Chapter 469: Attuning to the Records of Life and Death

"How could you possess the Dragon Yanluo's Yanluo Court? This is impossible!" the Netherworld Pope howled.

"The truth is right before your eyes. What's so impossible about it?" Xiao Nanfeng demanded.

The Peach Buddha was able to pass between his main body and avatar through his mental world, and Madam Rouge was naturally able to do the same. A few days ago, she had gone to retrieve the tenth Yanluo Court.

Ten Heaven's Hands bombarded the Netherworld Pope with attacks.

"I was the top cultivator in the world a hundred thousand years ago. Do you think the likes of you can deal with me? Die!" the Netherworld Pope roared.

From close by, within the sea of peach blossoms, Madam Rouge scoffed. "As if that's all that impressive. I too held that title in my prime."

The Netherworld Pope: ...

"Netherworld Pope, the fact that you were unable to free yourself from captivity even after a hundred thousand years shows your lack of skill. Even if you were to be freed, you could never take over the world."

"Nonsense! If my cursed spiritual avatar were whole, the likes of you would never be able to deal with me. The world belongs to me!"

"You lost your cursed spiritual avatar after just a short bout of fighting. What right do you have to such a claim?"

"Victory has yet to be decided. Don't get complacent just yet!"

He continued to defend against the ten Heaven's Hands as he tried to recall his nine Yanluo Courts, but Madam Rouge had completely blocked off his connection to them. He wasn't able to manipulate them at all.

He then looked expectantly at the twelve Yanluo Lords, only to see Ye Dafu and the others holding them back. Not only that, Blue Lantern had activated the Formation of the Complete Heavens from afar, trapping them all within a starlit barrier.

The twelve Yanluo Lords were strong, but Ye Dafu and his crew were sturdier.

"Come on, punch the left side of my face! Don't just focus on the right side, or the swelling will be uneven!"

"Hit me harder! If you don't, I'll start hitting you instead!"

"Haven't you eaten? It doesn't even hurt. Harder!"

The twelve golden cultivators harangued their opponents as they fought until they were at a loss as to what to do. However, with the starlit barrier trapping them and the twelve golden cultivators holding them back, they were unable to help the Netherworld Pope at all.

The Netherworld Pope cursed. He had invested a tremendous supply of energy into his Yanluo Courts in eons past, but much of that energy had been drained by the natural passage of time. A sizable portion remained, but it was hardly infinite. On the other hand, the Heaven's Hands weren't weakening. When one was destroyed, another replaced it. The energy that was released by the explosion was absorbed by the sea of blood-colored clouds, dramatically reducing the fraction that was wasted.

The fighting continued for three whole days until the Netherworld Pope finally broke down. No matter how strong he was, he couldn't bear the relentless assault from the Heaven's Hands for such a prolonged period of time. He grew weaker and weaker, his body turning translucent, then transparent.

He attempted to rush toward the sea of peach blossoms, only to have the Heaven's Hands corral him back. He attempted to flee, but was unable to do so at all.

"I won't let you go, Xiao Nanfeng. When I regenerate once again, I'll kill you!" the Netherworld Pope roared.

Then, compressed between the palms of two Heaven's Hands, he was popped with a bang.

The Netherworld Pope's cursed soul had been vanquished.

Quickly thereafter, the twelve Yanluo Lords turned back into twelve ancient pages of parchment, their agency lost.

Meanwhile, the sea of peach blossoms completely took over the gathered Yanluo Courts, then drew back to reveal Madam Rouge's figure. Ten more pages of parchment were in her hand. With a graceful sweep of her arm, she summoned the twelve pages from afar.

"We've done it! Killing the Netherworld Pope took a few days, but we're still on schedule."

"Good!" Xiao Nanfeng nodded.

"Shall we prepare to get started?"

"Very well." Xiao Nanfeng nodded, then commanded, "Ye Dafu, head to the cities of the Netherworld Palace. Contact the cultivators of the alliance and have them focus on safeguarding the civilians. Once I finish up here, I'll seek them out."

