Chapter 316: Ku Jiang's Willingness

As Xiao Nanfeng shot into the air, he carefully considered the charm of Heaven's bounty that he held. It had begun to crack all over, as though it would shatter at any moment. He infused his qi into it, causing it to give off large quantities of white light, forming a pillar up into the heavens.

As though striking something in the air above, the pillar caused countless runes to manifest in the firmament. The runes spread out all over the realm, like a particularly large barrier separating the upper part of the sky and what lay below.

"Is this the heavenly restriction?" Xiao Nanfeng murmured.

He headed up the pillar and broke through the heavenly restriction.

Just then, the cultivators below them caught up.

"Hold it right there, Xiao Nanfeng!" Nalan Yunhai thundered.

"It's too late. He's already up there. Your Highness, you can't fly any higher. Otherwise, the heavenly restrictions will cause you to enter a maze-like domain. You'd die there!" Qiangwei shouted, hugging Nalan Yunhai tightly and coaxing him not to go further.

All around them, the Immortals stopped short. They were well aware of the danger themselves.

"We can head up via the pillar of light!" Nalan Yunhai hurriedly flew toward it, but Xiao Nanfeng had deactivated the charm the moment he passed through the heavenly restriction. The pillar of light vanished in a flash.

"No! Xiao Nanfeng, return my charm to me!" Nalan Yunhai bellowed.

However, the upper part of the sky quickly became shrouded by clouds. Xiao Nanfeng vanished from sight.

Qiangwei held Nalan Yunhai down. "Your Highness, you can't head up there at the moment. We'll have to wait for the heavenly laws to be broken. Don't worry: he won't be able to escape."

Nalan Yunhai roared in outrage, but he stopped short. He was well aware of the danger that these heavenly restrictions posed himself.

"Xiao Nanfeng has stolen the charm of Heaven's bounty. Could he ruin Emperor Tianshu's plans?"

"No. Emperor Tianshu said that the destruction of the heavenly laws is irreversible. Not even Xiao Nanfeng will be able to prevent it."

"That's right! Emperor Tianshu's cautious and detail-oriented. He would never leave any flaws behind. Unless he had everything under control, he would never have handed the charm of Heaven's bounty to the second prince."

"Even if Xiao Nanfeng's in the upper part of the sky, there's nothing he can do about it."

The marquises analyzed the situation and confirmed that Nalan Yunhai wasn't in life-threatening danger before they flew away. They had to focus on seizing as many Immortal relics and treasures as they could; dealing with Xiao Nanfeng was a waste of time.

"Xiao Nanfeng, I won't let you go. Once I claim the opportunities available to me here, you'll die!" Nalan Yunhai shouted, gritting his teeth.

Then, he and Qiangwei headed back to their original location, seething with anger.

Xiao Nanfeng passed through the heavenly restriction to discover that it took the form of a sea of clouds. Corpses floated above the clouds, many having decomposed into nothing more than skeletons.

"Are these corpses of those cultivators who flew too high into the sky and vanished? They were trapped here until they died... This heavenly restriction really is dangerous," Xiao Nanfeng murmured to himself.

The skies were clear for thousands of kilometers around; unlike the rest of the hidden realm, there was no fog in the area. He discovered five huge mountains extending up through the clouds from below.

"Five mountains leading into the sky..." Xiao Nanfeng exclaimed.

The mountaintops were flat and rounded, and each had an indentation that reminded him of fingernails—no, these mountains weren't mountains at all. They were five huge fingers!

"Could this be... a hand? A gigantic hand that emerged from the ground of the hidden realm and extended so high up that it broke through the heavenly restriction?" Xiao Nanfeng was taken aback.

He shook his head, clearing his mind, and quickly began his search for the heavenly laws.

Suddenly, he saw a huge crystal tablet floating on a white cloud. The crystal tablet was glowing with light, and it was connected to the five 'mountains'.

He flew up to it. The crystal tablet was about thirty meters tall. The area within the crystal was dark, but there were countless motes of light revolving around a central point. It looked like a star system in dynamical motion, hiding some arcane law of nature.

The crystal tablet was cracked and looked as though it would shatter at any moment. There were three figures within the tablet. One was a female who shared some similarity to Yu'er, but was more mature. Xiao Nanfeng immediately guessed that she was Yu'er's mother, Han Bingdie.

Han Bingdie sat cross-legged in meditation, as though trying to intuit something, but blood trailed down her lips. She seemed to be heavily injured.

Beside Han Bingdie sat Ku Jiang—no, more accurately, Ku Jiang's physical body.

There was a third person present: Ku Jiang's yin body.

A red moon shone to the back of his head. Ku Jiang was channeling a barrier to protect Han Bingdie and his physical body. Deep within the crystal tablet, at the center of the star system, were bolts of lightning that were attacking Ku Jiang's yin body. He struggled desperately, the yin body fluctuating and shaking wildly.

"Master!" Xiao Nanfeng cried out in shock.

