Chapter 867: Fight of the Eidola

Saint Lun Hui had endured an agonizing few months.

After squandering a strong position with catastrophic misplays, he had lost his charm of heavenly law, his main body, and all but one Deific Yin avatar.

In desperation, he had sought aid from other saints, much as Saint Chi Hai had once come to him for help, but he was only met with mockery and rejection. Not a single saint was willing to lend a hand.

Even when he revealed that Han Gucheng had his charm of heavenly law, no one dared to intervene. The saints were all terrified. This might just be another one of Yu Fuli's schemes, after all. With two saints already having fallen, none of them were willing to risk exposing themselves, let alone fight on behalf of Saint Lun Hui.

After receiving rejection after rejection, many saints even went as far as to relocate overnight to sever contact with him entirely. Furious yet powerless, Saint Lun Hui knew that he had no other options.

Waiting for the heavens themselves to step in was all but impossible. He understood the heavens' indifference. They used saints as tools, not the other way around. If he proved himself useless, the heavens would simply replace him.

Time wasn't on his side.

He needed to retrieve his charm of heavenly law, and quickly at that. But who in the world would help him take down Han Gucheng? No one—except perhaps Xiao Nanfeng, who was already opposing him.

Observing the political turmoil within Dahan, Saint Lun Hui deduced the true nature of the conflict. He watched on for weeks. When Han Gucheng refused to take the bait and reveal himself, the saint had no choice but to approach Xiao Nanfeng directly.

"Xiao Nanfeng, even if you don't trust me, you must know that Han Gucheng's growing stronger by the day. If we delay any longer, even your full strength may be insufficient to stop him," Saint Lun Hui warned.

Xiao Nanfeng studied the saint in silence for a long moment. Finally, he asked, "How do you intend to find Han Gucheng?"

"My charm of heavenly law is in his possession. Although it's no longer mine, I held it for many years and have since developed techniques to track its precise whereabouts."

Reluctantly, Saint Lun Hui revealed the loss of his charm of heavenly law, something that he had hoped to keep hidden. But if he wanted Xiao Nanfeng's cooperation, there would be no other way.

To his surprise, Xiao Nanfeng didn't seem to react, as if he had already known about the situation.

"You want to cooperate with me—or, put better, use me to fight Han Gucheng while you wait to swoop in and reclaim your charm of heavenly law afterwards. Isn't that right?" Xiao Nanfeng asked with a smile.

𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Saint Lun Hui's expression darkened. That was exactly his plan, and he worried that Xiao Nanfeng would reject the proposal.

"I'm willing to work with you," Xiao Nanfeng said after a pause. "But you'll need to assist us with everything you have. As for the charm of heavenly law, we'll both fight for it later. Agreed?"

Xiao Nanfeng was eager to eliminate the threat of Han Gucheng and saw no reason to beat around the bush.

"Very well," Saint Lun Hui said, his eyes lighting up with relief and excitement. "When do we start?"

"Allow me to finalize some preparations. We'll leave in two days' time," Xiao Nanfeng said.

"Very well." The saint nodded.

Two days later, all of Dahan's Immortal cities had fallen to Dajing.

With everything in order, Xiao Nanfeng called upon Yang Chuan and officially set out for the Northern Sea with Saint Lun Hui. Accompanying them were Liu Miaoyin and a group of black-robed individuals moving swiftly across the seas.

"Xiao Nanfeng, you're really bold—to be working with him of all people," Yang Chuan murmured, glancing at Saint Lun Hui.

"More people means more strength. Let go of your grudge against Saint Lun Hui for now," Xiao Nanfeng said.

"I don't mind." Yang chuan shrugged.

Saint Lun Hui sighed as he glanced at the green glow in his hand. It served as a guide that would point the way toward their destination.

Before long, the group reached a remote part of the sea shrouded in thick fog and dotted with islands.

"There," Saint Lun Hui said, pointing at a certain fog-shrouded island.

The group turned toward the island. Yang Chuan opened up his folding fan and waved it at the island, releasing a whirlwind that tore through the mist to reveal numerous figures and imposing palaces within.

"Your Majesty, it's Xiao Nanfeng and his forces!" someone shouted in alarm.

A figure stepped out from one of the palaces, none other than Han Gucheng himself.

Han Gucheng narrowed his eyes as he looked at the group in the sky. "You've got some impressive tricks to have found me here."

"That's his malicious body! Xiao Nanfeng, hurry up and attack!" Saint Lun Hui urged.

In the distance, Han Gucheng narrowed his eyes. "So it's you, Saint Lun Hui. No wonder Xiao Nanfeng was able to find me. This is your last body, isn't it? Instead of hiding, you've come to meet your end."

