Chapter 884: The Purple Moon Ascends

Back in Yongding, within a certain hall, Xiao Nanfeng's avatar carefully reread the Yuqing Yin Body that Yu Fuli had given him.

Then, he took out another scroll, also titled Yuqing Yin Body. This was a version he had obtained by interrogating Han Gucheng's subordinates. They had ultimately gotten this copy from coercing Yuqing disciples.

"To think they'd be different in some critical aspects..." Xiao Nanfeng murmured.

It was obvious which one he trusted more: Yu Fuli's version.

"Could something be wrong with the Yuqing Yin Body that the Yuqing disciples cultivate? Or were there two versions of the technique to begin with?" Xiao Nanfeng murmured.

After some deliberation, he set aside the flawed version of the Yuqing Yin Body and began to practice the version that Yu Fuli had provided him with.

Having previously cultivated the Shangqing Yin Body, he found the process rather familiar.

Within his mindscape was a stellar lake, one whose vast expanse resembled a sea.

Above the starry sea was a red moon and a blue moon, with countless points of red and blue light scattered across the surface of the sea.

As Xiao Nanfeng cultivated the Yuqing Yin Body, points of purple light began to appear, immediately stimulating the red and blue light. It had taken Xiao Nanfeng incredible effort to force the red and blue lights into a delicate equilibrium, but they were now threatened by a new foe.

They were like old rivals who had fought for dominance for ages that were now being confronted with a new contender.

The red and blue light flared, attacking the purple points of light in unison. They were determined to obliterate the purple light before it could challenge them.

If Xiao Nanfeng had been cultivating any other spiritual technique, the combined efforts of the red and blue points of light would long since have exterminated any trace of the purple light from his mindscape, but the Yuqing Yin Body was on equal footing with the red and blue points of light.

Even so, the relentless suppression of the purple light made expansion a struggle.

Just then, Xiao Nanfeng's main body appeared behind his avatar and extended a hand, sending a surge of silver light from the Body of Yin into his avatar's mindscape. The silver light entered the starry sea and created a barrier against the red and blue light's assault.

The purple light began to proliferate and expand rapidly.

As time passed, the purple light coalesced into a single luminous entity. A burst of purple light illuminated Xiao Nanfeng's mindscape as a purple moon slowly ascended into the sky.

The red and blue moons, sensing the immense threat posed by the purple moon, flared with brilliance as they tried to suppress it.

"Three moons in harmony," Xiao Nanfeng murmured.

All three moons emerged from Xiao Nanfeng's mindscape and floated in the air.

Then, Xiao Nanfeng's main body used his candleflame powers on the purple moon, allowing his avatar to step within.

The purple moon glowed with radiant light as Xiao Nanfeng's avatar merged with it. He continued to cultivate as he felt his avatar become one with the purple moon.

The sensation of his avatar dissolving was bizarre. If not for the fact that he had experienced something similar beforehand, he would long since have escaped from it.

Now, however, all he could do was bear with his circumstances and continue to cultivate. The purple moon grew increasingly radiant.

The red and blue moons continued their attempts to suppress the purple moon, but Xiao Nanfeng's main body stood guard and repeatedly warded off their interference.

After three days of intense cultivation, the purple moon finally reached some sort of pinnacle. With a loud crack, a tear appeared in its surface. A hand emerged—Xiao Nanfeng's avatar, which had reformed and was now crawling out of the purple moon. The purple moon was pouring all its energy into this newborn body.

When Xiao Nanfeng's avatar had emerged fully from the purple moon, it swiftly began to repair the hole that had formed over its surface, though it dimmed significantly in the process.

With the critical stage of cultivation complete, Xiao Nanfeng's main body wasn't needed any longer.

He left the training hall, leaving his avatar to continue meditating.

Xiao Nanfeng's avatar sat cross-legged, breathing in spiritual aether to restore his cultivation. Within his mindscape, his starry sea was now divided into three distinct regions occupied by red, blue, and purple light. They resisted each other, but had tentatively settled into a newfound equilibrium.

Over time, the purple moon grew resplendent once more, rivaling that of his red and blue moons. Perhaps because it wasn't being suppressed by a cursed effigy like his other two moons, the purple moon exuded a more mysterious and otherworldly aura.

"The purple moon is ready," Xiao Nanfeng's avatar murmured.

He extended a finger, conjuring purple light before him. The void shimmered and formed a gateway.

𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Xiao Nanfeng stood, startled.

He glanced into the glowing entrance of the portal and saw a purple-furred monster in the distance.

