Chapter 126: A Strand of Red Rope

"Alright. Now that that serpent envoy's gone, it's time for us to discuss business," the old eunuch suddenly stated.

"Business?" Xiao Nanfeng raised an eyebrow. Had the old eunuch not approached with an intense aura to kill him?

"You must have acquired Emperor Wei's inheritance along with the Seal of Great Wei. Have you memorized it all?" the old eunuch asked, his eyes focused intently on Xiao Nanfeng.

𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

"What do you want?" Xiao Nanfeng frowned.

"The marquis wants Emperor Wei's inheritance," the eunuch replied, smiling.

Xiao Nanfeng frowned.

Indeed, everyone knew that Emperor Wei's inheritance had to be of extraordinary value. This old eunuch really was loyal to Marquis Wu, wasn't he?

"If you haven't memorized it fully, I can give you a bit of time to do so. Forget nothing, or you'll die a painful death," the old eunuch threatened.

Xiao Nanfeng gave him a strange look. Did the eunuch really think he was all that strong?

"Elder, won't you strike? He controls the Immortal's Destruction. Didn't you say that you wanted that relic? Why are you being so polite toward him?" Crown Prince Yan asked.

The old eunuch looked toward Crown Prince Yan with a smirk on his face. "The Immortal's Destruction will belong to me sooner or later. The inheritance of Emperor Wei in his head is far more important. We can't make a mistake at this stage. Crown Prince Yan, don't you have another Red Dragon's Immortal Bell? Loan it to me."

"What?" Crown Prince Yan was shocked.

"There's a second Red Dragon's Immortal Bell?" Xiao Nanfeng looked toward Crown Prince Yan.

"The Red Dragon's Immortal Bell comes in a matched pair, one male and the other female. I expect the majority of you aren't familiar with this secret," the old eunuch murmured.

"H-How did you know?!" Crown Prince Yan cried out.

"You told me yourself." The old eunuch smiled.

"Impossible! Why would I?"

"You even told me that you were intending to kill Nanfeng in conjunction with Crown Prince Qi. Crown Prince Qi would surely bring out his Red Dragon's Immortal Bell. The best-case scenario would be if he and Nanfeng died simultaneously; otherwise, if only one were to survive, you'll have me kill that party. Finally, after I strike, you'll launch a sneak attack on me with the Red Dragon's Immortal Bell and trap me within. Have you forgotten?" The old eunuch smiled again.

"Impossible!" Fear filled Crown Prince Yan's face.

His plan was a secret he had never revealed to anyone. His intention was to destroy all his enemies with this conference, claim the Seal of Great Wei, kill Crown Prince Qi and the various clan heads, and then take over the humans' domain.

How could the old eunuch have learned of the secret plan that Crown Prince Yan had never told anyone?

"Lend me the Red Dragon's Immortal Bell," the old eunuch asked again.

"I don't have it!" Crown Prince Yan cried out.

Suddenly, the old eunuch made a come-hither gesture with his fingers. A red bell quickly flew out from Crown Prince Yan's robes toward the old eunuch.

"No! My Red Dragon's Immortal Bell! How could you control it? Come over here!" Crown Prince Yan cried out.

However, the Red Dragon's Immortal Bell seemed not to hear any of his orders at all. It quickly fell into the old eunuch's hands.

"Impossible. How can you control the Red Dragon's Immortal Bell?!"

"Weren't you the one who helped me forge it? Have you already forgotten?" The old eunuch smiled.

"I never did! How did you manage this?!" Crown Prince Yan cried out in disbelief.

"You have. Manipulating the Red Dragon's Immortal Bell requires a specialized secret technique and hand gesture. You told me everything in a detailed fashion," the old eunuch emphasized.

Crown Prince Yan gaped at the old eunuch. He felt like his head was a mess. Was he going crazy, or was the old eunuch going crazy? He had never revealed any of the secrets of the Red Dragon's Immortal Bell. Why did the old eunuch claim that he had, and how was he able to control it for himself?

The old eunuch ignored Crown Prince Yan and turned to Xiao Nanfeng. "Alright. Do you remember what I told you?"

"What do you want?" Xiao Nanfeng frowned.

