Wayfarer

Chapter 96: The Red Emperor's Companionship

While the Red Emperor and Blue Lantern looked at Xiao Nanfeng in stunned silence, Yu'er awoke from meditation.

"Thank you for your gift, Master." Yu'er bowed toward the Red Emperor.

Xiao Nanfeng twitched. "Senior Sister, what did you just address Her Majesty as?"

Yu'er whispered happily to Xiao Nanfeng, "The Red Emperor has deemed me worthy of becoming her disciple. She's my second master now, and she's been imparting countless techniques to me!"

"Oh?" Xiao Nanfeng gaped.

"Have you learned the technique?" the Red Emperor asked Yu'er.

"I have, Master!" Yu'er replied respectfully.

The Red Emperor nodded.

"Thank you for your boon, Your Majesty." Xiao Nanfeng bowed deeply toward the Red Emperor.

"I accepted her as my disciple, not you. What's there for you to be grateful about?" the Red Emperor replied. By then, the Red Emperor had given up all that the realm had to offer; she even stopped addressing herself with the royal 'we'.

"I am grateful for the black lotus bestowed upon me, Your Majesty," Xiao Nanfeng corrected himself.

The Red Emperor calmly sipped at her wine, as though caring little for the material things of the world.

"Red Emperor? It is almost time to leave. Will you leave with me?" Blue Lantern began.

"Leave? Whatever for?" the Red Emperor replied.

"Haven't we made a deal? I would wait for you to handle your affairs before you departed with me. With your officials dead, it's time to make a move," Blue Lantern replied.

The Red Emperor shook her head. "I am hardly finished with my affairs, and cannot leave with you."

"What?" Blue Lantern suddenly had a premonition of discomfort.

The Red Emperor looked toward Xiao Nanfeng and Yu'er. "Nanfeng, Yu'er, I ask that you accomplish a task for me: deliver my corpse to my consort's grave, allowing us to be buried together. Will you accept?"

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"I will, Master!" Yu'er immediately agreed.

"I am, Your Majesty, but I don't know where Emperor Wei's grave is located," Xiao Nanfeng replied with some reservation.

"It matters not. My spiritual power remains, and I'll accompany you on your journey. If not for the decomposition of my corpse over a millennium, I would be able to undertake this task myself otherwise," the Red Emperor sighed.

"We will do our best, Your Majesty," Xiao Nanfeng promised.

The Red Emperor smiled in satisfaction. She turned to Blue Lantern. "I had been intending to make you wait for a few days before having you bring me to my consort's grave. With the two of them around, however, I don't need you anymore."

Blue Lantern: ...

"For the moment, I cannot hand you the dragon-quelling spike that my consort promised you. If you still want it, come back once I've settled my affairs," the Red Emperor told him.

Blue Lantern was silent.

"I won't see you out," the Red Emperor finished. The Red Emperor seemed to harbor a particular distaste of Blue Lantern, but she controlled her emotions well, showing him the barest veneer of politeness.

Blue Lantern was silent for long moments before replying, "I will wait for you to settle your affairs, Your Majesty."

Blue Lantern's figure vanished in a wisp of smoke.

"Your Majesty, Elder Blue Lantern appears exceptionally strong. Wouldn't it be better to entrust your corpse to him?" Xiao Nanfeng asked curiously.

The Red Emperor disdainfully eyed where Blue Lantern had departed. "Do you think he would help me freely?"

Xiao Nanfeng waited for the Red Emperor to continue.

"Did Blue Lantern lend his assistance when Bai Ruoyi suffered her crisis? Do you think he would aid me freely? Strong though he might be, he is no saint. Had he lent my consort his full assistance when he sought a rebirth in the divine domain, my consort could not have failed—and yet fail he did. As for those dragon-quelling spikes, my consort paid an astronomical price for them, but Blue Lantern only allowed you to wish for your escape from the realm? Ha! He only wishes to obtain the greatest benefit at minimal cost, to trick you of the dragon-quelling spikes you now possess," the Red Emperor told them both.

"But with his strength, wouldn't it be trivial for him to steal our dragon-quelling spikes?" Xiao Nanfeng pressed.

"Some restriction of the divine domain prevents him from doing so. Do not give him your spikes lightly, for these are your talismans against danger. With the spikes, Blue Lantern will not cause you trouble; without, you might well suffer." The Red Emperor shook her head.

"Thank you for the warning, Your Majesty," Xiao Nanfeng replied, a series of complicated emotions flitting through his mind.

"I would have to pay a price for Blue Lantern to guide my corpse to my consort's grave, to grant him the treasures that lay within. Wherefore should I do so? Rather that I bequeath them to you two cultivators," the Red Emperor continued.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Xiao Nanfeng bowed deeply once again.

"Thank you, Master!" Yu'er added gratefully.

The Red Emperor sucked in a deep breath before glancing around the illusory realm again, her gaze filled with a shred of bitterness, as though she had recalled some sorrowful scene. She lifted up her cup of wine, downed it all, then smashed it against the ground.

