Chapter 287: Fighting Xiang Pojun

As an Immortal, Xiang Pojun easily neutralized the soundwave, but those around him were sent flying from the impact.

"The Divine Emperor's bell is a relic known for being difficult to control. Xiao Nanfeng, I bet you're only barely able to wield it. Now it'll be mine!" Xiang Pojun declared.

Xiang Pojun slammed his palm toward the bell. Rather than remain still, however, the bell began to shake more and more violently. It transformed into the size of a small mountain and sucked Xiao Nanfeng and Xiang Pojun up into its dome.

Everything was pitch-black.

"What a relic. There's even an internal space within it!" Xiang Pojun radiated multicolored light as his eyes lit up.

Just then, a black shadow suddenly appeared behind him.

"A shadow cursed effigy? Ha! Disperse," Xiang Pojun called out, forming a multicolored barrier of light around him. The shadow was knocked flying.

That shadow was none other than the Divine Emperor itself.

The Divine Emperor seemed rather annoyed to have been knocked away. It reached out with a hand. The tolling of a bell rang out in the pitch-black space like a bolt of thunder from the heavens.

Xiao Nanfeng clutched his head in agony— and he had only been subject to a small portion of the sound. The majority passed through Xiang Pojun's barrier and struck him directly, causing his body to shiver and freeze.

"Divine Emperor, he's not moving! Have you brought him into an illusory realm?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.

The Divine Emperor spelled out 'Yes' with black smoke, then attacked Xiang Pojun again. However, the radiant barrier around Xiang Pojun seemed to have grown thicker and was able to withstand the attack.

"Senior, I know that other shadow cursed effigies are able to bypass cultivators' qi barriers. What's causing the problem here?" Xiao Nanfeng continued.

The Divine Emperor pointed at a golden jade ornament on Xiang Pojun's chest, which was infusing waves of golden light into his radiant barrier.

"Is that jade ornament a cursed effigy?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.

Only a cursed effigy was able to block another cursed effigy. That golden jade ornament had to be a relic of uncommon strength to block the Divine Emperor.

"It's a charm of the Spirit Emperor, containing quintessence of solarfire and special cursed spiritual power," the Divine Emperor said.

Xiao Nanfeng glanced at the ornament again in surprise.

"The soundwave illusion won't last for too long, and he might wake up at any moment. My body's in tatters, and my strength is weak. I can't break through his defense. You'll have to come up with a method on your own," the Divine Emperor wrote.

"Senior, would you send me into the illusion as well?"

The Divine Emperor gave Xiao Nanfeng a curious look.

Xiao Nanfeng elaborated, "I intend on delaying him within the illusion as my main body searches for allies who might be able to break the barrier."

The Divine Emperor was silent for a moment before nodding and waving a hand.

A soundwave of incredible strength struck Xiao Nanfeng and knocked his body flying. By the time he stabilized himself, there was thick fog surrounding him.

"I'm in the illusion now!" Xiao Nanfeng exclaimed.

A huge explosion rang out within the fog, and a frightening tempest blew the fog away, exposing Xiang Pojun.

Xiang Pojun looked toward Xiao Nanfeng with a smirk. "Well? You can't break through my qi barrier, can you?"

"You know what's going on outside?" Xiao Nanfeng frowned.

"My body's protected by a barrier of Immortal qi strengthened with a relic. Your tricks are useless against me. Your spiritual cultivation is more impressive than your physical cultivation, isn't it? Mid-stage Lunar Deluge, if I'm not mistaken. It is an accomplishment, but you're still far inferior to me," Xiang Pojun stated.

"Let's try it and see, then."

Xiao Nanfeng rushed toward Xiang Pojun, who met his advance with a fist.

The two cultivators' fists met in a huge explosion of energy, causing both of them to stumble back.

"You've already reached late-stage Lunar Deluge? Impossible! How old could you be?!" Xiang Pojun exclaimed.

"Again!" Xiao Nanfeng shouted, charging forward.

"So what if you're at late-stage Lunar Deluge? I'll still beat you," Xiang Pojun continued, chuckling coldly. He shot forward as well.

The two cultivators began to fight in earnest, a howling gale forming around them as they marshaled frightening amounts of energy. The void that made up the illusory realm began to vibrate.

"You're not at late-stage Lunar Deluge, but at Yin Body? No—you're not there yet. There's something funny about the golden light around your body." Xiao Nanfeng frowned.

"What a domineering fist technique. If not for the Spirit Emperor's charm providing me with spiritual power, you might have been able to best me." Xiang Pojun was astounded.

Not only did Xiao Nanfeng have impressive spiritual power, his fist technique was exceptionally strong. If not for the gold-flecked spiritual power that Xiang Pojun possessed, he would already have lost.

