Chapter 106 - 97: Curse
The waters of the Nether River splashed everywhere.
Lu Changyuan emerged from the Netherworld’s waters without a word. Broken Thought floated into the air and returned to his hand.
Xiao Qingfeng’s hands trembled.
"Yao Guang... My Yao Guang Technique."
The Life and Death Reversal, which had relied on the Netherworld, was now revoked by the Acting Nether Monarch.
Yao Guang was Yao Guang.
Kai Yang was Kai Yang.
Xiao Qingfeng fell back to the Kai Yang realm, his face contorted in a savage grimace. His voice was like that of a ghost from the Nine Netherworld. "I’ll keep you alive, just so you can watch as I grind your bones to dust, inch by inch!"
Countless dark spirits suddenly appeared behind him. However, these spirits were far inferior to the few ancient monsters Lu Changyuan had encountered upon his arrival. They were just ordinary puppets, created by a technique similar to the common Stone-to-Soldier Transformation.
Xiao Qingfeng had lost control of the Netherworld, so naturally, its spirits could no longer be claimed as his own.
The spirits behind him were all the Cultivators who had died after entering the Netherworld this time.
Lu Changyuan saw Xiao Hai, Wang Lian, and also the people from the Beast Taming Palace.
These people had found no peace even in death, their very bones and marrow exploited by Xiao Qingfeng up to this very moment.
In an instant, the Blade of White Bone was before Lu Changyuan.
Xiao Qingfeng roared, "If I use you for my Transformed Life, I can still Ascend to Yao Guang!"
Sparks flew as the blade clashed with Broken Thought.
Lu Changyuan was knocked back by Xiao Qingfeng’s blow, and countless dark spirits swarmed forward.
"Even if you kill me, you won’t Ascend to Yao Guang. It’s impossible for you now!" Lu Changyuan declared, holding his sword in one hand as a powerful Sword Qi blasted through the space around him.
Vermilion!
A single, majestic, and ferocious strike, like the height of summer, annihilated the spirits formed from the dead Cultivators.
Xiao Qingfeng attacked again. The White Bone Blade multiplied into thousands, raining down on Lu Changyuan from all directions.
Even with his Yao Guang Technique stripped away, Xiao Qingfeng was still in the Sixth Realm of Kai Yang.
A Kai Yang cultivator was already a top-tier Great Power, having achieved a transcendent mastery of their Dao Practice.
The spirits of the dead Cultivators revived once more.
As long as Xiao Qingfeng lived, these spirits would harass Lu Changyuan endlessly until he was exhausted and devoured.
Xiao Qingfeng was still shrieking, "Devour him! All of you, devour him!"
Lu Changyuan, after all, wasn’t even in the Fifth Realm. To defeat Xiao Qingfeng, he could only rely on his current, temporary authority as the Nether Monarch.
Again, the White Bone Blade clashed with his sword.
The grating White Bone Blade transformed again. Its protruding teeth suddenly grew as thick as palace pillars and smashed down violently toward Lu Changyuan. But with a flash of brilliant sword light, both the Bone Blade and Xiao Qingfeng were annihilated by the strike.
"You can’t kill me!"
Xiao Qingfeng’s venomous voice rang out again as he revived like a shadowy specter, coming back to life once more.
This was the most troublesome aspect of the Transformation Dao.
He died, only to live again.
Even for just a Sixth Realm cultivator, his Life Force was incredibly tenacious.
For the time being, it was truly difficult to kill Xiao Qingfeng.
"Physician Lu!"
Mei Zhaozhao had actually returned ahead of schedule.
’Why hasn’t she left yet?’
Lu Changyuan turned to look at Mei Zhaozhao, only to find that Xiao Qingfeng had also noticed her and was now staring intently in her direction.
’This is bad,’ he thought, immediately transforming into a gust of wind and flying toward Mei Zhaozhao.
’What is Mei Zhaozhao doing back at a time like this?’
CLANG!
"Physician Lu!"
Broken Thought intercepted the Bone Blade in mid-air. Lu Changyuan swept Mei Zhaozhao into his arms and kicked Xiao Qingfeng’s body away. "Why haven’t you left yet?"
"I was kind enough to come back for you!"
"Cut the crap. What did you come back for?"
While swinging his sword to slay the Dark Spirits before him, Lu Changyuan carried Mei Zhaozhao away from Xiao Qingfeng.
"I came back to give you something! Don’t be so ungrateful!"
As she finished speaking, Lu Changyuan suddenly felt a touch on his cheek, leaving behind an intoxicating fragrance.
Lu Changyuan turned his head, but saw that Mei Zhaozhao was still covered by her black robe, her face hidden. He only caught a glimpse of a strand of calm, wine-red hair before the young woman quickly tucked it away.
"Stop looking at me! Hurry up and kill him!"
Only then did Lu Changyuan realize that a certain authority had returned to him.
The authority to command the Nether Spirits!
Because Lu Changyuan had never accepted the title of Yu, the Nether Monarch had given this authority to Mei Zhaozhao. Now that Lu Changyuan was acting as the Nether Monarch, Mei Zhaozhao had returned it.
Lu Changyuan let go of Mei Zhaozhao and faced Xiao Qingfeng once more. The two collided violently. Xiao Qingfeng tried to roar something, but Lu Changyuan swung his fist and shattered his words with a single punch.
A sense of crisis suddenly welled up in his heart.
Lu Changyuan frowned.
Xiao Qingfeng had appeared before him yet again.
A moment ago, there was only a single drop of Xiao Qingfeng’s blood here, which had fallen when Lu Changyuan’s punch shattered his teeth and sent his main body flying.
