Chapter 77: Blue Lantern and You Shi

The black serpent gave off a cold and dismal aura that imposed tremendous pressure on the two cultivators.

"Elder, we accidentally entered this domain. Please forgive us. Would you be willing to send us out?" Xiao Nanfeng stepped forward and requested politely.

"I ask again: how did the two of you enter this realm?" The black serpent gazed coldly at Xiao Nanfeng.

"We don't know how, either. The cultivator who set up the formation outside must have left a means of breaking it. Someone did so unintentionally, causing two copper doors to be revealed. Out of curiosity, we pushed open the doors, but we had yet to enter before a flash of blue light sucked us into this illusory realm," Xiao Nanfeng replied, crafting a believable tale.

"I hid a dragon-quelling spike outside the copper door. Only those who wield such a spike will be able to resist the blue flash's annihilation of spiritual power, so only one person should have been able to make it inside. Why are there two? Could one of you have obtained another such spike from elsewhere?" the black serpent asked coldly.

The two cultivators glanced at each other. These dragon-quelling spikes the serpent spoke of—they were the two copper spikes that Xiao Nanfeng and the Lady Arclight possessed, weren't they? Could he have been the one who left Marquis Wu the records of the hidden realm, too?

"Elder, we apologize for our unintentional intrusion. Would you be willing to send us out?" Xiao Nanfeng asked warily.

From this black serpent, Xiao Nanfeng could sense a dangerous aura. He didn't want to deal with the serpent any longer. Furthermore, Madam Rouge might be awaiting him from afar, and he didn't want to prolong his exposure to risk.

"Send you out? Ha, haha! What perfect timing. The dragon-quelling spike was one piece of my plan. It would have been fine if it hadn't come to fruition, but with the two of you here, why, things will become even easier for me." The serpent smiled with its fangs.

"Elder, what do you intend to do?" Xiao Nanfeng asked coldly.

"With the two of you here, I won't have to attempt to snatch the empress' dragon-quelling spike any longer. I'll simply take over your bodies and activate your spikes in order to escape from this illusion through them, haha!" The black serpent roared in laughter, then struck at the Lady Arclight.

"What?" The Lady Arclight slapped at the serpent with a palm, but she was sent flying by the collision instead.

"How dare you!" Xiao Nanfeng's eyes glazed over with frost as he punched the serpent's neck.

The serpent stumbled and fell to the ground.

Xiao Nanfeng leapt up, clutching the Lady Arclight tightly as he punched at the walls of the hall, attempting to break out. However, none of the four walls budged. Even the bricks didn't seem to be damaged.

"Do you think you can escape from me in my array?" The serpent shook its head.

"Elder, we offended you unintentionally. Please let us go," Xiao Nanfeng beseeched once more.

"It's too late. None of you will be able to escape now!" the black serpent cried out. It pounced forward again, widening its maw.

Xiao Nanfeng sucked in a deep breath, put down the Lady Arclight, and punched forward.

Within illusory realms, everything depended on spiritual power, and he was confident in his own. Xiao Nanfeng's fist technique struck the black serpent with a monstrous burst of energy. Man and serpent each stumbled back a few meters, clearly having struck each other with comparable strength.

"Stellar Lake, and mid-stage at that? Lad, you might have a little strength, but you're far too young to challenge me!" The black serpent lurched forward once more.

The man and serpent struck each other time and again, their clashes sending ripples of energy throughout the hall, causing the Lady Arclight to stumble back.

Even after striking each other dozens of times, neither party seemed to be relenting.

This was the first time that Xiao Nanfeng had met such a troublesome foe. Could he really be unable to take down a single black serpent despite his advanced spiritual cultivation?

The black serpent itself seemed annoyed. It thought that it would have been able to resolve this

fight quickly, but the young man was annoyingly persistent.

"Lad, you're making me angry!" the black serpent howled, puffing up in size.

Suddenly, Xiao Nanfeng's eyes blazed. The spiritual power in his palms suddenly doubled in density. As a wave of spiritual power emanated from his body, it transformed into blue flame that surrounded him.

"What? You have a technique that stimulates your spiritual power too?!" The black serpent's pupils widened.

Xiao Nanfeng charged forward, grabbing the serpent by its lower jaw and tearing at it with fearsome strength. A tremendous storm erupted around him, causing the Lady Arclight to take multiple steps back.

The two halves of the black serpent's body fell to the ground, its eyes still wide and shocked even in death. Then, the illusory carcass vanished in a cloud of black smoke.

"Nanfeng, how did your spiritual power suddenly overflow just now?" the Lady Arclight asked curiously.

Xiao Nanfeng was also very surprised by his newfound ability. Why had his spiritual power suddenly grown by leaps and bounds? It wasn't any form of stimulation, but rather because there were still remnant portions of others' spiritual power within his body.

When a heavily injured Yin Body-stage cultivator had attempted to take over Xiao Nanfeng's body, he had been stymied by the backlash from the superior yin pearl he possessed. His yin body had been frozen into an ice sculpture, the remnants of which formed a huge pile of ice within Xiao Nanfeng's mindscape.

While attempting to absorb the frost sphere's frost aura with the superior yin pearl, Xiao Nanfeng had simultaneously tried to absorb the yin frost from the ice mountain. Just a little frost, which resulted from melting a small portion of the ice mountain, had given him unimaginable spiritual power.

He had used the might of that spiritual power to take down the black serpent.

Xiao Nanfeng was just about to explain himself to the Lady Arclight when her face blanched. She pointed before her and shouted, "Nanfeng, look!"

