Chapter 303: The Divine Emperor's Concern

The Divine Emperor was slowly absorbing the black water as her aura grew stronger and stronger.

As Xiao Nanfeng guarded the Divine Emperor, he was searching through the surroundings. In a patch of ruined land, he found a few blossoms that he immediately realized had to have come from the blood peach tree.

After digging up a huge quantity of earth and rock, he finally found a palm-sized peach tree branch. He scoured the region with his spiritual power for an entire day before concluding that the blood peach tree's bark had all been consumed, leaving only this small branch.

The branch had jade-green leaves growing out of it, with a bright and beautiful peach blossom, and a small, thin rhizome, as though it were a sapling.

"Let me plant it and see..." Xiao Nanfeng was just about to keep the peach tree branch when the Divine Emperor suddenly said, "You can't take that."

Xiao Nanfeng turned to see the Divine Emperor standing upright, having finished absorbing all the black water in the vicinity.

There was only a thin layer of black smoke left around the Divine Emperor. Her form-fitting clothes caught the eye. She was tall and curvaceous, with a pair of stunningly long legs. The thin layer of black smoke continued to cover her face; Xiao Nanfeng couldn't make out her appearance. Even so, the contours of her face spoke to her stunning beauty.

"Divine Emperor, how much of your strength have you recovered?" Xiao Nanfeng asked curiously.

"I'm about as strong as the fragment of the Spirit Emperor's will was."

"Why is there still black smoke around your body, then?"

"I still haven't reclaimed enough of my cursed spiritual power to recover my appearance."

"Even so, it's already clear that you must have been a beauty," Xiao Nanfeng teased.

The Divine Emperor sighed. "Would that I weren't."

"Oh?" Xiao Nanfeng was somewhat taken aback.

I was only trying to be polite in giving you a compliment, but you seem to have accepted it quite readily...

"My looks have made it easier to gain many possessions—save a true, sincere heart." The Divine Emperor's voice was lined with sorrow.

Xiao Nanfeng gave her an odd look. Wasn't she being a little narcissistic?

"You don't believe me? You think I'm boasting?" the Divine Emperor asked. Xiao Nanfeng's feelings were clearly written on his face.

"No, I believe you," Xiao Nanfeng immediately replied.

"Good!" The Divine Emperor nodded in satisfaction.

"Divine Emperor, you said that I couldn't claim this peach tree branch. Why not?"

"It's likely a cursed effigy."

"A cursed effigy?" Xiao Nanfeng stiffened.

His hand shook; he almost dropped the branch. How unlucky did he have to be to have so many cursed effigies around him?

"If I'm not mistaken, it must have been the one to eat up all the peach trees in this orchard."

"Oh?"

"I chopped off this blood peach tree fifty thousand years ago and burned it to a crisp. However, it's clearly alive. Something must be amiss; the only reasonable explanation is that it's a cursed effigy in its own right."

"Could this be another blood peach tree?" Xiao Nanfeng proposed.

"It can't be. I recognize its aura. It's precisely the blood peach tree I chopped down. At this stage, it's probably half-awakened. Don't interact with it." The Divine Emperor shook her head.

Xiao Nanfeng glanced at the palm-sized branch for some time before he finally nodded. Just as he was about to toss it aside, the remnant peach blossoms fell to the ground. The petals scattered and arranged themselves into two words.

"Madam Rouge?" the Divine Emperor read out.

Xiao Nanfeng was agape. He glanced at the peach tree branch. "What connection do you have to Madam Rouge?"

However, the peach tree branch seemed to be too weak to respond further.

"I've heard you bring up Madam Rouge before. Was she one of the other cursed kings that's been hounding you?" the Divine Emperor suddenly asked.

"She was, but she's gone now," Xiao Nanfeng explained.

"This peach tree branch must have sensed Madam Rouge's remnant aura on your body. Does it know Madam Rouge? It seems to want you to take it away." The Divine Emperor seemed rather concerned.

"In that case, I suppose I'll bring it along."

Xiao Nanfeng carefully stored the peach tree branch.

The Divine Emperor was silent for some time. "Are you on particularly good terms with Madam Rouge? It hasn't been long since she finally stopped hounding you, has she? Are you going to tangle yourself up with her again? I recall you mentioning at some point that she was constantly trying to kill you."

"I've resolved my misunderstanding with Madam Rouge. She's a friend of mine," Xiao Nanfeng replied.

"You make friends with cursed kings?" The Divine Emperor was taken aback.

"Well, we're friends, aren't we?"

It took a long while before the Divine Emperor spoke up again. "You really are sinister, aren't you? Your spiritual cultivation is ominous, and you're acquaintances with a whole group of cursed kings. I feel like you're countering curse with curse, death with death. If you continue allying with cursed kings, you'll end up cursing yourself eventually as well."

Xiao Nanfeng gave the Divine Emperor an odd look. "Divine Emperor, aren't you... insulting yourself?"

The Divine Emperor fumed. She was just trying to give Xiao Nanfeng some advice, but he was apparently unwilling to listen!

Xiao Nanfeng immediately changed the topic. "Divine Emperor, where else in the Spirit Emperor's hidden realm might I find more quintessence of solarfire?"

"Head to my hall," the Divine Emperor said. "There's quintessence of solarfire there, and I need to reclaim more of my cursed spiritual power as well."

"Would you guide me there?"

The Divine Emperor quickly told him the way.

"Let's set off, then!" Xiao Nanfeng exclaimed.

The Divine Emperor suddenly asked, "Xiao Nanfeng, why did you come back to rescue me?"

"Should I not have rescued you?"

"You could have escaped with a whole pile of Immortal relics. Not only would you have been free of me, the Spirit Emperor wouldn't bear a grudge against you. Why return?" the Divine Emperor asked.

𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Just then, a ray of black light shot out from Xiao Nanfeng's mindscape and formed a paragraph.

"I asked him that same question. He told me that 'The Divine Emperor wasn't willing to return to this hidden realm. I begged her to guide my way, and I promised her that I would help deal with the Spirit Emperor on her behalf. I don't intend to go back on my word.'"

The Divine Emperor blinked.

"Senior Black Lotus, have you been watching me?" Xiao Nanfeng asked, frowning.

He felt as though he no longer had any privacy left to him. Madam Rouge had observed him all day long; now, the black lotus was following suit.

He was very conflicted about what would happen when he became intimate with a lover. Would the black lotus watch on, or worse, interfere? He didn't want to imagine anything of the sort!

The black lotus didn't respond to Xiao Nanfeng. Rather, the text composed of black light slowly faded.

"Divine Emperor, this isn't important. Please don't mind what I said," Xiao Nanfeng stressed.

The Divine Emperor remained silent for a long moment before transforming her bell back into a ring around Xiao Nanfeng's finger. She strode within.

"Let's go," she said, her voice surprisingly gentle.