Chapter 398: A Boost All Around
After Croak, Warble, and the dragons were possessed, they stood immobile.
"Be careful. These dragons' bodies are all going to be substitute bodies for the king, so we can't completely extinguish the dragons' consciousness. If that happens, the moment these physical bodies lose contact with the souls they harbor, some vital essence will dissipate, and the body will immediately drop in quality. Leave a shred of consciousness behind so that they can absorb the vitality on the island. Once the king revives, we can get rid of their consciousness then," one specter warned.
"Understood!" the others replied.
Then, the draconic specters began to fly out of the dragons' mindscapes, leaving just one specter behind in each.
The dragons shivered as though they had all been simultaneously awakened, but their expressions were particularly sinister. It was evident that they had all been completely taken over by the draconic specters.
"Bring them to the island!" one specter said.
"Understood!" the possessed dragons replied.
They transformed into their dragon forms and flew through the air, including Ao Zhou. Meanwhile, Croak and Warble turned into two huge toad spirits.
"What? Toads?" Reead latest novels at nov/el/bin(.)com
"These two toads pretended to be dragons!"
"Could they have tricked our king, too?"
The draconic specters were astonished.
"What do we do with these two toad spirits?" one specter asked.
"Toss them into the Underworld Lake and have it strip their bodies of their vitality," another replied.
"Understood!" The two possessed toads hopped toward the Underworld Lake.
"Be careful. Don't stay too near the Underworld Lake. It's full of toxic poison that corrodes the soul, and can even harm us cursed effigies," another specter warned.
"Understood!"
The two toad spirits flew through the air. Then, a draconic specter emerged from each of their mindscapes as the toads closed their eyes and dropped toward the Underworld Lake in a huge splash of water.
"Go!" the other specters called out.
They and the thirty-one possessed dragons flew toward the island at the heart of the lake. The moment they landed on the island, vitality surged into their bodies.
"Keep guard over these dragons. I'm going to await orders by the entrance to the hall," one specter said.
"Understood!"
The majority of the specters slowly flew off, leaving the thirty-one motionless dragons behind. They seemed as though they were in a meditative state.
Then, Croak and Warble shook themselves as they awoke within the Underworld Lake.
"How are you, Warble?" Croak asked, swimming right up to its companion.
"I'm alright. The technique that Xiao Nanfeng passed us, The Divine Golden Toad, specially fortifies our souls. That was dangerous—these cursed effigies really are cautious. Before they tossed us into the lake, they even tried to extinguish our consciousness. Fortunately, they didn't plan on us having The Divine Golden Toad." Warble huffed lightly.
"That was dangerous, wasn't it? But this Underworld Lake doesn't seem bad at all. In fact, I feel really comfortable floating around here," Croak exclaimed in surprise.
"We work with poisons and are naturally resistant to them. Of course the poison here can't hurt us—no, it can even augment our cultivation! The Divine Golden Toad even incorporates a section on breaking down poison, allowing us to grow stronger by absorbing and breaking down potent poisons. This is a haven for our cultivation!" Warble announced.
"What about Ao Zhou?" Croak asked.
"They won't die. Ao Zhou's a tricky opponent to handle, and he surely has some way of protecting his own consciousness. What's more, we can't save them right now. If we make a move, we'd only expose ourselves. We might as well enjoy the toxic poison in the lake for now."
"You're right," Croak agreed.
"Understood!" A draconic specter immediately flew out from the dragon's mindscape.
The dragon's body twisted and transformed into the appearance of the Dragon Yanluo.
The other dragons opened their eyes. One asked, "King, has something happened outside?"
"It's none of your business. I'll kill them all! The formations expert, Blue Lantern—well, I'm about to be reborn. I'll kill him!" the Dragon Yanluo thundered.
Then, he flew out of the Underworld Lake straight for the door to the Yanluo Court.
The draconic specters were just about to report about the irregularities around the lake, but none had had time to speak.
Within the lake, Croak and Warble had overheard the conversation.
"Blue Lantern's here? Could Xiao Nanfeng have come to save us?" Warble asked, eyes brightening.
"It has to be Xiao Nanfeng. We're about to be saved! Let's absorb more of this water, quickly. We can't leave even a bit for the cursed effigies!" Croak shouted.
"Got it!"
The two toad spirits absorbed the lake water even more furiously than before, turning it clearer and clearer. If not for their golden secretions, the specters would have discovered the trick long ago.
However, such intense activity wouldn't go unnoticed by the draconic specters.
"Something's wrong. The vitality is entering my body far too quickly. I won't be able to take it much longer!" one cursed effigy shouted.
"Me too. My dragon's about to burst!"
One dragon's body really did burst in a shower of rainbow light.
"What? These bodies really can explode?!" one draconic specter cried out.
Yet another body burst apart in a huge explosion.
"Mine burst too. How are we going to answer to the king?!" The unfortunate draconic specter emerged from the remaining scraps of its body.
"Something must have gone wrong with the lake."
"But the lake water can corrode even us cursed effigies. We can't head down there and check!"
"Let's wait for the king to return."
"But what about these remaining dragons? We can't let even more explode!"
The cursed effigies hurriedly checked the remaining dragons' bodies.
"These dragons all have an excellent foundation. There's an unusual draconic aura within their bodies that's strengthening them and allowing them to withstand the torrent of vitality headed their way. Just what is that aura?"
"If I'm not mistaken, it's the result of that Dragon Gate from way back."
"Have their bodies all been reforged by the Dragon Gate? No wonder they're able to withstand such stress."
The cursed effigies determined what was going on rapidly.
"What do we do now?"
"Our king's undergoing a fight to the death. It's so dangerous that he has to make use of his substitute bodies. He might need more later on, and the stronger the body's cultivation, the more helpful it'll be to him."
"The two remaining Heaven Immortal bodies have both exploded. If he needs more substitutes, he'll have to pick from among these new dragons. They aren't going to explode in the short term, so let's try to strengthen them as much as possible."
"Understood!" the other cursed effigies replied.
