Chapter 503: The Frightening Hood

Three golden lotuses bloomed in the pond. They were clearly extraordinary, and the gathered cultivators eyed them greedily.

"Generals, there's something wrong with these lotuses. Don't touch them," Xiao Nanfeng warned.

However, the cultivators ignored his warnings completely. Dozens of figures shot out toward the lotuses and snatched them up.

Xiao Nanfeng: ...

He hadn't wanted to provoke these cursed effigies, but if they wanted to die, he could hardly stop them.

"Zeng Daniu, you're too large and eye-catching. Could you shrink yourself down?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.

Zeng Daniu's body shrunk until he was the size of a regular person.

Xiao Nanfeng motioned for Zhang Lingjun and the others to step back along with him.

Not far away, the three cultivators who had managed to claim a golden lotus each eyed Xiao Nanfeng disdainfully. They called him Martial Aspect only out of superficial courtesy; none of them thought highly of him. They were already thinking of all the treasures in the palace as their own.

"Master, I was unfortunately too slow to claim more than a single golden lotus," General Zhang said, smiling as he walked toward Ao Shuai.

"Well done," Ao Shuai praised.

"Hm? There's something wrong with this golden lotus," General Zhang suddenly said.

The roots of the lotus were gradually shrinking inside it as a huge hole appeared on the underside of the lotus.

"It looks almost like a lotus hood—and why can I hear holy chants and hymns around me?" Ao Shuai exclaimed.

The sound of recitation could be heard all around them, as though there were thousands of monks chanting scripture in their midst, solemn and dignified.

"Where is it coming from?" General Zhang frowned at his surroundings.

"It came out of nowhere..." Many of the cultivators had discovered that something was amiss by now.

Suddenly, the golden lotus hood in General Zhang's hands flashed as it reappeared on his head, so quickly that he didn't have time to react.

"Something's wrong. What is this golden lotus? Why does it feel so cursed?" General Zhang blanched.

He attempted to pull off the golden lotus hood, tearing it apart in his haste. It vanished in a cloud of powder.

The other two cultivators that had managed to snatch a golden lotus had the same thing happen. They glanced at their hands curiously.

"I thought these were incredible treasures, but they crumbled so easily..." The cultivators were flummoxed.

Only General Zhang seemed to react. He immediately sat down and started to meditate.

"What's going on, General Zhang?"

General Zhang's eyes twitched. "I'm afraid I might have come into contact with a malicious entity. Please hold on, Master, while I check on myself."

Waves of blue light emanated from General Zhang's body, scanning him and buzzing as they approached his head. Suddenly, another golden lotus hood appeared on General Zhang's head, covering it and radiating with golden light.

"Something's wrong! The golden lotuses that were torn apart were only illusions. They must be hiding in your bodies!" someone shouted.

The other two cultivators who had snatched up a golden lotus blanched. They immediately scanned their own bodies like General Zhang.

General Zhang reached out for the golden lotus hood, but his hand passed through as if it were only an illusion.

"Damn it," General Zhang cursed. "These golden lotuses are cursed effigies!"

The next moment, he clutched his head in pain. "My head hurts! Scram!"

"Help General Zhang!" Ao Shuai called out.

Suddenly, however, General Zhang's body trembled. He stopped groaning, and the golden lotus hood on his head vanished. Everything seemed to return to normal. He drew a deep breath as he slowly stood up.

"General Zhang, are you alright?" Ao Shuai asked.

General Zhang smiled. "I'm just fine. I've never been better."

"What about what just happened, then?" Ao Shuai seemed perplexed.

Just then, one of his subordinates held him back and shouted, "He's not General Zhang. Be careful, Master!"

"What?" Everyone gaped at General Zhang in surprise.

The subordinate continued, "General Zhang and I have avatars in the outside world. General Zhang's avatar just reached out to me to have me inform you that his main body's consciousness has been suppressed by an unknown force. He can't sense his main body anymore. The man before you is no longer General Zhang!"

"What?!" the cultivators cried out.

General Zhang caught the man in a deathgrip and hissed, "Who told you to be such a busybody? You exposed me before I even got to play with all of you! Die!"

He opened his mouth wide and began to suck the cultivator's soul out of his body, swallowing it with a gulp. The cultivator slumped as he became a corpse.

"Such paltry spiritual power? What a drag," General Zhang cursed, tossing the corpse aside.

"Who are you? Release General Zhang at once, or I'll make you suffer a fate worse than death!" Ao Shuai threatened.

General Zhang sneered at Ao Shuai. "You have an interesting aura. You're a dragon, aren't you? Draconic souls are highly nutritious."

"Take him down!" Ao Shuai thundered.

