Chapter 905: Intent on Seeking Death

While the Divine Seal of Dazheng suppressed Su Qingchan, a wave of divine pressure surged around Xiao Nanfeng. He immediately realized that a Heaven's Hand was approaching from the outside.

Without any hesitation, he drew his divine undying blade and rushed toward Su Qingchan, intent on killing her on the spot.

"Don't kill me!" My father is guarding the exit to the wild wastes hidden realm. You can use me as a hostage to escape," Su Qingchan pleaded.

"That won't be necessary." Xiao Nanfeng's blade was already descending.

She would be useful, but he had no time to spare. Without any hesitation, he struck at her with his blade.

Su Qingchan blanched. She then shouted, "I'm Blue Lantern's fiancée! You can't kill me!"

The divine undying blade halted briefly, inches from Su Qingchan's neck. Xiao Nanfeng's expression shifted slightly.

Even so, the aura of the Heaven's Hand grew stronger by the second. Xiao Nanfeng knew he couldn't afford to delay.

"Die!" Xiao Nanfeng shouted.

Su Qingchan's head was severed in a single stroke.

Even in her last moments, Su Qingchan couldn't believe that Xiao Nanfeng would be so ruthless.

He quickly retrieved the Divine Seal of Dazheng. The pressure of the approaching Heaven's Hand dissipated instantly.

"Yu'er, let's go!" Xiao Nanfeng called out.

Su Qingchan's death caused the portal of golden fog she had opened to destabilize. It was starting to collapse.

Xiao Nanfeng, carrying Su Qingchan's severed head and body, grabbed Yu'er and dashed out of the portal. They emerged right as the portal collapsed.

Although Su Qingchan had been decapitated, she wasn't fully dead.

Her soul quickly emerged from her mindscape.

Xiao Nanfeng threw a punch, forcing her soul back in.

"Stay in there and wait patiently. Try coming out again and I won't be so kind," Xiao Nanfeng said coolly.

"Xiao Nanfeng, you're asking to die!" Su Qingchan's soul shrieked.

"If you hadn't claimed to be Blue Lantern's fiancée, I would already have killed you in body and in soul. You had better not be lying to me," Xiao Nanfeng warned.

He swiftly sealed Su Qingchan's head and body. Yu'er stepped forward and performed a second seal on Su Qingchan's remains using a secret technique passed down by the Yuqing Grandmaster.

"Is what she said true, Nanfeng?" Yu'er asked, puzzled.

"I don't know. We'll take her back and ask Blue Lantern."

"Very well!" Yu'er nodded.

By then, all their enemies in the vicinity had been slain, leaving only the pure yang pillar. However, the pillar's light had dimmed considerably, and it had shrunk to only a few hundred meters tall.

Xiao Nanfeng stored the pillar within a storage treasure, then surveyed the area.

Some Golden Immortals were watching nervously from a distant forest. When Xiao Nanfeng's gaze fell upon them, they fled in terror.

"That was Su Qingchan, wasn't it? She's a Boundless Immortal, but Xiao Nanfeng still managed to kill her! Her head's gone!"

"Xiao Nanfeng's terrifying—he looked this way! Run! Flee before he comes for us!"

"Wasn't Su Qingchan outside the wild wastes hidden realm? How did she suddenly make it in?"

"Who cares? Run before that demon catches us!"

The cultivators fled in panic.

Xiao Nanfeng ignored the fleeing cowards. Alongside Yu'er, he headed directly to where Blue Lantern was.

When they arrived, the Heaven's Hands pressing against Blue Lantern's blue compass had grown even stronger and more numerous. The compass's projection was trembling under the strain.

"Candleflame," Xiao Nanfeng murmured.

A red flash of light appeared before him. Grasping Yu'er's hand, he stepped through. They vanished in a flash, and the portail dissipated.

Back within the valley, Xiao Nanfeng's sudden reappearance brought shouts of joy and relief.

"Your Majesty!" Ye Dafu and the others shouted.

"Emperor Xiao, did you manage to claim the pure yang pillar?" Blue Jade asked urgently.

"The pure yang pillar is here, but because of the circumstances, its power has diminished significantly. Will it still suffice?" Xiao Nanfeng handed over the storage treasure.

Blue Jade immediately inspected the pillar and gaped in surprise.

"We'll try it regardless," Blue Jade said.

"Hurry, please," Xiao Nanfeng urged.

"Senior Brother, we have the pure yang pillar. What should we do with it?" Blue Jade asked.

"Fuse it with the blue compass. I'll activate it," Blue Lantern called out.

"Understood!" Blue Jade replied.

She released the pure yang pillar and allowed it to fuse with the blue compass.

The compass' golden runes and symbols surged into the pillar, which began emitting a radiant golden light that enveloped the valley and concealed the compass' aura.

The Heaven's Hands that had been reaching out began to retreat back into the clouds.

"We did it!" Blue Jade and the others shouted in relief.

The disciples of the Fenghuang faction cheered as their efforts paid off.

