Chapter 236: Destroying the Cursed King
Chapter 236: Destroying the Cursed King
Somewhere within the mirror world, a group of red rope was gathered together, all having transformed into men and women clad in red.
"We still can't enter the eighteenth layer of the mirror world. I wonder how our king is doing?"
"He's surely alright. Otherwise, why hasn't Madam Rouge appeared to find us yet?"
"We have to keep hunting down that brat. He was picking off us stragglers one by one. He has to be able to enter the eighteenth layer of the mirror world."
"After we interrogate him, I'll eat his soul!"
Suddenly, the red rope all turned in a certain direction.
Xiao Nanfeng strode forward, a red moon shining behind his head. Fighting spirit blossomed around him.
The cursed effigies' eyes lit up as they gave him malevolent looks.
"He seems to have reached late-stage Lunar Deluge, just like us!"
"Catch him and don't let him run off this time!"
The cursed effigies shot toward Xiao Nanfeng.
"Two hundred of you in all? I'll start with you, then!" Xiao Nanfeng leapt into their midst.
The red-clad cursed effigies shot forward with tremendous strength and momentum, like that of a roaring river. Meanwhile, Xiao Nanfeng was like a tornado, leaving devastation and destruction in his wake. He punched forward with Hegemon's Fist, his fists raining down on the cursed effigies like meteors.
Frightening shockwaves destroyed the mirror world around them, sending rocks and boulders into the air. The skies darkened; it looked like an impending apocalypse.
The cursed effigies howled in anger.
Thirty thousand years ago, these followers of the cursed king had ruled over a huge territory, and they were the strongest cultivators of their time. They would be able to take down any ordinary cultivator even now, but Xiao Nanfeng's fist technique bore the essence of that developed by Emperor Wei himself. It was tremendously strong, allowing Xiao Nanfeng to take on two hundred by himself.
More and more red-robed cursed effigies were sent flying by Xiao Nanfeng, scattering around him as he spun like a tornado.
"Impossible. I was a martial sage in my time. How could his fist technique be stronger than mine?"
"I was a commander for 800,000 troops! How could I lose to him?"
"The king himself gave me pointers on my fist technique! How could I lose?"
The cursed effigies got up again and charged at Xiao Nanfeng, but as they continued fighting, countless arms manifested around Xiao Nanfeng, each almost seeming to take on physical form. They were entirely suppressed.
"A thousand-armed deity? A thousand-handed Buddha?"
"No, it's different. His technique seems to be even more powerful than that..."
"What's all this red light?"
The cursed effigies were flabbergasted.
None of them shrunk back. They continued to fight with Xiao Nanfeng in a battle that dragged on and on. Eventually, they noticed something was amiss. The red light surrounding Xiao Nanfeng grew more and more intense, until all they could see was dyed red. Suddenly, Xiao Nanfeng vanished from sight.
"Something's wrong. Where is he?"
"How could he have vanished amidst this red light? Something must be wrong with it!"
"It's some form of hypnosis. We've all been struck by it!"
The cursed effigies glanced around at each other in shock, but they had already fallen prey to Xiao Nanfeng's techniques. They weren't even able to locate each other. The entire world seemed to be filled with red.
Xiao Nanfeng struck the cursed effigies down, one after another.
He brought all of them toward Madam Rouge, allowing her to elevate her cursed spiritual power ever further.
"Stop! If you dare to continue capturing my subordinates, I'll make you suffer a fate worse than death!" the red rope cursed king threatened.
Xiao Nanfeng ignored him and checked his Mirror of Truth to find the locations of more cursed effigies.
The cursed effigies themselves could never have imagined that Xiao Nanfeng would have grown so strong in just four months. Even if they banded together, it was useless. Within just a dozen-odd days, Xiao Nanfeng had dealt with all three thousand effigies.
Madam Rouge's strength grew tremendously as she absorbed them all. Her pink mirror fragments suddenly expanded in size, and the eighteenth layer of the mirror world was tinted pink.
"Alright, Xiao Nanfeng. Retrieve the divine purple rock. I'll be able to deal with things from here. Hide within it immediately once you free us both."
"Understood!" Xiao Nanfeng commanded the divine purple rock to unseal the mirror fragments,
allowing the pink and red shards to escape.
"You damn brat! I'm going to kill you!" the cursed king roared.
It hated Xiao Nanfeng, and that hatred had been stewing for four months. The moment it was freed, it sent its mirror fragments shooting straight at Xiao Nanfeng.
The pink fragments immediately moved to protect him, causing a storm of shards and splinters to erupt in the vicinity. Unfortunately, while the pink fragments were able to block the majority of the red ones, a few managed to evade its defenses and strike Xiao Nanfeng's back.
By then, Xiao Nanfeng was already stepping into the divine purple rock, but he was just a bit too late to avoid the attack entirely. A large number of fragments pierced through his body.
Xiao Nanfeng yelped in pain even as he entered the divine purple domain fully.
He was safe within. Only then did he start inspecting the damage. His physical body had been grievously injured and was shot through in a thousand spots. He was bleeding profusely.
"What a powerful cursed king! I was just caught by a small portion of the attack, but that was already sufficient to ruin my body. Well, at least it won't be getting off easy, either."
He wasn't too worried about the injuries he had sustained, because this was only one of his avatars, which could be replaced at will. He retrieved another red rope's cursed spiritual avatar and transferred his consciousness over, fully 'healing' all injuries.
He wasn't in a hurry to step outside. Rather, he patiently waited for a few days before doing so.
The moment he emerged, he could see that the eighteenth layer of the mirror world had been shattered. It was filled with countless mirror fragments, and fire and smoke were still blazing. Clearly, Madam Rouge and the red rope cursed king had had a formidable fight.
He looked all around for traces of Madam Rouge and quickly found her. She was nearby, holding a mirror in her hand. Within the mirror was a long length of red rope, howling at her.
"Madam Rouge, have you won?" Xiao Nanfeng's eyes brightened as he walked over.
"I've trapped him. It's time to deal with him now," Madam Rouge replied pridefully.
"You damn brat! How are you unaffected? You've swapped bodies again! You infuriate me!" the red rope roared.
"As I said, you're done for. Did you think you would be able to claim my cursed spiritual avatar?" Madam Rouge demanded.
She pinched her fingers together. Sharp spikes of crystal protruded from the mirror and pierced through the entire length of red rope, which screamed.
"Madam Rouge, let's talk about things. We're both cursed kings, and there's no need for us to fight to the death. What's more, you're still quite weak at the moment. We don't have to be enemies! I could let the deaths of my three thousand subordinates slide. Consider it a gift from me to you. Release my soul, and I'll forgive your offenses!" the red rope cursed king offered as he screamed.
"Forgive my offenses? Well, I have no intention of forgiving your offenses," Madam Rouge replied coolly.
She opened her mouth wide and began to suck at the contents of the mirror. It vanished in a cloud of black smoke, which she absorbed.
"No! You can't consume this spiritual avatar of mine. Don't you know how much work it took me to manifest it?!" the red rope cursed king howled.
Madam Rouge ignored him. She continued to absorb the contents of the mirror, as though intending to devour him whole.
"Just you wait. My main body has been released from its seal. I'll kill you both, both of you! Don't think that you'll be able to get away. Everyone in the draconic palace will die, die!" the red rope cursed king cursed.
The next moment, it and the mirror were completely transformed into a cloud of black smoke that Madam Rouge devoured.
Her body glowed with a sudden burst of pink light.