Chapter 242: Into Thin Air

The cracks over the barrier around the draconic palace began to propagate like a spiderweb. The barrier cracked and creaked for three days, until it was one good push away from shattering entirely.

Over those three days, the surroundings of the palace continued to shake violently, drawing the attention of more and more advanced cultivators. However, none dared to step into the palace.

Finally, with the entire barrier filled with cracks, it burst apart.

Seawater rushed into the draconic palace. The surface of the Eastern Sea seemed to cavitate, an awe-inspiring sight. At the same time, countless waves of energy emerged from the depths of the sea, forming giant sea dragons. A tsunami the likes of which had never been seen formed over the sea. All the ships still in the region were destroyed and obliterated by the growing storm.

The seawater churned so violently that all the aquatic lifeforms spat out blood.

Only Immortals were able to steady themselves despite the forces buffeting them every which way and clearly see what was happening at the seafloor.

Standing in the middle of a particularly wild current, an Immortal draped in rainbow light exclaimed, "All the black silt of the Eastern Sea Draconic Palace is gone! Wasn't the draconic palace formed from a foundation of black silt and rock? How could it all have vanished?"

"That black substance is cursed smoke. Impossible. The cursed smoke of the Eastern Sea Draconic Palace was the result of tens of thousands of years of accumulated treasure. How could it all have vanished?" Another Immortal gasped by the first one's side.

As the draconic palace continued to collapse, a few Immortals warily approached and began to examine their surroundings.

No one realized that, in a deepsea valley, the dragon king was infusing the last of the cursed smoke into Xiao Nanfeng's body.

"Elder, has the procedure been a success?" the dragon king asked expectantly.

"It has. The kilometer-long red rope has been completely affixed to Xiao Nanfeng's red moon," Madam Rouge replied from Xiao Nanfeng's mindscape.

"Wonderful. Wonderful!" the dragon king exclaimed. His body began to shake.

"What's the matter, Dragon King? Your spiritual avatar's shaking. Could the red rope cursed king's subordinate avatar be vying for control over your body again?" Blue Lantern asked.

The dragon king only chuckled. "It doesn't matter anymore. Blue Lantern, please take care of my son."

"You...!" Blue Lantern's eyes widened as he suddenly considered a possibility.

Just then, a ghastly howl came from within the dragon king's body. "You fools! Return me my cursed spiritual avatar!"

"Red Rope, you've brought doom to the draconic clan. Today, on behalf of all the Eastern Sea dragons whose deaths you're responsible for, I'll claim your life. Explode!" the dragon king commanded, his voice tinged with resolve and grief.

"No!" the red rope cursed king shouted.

Suddenly, the dragon king's spiritual avatar burst into countless fragments.

The shadow of a pitch-black dragon seemed to appear from within the explosion. With a flick of his tail, he rushed out of the valley and charged into a wave of seawater that threatened to drown it. He passed straight through, right toward the collapsing Eastern Sea Draconic Palace.

By then, whirlpools and eddies had formed around the Eastern Sea Draconic Palace. The underwater trenches and mountains were collapsing, and the last of the Eastern Sea draconic clan's riches were being destroyed.

The shadow of the black dragon looked toward the destruction, hazy images resolving into existence in his mind.

In his mind, the draconic palace radiated with light and fortune. Its floors were embedded with gems; its walls were made of crystal. All the spirits of the Eastern Sea came to pay tribute and their respects. Its treasuries and armories were filled with peerless treasures. Crab, lobster, and prawn soldiers and warriors maintained law and order under the guidance of whale generals. Shark spirits patrolled the region, clams frolicked in ponds and pools, and the descendants and children of the dragons were heaped with jewels and playing with each other amidst the coral. The elders of the dragon clan were gathered around the dragon king of the Eastern Sea, who had invited the top Immortals of the era for a banquet in which they would discuss the affairs of the world at large.

Immense glory and a weighty history—now, naught but ash. The shadow of the black dragon exuded a sorrow steeped in memory. He keened in despair and in grievance, then vanished in a shower of golden light that dissolved into the ruins of the palace.

The Immortals who had approached the palace, hearing the cries of that august, majestic dragon, were so shaken that they no longer dared to approach. They shrank back from the whirlpool.

Within the deepsea valley, Blue Lantern watched as the black dragon's figure departed and vanished into glowing starlight. He knew that the dragon king's truesoul had truly dissipated, following his final desire to see the dragon palace with his own eyes once more. With that glance, however, came immense sorrow rather than peace.

"Fare thee well, old friend." Blue Lantern sighed.

Seawater poured down toward them from above.

The valley had been the underground space in which they were located, but the complete exhaustion of the cursed smoke had returned the seafloor to its original appearance, that of a narrow valley. However, the seawater was no threat to Blue Lantern, who waved a hand, summoned a compass, and formed a barrier to block it all.

Xiao Nanfeng remained cross-legged in meditation as Madam Rouge flew out of his mindscape.

Suddenly, a large quantity of red fog appeared out of nowhere and tangled around Xiao Nanfeng.

