Chapter 1120: A True Immortal's Faithful Follower
Chapter 1120: A True Immortal's Faithful Follower
Strictly speaking, Kou Hong and Dao Xuanzi were not actually members of the Federation of All Worlds.
They had merely been part of its predecessor, the Congyun Mutual Aid Association.
Ever since the Dharma Spreader had annihilated the Congyun Mutual Aid Association, they had lost all contact with Li Fan.
It was only their shared, unwavering faith in the Red Dust Compassionate Immortal that allowed them to faintly sense the Federation's existence.
Now that the Federation was destroyed, as long as they kept quiet, no one would ever know of the immense debt of gratitude they owed it.
Unfortunately for them, these two were men of profound conviction.
Upon hearing the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance’s decree to exterminate the Federation, they felt no fear, nor did they try to conceal their past.
Instead, they did everything in their power to assassinate cultivators belonging to the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance.
In this life, both men had received Li Fan's guidance. Dao Xuanzi had established his foundation with the Ocean Pearl, and Kou Hong with the Hundred Thousand Mountains Cauldron. Their progress over the years had been astonishingly fast, and both had already reached the mid-Golden Core stage.
But before a behemoth like the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance, they were nothing more than ants. After killing just over a dozen insignificant Alliance cultivators, they were swiftly surrounded by members of the Law Enforcement Hall.
Unwilling to be taken captive, Dao Xuanzi died in a blaze of self-destruction, a defiant laugh echoing as his last act.
Kou Hong had intended to follow his friend in death, but the Alliance cultivators stopped him.
After severing both his arms and destroying one of his eyes, they sent him to the Gloomy Prison to be suppressed for all eternity.
"Enjoy running your mouth while you still can. Let's see if you're still this tough after you've had a taste of the arrays here." Faced with Kou Hong's incessant curses, the Alliance cultivator escorting him was not angered, but simply sneered.
Kou Hong, however, continued to curse without pause.
What happened next was somewhat beyond even Li Fan's expectations.
Li Fan was all too familiar with the power of the arrays within the tall pillars of the Gloomy Prison. An ordinary person subjected to such endless torment would not be able to endure it for long before they instinctively started to howl and beg for mercy.
But this Kou Hong, even when tortured to the brink of death, his consciousness fading into a blur...
...never stopped uttering his faint, furious curses.
"This is partly due to the Faceless Immortal's brainwashing, but it is also a testament to Kou Hong's own unwavering will. Once he decides on a course of action, he will see it through, even if it means his death. He has no regrets."
When Li Fan first met them, they could have earned a Golden Core cultivation technique by joining the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance and toiling like beasts of burden for a decade or so. But they refused, preferring to risk their lives exploring the ruins of ancient sects.
Later, after finding a Nascent Soul technique, the two men, close as brothers, fought to the death for a sliver of a chance at attaining the Dao.
And in this life, after being saved by Li Fan from the mutated Immortal-Mortal Miasma, they joined the Mutual Aid Association and became the most sincere seekers of the Dao, devoted to the Red Dust Compassionate Immortal.
...
These instances clearly illustrated their characters.
"He is a promising asset, someone I can shape and use. At the very least, he should be more reliable than those so-called geniuses." Li Fan gazed at the distant Kou Hong, whose face remained set with determination even in his unconscious state, a flicker of approval in his eyes.
In this life, as the Spirit Wood Realm was on the verge of collapse and Li Fan led the Federation members in their escape, he had taken careful note of everyone's performance.
Those prodigies from the Mountain River Pavilion, whom Shang Tianci had turned, had sworn an oath before the statue of the Faceless Immortal. Yet, when faced with a true life-or-death crisis, they showed no intention of sharing the Federation's fate.
Instead, they were filled with regret, looking for a chance to flee or surrender.
In terms of loyalty alone, they paled in comparison to Kou Hong.
As he thought this, a faint, almost invisible glimmer of light pierced through the pillar of the cage and flew toward the unconscious Kou Hong in the distance.
The tormented expression on Kou Hong's face instantly eased.
When he awoke and realized what had appeared in his mind, a strange look flashed in his eyes.
Still, he pretended to be as defiant as ever, loudly denouncing the many shameless deeds of the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance.
Simultaneously, he began to study the knowledge he had just acquired.
"This is..."
"A detailed analysis of array formations?"
"And it's for the very arrays that make up this prison cage?"
"How did this get into my head?"
After a long moment, Kou Hong's mind reeled. He fought back the urge to look around.
"If this analysis is accurate, then escaping this place would be laughably easy."
Having been through so much, Kou Hong was far more composed than he used to be.
He didn't trust it blindly. For the time being, he began to diligently study the contents of the array analysis.
Although he had only briefly studied arrays before, this guide was profound yet simple, written in a way that was easy to understand. Coupled with Kou Hong's own considerable aptitude...
...seven days later, he had already grasped the basics.
At the same time, a sliver of doubt crossed his mind. "Could this be a trap?"
"This is clearly a place where the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance imprisons its most serious offenders. How could the security arrays be so simple? How could a novice like me be able to crack them after just a few days of study?"
Without making a sound, Kou Hong attempted to breach the array.
His body was extremely weak, and the spiritual energy within him was sealed tight, impossible to use. Yet, by mustering every last ounce of his strength to create a ripple of spiritual power, he managed to affect the cage's array, just slightly.
The change this brought was that when the prison guards activated the array to torture him again, the pain he felt was lessened by a fraction!
"It's real?" As agony wracked his body, Kou Hong's heart flooded with ecstatic joy.
But he quickly calmed himself and began to ponder the origin of the array analysis in his mind.
"I'm just a minor Golden Core cultivator. The Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance has no reason to play games with me."
"And the level of expertise shown in this analysis, in every word and phrase, is far beyond that of the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance..."
A sacred name instantly appeared in Kou Hong's mind.
"The Red Dust Compassionate Immortal."
At that exact moment, a warm current surged forth from within Kou Hong, flowing through his limbs and meridians.
It instantly shattered the seals placed by the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance. As it nourished and repaired his broken body, it also rapidly elevated his cultivation.
Sensing the world-altering transformation within him, Kou Hong's body went rigid. He dared not show any sign of abnormality, terrified of being discovered.
But inside, his heart was already overflowing with tears.
The great and merciful Red Dust Immortal had not abandoned him!
"The Federation has been destroyed. There can't be many of the True Immortal's followers left in the world now."
"I am deep within this prison, yet the True Immortal has suddenly bestowed upon me a way to escape..."
As he thought, Kou Hong's eyes began to shine.
He quickly bowed his head to hide his inner excitement. "I understand. The Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance destroyed the Federation. This is a blood feud that cannot be forgiven!"
"The enemy of my enemy is my friend, as they say. The prisoners here are all mortal enemies of the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance. If I were to release all of them..."
(End of Chapter)
Comments