Wayfarer

Within the Yanluo Court, the Dragon Yanluo tossed the grievously wounded Xiao Nanfeng to a group of his subordinates as he rushed off toward the Underworld Lake.

"Xiao Nanfeng, why would you follow me into my seat of power? Once I'm reborn in a new body, I'll take my time to deal with you," the Dragon Yanluo declared.

Although he was confident in his subordinates, he knew how devious Xiao Nanfeng was. He didn't think that Xiao Nanfeng would be possessed so easily, and had to take advantage of whatever additional time he had.

Very quickly, he arrived by the Underworld Lake, where he shot toward the island at its center.

On the island, he saw that the two remaining Heaven Immortal bodies had exploded. A surge of vitality revolved around the island without dissipating, so dense it had almost congealed.

"What's going on?!" the Dragon Yanluo thundered.

"King, something's wrong with the Underworld Lake. Over the last two days, the dragons have been infused with vitality more and more quickly. Just now, after you took over a dragon, that vitality increased even more rapidly, causing those two Heaven Immortal dragons' bodies to burst apart. All that vitality is trapped on this island by the formation in the lake, so they've all been surging toward the remaining dragons' bodies," one specter immediately reported.

The Dragon Yanluo turned toward the Underworld Lake, whereupon he frowned mightily. "There's something in the lake stealing my water. Die!"

Without any hesitation, it shot into Ao Zhou's mindscape. A draconic specter was shoved out.

"What an incredible body. This body's bloodline is as fine as mine used to be. How could this be?!" the Dragon Yanluo exclaimed.

"King, all these bodies are exceptional," the other specters said.

The Dragon Yanluo glanced at the other bodies in shock. "Have they all passed through the Dragon Gate?"

"Yes, King!"

"In that case, there's no need to infuse vitality a bit at a time. Formation, bring all the vitality forth!" the Dragon Yanluo commanded.

With a hum, the entire island quaked. An endless stream of rainbow vitality surged into the dragons' bodies.

The cursed effigies roared as they felt their strength balloon.

"Don't worry about not being able to distill all the vitality. These bodies can all withstand tremendous stress. You can just store the vitality somewhere for now."

"Understood!" the cursed effigies chorused.

The dragons quickly devoured all the vitality that had come their way.

Suddenly, the Dragon Yanluo floated into the air above the lake. He stared at its depths.

"These bastards—they've almost drained the lake dry!" the Dragon Yanluo roared.

"Warble, we've been discovered. I'll attack first. You finish absorbing whatever remains!" Croak shouted.

Croak shot out of the lake and careened toward the Dragon Yanluo, who retaliated with a flick of his tail.

A tempest formed as the two spirits struck each other.

Only then did the cursed effigies realize that the essence of the lake water was completely gone. All that remained was a lake of clear water and countless dried-up skeletons. Warble absorbed the final portion of lake water and shot forward.

"Die!" the cursed effigies roared.

The possessed dragons struck at Warble.

A huge fight ensued around the Underworld Lake. Croak fought the Dragon Yanluo alone, while Warble fought the massed draconic specters.

Just then, Xiao Nanfeng arrived at the lakeside. To his surprise, he saw Croak and Warble fighting against the dragons. There were four more draconic specters hovering by the side. Quickly, he realized what was going on. The dragons had all been possessed; only Croak and Warble still had agency.

"Dragon Yanluo? You possessed Ao Zhou?!" Xiao Nanfeng thundered.

The Dragon Yanluo was being restricted by the subpar strength of his current body. Croak was able to hold him in place and force a fight.

"Go get rid of Xiao Nanfeng! He's grievously wounded and will be an easy opponent," the Dragon Yanluo thundered.

One dragon managed to shake off Warble and shoot toward Xiao Nanfeng. It closed in on him and flicked its tail toward him.

Xiao Nanfeng's eyes turned cold. He grabbed the dragon's tail and whipped it around, smashing the dragon into the ground and causing it to shriek. Xiao Nanfeng stepped on the dragon's head with a foot, preventing the dragon from breaking free no matter how it struggled.

"What? Xiao Nanfeng, shouldn't you be injured?!" the Dragon Yanluo demanded from afar.

"That was only a minor injury," Xiao Nanfeng retorted.

"How could you have recovered from wounds of that magnitude so rapidly? Furthermore, isn't your moon supposed to be red? why is it blue now?"

"You don't have to worry about that. For possessing these dragons, you'll pay with your lives!"

Croak suddenly called out, "These dragons might have been possessed, but their consciousness hasn't been extinguished completely. You might still be able to save them!"

"Oh? They can be saved?"

"You intend to save them? Dream on. My subordinates have already melded with these bodies. No one can save them!" the Dragon Yanluo declared.

Xiao Nanfeng frowned. "Who knows?"

He reached a hand into one dragon's mindscape.

"Argh!" a scream rang out.

Xiao Nanfeng caught a draconic specter and pulled it out of the dragon's mindscape.