"What?" Blue Lantern was astounded as well.

The red fog manifested as a length of red rope that began to tighten around Xiao Nanfeng's neck as it released glowing red light.

"When the dragon king self-destructed, the cursed king's subordinate avatar would have suffered a great deal of damage, but it wouldn't have been destroyed along with the dragon king. You didn't notice?" Madam Rouge asked, as if she had been observing what was going on all along.

Blue Lantern smiled wryly. "I didn't notice anything amiss when I inspected the surroundings. I thought that the cursed king's subordinate avatar really had been destroyed. I was watching as the dragon king departed from this world, upset by my loss. It's my fault. Please, save Xiao Nanfeng."

"There's no need." Madam Rouge shook her head and stopped Blue Lantern from proceeding onward.

"Oh?" Blue Lantern seemed perplexed.

"It's a convenient way to test how effective the combination of the red rope and red moon is, I suppose. Will it be able to hold back the red rope cursed king's weakened subordinate avatar?" Madam Rouge wondered.

"Are they in an illusory realm now?" Blue Lantern asked.

"That's right. What's more, the red rope cursed king has sealed the illusory realm from us, attempting to bar us from entry. How laughable. Does it think it knows more about these illusory realms than I do?" Madam Rouge scoffed disdainfully.

Within the illusory realm, Xiao Nanfeng jolted up to find himself surrounded by fog.

"Another illusion? Madam Rouge, why have you brought me here?" Xiao Nanfeng exclaimed.

A chilly voice came from within the thick fog. "Brat, where's my cursed spiritual avatar? Why does it feel muted to my senses now?"

The surrounding fog burst apart to reveal a man in red.

"The red rope cursed king? You're not yet dead? No, this is your final subordinate avatar, the one that was cohabiting with the dragon king! Where is he?" Xiao Nanfeng raised an eyebrow, as though having guessed the dragon king's fate.

"You're about to die. Are you sure he's the one you want to be worrying about? He dealt so much damage to me that he deserves to have his soul crumble away like it did. Now, it's your turn. Return me my cursed spiritual avatar!" the cursed king roared out.

Its body flickered as it immediately appeared before Xiao Nanfeng and punched forward. Xiao Nanfeng met it fist for fist.

A huge mushroom cloud formed at the point of impact. Xiao Nanfeng was sent flying. He spat out a mouthful of blood.

"You're at Yin Body?" Xiao Nanfeng narrowed his eyes.

"If not for that old codger's self-destruction, which ruined the bulk of my strength, I would be far stronger. I'm only barely at Yin Body, aren't I? It's more than enough to deal with you, though. Brat, you're dead." The red rope cursed king shot forward again.

Xiao Nanfeng waved a hand. "Rope, come to me!"

A length of red rope descended from the air and tangled around the red rope spirit king.

"What?!" the cursed king exclaimed.

This was his technique! How could it have affected him?

"You can cast the Whip of Order, and one bearing the strength of a late-stage Lunar Deluge cultivator, at that? It's laughable for you to try to defeat me with my own technique, however. Break!" the cursed king gritted out.

It broke free of the red rope and continued charging toward Xiao Nanfeng, but the next moment, it noticed that something was amiss. It stopped short and looked up into the air, where a layer of red fog had formed. The red fog glimmered brightly, shining with the light of a crimson moon, immediately sending warning bells ringing in its head.

"No! This is my technique. You couldn't have grasped it.

"Come!" Xiao Nanfeng shouted, waving a hand in invocation.

𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

With a huge rumble, hundreds of red ropes formed from within the fog. They shot toward the cursed king.

The cursed king blanched and punched forward with a fist.

Dozens of lengths of red rope exploded into fragments, but dozens more still remained. They tangled around the cursed king and wrapped him up like a dumpling.

"No! How have you gained control over the cursed spiritual power in my avatar? Impossible!" he exclaimed.

"Rise!" Xiao Nanfeng commanded.

Dozens of lengths of red rope tugged on the cursed king's body and dismembered it into five pieces.

The cursed king, destroyed by its own technique?

"Impossible. Explode!" the five fragments of its body roared.

Each fragment self-destructed, taking down all the red rope along with it. The fragments then flew toward each other in an attempt to merge together, but countless more red ropes emerged from the sky and tangled around the fragments.

"Release me!" the fragments thundered.

Xiao Nanfeng, who seemed to just have acquired this power and was now carefully exercising it, ignored the fragments' shouts.

Each of the dozens of fragments slowly filled out and transformed into dozens of cursed kings, each with two lengths of red rope attached. One tied up each body and the other hung around their necks, its other end attached to the red fog up above.

It looked as though dozens of cursed kings were committing suicide together.

The cursed kings gaped in disbelief. "No. This is my technique, my cursed spiritual power! It's mine!"

The red rope around the cursed kings' necks grew so tight that they popped, as if they were about to be asphyxiated the very next moment.

The cursed king could never have imagined that it would lose to its own technique. It felt as though its neck was about to break, but it couldn't resist at all.

"No!" the cursed king screamed in desolation.