Chapter 306: The Paper Snake

Days later, in a valley of the Spirit Emperor's hidden realm, the destruction of an Immortal relic swamped the valley in flames. Xiao Nanfeng took advantage of the opportunity to flee from the valley and hide in a secluded spot nearby as he reined in his aura.

A horde of skeletal giants shot out, bone blades in their hands. Unfortunately, not having found any trace of Xiao Nanfeng, they could only slink back in defeat.

Xiao Nanfeng stared at a skeletal giant surrounded by radiant light.

"There really are a lot more divine slaves now... Just a moment's carelessness and they'll surround me. Ordinary divine slaves aren't a big problem, but these Immortal-realm ones are truly troublesome. If I hadn't destroyed an Immortal relic just then..." Xiao Nanfeng shuddered.

He waited until the Immortal divine slave had left before making his way deeper into the hidden realm. Not too long later, he found the Divine Emperor's hall.

If not for the fact that the surrounding geography was different, he might have suspected that he had returned to the peach orchard. The Divine Emperor's hall was likewise covered in black fog, and there was a pillar that extended into the heavens.

He looked around the area for some time, but the fog was too heavy to make anything out. He carefully made his way toward the Divine Emperor's hall.

Just then, a flying sword shot toward him. Xiao Nanfeng reflexively slashed at the projectile, causing it to fly back into a cultivator's hands. Dozens of cultivators hopped out from the fog and surrounded him.

"Xiao Nanfeng? I was going to find you at some point—but you've found me first, it seems!" Dry laughter emerged from within the fog.

A man suddenly jumped up to Xiao Nanfeng, blocking his way into the Divine Emperor's hall. The man was bathed in rainbow light, and killing intent shone in his eyes.

"You're—Xiang Qisha!" Xiao Nanfeng's eyes flashed. He had seen a portrait of this man before.

"That's right. I heard Xiang Pojun died at your hand—and you've acquired a portal into the Spirit Emperor's hidden realm, too," Xiang Qisha said in a threatening fashion.

Xiao Nanfeng frowned. He knew that Xiang Qisha was a particularly strong cultivator, one for whom he would be no match.

"Take this!" Xiao Nanfeng threw an Immortal sword at him.

Xiang Qisha didn't mind the incoming projectile; he was an Immortal with absolute strength, and would easily be able to take down Xiao Nanfeng.

"Is this meant to be a welcoming gift, then?" Xiang Qisha smirked.

He was just about to claim the Immortal sword for himself when he suddenly grew alarmed. The Immortal sword was expanding in size—something was wrong!

With a huge boom, the Immortal sword exploded in an inferno of flames, temporarily obstructing Xiang Qisha's vision as Xiao Nanfeng took the opportunity to run.

"You won't get away!" A Wingform-realm cultivator immediately moved to block Xiao Nanfeng's way and slashed at him with his sword.

"Kill!" Xiao Nanfeng shouted.

He sliced the Wingform-realm cultivator's longsword into two. His momentum barely diminished, the blade then proceeded to behead the cultivator in a shower of blood.

"What?!" the other cultivators exclaimed, halting in surprise.

Xiao Nanfeng dashed into the fog.

Meanwhile, Xiang Qisha had recovered from the temporary shock and dispelled the flames that arose from the destruction of an Immortal relic. He sneered. "I won't let you get away!"

Xiang Qisha gave chase. His cultivation was clearly on another level entirely; he caught up to Xiao Nanfeng within moments.

Xiao Nanfeng scowled. "He's unable to shake..."

He continuously zigzagged in different directions as he ran deeper into the fog, but Xiang Qisha was only narrowing the gap between them.

"You run rather fast, don't you? But you won't be able to escape from me. Today will be the day you die!" Xiang Qisha shouted.

Xiao Nanfeng continued to run. He could sense that Xiang Qisha was drawing closer and closer. He shouted to himself mentally, "You're almost there. Just a bit faster!"

"You won't be able to escape." Xiang Qisha struck his back with a palm.

Xiao Nanfeng blanched and defended with his blade. Xiang Qisha's palm strike sent him flying, and he spat out a mouthful of blood in the air as he fell into a valley clouded with fog.

"You only coughed up a bit of blood after suffering a direct palm strike from me? You're stronger than I expected," Xiang Qisha exclaimed.

He followed Xiao Nanfeng into a valley—and a skeletal giant suddenly appeared.

The skeletal giant and Xiang Qisha struck each other with their palms in an explosion of incredible magnitude.

"An Immortal-realm divine slave!" Xiang Qisha exclaimed.

Xiao Nanfeng, who had fallen into the valley, sighed in relief. "I made it back in time, after all. To think that this dangerous valley would end up being shelter and sanctuary..."

As Xiao Nanfeng landed on the ground, a group of Wingform-realm divine slaves struck at him.

However, they were no threat to him. The divine undying blade flashed and struck them all down, shattering them.

He hastily found a safe place to hide as he watched Xiang Qisha fight against the Immortal-realm divine slave.

Suddenly, with a scream, Xiang Qisha was cleaved in two by the Immortal-realm divine slave. He fell to the ground, dead!

