Chapter 875: Don't Copy Me

Not far away, Xiao Nanfeng's pupils constricted as well.

He had always known that his spiritual moon could produce sound. Its ability to manipulate vibrations in air and create voices wasn't surprising. In the past, it simply hadn't bothered to do so.

What he didn't expect was that the entity controlling his spiritual moon, the superior yin pearl, was actually the Superior himself!

And it had even allegedly crawled its way out of the primordial altar.

What cursed effigy that had been sacrificed to the primordial altar would have been able to escape on its own? Xiao Nanfeng had previously discussed this with Yu Fuli, who had insisted that such a feat was impossible. Even so, the Superior had done it. Just what kind of existence was he?

"No! Stay back!" Han Gucheng shouted in terror.

He swung his fist, unleashing a violent snowstorm, but the storm disintegrated the moment it was illuminated by the spiritual moon's white glow.

"This is the Superior's killing domain that I forged myself in the past. Do you really think you can hurt me with something that belongs to me?" the Superior demanded hoarsely.

"Impossible! No!" Han Gucheng shouted in panic.

He attempted to escape from the domain, but was unable to find an exit at all.

Meanwhile, Xiao Nanfeng's spiritual moon loomed ever closer. Suddenly, his entire body shook as he roared, "No, my malicious body! Saint Lun Hui just killed it!"

His despair was exacerbated as he continued to run from Xiao Nanfeng's spiritual moon. Fortunately, he was far faster than it was.

Suddenly, a figure appeared before him and punched forward. "Hegemon's Fist!"

"Scram!" Han Gucheng shouted, defending with a fist of his own.

The two cultivators' fists met in an incredible explosion. They seemed evenly matched—but the next moment, Han Gucheng's eyes widened in despair. Xiao Nanfeng's spiritual moon had managed to catch up during the momentary clash.

"No!" Han Gucheng screamed.

The moon's white light engulfed him. His movements slowed, then froze entirely.

"Get away from me!" Han Gucheng cried out in despair.

"I'm merely reclaiming what's mine. If anyone should leave, it's you," Xiao Nanfeng's spiritual moon said coldly.

With that, the moon slammed into Han Gucheng, sending him flying. As he tumbled through the air, he felt an unsettling lightness.

He looked down, his expression twisting in horror. His cursed effigy body was still on the ground. He was nothing more than a translucent blue-white soul.

Back on the ground, Han Gucheng's cursed effigy body gradually transformed into a glowing white sphere that floated in the air. It wasn't Han Gucheng's physical body at all, but rather the Superior's cursed spiritual avatar, now restored.

Xiao Nanfeng's spiritual moon had forcibly expelled Han Gucheng's soul from his cursed spiritual avatar, severing his control over it.

"No, that's mine! Give it back!" Han Gucheng wailed.

Xiao Nanfeng appeared beside the disembodied soul. "Stop struggling, Han Gucheng. You've lost."

Han Gucheng froze. Xiao Nanfeng's words struck him like a thunderclap. For a while, he simply stood there dazed.

He glanced as Xiao Nanfeng's spiritual moon devoured his body and suddenly began to laugh. "I schemed for so long, planned so much—was it all for nothing? Haha, haha!"

Han Gucheng laughed maniacally, as if the truth had overwhelmed him.

Xiao Nanfeng didn't approach him any further. He silently observed his defeated opponent. Without his cursed spiritual avatar, Han Gucheng wouldn't be able to last long in his current state.

"All gone? Is it all gone? No, it's all mine! I survived the calamity of the era! In this era, I'll be the hegemon, the new Heavenly Emperor! Heavenly Emperor Han Gucheng!

"I sacrificed countless treasures to bring back Bing'er, Qing'er, and the rest of you! You're all back! My empresses, my crown prince—this world belongs to us, to us!"

Han Gucheng laughed madly.

Meanwhile, Xiao Nanfeng began to frown. How could Han Gucheng be so weak mentally? It didn't make sense.

Perhaps this was something that had happened because he had sacrificed his wives and son for nothing. The loss of his cursed effigy had been a crippling blow to his psyche. One moment, he laughed; the next, he cried.

"Don't go. Don't leave me, no!"

"Qing'er, today's the day of our marriage. You really are beautiful."

"I have a son now, haha! Your name will be Han Bing. My dear Bing'er!"

"Senior Sister, thank you for supporting me time and time again. I'll definitely be good to you in the future."

"Junior Sister, if you keep making fun of me, I won't hold back either, haha!"

