Wayfarer

Chapter 26: Embodiment of Reality

"Master, have you been hunting down this cursed effigy all along?" Xiao Nanfeng asked, walking up to his master's side.

"Hunting down? I've killed it more than once, but it respawns every time. There's no way to kill it permanently, so we have to seal it instead. Unfortunately, it's sly and cunning, and avoids me whenever I'm prepared to deal with it," Elder Ku sighed.

"You must be incredibly strong for it to fear you, Master." Xiao Nanfeng smiled.

Elder Ku shook his head. "No. At its peak, it would have been able to level a kingdom. If I had encountered it then, I would not have been able to do anything but run. A few events transpired to have caused it to grow so weak."

"Weak?!" Xiao Nanfeng glanced at the skeleton in shock.

This skeleton, who had gone around killing recruits like a machine, was weak? Just how strong did it have to be at its peak?

"It's been many years since it last showed up, so I was shocked by its sudden reappearance last month. Fortunately, we managed to catch it before it regained its peak strength. Thank goodness—a calamity might have ensued otherwise." Elder Ku took a deep breath. "But what are you doing here? I'm sure I told everyone that I was not to be disturbed."

"Master, I apologize. I had no choice. There are a number of people trying to capture me outside the hall, and I had no choice but to seek shelter here."

"What? Who dares?!" Elder Ku cried out.

"This is one of them, Master. He lured me to the shore, tricked me into consuming paralytic poison, and tried to manipulate me into listening to his demands and stealing a possession of yours, Master." Xiao Nanfeng pointed at Tang.

Tang was so scared that he immediately knelt. "Senior Brother, I've committed a grave mistake! I was just obeying orders!"

Elder Ku frowned gravely.

Xiao Nanfeng continued, "Further, on the way back, I encountered a large number of senior disciples trying to apprehend me. I only dared call out to you from outside the hall, Master, but as those disciples neared me, I was forced to enter to seek shelter."

"Is that so?" Elder Ku's eyes flashed with coldness, with murderous intent that surrounded Tang. "Who dares act so boldly in the Taiqing sect?!"

He had just taken in an impressive disciple—who was trying to target him? No, this can be construed as an attack on me!

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Tang seemed rather shell-shocked. Who else was trying to apprehend Nanfeng except for him?

He wasn't about to take responsibility for this!

Tang explained, "Only two among our group were responsible for capturing Senior Brother Nanfeng. We don't know anything about the rest."

"Tang, didn't you say that you would confess the names of those in your organization? Reveal their identities now!" Xiao Nanfeng suddenly glared at Tang.

Tang probed, "If I do, will you let me go?"

Elder Ku played a note on his guqin. Immediately, a group of zombie-like demons surged toward Tang, causing him to pale in fright.

"No, Elder Ku! I'll confess everything, everything!" Tang cried out.

"Now!" Elder Ku commanded.

Tang swallowed a gulp of saliva and recited eight names immediately.

"This is all I know. I'm not high up enough in the organization to know more—I don't know about the others. There was also a Chen Hai, but he died within the illusory realm. Chen Hai's at the eighth stage of Acquisition, but Senior Brother Nanfeng managed to defeat him with Hegemon's Fist despite being two stages lower in cultivation!"

"Oh? Nanfeng, you managed to defeat such an advanced opponent using Hegemon's Fist, which you've only studied for a month?" Elder Ku seemed perplexed. He had taught Xiao Nanfeng Hegemon's Fist himself, and he knew how unfamiliar his disciple was with the technique at the beginning—so how had he grown enough to be able to use it effectively against a stronger opponent so quickly?

"I apologize, Master, but it took me the whole month to get past the basics," Xiao Nanfeng replied.

"The basics? It took you just a month to get the basics down?!"

Hegemon's Fist was known for its complexity; without one or two years' intense training, it was impossible to understand the demands of the technique.

"Master, you allowed me access to the first level of the Vault of Scriptures, and I've been deeply contemplating the various fist-related scriptures within. Among them, I identified eight scriptures that had some relevance to Hegemon's Fist, among them Treatise of the Fist, Hegemon's Path, and Hagiography of the Hegemon. These scriptures allowed me to easily integrate the insights of Taoist masters into my own realization of Hegemon's Fist."

