Chapter 505: Holy Chanting

The black lotus' description immediately made Xiao Nanfeng realize that, if not for the Heavenly Emperor's curse, the purple-furred monsters would have been dead meat against the golden lotus hoods.

"Senior, why can these monk hoods possess others instantly? Even a True Immortal can't sense those who have been possessed—or deal with them after they've been exposed. Aren't they ridiculously strong?"

"The hoods can't possess you instantaneously. Rather, you intentionally avoid seeing them," the black lotus replied.

"What do you mean, Senior?"

"Did you hear the death chants?"

"I remember the sound of scripture coming from all over. The chanting was supposed to be dignified and sacred, but it sounded exceptionally eerie. Are those known as death chants?"

"That's right. The moment you heard those death chants, you were already starting to be hypnotized. What you saw wasn't necessarily what happened. Do you remember the first time the hood possessed someone?"

"When the death chants first appeared, I remember seeing the golden lotus hood fly on top of General Zhang's head. Although it happened quickly, we were able to see its movements. In other words, we hadn't been hypnotized completely by then. Later on, as the chanting continued, we all subconsciously avoided seeing the trajectories of the golden hoods as they possessed more and more cultivators..." Xiao Nanfeng murmured.

"That's right. The death chants that accompany the golden lotus hoods are nearly invincible together. How would you fight against an opponent that you can't see?"

"No wonder everyone was possessed so suddenly. I was wondering why I hadn't seen any signs of struggle—it must have because we were all hypnotized so as to miss it. These death chants are far too dangerous. Right, Senior, those three cursed effigies were even able to possess True Immortals at will. Are they really that strong despite being injured?"

"Those who were possessed were True Immortals, not cultivators at True Yin. The hoods suppressed their souls and used those to control their physical bodies. If they had attempted to possess you, they would have a far harder time. Of course, you're even more special than that. The Divine Emperor helped you forge a primordial body, so they weren't even able to detect your soul to begin with. I'm sure no one would imagine that an Earth Immortal could have reached such a state."

"I see. Thank you for resolving my confusion, Senior," Xiao Nanfeng replied. He continued, "Do you know of a method to deal with them?"

"They grow stronger by devouring others' souls and spiritual power. If you want to deal with them, you'll have to be stronger than they are. You could wait for those in the outside world to enter. At the very least, the Heavenly Emperor of the present should be able to suppress them readily."

"Rather than relying on others, I trust myself more. Who knows what might happen out there, and whether the Heavenly Emperor would show up at all? Senior, are you strong enough to handle them?"

"They might be badly wounded, but they're still stronger than I am now. If you want to take them down, you'll have to let me grow stronger quickly."

"Will allowing you to devour the golden lotus hoods on these purple-furred lifeforms help?"

"Indeed."

"I'll start preparing immediately, but won't those three cursed effigies do the same? Could they possess these purple-furred lifeforms too?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.

"They wouldn't dare. The monsters have been cursed by none other than the Heavenly Emperor himself. If they tried to awaken the golden lotus hoods that have possessed the purple-furred monsters, the curse would sense their presence and trigger backlash."

"Thank goodness. Hold on, Senior. I'll catch some purple-furred lifeforms for you immediately."

"Very well."

Xiao Nanfeng roused himself and headed for the outskirts of the valley, where Zeng Daniu was still staring in the direction of the lotus pond.

"Have you noticed anything amiss, General Zeng?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.

"The commotion by the lotus pond has reduced in magnitude, and fog has shrouded it from sight. The cursed effigy possessing the princess must have activated the Palace of the Moon's access token," Zeng Daniu replied in worry.

"Don't focus on that for now, General Zeng. We need to make twofold preparations: wait for reinforcements from the outside world, and start taking action ourselves."

"You're right, but what can we do now?"

"Let's start by rescuing more of your allies. You'll be responsible for capturing more purple-furred lifeforms while I awaken them."

Zeng Daniu nodded. "Very well. I'll listen to you."

"Thanks for the trouble."

"It's no trouble at all to rescue my former allies. Perhaps once we rescue enough of them, we'll be strong enough to take the cursed effigies on."

After the two cultivators worked out the details, Zeng Daniu shot into the fog while Xiao Nanfeng waited patiently in the valley.

Not long later, Zeng Daniu returned with two purple-furred monsters, both Earth Immortals. He was suppressing them with one hand each.

"I'll hold them down. The rest is up to you."

Xiao Nanfeng walked up to one of the monsters, which was roaring in agitation. Given Zeng Daniu's presence, however, it couldn't move at all.

