Chapter 240: The Dragon King's Request
Within the tempest, Xiao Nanfeng invoked the cursed smoke as he continued to pummel the red giant. With every punch with his golden fists, dust mushroomed up from the impact. Flames filled the arena.
"What sort of hypnosis is this? Why is it so difficult to deal with? And what are all these monsters hiding in the red light?!" the red giant cried.
More and more red substance peeled away from the red giant as Xiao Nanfeng pummeled it; its strength was decreasing rapidly. Although Xiao Nanfeng's cursed smoke was weakening as well, the red giant was weakening faster. Xiao Nanfeng had gained a decisive advantage.
The dragon king and Blue Lantern glanced at each other, neither having expected things to develop so smoothly. Were they really going to win?
"Is it really the Taiqing red moon?" the dragon king exclaimed.
"What's so special about this red moon? Why is it so sinister? How can it hypnotize even cursed effigies?" Blue Lantern asked curiously.
"I heard a rumor once, but I don't know if it's true," the dragon king replied.
"Oh?"
"There's something wrong with the Taiqing Yin Body. All disciples of the Taiqing Immortal Sect who have cultivated the technique ended up cultivating to death," the dragon king continued.
"Cultivating themselves to death? What sort of technique is this?" Blue Lantern replied, frowning.
"I don't know. They apparently overwhelm all opponents at the same stage of cultivation, but many cultivators who might otherwise be tempted were wary of this rumor." The dragon king shook his head.
Just then, the red giant roared, "Break!"
Even more red substance exploded from the red giant's body. It grew far dimmer than before, almost transparent, as it suddenly took a few steps back. It had regained clear-headedness again.
"Lad, what a frightening hypnotic power you have. You're only at Lunar Deluge, and yet you were able to force me to such straits—even if my cursed spiritual power is weak, this should have been impossible. How did you do it?!" the red giant demanded.
"You were able to free yourself? I'm shocked. Here I come again, then!" Xiao Nanfeng charged forward.
The two combatants struck each other in mid-air. By then, the red giant's strength had all but dissipated. The explosion caused even more of the red substance to explode and disperse.
The red giant's eyes grew cold. It shouted, "Burst!"
More red substance burst from the red giant's body, forming a shockwave of energy that sent Xiao Nanfeng reeling. At the same time, countless rope-like strands of red light shot out of the red giant's body toward Xiao Nanfeng's mindscape.
"Possession!" the red giant shouted.
"Be careful of its cursed spiritual power! It's going to try to make you into a cursed slave!" Blue Lantern shouted.
Just then, a mirror appeared by Xiao Nanfeng's chest, forming a whirlpool that absorbed all the strands of red rope.
"What mirror is that?" Blue Lantern exclaimed.
The undying cursed king had made him a cursed slave using a similar technique, which he had once considered unable to defend against. Xiao Nanfeng, however, had handled it with ease.
"Seal!" Xiao Nanfeng commanded.
A beam of purple light descended from the heavens and struck the translucent red giant.
"No!" the red giant screamed.
The divine purple rock had suddenly appeared and crushed the red giant beneath it.
"The divine purple rock of the Eastern Sea Draconic Palace? How could this be?" Blue Lantern was flabbergasted.
Just then, a red figure struck Xiao Nanfeng from the back, but Xiao Nanfeng came prepared. He punched toward the new assailant.
The frightening burst of energy forced Blue Lantern back.
His eyes opened wide. "Dragon King, what are you doing?!"
The red figure that had shot toward Xiao Nanfeng was none other than the dragon king.
"Cursed smoke, disperse!" the dragon king commanded.
The black smoke around Xiao Nanfeng's body dispersed, suddenly fleeing from his body, as he transformed back into his original form. The black giant vanished.
"Dragon King, are you crazy? Why did you attack Xiao Nanfeng?" Blue Lantern demanded.
"He's not trying to attack me, but rather to seize control over the red giant," Xiao Nanfeng explained.
The dragon king continued charging toward the divine purple rock. Just then, a mirror appeared before the rock, glowing with pink light. The light struck the dragon king's head and forced him to a halt.
The dragon king stopped short. He wasn't injured, but seemed to have suddenly come to his senses. He was no longer charging forward relentlessly.
The mirror took on the form of a woman: Madam Rouge.
Madam Rouge laughed coldly. "The Eastern Sea Dragon King? Have you awoken? Are you intending to seize the red rope cursed king's main spiritual avatar? You should know that it was waiting for you to do just that."
"What? What happened to me?" The dragon king was taken aback.
"Think carefully about what you just did and why you did it. How did that notion come to mind?" Madam Rouge asked.
The dragon king fell deep in thought.
Blue Lantern's eyes widened. He asked Xiao Nanfeng, "Who is she?"
"She's Madam Rouge. You've seen her before," Xiao Nanfeng replied.
Blue Lantern frowned before he suddenly grew alarmed. "The cursed effigy that was hounding you?"
Xiao Nanfeng nodded. "That's right, but she's become my friend since."
