Chapter 210: Respect the Hierarchy

Back in the Eastern Sea, in the green lobster king's lair, Xiao Nanfeng stored a mountain of lobster corpses into his storage ring. His storage ring was like a bottomless pit, one that couldn't be filled up.

"King Xiao, some lobster spirits got away, but not too many," Ye Dafu reported.

"Forget it. Have a look around your surroundings, then modify the formation," Xiao Nanfeng instructed.

"Yes!"

The cultivators activated the formation, causing thick fog to appear from the sea and shrouding the small rocky outcropping from sight.

Xiao Nanfeng activated the Immortal's Destruction as four Immortal-binding chains shot into the sea.

A dragon's cry resounded as huge waves formed in the sea. A six-hundred-meter-long draconic vein was excavated from the sea and dragged up toward the gathered cultivators.

"Now!" Xiao Nanfeng commanded.

All the cultivators rushed forward in droves.

As the dragon roared in outrage, the cultivators devoured it in its entirety. Croak and Warble rapidly absorbed draconic aether from the dragon, not wasting any emissions it gave off. The hundreds of cultivators fully divided it up.

Everyone's bodies glowed with golden light as they meditated and prepared to break through on the island.

Two hours later, Xiao Nanfeng's body resonated with energy. A wild burst of energy spread out from him. He opened his eyes. "The ninth stage of Ascension..."

The other cultivators steadily opened their eyes as well. They were all overjoyed, especially the spectral guards. It was their first time partaking in the magic of the draconic veins, and they were undeniably excited.

"Hold on. There's a large draconic vein by the blue crabs' lair as well," Xiao Nanfeng suddenly shouted.

"More?" The cultivators instantly grew excited again.

Back in the valley within the draconic palace, where Xiao Nanfeng's avatar was located, despite the thousands of injured troops, Xiao Nanfeng quickly found the serpent.

It was curled up by the corner of a mountain as it recuperated from its injuries. By its side were a group of crocodile spirits that were eyeing it.

"What're you looking at? I'll eat you if you dare come over. don't think that you'll be able to take me down just because I'm injured. Try me if you dare!" The serpent glared at the crocodile spirits.

It was clear that they were all cannon fodder, but they bore enmity toward each other's group as well.

In the end, the crocodile spirit slunk away, thinking that they were no match for him.

"You really have a lot of enemies, don't you?" Xiao Nanfeng walked over, smiling.

"You again?" The serpent glared at Xiao Nanfeng with anger.

"Why are you being so rude?" Xiao Nanfeng walked up to the serpent.

"If not for you tricking me, I wouldn't have had to fight! You almost got me killed!" the serpent spat out.

Its body was battered and wounded all over; this time, its injuries didn't seem to be feigned.

"You can't blame me, either. Blame yourself for having no legs and moving too slowly."

The serpent: ...

Xiao Nanfeng's words were deliberately inflammatory. It wished it could choke Xiao Nanfeng to death.

"What're you here to do?" The serpent glared at Xiao Nanfeng.

Xiao Nanfeng looked back at the serpent. Would it be appropriate to hand it the token now and bring it treasure-hunting with him? He didn't think so. The serpent was an ingrate that likely wouldn't thank Xiao Nanfeng for what he did—it might even consider Xiao Nanfeng foolish.

Xiao Nanfeng suddenly thought that he would have to correct the serpent's mode of thinking. He would certainly give him the draconic elder's token, but not without cost. The serpent would have to bleed for it.

"I think there's a problem with your manner of handling things," Xiao Nanfeng asserted.

The serpent stared at Xiao Nanfeng with shock. "You came all the way here just to tell me this?"

"I need to rest for a few days after such a strenuous fight, after all. I'm bored, so I came to chat with you. We're all recuperating, aren't we?" Xiao Nanfeng smiled.

The serpent twitched. "You're talking nonsense. Don't you think I can tell that all your supposed wounds are fake? You haven't suffered a single injury. I doubt you have good intentions in mind."

"See? That's your problem. You think everything's out to get you, so even if something good were to happen, you wouldn't be able to react to it." Xiao Nanfeng smiled.

The serpent: ...

"Look at you. Once an envoy of the divine domain—but now, relegated to nothing more than a slave. Haven't you ever wondered how that happened?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.

"How else? It's because I couldn't beat these spirit kings," the serpent replied disdainfully.

"That's not true. You don't have to be in dire straits just because you're weak. Look at me! You knew how weak I used to be. How was it that I could still survive and even thrive in the undying realm?"

"You—" The serpent wanted to curse at Xiao Nanfeng for exaggerating, but after thinking about it some more, it gave Xiao Nanfeng an odd look. Xiao Nanfeng... did end up with immense power within the undying realm.

"This is a time of strife, where the strong will devour the weak. Individual strength is powerful, but that's hardly the only relevant metric. For instance, those crocodile spirits from before were well aware of the power of teamwork. They're your enemies, aren't they? I heard them say that they were going to rally all your enemies to take you down together. Do you think you'd be able to withstand their combined assault?"

"They dare?" The serpent's face distorted.

