Chapter 1040: Severing the Avatar

The number of white-furred monsters had dwindled, but each one was terrifyingly powerful. Each of them was on par with Xia Yu'er, Zhang Lingjun, and Lan Yaoguang in strength. The three women, each fighting two white-furred monsters, were under immense pressure. They were repeatedly sent flying by heavy blows, their situations precarious.

Madam Rouge, Liu Miaoyin, and the Divine Emperor were stronger, but they were unable to draw on their branches of the world tree, and their physical bodies were being suppressed by the characteristics of the realm. They couldn't unleash much of their own strength, and seemed to be barely defending against two white-furred monsters each as well. Of course, part of that was just a pretense for the Superior.

Xiao Nanfeng was locked in a fierce battle against the white-furred monster that could draw power from the golden tree. For the moment, the two sides seemed evenly matched.

The women's pretenses didn't escape the notice of the Superior, who could see that Xia Yu'er, Zhang Lingjun, and Lan Yaoguang were in dire straits, while Madam Rouge, Liu Miaoyin, and the Divine Emperor still had strength to spare. At that moment, however, he had no choice. He hadn't expected Xiao Nanfeng to be so well prepared, which filled him with a sense of crisis.

He glanced at the giant nine-colored tree that was steadily growing stronger and stronger, as if having guessed what the primordial altar was intending to do. He sneered. "Are you going to sacrifice yourself to empower Xiao Nanfeng, primordial altar? Dream on!"

He hadn't originally intended to lead the white-furred monsters into attacking Xiao Nanfeng, as he believed that his main body would be able to stall against the three Qing Grandmasters. If he were able to hold out until the other Darkborn arrived, he would win.

Now that the primordial altar was preparing to sacrifice itself to aid Xiao Nanfeng, however, he could hardly sit still.

He recalled how terrifying the nine-colored tree had been in its prime. The Darkborn had sacrificed countless lives to destroy it—but even then, its roots had managed to trap the Superior for hundreds of thousands of years.

The primordial altar wouldn't have been a concern if not for Xiao Nanfeng's own giant nine-colored tree. If Xiao Nanfeng's tree were allowed to mature, his hundred-thousand-year imprisonment would have been all for naught.

The Darkborn had a complex internal hierarchy, and it was hardly a dictatorship. He couldn't simply order the Darkborn to wage all-out war against the nine-colored tree again. He would have to do everything in his power to prevent Xiao Nanfeng's nine-colored tree from growing.

𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

The Superior tried to stop the primordial altar's sacrifice, but Xiao Nanfeng was simply too tenacious.

He and the opposing white-furred lifeform fought for three whole days and nights. Each of them sustained injuries in the process, and were both severely wounded by the end. Xiao Nanfeng's clothes were torn and his body covered in cuts, while the white-furred monster was in even worse shape. If not for the nourishment provided by their respective world trees, both would have long since collapsed from exhaustion.

Suddenly, Xiao Nanfeng seemed to find an opening in the white-furred monster's defenses.

"Die!" Xiao Nanfeng shouted in response.

With a thunderous crash, his blade struck the white-furred monster. Though the monster dodged swiftly, one of its arms was severed, blood spraying everywhere from the grievous injury.

The monster could still fight, but it was clear that continuing the battle would only lead to its slow demise.

The silver moon's eyes flashed with anger, and it turned to another white-furred monster nearby. "Golden tree, switch!"

The golden tree supplying power to the one-armed monster trembled, and a beam of golden light shot toward one of the white-furred monsters fighting Xia Yu'er. With a boom, that monster erupted with a surge of terrifying energy, instantly sending her flying.

"Die!" Xiao Nanfeng cursed, quickly disengaging from his opponent and charging toward Xia Yu'er. He slashed at the newly empowered white-furred monster.

With a deafening crash, Xiao Nanfeng's blade clashed with the monster's, creating a massive black hole.

Xiao Nanfeng began to fight against his new opponent while the one-armed white-furred monster charged toward Xia Yu'er.

With one of her two opponents significantly weakened, her burden lessened considerably.

The fighting continued, with the pressure shifting to Xiao Nanfeng. Despite his wounds, he was now facing a fresh, uninjured white-furred monster. The strain soon began to show, but the two sides ultimately reached another stalemate.

All this was part of Xiao Nanfeng's plan. He had anticipated this outcome—that the silver moon would send the white-furred monsters to fight him in a relay battle of sorts.

The silver moon understood the women's strength better, so it wouldn't choose a new white-furred monster from among Madam Rouge, Liu Miaoyin, or the Divine Emperor's opponents.

Its choice was limited to the six monsters that the other three women were fighting.

Xiao Nanfeng's parents were among their opponents. As such, Xiao Hongye and Tan Xianzhi were eligible candidates for inheriting the golden tree's power.

Xiao Nanfeng was waiting for that moment—when his father or mother inherited the golden tree's power—to make his move.

Unfortunately, the previous rotation hadn't allowed his parents to inherit the golden tree's power, but that was fine. He could wait.

Another day passed, and Xiao Nanfeng sustained several more cuts, while the white-furred monster he was fighting also grew exhausted. Its situation turned precarious.

