Chapter 106: You Shi, Freed

Just as Xiao Nanfeng was glancing at You Jiu, he sensed a sudden premonition of danger. He threw a fist behind him but was still sent flying by a tremendous force. As he did so, he realized that the plaza's champion had attacked him from the back.

"The Specter King?!" everyone gasped.

Xiao Nanfeng frowned. He hadn't attacked the champion, so why was the champion attacking him? Something was wrong!

The Specter King continued to attack Xiao Nanfeng, manifesting hundreds of specters that shot out toward Xiao Nanfeng simultaneously. Xiao Nanfeng narrowed his eyes, then retaliated with the same technique.

The entire plaza filled up with specters. Xiao Nanfeng and the Specter King phased in and out of existence, leaving naught but afterimages behind. The spectators watched in shock.

𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

"You Jiu, what are you doing? Take Nanfeng down while he's got the champion's attention! Give him a lethal blow now, or I'll kill your sweetheart!" Xiang Kun howled.

You Jiu had no choice but to leap toward Xiao Nanfeng, appearing swiftly behind him.

Xiao Nanfeng's face grew cold, thinking that You Jiu was about to launch a sneak attack on him. With a huge crash, You Jiu was sent flying by the Specter King. He collapsed onto the ground.

"I can't find an opening!" You Jiu coughed out blood.

"Trash!" the crow king thundered.

The Specter King suddenly seemed to grow twice as strong as before, causing Xiao Nanfeng to stumble back. Subsequently, the Specter King's strength fell back down as it fought on equal terms with Xiao Nanfeng.

Xiao Nanfeng understood what was going on now. You Jiu hadn't been targeting him, but rather the Specter King. In other words, he had understood the hidden message that Xiao Nanfeng was trying to convey.

Relaxed, Xiao Nanfeng began to fight with the Specter King more and more intensely.

The spectators were forced back by the specters of mist. They fled, none having discovered that Xiang Kun had been surrounded by a group of specters himself. His eyes widened in fear as his body became paralyzed. His arms turned pitch-black, and that color seemed to be spreading throughout his body. Though alarmed, he was unable to make a sound. He began to despair.

Meanwhile, Xiao Nanfeng continued to learn from the Specter King's techniques, which were more comprehensive than You Jiu's own. Xiao Nanfeng mastered them quickly and soon began to fight on equal footing with the Specter King.

Just then, an unexpected voice rang out, "Nanfeng, the fortune that the Red Emperor gave you is comparable in extent to that owned by a number of new empires, and all you're doing with it is learning fist techniques? What a waste!"

"You Shi? So it was you that incited this champion into attacking me." Xiao Nanfeng's face fell.

Not far away, You Shi stood still. Black aura surrounded him. "What's the use of learning fist techniques rather than formations? Specter Kings, come!"

Beneath You Shi appeared four large characters denoting the four cardinal directions. They shone with radiant golden light. Suddenly, four black figures emerged from the light, each one looking exactly like the Specter King.

"This is..." Xiao Nanfeng gaped.

"Go!" You Shi commanded.

Another four Specter Kings surrounded Xiao Nanfeng. The five Specter Kings on the field summoned thousands of specters wreathed in white mist, shocking all the spectators.

None of them discovered that Xiang Kun, who had been surrounded by a group of such specters, had now turned pitch-black. His eyes were alarmed, his body paralyzed, as darkness consumed him.

Meanwhile, Xiao Nanfeng had begun growing accustomed to fighting five Specter Kings at once. His initial seriousness had evolved into relative ease.

"You Shi? Is this all you've got? The four Specter Kings you summoned with your formation only capture the shape of the original, not its soul. They're far weaker," Xiao Nanfeng criticized.

He obliterated one of the Specter Kings with a punch.

You Shi's face darkened. "Kill him!" he commanded the summoned Specter Kings, which swiftly shot toward Xiao Nnafeng.

With three more bangs, they were blown apart by the force of Xiao Nanfeng's punches. Much of the mist on the battlefield dissipated, leaving the Specter King and Xiao Nanfeng.

Moments later, the Specter King champion himself was sent flying in defeat.

All the specters vanished. Behind the Specter King was a staircase toward the next plaza.

"How could this be? He won?!" Everyone gaped in shock.