"Impossible! How can that blue light coming from your body draw out a cursed spiritual avatar? What's wrong with your spiritual power?!" the Dragon Yanluo demanded.

Xiao Nanfeng's hand shone with blinding blue light. The draconic specter in his palm screamed as though being branded by scorching-hot metal.

"King, this blue light's countering my cursed spiritual power. It's as if there are a thousand blades spearing me through my heart. Argh!" The draconic specter screamed again before it vanished in a cloud of smoke.

The dragons all around reared back in shock.

The dragon whose specter Xiao Nanfeng had removed, on the other hand, suddenly shook and opened its eyes.

"King Xiao, where am I?" it mumbled weakly.

"They really can be saved! Are you awake?" Xiao Nanfeng asked in surprise.

The dragon still seemed a little dazed from the recent soul damage it had incurred. The next moment, however, it gaped in surprise. "My cultivation has advanced, and there's tremendous vitality surging through my body. What's going on? The last thing I remember, I was taking on a group of cursed effigies with the dragon king!"

"You're safe now. Rest well," Xiao Nanfeng said.

He shot toward the other cursed effigies. Along the way, he saw four unmoored draconic specters. He swiped at them, his palm glowing with blue light, and they vanished in clouds of smoke.

"He's coming. Be careful!" the other cursed effigies cried out.

Xiao Nanfeng arrived before yet another dragon. He reached into the dragon's mindscape and pulled out a draconic specter. With a squeeze of his hand, it vanished in a cloud of smoke.

Xiao Nanfeng rushed off toward the next dragon.

"No! We have to attack him together!" the draconic specters cried out.

However, they were far weaker than Xiao Nanfeng, and Warble was assisting him from the side.

Xiao Nanfeng quickly rescued all the dragons that had been possessed by draconic specters, and he had destroyed all those specters as well.

Within moments, only the Dragon Yanluo remained, still fighting with Croak in mid-air.

"Croak, go guard the dazed dragons with Warble. I'll handle him!" Xiao Nanfeng strode forward.

"Got it!"

Croak pushed aside the Dragon Yanluo and flew toward where Warble was. They began guarding the dragons together.

Meanwhile, Xiao Nanfeng blocked the Dragon Yanluo's path.

The Dragon Yanluo, having possessed Ao Zhou, was now in the form of a black dragon. A tremendous aura emanated from him.

"Dragon Yanluo, were you the one who caught Croak, Warble, and these dragons? What were you planning to do to them? Advance their cultivation?" Xiao Nanfeng gave the Dragon Yanluo an odd look.

He wasn't aware of just what the spirits had suffered; he arrived at the lake to find, to his surprise, that they had all grown significantly stronger.

The Dragon Yanluo stared at the gathered spirits and roared in sudden anger.

"Xiao Nanfeng, they destroyed two of my Heaven Immortal bodies. Did you send them here? Was this all part of your dastardly scheme? Die!" the Dragon Yanluo bellowed.

"Are you crazy? When did I scheme against you? You must have tried and failed to kill them, allowing them to take advantage of you!"

Xiao Nanfeng struck the Dragon Yanluo with a punch that spawned a tempest.

He and the Dragon Yanluo were, at this moment, about equals in strength. However, Xiao Nanfeng's blue moon spiritual power was a direct counter against cursed effigies, and the Dragon Yanluo was forced back once and again.

"You dare criticize me? The heavens themselves are far more devastating, causing calamity to descend on the world once every ten thousand years. Should it not suffer any backlash? In this world, the strong prey on the weak. The bandit who executes a successful coup is called king! I might have failed to account for some variables, but I can still easily handle you," the Dragon Yanluo roared.

"You might have been able to do so in your previous body, but not in Ao Zhou's," Xiao Nanfeng declared.

He sent the Dragon Yanluo reeling time and time again.

"I was forced to leave my cursed spiritual avatar in the abyss before escaping from it. Otherwise, you would hardly be my match!" the Dragon Yanluo roared.

"Whatever the reason, you've lost. As you said, you're only just a bandit. Your Yanluo Court isn't even particularly strong, is it? The Snake Yanluo's was more impressive." Xiao Nanfeng's punch sent the Dragon Yanluo flying.

The Dragon Yanluo smashed a boulder into rubble as he landed on the ground.

"You've seen the Snake Yanluo? Where?!"

"I slew her and allowed one of my seniors to devour her body. Her Yanluo Court exuded far more pressure than yours did, but that Yanluo Court has since been reclaimed by my senior as well."

"Who? Who could devour the Snake Yanluo?!" the Dragon Yanluo exclaimed.

"You'll be able to see it soon enough."

He stepped on Ao Zhou's body with one leg, reached into his mindscape, caught something, and pulled.

With a scream, the Dragon Yanluo's specter emerged from Ao Zhou's body, caught firmly in Xiao Nanfeng's hand.

Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.c(o)m