"Recall all that you learned from Emperor Wei's inheritance. Don't forget anything. Once my master returns from the divine domain, hand it all over, missing nary a word," the old eunuch warned.

With a wave of his hand, the bell grew magnified in the air. Roaring flames filled the air in the vicinity of the bell and headed toward Xiao Nanfeng.

"You're asking to die," Xiao Nanfeng replied, his eyes flashing cold.

A golden glow emanated from the Immortal's Destruction and sent a sword slash straight at the old eunuch.

"It's useless. I'm a Spiritsong-realm cultivator, and as strong as the Immortal's Destruction is, its strength is limited." The old eunuch soared into the air, meeting the sword slash with a twist of his blade. Another huge cloud of dust and smoke formed.

Just then, the Red Dragon's Immortal Bell appeared over Xiao Nanfeng's head. As it tolled, flames surged forth. Xiao Nanfeng was trapped within.

"Sir Xiao!" The spectral guards all around the forest rushed forth in a panic.

"You Immanence-realm cultivators think you can save him? I think not!" the old eunuch snorted.

A wave of spiritual power struck all the spectral guards, causing them to shout and scream as they fell unconscious.

"Enjoy your stay in there, lad, haha!" The old eunuch laughed in satisfaction.

Had Xiao Nanfeng been trapped? No, he had done it intentionally. The Red Dragon's Immortal Bell was like a snack for his new cultivation technique—he had no reason to refuse it.

It would be trivial to defend against the Red Dragon's Immortal Bell with the Seal of Great Wei, but doing so would surely cause the old eunuch to store the bell away instead. That would be a significant loss.

Within the Red Dragon's Immortal Bell, four fiery dragons circled Xiao Nanfeng. This time, they didn't burn Xiao Nanfeng with fiery breaths; they simply prevented him from moving. It was evident that the eunuch didn't want to kill him, at least not just yet.

Xiao Nanfeng took a deep breath and sucked in the flames from all four fiery dragons.

The four dragons roared in outrage, their bodies billowing with flame.

Huge quantities of spiritual fire filled the two golden suns in Xiao Nanfeng's dantian, making him feel unbelievable comfort.

"Let me out, eunuch!" Xiao Nanfeng beat on the interior of the bell at full strength.

"Haha! Lad, as long as you don't struggle, the flames within won't burn you. Stay still and wait for the marquis' return," the old eunuch advised, very pleased by the performance of the relic.

"Let me out! I'll kill you, eunuch!"

Xiao Nanfeng continued to curse the old eunuch, but he made sure not to go too overboard in case the eunuch really did get so insulted that he reclaimed the bell once more.

Xiao Nanfeng continued sucking up the flames from the four fiery dragons as he beat on the interior of the bell. His mood was improving drastically.

"Keep shouting," the old eunuch suggested, laughing coldly. "I enjoy hearing others' helpless shouts!" He turned toward Crown Prince Yan. "Where are you headed, Your Highness? We still have outstanding business."

Crown Prince Yan, feeling as though the situation was quickly growing out of his control, was attempting to flee. However, the old eunuch's tremendous aura suppressed him. He froze stiffly, knowing that, if he were to take one more step forward, the old eunuch would kill him the spot.

"E-Elder, haven't we had a bountiful collaboration these last few days? I can help you set up a meeting with whoever you want, and when you claimed that you wanted the Immortal's Destruction, I held you with that, too!

"You did well, but you aren't as strong as Nanfeng," the old eunuch replied.

"What?" Crown Prince Yan seemed confused.

"Have a look at him and what he's accomplished. This conference he organized, for instance—essentially all the key members of the royalty and the major clans are here today, responding to his summons. What I want is this sort of effect. Why didn't you think of that notion?" the old eunuch smiled.

"What do you mean?" Crown Prince Yan felt a visible sense of unease, as did the major clan heads all around. They were hoping to leave the mountain.

"As I said, no one is allowed to leave. Didn't you hear me?" The old eunuch smirked.

With a wave of his hand, endless white fog formed all around him, encapsulating the surroundings. At this point, no one would be able to escape.

