Chapter 778: Return to Hongyue's Capital

"You dare steal my Loss Diagram? How dare you!"

An ice-cold voice could be heard from the red moon far above him.

Xiao Nanfeng's eyes widened. He quickly rushed out of the Taiqing Grandmaster's eidolon and fled into the distance.

Just then, the Taiqing Grandmaster's eidolon shook as it released a large burst of red light. A huge sound wave shot toward Xiao Nanfeng.

High in the air, the Divine Emperor blanched and shot straight toward him.

She batted aside the sound wave with a palm and ushered Xiao Nanfeng protectively behind him. At the same time, Xiao Nanfeng reached out to shield Lou Yujing's soul.

Though Xiao Nanfeng and Lou Yujing were enemies, somehow, after having witnessed Lou Yujing's memories and his death, Xiao Nanfeng still protected what remained of his body.

The Taiqing Grandmaster's eidolon shook as it suddenly seemed to come to life. He flicked his horsetail whisk and glared at Xiao Nanfeng and his group.

"Nanfeng, leave now. I'll take on the Taiqing Grandmaster with Shenfeng's imperial might," the Divine Emperor said seriously.

"No, there's no need! Someone has already agreed to intercede on my behalf."

"Oh?"

Just then, not far from the Taiqing Grandmaster's eidolon, the void shimmered. A figure of light emerged, none other than Yu Fuli himself.

"What do you intend to do, Taiqing Grandmaster?" Yu Fuli asked.

The Taiqing Grandmaster's eidolon glared at Yu Fuli, as if he knew precisely what had happened. He stated coldly, "Yu Fuli, you overreach."

"Hardly. I believe the opposite is true. Do you intend to revive now?" Yu Fuli asked, smiling.

The Taiqing Grandmaster glared balefully at Yu Fuli, seemingly infuriated because of him.

"The Loss Diagram was your bait. Are you upset that it was eaten by a fish? I remember your plans having more weight to them," Yu Fuli said with a smile.

The Taiqing Grandmaster continued to stare at Yu Fuli for some time before he turned to Xiao Nanfeng. He understood that Yu Fuli was serving to back Xiao Nanfeng up, that he wouldn't be able to terrorize Xiao Nanfeng as he had anticipated.

The Taiqing Grandmaster took a deep breath. "Yu Fuli, once I return, I'll deal with you then. The heavens are about to attack you. I hope you won't die too much in advance."

Yu Fuli smiled. "I'll host a banquet for you when you return to the Sieve of Heaven."

The Taiqing Grandmaster eyed Yu Fuli, and then Xiao Nanfeng, again. He gave them sinister looks.

Then, the Taiqing Grandmaster's eidolon flew into the red full moon, which buzzed and vanished from sight.

Where Yu Fuli's figure had been, the void shimmered and returned to its usual state. Yu Fuli vanished, not having spoken to Xiao Nanfeng throughout the exchange.

The skies returned to their usual color, as if nothing had ever happened. Only Lou Yujing's shattered soul remained as testimony to the events that had taken place.

The Divine Emperor's bell began to vibrate rapidly.

"The charm of heavenly law is struggling to escape. I need to suppress it immediately," the Divine Emperor said.

"Do so. I'll bring Lou Yujing back to Hongyue's capital."

"Why?" the Divine Emperor exclaimed.

Xiao Nanfeng glanced at Lou Yujing. "He might be my opponent, but I'd like to put him at ease.

The Divine Emperor seemed perplexed, but she nodded. "Let me accompany you."

"Let's go, then. Focus on attuning to the charm for now. If something goes wrong, I'll summon you.

"Very well!" The Divine Emperor nodded.

She flew into the Divine Emperor's bell, which suddenly shrank in size until it became a ring. Xiao Nanfeng slid it over his ring finger, where it had been at the very start.

Xiao Nanfeng shot forward with Lou Yujing's shattered soul in tow, rushing off toward the capital of Hongyue. He quickly vanished over the horizon.

Only then did the countless people of Shenfeng's capital belatedly recover their memories.

"What happened to me?"

"Is the battle over? Did Xiao Nanfeng win, or did Lou Yujing?"

Many were perplexed.

Not long ago, back in Hongyue's capital, Xiao Nanfeng's avatar had torn apart Lou Yujing's avatar's soul fragment, then retrieved the Golden Immortals of Dazheng from the gourd in which he had safeguarded them.

A group of zombies rushed toward Xiao Nanfeng, only to be held back by the Golden Immortals from Dazheng. Fighting ensued within the entire palace, which was fortunately protected by a formation. Though some shockwaves were still able to escape from the grounds, they didn't cause too much havoc.

After a while, a shadowy figure appeared. Ye Sanshui was the first to emerge.

"Your Majesty, I've come to protect you!" Ye Sanshui shouted from outside the palace.

