Chapter 109: Beheading the Crow King
You Jiu's cultivation had been sealed by the crow king, and his physical body had been chained. He sat quietly by a corner of his tent. Two days went by in relative peace, and he couldn't help but feel anxious.
Just then, three clouds of black smoke were sent into the air from afar. The sudden phenomenon caused the gathered black-armored cultivators to grow alert.
At the same time, a group of crow spirits fled back to the camp, a golden crow spirit among them seemingly heavily wounded and bleeding all over. They cawed loudly, summoning the crow king.
"What's the matter?" the crow king asked, frowning.
The wounded golden crow quickly recounted what had happened at the cave.
"Nanfeng? Didn't he die to that cursed effigy? And Yu'er? They still dare show themselves? Did they encounter you all by coincidence? Very good, very good. I won't let them get away this time!" The crow king soared into the air, heading straight for the other valley.
A group of crow spirits accompanied their king in an imposing retinue, serving as scouts to prevent Xiao Nanfeng from hiding.
You Jiu's eyes lit up. It was clear that Xiao Nanfeng had succeeded. He took a deep breath; then, his whole body trembled. With a few dull clinks and clanks, You Jiu freed himself of his seals with a secret technique.
"What are you doing?" one black-armored guard shouted, noticing the disturbance. He turned to see You Jiu stand straight up, the chains binding him having fallen to the ground. You Jiu was free!
"You Jiu's going to run!" the black-armored guard shouted in fear.
You Jiu flashed to his side, thrust a finger through the center of his forehead, and snatched his weapon away.
"Catch him! No, delay him! Quick, inform the crow king immediately!" one cultivator shouted.
You Jiu's eyes flashed with frost. He flashed from one cultivator to another. Screams filled the forest. You Jiu's suffering and resentment from his captivity transformed into explosive force. At that moment, he seemed the very personification of death.
The crow king rushed to the mountain cave where Xiao Nanfeng had been, but he and Yu'er had long since vanished.
A few crow spirits that had remained by the cave immediately reported all that had happened.
"You useless pieces of trash! Did you just watch Xiao Nanfeng flee into the forest without doing anything?" the crow king thundered.
The crows squawked and cawed in grievance. They were too fearful of the Immortal Cicadas to give chase, and had lost track of Xiao Nanfeng as a result.
The crow king stared at the three smoking clumps of wet grass. It suddenly grew alarmed. "Did Nanfeng release these plumes of smoke?"
The crow spirits nodded immediately.
"He kidnapped You Jiu's sweetheart and even sent a signal with these flares. Could he be in cahoots with You Jiu? Damn it!" The crow king reacted instantly, taking to the skies again and heading straight back to base camp, where You Jiu was located.
"You Jiu, you're dead meat now! I was wondering just why you spent so long in the illusory realm—so it was to broker an alliance with that bastard! Damn it!" the crow king thundered in rage.
It flew quickly back to camp, but by the time he had returned, all the black-armored cultivators, nearly two hundred of them in all, had perished. Corpses were strewn all over; the camp had become like hell itself.
The crow king was shocked. It had left for just a moment. How could You Jiu have killed them all so quickly? How was that possible? Even though the few Ascension-realm cultivators had left with the young master, even if all the black-armored cultivators remaining were only at Immanence, he shouldn't have been able to do so this fast! Were there no survivors?
Not only that, the crow spirits that hadn't left the camp were all killed. The ground full of corpses and carcasses left the crow king shaking.
Suddenly, from a pile of carcasses nearby, one crow spirit seemed to flap its wings.
The crow king rushed over, but just as it was about to approach, a blade shot out from within a stack of bodies, straight toward the crow king.
"You dare!" The crow king swiped at the blade in outrage, shattering it. Countless white-mist specters emerged from all around, surging into the crow king's body.
The crow king roared in shock and fear. It hadn't realized that this was a trap that You Jiu had carefully laid for it. It had fallen into his clutches! A black figure rushed toward it.
Sweat drenched the crow king. The touch of the white-mist specters affected its control over its spiritual qi, but even so, it was a Spiritsong-realm cultivator. With what qi it could control, it quickly formed a barrier around its body.
The black figure sent a white-mist specter passing through the crow king's barrier of spiritual qi. The specter was holding onto a long blade, which pierced into the crow king's chest.
"I'll kill you!" the crow king thundered in outrage.
Countless flames surged forth from its body, knocking the black figure away. The black figure scampered into the forest as the crow king chased after him, wings outspread. A long blade was stuck into its chest, and fresh blood seeped from it. It had almost been dealt a lethal blow by the black figure.
It was obvious that the black figure was You Jiu.
"You Jiu? Damn it! You have to die today!" the crow king shouted.
The crow king was simultaneously enraged and terrified. You Jiu's assassination techniques were extraordinarily fearsome. If it were to leave him be, the young master would certainly perish, and the crow king could well be beheaded for such an outcome.
As it saw the black figure flit through the forest, the crow king gave chase. It spat out a torrent of flame, burning everything in the vicinity to ash. Billowing smoke filled the air, and even the ordinary crow spirits were repulsed by the dense smoke.
Fire and smoke filled the valley as cultivator fought against spirit.
