Chapter 691: The Taiqing Art of Substitution

With the help of his candleflame powers, Xiao Nanfeng quickly escaped from the burial pagoda.

He emerged to see the skies pouring with rain. Violent fighting was taking place in the air and on the ground. There were flames and howling winds everywhere.

"Xiao Nanfeng?" Li Qianjun exclaimed.

Xiao Nanfeng turned to see Li Qianjun and Sage Green Lotus performing a ritual by the altar. They seemed to be at a critical juncture—rather than rush toward him, they were only staring at him in shock and anger.

"How did he escape from the burial pagoda?" Sage Green Lotus thundered. "Didn't you say that he would be trapped? Go and seize him!"

"Ignore him for now. Focus on the business we have at hand. The spectral soldiers will take care of him," Li Qianjun replied.

Sage Green Lotus could only nod in frustration.

The two cultivators continued to perform their ritual as they attempted to wrestle the final layer of the pagoda into submission.

Xiao Nanfeng didn't bother with the two of them. Li Qianjun, especially when wielding his pagoda, would be a tricky foe to deal with. Furthermore, he had to secure enough time to break the Demon Child's bindings before he was completely mastered.

High in the air, the dragon of water continued to take on the Demon Child. The fighting was intense, and shockwaves of pure force rippled through the air, sending a deluge of water and furious flames flying.

"Be careful, Your Majesty!" Ye Dafu and the others shouted from afar.

The spectral tiger, which Zhao Yuanjiao and the twelve golden cultivators had been encircling, suddenly broke out and rushed toward Xiao Nanfeng, likely on Li Qianjun's orders. Zhao Yuanjiao and the golden cultivators rushed after it.

Xiao Nanfeng didn't seem particularly worried. He waved a hand and covered up his surroundings in red fog.

The spectral tiger growled ferociously, as if taunting Xiao Nanfeng for making a move too late. With a roar, it charged into the red fog—and then stopped short.

Ye Dafu rushed into the red fog, only to find a set of gates slamming shut behind Xiao Nanfeng.

"Your Majesty, where's the spectral tiger? Could you have trapped it within the Heaven Division's Gate?" Ye Dafu's eyes brightened in surprise.

Xiao Nanfeng manipulated the Heaven division token, causing the gate to vanish. "That's right. I've trapped the tiger, but we can't let Li Qianjun realize that. Try to make some commotion and cover for me."

"Understood!"

By then, the rest of the golden cultivators and Zhao Yuanjiao had made it into the fog as well.

𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Upon learning of the situation, they too began to act.

"Damn it, this bastard! Kill it!"

"Save me, Your Majesty!"

"No!"

With a loud ruckus, the golden cultivators were repeatedly 'sent flying' from the red fog before they hurriedly made their way back. The spectral tiger seemed to be causing a huge commotion, but no one else realized that this was all an act.

"Xiao Nanfeng retrieved the gourd and brought out the Demon Child's mother.

"The Demon Child's over there. He's insensate. How can we awaken him?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.

"It is the blood curse, after all!" The woman sobbed. "Oh, my dear son!"

"Is there a way?" Xiao Nanfeng pressed.

The woman wiped her tears away. "There is. Can you send my soul into my son's mindscape?"

"I can try."

"Thank you, Division Leader. I can't thank you enough!"

The woman shuddered. Her yin body emerged from her forehead as her physical body toppled, but she didn't seem to care.

Xiao Nanfeng caught her body. "Let me store your body for safekeeping for now."

"It doesn't matter. I won't be using this physical body anymore," the woman said.

Suddenly, she knelt down and bowed toward Xiao Nanfeng. "Division Leader Xiao, my son told me that you've been particularly close to him. Please take care of him. He wasn't involved in the calamity that befell the Taiqing sect, and he's even formed out of the demonic corpse aura of Taiqing disciples across the ages. He bears the aegis and will of Taiqing—he's no traitor. Please, Division Leader Xiao!"

"The calamity naturally has nothing to do with him. I'll do what I can for him," Xiao Nanfeng promised.

"Thank you, Division Leader Xiao!"

"Do you need me to do anything more than send your yin body into the Demon Child's mindscape?"

"That's sufficient. Leave the rest to me."

"Very well," Xiao Nanfeng said.

He caught the woman's yin body in his palms, then looked up at the sky. "Ao Zhou, freeze the Demon Child in place!"

The dragon of water roared and sent a torrent of water flying straight at the Demon Child. He knew that Xiao Nanfeng had likely come up with some way to deal with him.

The Demon Child roared back, deflecting the torrent of water with his demon-subduing golden hoop.

The golden hoop smashed into the dragon of water.

"You rascal, do you know how much your attacks hurt? Now, stay in there!" the dragon of water roared.

