Chapter 670: The Purple Moon Enters the Coffin

Long Yi's two avatars were both Golden Immortals. Black smoke gushed from their bodies, causing the golden cultivators to panic.

As he smirked at Ye Dafu and his subordinates, the second Long Yi climbed out of the coffin and suddenly struck at Ye Dafu with a palm.

Ye Dafu was sent stumbling back, but he wasn't badly hurt. He had managed to defend himself with a kasaya in time, which absorbed much of the force.

"Attack!" Ye Dafu howled.

"Die!"

The four golden cultivators, each equipped with a Golden Immortal relic, struck Long Yi simultaneously.

"You overestimate your capabilities!" Long Yi declared, launching a sweeping attack at them.

A fierce bout of fighting ensued. Long Yi quickly claimed the upper hand.

Meanwhile, by the other side, Xiao Nanfeng was taking on the first of Long Yi's avatars on his own.

He motioned for his ten golden crows to strike at Long Yi simultaneously. Although he was able to exert considerable strength, his opponent, Long Yi, was a Golden Immortal. His ten golden crows were sent flying one after another.

Although Xiao Nanfeng possessed the Imposing Avatar of Rulai and would be able to defend himself for quite a while, the four golden cultivators fighting against Long Yi's avatar were barely able to hold on much longer. One had already detonated his Golden Immortal relic to save himself.

The explosion of a Golden Immortal relic destroyed a considerable portion of the black barriers and caused the entire seabed to shake, but the black coffin didn't seem to move at all. It was particularly sinister.

Xiao Nanfeng activated the Heaven division token, summoning the Heaven Division's Gate behind him.

"And what good is this door of yours?" Long Yi smirked. "What can it do?"

Xiao Nanfeng waved a hand, recalling his ten golden crows that had been sent flying.

"You think I'll let you run? Dream on!" Long Yi frowned and shot over to him.

Without any hesitation, Xiao Nanfeng opened up the Heaven Division's Gate, unleashing a wave of sound. Long Yi had no time to consider the situation. He reached out for Xiao Nanfeng as the latter seemingly stepped through the gate, but, in reality, had used his candleflame powers to vanish in a burst of red light.

"You won't get away!" Long Yi, thinking that Xiao Nanfeng had fled through the gate, rushed in to chase after him.

He vanished from sight in the blink of an eye.

Meanwhile, Xiao Nanfeng appeared beside the door and shut it.

"The Heaven Division's Gate is more useful than I expected," Xiao Nanfeng murmured, nodding in satisfaction.

Just as he was about to dispel the Heaven Division's Gate, a gust of black smoke filtered out from the coffin. The smoke manifested in the form of a palm that slid through the gap in the Heaven Division's Gate and seemed to be grasping about for Long Yi, who was trapped within.

"What's this?" Xiao Nanfeng exclaimed.

He immediately attempted to activate the Heaven division token to dispel the gate, but found that he couldn't do so while the black smoke was within.

"The black coffin's trying to fight over Long Yi with the Heaven Division's Gate..." Xiao Nanfeng murmured.

Meanwhile, Long Yi's other avatar, who was beating up the four golden cultivators, suddenly halted in his tracks. He glanced at Xiao Nanfeng in shock. "What's on the other side of that door? Why is my avatar's consciousness dissipating?!"

Long Yi sent the four golden cultivators flying as he shot straight toward Xiao Nanfeng.

Xiao Nanfeng hurriedly retreated as Long Yi struck the Heaven Division's Gate with a palm. The gate remained entirely immobile; it didn't even shudder.

"Damn it, Xiao Nanfeng, what have you done to my avatar? Open these doors up!" Long Yi howled at him.

He sent Xiao Nanfeng flying, then caught him with a palm.

Xiao Nanfeng's ten golden crows swooped toward Long Yi, who scowled and slapped at the crows with his other palm.

"Die!" Xiao Nanfeng shouted.

The ten golden crows exploded with such force that Long Yi was sent flying, and the palm technique with which he had captured Xiao Nanfeng shattered. Having regained his freedom, Xiao Nanfeng shot toward the gate again.

"How dare you!" Long Yi shouted, stabilizing himself before launching at Xiao Nanfeng once more.

Xiao Nanfeng pushed open the Heaven Division's Gate and vanished once again in a flash of red light.

Long Yi leapt toward the gates, only to freeze once he was at the threshold.

"Do you think you'll be able to trick me again? Dream on!" Long Yi scoffed.

Just then, the Divine Seal of Dazheng crashed down toward him.

"Seal!" Xiao Nanfeng commanded.

Long Yi was sent flying through the gate, whereupon Xiao Nanfeng shut it once again.

"Perhaps not, but you know nothing about my abilities," Xiao Nanfeng said, nodding in satisfaction.

Suddenly, another burst of black smoke emerged from the coffin and slithered into the gate. The two bursts of black smoke seemed to have grasped onto one copy of Long Yi's avatar each, preventing them from being swallowed up by the gate.

"Your Majesty, two of Long Yi's avatars have already emerged from the coffin. Could there still be more hiding within?" Ye Dafu ventured.

Xiao Nanfeng frowned. He commanded, "Try covering up the coffin again."

"Understood!"

Two of the golden cultivators stepped forward, each grabbing hold of opposite sides of the coffin lid. They brought it toward the coffin once again.