"The purple moon illusory realm?" Xiao Nanfeng murmured.

Out of curiosity, he had used the technique for entering the red moon illusory realm but with his purple moon's spiritual power instead. Unexpectedly, it opened a portal to a realm tied to his purple moon.

His blue moon, on the other hand, hadn't been able to open a portal into the blue moon illusory realm.

He also knew that Han Gucheng's subordinates hadn't been able to open a portal into the purple moon illusory realm, either.

"There must have been something wrong with the Yuqing Yin Body that Han Gucheng obtained. The Heavenly Emperor's version is the most complete," Xiao Nanfeng murmured.

With rising curiosity, he summoned his three moons back into his mindscape and stepped through the portal, which snapped shut the moment he passed through.

Upon entering the purple moon illusory realm, he found himself in a vast purple-hued space, a sprawling city that was eerily silent and devoid of human life. Instead, purple-furred monsters roamed the streets.

"Hold on. Isn't this... Yongding?" Xiao Nanfeng exclaimed.

He flew high above the city and looked down, confirming that its layout matched Yongding. However, it appeared to be crudely constructed and lacking the intricate details of the real city.

Outside the city was a massive stone tablet bearing the words "City of Yongding." In the distance, swarms of purple-furred monsters were being drawn toward the city, as if it had just been conjured into existence.

"Why would Yongding be within the purple moon illusory realm? What's going on?" Xiao Nanfeng exclaimed.

He quickly ventured outside the city walls and attracted the attention of several purple-furred lifeforms. Despite their pursuit, he easily outpaced them.

He flew across the purple moon illusory realm and compared what he was seeing to a map of Dazheng at large. He was shaken. Though there were some disparities when it came to the locations of mountains and rivers, the major cities of Dazheng were replicated in full, though without much detail or ornamentation.

"Could the purple moon illusory realm be a replica of the world in full...?" Xiao Nanfeng murmured.

He flew for an entire day. The terrain he passed by closely resembled that of the real world.

He found himself in what corresponded to the Eastern Sea within the purple moon illusory realm. After some contemplation, he shot up high into the clouds. Before long, he reached the cloud layer, and in the distance, he spotted an enormous heavenly gate.

"The Eastern Heavenly Gate? Is the Sieve of Heaven present here, too? Even though it has already collapsed in the real world...?" Xiao Nanfeng murmured.

A group of purple-furred monsters were standing guard by the entrance to the Sieve of Heaven.

"These purple-furred lifeforms can actually be controlled?" Xiao Nanfeng marveled.

He hesitated for a moment as he debated whether or not to enter.

Suddenly, a group of male cultivators flew out from within the Sieve of Heaven. To his surprise, he quickly recognized one of them—a disciple of the Yuqing holy land who had once attended his seminars.

"Hm? The purple-furred lifeforms aren't attacking them," Xiao Nanfeng murmured.

The male cultivators all held tokens in their hands. The purple-furred monsters completely ignored them as they passed by.

Xiao Nanfeng frowned. He concealed himself within the clouds, shrouding himself with purple fog, as he tailed the men.

Before long, he noticed a group of purple-furred monsters flying by. He caught one and tossed it toward the group of cultivators.

"Watch out!" one of them shouted.

The impact knocked them back several steps.

"We have purple moon tokens. Why did this purple-furred monster attack us?" one of the men cried out in alarm.

The purple-furred monster merely glanced at them before letting out a low growl and flying off, as if searching for the culprit who had unceremoniously thrown it toward the group of cultivators.

"That startled me. It must've been flying too fast and accidentally bumped into us. Alright, let's move on," one of the men suggested.

"Ah, my purple moon token's gone!" one cultivator suddenly shouted.

"Wasn't it in your hand just now?" another asked.

"But it's really gone now!"

"Could you have dropped it when that purple-furred monster bumped into you?"

"What? Could it have fallen into the sea? Quick, you have to help me find it! If I can't recover it, I'll surely be punished later," the man said, panicking.

"You're such a hassle. Fine, let's go!" the others sighed.

The group descended toward the sea below.

Meanwhile, hidden within the purple clouds, Xiao Nanfeng glanced at the token in his hand. "So this is a purple moon token. Can it really let you bypass these purple-furred lifeforms...?"

Still curious, he headed straight toward the Sieve of Heaven within the purple moon illusory realm. Indeed, the purple-furred monsters guarding the Eastern Heavenly Gate didn't stop him at all. They allowed him in without obstruction.