The silver moon glared at Xiao Nanfeng. "Just how long can you hold out, I wonder? Rotate again!"

With a resonant hum, the golden tree emitted a beam of golden light, which shot toward one of the white-furred monsters fighting Lan Yaoguang. Instantly, that monster inherited the golden tree's power.

This monster was none other than Xiao Nanfeng's father, Xiao Hongye.

Xiao Nanfeng's heart raced with excitement, though he kept his composure.

This was only the first step. He had to focus. He pretended not to recognize Xiao Hongye as they fought. The two struck at each other with a thunderous crash. Due to the previous two battles, Xiao Nanfeng immediately appeared to be at a disadvantage. He seemed as if he would give out entirely.

"Good!" The Superior watched on with satisfaction.

The balance seemed to have been broken; Xiao Nanfeng wouldn't last much longer. What the Superior didn't know was that Xiao Nanfeng's true plan was just beginning.

Seeing Xiao Nanfeng struggling, the women grew anxious, especially Madam Rouge, Liu Miaoyin, and the Divine Emperor. They had been holding their own, but couldn't stand to watch Xiao Nanfeng falter any longer.

"Cover me!" Madam Rouge shouted.

The Divine Emperor and Liu Miaoyin leaned in, as did their opponents.

Hold off these white-furred monsters while I make my move!" Madam Rouge shouted.

Understood!" the Divine Emperor and Liu Miaoyin replied.

The two women each engaged three white-furred monsters. Instantly, they sustained multiple wounds. Fighting three monsters at once was extremely taxing, but it gave Madam Rouge the opening she needed.

One of the silver moons glanced at Madam Rouge and sneered. "Do you really think you can help Xiao Nanfeng? His opponent is being bolstered by a golden tree. You're hardly at the same level. If you charge forward recklessly, you'll be the one to perish."

The very next moment, Madam Rouge appeared before the silver moon.

"What?!" the silver moon exclaimed in shock.

It had expected Madam Rouge to attack Xiao Nanfeng's opponent, not itself!

The first silver moon was quickly obliterated.

The other silver moons each attempted to flee, only for mirrors to suddenly appear before all of them. Fists manifested from within each one.

"My power may not match the golden tree's, but it's more than enough to deal with you lot," Madam Rouge said coldly.

"Bastard!" the silver moons screamed.

They all exploded with a deafening boom, temporarily blinding the Superior's vision.

In the distance, Xiao Nanfeng shouted, "Activate the golden tree's power to separate the parts of your and Mother's souls bound to the Superior. I'm going to sever his control over you!"

Xiao Hongye had been waiting for just such a chance. He knew that his son had been working on a plan, and it was only now that he realized its full scope. During their last confrontation, while his son had fought against the Superior, their verbal sparring made it clear how his son had managed to excise the Superior's soul from his own.

Now that they were in the same situation, Xiao Hongye knew just what to do.

He quickly channeled the golden tree's power to form two special beams of energy that shot toward himself and Tan Xianzhi.

The beams of golden light entered Xiao Hongye and Tan Xianzhi's bodies, causing them to shudder and freeze in mid-air.

Xiao Nanfeng had previously caught the Superior off guard by using the divine undying blade and the Heartslain Bodies to separate the Superior's soul from his own. However, his parents didn't possess that technique.

That didn't matter: the golden tree's power could achieve the same effect, creating the perfect opportunity to strike.

The golden tree was the Superior's world tree, and everything should have been under its control—but now, Xiao Hongye temporarily wielded its power and the Superior was momentarily blinded. This was the best chance they had to take action.

"You dare betray our master? What are you doing?!" the other white-furred monsters shouted in alarm.

"Sever!" Xiao Nanfeng commanded.

He threw his divine undying blade into the air and retrieved the Divine Seal of Dazheng, cleaving his massive stockpile in two. One part surged into the divine undying blade, which shot toward Tan Xianzhi. The other part wrapped around Xiao Nanfeng's right hand, which he swung like a blade toward Xiao Hongye.

Under the golden tree's might, Xiao Hongye and Tan Xianzhi's souls were divided into distinct colors. Xiao Nanfeng aimed straight for those divisions.

The two blades slashed down, splitting Xiao Hongye and Tan Xianzhi's bodies. However, the severed parts didn't scatter. They were immediately enveloped by vast amounts of fortune, which quickly began to repair the excised parts of their soul.

The Superior's soul was rapidly being severed from Xiao Hongye and Tan Xianzhi's.

"Stop them!" the other white-furred monsters roared, charging forward.

With a deafening crash, the six women unleashed their full power to hold the white-furred monsters at bay.

At that moment, the fragments of the silver moons that had exploded turned into snowflakes and rapidly coalesced in the sky to form a new silver moon.

The silver moon watched on as Xiao Nanfeng and the divine undying blade completely severed the Superior's soul from his parents' bodies.

"Success!" Xiao Nanfeng's eyes lit up.

The Superior was stunned. He demanded, "Who are you? Why is Xiao Nanfeng wasting the world's fortune on you? When did you begin conspiring with him?!"