Chapter 256: Divine Emperor

The shadow wasn't particularly strong, but its abilities were particularly sinister. Only someone like Xiao Nanfeng, who had complete faith in his abilities, was able to counter its blows with the divine undying blade. However, the shadow seemed to have become infuriated as a result of Xiao Nanfeng's actions and relentlessly chased after Xiao Nanfeng for his head.

"Ye Sanshui, get out of here immediately. Cover the entire Xiao manor in the formation of red fog, now!" Xiao Nanfeng tossed a small orb at him.

"Understood!" Ye Sanshui caught the orb, a storage treasure with materials for the formation within.

"You think you'll be able to take down that shadow with a formation? The year your father sealed it, he said it was a cursed effigy, that ordinary formations would have no effect against it. Xiao Nanfeng, you've got its attention now. You're dead, haha, haha!" The Chief Steward suddenly began to roar in laughter.

Xiao Nanfeng glanced disdainfully at the Chief Steward as he continued to fend off the shadow.

Meanwhile, Ye Sanshui and Ye Dafu began to set up the formation in earnest.

"Any elders skilled with formations, I need your help!" Ye Sanshui shouted.

A group of Taiqing elders flew over to Ye Sanshui.

The formation of red fog that had once surrounded the Isle of Xiao had defended against quite a number of raiders, but had eventually been destroyed with the serpent king's attack. The five dragon-inducing pillars were all damaged, but Xiao Nanfeng had had an elder skilled with formations reforge them.

As for the red rope that was used for the formation, Xiao Nanfeng had amassed quite a large length of it from the draconic palace.

With the elders' support, the formation of red fog surrounded the Xiao manor. This time, however, its orientation had been reversed so that it would be easy to get in but difficult to get out.

Xiao Nanfeng fought with the shadow for quite some time, but as the formation finished and the shadow shot toward him, Xiao Nanfeng dodged aside. The shadow struck the boundary of the formation of red fog.

The shadow cared little about the formation. As the Chief Steward had stated, there were few formations that could rein in a cursed effigy. Just as it was about to continue charging at Xiao Nanfeng, a strand of red rope suddenly appeared amidst the fog and looped around its neck. It was hung up in the air.

The shadow roared in outrage, unable to believe what had happened. It began to struggle, but the red rope was relentless.

𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Xiao Nanfeng sighed in relief. "Alright. I can relax now."

Once Xiao Nanfeng discovered that the shadow could be struck by cursed objects, he quickly came up with a plan. His fight with the shadow was intended to stall it; he wasn't afraid of the shadow, but rather its ability to escape. If the shadow were to go into hiding, he would have a hard time finding it again.

After all, Xiao Nanfeng was surrounded by cursed kings. He wouldn't fear a single shadowy cursed effigy.

The shadow reached out and tore off its own neck, escaping from the red rope's restraints.

Xiao Nanfeng blinked. "You're willing to go that far?"

Xiao Nanfeng smacked at the shadow's head with the divine undying blade, sending it flying into the red fog and causing it to be hung up in the air once again.

The shadow's body was about to leap over to its head when it too was surrounded by a loop of red rope.

The shadow roared in outrage as it tried to dash forward, but it wasn't strong enough to overcome the red rope.

With a bang, the shadow's body and head exploded. It burst out from the domain of red fog, returned to safety, and then reformed into a shadow again.

The shadow roared at Xiao Nanfeng.

"Try that again if you dare. I bet that's not something you can do freely!" Xiao Nanfeng threatened.

The shadow slunk back. Xiao Nanfeng was right: self-destruction came at great cost. It bared its teeth at Xiao Nanfeng and howled at it, deeply frustrated.

"Kill him! Kill him!" the Chief Steward urged from close by.

The shadow cursed effigy was his final trump card. If even it couldn't do anything against Xiao Nanfeng, he would be dead!

The shadow glared at the Chief Steward, then shot toward him.

"Hold it!" Xiao Nanfeng shouted.

The shadow ignored Xiao Nanfeng as it flashed over to the Chief Steward's head.

The Chief Steward was shocked, but he didn't despair. Rather, he raised his right hand to reveal an ornate ring on his finger.

Even so, pain continued to surge up his neck. He felt as though this was the end.

"Impossible. Didn't Xiao Hongye say that this ring could curb the sealed cursed effigy? Why isn't it working? Save me!" the Chief Steward shouted.

With a pop, the Chief Steward's head was plucked off his body in a shower of blood. Even till death, he couldn't believe that he would have lost his life to the monster he had unsealed.

Only then did Xiao Nanfeng notice that the Chief Steward's ring looked exactly like the storage ring that he possessed. Did the Chief Steward have a fake version of the ring?