Xiao Nanfeng took a deep breath.

Then, Blue Lantern called out, "The pure yang energy within the pillar has been depleted, and we'll need external support from the formations in the vicinity. Do your best to stabilize the pure yang pillar for the time being so it can withstand the heavens' surveillance."

"Understood!" the Fenghuang cultivators chorused.

Using their own secret techniques, they stabilized the pure yang pillar and prevented it from vibrating.

Blue Lantern was finally able to focus on attuning to the bronze compass once more.

Then, Xiao Nanfeng retrieved Su Qingchan's body from another storage treasure.

"Blue Jade, do you recognize this woman?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.

Blue Jade glanced at the body. She immediately grew enraged. "Qingchan? This vile vixen? I'll kill her myself!"

Though Su Qingchan's cultivation had been sealed, she could still speak. She hurriedly said, "Blue Jade, I'm Blue Lantern's fiancée. You can't kill me!"

"You dare call yourself Senior Brother's fiancée? If you hadn't tricked him into toppling a pure yang pillar, he would never have been expelled from the sect! She's a vixen. She doesn't deserve to be Senior Brother's fiancée! I'll kill her and avenge him!" Blue Jade roared.

Xiao Nanfeng hurriedly gripped Blue Jade's wrist.

"Emperor Xiao, what do you want?!" Blue Jade shouted.

"Hold it. Let's wait for Blue Lantern to emerge first. Let him make a decision himself."

"Blue Jade, please calm down. It would be best for Blue Lantern to handle this personally, lest it become a heart specter," Yu'er said, reaching out for Blue Jade's hand.

Only then did Blue Jade calm down. Even so, she looked at Su Qingchan with a look of seething hatred.

The cultivators waited patiently for some time until a bright blue glow emerged from the house where Blue Lantern was. The blue glow lasted for mere moments before vanishing; then, Blue Lantern let out a deep breath.

"Senior Brother, did you succeed?" Blue Jade exclaimed in excitement.

Blue Lantern slowly emerged from the house. He exuded a transcendent aura that made him seem to blend into his environment.

𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Blue Lantern bowed to Xiao Nanfeng. "Thank you for standing guard, Your Majesty."

"Don't mention it. You attuned to the bronze compass to help Yu'er out, after all." Xiao Nanfeng smiled.

"I'll remove Xia Yu'er's curse as soon as I can, Your Majesty," Blue Lantern replied.

Xiao Nanfeng nodded, then continued, "Blue Lantern, this woman claimed to be your fiancée. Do you want to have a talk with her?"

Only then did Blue Lantern turn to Su Qingchan, whom Xiao Nanfeng had beheaded.

"Senior Brother, this vixen was trying to harm you! She..." Blue Jade explained everything that Su Qingchan had done.

Blue Lantern frowned and walked toward her.

When Su Qingchan saw Blue Lantern approach, she smiled. "Long time no see, Blue Lantern."

"Did you try to kill me just now?" Blue Lantern frowned.

"Kill? Hardly. If you had given up attuning to the bronze compass, the Heaven's Hands wouldn't have hurt you."

Blue Lantern glared at Su Qingchan. "Should I thank you, then?"

Su Qingchan smiled. "You can consider it as me trying to harm you, I suppose. Do you want revenge? Come at me, then!"

Blue Lantern glared at Su Qingchan.

"Blue Lantern, you aren't still interested in me, are you? If you are, let me go," Su Qingchan said softly.

Blue Lantern frowned.

"Senior Brother, don't go easy on her! If not for her, you would never have suffered to such an extent, and Master wouldn't have had such a hard time. He wouldn't have died! This vixen schemed against you, Master, and our whole faction. You can't forgive her!"Blue Jade cried out.

Blue Lantern's gaze grew steely. He pointed a finger at Su Qingchan's mindscape, a wisp of destructive power by his fingertip.

However, Su Qingchan didn't seem to resist. Her eyes shone with a mix of anticipation and calm acceptance.

A small explosion seemed to ring out within Su Qingchan's mindscape. Her eyes dimmed lifelessly.

"Good riddance! That vixen deserved it," Blue Jade spat out.

Even so, Blue Lantern felt no satisfaction, only a deep sense of loss.

"Blue Lantern, did you notice Su Qingchan's expression? Something didn't seem right. Is she not afraid of dying?"

"This is only an avatar of hers. I doubt she cares very much for it," Blue Lantern replied.

"Oh?" Xiao Nanfeng frowned thoughtfully. "She wanted to die at your hands—to atone, or to burden you with guilt?"

Blue Lantern remained silent, his emotions unreadable.

Blue Jade gasped. "That vixen—she wanted to harm Senior Brother even in death! I should have killed her!"

Blue Lantern sighed. "Forget it. What's done is done. I've broken off all relations with her since what happened in the past."

Blue Jade bit her lip, clearly still ill at ease.

Xiao Nanfeng could tell that Blue Lantern still seemed to have lingering feelings for her as well.