Chapter 1014: Severing the Superior

After pondering for a moment, Xiao Nanfeng finally replied, "When I underwent my True Immortal tribulation, my consciousness was sent beyond the heavens by a mysterious force. That was where I obtained that golden droplet. The droplet absorbed all the heart force I encountered and eventually grew into the golden tree on its own. That's when I started feeling something was wrong. Everything about the golden tree developed autonomously—I knew nothing about it. Yet the moment I opened my Heartgate, I was suddenly able to command it at will. It was as if an army had sworn unwavering loyalty to me out of nowhere. Isn't that strange?"

"You noticed something was off with the golden tree long ago? No wonder you let Madam Rouge examine it, and then the Yuqing Grandmaster as well. You were trying to use them to counter me!" the Superior exclaimed.

Xiao Nanfeng sighed. "At first, I only suspected you were some formidable cursed king. But when neither of them could detect anything wrong, I grew more and more worried. Eventually, I closed in on your true identity."

"Then why did you refuse when those cursed kings asked for the golden tree?"

"If even the Yuqing Grandmaster and my wives couldn't uncover the truth, none of them could have, either."

"No—you were afraid that if they had studied the golden tree, I would be able to absorb their insight and cultivation, thereby growing stronger. Isn't that so?"

Xiao Nanfeng neither confirmed nor denied the allegation. "It's my turn. What are cursed effigies? I'm sure you Darkborn have a far more complete understanding than I do."

"Cursed effigies are the crystallization of a civilization. When a civilization is on the brink of destruction, its world tree condenses all its fortune, knowledge, laws, principles, and divine powers into a special material to carry its legacy forward. That is the essence of a cursed effigy."

"The crystallization of a civilization..."

"The Darkborn collect these crystals. Each contains boundless fortune and profound mysteries. Unfortunately, the people of your planet are too ignorant. They obtain cursed effigies and treat them as mere tools or means of rebirth, completely oblivious to the vast fortune that they hold."

"The ancestral dragon once mentioned that, when his party traversed the universe, they saw countless ruins of destroyed civilizations. Some ruins bore the aura of cursed effigies, while others only seemed to harbor decay. Was that decay from civilizations that failed to produce a cursed effigy?"

"Not all civilizations qualify for crystallization. The affairs of the universe are too intricate to explain fully. It would take far too long to discuss this in detail—and unfortunately for you, you don't have any time left," the Superior said, sneering.

Xiao Nanfeng's red, blue, and purple moons trembled violently. The beams of light emanating from them weakened, and the silver moon trembled as if it were about to break free.

"You deliberately engaged me in conversation to make me lower my guard so you could seize control of the three moons, but unfortunately for you, it won't work. "Red rope, blue lotus, purple mirror—reveal yourselves!"

The three moons rapidly transformed. The red moon became the red rope cursed king, the blue moon a blue lotus, and the purple moon a purple mirror. Xiao Nanfeng regained control over the three moons, stabilizing their forms.

The Superior snarled in frustration. "I was too careless.When you refused to heed my words that day and insisted on melding a cursed effigy with your purple moon, I should have realized you were targeting me. But you truly are cunning—you didn't even discuss your plans with anyone!"

"You're able to monitor me at all times. How would I dare tell anyone? If I had dropped even a hint that I was plotting against you, you would have acted against me immediately," Xiao Nanfeng said coldly.

"Ha! It's not too late for me to act now. The three moons originated from my Body of Yin. Even though you've fused them with three cursed effigies, I can still control them—just to a lesser extent. But that's more than enough to deal with you," the Superior said icily.

With a hum, the red rope, blue lotus, and purple mirrors vibrated violently. They flashed between their moon and cursed effigy forms. It was clear that the Superior and Xiao Nanfeng were fighting for control of the three moons, weakening their suppression of the Superior's silver moon.

The Superior smirked. "You won't last long. Give up now."

Suddenly, the void trembled violently. The next moment, countless beam of starlight descended from the sky and struck the three cursed effigies, whose forms stabilized. They shone with bright light, renewing their assault on the silver moon.

"What? The power of all the stars in the Realm of the Nine Heavens?!" the Superior thundered.

"The Realms of the Three Worlds and Nine Heavens have combined. With the entire cosmos backing me up, the three moons shall belong to me—not you."

"You were stalling for time as well?!"

