Chapter 752: Freed

How had Xiao Nanfeng killed one of the saint's avatars so quickly?

"The loss chants have been dramatically weakening me—but why aren't you affected?!" the saint's other avatar cried out.

Xiao Nanfeng ignored the saint as he examined the saint's avatar that he had defeated. He had deliberately struck its head so that it would perish completely.

However, it was hardly easy to kill a saint, even in avatar form. The moment the zombie king's body perished, a cloud of red fog appeared in the red moon illusory realm and attempted to snatch up the fragment of the saint's shattered soul.

"Do you think you can transform me into a red-furred monster? Dream on!" the saint's other avatar shouted.

A pillar of red light appeared by the saint's avatar, piercing into the heavens and dissipating the red fog. The saint's shattered soul quickly vanished within the pillar, which flashed out of existence.

Xiao Nanfeng's eyes widened. He understood what the Heavenly Emperor had been getting at now. That pillar of red light had to be the heavenly law that the saint had mastered! Did his soul fragment escape using that pillar of light?

While Xiao Nanfeng was distracted, the saint's other avatar sent him stumbling back.

The saint's avatar widened its mouth and absorbed the headless corpse of its companion. Black smoke gushed out of its body as it replenished its strength.

"Come at me now, Xiao Nanfeng!" the saint's avatar roared.

The two combatants fought intensely against each other as a firestorm erupted around them.

Before long, both combatants were badly wounded, though the saint's avatar was naturally worse off. Realizing that Xiao Nanfeng would surely claim victory if the fight continued, the saint's avatar stared grimly at him.

As Xiao Nanfeng threw a punch forward, intending to cause the saint's avatar's head to explode, the saint's avatar sidestepped him and shot forward. He shouted, "Explode!"

A tremendous firestorm erupted around him and caught Xiao Nanfeng entirely in its midst. The saint had detonated his own avatar in a kamikaze attack.

Xiao Nanfeng wanted to dodge the attack, but he knew he couldn't do so. This was his one opportunity to escape from the red moon hidden realm. All he could do was defend to the best of his ability in hopes that he could protect the ancestral zombie's blow.

In the heart of the explosion, he suffered a blow the likes of which he had never experienced. He hunkered down with his arms protecting his head. The force of the explosion tore the flesh from his arms. He lost his right leg and left hand, and the rest of his body was blistering and in intense pain.

Just then, that red pillar of light appeared again. The soul of the saint's avatar attempted to meld into the pillar and escape.

Xiao Nanfeng rushed forward and caught ahold of the shattered soul fragment, causing him to be pulled into the pillar of light as well.

The saint's soul fragment roared, "Die, Xiao Nanfeng!"

The pillar of red light flashed out of existence. The saint's soul fragment vanished along with Xiao Nanfeng.

Dragged into the pillar of light, Xiao Nanfeng found himself in what seemed like a wormhole in spacetime.

"Xiao Nanfeng, you dare brave my conjuration of heavenly law? You're done for now. Join me where my main body is, haha!" The saint's soul fragment cackled.

It vanished into the red light, whereas Xiao Nanfeng's body, caught by currents in the void, was tossed through space and time as he headed to an unknown location.

He knew the situation would be unfavorable to him; he had to escape.

As red light flashed, Xiao Nanfeng activated his candleflame powers and vanished from sight.

From within the wormhole, the saint's soul fragment exclaimed, "Impossible! Where did Xiao Nanfeng go? How could he have escaped?!"

A red wormhole flashed into existence over a stretch of a calm sea.

Xiao Nanfeng fell from the wormhole and splashed into the water.

By that point, Xiao Nanfeng—no, the ancestral zombie—was in terrible state. Half the flesh on its body had sloughed right off, revealing gleaming white bone. One arm and one leg were gone entirely. If not for the ancestral zombie's remarkable constitution, it would already have perished.

Just then, Xiao Nanfeng's yin body emerged from the ancestral zombie's mindscape. He, at least, was perfectly unscathed.

He claimed the ancestral zombie's body as he quickly flew off.

Loss chants were still emanating from his body, so Ye Sanshui's consciousness couldn't awaken.

Xiao Nanfeng didn't know where he was, but he quickly came across a sea spirit that he caught.

"Where are we?" Xiao Nanfeng demanded.

The loss chants emanating from the ancestral zombie's body caused the sea spirit's mind to become sluggish, but before it lost consciousness, it said, "The Southern Sea."

Xiao Nanfeng tossed the sea spirit back into the sea as he flew due north.

It took him quite a while before he came across land, at which point he grabbed the first cultivator he saw to determine his whereabouts.

He quickly flew toward a secluded valley. Within half a day, a spectral guard had rushed over.

"I'll leave Ye Sanshui with you for the time being," Xiao Nanfeng said.

"Understood!" the spectral guard replied.

𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

His mind quickly grew dazed from the effects of the loss chants, and his memories were fading away.

Xiao Nanfeng didn't dare tarry for long. He flew into the air and vanished across the horizon.

