Chapter Ninety-Seven: Perhaps I Should Also Address You as Senior Fellow Daoist

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The spirit of the Rainbow Deer refused to yield. Suddenly, the scenery shifted, and he summoned the castle’s internal fortress. If this fortress trapped everyone inside, even if the Emperor An Tuo reached the level of Immortal Emperor, it would be extremely difficult to break through.

The Seven Seas Castle had two modes of attack: one for external assault and one for internal entrapment, using formations to wear down enemies.

As the two fiercely contested control, Lan Chulian’s expression changed repeatedly. Just as he raised his sword, the Azure Immortal Tree surrounded him, neither allowing him to attack nor permitting the formation to assault him.

Standing with one foot in two boats, this Immortal Tree displayed its treachery vividly.

Suddenly, the entire imperial artifact trembled. Strange symbols appeared, revealing numerous Immortal King-level beasts and cultivators within.

These were cultivators who had been trapped here over the years, nurtured to temporarily reach the Immortal King level.

Among them were the previously sealed twin brothers of Yin and Yang, Guo Shushan and Jin Yuanquan, now also Immortal Kings.

But judging from their confused eyes, they had become slaves to the imperial artifact—upon command, they could neither live nor die, nor transcend.

“I have thought of this day without cease, yet I was not ready. So I must imprison you forever!” said the Rainbow Deer sorrowfully, as if forced into this act.

Emperor An Tuo roared in anger, “Stop your hypocritical lies! You want to deceive me again!”

But Wu Yun whispered in his ear, “Every word is truth. For a spirit to become a true living being, great tribulations are needed. Even the entire Immortal Realm’s order will not permit it. If he truly succeeds, it will bring calamity to the Immortal Realm itself—order, the realm’s spirit, its guardians, and rulers will all fall. Tell me, is this not difficult and worthy of tears?”

Emperor An Tuo fell silent, but intensified his power.

The Rainbow Deer’s slaves came to assist, and the Azure Immortal Tree swayed left and right. With so many Immortal Kings and the current suppression by the artifact spirit, how could he resist?

As he hesitated, both the Rainbow Deer and Emperor An Tuo shouted, “Azure, assist me!”

The Immortal Tree shook its branches, wavering, but at the critical moment, hundreds of supreme Immortal Stones flew into the formation.

This sudden turn enraged the artifact spirit, who roared, “Intelligent beings cannot be trusted. I have indulged you greatly—even if you reach the peak of Immortal King, I would not stop you. Yet you think of your former master? Am I not good enough to you?”

“Listen to my explanation!”

Before Azure could speak, a tremendous pressure descended within the imperial artifact. As they say, the biggest must bear first; Azure was suppressed and immediately shrank in form.

Yet as Azure struggled to explain, the colors of the trunk, branches, roots, and leaves suddenly changed to a deep azure. Before he could react, the artifact spirit continued, “Did you think I wasn’t prepared? The leaves and roots you cultivated as Immortal artifacts were all forged from my materials. Now that you betray me, it is too late.”

Azure was stunned. Before he could speak, branches, leaves, and roots fell away, becoming weapons for the summoned slave warriors, leaving him with nothing but a bare trunk.

Cornered, Azure had no choice but to retreat into the formation. In turbulent times, one must pick a side, right or wrong, life or death.

Expressionless, Emperor An Tuo regarded Azure’s arrival with satisfaction. “Little Blue, do you now see who truly cares for you? Between you, me, and the Rainbow Deer, there is no secrecy or concealment. Yet he secretly placed restrictions on you. If he could escape my karmic bonds, your death would be the first consequence.”

“Think about why you have not yet taken human form—it is he who has restrained your growth. Now, I rely solely on you to resist him! Believe me, I have never hidden anything from you.”

Emperor An Tuo’s words, just spoken through Wu Yun, moved Azure to tears. His form shifted into a long wooden staff.

