Chapter 1013: Taking On the Superior

Liu Miaoyin, the Divine Emperor, and Madam Rouge left Yongding one after another. Xiao Nanfeng headed to their three respective capitals to accompany each of them and borrow some fortune and treasures before they entered secluded cultivation.

In a hall in Yongding, Xiao Nanfeng went into secluded cultivation as well. This time, however, he did it with both his bodies simultaneously.

Xiao Nanfeng transformed into his Deific Yin body.

His silver moon appeared behind his head; his red, blue, and purple moons appeared behind his avatar's.

The hall, simultaneously under the effects of the Realm of the Three Worlds and Nine Heavens, shone and glittered with the breathtaking beauty of the cosmos.

The Superior suddenly asked, "What are you doing?"

"I'm preparing for the Primordial Boundless Immortal advancement, and my three wives advised me to combine my two souls in advance."

"You intend to unify your main body and avatar's souls?" the Superior clarified.

"Indeed." Xiao Nanfeng nodded.

"This is unnecessary."

"Oh?" Xiao Nanfeng replied curiously.

"The primordial advancement lies at the pinnacle of the Boundless Immortal realm. To obtain a primordial body, you must first advance your physical body to the peak of the Boundless Immortal realm before merging it with your soul. Your main body's soul and flesh are already fully integrated. That is more than sufficient. You need not unify it with your avatar's soul as well. It would be a waste. Furthermore, your avatar cultivates all three Qing moons, and it may have even more potential than your main body. It could even inherit the three Qing Grandmasters' insight and reach an even more advanced realm. If you unify your souls now, that path will be forever lost to you."

Xiao Nanfeng frowned, deep in thought.

"Trust me. Do not merge your main body and avatar's souls. When you reach the primordial advancement, I will assist you in reaching even greater heights."

"Why would you help me to this extent, Senior?"

"I consider it helping the world. I was once the hegemon of my era, and I don't wish to see the world fall to the Darkborn. I am providing you with advice so that you can grow stronger and defend against them."

Xiao Nanfeng furrowed his brows.

"Listen to me. Continue searching for more Heaven's Hands and advance your physical body further. That's what you have to do at your current stage of cultivation."

After a long silence, Xiao Nanfeng shook his head. "Senior, you were the hegemon of your era, but so are my wives. Their achievements and insight are no lesser than yours. I think there may be value in either approach, but I've already promised to follow my wives' advice. I don't wish to disappoint them."

The Superior had no response for such an argument.

"Senior, I appreciate your goodwill. My three wives have already given me several treasures and their empires' fortune to help me succeed in this fusion. How could I suddenly change my mind and betray them now? I do not wish to sow discord within my family," Xiao Nanfeng stated firmly.

The Superior: ...

He had no choice but to give up on dissuading Xiao Nanfeng. Whatever he said would be futile.

Meanwhile, Xiao Nanfeng prepared for fusion.

His two bodies held up four artifacts in all: the Divine Seal of Dazheng, a peach blossom petal, a black lotus petal, and a piece of black jade. He activated them all.

With a hum, an immense flurry of peach blossoms, black lotuses, and shadows enveloped both of Xiao Nanfeng's bodies.

"Realms of the Three Worlds and Nine Heavens, combine!" Xiao Nanfeng intoned.

As the two Deific Yin realms clashed, violent spatial ripples surged and intertwined. The entire cosmos seemed to shake. All four moons trembled under this influence, and waves of spatial energy rippled outward.

Both of Xiao Nanfeng's bodies were lit up with light. They slowly melded together, bit by bit. The process was even more excruciating than when they had split, considering how much each soul had developed in the meantime.

His main body's soul had elements of the Body of Yin, while his avatar's had elements of the Shangqing, Taiqing, and Yuqing Yin Bodies. Though the three Qing Yin Bodies easily fused, incorporating Body of Yin proved far more difficult. Fortunately, since all four spiritual cultivation techniques had the same origin, fusion remained possible.

Xiao Nanfeng endured the excruciating pain of fusion as his two souls slowly lined up and melded together. Simultaneously, his Deific Yin realms merged as well.