Han Gucheng rambled incoherently, lost in the memories of his loved ones. He was a triumphant ruler, then a grieving husband, a doting father, and a lovestruck youth.

He seemed to have forgotten his current circumstances. All he could recall was the past.

Xiao Nanfeng couldn't help but sigh upon witnessing Han Gucheng's current state.

He had been a formidable adversary, establishing four divine empires, scheming against saints, and wielding immense power. Despite sacrificing his family, he had once deeply loved them. Without genuine love, the sacrifice would hardly have worked, after all.

But his selfishness, arrogance, insecurity, and extremism had left him a dangerous but pitiable figure, a paradoxical man.

This sort of opponent was particularly dangerous. Even Xiao Nanfeng had to dedicate a significant fraction of his resources entirely to Han Gucheng.

Eventually, Han Gucheng's translucent form began to fade. The remnants of his truesoul started to scatter. It was only then that Han Gucheng's lucidity returned to him.

He awoke from his madness and turned to Xiao Nanfeng, not far away.

He smiled wryly.

"Xiao Nanfeng, I've lost," Han Gucheng said bitterly. "It's your victory."

"I was merely lucky," Xiao Nanfeng replied, exhaling deeply.

Xiao Nanfeng sighed. Without Madam Rouge, Liu Miaoyin, and his spiritual moon's assistance, how could he have finished off Han Gucheng so quickly?

Han Gucheng shook his head and began to laugh at himself. "It wasn't luck. I lost the moment I sacrificed my family."

"You..." Xiao Nanfeng frowned.

"I forgot the original reason I embarked on cultivation. I abandoned what mattered most to me. The moment I gave up the foundation of my happiness, I was doomed. I promised Qing'er and the others that we'd stay together forever. I swore I'd never leave them—but I failed them. I thought I could control everything, but I let true happiness slip through my fingers." Tears streamed from Han Gucheng's eyes.

Xiao Nanfeng sighed.

He didn't share his own thoughts. He merely eyed his opponent and listened intently to his words, showing him a last measure of respect before his death.

"Cherish what you have, Xiao Nanfeng. Only that which is real and in your grasp matters. Everything else is but an illusion," Han Gucheng murmured. "Don't copy me."

His truesoul slowly dissipated.

Four blurry figures appeared, his greatest obsessions: his wives and children.

Laughter echoed faintly.

"I'll become a great Immortal Emperor in the future like Father!"

"You've returned, Husband!"

"Little Han, come rub my shoulders."

"Senior Brother, give me a hug!"

The four illusions surrounded Han Gucheng's fading form. With tears in his eyes, he glanced at his wives and children, his loving family.

He reached out to the illusions in a deep, heartfelt embrace. Then, his soul scattered entirely.

As he watched Han Gucheng vanish, Xiao Nanfeng stood in silence for a long moment before sighing deeply.

Then, he took a deep breath and turned to his spiritual moon, which had fully absorbed the Superior's cursed effigy and now radiated a brilliant white light. An endless expanse of snow swirled around it.

Xiao Nanfeng patiently waited for the snow to stop.

"Senior Superior, since you've managed to reclaim your cursed spiritual avatar, you're able to leave my spiritual moon now, aren't you?"

The Superior still seemed to be attuning to his cursed spiritual avatar, which he had just absorbed. After a long moment of silence, he said hoarsely, "Does it make you uncomfortable for me to remain in your spiritual moon?"

"What do you mean, Senior?" Xiao Nanfeng asked, puzzled.

The moon paused before replying, "Do you know why you've been able to comprehend all this scripture and all these spiritual techniques so effortlessly?"

Xiao Nanfeng's eyes widened. "It was because of the superior yin pearl that Zhang Lingjun brought out of the green knoll hidden realm—because of you, in other words."

"Indeed. When I discovered that you also cultivated Body of Yin, I decided to assist you. All my cursed spiritual power was with the primordial altar, and I was extremely weak when I escaped, but I still had some heart force available to me. That was how you managed to grow stronger so quickly."

"Heart force? No wonder. Thank you for your assistance, Senior." Xiao Nanfeng immediately bowed.

That explained it all. Only a mid-stage or late-stage Boundless Immortal was able to cultivate the heart. For someone like the Superior to assist a newbie like him in understanding basic scripture and cultivation was trivial.

"Do you still intend to chase me out?" the Superior asked.

Xiao Nanfeng blinked. What sort of logic was this? Didn't the Superior want to leave his spiritual moon?