Wayfarer

After Croak, Warble, and the dragons were possessed, they stood immobile.

"Be careful. These dragons' bodies are all going to be substitute bodies for the king, so we can't completely extinguish the dragons' consciousness. If that happens, the moment these physical bodies lose contact with the souls they harbor, some vital essence will dissipate, and the body will immediately drop in quality. Leave a shred of consciousness behind so that they can absorb the vitality on the island. Once the king revives, we can get rid of their consciousness then," one specter warned.

"Understood!" the others replied.

Then, the draconic specters began to fly out of the dragons' mindscapes, leaving just one specter behind in each.

The dragons shivered as though they had all been simultaneously awakened, but their expressions were particularly sinister. It was evident that they had all been completely taken over by the draconic specters.

"Bring them to the island!" one specter said.

"Understood!" the possessed dragons replied.

They transformed into their dragon forms and flew through the air, including Ao Zhou. Meanwhile, Croak and Warble turned into two huge toad spirits.

"What? Toads?"

"These two toads pretended to be dragons!"

"Could they have tricked our king, too?"

The draconic specters were astonished.

"What do we do with these two toad spirits?" one specter asked.

"Toss them into the Underworld Lake and have it strip their bodies of their vitality," another replied.

"Understood!" The two possessed toads hopped toward the Underworld Lake.

"Be careful. Don't stay too near the Underworld Lake. It's full of toxic poison that corrodes the soul, and can even harm us cursed effigies," another specter warned.

"Understood!"

The two toad spirits flew through the air. Then, a draconic specter emerged from each of their mindscapes as the toads closed their eyes and dropped toward the Underworld Lake in a huge splash of water.

"Go!" the other specters called out.

They and the thirty-one possessed dragons flew toward the island at the heart of the lake. The moment they landed on the island, vitality surged into their bodies.

"Keep guard over these dragons. I'm going to await orders by the entrance to the hall," one specter said.

"Understood!"

The majority of the specters slowly flew off, leaving the thirty-one motionless dragons behind. They seemed as though they were in a meditative state.

Then, Croak and Warble shook themselves as they awoke within the Underworld Lake.

"How are you, Warble?" Croak asked, swimming right up to its companion.

"I'm alright. The technique that Xiao Nanfeng passed us, The Divine Golden Toad, specially fortifies our souls. That was dangerous—these cursed effigies really are cautious. Before they tossed us into the lake, they even tried to extinguish our consciousness. Fortunately, they didn't plan on us having The Divine Golden Toad." Warble huffed lightly.

"That was dangerous, wasn't it? But this Underworld Lake doesn't seem bad at all. In fact, I feel really comfortable floating around here," Croak exclaimed in surprise.

"We work with poisons and are naturally resistant to them. Of course the poison here can't hurt us—no, it can even augment our cultivation! The Divine Golden Toad even incorporates a section on breaking down poison, allowing us to grow stronger by absorbing and breaking down potent poisons. This is a haven for our cultivation!" Warble announced.

"What about Ao Zhou?" Croak asked.

"They won't die. Ao Zhou's a tricky opponent to handle, and he surely has some way of protecting his own consciousness. What's more, we can't save them right now. If we make a move, we'd only expose ourselves. We might as well enjoy the toxic poison in the lake for now."

"You're right," Croak agreed.

The two toads began to cultivate furiously, absorbing the poison in the Underworld Lake to the best of their ability. Two days later, a golden membrane had formed over their skin.

A huge thump came from the Underworld Lake, causing the cursed effigies on the island to suddenly open their eyes. When they realized that it was caused by the explosion of a dried-up spirit Immortal's body, however, they returned to meditation once again.

Warble had just smashed apart a sea spirit's body in order to cover up the sound of Croak's breakthrough.

Golden luster emanated from Croak's skin.

"Have you broken through to the realm of an Earth Immortal?" Warble cried out in excitement.

"I have. The realm of Earth Immortal is when you first start to forge your Immortal body. The Divine Golden Toad is a technique boasting immense strength, but it's also harder to cultivate than other similar techniques. In particular, forging an Immortal body requires countless resources. I can't believe the water of this Underworld Lake would be so potent!" Croak exclaimed.

"It really is a treasure, isn't it?" Warble agreed.

"Warble, you're about to break through yourself. Absorb more too," Croak urged.

Warble nodded as the two toads sank to the bottom of the lake.

A day later, another dull thump came from the Underworld Lake. The cursed effigies on the island opened their eyes again, only to see that another spirit Immortal's body had exploded. They thought nothing of it.

"Do you feel that the rate at which the Underworld Lake is depositing vitality toward the dragons' bodies seems to be increasing?" one cursed effigy asked.

