Chapter 689: Burial Pagoda

When combined with the Eye of the Sea, Ao Zhou boasted an incredible aura and had the might of an early-stage Boundless Immortal. He bellowed, sending waves surging all around it like a tsunami.

"Hold it!" Sage Green Lotus shouted, attacking Ao Zhou with a palm.

Ao Zhou ignored the attack as he flew toward the altar, then sent his tail sweeping toward Sage Green Lotus almost as an afterthought. The latter was sent flying.

"Stop him!" Sage Green Lotus shouted.

Unfortunately, no one was able to do so. The dragon of water moved with a speed that belied his bulk. He approached the altar instantly.

Before the altar, the lone spectral tiger remaining sent everyone flying, then charged toward Ao Zhou.

"You think you can stop the likes of me? Die!" Ao Zhou shouted.

He spat out a torrent of ice and wind straight at the spectral tiger, freezing it instantly. The dragon of water smashed into it and shattered its body.

"Stop him, Li Qianjun!" Sage Green Lotus shouted.

"There's no need. We've already succeeded!" Li Qianjun replied.

The blood cocoon suddenly pulsed, revealing the Demon Child within—though he now had demonic flames flaring all over his body. A blood-colored rune on his forehead shone with an eerie red light, and his eyes were blood-red as they opened. He shouted, "Die!"

The Demon Child struck at the dragon of water's sharp claws with a palm.

Where palm and claw met, a fiery explosion boomed. A tremendous shockwave caused the ground to quake violently. Nearby buildings crumbled, and the formation of black fog around Taixu finally dispersed. The weaker cultivators were flung back from the impact.

"What? The Demon Child's as strong as an early-stage Boundless Immortal now, too! This is impossible!" Ao Zhou howled.

Cries rang out from all around. Quite a few of the weaker cultivators had been killed just from the shockwaves resulting from the impact, but Zhao Yuanjiao and the others had managed to protect the majority of them.

"The formation's gone now. Leave!" Zhao Yuanjiao shouted.

"Thank you, Benefactors! Thank you, Martial Aspect Xiao!" The cultivators turned and fled, seeing salvation at long last.

The Demon Child looked all around him, now a demon in truth.

"Sage Green Lotus, the demonic corpse aura has already pervaded my son's body. Control him!" Li Qianjun hissed.

Sage Green Lotus nodded and shouted, "Seventh-grade lotus, attend to me!"

Green light shot out of the Demon Child's body and surged into his forehead. The blood-colored rune was quickly replaced by a green lotus.

"Argh! Ah, argh!" The Demon Child clutched his head in pain.

In the air, Xiao Nanfeng's eyes widened. Having guessed what was happening, he immediately shouted, "Ao Zhou, ignore the Demon Child. Kill Sage Green Lotus!"

The dragon of water roared and shot straight toward Sage Green Lotus.

"By the green lotus, Demon Child, kill this dragon of water immediately!"Sage Green Lotus shouted.

The Demon Child, face still a mask of pain, shot into the air. He sent his demon-subduing golden hoop smashing down on the dragon of water.

The two cultivators smashed into each other in a storm of wind and flame.

"Demon Child, are you mad? They're the ones trying to hurt you!" the dragon of water shouted.

The Demon Child roared, eyes shining with red light. He seemed to be under mind control.

He roared and charged toward the dragon of water, flames bursting forth from him as he launched attack after attack on the dragon. Taixu quickly became nothing more than a pile of ruins. Ao Zhou filled the air around him with water, and the Demon Child did the same with flame. The ground split and cracked.

Meanwhile, with his pagoda relic, Li Qianjun quickly restored the spectral tiger that Ao Zhou had shattered.

"Die!" Li Qianjun shouted.

The spectral tiger leapt forward, roaring ferociously.

"Block it!" Ye Dafu commanded.

"Die!"

A group of True Immortals rushed toward the spectral tiger, only to be sent flying by a swipe of the tiger's claw. Even so, none of them shrunk back. Ye Dafu and the others began to use their Golden Immortal relics to defend against the tiger as the fighting continued in earnest.

Meanwhile, Long Er had made his way to Sage Green Lotus. "If I kill you, the Demon Child will awaken, won't he? Hegemon's Fist!"

A thunderstorm of punches rained down on Sage Green Lotus, who was forced to defend with his horsetail whisk. He was sent flying by a heavy blow, his face red and his body aching.

"Impossible! Long Er was only a mid-stage Golden Immortal. How can you best me, a late-stage Golden Immortal, in strength? This is impossible!" Sage Green Lotus shouted.

Hegemon's Fist was simply overpowering. The punches that rained down from the air were testament to Xiao Nanfeng's prowess and training. A punch sent Sage Green Lotus flying for hundreds of meters, then another, then another. He spat out a mouthful of blood.

Xiao Nanfeng, in Long Er's body, quickly gained the upper hand.

"Help me, Li Qianjun!" Sage Green Lotus shouted.