"That's the benefit of having an alliance. I was able to ally with Emperor Wei within the undying realm, with Blue Lantern, with cursed effigies, and was ultimately able to take down the undying cursed king," Xiao Nanfeng elaborated.

The serpent scowled.

Is he trying to brag to me?

"Now look at this draconic palace. With an alliance, I'll be able to take over the entire palace and crush all resistance. Do you believe me?"

The serpent's face spasmed. Xiao Nanfeng's relentless bragging left it wholly uncomfortable.

"You're only an Ascension-realm cultivator, aren't you? Who would ally with you? Taking over the draconic palace? Dream on!" The serpent looked toward Xiao Nanfeng in disbelief.

Just then, within Xiao Nanfeng's storage ring, a red rope poked out. It had just regenerated; the storage ring, unable to store living objects, had pushed it out of storage.

The red rope quickly tangled around Xiao Nanfeng and shone with red light, bringing him into an illusory realm.

Before Xiao Nanfeng could see what the illusory realm looked like, however, a wave of energy had dispersed the fog to reveal Madam Rouge smashing the red rope's cursed spiritual avatar to pieces, then absorbing its fragmented remains.

"Go on, get out. Dupe the serpent some more—I like watching it." Madam Rouge's signature black smoke resolved into words.

𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

Xiao Nanfeng: ...

Is Madam Rouge watching what's happening in my life like a television broadcast?

As the illusion fell apart, Xiao Nanfeng woke up in reality.

The serpent had shot back and was looking at the red rope looped around Xiao Nanfeng's neck in abject fear.

"Don't worry. This is my friend, and we're just playing around," Xiao Nanfeng explained, pulling the red rope from his neck.

The serpent gaped at Xiao Nanfeng. "You're playing with fire! That's a cursed effigy!"

"It's just a cursed effigy. I've played with them before. What's there to be worried about?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.

The serpent hesitated. It suddenly remembered that Xiao Nanfeng had had a bunch of cursed effigies even in the undying realm. Indeed, he seemed to be able to fully ignore the danger that these cursed effigies possessed.

The serpent swallowed a gulp of saliva and considered Xiao Nanfeng again. "Have you really formed an alliance with the red rope cursed effigy?"

"Alliance? What alliance? I'm friends with the red rope, and friends help each other," Xiao Nanfeng replied.

The serpent gave him an odd look. Why did it feel so weird to see Xiao Nanfeng bragging?

"Well? We're no longer in an era of one-on-one fighting. Finding a suitable ally is necessary for conquering a region and obtaining the greatest benefits," Xiao Nanfeng continued.

"Liar! You must have signed some sort of unfair agreement with that cursed effigy. As a cursed effigy, it wouldn't give you any benefits at all!" The serpent remained unconvinced.

"Says who? This length of red rope prepared me a gift. Look."

With his main body having ascended in cultivation, Xiao Nanfeng's avatar could do the same. He attempted the breakthrough now.

A wave of energy gusted out of Xiao Nanfeng's avatar and spread to his surroundings.

"The ninth stage of Ascension? Y-You've broken through? The red rope helped you?!" the serpent exclaimed.

"That's right. We're friends, you see. Isn't it normal that the red rope would help me?" Xiao Nanfeng replied breezily.

"Impossible. Why would they give you such benefits? I don't believe it!" The serpent felt as though its worldview was starting to distort.

"You don't believe me because you have no friends. Even as a divine envoy, you were hoodwinked and taken advantage of. On the other hand, I'm different. I enjoy making friends, and I help them out. Likewise, they help me raise my cultivation. Friends help each other; that's the basis for success in this era," Xiao Nanfeng replied.

"I don't believe you!" The serpent stubbornly tried to resist Xiao Nanfeng's corruption.

"Believe it or not, that's the truth. You know how many people the red rope has killed. Why hasn't it killed me, then? Look at how docile it is in my hands! It doesn't resist me at all." Xiao Nanfeng began to stroke the red rope right before the serpent.

The serpent: ...

"The red rope even told me that it was a little embarrassed at only being able to provide me with such a small bump to my cultivation. Once I digest my recent breakthrough, it'll help me raise my cultivation further—in about a day or so. See? This is how easy it is to raise your cultivation."

"Impossible. Are they crazy?" The serpent couldn't accept this 'reality'.

"You're a lone wolf. How would you understand the bonds of friendship? Just wait and see. It's not like I'm leaving, anyway," Xiao Nanfeng replied.

The serpent stared at Xiao Nanfeng blankly. Stubborn though it was, it was slowly succumbing to Xiao Nanfeng's persuasion. The first time it had encountered Xiao Nanfeng, he was just a pitiful weakling. Because of his penchant for alliances, however, his cultivation had soared. As for the serpent itself, it had spent two centuries fighting on its lonesome—and what had come out of it? Could it really have been mistaken?

"Of course, even alliances follow a hierarchy. Anyone who wants to join us will have to respect the hierarchy, to commit to following the rules and submit to your elders," Xiao Nanfeng continued.

"I'm not going to submit to you. Dream on!" the serpent cried out stubbornly.

"Don't worry, I wasn't going to propose anything like that. Even if you were interested, I wouldn't want you as my junior," Xiao Nanfeng replied.

The serpent: ...