Chapter 325: A Blood Peach

"I'll speak, I'll speak! Cui Haitang gave me another paper snake recently. She—" Prime Minister Whale began.

Just then, his voice stopped short. He panicked within the block of ice.

"What's wrong?" Ao Zhou exclaimed.

"Something's the matter. Retract, frost!" Xiao Nanfeng commanded.

The block of ice around Prime Minister Whale's body cracked open, freeing it. Just then, three bloody holes appeared by the back of its head. Three paper snakes darted out as Prime Minister Whale transformed into a whale carcass, dead on the spot.

"Paper snakes again?" Xiao Nanfeng's eyes widened.

One of the paper snakes suddenly turned its head around to look at Xiao Nanfeng. It spoke with a woman's voice. "Xiao Nanfeng? You think you can overthrow the Tianshu Empire and start one of your own? Dream on!"

"Cui Haitang? Were you spying on our conversation via Prime Minister Whale?" Xiao Nanfeng reached out with a hand, attempting to catch the snake.

"The Divine Emperor has already left you behind. Who would support you? If you want to deal with me, then come on over. I'll be waiting," the paper snake said.

The three paper snakes burned to a crisp. By the time Xiao Nanfeng seized them, they were nothing but ash.

"Cui Haitang really is an ambitious woman. She even managed to make Prime Minister Whale into a cursed slave—able to kill him remotely in the blink of an eye!" Blue Lantern frowned.

"Cui Haitang was aiming for all of you," Xiao Nanfeng analyzed. "Not just Ao Zhou and you, Blue Lantern, but even Prime Minister Whale and his ancestor as well."

"What a schemer..." Blue Lantern murmured.

Ao Zhou seemed confused. "Why did the paper snake emerge from Prime Minister Whale's head, whereas mine had to be absorbed into my belly?"

"Because ancestral dragon's blood flows within your body—no, there must still be residual fragments of your ancestors' will in your blood, protecting you. Otherwise, you would already have become Cui Haitang's property," Blue Lantern said.

"What?!" Ao Zhou exclaimed.

Just then, Xiao Nanfeng waved a hand. A blizzard spawned again. Countless blades of ice rained down on the sea spirits, all of whom were killed within moments.

"What are you doing, Xiao Nanfeng?!" Ao Zhou frowned.

"I have a large group of subordinates to look after. I'm bringing them back some nourishing seafood," Xiao Nanfeng explained.

"These sea spirits are mine, and Prime Minister Whale's body! If anyone's going to consume them, it's me! You can't take them!" Ao Zhou immediately asserted.

Xiao Nanfeng rolled his eyes and ignored him.

His body suddenly flickered. The silver moon vanished, along with the blizzard. His silver robes transformed back to gold as he returned to his physical body.

"What technique is this? It transforms the color of your robes, too?" Ao Zhou exclaimed.

Blue Lantern also seemed surprised.

Xiao Nanfeng didn't explain. He retrieved a storage treasure and was just about to pack all the sea spirits' carcasses within when a peach blossom branch suddenly jumped out from his robes.

"Ah? What's this? A little branch that can walk on its own?" Ao Zhou exclaimed again.

"A peach blossom spirit? No—a cursed effigy! What are you doing with another cursed effigy?" Blue Lantern frowned.

"A cursed effigy?" Ao Zhou retreated in shock.

"Don't worry. It's not a threat," Xiao Nanfeng said.

The peach blossom branch was the sole remaining fragment of the blood peach tree from the peach orchard. Xiao Nanfeng had taken it with him because the branch had formed the words 'Madam Rouge.' He didn't know why it had suddenly jumped out.

The peach blossom branch doddered over to Prime Minister Whale's carcass, then stuck its roots into it. The whale carcass swiftly deflated as Prime Minister Whale became nutrients for the branch.

"What a frightening cursed effigy!" Ao Zhou exclaimed.

The Immortal-realm Prime Minister Whale turned into a husk of its former self. His storage treasures and miscellaneous items scattered across the ground.

The peach blossom branch then turned to the other sea spirits that had just died. They were rapidly drained of their vitality. Perhaps thinking this was still too inefficient, it suddenly sent a large number of roots in all directions to absorb all the carcasses quickly. A blood peach formed at the top of the branch.

"This cursed effigy seems even more sinister than usual..." Blue Lantern wondered.

After some time, as thousands of sea spirits and serpents' carcasses were drained by the peach branch, the blood peach matured. An enticing scent spread through the air.

Then, the peach branch hopped over to Xiao Nanfeng's side. The blood peach fell from the branch into Xiao Nanfeng's hand.

"For me?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.

The peach blossom branch nodded like a human, then vanished from sight.

"It's gone! Where did it go?" Ao Zhou exclaimed.

"Perhaps it's going to set off on its own. It might be repaying me for bringing it out of the Spirit Emperor's hidden realm by helping me conjure a blood peach before it leaves," Xiao Nanfeng replied, smiling.

"Is it precious?" Ao Zhou asked.

"It can make an ordinary Wingform-realm cultivator advance into an Immortal," Xiao Nanfeng replied.

"What?!" Ao Zhou's eyes lit up. He strutted over. "Xiao Nanfeng, the blood peach was nurtured from the carcasses of my sea spirits. It ought to belong to me."

Xiao Nanfeng ignored Ao Zhou. He retrieved a small jade box and carefully placed the peach inside.

"Hey! Even if you aren't going to give me the peach, shouldn't you compensate me a little? Look how much I've suffered!" Ao Zhou's skin was as thick as ever.

Xiao Nanfeng continued to ignore him. He turned to Blue Lantern. "Blue Lantern, have you cracked the formation over here?"

Blue Lantern waved an arm. The black fog to his back parted, revealing a giant golden gate wreathed with white fog. The signboard atop the gate read "Dragon Gate."

"Thousands of years ago, when the Eastern Sea dragons found the Dragon Gate, it had decayed almost to the point of being useless. Within it, however, were a class of special laws that the dragons valued highly. They expended a tremendous number of draconic veins to revitalize the Dragon Gate, allowing it to restore a fraction of its former power. Because the gate couldn't be moved, a temporary palace was set up here specifically to protect it," Blue Lantern explained.

"Oh? What good is this Dragon Gate?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.

This had to be the treasure that the Spirit Emperor had installed here millennia ago to serve as an anchor for his hidden realm.

"It can help dragon-adjacent spirits raise the purity of their bloodlines and allow them to transform into dragons more quickly," Blue Lantern said.

"Can it raise their cultivation?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.

"No. Its only use is to effect the draconic transformation."

"No wonder the Spirit Emperor said that these treasures were nothing extraordinary—useless to keep, but a pity to discard." Xiao Nanfeng gave Blue Lantern an odd look.

"You consider this nothing extraordinary? Do you know how fiercely many sea spirits fought each other in an attempt to use the gate themselves back then?" Blue Lantern huffed.

Xiao Nanfeng shook his head. "It's useless to me, but I suppose it could help Ao Zhou rebuild his draconic palace."

"Blue Lantern, could my subordinates use it to transform into dragons?" Ao Zhou asked.

The thirty or so serpents that had remained stoically in Ao Zhou's faction glanced expectantly at the gate.

"Let's try it," Blue Lantern said.

"Thank you, King! Thank you, Elder Blue Lantern!" the serpents cried out.