Ku Jiang's yin body, seemingly hearing the shout, turned around in shock as he saw Xiao Nanfeng.

"Nanfeng? What are you doing here?" Ku Jiang's yin body exclaimed.

"Master, I just saw Nalan Qiankun hand a charm of Heaven's bounty to his son and guessed that he was scheming against you. After Nalan Qiankun left, I stole the charm and came here to save you."

Ku Jiang glanced at the increasingly damaged charm in Xiao Nanfeng's hand, gratified.

"What do you mean, stole the charm? Your father found this charm on an expedition and belongs to you by right," Ku Jiang said.

𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

"This charm was my father's?" Xiao Nanfeng exclaimed.

"Nalan Qiankun deliberately pushed your father out and claimed his possessions in order to claim the opportunities in the Spirit Emperor's hidden realm for himself. This was an obvious deduction, but I had no proof."

"You knew everything, Master? How did he manage to get the two of you in here, then?" Xiao Nanfeng exclaimed.

As Ku Jiang defended himself against the lightning coming from behind, he replied, "Don't worry about us. Leave now. We chose this for ourselves."

"What? Master, this crystal tablet represents heavenly law! Aren't you helping Nalan Qiankun shoulder the consequences of his actions? Once it shatters, you'll have to suffer a huge karmic debt!"

Ku Jiang nodded. "I know you're worried for me, Nanfeng, but I don't mind."

"But why?" Xiao Nanfeng pressed.

"Han Bingdie and I are sectstarters of the sect, and we are duty-bound to do what we can to advance it. Han Bingdie came here on invitation from Nalan Qiankun. Before we arrived, there was a particularly strong defensive mechanism surrounding this crystal tablet. It took me, Han Bingdie, and Nalan Qiankun working in tandem to destroy it and come in contact with the heavenly law," Ku Jiang explained.

"In other words, all three of you were necessary?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.

"Indeed! If your father were here, he could have broken through that defensive mechanism as well, but with him gone, Nalan Qiankun had to turn to me and Han Bingdie."

"Why did you agree to Nalan Qiankun's request? You knew he was up to no good!" Xiao Nanfeng fretted.

"I know he's luring me and Han Bingdie into this crystal tablet, but we chose to come of our own accord. The heavenly law within this tablet comes from the heavens themselves, and is encoded within arcane star maps. If we can understand these star maps, the Taiqing Immortal Sect will be able to regain its former glory at an accelerated pace. Despite knowing that this will be our death, Han Bingdie and I have no qualms about our actions."

"You entered the crystal tablet willingly?" Xiao Nanfeng exclaimed.

"Indeed. Nalan Qiankun didn't force us to do so. We were simply as moths to a flame."

"No. No!" Xiao Nanfeng exclaimed. "He's taking advantage of your feelings toward the Taiqing Immortal Sect. This is a scheme. Master, did you know that Senior Uncle Hong Lie is dead? Cui Haitang assassinated him—and Nalan Qiankun tacitly approved of it!"

"What?!" Ku Jiang exclaimed.

"Too much has happened recently. I've inherited Senior Uncle Hong Lie's will and become the Mortal division leader. Master, something's wrong with Nalan Qiankun. I feel that he might betray the Taiqing Immortal Sect," Xiao Nanfeng said.

"Nalan Qiankun? How dare he!" Ku Jiang shouted.

"Master, this crystal tablet's only shattering faster and faster. Once it's completely destroyed, the heavenly law will break and cause you to incur a tremendous karmic debt," Xiao Nanfeng continued in worry.

Ku Jiang turned back to the spinning star system behind him. He nodded. "I know, but it's worth it. If Han Bingdie and I were to fall in exchange for the revival of the sect, we would be more than happy to do so. At any rate, we've already taken responsibility for this karmic debt. If it makes little difference one way or another, Han Bingdie might as well have more time to intuit what she can."

"Master! Your yin body's growing fainter and fainter, and it might be destroyed at any moment. This isn't worth it!"

"It is," Ku Jiang replied resolutely.

A bolt of lightning struck Ku Jiang's yin body, causing it to flicker tremendously as though it were about to dissipate. The red moon to the back of his yin body's head cracked as well.

"Master!" Xiao Nanfeng shouted again.

Just then, the Divine Emperor emerged from Xiao Nanfeng's storage ring and transformed into a puddle of black water. The water encapsulated the crystal tablet and filtered into all the cracks.

The next moment, the five 'mountains', as though sensing the Divine Emperor's aura, instantly began to move. Countless bolts of lightning appeared from the air in greater and greater quantities. They were initially as weak and small as streams, then gradually became thick and strong like roaring rapids. All the lightning struck at the Divine Emperor; the shockwaves alone sent Xiao Nanfeng flying.

"What are you doing, Divine Emperor?" Xiao Nanfeng called out.

The Divine Emperor said, "The charm of Heaven's bounty is all but destroyed. Toss it over. I'll absorb its remaining strength and open a portal for your master and Han Bingdie so that they can escape without incurring a karmic debt. Do it now!"