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This wooden staff was extraordinary—a White Phoenix Wutong, born from the Phoenix Divine Bird’s fiery rebirth. It feared neither water nor fire nor abrasion and had been a peerless immortal artifact since birth.

When Emperor An Tuo ascended as an Immortal King, he accidentally witnessed the phoenix’s fiery transformation, thought it dead, and sought to scavenge, only to find this burning stick.

He then tried everything, but instead of refining the burning stick into a weapon, he nurtured it to grow branches and leaves.

With the staff in hand, Emperor An Tuo felt powerful, as if returned to his youth. When he swung the staff, the White Phoenix Wutong blazed like a fierce sun, like a star appearing before him.

The Rainbow Deer was immediately overwhelmed. The various slave Immortal Kings summoned to assist were also scorched by the sun’s blaze. In an instant, no matter how much the artifact spirit urged, they instinctively struggled against death.

“With your body, you can only hold out for the time it takes a single incense stick to burn. If you cannot bring me to escape reincarnation, you may die; I will at most be suppressed!”

Hearing this, Wu Yun laughed inside his body: “Better to die than be suppressed.”

Seeing Emperor An Tuo’s power flow, he suddenly changed, his face returning to his own. With a wave of the staff, a black flame erupted, thick smoke billowing and filling the entire imperial artifact.

This burning made the dream-devouring evil spirit inside the crystal howl in pain: “I will never yield, even in death! You will never have me!”

“You always talk tough but have the weakest will,” Wu Yun said, swirling the staff. Instantly, the black smoke broke through the spirit’s suppression and, under Emperor An Tuo’s command, reduced the artifact’s pressure on Azure to a minimum.

Then the staff spun wildly, making Azure dizzy as its speed reached its peak. It suddenly expanded, returning to its original form—over 100,000 meters long—distorting the surrounding space before merging with Wu Yun’s body and piercing through the imperial artifact.

Emperor An Tuo was ecstatic, shouting to open a passage to send him back to the mortal world’s small realm. Suddenly, he felt heat, as if passing through something, then cold as he entered a liquid.

A chill ran through his heart. He angrily said, “Why haven’t we left? This is the millennia-old icy glacier amber water used for cooling during forging...”

Before he finished shouting, Wu Yun used the same trick repeatedly three times, each time ending in loud commotion.

By the end, the White Phoenix Wutong staff was charred black, Azure was faint from pain, and when the staff returned to its burning stick form, Wu Yun was still inside the imperial artifact.

“I can’t hold on!” he said, releasing the burning black staff.

Azure feigned death, motionless, even as several leaf-shaped Immortal weapons flew back, scorched and brittle from the residual heat.

“Still inside the imperial artifact?” Emperor An Tuo went mad. Before Wu Yun could explain, he tried to extract Wu Yun’s body, only to find bones protruding—his soul trapped within.

“Little An Tuo, you cannot leave. If the artifact spirit abandons you and pursues me, wouldn’t that be terrible?” Wu Yun’s voice had barely fallen when darkness enveloped them, trapping him within the Seven Seas Castle’s fortress.

This was a creation beyond Emperor An Tuo’s power. Before he could speak, the spirit of the Rainbow Deer laughed wildly, “What, want to leave the imperial artifact, leave the Immortal Sword, and start anew in the small world? You want to die, don’t drag me down with you. Master, you are still too selfish!”

As the spirit spoke to itself, Wu Yun addressed the dream-devouring evil spirit inside the crystal: “Yield or not?”

“...No, I yield. I submit fully!” The evil spirit’s reaction made Emperor An Tuo sweat—how could such a fierce demon be subdued so thoroughly?

What had just happened?

After the Rainbow Deer finished speaking, as a god might, he pointed at Wu Yun and declared, “Seven Seas decree: suppress!”

At those words, before Emperor An Tuo could resist, vast restraints materialized as several laws upon Wu Yun.

“Seven Seas decree: dissolve!”