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Ye Dafu and his lackeys replied.

Xiao Nanfeng sent them out of the sea of blood-colored clouds, then turned to Blue Lantern. "Blue Lantern, I'll have you take charge of the formation around me."

"Understood!"

"Let me in," Madam Rouge said.

Xiao Nanfeng activated his candleflame powers and opened a passageway into the crystal for her.

"The Records of Life and Death comprise the ten Heavenly Stems and twelve Earthly Branches. Are you aware of how to combine them with your Sky of Ten Suns?" Madam Rouge confirmed.

"The ten golden crows shall each be paired with the ten pages of the Earthly Branches so that their bodies will remain even in death. The twelve pages of the Earthly Branches will be fused with my dantian. The Earthly Branches govern life, and can allow the golden crows to regenerate in my dantian when destroyed."

"Good." Madam Rouge nodded.

She handed the twenty-two pages of the Records to Xiao Nanfeng, who absorbed them into his dantian. Each golden crow pecked a page of the Heavenly Stems, while the twelve pages of the Earthly Branches formed a ring inlaid within his dantian.

"Let's start," Madam Rouge said.

Xiao Nanfeng activated his candleflame powers again. A passageway outside manifested before him. He wouldn't have been able to get out on his own, but Madam Rouge could shove him out.

The moment he was sent out of the crystal law, the energy of natural law deposited by the heavens surged toward him like a river. The ten Heaven's Hands flew over, intending to seal him within the crystal once more.

"Activate the formation, Blue Lantern!" Madam Rouge commanded.

"Understood!"

Blue Lantern manipulated the formation that had been erected prior and invoked the energy of natural law of the hidden realm at large. Meanwhile, Madam Rouge plucked at the blood-colored pinpricks of light in the interior of the crystal, as though modifying the laws within.

Near-infinite energy flooded into Xiao Nanfeng's body and transformed him into a blood-colored cocoon.

The entire sea of blood-colored clouds began to rumble from the transfer of so much energy.

All over the Netherworld Palace, dark clouds filled the sky. Howling gales formed; the earth quaked and the mountains shook. An apocalypse seemed to draw near.

The civilians began to panic.

"An earthquake? Are the skies about to collapse? Are the heavens trying to kill us?!"

"We're done for. The apocalypse is here! Are we all going to die within the Netherworld Palace?"

"I don't want to die!"

Countless civilians and cultivators of the alliance looked up at the skies in despair.

Just then, a loud shout came from afar.

"All cultivators of the alliance, on City Lord Xiao's orders, remain calm! Immediately protect the civilians around you. The disturbance will clear up shortly. Once it's over, City Lord Xiao will personally hold an audience with all of you to discuss future matters."

Ye Dafu and his crew were spreading this message far and wide across the manifold cities of the Netherworld Palace.

When the cultivators of the alliance heard these words, they relaxed, stepped forward, and began to maintain order among the civilians.

The civilians themselves gradually calmed down.

Meanwhile, figures hidden all throughout the mountains and forests in the realm were being sucked into the air.

"No!"

"Help!"

These figures were no bystanders, but rather cursed effigies.

The ten Yanluo Lords had fallen, but not all of their subordinates had been killed. The majority that remained had been in hiding before the Records sensed their presence and began to absorb them all.

The disturbance continued for a day and a night before it finally subsided. After that, the whole world seemed different.

The Netherworld Palace had initially been covered by countless dark clouds, and the weather used to be persistently dark and gloomy. Now, however, all those dark clouds were gone. Sunlight illuminated the cities as the civilians gasped.

"How bright the skies are!"

"Is this sunlight? There's so much sunlight! To think it's warm when it strikes our bodies..."

"Is the apocalypse over? Has a new world arrived?"

The civilians were gobsmacked by the transformation that they now beheld, struck by the beauty and radiance of the sun and the natural world. This was the first time they had seen the world so bright.