The skies rumbled, and the illusory realm broke apart.

Xiao Nanfeng jolted awake in reality. He was still standing before the copper doors, with Yu'er to his side.

What lay within the copper doors was just like the other empress' tomb. Over a thousand cultivators sat meditating on the ground. Although they had just perished, cutting the connection between their physical bodies and spirits, the dragon-quelling spike had catalyzed the decomposition of their bodies. The treasures in the tomb were also decaying rapidly.

Atop a golden dragon's head was a copper coffin containing the Red Emperor's corpse. Beside the coffin stood her spirit: she had walked out of the illusory realm and into reality.

"Come over," the Red Emperor commanded.

The two cultivators quickly walked up to the coffin.

"Use the spirit-storing method I taught you to absorb what remains of this draconic vein. Store it within your body for now," the Red Emperor instructed Yu'er.

"Yes, Master!" Yu'er nodded fervently.

Opening her mouth wide, she began to suck in the air around the dragon's head, which transformed into draconic aether. Because the head was cracked, however, a fair amount of the draconic aether escaped.

"Nanfeng, my consort's tomb possesses treasures more suited to you, so let Yu'er absorb the bulk of this aether. That said, considering how weak your cultivation is, you should collect as much of the stray aether as you can," the Red Emperor advised.

Xiao Nanfeng nodded with a strange expression on his face.

The stray aether danced around the tomb, as though attempting to escape from the cavern through the walls. Xiao Nanfeng immediately used his Immortal Cicada to skewer them all, bringing them before him to be devoured.

Very quickly, Yu'er absorbed the entirety of the golden dragon's head. Her body glowed with golden light as the coffin floated to the ground.

Xiao Nanfeng had also gathered an impressive amount of draconic aether. Rather than distill it immediately, he sealed it within his body and stood guard around Yu'er.

Just then, a dragon-quelling spike slowly floated into the air and flew toward the Red Emperor. As she held the spike, blue light emanated from her body. Her eyes were closed, and she seemed to be concentrating on an incantation.

Six hours later, a burst of energy erupted from Yu'er's body as she slowly opened her eyes.

"Senior Sister, have you broken through?" Xiao Nanfeng whispered.

"I'm already at the third stage of Ascension," Yu'er replied. "I sealed the majority of the draconic aether in my body following the method Master taught me." She continued curiously, "Why is your body glimmering with golden light?"

"I was guarding you, and haven't had the time to distill the draconic aether in my body," Xiao Nanfeng explained.

"Do it now, then! Don't let all that aether dissipate. I'll guard you now," Yu'er urged.

Xiao Nanfeng nodded, then sat cross-legged in meditation. He entered his mindscape, seeing the black lotus floating silently above his stellar lake, nourished and being attuned to him via his spiritual power.

Xiao Nanfeng relaxed and began to distill the draconic aether in his body. His skin glowed with golden light. Two hours later, a burst of energy suffused him.

"The eighth stage of Immanence..." Xiao Nanfeng murmured, then began to unclog his divine capillaries.

Pops could be heard all over his body. The first... the fourth... the seventh... the ninth!

With all nine divine capillaries cleared, Xiao Nanfeng slowly opened his eyes. His qi barrier was radiant, and he sensed that his physical defense was strong enough to block a peak Immanence-realm cultivator's blow.

"Have you awoken?" the Red Emperor asked.

Xiao Nanfeng reined in his energy and looked toward the Red Emperor along with Yu'er. She was clutching the dragon-quelling spike with one hand and touching the copper coffin with the other.

"Thank you for your generous gift, Your Majesty." Xiao Nanfeng bowed.

"When we arrive at my consort's grave, retrieve my corpse from this coffin and place it within my consort's. Allow us to share in eternal slumber," the Red Emperor instructed.

"Understood, Your Majesty!"

"Your Majesty, you seem to have grown a bit more transparent than before...?" Xiao Nanfeng remarked.

"With my spirit unmoored, my spiritual power dissipates with every second. I am naturally weakening," the Red Emperor explained calmly. She didn't seem to care.

"Please allow me to provide you with some spiritual power," Xiao Nanfeng suggested.

The Red Emperor shook her head. "I'm not a spiritual body, just a truesoul with some remnant spiritual power. I won't be able to make use of others' spiritual power."

"How long will you be able to last in this state, Your Majesty?" Xiao Nanfeng was worried that she wouldn't be able to hold out.

"This dragon-quelling spike still retains some of my consort's strength. I established a small space within which to bide my time and slow my rate of decay. I should last until I see my consort for a final time," the Red Emperor stated.

"Your Majesty, we'll head to the grave as soon as possible," Xiao Nanfeng promised.

The Red Emperor nodded and was just about to enter the dragon-quelling spike when she raised her eyebrows and looked toward the sky.

"Your Majesty, is something the matter?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.

"A Spiritsong-realm crow spirit is interrogating a group of centipede spirits. It looks like it's coming for you," the Red Emperor said, her eyes brimming with red light. Despite the fact that they were far underground, it seemed as though she could see what was going on high above.