"Han Gucheng, today is the day you die!" Saint Lun Hui declared.

"The day I die? You think you're capable of that? After all these months, you're far too late," Han Gucheng replied, sneering.

With a wave of his hand, a massive pillar of green light shot into the heavens, connecting sky and sea. Its overwhelming aura churned the sea and caused towering waves to form.

"No! My charm of heavenly law—how have you already refined it to this extent?!" Saint Lun Hui exclaimed.

"Do you really think everyone is as inept as you are, to have wasted ten thousand years on achieving nothing? How laughable," Han Gucheng mocked.

As he spoke, dark clouds rolled across the sky, blotting out the sun and plunging the area into shadow.

The clouds swirled into a massive vortex, glowing with green light at its center.

"The passage of reincarnation? Impossible! It took me five hundred years to open it. How have you managed this in mere months?!"

"Five centuries? Your talent is truly pitiful," Han Gucheng replied coldly.

Green light surged out from the vortex, enveloping Han Gucheng and forming a towering green giant around him. The immense figure radiated power. Each step caused the air to tremble.

"He's so strong—too strong! We can't beat him. We need to retreat!" Yang Chuan shouted.

"The eidolon of reincarnation? It took me a thousand years to manifest that! How could you have learned to do it so quickly?!" Saint Lun Hui shouted again.

This was clearly the first time he had seen such monstrous talent.

"Xiao Nanfeng, where's your Madam Rouge? Bring her out. Only she is worthy of fighting me. The rest of you are nothing," Han Gucheng said coldly.

Xiao Nanfeng suddenly narrowed his eyes. "Han Gucheng, you really are a schemer, aren't you?"

No one but Han Gucheng quite knew what to make of Xiao Nanfeng's remark.

Han Gucheng smirked. "If Madam Rouge isn't around, then none of you will leave alive."

Liu Miaoyin took a deep breath. "Leave him to me."

Xiao Nanfeng nodded.

She stepped forward, conjuring the image of a white jade bottle in her palm. Her other hand formed a seal. The wind surged behind her as an enormous eidolon, identical to her in appearance but imbued with boundless compassion, took shape.

Han Gucheng's face turned dark. He had heard of this eidolon during Xiao Nanfeng's battle with Yin Shenhua, but seeing it in person was far more intimidating. Xiao Nanfeng had easily finished him off with Madam Rouge's eidolon. This time, there was another one—wielded directly by its owner, at that.

"Xiao Nanfeng, how lucky you are to have such people helping you," Han Gucheng gritted out.

Madam Rouge had been troublesome enough; Liu Miaoyin seemed equally strong.

Liu Miaoyin merged with her eidolon, which sprang to life.

"Thousand Palms of Rulai, annihilate!" she commanded.

Her eidolon's hands moved, summoning a thousand arms that sent energy blasting toward Han Gucheng like a tidal wave.

Han Gucheng's eidolon of reincarnation countered with a hand, but the thousand palms easily overwhelmed his one. Despite the strength of the eidolon of reincarnation, it was sent flying by Liu Miaoyin's thousand palms. Han Gucheng was sent plummeting into the ocean, causing towering waves to crash down on him.

Before he could recover, Liu Miaoyin's eidolon struck again, sending him flying once more.

The clash of eidola sent shockwaves through the sky and sea, with Han Gucheng repeatedly forced back.

Xiao Nanfeng, Yang Chuan, and Saint Lun Hui watched in stunned silence.

Saint Lun Hui's face flickered with unease. He had hoped to pit Xiao Nanfeng against Han Gucheng as a diversion. Now, seeing Liu Miaoyin's overwhelming strength, he wondered if he had invited an even greater threat upon himself. Would he still be able to seize his charm back?

Yang Chuan was equally astonished. "Senior Liu Miaoyin is this powerful? She must be a mid- to late-stage Boundless Immortal!"

"That's the power of an eidolon, after all," Xiao Nanfeng replied.

"If she's this strong, what's the point of calling me over? I'm completely superfluous, by this point..." Yang Chuan murmured.

Xiao Nanfeng shook his head. "Han Gucheng isn't so easy to defeat. He undoubtedly has more tricks up his sleeve, and he's already starting to reveal them. It's a good thing I wasn't careless."

"Oh?" Yang Chuan looked puzzled.

"Moments ago, I received word that Shenfeng's capital is under attack. Yongding has also been targeted, and forces are gathering beyond Dajing's capital," Xiao Nanfeng replied.

"No wonder you called him cunning. He's been observing your movements and making his own preparations all along. As soon as we came here, he launched attacks elsewhere!" Yang Chuan replied, shocked.

Xiao Nanfeng nodded. "Never underestimate Han Gucheng."