A group of cultivators shot toward General Zhang.

"You overestimate yourselves." General Zhang smirked.

He swatted away all the cultivators that came his way as he shot toward Ao Shuai.

"Hold him back!" Ao Shuai commanded, the hairs on his back rising.

A True Immortal held back General Zhang.

General Zhang raised an eyebrow. "A True Immortal? I hope your soul isn't a disappointment, haha!"

General Zhang began to fight the True Immortal.

The other two cultivators had likewise experienced dramatic changes in personality as they shot toward the other cultivators.

Xiao Nanfeng dragged Zhang Lingjun back again and again. "It looks like the golden lotus hood can suppress others' spiritual senses and possess their bodies."

"The situation is looking dire," Zhang Lingjun remarked.

"Let's see what happens for now. There are only three cursed effigies, after all. Surely these cultivators can take them on? We'll hide at the back and not draw attention to ourselves."

Zhang Lingjun nodded.

Xiao Nanfeng and his group headed toward the back of the crowd. Of course, the other cultivators were keeping an eye on Zhang Lingjun because she possessed the access token for the Palace of the Moon. When they saw that Xiao Nanfeng and his group weren't trying to flee, they focused on suppressing the three cultivators that had been possessed by a cursed effigy.

General Zhang and the other two cultivators were ultimately brought down by the others.

"Ha! Do you think this is it? Explode!" General Zhang roared.

General Zhang's body exploded, sending cultivators flying every which way. The other two possessed cultivators did the same, wounding the others nearby.

"What's going on? Doesn't this cursed effigy want to live?" one cultivator thundered, vomiting blood as she clutched her wound.

"The sound of scripture hasn't stopped. It might be related to the cursed effigy, so I'm sure it hasn't died yet!" Ao Shuai called out.

The cultivators scattered and began to search for any trace of the golden lotuses, but there was nothing left behind except for a mess from the explosion. The three cursed effigies seemed to have vanished.

"Something's wrong with Sir Zhao!" someone suddenly called out.

Everyone looked toward him. He continued, "Sir Zhao and I both have avatars in the outside world. His avatar came to find mine and told me that his spirit has been suppressed. He can't control his body anymore."

He pointed at a blue-robed man, whom everyone turned to.

The blue-robed man smiled in a sinister fashion. "How boring. I've been discovered again."

Everyone shuddered. Could the cursed effigy possess others at will?

"Take him down!" someone shouted.

"Be careful. There are two more cursed effigies around!"

No one knew who had been possessed. Everyone was staring warily around themselves as they attempted to deal with the possessed blue-robed man.

The blue-robed man was quickly caught and sealed within a relic.

However, he didn't panic. He smirked. "Guess who I'll target next."

The blue-robed man then exploded as well, shattering the relic that sealed him in.

Everyone turned to look at each other.

How was this cursed effigy possessing them seemingly at random? Who had it targeted next?

The sound of scripture could still be heard all around them, holy hymns and chants now sounding malicious and evil. Whoever this cursed effigy was, it was coming for them!

They immediately activated their own barriers as they spread out, on guard against those cultivators nearest to them.

"Only cursed effigies can suppress other cursed effigies. I have a cursed weapon here. Using it, we should be able to tell who has been possessed," someone suddenly said.

The cultivator drew a small dagger. The next moment, however, a woman in red beside him grabbed ahold of it.

"What are you doing?" the cultivator thundered.

The woman placed the dagger in her mouth and swallowed it, shocking everyone around her.

"What lovely cursed spiritual power. Is there more? Take out whatever you have!" the woman in red demanded, smiling.

"She's been possessed!"

"Restrain her!"

The cultivators began to toss relics at her to pin her down. When she realized that she wouldn't be able to hold out against the flood of relics, she smiled evilly. "How boring. Explode!"

The woman exploded, shocking all the cultivators once more.

Could this cursed effigy possess any of them at will? How were they supposed to fight something like this?

Xiao Nanfeng and the other cultivators retreated time and again, trying their best to make themselves look unassuming. They were growing more and more fearful of this lotus hood cursed effigy.

The next moment, however, Xiao Nanfeng felt a chill on his head. His eyes widened. "I'm done for!"

"Xiao Nanfeng, there's a golden lotus hood on your head!" Zhang Lingjun cried out.

"Division Leader!" Chang Bing and the others likewise began to panic.

Everyone looked toward Xiao Nanfeng. They sucked in a deep breath, thinking that he was done for.

This time, however, the monk hood didn't vanish within his body. It remained exposed and visible.

"Hm? Where's your soul? Why doesn't this body of yours have a soul?" the hood cried out.