Chapter 801: White Jade Fragment
Upon seizing control of the Immortal Emperor of Dahan's body, Xiao Nanfeng immediately felt a surge of powerful energy coursing through him. The next moment, however, he quickly realized something was wrong. He felt uncomfortable; he couldn't seem to unleash the full power of his body.
"A Boundless Immortal's physical body? You did come prepared, boy, but this isn't the outside world. Physical cultivation is restricted here. Even while possessing a Boundless Immortal's body, you won't be able to unleash a Boundless Immortal's strength," the white-robed woman sneered.
"Let's try it, then." Xiao Nanfeng shot into the sky.
The woman's eyes flashed coldly. She raised her hand; a towering pillar of white light appeared behind her. The pillar seemed to channel immense power into her body, making her aura surge further. She thrust a palm in his direction, and Xiao Nanfeng countered with a strike of his own. The two forces collided with a thunderous explosion that sent shockwaves through the area.
Despite his effort, Xiao Nanfeng could intimately feel that the body he had possessed was unable to perform up to its usual standards. He was quickly sent flying by the woman's overpowering attack.
"As I said, your physical body is no match for me here. It's only an early-stage Boundless Immortal in the world at large. Here, the physical restrictions at play make it even weaker."
What Xiao Nanfeng felt most acutely was that this body responded only sluggishly to his control, as if his possession were imperfect.
Even so, it was still a Boundless Immortal's body.
"Hegemon's Fist!" Xiao Nanfeng shot forward as the two cultivators began to fight once more.
Meanwhile, the two superior yin pearls and a horde of blue-furred monsters had rushed toward Xiao Nanfeng's spiritual moon and Lan Yaoguang.
With a roar, Xiao Nanfeng's spiritual moon launched itself at the two superior yin pearls. It smashed into one, then charged at the other.
Though outnumbered, Xiao Nanfeng's spiritual moon held its own against the two pearls and matched them blow for blow.
Lan Yaoguang, meanwhile, fought fiercely with the Shangqing Yin Body and the Cursebane Sword. Again any other opponent, she might have suffered, but she had a clear advantage against these blue-furred monsters. Whenever she slew one of them, the sword absorbed its energy and replenished hers.
Though she was sent flying by a horde of the blue-furred monsters, the damage she incurred was insignificant. She reaped the blue-furred monsters at a frenetic pace.
The fighting lasted for an entire day and night.
The Immortal Emperor of Dahan's body became soaked in blood. It was badly damaged. Because of the restrictions imposed on this hidden realm, Xiao Nanfeng was unable to exert his full strength. If not for his Hegemon's Fist, he would long since have been defeated.
Even so, he couldn't last much longer.
By then, his spiritual moon and the two superior yin pearls were all badly damaged as well.
Only Lan Yaoguang continued to grow stronger as the fighting progressed. The Cursebane Sword grew to an incredible degree, replenishing her spiritual power and augmenting her strength.
After a day and a night of fighting, she had finally taken down all the blue-furred monsters in the vicinity. Her aura had been strengthened to an incredible degree.
Rather than focus on consolidating her insights immediately, she moved to the other two battlefields.
In a flash of light, she arrived by the side of the superior yin pearls and pierced through one of them with her sword. That superior yin pearl shrieked as Xiao Nanfeng's spiritual moon swallowed it whole.
It ground down the pearl, allowing it to replenish its own energy and heal from the wounds it had sustained.
The white-clad woman shrieked, "Impossible! Superior yin pearls can't devour each other. Who are you? What are you?!"
Behind her, the towering pillar of white light began to shake violently. A surge of energy flowed from the pillar toward the woman.
Suddenly, however, Xiao Nanfeng's spiritual moon positioned itself between the pillar of light and the white-clad woman. It absorbed the immense power from the pillar and began to shudder violently.
"Let me go, you bastard!"
However, Xiao Nanfeng, still in the Immortal Emperor of Dahan's body, held her tightly and prevented her from escaping. The Cursebane Sword released waves of energy into her body, causing her unbearable pain.
Meanwhile, Xiao Nanfeng's spiritual moon continued to absorb the pillar's energy, seemingly intent on wresting control of it from her.
"No! Return me my pillar of natural law!" the white-clad woman shrieked.
Even so, her pleas were in vain. Immobilized by Xiao Nanfeng and the Cursebane Sword, she was unable to stop Xiao Nanfeng's spiritual moon from gaining control over the pillar.
After that, her strength began to recede rapidly. Her body quickly weakened. Xiao Nanfeng gaped at her in surprise. "All your strength was from that pillar of light. You're only a peak True Yin cultivator..."
"No!" the white-clad woman shrieked again.
Her body began to change in form until it was nothing more than a massive superior yin pearl, one which Xiao Nanfeng was hugging, and one which the Cursebane Sword had pierced.
"She was a superior yin pearl, too?" Lan Yaoguang exclaimed.
At that moment, Xiao Nanfeng's spiritual moon opened its mouth wide, wider than ever, and swallowed the entire pearl whole.
It glowed even more brightly than before.
Xiao Nanfeng emerged from the Immortal Emperor of Dahan's broken body. Its flesh was mangled and severe wounds stretched across it. He quickly stored it back in his storage treasure.
"Senior, are you aware of what's going on here?" Xiao Nanfeng asked his spiritual moon.
Though it had never deigned to respond to him, they had just undergone a strenuous fight together. Perhaps it had had a change of heart.
Indeed, the spiritual moon wrote back, manifesting a series of letters with white light, "These enlightenment grounds are governed by superior yin pearls. Different enlightenment grounds can clash and merge with each other; the victor becomes king, and the loser must submit. That woman was the king of these grounds, and the other ten superior yin pearls were her subordinates. Their eleven individual enlightenment grounds were combined into a cohesive whole. She invoking the natural law of her domain to greatly amplify her power, as you saw."
Xiao Nanfeng's eyes lit up. His spiritual moon was finally willing to communicate with him, and the information it provided was invaluable.
"Thank you, Senior."
"These enlightenment grounds were left behind by the Shangqing Grandmaster. They're useless to me—absorb them into your soul and you'll be able to invoke spiritual harmony within it."
"Thank you, Senior!" Xiao Nanfeng said.
Xiao Nanfeng's spiritual moon trembled. The massive pillar of white light condensed into a fragment of white jade, which floated into Xiao Nanfeng's hand.
The spiritual moon flew into Xiao Nanfeng's mindscape to consolidate its gains.
"Can this fragment of white jade control these Enlightenment Grounds, then?" Lan Yaoguang exclaimed in anticipation.