This time, no further copies of Long Yi's avatar emerged, but a cloud of black smoke knocked the coffin lid and those two golden cultivators away.

"This black coffin doesn't want to be sealed, it seems," Ye Dafu murmured.

Xiao Nanfeng walked up to the side of the coffin and looked in. The interior was pitch-black, and black fog gushed out, as if there were a world within the coffin.

He reached out tentatively toward the coffin, but it vibrated and knocked his hand away.

Ye Dafu and the others also gave it a try, but to no avail.

"What a sinister coffin," Xiao Nanfeng murmured.

"Should we have Senior Sister Yu'er have a look?" Ye Dafu asked.

Xiao Nanfeng nodded. He manipulated the Divine Seal of Dazheng. Yu'er appeared from within in a flash.

Yu'er came out and looked around in surprise. "Nanfeng, didn't I say to let me know when you ended up in a fight? You finished without me!"

"They were just small fry," Xiao Nanfeng said. "You would have been overkill."

Yu'er then glanced toward Ye Dafu and the others, who still had bruises covering their heads and bodies. She gave him a skeptical look. "Are you sure they were small fry?"

"The fighting's already over, at any rate. Have a look at this coffin, will you?"

Yu'er frowned. "What about this coffin?"

"According to Sage Green Lotus, the Yuqing holy land and Southeastern Aquatic Palace were conspiring against you in order to acquire what lies beneath the Eye of the Sea. I saw the Eye of the Sea being unleashed here, which means that what lies beneath it must be this black coffin."

"Oh?" Yu'er inspected the coffin curiously.

"I wrote to your father asking about it, but the fact that he didn't respond means that he doesn't know, either."

"If my father is unaware of the circumstances, why would he cooperate with the Southeastern Aquatic Palace?" Yu'er asked.

"He might be unaware, but the Yuqing hierarch surely knows something about it. If he insists on marrying you into the Southeastern Aquatic Palace and claims that doing so is crucial for the future development of the Yuqing holy land, your father could hardly oppose him. We'll have to figure out just what sort of treasure this black coffin holds, though."

Yu'er reached out to touch the coffin, only to be sent flying as well.

Xiao Nanfeng caught her with an arm. "Be careful. Something's unusual about it."

"Could the treasure lie within the coffin?" Yu'er asked.

"I tried to probe it with my spiritual power. It's so deep I can't sense where its other side stops. It's spacious and seemingly boundless, so there's surely at least a miniature world within, but I expect it's extremely dangerous as well. We have to be careful," Xiao Nanfeng said.

"What are we going to do, then?" Yu'er asked.

"The Southeastern Aquatic Palace tried to kidnap you, and the Yuqing hierarch wanted to send you over. It's clear that you have a crucial role to play in acquiring this treasure. What's special about you?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.

Yu'er blinked. "I don't know myself..."

"Then do you know why you were chosen to be a holy maiden? Did the Yuqing hierarch ever tell you anything?"

Yu'er frowned as she scoured her memories. "Ah, I remember now! I told you I had a power passed down my bloodline, didn't I?"

"You did. There was a sliver of rainbow light emanating from your forehead, wasn't there?"

"That's right. That was why the Yuqing hierarch chose me to be a holy maiden. Look!" Yu'er exclaimed.

A vertical slit opened up in the center of Yu'er's forehead and cracked open. A beam of violet light emanated from within, revealing a purple eye.

"A third eye—the Yuqing Heavenly Eye!" Ye Dafu exclaimed.

"A Heavenly Eye? No, it's just my Yuqing purple moon. The Yuqing purple moon can be integrated into my physical body in a manner like a third eye."

"The Yuqing purple moon? Like the Taiqing red moon?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.

"That's right. Upon reaching a certain level of cultivation with the Yuqing purple moon, it'll become endowed with rainbow light. For me, however, the situation was reversed. I began with the rainbow light, then manifested the Yuqing purple moon. My purple moon is among the highest in quality in the sect."

Yu'er waved a hand, causing the purple moon to emerge from her mindscape. It grew larger and larger until it transformed into a full moon that floated overhead.

"Though I only recently reached Yin Body, my purple moon is matched only by a select few in the sect, all of whom are Mountain Lords. Even the Yuqing hierarch's purple moon is no superior to mine," Yu'er whispered.

Xiao Nanfeng's brows furrowed in anger. "This is no kindness on the Yuqing hierarch's part. There's likely significant danger associated with securing this treasure. He doesn't want to risk himself; among the qualified candidates, you're the easiest to bully."

Yu'er had come to the same conclusion. She too seemed upset.

Even so, she took a deep breath. "Nanfeng, should I try lowering my purple moon into the black coffin?"

Xiao Nanfeng pursed his lips in contemplation. He could sense tremendous danger from the coffin, and he instinctively wanted Yu'er to give up on the notion.

In the end, though, he nodded gravely. "Let's give it a try. If you succeed, it could prove to be an astounding boon. If you fail, don't try to cling to your purple moon—just give it up. I'll be guarding you throughout the process."

"Understood!" Yu'er nodded seriously.

She lowered her purple moon into the coffin. The moment it was entirely submerged within, a hefty cloud of black smoke appeared from it and manifested in the form of a huge hand that grasped the moon tightly, as if intending to crush it.

More black smoke surged out of the coffin, reaching for Yu'er.

"Be careful!" Xiao Nanfeng shouted, stepping forward to shield her.