Xiao Nanfeng remained in secluded cultivation for a prolonged period of time—it took half a month before the Realms of the Three Worlds and Nine Heavens fully merged.

At that point, both of Xiao Nanfeng's bodies had completely fused together as well. His entire body radiated with four colors—silver, red, blue, and purple—and exuded immense spiritual power.

"You managed to merge your two souls smoothly, and you didn't even have to draw on any fortune to do so. Your spiritual power remains too chaotic, however. Allow me to help you sort it out," the Superior advised.

It sent a silver beam shining toward Xiao Nanfeng.

Xiao Nanfeng's eyes flashed coldly. "There's no need. Seal!"

His red, blue, and purple moons simultaneously erupted with radiant force as they struck the silver moon. The three beams of light bore down on the Superior.

The Superior roared, "What are you doing?"

"Claiming my own body," Xiao Nanfeng replied coldly.

"What do you mean, your own body? What are you talking about?"

Xiao Nanfeng's expression was cold. "There's no need to put on an act any longer. You entered my spiritual moon in hopes of seizing my body in the future—but you chose the wrong target."

The Superior was momentarily silent before his voice turned icy. "When did you realize?"

"Does it matter?" Xiao Nanfeng retorted.

He sat cross-legged in meditation as he continued to suppress the silver moon with his red, blue, and purple ones.

"You knew what I was planning? Were you lying to me all along? Did you unify your avatar and main body so as to strip away those parts of your soul that I've influenced?" the Superior thundered.

"I would hardly want you to take advantage of your link to my soul to purge my truesoul," Xiao Nanfeng replied.

"I've never shown you any hostility. When did you start suspecting me?"

Xiao Nanfeng snorted, without providing any explanation.

Suddenly, the Superior seemed to realize something. "You never trusted me from the beginning, did you?"

"You hid it well. You attempted to mimic my wives' behavior to gain my trust, but I'm not blind. Your actions were too deliberate."

"So that's how it is. I'd planned to take over your body when you became a Primordial Boundless Immortal, but it looks like you've forced my hand. Golden tree, come!"

The void trembled—then stilled.

"You've isolated your golden tree's power? No—you sealed your Heartgate with Liu Miaoyin, the Divine Emperor, and Madam Rouge's treasures! Did you borrow them all just to deal with me?"

𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

"Senior, just who are you?" Xiao Nanfeng asked coldly.

"I asked you a question! Answer me. How did you discover my secret? How do you know about my connection with your golden tree?!"

Xiao Nanfeng didn't respond. "Sathia and Sibyl were both of the Darkborn. You must be, too."

"What?" the Superior shrieked. "Who told you? Impossible! No one could have told you anything. How do you know so much?!"

"Take a guess," Xiao Nanfeng said coldly.

The Superior's eyes widened in shock. It had far too many questions. All its plans—and Xiao Nanfeng had ruined them all in one fell swoop.

"Tell me how you discovered my secret, and I'll tell you everything you want to know," the Superior demanded.

Xiao Nanfeng's eyes lit up. This was the whole reason he had initiated this conversation to begin with.

"Very well. You first," Xiao Nanfeng replied.

The Superior seemed to be amassing his energy in preparation for dealing Xiao Nanfeng a hefty blow, so it was more than willing to stall.

"You're right. I'm a Darkborn. Tens of thousands of years ago, I was among the first batch of Darkborn dispatched to your planet. Of course, we encountered your planet's world tree as well, a giant nine-colored tree stronger than the vast majority of the ones we had seen to date. It put up significant resistance against us, but it was ultimately still from a low-level civilization. Eventually, we split up the tree into its nine branches and sealed it. Its stump became what you know as the primordial altar."

"The primordial altar is the stump of the world tree?" Xiao Nanfeng exclaimed.

"We underestimated the stump. Its roots turned out to be even more potent than its trunk. With all the power it gathered, it launched a sneak attack against me, binding me within its depths. Then, it fled."

"No wonder the primordial altar's been hiding all this time. No wonder the Darkborn have been raining calamity on the world every ten thousand years. They're trying to save your main body, but have no idea how to do so! And is that why the Darkborn don't just kill us all outright?"

"I've told you enough," the Superior said. "It's your turn."