Chapter 319: Heaven's Hand

Outside the Thousand Spirits' Hall, the Spirit Emperor had been suppressed by the Seaquell Pearl. He was unable to move and fuming with exasperation. Lightning struck his body while he was unable to defend himself, swiftly draining him of cursed spiritual power.

"You bugs of the Xiang clan, just you wait! Once I regenerate, I'll crush all of you to pieces!" the Spirit Emperor howled.

The lightning caused his body to explode into smithereens and vanish into thin air.

The Seaquell Pearl dropped to the ground as smoke and dust mushroomed up. The lightning dissipated.

"Is the Spirit Emperor dead?"

"He surely is. Haven't you seen that all the lightning has disappeared?"

"Good, good! So what if he's the Spirit Emperor? So what if he was the top cultivator fifty thousand years ago? We still managed to get rid of him!"

The Xiang cultivators walked up to the scorched earth to see three orbs of scintillating light.

"The Spirit Emperor's treasures!" The cultivators reached out for them in excitement.

"They really are the Spirit Emperor's treasures! The Spirit Emperor reigned over the entire world fifty thousand years ago. Now, we've absorbed his legacy. It's time for the Xiang clan to rise up!"

"The Taiwu Empire shall be reborn—as the Divine Taiwu Empire, haha!"

"These are incredible treasures!"

The cultivators were gleefully reaching for the treasure when a beam of light shot over.

"Be careful! It's Nalan Qiankun!" a Xiang cultivator called out.

Nalan Qiankun appeared out of thin air, punching at the two Xiang cultivators who attempted to block his path. He reached out for the first of the Spirit Emperor's treasures.

"You don't deserve these treasures," he declared coolly.

"Bastard!" the Xiang cultivator shouted.

The two cultivators exchanged blows once more, resulting in a flaming mushroom cloud. Nalan Qiankun punched the cultivator with a fist, sending him flying out as Nalan Qiankun claimed the treasure in his hands.

Two more mushroom clouds detonated.

"Return that treasure to me!" another Xiang cultivator cried out.

The second of the Spirit Emperor's treasures had been stolen. Despite their best efforts, the Xiang cultivators were only able to secure the last treasure.

"Suppress Nalan Qiankun with the Seaquell Pearl!" one Xiang cultivator cried out.

The Xiang cultivators sent the Seaquell Pearl into the air.

Just then, blazing lightning came surging back toward the pearl.

"What? The lightning's back. Could it be the Spirit Emperor? Hasn't he died yet?"

"Impossible. How could the Spirit Emperor still be alive?"

"Has he already regenerated? That quickly?"

The Xiang cultivators and Nalan Qiankun were all taken aback.

"We leave now!" Nalan Qiankun declared.

Without any hesitation, he rushed straight for the closest temporal rift. His subordinates blanched. They knew just how angry the Spirit Emperor would be after his death and subsequent revival. They followed Nalan Qiankun out through a rift.

The cultivators of the Tianshu Empire vanished on the spot.

"Stay right there!" the Xiang cultivators cried out.

"Don't chase after them! We've all but declared a feud with the Spirit Emperor. We have to deal with him first," Clan Head Xiang commanded.

"Understood, Head!" the Xiang cultivators replied.

"You! Take the Spirit Emperor's final treasure and leave this hidden realm for now, lest he regain control over it," the Xiang clan head continued.

"Understood!" The Xiang cultivator holding onto the final treasure vanished into a temporal rift.

The storm continued. At the heart of the lightning, the Spirit Emperor's figure slowly appeared.

"Bugs of the Xiang clan, I'll kill you all now!" the Spirit Emperor roared.

"Seaquell Pearl—quell!" the Xiang cultivators shouted.

The Seaquell Pearl descended from the skies and smashed down toward the Spirit Emperor, but he didn't even bother to dodge.

"Do you think such an artifact can hurt me? I was only taken by surprise just now. Quintessence of solarfire!" The Spirit Emperor invoked his reservoirs of energy.

Beams of golden light shot out like swords, aiming straight at the Seaquell Pearl that was careening toward him.

The Seaquell Pearl stopped short, its momentum arrested, a crack on its surface. The crack propagated until it was about to shatter.

"Impossible! That's the Seaquell Pearl, with the ability to forcibly calm an entire sea! How could it be shattered? We're done for!" one cultivator exclaimed.

"The Spirit Emperor's attack has consumed almost his entire supply of quintessence of solarfire. He's badly injured himself. Don't be tricked!" another cultivator exclaimed.

The Seaquell Pearl burst apart. The Spirit Emperor had indeed consumed a great deal of energy to accomplish this feat; he stumbled and almost fell. The Xiang cultivators, struck by the backlash, spat out mouthfuls of fresh blood.

"The Spirit Emperor's on his last legs, and the lightning is still targeting him. Use the cursed effigies that we've collected to destroy him!" Clan Head Xiang shouted.

"Understood!" the cultivators chorused.

All manner of cursed effigies were activated and thrown toward the Spirit Emperor.