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The Rainbow Deer was furious, intent on dissolving Wu Yun’s body, leaving only his soul, to be refined into an immortal artifact, never to be reborn.

As the laws entered Wu Yun’s body, even Emperor An Tuo sensed a destructive force. Just as he sighed, resigned, the destructive laws suddenly weakened, blocked by his imperial bones.

The Rainbow Deer, unwilling to give up, called out seven times for help, but to no avail.

This made the artifact spirit suspicious. Just as it meditated on the mystery, it suddenly weakened and vanished.

As the spirit disappeared, Wu Yun drew a second-grade Fear and Hate Immortal Sword. The next moment, a graceful figure appeared, accompanied by imperial power, gradually revealing her true form.

This avatar of the Imperial Serpent suddenly entered the imperial artifact!

“Heh heh, fellow traveler, you truly are a friend. I thought…” The Imperial Serpent’s avatar had yet to finish when Wu Yun waved his hand, taking the spirit of the Six Talents Ancestor Dragon from his Shock God Blade and placing it into the Fear and Hate Immortal Sword, casually handing it to her.

Wu Yun said calmly, “I fell from the Divine Realm after many hardships. Even now, powerful beings from other immortal realms covet my treasures. This Shock God Blade, you might as well have it!”

The Imperial Serpent was stunned for a long time. Finally, she touched the blade. Before she could speak, Wu Yun continued, “We are all Immortal Emperors and understand cause and effect. This blade is exchanged for this sword. And for those pursuing me, let this confuse them!”

“Ha ha!” The Imperial Serpent laughed sweetly. Suddenly, the Rainbow Deer appeared, transmitting a message. The avatar nodded repeatedly, “I see, fellow traveler, you have pierced the imperial artifact and destroyed the Nine-Flavored True Fire here. Why not come with me back to the Serpent King’s Immortal Mountain, and let my little sister entertain you?”

Wu Yun did not refuse outright. Before the Imperial Serpent, he shattered the encasing Seven Seas formation. In the distance, three massive beams of light appeared—where he had struck the Nine-Flavored True Fire thrice with the staff, revealing intense heat.

“Well said. Let me store these flames to prevent their extinguishing!”

“Arrogant!” Even the Rainbow Deer could no longer tolerate it, cursing, “This Nine-Flavored True Fire could burn you—burn…”

As he spoke, the three points formed a triangle. With the unfolding of spatial forces, the Nine-Flavored True Fire shrank like the dream-devouring evil spirit—until finally, Wu Yun flicked it into a crystal ball, enclosing the flames.

Within the crystal, the Nine-Flavored True Fire glowed steadily like a lightbulb.

The spirit of the Rainbow Deer tried to intervene, but the Imperial Serpent easily deflected her. Seeing Wu Yun’s technique, she was even more convinced of his identity and spoke respectfully, “Little sister, the Dragon Tribe Immortal Emperor you slew also possessed great skill. Such wondrous abilities are unheard of. May I ask, what principle is this?”

Wu Yun remained silent, placing the crystal inside his body. “Since the Imperial Serpent invites, I will oblige. Then we shall discuss this divine artifact and your cultivation methods, making this journey worthwhile.”

“Good!”

The Imperial Serpent’s avatar, carrying the Shock God Blade, disappeared, and Wu Yun, carrying the Fear and Hate Immortal Sword, prepared to leave.

Emperor An Tuo was dumbfounded. Never underestimate an Immortal Emperor’s avatar—they possess a fraction of the original’s power and can summon the original at will.

“Well then, perhaps I should also call you ‘senior’, what do you think, senior…”

Emperor An Tuo forced a smile, appearing behind Wu Yun, leaving the Rainbow Deer spirit stunned, the White Phoenix Wutong staff blossoming, and the likes of Dragon One cursing inwardly.

And the dream-devouring evil spirit, instantly subdued by the Nine-Flavored True Fire, was now respectfully changed in demeanor.