Xiao Nanfeng glanced toward the enemy cultivators and was just about to speak when a skeletal claw pierced through You Shi's back and out his chest in a spray of blood and flesh.

"What?" You Shi glanced at his chest in consternation.

"It's the skeleton. It caught up!" the cultivators cried out.

You Shi had been badly positioned and was standing right by the stairs leading up from the previous plaza. It was little wonder that the skeleton that had just walked up from it had killed him immediately.

"Madam Rouge?" Xiao Nanfeng's face grew alarmed. Although he was confident in his own abilities, Madam Rouge had killed her way up the Plaza Stairway as well, and her strength had to have grown by leaps and bounds. She was surely far more dangerous than You Shi.

"W-What?" You Shi couldn't believe that he had been attacked from the back.

Madam Rouge's sharp claws tore him apart. He perished on the spot, then transformed into a cloud of smoke that Madam Rouge swallowed whole.

"Damn it! We can't stay here any longer. We'll die in reality if it kills us. Leave!" the crow king commanded without any hesitation.

The crow king, Xiang Kun, and his subordinates all departed, leaving a number of black-armored cultivators and You Jiu behind.

"Captain, activate the seal and send us out, quickly!" the remaining black-armored cultivators yelled.

Clearly, Xiang Kun's party had two or more such seals. The officer of the team held one seal and was responsible for bringing You Jiu and the others in and out of the illusory realm.

However, at that moment, the black-armored cultivators' captain was lying on the ground, twitching all over, seemingly in delirium. He was completely unable to activate his seal.

Xiao Nanfeng's eyes lit up. He guessed that these were the symptoms of possession by specters. Was this something that You Jiu had orchestrated?

He looked toward You Jiu, who looked back at Xiao Nanfeng. The two combatants understood each other with just a glance.

Xiao Nanfeng gave You Jiu a look. He nodded before appearing behind the black-armored cultivators.

"What? Are you trying to rebel, You Jiu?!" the black-armored cultivators cried out.

With a huge crash, the cultivators were sent flying, some of the unluckiest straight toward Madam Rouge.

Madam Rouge's claws were as quick as lightning. It transformed into a cloud of smoke, which she absorbed. Except for Capital Wu, who was still lying on the ground in delirium, the other black-armored cultivators were all killed in the blink of an eye.

Just then, Madam Rouge suddenly flashed right before Xiao Nanfeng. The next moment, Xiao Nanfeng and Madam Rouge clashed against each other.

Back in reality, within a small valley, the crow king and a group of cultivators woke up in reality.

"We survived! Thank goodness!" the crow king gasped.

"Some haven't woken up..." one cultivator murmured.

"Hmm?"

The cultivators looked around to see that You Jiu and the others were still deeply unconscious.

"What are they doing? Why haven't they come out yet?" The crow king frowned.

The group of cultivators prodded Captain Wu's prone body, but he remained unconscious and unable to awaken.

"They're dying!" one cultivator suddenly shouted.

The unconscious cultivators began to die as blood dripped out of all their orifices, leaving only Captain Wu and You Jiu behind.

"Young Master, something's wrong!" the crow king reported.

"Argh!" Xiang Kun suddenly shouted as he clutched his head.

"Young Master? What's wrong?" the crow king asked, stepping forward.

"I'm alright." Xiang Kun slowly opened his eyes. However, his tone had become slightly different. With his head lowered, none could see his face. He smirked coldly. His gaze had transformed into that of another person entirely.

"Young Master, this black spike in your hand has transformed into copper!" the crow king remarked.

Xiang Kun had been holding onto a dragon-quelling spike that seemed to have been pitch-black until now, when it reverted to its original color.

"There is no issue," Xiang Kun replied, keeping the spike.

"According to the historical records, this black spike is used to break the formation sealing away a natural treasure around this location, likely the tomb of Emperor Wei. The illusory realm is far too dangerous now that the cursed effigy is around. Shall we attempt to find the entrance to the tomb?" the crow king asked.

"There's no rush. I'll be entering secluded cultivation for some time. Do not disturb me," Xiang Kun warned.

Ignoring the baffled cultivators, Xiang Kun stepped into a tent and began to meditate.

As he stroked the dragon-quelling spike, Xiang Kun smirked. "Nanfeng, you must think that I, You Shi, have already perished to that cursed effigy. Ha!"