Ao Zhou coiled around the Demon Child, forming a huge bubble of water with his body and trapping him within. The Demon Child struggled furiously to break free, and his demon-subduing golden hoop shone with intense light. Ao Zhou roared in pain and anger, but the Demon Child was rendered stationary for the time being.

Xiao Nanfeng made his move then.

He invoked his candleflame powers as a flash of red light appeared by the Demon Child's forehead.

The Demon Child roared in frustration and was just about to retaliate when a woman suddenly called out, "My dear boy!"

The Demon Child's fiery eyes suddenly grew unfocused for a moment, giving the woman's yin body an opportunity to enter his mindscape.

The Demon Child roared and tried to seize the yin body, only to have her begin to chant. "Heavens above, the Taiqing red moon, I invoke thee. Substitute body for body, curse for curse. Let my body bear the burden of the blood curse!"

The Taiqing red moon to the back of the woman's head glowed with incandescent light as a sinister, mysterious beam formed between her and the blood curse on the Demon Child's forehead. The blood-colored lotus, attracted by the beam, slowly shifted toward her body.

The Demon Child suddenly clutched his head in pain. "Mother, it hurts!"

"Don't cry, my dear boy. I'm right here. Help Mother out and let's remove the blood curse from your body, alright? Listen to me. Resist them. You can do it. I'm right here with you!" the woman murmured gently.

"Mother? Mother, it hurts!" The Demon Child continued to clutch his head in pain.

"Keep going. It'll stop hurting soon, alright. Keep pushing! I'm right here!"

"Mother!" The Demon Child sobbed in pain.

The dragon of water transmitted the sound within the bubble to Xiao Nanfeng.

Zhao Yuanjiao gasped in shock. "The Taiqing Art of Substitution? She must be crazy—she's going to die!"

"She's saving her son," Xiao Nanfeng replied.

"Even with the Demon Child's unique constitution, he couldn't stand the pain of the blood curse. How can she bear with it all while soothing and pacifying the Demon Child? Her willpower is extraordinary..."

"I suppose this is the strength of motherly love," Xiao Nanfeng replied, sighing.

Just then, a huge rumble rang out from afar. The ground burst open as mounds of dust shot into the air, and a fearsome aura emerged from underground.

"We've succeeded, haha!" Li Qianjun roared in laughter.

Sage Green Lotus turned around in shock. "They're trying to break the blood curse! Now that you've cleared out the tenth layer of the burial pagoda, help me stop them!"

"Very well," Li Qianjun replied.

A pitch-black pagoda rushed toward the cultivators.

Compared to before, the pagoda now had an additional tenth layer, and its aura had grown even stronger. An intense suction struck everyone.

"Ao Zhou, don't worry about the Demon Child anymore. Stop Li Qianjun!" Xiao Nanfeng shouted.

The bubble of water enveloping the Demon Child burst apart and returned to the shape of a dragon. Ao Zhou flew toward the pagoda and smashed into it in a shockwave of force.

The pagoda was sent flying back toward Li Qianjun.

"What a fearsome relic. It's a Boundless Immortal treasure! Damn it, it hurts even with the Eye of the Sea to shield me! Xiao Nanfeng, you really are a troublemaker. I've never had peace with you around!" Ao Zhou cried out.

"Hurry!" Xiao Nanfeng shouted.

The dragon of water roared and shot toward Li Qianjun once more.

Li Qianjun glared at Ao Zhou, his eyes cold. He sent the pagoda toward Ao Zhou again. The dragon and pagoda clashed with each other repeatedly in bursts of water and fire. The underside of the pagoda released a tremendous suction, while Ao Zhou countered with a huge torrent of water. They seemed to be in a precarious equilibrium.

Meanwhile, Sage Green Lotus flew over. Though Xiao Nanfeng's detonation of Long Er body had wounded him severely, his injuries had recovered to a significant extent since. He held his seventh-grade lotus in hand.

"Xiao Nanfeng, how dare you! Stop right there!" he howled.

"Stall him!" Xiao Nanfeng shouted.

"Die!" the golden cultivators shouted, charging toward Sage Green Lotus.

"Sea of Swords!" Sage Green Lotus intoned.

Blue spiritual swords gushed out of the seventh-grade lotus, forming a veritable sea of swords that surged toward the gathered cultivators.

"Be careful!"

The twelve golden cultivators were all sent flying. Not only that, despite their Indomitable Bodies, the swords left nicks and cuts all over at an accelerating rate.

Zhao Yuanjiao's crescent sword deflected many of the spiritual swords, but the attack ultimately ended up striking him as well. Blood sprayed out.

Xiao Nanfeng's eyes flashed. He activated his candleflame powers and teleported to Sage Green Lotus's side.

"You can manipulate space? How can you control natural laws to such an extent?!" Sage Green Lotus cried out.

Xiao Nanfeng struck him with a palm, causing a percussive boom to ring out from his body.