The Superior had done so in order to seize control of Xiao Nanfeng's three moons, while Xiao Nanfeng was trying to combine his two Deific Yin realms even more flawlessly. Xiao Nanfeng's control over the stars caused the Superior to lose a significant advantage.

"Logically speaking, you should have been able to escape from the primordial altar ten thousand years ago. You could just have waited for the Darkborn to arrive. Why bother spreading the Body of Yin and imparting your knowledge to the three Qing Grandmasters?" Xiao Nanfeng continued.

The Superior scoffed. "Don't think I'll give you more information for free. Do you really think suppressing my silver moon will suffice? What about the chaos in your soul? Can you suppress that?"

Xiao Nanfeng frowned as his soul suddenly convulsed. The violent energy within it surged as it threatened to explode from him.

"I nurtured half your soul. I'll destroy it to ruin you if I must. You haven't mastered the heavenly law of regeneration, after all. I'll wrest control of your body once you're dead!"

Xiao Nanfeng's soul suddenly swelled. It was on the verge of bursting apart.

"Divine Seal of Dazheng, seal!" Xiao Nanfeng shouted.

The Divine Seal of Dazheng descended onto his head. A vast suppressive force surged into his soul, instantly stabilizing the chaotic energy.

𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

The Superior grew more and more irate. "How... prepared you are. All that fortune you borrowed from the three empires—was it all to target me?"

Even so, there was little he could do. The Divine Seal of Dazheng, bolstered by an immense quantity of fortune, neutralized his influence over Xiao Nanfeng's soul.

"Once I guessed your identity, how could I afford to be careless?" Xiao Nanfeng said coldly.

"Hmph! This suppression will consume the fortune in your seal quickly. Once your fortune runs out, you won't be able to stop me."

"You won't last that long," Xiao Nanfeng replied. "Soul Severance!"

Countless strands of fortune suddenly emerged from the Seal and rapidly converged into a golden blade of fortune. It shot straight toward Xiao Nanfeng, tearing a gaping wound in it.

"You learned this technique from the undying king specifically for this? What are you trying to do, cut yourself apart?" the Superior exclaimed.

Xiao Nanfeng didn't answer him. With a resounding boom, he cleaved his head open. Even so, both halves remained intact, nourished by the surging fortune.

"No—you've integrated the Heartslain Bodies into this technique as well! You're—trying to excise that part of your soul which belongs to me?!" the Superior roared.

To his horror, Xiao Nanfeng, who should have been like meat on the chopping block, was slipping further and further from his control.

"No! My presence has infiltrated your soul. If you excise it all, you'll only wound yourself, too! Stop this at once!" the Superior shouted.

Xiao Nanfeng paid him no mind. The Heartslain Bodies would divide those parts of his soul that belonged to the Superior, the Divine Seal of Dazheng would suppress it, the undying king's technique would excise it, and the burgeoning fortune would mend his wounds. Everything was going exactly as Xiao Nanfeng had planned. The Superior would maintain a hold on him no longer.

Xiao Nanfeng's soul was cut again and again.

Any other cultivator might have been annihilated instantly, but Xiao Nanfeng's wounds regenerated almost as quickly as they appeared. His head was cleaved; each half regenerated, forming two heads. His body was cleaved; each half regenerated, forming two bodies, as if he were an earthworm.

The Divine Seal of Dazheng burned through its stockpile of fortune at a terrifying rate. Two hours later, moments before all its fortune was consumed, Xiao Nanfeng was split apart.

Two identical Xiao Nanfengs collapsed to the ground, utterly drained of power.

With a whoosh, the Divine Seal of Dazheng, now devoid of fortune, plummeted from the air. One of the Xiao Nanfengs reached out and grabbed it.

Both Xiao Nanfengs stood up quickly, despite the weakness in their souls. One of them stared fiercely at the other and growled, "Xiao Nanfeng, you truly are cunning. You even managed to fool me."

Clearly, that one was the Superior.

The other, naturally, was the real Xiao Nanfeng. He considered his body as he took a deep breath. "So this is what freedom feels like."

He turned to the other Xiao Nanfeng. "It's time to settle our score."

"Ha! You're just as weak as I am now. How do you intend to best me?" the Superior scoffed.

The two of them charged at each other simultaneously, their fists colliding in midair. The impact unleashed a shockwave of icy wind, erupting into a massive snowstorm that swept across the land.