice which had been talking to him.
It was a length of red rope almost three thousand meters long. It was submerged within black fluid, which seemed to have been freed from the constraints of gravity and hung around the rope. Around it was a pile of decaying bones. Xiao Nanfeng recognized the clothing around one such pile. It was the Immortal that had entered the draconic palace alongside Xiao Nanfeng, who had been seized by a Whip of Order through the fog the moment he had made a move.
"So this is where all the Immortals have been taken? You're the one who has been using the Whip of Order? Elder Blue Lantern, who is this? Not the red rope cursed king, surely?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.
Two eyes shining with red light formed and focused around Xiao Nanfeng, as if attempting to penetrate him. The vast killing intent emanating from the rope caused him to hesitate.
"He's the Eastern Sea Dragon King, but only his truesoul is left. It's much like what happened with Emperor Wei. He's seized possession of the red rope cursed king's cursed spiritual avatar," Blue Lantern replied.
"The dragon king? Ao Zhou's father?" Xiao Nanfeng gasped.
The red rope stared at Xiao Nanfeng. "You've seen my son?"
"You saw the serpent? How did you know it was called Ao Zhou?" Blue Lantern asked as well.
"I met Elder Long Jiu, who passed me his token and informed me of the situation at the Eastern Sea Draconic Palace. Later, when I arrived at the palace, I encountered Ao Zhou and saved him from Prime Minister Turtle. I brought him toward the Ancestral Dragon's Hall and helped him distill the ancestral dragon's blood. When Prime Minister Turtle tried to eat him, I suppressed the turtle with a treasure and saved its life again." Xiao Nanfeng summarized his encounter with the serpent in a straightforward fashion.
The killing intent around the dragon king dissipated. "Is that so? I apologize for the offense. I thank you for lending your aid to my son multiple times."
"However, the draconic palace is like a necropolis right now. Everyone has been hung, and I don't know if Ao Zhou's still alive." Xiao Nanfeng described what he had seen.
"My son is still alive. I don't know where he's located, but I can sense his vitals with a draconic technique. He must have escaped from the draconic palace in the end."
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