Chapter 688: Taking on Sage Green Lotus

In the city lord's manor at Taixu, Li Qianjun blanched. He hadn't expected Xiao Nanfeng to detonate his ten golden crows along with the spectral tigers, shattering the formation outside the city lord's manor and exposing everything in plain sight. His reputation would be ruined.

His eyes filled with killing intent, he called out, "Sage Green Lotus, I'm going to be activating the altar. I'll leave these cultivators to you."

"Very well!" Sage Green Lotus stepped forward.

"Strike now! Destroy the altar first," Xiao Nanfeng commanded.

"Understood!" The golden cultivators rushed forward.

"Insolence!" Sage Green Lotus exclaimed. He waved an arm at the gathered cultivators, causing the strands of the horsetail whisk to sweep over them in the form of a tidal wave. The golden cultivators were sent flying, but they quickly stabilized themselves and rushed back over.

"You overconfident fools!" Sage Green Lotus shouted.

He waved an arm at them. His horsetail whisk struck the twelve golden cultivators like a whip.

The other cultivators rose up, but they were quickly suppressed by Li Qianjun's black-armored subordinates. A huge fight began to unfold.

Only Xiao Nanfeng and Zhao Yuanjiao remained where they were.

"Li Qianjun still commands eleven spectral tigers. They absorbed all those fragments of spectral flame, and they're growing even stronger," Zhao Yuanjiao murmured.

"It's alright, Senior Brother. Please help me unseal this," Xiao Nanfeng said.

He conjured a cloud of fog around the two cultivators to hide what they were doing. Then, he unstrapped a gourd from his waist. The Eye of the Sea and Ao Zhou were within, along with something else—he shook the gourd a few times until a humanoid figure emerged: Long Er, whom he had captured within the Southeastern Aquatic Palace.

Long Er's body had been sealed multiple times over, and he couldn't move at all.

"Xiao Nanfeng, release me!" Long Er thundered.

Xiao Nanfeng ignored him. With a flick of his body, he transformed into his yin body and stepped into Long Er's mindscape.

"You're trying to possess me? Dream on! You won't be able to succeed," Long Er roared.

In Long Er's mindscape, Xiao Nanfeng activated the Heaven division token and opened up the Heaven Division's Gate, sending loss chants rushing into Long Er's mind.

"What sort of cursed chants are these? Damn it, what have you done to me?!" Long Er yelled.

Very quickly, Long Er lost his memories. "Who are you? Why are you in my mindscape? Ah, who am I? What am I doing here?"

As the loss chants continued to echo in his mind, he forgot more and more about himself. Gradually, his pupils began to dilate.

"Taiqing's art of possession," Xiao Nanfeng intoned.

Long Er's pupils suddenly flickered as if he had awakened—Xiao Nanfeng had suppressed his soul and taken over his body.

"Senior Brother, help me remove these seals," Long Er said.

"Very well!" Zhao Yuanjiao replied.

He quickly stripped the seals from Long Er's body, including the specialized Taiqing seal on his chest.

Long Er broke free of the remaining seals and shook himself. The aura of a Golden Immortal exuded from him.

Right then, the eleven spectral tigers from before had finished absorbing everything they could and had returned to peak strength. When they roared, a frightening wave of sound sent all the cultivators flying.

"Save me!"

"Save us, Martial Aspect Xiao!"

"No!"

The cultivators shrieked and cried out as they were sent flying into the fog where Xiao Nanfeng was located.

A spectral tiger leapt forward ahead of the pack and tore into a cultivator right within the fog.

A fist struck the tiger in the head, causing it to instantly explode into a cloud of spectral flame.

"What?!" everyone exclaimed.

The fog dispersed to reveal Zhao Yuanjiao and Long Er.

"Who's that?!" the cultivators exclaimed.

"Don't worry, everyone. I'm Xiao Nanfeng," Long Er said.

Another spectral tiger rushed over. Long Er frowned and punched at it with a fist.

"Hegemon's Fist!"

Within moments, the air all around Long Er filled with fists, all of which punched the tiger simultaneously. It exploded before it could even howl in pain.

"Martial Aspect Xiao is invincible!" the gathered cultivators cheered.

"You've possessed Long Er?" Li Qianjun exclaimed from afar. He howled, "Stop him!"

The remaining spectral tigers all leapt toward Long Er.

"Senior Brother, there's something wrong with that avatar. Destroy it as quickly as you can—leave these tigers to me," Long Er said.

"Very well!" Zhao Yuanjiao replied.

𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

He flew toward the altar, taking down all black-armored soldiers in his way.

By the altar, Sage Green Lotus sent the golden cultivators scattering once more. When he saw Zhao Yuanjiao flying over, he cursed. "I'll kill you!"

He struck with the horsetail whisk again, sending Zhao Yuanjiao flying.

Simultaneously, Long Er's eyes flashed with anger as he shot toward Li Qianjun.

A group of spectral tigers blocked his way.

"Hegemon's Fist!" Long Er shouted.