"I'm trying to claim what's been sealed. I can't assist you," Li Qianjun replied tersely.

"If you don't help me, I'll reclaim my seventh-grade lotus," Sage Green Lotus threatened.

Li Qianjun grimaced. "Fine. Be careful!"

He pointed his arm at Xiao Nanfeng. "Go!"

The black pagoda in his palm flew into the air as it suddenly ballooned in size. In the blink of an eye, it was as large as a small mountain. It flew straight toward Xiao Nanfeng.

"Absorb!" Li Qianjun shouted.

Tremendous suction came from the underside of the pagoda as it tried to drag Xiao Nanfeng within.

Xiao Nanfeng narrowed his eyes. He didn't think he would be able to escape. An uneasy premonition befell him as he rushed straight to Sage Green Lotus.

"Damn it, stay away!" Sage Green Lotus shouted.

Sage Green Lotus sent a palm flying toward Long Er, who took the blow head-on in order to close in on him.

Long Er spat out a mouthful of blood as he hugged Sage Green Lotus tightly.

"Let me go!" Sage Green Lotus shouted.

The pagoda was drawing closer and closer to the two cultivators, and the suction was growing even stronger. Despite the fact that both cultivators were Golden Immortals, they didn't seem to be able to escape. They were sucked into the underside of the pagoda.

"Li Qianjun, I've been trapped as well!" Sage Green Lotus shouted.

"Don't worry. I'll easily be able to rescue you even when you're within the pagoda," Li Qianjun called back.

Sage Green Lotus huffed.

On the other hand, Xiao Nanfeng had no intention of being dealt with so easily. He wasn't sure just how strong the pagoda was, but he knew it was a risk he couldn't take.

Just as the two cultivators were about to be sucked into the pagoda, Long Er took a deep breath. "Explode!"

Sage Green Lotus didn't expect Long Er's kamikaze attack at all. Long Er's body was right around him—how was he to withstand an explosion of such magnitude?

"No!" Sage Green Lotus shouted in fear.

An explosion erupted by the underside of the pagoda.

Sage Green Lotus tried to shield himself to the best of his ability, but to little avail. Blood streaked down his body, his four limbs broken, blood leaking from his mouth.

Meanwhile, Xiao Nanfeng had transformed into his physical body, activated the Imposing Avatar of Rulai at full strength, and even protected himself with a kasaya as he hunkered down and bore the force of the explosion.

Despite it all, they were both sucked into the pagoda.

"Your Majesty!" Ye Dafu and the others shouted from afar, preparing to rush toward the pagoda to save him.

Just then, a blackguard shouted, "Don't! Division Leader Xiao has tasked me to tell you to protect yourselves. Don't worry about him."

Ye Dafu and the others relaxed and turned back to the spectral tiger as the pagoda shrank back down and returned to Li Qianjun's hand.

With a wave, Li Qianjun pulled Sage Green Lotus out of the pagoda, but he remained bruised and bleeding all over.

"Li Qianjun, look what you've done!" Sage Green Lotus shouted.

"I've given you my own son. Aren't you satisfied? You'll be able to recuperate from those wounds in no time," Li Qianjun replied, unruffled.

Sage Green Lotus slumped onto the ground as he began to meditate. "What're you doing with Xiao Nanfeng?"

"Just wait. He'll quickly be distilled into energy for my burial pagoda, and his soul will be transformed into another spectral soldier."

"Good! This damn Xiao Nanfeng—hand him over to me once he becomes a spectral soldier. I'll exact my revenge then!" Sage Green Lotus snarled.

"As you will." Li Qianjun nodded.

He held the pagoda in one hand as he manipulated a large mass of black threads in another. The black threads were connected to the ground beneath the altar, and Li Qianjun seemed to be trying to extract something valuable from there.

Within the pagoda, Xiao Nanfeng found himself in an unusual space filled with dark smoke. Blades of wind shot toward him from within the smoke, which he deflected with his own blade. Nevertheless, the force of the impact sent him flying. Then, more blades of wind cut toward him from all over.

"What strong blades," Xiao Nanfeng murmured. He hurriedly activated his candleflame powers.

The next moment, red light flashed. He vanished from where he stood as the wind blades passed harmlessly on.

He appeared in another secluded space, dark but with a hint of light.

"Hm? I'm not out of the pagoda? Where am I?" Xiao Nanfeng exclaimed.

Just then, he heard a heart-wrenching scream from a sobbing woman somewhere close by.

"Master, please spare my child! Master!"

The woman's cries were wretched; she was entirely distraught.

Xiao Nanfeng walked over to see a middle-aged woman trussed up in the air with iron chains. Her body was bruised and battered, with bloodstains all over. Her voice had already gone hoarse from shouting.

"You're—the Demon Child's mother?" Xiao Nanfeng exclaimed in surprise.

He had once had his subordinates search for a portrait of the Demon Child's family, so he was able to recognize this woman at a glance.