The other golden characters embodying the other eleven earthly branches began to crack apart. From within emerged beast after beast. One was a six-meter tall black tiger, which howled as it emerged. Just the shockwave from the roar alone caused the Lady Arclight to retreat.

Another character split apart. Out came a black rat as tall as two men. The rat's eyes glinted with malevolence, and its aura was no weaker than that of the serpent that Xiao Nanfeng had taken down. It looked ready to pounce.

Other beasts emerged from the remaining golden characters, one after another.

"Lad, you killed one of my avatars in this formation? Commendable strength—but you must be exhausted of spiritual power after that forceful stimulation! Get ready to die," the black tiger growled.

The other ten black lifeforms roared and howled and screeched, the killing intent surging forth from their bodies causing the Lady Arclight to pale.

Xiao Nanfeng took a deep breath, preparing to melt more of that ice mountain in his mindscape to deal with these lifeforms.

Just then, at the center of the hall, a cloud of black fog formed. From within the fog stepped a black-robed man. The black-robed man waved a hand, scattering golden powder all over. The fierce black beasts suddenly froze.

"Is it him?" the Lady Arclight asked Xiao Nanfeng warily.

"No, it's not!" Xiao Nanfeng replied, frowning.

"What?" The Lady Arclight seemed confused.

"This isn't the black-robed man from before—it's a different person. This one is slightly taller," Xiao Nanfeng explained.

The Lady Arclight scrutinized the black-robed man carefully, similarly coming to the conclusion that this new man's body shape was different from the other's.

"Come over here. I'll bring you out." The black-robed man's voice was weathered but calm.

"Thank you, Elder. Might I ask who you are, and why you're rescuing us?" Xiao Nanfeng, however, hadn't dropped his guard.

The Lady Arclight stood by Xiao Nanfeng's side, clearly approving of his attitude.

The black-robed man seemed rather aloof. He stared at the two cultivators for quite some time before replying, "I was the one who gifted Emperor Wei with these dragon-quelling spikes. Now that they have ended up in your hands, I recognize you as well."

Xiao Nanfeng and the Lady Arclight glanced at each other. Clearly, they didn't know enough about the dragon-quelling spikes.

"I've temporarily cut the connection between You Shi and his avatars, but I can't hold it for long. If you're unwilling to leave with me, then forget it," the black-robed man continued.

"You Shi?" That had to be the other black-robed man's name.

Although they still harbored many doubts, neither Xiao Nanfeng nor the Lady Arclight felt any sense of malice from the cultivator before them, and Xiao Nanfeng was rather confident in his strength. He nodded, then tugged on the Lady Arclight's hand as they walked toward the man.

"I'm Nanfeng, and this is an elder of the Taiqing Sect to which I belong, the Lady Arclight. Might I ask your identity?"

"I am Blue Lantern," the black-robed man replied. He touched the aether with a hand. The eleven fierce beasts before them were suddenly able to move once more, but they were glancing wildly around themselves, as though unable to see Xiao Nanfeng and the others.

The black tiger roared, "Come out, lad! Just what did you do to cut my connection with my avatar? Show yourself!"

The other beasts were also searching the hall for the two cultivators, vexed and frustrated.

𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

"Have they already escaped from the illusion? Damn it, I was just a few moments away from catching them! I should have delayed them and waited for my other avatars to draw near, at least for that female one! Damn it!" the black tiger roared again.

The beasts searched all over the hall and confirmed that no one was present before retreating back to the tiles from which they came. The golden light emanating from the characters winked out, then vanished.

With the golden light gone, the hall returned to how it used to be. Windows and a door reappeared; everything returned to the way it used to be.

"Elder, why couldn't those beasts see us?" Xiao Nanfeng asked curiously.

"It's because you're all atop my Compass of Fixation," Blue Lantern replied.

The two cultivators looked at their feet to see rings of golden light around them, each inscribed with runic script. The golden rings revolved with varying speeds, forming what looked to be an arcane compass or astrolabe.

Xiao Nanfeng and the Lady Arclight shared a glance of surprise. This Blue Lantern, whoever he was, was clearly skilled in the arcane arts!

"Why did you help us just now, Elder?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.

"You acquired my dragon-quelling spikes and met up with me. This is a matter of chance and opportunity. To all wielders of these spikes, for each spike, I grant a single wish," Blue Lantern explained.

Xiao Nanfeng and the Lady Arclight shared a glance again. These spikes could be exchanged for wishes, then?

"Any wish, Elder?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.

Blue Lantern turned to Xiao Nanfeng. "Wish as you may, but if you ask for too much, beyond that which I can provide, I may refuse to satisfy it."

"Could you give an idea as to the limit you would provide for a wish, Elder?" Xiao Nanfeng asked expectantly.

"Try it and see," Blue Lantern replied.

Xiao Nanfeng: ...Try it? A small wish would feel like a waste, whereas a large wish might not get fulfilled. Xiao Nanfeng hesitated.

"You may wish for me to send you both out," Blue Lantern informed them.

The two cultivators' gazes met again, but they held back their desire to leave the illusory realm immediately.

"Elder, might we exchange our wishes later?" Xiao Nanfeng asked again.

Blue Lantern looked at Xiao Nanfeng once more. "As long as you do it before I leave."

"Before you leave? Are you planning on departing from this illusory realm, Elder?" Xiao Nanfeng asked curiously.

"I only entered this illusory realm after you opened the copper door and entered yourself. I came only to fulfill the wish of the departed, and do not intend to stay for long."

Xiao Nanfeng gaped. Blue Lantern had sensed the copper door opening from afar and entered the illusory realm after they did? Just how strong was he? Was all that he said true?