Chapter 297: The Blood Peach

Guided by Mr. Hua, Xiao Nanfeng headed to Nalan Yunhai's camp. The camp was protected by a formation and was adjacent to the peach orchard wreathed in black fog.

"Young Master Xiao, please wait here patiently. The cultivators will come back shortly, and you'll be able to claim their Immortal relics then. I'll guard you well," Mr. Hua said.

Xiao Nanfeng glanced askance at Mr. Hua and ignored him. Instead, he began stripping away the camp's formation.

Xiao Nanfeng claimed the formation for himself quickly.

Mr. Hua's face stiffened. "Young Master Xiao, what are you doing? Without this formation, the cultivators will be on the alert as they return to camp. How will you claim their Immortal relics then?"

"Isn't this formation an Immortal relic on its own?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.

"But aren't you going to snatch the Immortal relics from the returning cultivators? You'll sacrifice a large number of Immortal relics for this one formation!" Mr. Hua exclaimed.

Xiao Nanfeng gave Mr. Hua a disdainful look. "Mr. Hua, you're trying to take advantage of those cultivators to kill me, aren't you?"

"Ah? Of course not! I'm on your side," Mr. Hua pledged.

Xiao Nanfeng didn't believe him at all. If the Wingform-realm cultivators were to return, they would surely be wielding those Immortal relics themselves. Furthermore, since they were in a group, Xiao Nanfeng could find himself on the losing end with just the slightest bit of carelessness. Why bother taking such a risk?

"Good," Xiao Nanfeng replied, then continued to strip away the formation.

As Xiao Nanfeng removed the final piece of the formation's foundation, the formation collapsed.

Mr. Hua frowned. He understood now that Xiao Nanfeng had had no intention of attacking the returning cultivators at all. His rescue plan would be useless!

Just then, the black fog around the peach orchard expanded rapidly to cover Xiao Nanfeng and Mr. Hua.

"What's going on?" Xiao Nanfeng exclaimed.

He dragged Mr. Hua toward the boundary of the black fog, but they seemed to be trapped within as though the black fog were a formation in and of itself.

"Mr. Hua, you dare scheme against me?!" Xiao Nanfeng thundered.

"I didn't! I don't know what's going on myself!" Mr. Hua gasped out as Xiao Nanfeng squeezed his neck.

"Weren't you the one who set up this formation? Are you still refusing to tell the truth?" Xiao Nanfeng demanded.

"Immortal Qiangwei was the one who set up this formation! She only had us come over when she had everything prepared, so we're unaware of the specifics of the formation ourselves. Please, Young Master Xiao, free me! Spare my life! My neck's going to break—!" Mr. Hua pleaded

Xiao Nanfeng stared at Mr. Hua for some time, ascertaining that he wasn't lying, before slowly letting go of him.

"Tell me more about that woman, Qiangwei," Xiao Nanfeng demanded.

"She's one of Her Majesty's servants. Allegedly, she consumed a peach from the peach orchard and became an Immortal. She's with us in order to help His Highness acquire such a peach for himself," Mr. Hua exclaimed, even as he clutched his injured neck.

"How did Qiangwei manage to get a peach herself?"

"I don't know. She refuses to tell us anything, and she hides a lot even from His Highness. However, Her Majesty sent her, and no one dares doubt her intentions."

"Why is the empress so certain that Qiangwei will be able to help Nalan Yunhai obtain a peach?"

"I don't know myself." Mr. Hua shook his head.

Xiao Nanfeng frowned. His intuition was telling him that something was amiss about Qiangwei.

Suddenly, a pair of pitch-black arms appeared behind Mr. Hua and grabbed him.

"Ah? Save me! Help!" Mr. Hua exclaimed.

The pitch-black arms dragged him into the darkness, whereupon he vanished.

The hairs on the back of Xiao Nanfeng's neck stood on end. He could sense that whatever was in the shadows had set its sights on him as well. A pair of arms seemed to close in around him. Without any hesitation, he darted away, but the arms chased after him rapidly.

"Since you're in here now, don't bother trying to escape, hehehehe!" Malicious laughter surrounded Xiao Nanfeng.

"A shadow cursed effigy?" Xiao Nanfeng blanched.

He was just about to defend himself with the black lotus in his mindscape when the Divine Emperor's arm suddenly emerged from his storage ring and felt around the darkness until it grabbed ahold of the shadow's neck.

"What?!" the shadow exclaimed.

It was dragged into the storage ring with a whoosh.

"Divine Emperor? No—please spare me, Divine Emperor!" the shadow cried out.

Xiao Nanfeng took the opportunity to claim his divine undying blade. With his trusted weapon in hand, he felt far more prepared.

The Divine Emperor seemed to be interrogating the shadow within the ring. Not too long later, the shadow shrieked in despair—and then everything was silent.

"Divine Emperor, you've finally shown yourself! Don't you know what a hard time I had without the divine undying blade?" Xiao Nanfeng sighed.