"Isn't that a good thing?" another replied.

"I'm worried that the dragons' bodies won't be able to absorb it all."

"Don't worry. The Underworld Lake is maintained by a formation that the king set up. He has everything planned, so don't worry."

"Alright."

The cursed effigies on the island settled down once again as vitality surged into the dragons' bodies, causing their aura to grow stronger rapidly.

With a boom, Ao Zhou broke through into an Earth Immortal.

Just then, within the Underworld Lake, Croak and Warble were celebrating.

"Croak, I'm an Earth Immortal too! My Immortal body has been forged!" Warble warbled excitedly.

"This really is a haven for cultivation," Croak replied with excitement.

"But it seems like the Underworld Lake's water is turning more and more transparent..."

"Of course! We absorbed the nutrients from the body, so the lake water's naturally turning clear. But don't worry, The Divine Golden Toad contains a secret technique that can make it turbid again by dyeing it with golden emissions from our body." Croak smiled.

"And why are the sea spirits' carcasses in the lake growing parched more and more quickly?"

"I suspect it's not the lake water draining their vitality, but rather a formation at the bottom of the lake. On the other hand, the lake water serves the opposite effect. It decreases the rate at which the formation drains the sea spirits' vitality so that it doesn't provide too much vitality to the bodies on the island at once and overtax them," Croak suggested.

"In that case, will Ao Zhou and the others suffer because we're absorbing the lake water so furiously?"

"There are a bunch of cursed effigies keeping watch over them, so there's nothing we have to worry about. Let's continue."

"Got it!" Warble replied.

The two toads sank toward the bottom of the lake once again, absorbing the water to hone their bodies and improve their cultivation. At the same time, they secreted golden emissions in order to make it look as turbid as before.

As a result, the dragons' cultivation grew rapidly, so much so that the cursed effigies were growing a little worried.

Two days later, a beam of light shot toward one of the dragons' bodies.

"I'm taking over this body. Leave," the Dragon Yanluo commanded.

"Understood!" A draconic specter immediately flew out from the dragon's mindscape.

The dragon's body twisted and transformed into the appearance of the Dragon Yanluo.

The other dragons opened their eyes. One asked, "King, has something happened outside?"

"It's none of your business. I'll kill them all! The formations expert, Blue Lantern—well, I'm about to be reborn. I'll kill him!" the Dragon Yanluo thundered.

Then, he flew out of the Underworld Lake straight for the door to the Yanluo Court.

The draconic specters were just about to report about the irregularities around the lake, but none had had time to speak.

Within the lake, Croak and Warble had overheard the conversation.

"Blue Lantern's here? Could Xiao Nanfeng have come to save us?" Warble asked, eyes brightening.

"It has to be Xiao Nanfeng. We're about to be saved! Let's absorb more of this water, quickly. We can't leave even a bit for the cursed effigies!" Croak shouted.

"Got it!"

The two toad spirits absorbed the lake water even more furiously than before, turning it clearer and clearer. If not for their golden secretions, the specters would have discovered the trick long ago.

However, such intense activity wouldn't go unnoticed by the draconic specters.

"Something's wrong. The vitality is entering my body far too quickly. I won't be able to take it much longer!" one cursed effigy shouted.

"Me too. My dragon's about to burst!"

One dragon's body really did burst in a shower of rainbow light.

"What? These bodies really can explode?!" one draconic specter cried out.

Yet another body burst apart in a huge explosion.

"Mine burst too. How are we going to answer to the king?!" The unfortunate draconic specter emerged from the remaining scraps of its body.

"Something must have gone wrong with the lake."

"But the lake water can corrode even us cursed effigies. We can't head down there and check!"

"Let's wait for the king to return."

"But what about these remaining dragons? We can't let even more explode!"

The cursed effigies hurriedly checked the remaining dragons' bodies.

"These dragons all have an excellent foundation. There's an unusual draconic aura within their bodies that's strengthening them and allowing them to withstand the torrent of vitality headed their way. Just what is that aura?"

"If I'm not mistaken, it's the result of that Dragon Gate from way back."

"Have their bodies all been reforged by the Dragon Gate? No wonder they're able to withstand such stress."

The cursed effigies determined what was going on rapidly.

"What do we do now?"

"Our king's undergoing a fight to the death. It's so dangerous that he has to make use of his substitute bodies. He might need more later on, and the stronger the body's cultivation, the more helpful it'll be to him."

"The two remaining Heaven Immortal bodies have both exploded. If he needs more substitutes, he'll have to pick from among these new dragons. They aren't going to explode in the short term, so let's try to strengthen them as much as possible."

"Understood!" the other cursed effigies replied.

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