"The Spirit Emperor's charm can even be used in an illusory realm?" Xiao Nanfeng exclaimed.

As the two cultivators continued to fight, Xiang Pojun exclaimed, "Red light? What's all this red light brimming from your body? Show yourself, Xiao Nanfeng! Where have you hidden yourself?!"

Just then, a beam of golden light struck Xiang Pojun's forehead. He shook and awakened from the hypnosis. He could see Xiao Nanfeng again now that the red light had vanished.

"You were hypnotizing me? You do have quite the assortment of tricks. If not for the Spirit Emperor's charm, I might really have fallen to you," Xiang Pojun thundered.

"You're rather lucky," Xiao Nanfeng replied.

"And you're not, lad. I'd like to see just how long you can hold out against me." Xiang Pojun charged forward again.

Whenever the two cultivators clashed, a large cloud of dust would form. The two cultivators were near-equal in strength, and neither could seize a decisive advantage over the other.

As they continued to fight, Xiang Pojun grew progressively more shocked and frustrated. He was determined to take Xiao Nanfeng down here and now.

As the two continued to clash, Xiang Pojun suddenly widened his eyes. "What's wrong with my physical body? Lad, have you been stalling for time?!"

Xiao Nanfeng smirked. "Are you only discovering that now?"

"Once I leave this illusion, you're done for!"

He immediately gave up on dealing with Xiao Nanfeng and began to punch at the void instead, intent on destroying the illusion.

Just then, a length of red rope descended from the sky and wrapped around his neck. He was strung up as though he had hung himself.

"What?!" Xiang Pojun cried.

He wrestled with the rope, but a few dozen more lengths appeared all around him and tied him up. He struggled to move.

𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

He raised his head to see a red cloud hanging overhead, such a lurid red that it looked as though there were some cursed spiritual power brewing within.

"What sort of spiritual treasure is this? Why does it seem like a cursed effigy?" Xiang Pojun cried out.

Xiao Nanfeng snorted.

The rope around his neck tightened as though about to choke him on the spot. His face turned pale, and he was unable to free himself from the bondage. In frustration, he shouted, "Spirit Emperor's charm, listen to my command! Save me, crow deity!"

Golden light bloomed around Xiang Pojun's chest as a thirty-meter tall flaming crow spirit appeared.

"Crow deity, if you kill Xiao Nanfeng, I promise to sacrifice ten thousand human lives to you," Xiang Pojun called out.

The crow deity cawed, satisfied with the exchange. Its wings outstretched, it shot toward Xiao Nanfeng.

"Yin Body? No—its spiritual power is a mess, a hodgepodge of spiritual power from different sources. It's a fake!" Xiao Nanfeng smiled.

"As long as it has the strength of a spirit at Yin Body, that's more than enough to take you down," Xiang Pojun replied.

The crow deity appeared before Xiao Nanfeng in the blink of an eye. Its sharp claws struck at him like pointed lances, preparing to pierce him through.

Just then, even more loops of red rope fell from the red cloud, tangling up the crow deity. The crow deity began to struggle furiously, but the red rope was stronger.

"It can hardly do anything," Xiao Nanfeng replied.

The loops of red rope tugged at the crow deity's head, wings, and claws, tearing its body apart as it cawed and shrieked madly.

Xiang Pojun's eyes widened.

"Impossible. How could you have defeated the crow deity?!" Xiang Pojun howled.

"I've even taken down a cultivator at Yin Body, let alone this chimera. Xiang Pojun, it's your turn now," Xiao Nanfeng declared.

The loops of red rope took hold of Xiang Pojun's limbs and neck, tightened, and then began to pull. Waves of pain wracked his body.

"No!" Xiang Pojun cried out.

His spiritual avatar was torn into five pieces in a shower of blood. The scene was a gory sight to behold.

"I would have done this earlier if I weren't stalling for time. You're far weaker than I am in an illusory realm." Xiao Nanfeng smirked.

Xiang Pojun's spiritual avatar persisted despite his dismemberment. His head blanched. "Something's broken through my physical body's qi barrier? That's impossible!"

"Nothing's impossible. You're done for now, Xiang Pojun." Xiao Nanfeng continued to have the red rope tear Xiang Pojun's body apart.

Xiang Pojun knew that, if he were to allow this to continue, he might not even be able to escape. He roared in indignity. "Break!"

Xiang Pojun's spiritual avatar self-destructed. The tremendous force of the explosion caused a huge cloud of dust to mushroom up as the illusion splintered and cracked.

Xiao Nanfeng and Xiang Pojun's bodies shook as they returned to physical reality.