"I thought you would have retreated after being unable to retrieve the divine undying blade from this storage ring at the Southern Heavenly Gate, but you were so foolhardy as to make your way in regardless! Not only that, you even found the peach orchard. Are you truly unafraid of death?"

"Is it hard to find this place?" Xiao Nanfeng asked curiously.

"You were lucky. Otherwise, I would have suffered because of you."

"What do you mean, Divine Emperor?"

"In order to punish me and the Spirit Emperor, the heavens themselves forged this hidden realm into a prison. The dead spirit kings of the spirits' Imperial Court were remade into divine slaves to serve as our wardens. Except in a few special designated areas, the appearance of a shadow cursed effigy will immediately trigger heavenly punishment."

"In other words, all the shadows are prisoners, and the peach orchard is a prison? You and those shadows outside the hidden realm broke out of prison, Senior?" Xiao Nanfeng exclaimed.

"You can understand it that way. We're cursed effigies, and even the heavens can't kill us. All they can do is imprison us. The reason you were unable to open your storage ring is because I sealed myself in. Otherwise, if any fragment of my aura had leaked out into the realm, countless divine slaves would have come after you. I would be fine, but you would surely have died."

Xiao Nanfeng gave her an arch look. "In other words, despite the fact that I was unable to retrieve my divine undying blade, I should thank you for what you did?"

The Divine Emperor nodded.

Xiao Nanfeng's face spasmed. Wasn't this all the Divine Emperor's fault for not making things clear to begin with?

"Senior, since we've entered the prison—I mean, the peach orchard—would you be willing to lead the way? I'd like to harvest some peach trees and bring them out of the hidden realm."

"I was trapped in the Divine Emperor's Hall until your father broke into it a few years ago. I took advantage of the opportunity to flee from the realm. I'm not familiar with the peach orchard. I wonder what it's become after fifty thousand years?"

"Surely you're more familiar than I am, Senior?" Xiao Nanfeng asked, frowning.

"Rein in your aura first," the Divine Emperor commanded.

Xiao Nanfeng did so. Clouds of black smoke emerged from the ring.

"I've covered you up in cursed spiritual power. Other shadows should no longer be able to sense you. Now, follow my directions."

"Got it!" Xiao Nanfeng replied.

Xiao Nanfeng continued walking in the pitch-black environment following the Divine Emperor's directions.

"This orchard seems far bigger on the inside than the outside," Xiao Nanfeng murmured.

"Of course. This place is like the divine domain of the undying realm. Reality and illusion have melded together. Although your body's not at Yin Body, you can use spiritual power like qi here. In other words, your strength has been magnified tremendously."

"Oh? That's wonderful news!" Xiao Nanfeng's eyes lit up.

Along the way, they could make out the contours of a few mountains and streams. There were a few boulders here and there, but no plants at all, let alone peach trees.

Occasionally, they would encounter a few shadows. The Divine Emperor caught them with a hand, interrogated them, and then swallowed them.

"Five kilometers of peach trees, all ruined? What have these spirits done to my peach trees while I was imprisoned?!" the Divine Emperor cried out.

"Senior, please remain calm. Mr. Hua mentioned that there were still peach trees around here. Let's look around carefully," Xiao Nanfeng persuaded.

The Divine Emperor was still somewhat upset, but she continued to guide the way. Not too long later, Xiao Nanfeng could hear screams coming from a valley in the distance.

Xiao Nanfeng's eyes widened as he climbed up toward a nearby mountain and looked toward that valley.

Within the valley was a pitch-black pond, with water like ink. By the pond was a peach tree about the size of a small mountain and lush with branches and leaves. Peach blossoms bloomed in a scene of remarkable beauty.

On the peach tree was a fist-sized peach right at its top. It was blood-red and glowed with faint crimson light, almost like a jewel.

"A peach!" Xiao Nanfeng's eyes lit up.

"No—that's a blood peach. Didn't I chop off this spirit tree that year? How could it still be around?" the Divine Emperor exclaimed.

Just then, a series of screams could be heard from underneath the blood peach tree.

"No, please let me go! Please, I beg of you!"

"Spare me, King Tanlang!"

"Help us, Immortal Qiangwei!"

Xiang Tanlang and Nalan Yunhai's subordinates had all been trapped under the peach tree, immobilized by shadows.

The blood roots of the peach tree burrowed out from underground in a sinister fashion, squirming as though they were alive. They wrapped around the cultivators. The tips of the roots thrust into the cultivators' prone bodies and absorbed their blood and flesh.

The cultivators shrieked in fear, but they were completely unable to resist. Their bodies dried up and shriveled as the roots drained them of nutrients, all of which gathered in the blood peach at the very top of the tree.

The blood peach grew larger and larger as it gave off a more alluring crimson glow.

"Using cultivators as fertilizer—this is a demonic tree, isn't it? That woman, Qiangwei—could she have consumed such a blood peach to become an Immortal herself? Isn't she repulsed?" Xiao Nanfeng exclaimed.