"Chief Steward, a quick death is far too light a punishment for your crimes," Xiao Nanfeng spat out, somewhat frustrated.

The shadow ate the Chief Steward's head, replenishing its reserves of energy.

Xiao Nanfeng walked up to the shadow, but it reared back with some fear. It continued to step back even as it howled at Xiao Nanfeng, as though warning him not to draw near.

"Rather alert, aren't you? It's a pity that you're far too dangerous for me to keep by my side," Xiao Nanfeng said.

Xiao Nanfeng reached into his mindscape and drew out the black lotus.

From the Chief Steward's actions, it was easy to guess that the beast in his ring should have the ability to deal with the shadow before him, but that beast refused to listen to his orders. Why would he hand the shadow to the beast?

"Senior Black Lotus, you'll be able to strengthen yourself by devouring cursed effigies, won't you? I'd like to thank you for assisting me when I was in need. Please take this shadow cursed effigy as an offering to strengthen yourself," Xiao Nanfeng said.

The black lotus shone with inner light. The shadow quivered as the light struck it. It retreated in fear, attempting to run, but its surroundings had been sealed by the formation of red fog. There was no way it could escape.

"Senior Black Lotus, shall I tear it apart for you?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.

The black lotus trembled. A word formed in black light in mid-air: "OK."

Xiao Nanfeng's eyes brightened. Was the black lotus going to start communicating with him, too? That was a good sign, if things with Madam Rouge were any indication.

"Very well, Senior!" Xiao Nanfeng shot forward at the shadow, which dodged Xiao Nanfeng's blade as it growled at the black lotus.

"You won't be able to escape! Come, I'll make a meal out of you!" Xiao Nanfeng shouted as he slashed forward.

Just then, a black shadowy paw emerged from Xiao Nanfeng's storage ring and batted away the divine undying knife. It moved even faster than Xiao Nanfeng did and grabbed the shadow by the neck. It struggled furiously, but was unable to free itself from the palm, not even when it plucked off its own head.

"What are you doing here?!" Xiao Nanfeng cursed.

The beast from within the ring had emerged to steal his prey.

"Divine Emperor? You're here? Please, spare me, Divine Emperor!" the shadow shrieked in fear.

The black lotus flew toward Xiao Nanfeng's mindscape.

"Senior Black Lotus, I'm sorry. The beast in the ring is far too unreasonable. I can't suppress it at the moment," Xiao Nanfeng said.

The black lotus formed a few more words with black light in the air.

"I don't blame you. Thank you for thinking of me, but I won't be taking this shadow cursed effigy. It's a subordinate of the cursed king in your ring. You should be careful—it's trying to take over your physical body."

The black light vanished in the blink of an eye as the black lotus proceeded unimpeded into Xiao Nanfeng's mindscape, then vanished.

Xiao Nanfeng was shocked. The black lotus was far more friendly than the other cursed kings in his orbit. It was even giving him a warning! He would have to try to forge a deeper relationship with it.

He had long since guessed that the beast in the ring was trying to harm it, but he wasn't afraid.

Meanwhile, the beast was slowly pulling the shadow in the ring. Xiao Nanfeng could see the beast's eyes within shining in red light. It opened its maw wide, revealing sawtooth teeth even more frightening than the shadow's. It was a scene that would spark nightmares.

Was the beast going to swallow the shadow up?

"Spare me, Divine Emperor! The Spirit Emperor had me come find you. I didn't do anything! You and the Spirit Emperor established the Imperial Court of the spirits together back then. His Majesty would never make things difficult for you—His Majesty wanted to invite you to return, and I was only acting on orders! Please spare me, Divine Emperor! I'm only a messenger! No, no!" the shadow shrieked.

It was swallowed up by the beast in the ring.

The beast crunched down on the cursed effigy, then swallowed it whole. It slunk back into the depths of the storage ring.

Everything returned to normal, but Xiao Nanfeng suddenly had many questions running through his mind. The beast in his ring was known as the "Divine Emperor"? What a name. The black lotus had mentioned that the shadow cursed effigy was one of its subordinates. Why would the Divine Emperor eat it?

Furthermore, why would the Divine Emperor's subordinates listen to that Spirit Emperor, whoever that was?

"The Imperial Court of the spirits... the one created by that three-legged golden crow fifty thousand years ago?" Xiao Nanfeng gaped. He murmured to himself subconsciously, "Xiang Pojun and Hong Lie both became Immortals in the hidden realm that the Spirit Emperor opened up. Could this ring that my father left me be leading me there, too? Is that where Father vanished?"

At long last, Xiao Nanfeng had found a clue about his father's disappearance.