The spectral guard shook his head, belatedly coming to his senses. Ye Sanshui slowly regained his consciousness as well.

He spat out a mouthful of blood and weakly sat up.

"Marquis Ye, His Majesty has assigned me to take care of you. He's currently in Yongding and can communicate with my avatar there. Allow me to relay his words."

"Understood!" Ye Sanshui nodded.

The spectral guard began, "Ye Sanshui, I had an intense fight with the saint's avatars. I apologize for the damage to your body."

"Hardly, Your Majesty. The only reason I even have a body now is all thanks to you. As long as I'm alive, I can recuperate from any injury," Ye Sanshui replied immediately.

"I'll leave you to recuperate, then. There should be ordinary zombies within your storage treasure. Eat them first and restore the damage to your physical body. Once you've recovered a little, consume the final zombie king. Prioritize your own safety. I await your return."

"Understood! Thank you, Your Majesty."

Xiao Nanfeng's main body continued to emanate loss chants as a result of the Loss Diagram he now possessed. He was unable to go anywhere, primarily because he didn't want to set the Loss Diagram aside.

He flew straight to the southern gate of the Sieve of Heaven and arranged for his subordinates at the Imperial Court to petition for an audience with Yu Fuli.

The Loss Diagram was so strong that the Taiqing Grandmaster would surely pursue him regarding its loss. Rather than ask for assistance from the Divine Emperor, he headed toward Yu Fuli immediately. If the Taiqing Grandmaster were to blame him, Yu Fuli could help shoulder some of that burden as well.

Before long, Yu Fuli had learned of the news and arranged to meet him by a pond. He smiled upon hearing of Xiao Nanfeng's exploits from Xiao Nanfeng's subordinate.

"Tell him to remain still where he is."

"Understood!" Xiao Nanfeng's subordinate replied.

His avatar quickly came in contact with Xiao Nanfeng's avatar, and Xiao Nanfeng's main body halted where it was once he received word.

The void shimmered around him as a black fishhook appeared in sight.

"Hold onto the fishhook and I'll pull you over," Yu Fuli said.

"Understood!" Xiao Nanfeng grabbed the black fishhook as Yu Fuli yanked his fishing pole sharply and pulled Xiao Nanfeng out of the pond.

The loss chants echoed all around Xiao Nanfeng as he retrieved a black coffin. "Your Majesty, this is the Loss Diagram. Its chants are too potent for me to suppress."

Yu Fuli stored his fishing pole, stood up, and walked over to the black coffin.

He raised an eyebrow upon seeing the black coffin. "You really are lucky—and I suppose the original owner of this black coffin will suffer thanks to you."

"What owner?" Xiao Nanfeng blinked.

Yu Fuli didn't explain. "How do you intend to use the Loss Diagram?"

"I'm unaware of how to use it against the saint, Your Majesty. Please enlighten me."

Yu Fuli cocked his head thoughtfully. "The Loss Diagram can be infused into a vessel-type relic—like this black coffin, though it's tied to a conspiracy and won't be suitable. Switch to a different Boundless Immortal relic."

"A Boundless Immortal vessel-type relic? But I don't have such a treasure," Xiao Nanfeng said.

Yu Fuli gave him an odd look. "You do, and more than one, too."

"Please enlighten me, Your Majesty."

Yu Fuli scoffed. "You really are thick-skinned, aren't you? Your Divine Seal of Dazheng and Yin-Yang Cauldron are both Boundless Immortal relics—or do you have others that you're worried of revealing to me?"

Xiao Nanfeng blushed. He knew that the Divine Seal of Dazheng surely had to be a Boundless Immortal relic, or perhaps even stronger, but he was unable to draw out its strength just yet. He hadn't wanted to expose it, not anticipating that Yu Fuli was aware of its existence. Of course, his Dazheng Code of Laws was a treasure on equal footing. Thankfully, the Heavenly Emperor wasn't aware of that just yet.

"I was unaware that the Yin-Yang Cauldron was actually a Boundless Immortal relic, Your Majesty. I always believed it to be a Golden Immortal relic. Would you assist me?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.

He retrieved the Yin-Yang Cauldron.

He had it in his possession because the Taiqing disciples were all participating in the war against Hongyue, and Chang Bing had ceded it to him for the time being.

Yu Fuli nodded. He reached into the black coffin and pulled out the Loss Diagram.

Waves of red sound buffeted the air, but Yu Fuli easily neutralized it all.

Then, he opened up the Yin-Yang Cauldron, tossed the Loss Diagram within, and replaced its lid. He activated it at low intensity as a burst of red light flared from the Yin-Yang Cauldron. The Loss Diagram seemed to be weakening bit by bit.

Yu Fuli seemed to be doing things in a casual, haphazard fashion, but Xiao Nanfeng knew just how incredible his actions were. Even the black coffin had been unable to seal the Loss Diagram's chants, but Yu Fuli had easily suppressed them almost completely. Just how strong was he?