Ten thousand fists struck a spectral tiger and caused it to explode.

"Hegemon's Fist!"

Long Er launched a series of Hegemon's Fists on the tiger horde, causing them to explode one after another.

Li Qianjun held the black pagoda in one hand and manipulated the altar with the other. He seemed to be unable to move owing to the sacrificial rite, but he wasn't particularly worried. Another spectral tiger had just emerged from his pagoda, absorbing all the spectral fragments that Xiao Nanfeng had just produced. It immediately grew into a fearsome opponent.

"Hegemon's Fist!" Long Er shouted.

The fists struck the tiger in a wave of intense flame. The spectral tiger had managed to concentrate all the energy present in the spectral flames and had reached the realm of a Golden Immortal, but was still unable to overcome Xiao Nanfeng.

Xiao Nanfeng sent the tiger flying again and again as he closed in on Li Qianjun.

"Sage Green Lotus, swap opponents with my spectral tiger. Hurry!" Li Qianjun shouted.

"Your spectral tigers aren't very strong, are they?" Sage Green Lotus smirked.

"If I fail, you won't get what you want, either," Li Qianjun howled. "Hurry!"

"Fine! I'm coming," Sage Green Lotus replied. He snapped his horsetail whisk, flinging the twelve golden cultivators and Zhao Yuanjiao away as he rushed toward Long Er.

Just as Long Er was about to strike Li Qianjun, Sage Green Lotus arrived and sent a palm technique flying toward him. Huge shockwaves radiated outwards on impact.

Long Er was sent flying. He grimaced. "You're a late-stage Golden Immortal?"

Sage Green Lotus smirked. "Long Er's only a mid-stage Golden Immortal. He's no match for me."

"Let's try it, then. Hegemon's Fist!" Long Er shouted.

Ten thousand fists struck Sage Green Lotus's palm and sent him stumbling back.

"Impossible. How could you be so strong? Die!" Sage Green Lotus thundered as he rushed forward.

A flaming tempest formed around them as they fought.

Meanwhile, the tiger leapt toward the altar and sent the twelve golden cultivators and Zhao Yuanjiao flying once again.

"Die!" the golden cultivators thundered, charging forward without any hesitation.

There was intense fighting all around.

Just then, by the foot of the altar, black smoke began to surge straight up toward the blood cocoon at its center. The blood cocoon began to warp and distend after absorbing all that smoke. A frightening aura emanated from within.

Long Er blanched. He thundered, "We don't have time! Hurry up and detonate a Golden Immortal relic to destroy the altar and break that cocoon!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Ye Dafu and the others replied.

Just then, a hoarse shout came from within the cocoon. "Mother, it hurts! Mother, save me!"

"No—that's the Demon Child! Don't blast the cocoon!" Long Er exclaimed.

"The Demon Child?!" Ye Dafu and the others cried out in astonishment.

"Li Qianjun, what have you done? That's your own son in there! Can't you hear him crying out for you?!" Long Er shouted.

"The Demon Child of the Yuqing holy land?"

"To think Li Qianjun would sacrifice even his own son..."

"Just what is he trying to achieve? What's he trying to summon with the lives of all the citizens of Taixu and his own son?!"

The cultivators were taken aback by this revelation.

Li Qianjun eyed Long Er, but didn't offer an explanation.

"Mother, it hurts! Please save me, Mother!"

The Demon Child's shouts, even muffled, could be heard all throughout Taixu. His cries stopped abruptly as the cocoon's aura intensified. The currents of aura that leaked out caused the cultivators all around to rear back in fear.

Long Er anxiously reached toward his mindscape and took out a gourd from within. He manipulated it and poured a giant orb of water out—the Eye of the Sea.

"Ao Zhou, the situation is urgent. I'll have to disrupt your meditation. I'm going to meld with the Eye of the Sea, and you may be forcibly repulsed from it," Long Er warned.

Then, he transformed into an ivory dragon and tried to burrow into the Eye of the Sea.

"You won't make it in time. Don't you dare!" Sage Green Lotus shouted, rushing over.

Just then, a wave of energy emanated from the Eye of the Sea and sent Long Er flying.

"What?!" Long Er exclaimed.

The Eye of the Sea bulged and transformed into a gigantic dragon of water.

The dragon of water roared, causing waves of energy to reverberate around the entire city. Its aura was so frightening that even the barrier of black fog surrounding Taixu shook violently. Sage Green Lotus stepped back in shock.

"The aura of a Boundless Immortal—impossible! Did someone meld with the Eye of the Sea beforehand?!" Sage Green Lotus exclaimed.

Long Er's eyes twitched. He thundered, "Ao Zhou, how shameless can you get? You must have finished absorbing the spirit long ago. Have you been hiding in the Eye of the Sea all this time? Were you trying to steal it from me?"

The dragon of water stopped howling abruptly. "You didn't tell me to come out! I had time to spare, so I thought I'd just cultivate some more."

"Don't waste your breath. Destroy that altar and save the Demon Child. Hurry!"

The dragon of water roared and shot toward the altar.