The lightning burst apart with a tremendous bang, transforming into a sea of lightning. The resulting explosion sent the cultivators flying.

Fortunately, they were all Immortals and only seriously injured, rather than killed, by the sudden explosion. However, a frightening scene was unfolding before them.

The Spirit Emperor stood at the epicenter of the explosion, his clothes tattered, his chest a gaping hole dripping with blood. He was grabbing at the cursed effigies all around him and eating them whole.

"No, don't eat me! No!" the cursed effigies cried out.

However, they were only regular cursed effigies; what could they do against a cursed king? As the Spirit Emperor swallowed more and more of them, the hole in his chest filled over, and his clothes were likewise repairing themselves.

"Those cursed effigies can't handle the Spirit Emperor—he's even recovering because of them!" one Xiang cultivator cried out.

That information sent chills down everyone's backs.

"We have to flee!" Clan Head Xiang cried out.

The Xiang cultivators clutched their wounds as they fled toward a temporal rift that had just opened up. They didn't have the strength to fight any further; the Spirit Emperor was far stronger than they had anticipated.

Within the blink of an eye, everyone had vanished, leaving behind the Spirit Emperor. After he devoured all the cursed effigies, much of his wounds had recovered. He twisted his body as though he were stretching.

"The lightning's growing weaker. Is it trying to scratch my itches? Break!" the Spirit Emperor commanded.

A fearsome aura emanated from his body, forcing the lightning back.

He closed his eyes and considered his realm, then suddenly opened his eyes. His face twisted with malice. "Xiao Nanfeng, haven't you left this hidden realm yet? You really are asking to die!"

He waved a hand, causing a frightening wave of energy to shoot out into the sky. Countless clouds exploded, revealing what lay above the sea of clouds.

A gigantic sphere of lightning was in the air; beside it were the Divine Emperor's bell and Xiao Nanfeng.

At this moment, he loathed Xiao Nanfeng to the exclusion of all else. Even the loss of his treasures seemed to pale in comparison. He wanted to seek revenge against Xiao Nanfeng at any cost.

"Xiao Nanfeng, no one will be able to save you today. I'll kill you!"

The Spirit Emperor's chilling voice could be heard even in the distance as he shot toward Xiao Nanfeng.

Xiao Nanfeng tensed up. He felt as though a powerful aura had locked in on him; the pressure that he felt was so strong that he knew he had to react.

Just then, the ground around the Spirit Emperor quaked. Five humongous milky-white pillars emerged from the ground and reached toward the skies. The lightning in the vicinity was absorbed into the pillars, which spawned a barrier of white light that trapped the Spirit Emperor within.

"What? Heavenly intervention again?!" the Spirit Emperor cried out.

The five stone pillars continued shooting up to reveal a palm that connected them.

The five pillars were actually fingers that were thousands of meters long. A gigantic palm lifted the Spirit Emperor up from the ground and high into the sky.

Along the way, all the ball lightning in the Spirit Emperor's hidden realm gathered by the white palm, causing it to grow stronger and stronger.

"Impossible. Heaven's hand should have collapsed after the destruction of the heavenly laws. How could it reform anew? This is impossible!" the Spirit Emperor declared.

He furiously struck at the barrier trapping him within the palm, but it was so strong that even his best efforts failed.

As he approached Xiao Nanfeng, the sphere of lightning was likewise absorbed into the hand, revealing a huge crystal tablet.

"The heavenly laws—have been reforged?!" Xiao Nanfeng exclaimed.

The crystal tablet had a tint of black. It simultaneously gave off white and black light.

"Divine Emperor? It was you! What are you doing?!" the Spirit Emperor howled.

Xiao Nanfeng's eyes widened. He understood what was going on now. The Divine Emperor had been restoring the crystal tablet so that she could control it!

"The energy imbued in this realm by the heavens have been damaged to some extent, but it's more than enough to kill you," the Divine Emperor said from within the crystal tablet.

"You can't kill me!" the Spirit Emperor shouted, eyes red.

The Divine Emperor ignored the Spirit Emperor and turned to Xiao Nanfeng. "Xiao Nanfeng, the superior yin pearl has set its eyes on the moon of your spiritual cultivation. To avoid it from harming you further, I have a proposal. You'll be fine as long as it can't affect your yin body. I intend to meld your yin body and physical body together into a primordial state. What do you think?"

"A primordial state? Isn't that a realm that only the top Immortals can reach?" Xiao Nanfeng exclaimed.

"It's similar, but not entirely. Will you trust me?"

"I trust you. Please, go ahead." Xiao Nanfeng nodded.

"Very well. I'll use the Spirit Emperor's cursed spiritual avatar to help you meld your yin and physical bodies together. It'll be like when you melded the red rope cursed king with your avatar's red moon. Once you combine with the Spirit Emperor's cursed spiritual avatar, you'll be able to prevent his regeneration."

The Spirit Emperor blanched. "Divine Emperor, what are you trying to do?!"

The heavenly hand tightened around the Spirit Emperor into the form of a fist.

"No! You can't do this to me, Divine Emperor!" the Spirit Emperor roared.