Elder Ku: ...

Any other disciple would have collapsed under the mental strain of memorizing even half as many books in a month, but Xiao Nanfeng had read at least eight and comprehended them to such an extent that he could integrate them into Hegemon's Fist!

Just what sort of incredible disciple had he taken in?

"Although you barged into this hall for good reason, the law of the Taiqing sect must be upheld. Nanfeng, I hereby punish you with memorizing ten Taoist scriptures related to qi of pure yang. I'll have the disciples responsible for tending to the vault help you pick them out," Elder Ku continued.

"Thank you, Master!" Xiao Nanfeng's eyes lit up in anticipation. There would be disciples to help him find the best books for his cultivation! It would save him tremendous effort.

Tang glanced at Xiao Nanfeng, stupefied. Had he misheard? Why was Xiao Nanfeng thanking Elder Ku for this supposed punishment?

"Do not tarry here overlong," Elder Ku warned. "I must seal that cursed effigy for good. Leave at once."

"Master, there are plenty of disciples waiting outside to apprehend me," Xiao Nanfeng urged.

"In the second compartment on the left of my bookshelf, you'll find an Ascended token with the authority to command all disciples of the Ascended division. Use your qi to manipulate the mechanism, in the order of intertwined heavenly stems and earthly branches, to retrieve it. With that token, no one will dare seize you," Elder Ku replied.

"Yes, Master!" Xiao Nanfeng bowed respectfully.

"Now, I'll free you both from this illusion. The cursed effigy is extremely weak at the moment, and can only influence your mental state, not reality. After you exit this realm, do not touch my physical body. Leave the hall at once," Elder Ku warned.

He plucked a string of his guqin, and a wave of energy instantly enveloped Xiao Nanfeng and Tang. They vanished from the illusion and returned to their physical bodies.

Xiao Nanfeng found himself holding onto a big sack, within which were Tang and Chen Hai, one unconscious and the other dead.

Within the hall, Elder Ku's physical body was seated by a stout table nearby, his hands on his guqin, motionless. Everything was still.

As instructed, Xiao Nanfeng found Elder Ku's Ascended token.

He was just about to leave when his eyes suddenly widened in shock. A wave of fear chilled him, as though he had suddenly been transported to an icy cellar. In a dim corner of the room was a bleached white skeleton quietly staring at him.

Has that cursed effigy managed to make its way to reality?!

He had just left Elder Ku's illusion. How had the skeleton managed to escape? Hadn't his master claimed that it was unable to make its way to reality?

The skeleton flashed to Elder Ku's side.

"No!" Xiao Nanfeng cried out.

The skeleton brandished its claws and made to strike at Elder Ku's neck.

"Hold it!" Xiao Nanfeng leapt forward in shock, without any hesitation.

Just as the claws touched Elder Ku's neck, about to pierce through his flesh at any moment—

time seemed to pause. The skeleton's claws didn't lacerate flesh. Rather, it held its claws still, as though waiting for Xiao Nanfeng to approach.

Xiao Nanfeng was halfway there when he suddenly stilled, recalling what his master had told him: not to touch his physical body.

Elder Ku wouldn't have given him the warning for no reason. If the skeleton really could affect reality, it would already have struck—waiting wouldn't make any sense. There was only one explanation: the skeleton was just a manifestation in his head, trying to lure him into doing exactly what his master had warned against.

Though he remained worried, he ultimately stopped short of touching his master's body.

As expected, the skeleton didn't attack.

The skeleton turned to Xiao Nanfeng, the bones in its neck grinding as it did so, staring at him via vacant eye sockets.

Xiao Nanfeng shuddered.

When the skeleton made no further move, Xiao Nanfeng grew even more confident in his hypothesis. He bowed respectfully to Elder Ku, ignored the skeleton, and then left the hall with sack and token in tow.

The skeleton watched on dumbly as Xiao Nanfeng left, frozen in shock. Why are you leaving? Aren't you going to stop me? Don't you care about him?

As the doors to the hall shut tightly once more, the skeleton slowly retracted its claws, vibrating in anger. Wisps of black smoke emanated from its skull.

It remained silent for many moments longer before moving to the window. It glared outside, wisps of smoke frothing from its jawbones, as though trying to curse Xiao Nanfeng from afar.