But Xiao Qingfeng had used this drop of blood to regenerate, pulling off a positional swap.
Xiao Qingfeng appeared out of thin air at Lu Changyuan’s side. "You can’t kill me. I will haunt you forever! The Netherworld straddles the line between life and death. Here, I am immortal!"
Thanks to the unique properties of the Netherworld, Xiao Qingfeng was virtually invincible here. Unless the true Nether Monarch returned and established new laws, Lu Changyuan was, after all, only an acting regent—and a regent could not create new laws.
Lu Changyuan sighed. "The Transformation Dao is truly disgusting."
When Xiao Qingfeng achieved his Enlightenment back then, his one desire was to live on.
He succeeded.
He was indeed very good at staying alive.
"Xiao Qingfeng, do you know the biggest difference between you and the Nether Monarch?"
Xiao Qingfeng shrieked and closed in again. There were no flashy Daoist Techniques, just a pure, physical assault meant to wear down Lu Changyuan’s stamina. He was waiting for Lu Changyuan to become exhausted.
"The difference? The only difference is that I failed to kill you and Ascend to Yao Guang! The Netherworld should have been my kingdom!"
Lu Changyuan shook his head. "You don’t understand. The Netherworld is composed of a monarch and the subjects who support him. Your illusory kingdom has only one inhabitant: you."
Only one who is supported by their subjects is a true king.
A king without subjects is merely a false king.
Xiao Qingfeng’s pupils shrank, but he quickly composed himself. "So what? I never intended to become the Nether Monarch in the first place. By proving my Dao through Transformation, I can achieve eternal life all the same!"
He only wanted to devour the Netherworld, not become its monarch.
Xiao Qingfeng roared and tried to close in on Lu Changyuan again, only to find a colossal spirit standing before him, opening its cavernous, bloody maw.
Not only that, but at some unknown point, countless illusory spirits had materialized from the ground. These spirits were tearing at and devouring the dark spirits. And after a dark spirit was devoured, it would transform into one of the illusory spirits.
The tables had turned.
"How is this possible!"
He could not gain the recognition of the Netherworld’s spirits, but Lu Changyuan could.
In four hundred years, Xiao Qingfeng had never treated the Horned Spirit he’d spent a century with as a friend, but only as a tool to be used.
But Lu Changyuan, who had only stayed for a century, truly saw Luo as a friend, even if that friend was incoherent most of the time.
This was the fundamental difference between Xiao Qingfeng and Lu Changyuan.
The title of Yu was bestowed by the Nether Monarch and recognized by the Nether Spirits. That was why, when Lu Changyuan left the Netherworld all those years ago, the spirits had pleaded with him to stay.
And as for the authority to command the spirits of the Netherworld...
In Lu Changyuan’s hands, it was completely different from how it was in Mei Zhaozhao’s.
With the return of the Acting Nether Monarch, the spirits of the Netherworld finally bared their fangs. The illusory spirits became terrifyingly monstrous, transforming into wraiths that devoured Xiao Qingfeng’s spirits.
For a time, the air was filled with the unending, horrifying sound of chewing.
Lu Changyuan said coolly, "Once your spirits are completely devoured, Xiao Qingfeng, your foundation in the Netherworld will cease to exist. I can’t kill you, but I can seal you. If you’re suppressed beneath the Netherworld for a thousand years, do you think you can still survive?"
Xiao Qingfeng stared at Lu Changyuan, stunned.
He realized Lu Changyuan was right.
If he were sealed in the Netherworld for a millennium, even with the incredible vitality of the Transformation Dao, he would surely die here.
’I am destined to Ascend to Yao Guang! I was even halfway there! How can I be stopped here by someone like him!?’
’There’s a way. There must be a way!’
Xiao Qingfeng struggled to dodge the cavernous, bloody maw, his eyes suddenly turning crimson.
Then, he saw a pool of blood.
It was Lu Changyuan’s blood, spilled when Xiao Qingfeng had slammed him against the stone tablet.
An extremely complex idea began to crawl through his mind, eventually becoming an unbreakable resolve.
As if he had found a priceless treasure, Xiao Qingfeng flashed like a streak of light and appeared before the pool of blood.
He cackled madly:
"If that’s how it is, then you can forget about living in peace!"
Demonic Qi.
A dense Demonic Qi surged to the heavens, so thick it was almost tangible.
Xiao Qingfeng’s body exploded completely. From the pool of blood, a blood-red figure slowly rose to its feet.
Lu Changyuan frowned.
’So what if Xiao Qingfeng has transformed into another me?’
’Xiao Qingfeng’s defeat should be sealed.’
The blood-red figure soon formed a face, becoming another Lu Changyuan.
And this Lu Changyuan, wearing a savage expression the original would never use, smiled viciously. "My hopes of Ascending to Yao Guang are dashed, but you will pay the price!"
Xiao Qingfeng, wearing Lu Changyuan’s face, reached out and brutally tore out his own heart.
It was a crimson heart pierced through with black qi.
BANG!
The heart was utterly crushed.
Xiao Qingfeng’s eyes were crimson as he laughed ferociously. "Lu Changyuan, you too will taste the pain of having your heart gouged out, just like me. And what’s more, you’ll know what it feels like to have everything stolen from you."
With those words,
Xiao Qingfeng exploded into a cloud of blood mist.
The resulting shockwave threatened to destroy everything.
Before Lu Changyuan could suppress him, Xiao Qingfeng had actually self-destructed, taking his years of arduous practice in the Transformation Dao with him!
’Why would someone who wanted to live so badly choose to self-destruct!?’