This time, Xiao Nanfeng didn't have the Palace of the Moon token to cause the monk hood in its body to appear, but the black lotus could perform that responsibility.

"Senior, I'm counting on you."

The black lotus flew out of Xiao Nanfeng's mindscape, but with a layer of black fog covering its body.

Zeng Daniu glanced at the black fog with surprise, but he reined in his curiosity and didn't question Xiao Nanfeng.

The black lotus flew toward the head of one purple-furred monster. A large quantity of black light covered it up. It shook as a golden lotus hood appeared over its head.

The underside of the black lotus transformed into a black hole that devoured the golden lotus hood.

"No, damn it, don't eat me!" the golden lotus hood shouted.

Then, with a whoosh, the black lotus completely absorbed the golden lotus hood.

The purple-furred monster shook. Its eyes turned clear and limpid. Then, it exclaimed, "General Zeng? What's going on?"

"Have you awoken?" Zeng Daniu exclaimed.

He released the purple-furred monster.

"I have, General Zeng! I felt as though something had been suppressing my spiritual senses, but it suddenly vanished."

"We'll speak later. Wait by the side," Zeng Daniu said.

"Understood!"

By then, the black lotus had approached the second purple-furred monster's head. A golden lotus hood appeared in sight before being quickly devoured.

After the black lotus absorbed both golden lotus hoods, it flew back into Xiao Nanfeng's mindscape to digest its gains.

Both purple-furred monsters had awoken completely. Perplexed, they asked Zeng Daniu just what was going on.

Zeng Daniu recounted what had transpired to date.

"The young princess is in danger? What are we waiting for, then?!" The two purple-furred monsters were easily roused to anger. They began fretting immediately.

"Silence! You're both just Earth Immortals. What can you do? Even True Immortals are easily possessed. You would only serve to make the situation worse," Zeng Daniu challenged them.

"But—" the two purple-furred monsters protested.

"General Zeng, please continue capturing more Earth and Human Immortal purple-furred lifeforms. I can keep awakening their consciousness for the moment. Hold off on the Heaven Immortal ones for now," Xiao Nanfeng commanded.

"Got it!" Zeng Daniu replied.

He and the two purple-furred monsters rushed out at once.

Two hours later, they returned with two more Earth Immortal purple-furred monsters and four Human Immortal ones. By then, the black lotus had digested the lotus hoods it had originally absorbed and continued to devour more.

Not too long later, another batch of purple-furred monsters were awakened, completely confused as to what was happening. Zeng Daniu didn't want to explain himself again, so he motioned for one of the other purple-furred monsters that had been awakened previously to do so. He rushed into the fog again to search for more monsters.

The monsters that had just learned of the truth all began to fume and join Zeng Daniu's party.

Before long, Zhang Lingjun's voice could be heard from the Palace of the Moon.

"All cultivators within the palace, listen up! I've set up an entryway through every barrier within the Palace of the Moon which shifts with the time of day. For instance, since it's currently six at night, the entryway will be at the six-o-clock position. All treasures within the palace shall belong to whoever claims them first."

Zhang Lingjun's voice was magnified to such an extent that it spread throughout the domain despite the noise-damping fog.

Zeng Daniu had just returned from another excursion into the fog. "That's the princess' voice! Is she trying to trick everyone into entering the Palace of the Moon?"

Xiao Nanfeng frowned. "There were hundreds of cultivators who entered the Palace of the Moon with us, but they represented only a small portion of the sixty teams participating in the hunting ground. Many are off on their own—but the cursed effigies seem intent on luring everyone in. Could they already have killed the cultivators within?"

"What do we do now? Those three cursed effigies are just going to grow stronger and stronger!"

"No matter how strong they are, they can't be stronger than the Heavenly Emperor. The cultivators in the outside world must be aware of what's going on, and they'll quickly send reinforcements in. General Zeng, don't worry about them for now. Focus on our plan."

"Got it!" Zeng Daniu replied.

Not far from them, the Yin-Yang Cauldron opened up once again.

"Division Leader, we've repaired three suits of arhat armor," Chang Bing called out.

Xiao Nanfeng turned to the black lotus. "Senior, are you able to awaken Heaven Immortal purple-furred lifeforms now?"

"Indeed."

Xiao Nanfeng nodded. He turned toward Chang Bing. "Have three disciples put on suits of arhat armor and accompany General Zeng to capture some Heaven Immortal monsters."

"Understood!" everyone replied.