Xiao Nanfeng raised his head to the air. "Allow him in."

The cultivators responsible for maintaining the defensive formation around the palace opened up a hole by which Ye Sanshui could enter.

As he did so, he struck immediately. He suppressed and sealed the Golden Immortal zombies, allowing Dazheng's Golden Immortals to finish off the rest of the lesser zombies.

The palace quickly fell silent.

Xiao Nanfeng retrieved his black coffin. "Ye Sanshui, enter the black coffin hidden realm and assist Tu Feng."

"Understood!" Ye Sanshui rushed into the coffin.

Meanwhile, more and more Hongyue cultivators attempted to batter down the defensive formation around the palace.

Just then, Dazheng's Golden Immortals shot forward and blocked the Hongyue cultivators from making a move, protecting the defensive formation for the time being.

Before long, as Lou Yujing's main body was split apart by the Taiqing Grandmaster's eidolon's heart energy, the sea of fortune above Hongyue's capital began to crack.

The golden dragon of fortune howled in grief.

Countless citizens raised their heads to find that the dragon had begun to crack.

"The golden dragon of fortune has shattered!"

"Did something happen to His Majesty? Has His Majesty fallen?"

"When an Immortal Emperor falls, his golden dragon of fortune will dissipate. The golden dragon's still present. Surely nothing has happened?"

"But look at the extent to which it's cracked! I'm sure something must have happened to His Majesty."

"Is the divine empire of Hongyue done for?"

Countless citizens and officials stared at the sky in shock.

The news quickly spread throughout Hongyue. The spies in Hongyue rapidly disseminated the news as they too learned of it.

Back in the black coffin hidden realm, Ye Sanshui joined Tu Feng against Tu Jiuniang. Though Ye Sanshui and Tu Feng were badly injured and vomiting blood, though dozens of mountains had been leveled, and pits filled the land, they had finally managed to kill Tu Jiuniang.

"I apologize for implicating you, Marquis Ye." Tu Feng grimaced.

Ye Sanshui shook his head. "It's not your fault. She had a Boundless Immortal relic that she detonated! It would have been tremendously dangerous otherwise."

"Isn't that so? I might have been done for if you hadn't shown up." Tu Feng smiled wryly.

Ye Sanshui shook his head. "I was merely acting on orders."

The two cultivators walked up to the heart of the battlefield, where Tu Jiuniang's physical body had dissipated. All that remained of her was a white fox's tail.

Tu Feng frowned and sighed. He reached out for the fox's tail, only for Tu Jiuniang's soul to appear. It was translucent and quickly fading into transparency, and was cracked to the point that it would scatter into powder at any moment. Clearly, now that she had lost her zombie's body, her soul would be doomed as well.

"Jiuniang, you deserve far more than death," Tu Feng gritted out angrily.

Tu Jiuniang stared at Tu Feng in fear before she steeled her resolve and began to cry stubbornly. "Third Brother, I know you don't understand me, but that's because you don't know what love is. I'm willing to give everything for him, to become an enemy of the world in his stead, to regret nothing even if I have to die a thousand times."

"You!" Tu Feng's eyes bulged with anger.

He didn't understand how Tu Jiuniang could still be so besotted with him even at the end of her life.

"Third Brother, I know I've made plenty of mistakes. I've betrayed your expectations of me. But now that I'm dead, I've finally paid back my debt. May I ask something of you?" Tu Jiuniang's eyes were red.

She knelt down and begged Tu Feng.

Tu Feng wanted to cry upon seeing his little sister reduced to such a state. How could his beloved sister have destroyed the entire clan?

"What do you want?" Tu Feng demanded.

Tu Jiuniang raised her head, her eyes brimming with tears. "Please allow me to see my husband one more time."

"You!" Tu Feng roared.

Some time later, Xiao Nanfeng's main body returned to Hongyue's capital with Lou Yujing's shattered soul.

Hongyue's capital was a mess by then. Plenty of citizens were fleeing, while the cultivators of Hongyue were rushing into the city.

Upon seeing Xiao Nanfeng, they were poised to strike at him with killing intent when some among them blanched.

"It's His Majesty!" they exclaimed.

Their eyes widened in surprise, then shock. They could see that Lou Yujing was in terrible shape. His soul was clearly about to dissipate.

"Your Majesty!" the cultivators cried out, bowing down toward him.

The commotion drew the attention of all the citizens and officials of Hongyue. When they saw Lou Yujing about to breathe his last, they were all astounded.

"Your Majesty!" they cried out.

Lou Yujing smiled bitterly at the citizens of his capital, then turned toward the palace.

The defensive formation there had broken down, and everything within could be seen.

Tu Feng and Ye Sanshui had emerged from the black coffin. Tu Feng shrouded himself with fog; Tu Jiuniang's shattered soul floated beside him. In the end, he had granted her her final wish.