"E-Elder, what are you planning on doing?!" Crown Prince Yan cried out.

"Elder, you can tell us everything you need! We'll do our best to help," the clan heads echoed

I do have a task for all of you. There's no rush—it'll be ready within moments." The eunuch smiled again.

When everyone saw the old eunuch's frightening smile, they couldn't help but shudder violently. Some backtracked and tried to run out through the fog.

"As I said, no one is allowed to leave," the old eunuch repeated again

A slash of sword energy whizzed by, wounding the legs of all the clan heads. They fell to the ground. The old eunuch appeared before them, sealing their cultivation and rendering them incapable of movement.

"What are you doing, Elder?!" the clan heads cried out.

The old eunuch carefully retrieved a small container that had been sealed away. He infused spiritual power into the runes on its surface, breaking the seal and retrieving its contents. A red thread emerged from within, almost like a snake. It swam out of the container, looked around itself, and then spat out countless ethereal red lines straight at the mindscapes of each clan head.

"Argh!" the clan heads shouted in pain.

They tried to get rid of the red lines connecting their mindscapes to the thread, but the ethereal lines were impossible to remove.

"Elder, what are you doing? My head hurts!" Crown Prince Yan cried out.

"It won't hurt after a while," the old eunuch replied, smiling coldly.

The red lines suddenly broke off from the main thread, then burrowed into each cultivator's mindscape like wriggling snakes.

"I can't take it! Help!"

"My head!"

The clan heads rolled around in pain.

Suddenly, one clan head shot up. His eyes became vacant. He looked toward the old eunuch robotically and called out, "Master!"

"What? This red thread can control another cultivator's consciousness?!" Crown Prince Yan cried out.

"Not control—it's simply a form of possession. I did it to you too. Don't you remember? It was only a very mild form, though—but I can bind your soul properly this time. From now on, you'll listen to my commands. I am your only master—no, the marquis is your only master." The old eunuch smirked.

"What? You've controlled my consciousness like this in the past?!" Crown Prince Yan shouted.

"What else? Of course I did."

Not far away, another clan head screamed. Her eyes turned vacant as she was successfully possessed by the red thread, losing her self-consciousness and transforming into the old eunuch's puppet. She addressed the old eunuch as master.

The other clan heads frantically struggled for dominance over the thread.

"It's useless. Your spiritual power is far too weak compared to mine. If not for the fact that this sort of possession can damage your memories, I'd possess Nanfeng too. It's a pity—I'll have to wait for a while before I can do that," the old eunuch sighed.

"Why? Elder, I'd give you anything you wanted! Why would you treat me like this?!" Crown Prince Yan cried out.

"You're only trying to take advantage of me. You told me as much," the old eunuch replied disdainfully.

"No, no! There's more I can do for you. I can help you occupy Qi and make you its ruler!" Crown Prince Yan offered.

"Do you think I care about something as pitiful as your humans' domain? The empire of Great Yan, of Great Qi? Is this meant to be a children's game? Is this all the land you have? Even the marquis' current estate is far larger than the entirety of the humans' domain. The only reason you squabble about this territory is because you don't know what it's like beyond this hidden realm," the old eunuch replied disdainfully.

"What are you trying to do? Why control us, then?" Crown Prince Yan didn't understand what the old eunuch had in mind.

"The humans' domain might be small, but it wouldn't be a bad training ground," the old eunuch replied.

"What?" Crown Prince Yan was shocked.

"I have come to the humans' domain on the marquis' orders to see if this territory might be useful for stationing and training troops. We're trying to revive the Taiwu Empire, you see, and it'd be easy to detect troops training in the marquis' lands. This would be an ideal place for us—we'll claim the humans' domain for ourselves!" the old eunuch proclaimed.

"Y-You!" Crown Prince Yan shouted.

"You're all frogs in a well, not having seen the wider world for yourselves. What would you know? It's all thanks to that lad for organizing this conference that I was able to nab all of you in one go. Once the possession is complete, the entirety of the humans' domain will be mine. It's a pity that Crown Prince Qi was killed by that lad. There might be a little trouble down the line, but it doesn't matter now, haha!"

"No, no!" Crown Prince Yan quailed in fear.