Four hours later, the fight was over. You Jiu was, ultimately, restricted by his cultivation. He fell to the ground, heavily wounded and bloodied all over, unable to muster any further resistance. The crow king stood before him, victorious but barely so.
There were no fewer than ten blades stuck into the crow king's body, and much of its feathers had been torn off or blown apart. It too was covered in blood.
"You Jiu? You're the first cultivator to have forced me to such dire straits in Ascension-realm. You damn bastard, you'll die here and now!" the crow king shouted.
"Almost. If that blade had been just a little to the side, I would have torn apart your heart!" You Jiu coughed weakly.
"If not for those strange white-mist specters, you wouldn't even have been able to break through my defenses. Die, bastard!" The crow king swiped at You Jiu with its sharp claws.
Just then, however, all its feathers stood on end. It could sense a tremendous threat enveloping its body, and it instinctively protected itself with its remaining spiritual qi.
A huge golden slash struck the crow king's wing, causing it to scream in pain. Yu'er had appeared out of nowhere wielding the Immortal Cicada, tearing apart the crow king's barrier of spiritual qi and slicing half its wing off.
"You damn brat! Die!" the crow king howled. It swiped its sharp claws at Yu'er, gritting its teeth against the pain. She defended with her Immortal Cicada.
The claws broke through her qi and struck the body of the Immortal Cicada, causing it to shatter.
"What?!" Yu'er gasped. The claws' momentum continued undiminished, and they sent Yu'er stumbling back.
Just as the crow king was about to continue its assault, a beam of golden energy pierced through its skull, causing its head to explode in a shower of blood.
Xiao Nanfeng had unleashed the energy within another dragon-quelling spike, successfully killing the crow king while Yu'er distracted it.
Before the crow king perished, it turned toward Xiao Nanfeng. Even in death, it couldn't believe that he had killed it. Its eyes widened, capturing Xiao Nanfeng's visage as it fell in a pool of its own blood.
"How are you, Senior Sister?!" Xiao Nanfeng rushed forward.
"I'm alright, but my Immortal Cicada has been shattered," Yu'er replied, an aggrieved look on her face.
Xiao Nanfeng sighed in relief.
Suddenly, the crow spirits all over began to squawk and caw in panic, none of them able to believe that the crow king would die so suddenly. They didn't know what to do next.
Xiao Nanfeng's Immortal Cicada rose into the air and took down huge swathes of the crow spirits. There were two more golden crow spirits among their number, but they were so shocked that they didn't dare attack. Rather, they flew off in fear.
Only then did Xiao Nanfeng turn to You Jiu, who had collapsed in a pool of blood. He frowned. "Didn't you see my signal? Why did you start fighting against the crow king?"
"Right! If I hadn't come to save you, my Immortal Cicada wouldn't have been destroyed, either!" Yu'er's cheeks puffed up in exasperation.
You Jiu lay weakly in his blood with a wry smile on his face. "I once successfully assassinated a Spiritsong-realm clan head. I underestimated the crow king's strength."
Xiao Nanfeng was rather surprised. Was You Jiu that skilled at assassination?
"How's my companion? Ahem, ahem!" You Jiu coughed out even more blood.
"We saved her, but she's currently unconscious. Let's leave this place for now in case the serpent appears," Xiao Nanfeng suggested.
"Let's," You Jiu replied.
On the mountain peak where Emperor Wei's tomb was located, the serpent looked afar at the crow spirits' valley, which was being ravaged by a firestorm. Even after four hours, it hadn't gone to investigate—not because it didn't want to, but because it couldn't. The serpent had been bound to the ground with several chains of energy. It was unable to move; it looked around in shock.
"Xiang Kun? You? How could you be able to manipulate the formations laid out over this mountain peak? That's impossible!" the serpent cried out.
"You were here to absorb spiritual power, while I was there breaking a formation. We could have each accomplished our own goals—so why were you trying to stop me? Do you want to die?" You Shi asked coldly.
The serpent was frightened. From Xiang Kun's gaze, it could sense an utter lack of compassion, as though Xiang Kun were really willing to kill it—all while it was unable to resist.
"Xiang Kun, no, Sir Xiang, I didn't mean anything by it! Please forgive me. I'll do anything you want, anything!" The serpent immediately cowered in fear.
"Young Master, you really are amazing to be able to manipulate all these formations with your artifact! This serpent forced the marquis to give it countless treasures. You must be about to reclaim them!" one black-armored cultivator cried out.
"I'll hand it all back, all of it! I hid the treasure in a secret location. I'll bring you all there," the serpent offered.
You Shi glanced coldly at the serpent. If not for the fact that he wanted to take advantage of the black-armored cultivators and not reveal his identity, he would already have killed the serpent.
"Very well. Detain it here. We'll deal with it on the way back. Let's keep working on the formation," You Shi commanded.
"Yessir!" the black-armored cultivators chorused.
The group of cultivators departed, leaving the serpent shaking with fear.
"What's going on? I'm supposed to be an envoy of the divine domain, inviolable and profoundly powerful! How could I have been insulted and snubbed in turn by that damn champion-killing brat, that cursed effigy, and even Xiang Kun? Am I dreaming? This can't be happening!" The serpent slammed its head against the ground, as though attempting to wake from a dream.
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