Blue Lantern gaped at Xiao Nanfeng. This was the first time he had seen anyone make friends with a cursed effigy. Was there something wrong with this lad?
He continued looking at Madam Rouge with suspicion. The dragon king was deep in thought. He asked, "Why did the dragon king suddenly try to seize the red rope's cursed spiritual avatar?"
"Someone schemed against him—and here he was, thinking that he was scheming against others all along. Ha!" Madam Rouge sneered.
"What?" Blue Lantern was astounded.
"Could the dragon king have known about my excursion into the palace? Was he just acting in front of us?" Xiao Nanfeng suddenly asked.
"Oh? How did you guess?" Madam Rouge seemed surprised.
"I explained how I saved Ao Zhou to the dragon king, but he believed me too readily without even asking about any of the details. Ao Zhou is his son, after all. How did he enter the Ancestral Dragon's Hall? How did he acquire the ancestral dragon's blood? How did I kill Prime Minister Turtle? The dragon king didn't care for any of that, which surprised me." Xiao Nanfeng frowned.
Blue Lantern frowned as well. He had noticed that the dragon king seemed to trust Xiao Nanfeng too readily, but they were too short on time for him to consider that train of thought more deeply. However, that detail had now become relevant.
"That's right. The draconic palace is full of cursed smoke, which the dragon king can control. He can sense anything where the cursed smoke persists, and he naturally knew of you and Ao Zhou's entrance into the draconic palace. You caused a huge commotion, after all, which would override whatever mental compulsions the red rope cursed king had sparked," Madam Rouge explained.
Blue Lantern's face gradually grew dark. He turned toward the dragon king. "Dragon King, were you aware of Xiao Nanfeng? Were you acting all this time?"
The dragon king ignored Blue Lantern and looked at Madam Rouge. "Am I still being affected by the red rope cursed king?"
"You're in its subordinate avatar. What do you think?" Madam Rouge countered.
The dragon king stared at the divine purple rock for some time before suddenly shuddering and retreating in fear.
"Could the red rope cursed king have a second subordinate avatar? Is it the cursed spiritual avatar that the dragon king's truesoul is inhabiting?!" Xiao Nanfeng exclaimed.
"What else? All the dragon king has left is his truesoul. How could it have survived for two whole centuries? It must have existed in cohabitation with the cursed king's subordinate avatar, suppressing its will with his own. He thought that the will of the cursed king would remain suppressed for good, but he never considered the possibility that he had been influenced by it all along. All that nonsense about being overwhelmed by grudges was just a sign that the dragon king's will would soon be unable to suppress the cursed king's. Blue Lantern helped awaken the dragon king, but he's still subject to the cursed king's influence," Madam Rouge continued.
The dragon king laughed bitterly. "I understand. It's been influencing me all this time. When Blue Lantern dragged Xiao Nanfeng into this underground area, for some reason, I suddenly thought of taking advantage of Xiao Nanfeng's ability to control the divine purple rock to suppress the cursed king's main spiritual avatar, and then to cohabit it. That way, I would be able to avoid dying and the cursed king's revenge simultaneously. However, I was worried that Blue Lantern would stop me, so I pretended not to recognize Xiao Nanfeng. Fortunately, Xiao Nanfeng was cooperative. When the cursed king's main spiritual avatar was sealed away, I suddenly developed the compulsion to rush forward, afraid that I would miss my opportunity. I was lost in a cloud of desire."
"If you couldn't even suppress the cursed king's subordinate avatar, what do you think would have happened if you had linked up to its main avatar?" Madam Rouge smiled.
The dragon king shuddered.
"Let me state things more clearly. The moment it realized it was about to fall to Xiao Nanfeng, that it would only become the butt of a joke if it were to resist, it surrendered and allowed Xiao Nanfeng to seal it with his divine purple rock. It intended to thread a narrow path toward victory, exhausting all its cursed spiritual power to magnify its subordinate avatar's compulsion toward you. It forced you to make a move. If I weren't here to break you out of your compulsion, you would already have merged with its main avatar. This would have damaged it a little, and it might be forced to enter a period of slumber, but it would regenerate in no time. You would have been unable to resist it at all by that point."
The dragon king slumped to the ground.
"If you wish to cohabit with a cursed effigy, you must exercise extreme caution. People have succeeded, but you aren't that skilled," Madam Rouge criticized.
"What should I do now? Please advise me, Elder." The dragon king looked toward Madam Rouge hopefully.
"Advise you on what?" Madam Rouge frowned.
"I won't allow it to revive. It has damned the entire draconic race, and I don't intend to give it the opportunity to harm my son. I want to destroy it once and for all. Elder, you've transformed into a cursed effigy yourself. You must know how to deal with it. Please advise me!" The dragon king suddenly bowed toward Madam Rouge.
Madam Rouge smiled. "That's trivial. I'll eat it."
"No, Elder! If you were to swallow its cursed soul, it would revive elsewhere sooner or later. I wish to end it once and for all. Please assist me, Elder," the dragon king begged.
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