"What? How could that be?" Xiao Nanfeng exclaimed.

Xiang Qisha was an Immortal! Even if he couldn't defeat an Immortal-realm divine slave, it should have been trivial for him to run away, at least. How could he have died?

"Is he faking it?" Xiao Nanfeng wondered.

In the distance, the Immortal-realm divine slave confirmed that Xiang Qisha was dead before heading back to its patrol, leaving the two halves of Xiang Qisha's corpse on the ground.

Xiao Nanfeng waited for quite some time before he frowned. "Is he feigning it? That doesn't look to be the case..."

After some more time, Xiao Nanfeng warily strode up to Xiang Qisha's corpse. Only when he was close up did he finally confirm Xiang Qisha's death.

He retrieved Xiang Qisha's storage treasure, then inspected his corpse. Suddenly, he found three bloody holes on the back of Xiang Qisha's skull.

Xiao Nanfeng's eyes widened. "Three bloody holes? Just like Hong Lie's corpse. Xiang Qisha didn't die to the Immortal divine slave, but to this... curse?"

He hesitated for a moment before bringing Xiang Qisha's corpse back to the Divine Emperor's hall.

This time, he carefully scouted around before he encountered a few of Xiang Qisha's followers.

"Xiao Nanfeng, you were able to escape from King Qisha's pursuit?"

"Haha, today must be my lucky day!"

"Take him down!"

The cultivators howled as they attacked Xiao Nanfeng.

Xiao Nanfeng sheathed his blade and met the enemy cultivators with his bare fists.

"You're going to attack us empty-handed? You're asking to die!" The lead cultivator chuckled.

Xiao Nanfeng punched forward. Hundreds of fists struck at the cultivator's head. He spat out a mouthful of blood as he fell from the skies in an unconscious heap.

"I'm choosing not to use my blade to spare your lives," Xiao Nanfeng declared.

Xiao Nanfeng knocked them all unconscious before dragging them to a secluded valley. Only after he confirmed that the place was safe did he wake all the cultivators up.

When they awoke, they found to their surprise that Xiao Nanfeng had claimed their storage treasures and sealed their cultivation. They even saw Xiang Qisha's corpse.

"You've killed King Qisha? How could that be?!" one cultivator exclaimed.

They knew that they were done for. Any disrespect on their part could mean their deaths.

"We're willing to compensate you for our actions, Young Master Xiao. Please spare our lives!"

"Young Master Xiao, we only pursued you on Xiang Qisha's orders. Please grant us mercy!"

The cultivators begged for their lives.

"I didn't kill him. Something happened to him while he was fighting against an Immortal-realm divine slave, which then cut apart his corpse. If you can help me identify what happened to his body, I'll spare your lives and ask solely for compensation for your actions," Xiao Nanfeng offered.

"Thank you, Young Master Xiao!" the cultivators exclaimed in surprise.

"There are three bloody holes on the back of Xiang Qisha's head. Inspect them carefully. Do any of you know what's going on?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.

The cultivators immediately inspected the wound.

"Xiang Qisha's skull is cracked open. From the looks of it, the wound came from the inside—as if something... burrowed out?"One cultivator frowned.

"Could it be the paper snake?" one cultivator suddenly suggested.

"Oh? Do you know what's going on?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.

"Xiang Qisha had a treasure he was always toying with, a paper snake. It looked like a piece of paper that had been folded into the shape of a snake, which I thought was just a children's toy at first—until he used it to kill someone. The paper snake darted into the cultivator's mouth and, not long later, emerged from the back of his head. When it entered his mouth, it was a paper snake; when it exited his head, it had become three paper snakes. Two of the paper snakes suddenly burned up and transformed into piles of ash, while Xiang Qisha caught the remaining paper snake. He's been playing with it since," the cultivator reported.

"A paper snake?" Xiao Nanfeng asked, taken aback.

"That's right!" All the cultivators nodded.

"At first, Xiang Qisha was planning to bring us into the Divine Emperor's hall. He said that, with the paper snake around, the shadows of the hall wouldn't be a threat."

Xiao Nanfeng raised an eyebrow. He suddenly realized that the paper snake could well be a cursed effigy.

"And then?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.

"Just as we were about to enter the Divine Emperor's hall, we encountered Emperor Tianshu's brother-in-law, Cui Haisheng. Xiang Qisha fought with Cui Haisheng, who had become an Immortal himself. Cui Haisheng was weaker than Xiang Qisha and was about to lose when the paper snake suddenly attacked Xiang Qisha, taking him by surprise. Cui Haisheng took the opportunity to enter the Divine Emperor's hall."

"Oh?"

"Xiang Qisha said that there was something wrong with the paper snake, that Cui Haisheng could be responsible. He was worried that he would be falling prey to Cui Haisheng's scheme by entering the hall, so he chose not to do so. He was studying the paper snake while waiting for Cui Haisheng to come out so he could ambush him, only to find you instead."

Xiao Nanfeng frowned. There hadn't been a paper snake by Xiang Qisha's corpse. Where could it have gone?