Chapter 117: Not Taught Lightly
The black-robed cultivators were largely at the peak of Immanence, but three among them were at Ascension. Although You Ba was extremely strong, she was still unprepared to handle such a large group of cultivators at once. Meanwhile, You Jiu grew stronger and stronger as he fought.
"You've lost, You Liu!" he cried out.
You Liu was sent flying, defeated by You Jiu.
"Impossible! You've only been cultivating for two decades. How could you have beaten me?!" You Liu cried out.
"The penalty for betrayal is death!" You Jiu thrust his blade straight at You Liu.
"No!" You Liu cried out.
The disparity in strength left You Liu entirely unable to resist. Just as the attack was about to end his life, a sword was tossed through the air, blocking You Jiu's blade and forcing him back.
Another black-robed cultivator had appeared to guard You Liu, and there were many more white-mist specters around him than around You Liu himself.
"You Er? You've come too?" You Jiu's face fell as he recognized the new interloper.
"You Jiu, we've fought before, and you were no match for me. The sect leader certainly isn't going to return, and the Hall of Specters is about to undergo a dramatic transformation. If you choose to serve me, I'm willing to give you everything you could want," the black-robed man offered.
You Jiu's face clouded over. He knew that You Er was strong, so he didn't dare take it easy. "Senior Sister, bring Sir Xiao away, quickly!"
"You intend to leave? I don't think so. The Seal of Great Wei shall be mine today," You Er proclaimed, pouncing toward Xiao Nanfeng.
You Jiu hurriedly blocked his path. The two men transformed into a series of spectral afterimages, and sparks from their swords filled the air.
"Be careful, You Jiu!" You Ba cried out.
You Liu wiped away the blood by his mouth and smirked. "Don't you think you should be worrying about yourself instead?"
He rushed straight at Xiao Nanfeng.
"Hold it!" You Jiu cried out.
However, You Er had latched onto You Jiu and was preventing him from getting away.
You Liu flashed before Xiao Nanfeng. "Lad, the Seal of Great Wei isn't something you're qualified to possess!"
"Be careful, Sir Xiao!" You Ba cried out.
"It's too late. His arm's about to break, and he's going to become a cripple," You Liu replied.
Over twenty white-mist specters flew at Xiao Nanfeng as You Liu thrust his sword at Xiao Nanfeng's arm, intending to chop it off and grievously wound him.
"Ha!" Xiao Nanfeng stepped forward, punching at the hilt of You Liu's sword and causing it to miss. Simultaneously, golden flames flared up over his other hand. Using his hand as a blade, he slashed at You Liu.
You Liu's arm was chopped off, along with the sword he held. Arm and sword landed on the ground with a clatter.
"Argh!" You Liu cradled his bleeding stump as he screamed in pain. "Aren't you an Immanence-realm cultivator?"
"Are you so gullible as to believe everything that others say?" Xiao Nanfeng retorted.
After a moment's hesitation, You Liu's face flashed viciously. "Charge!" he commanded.
The twenty or so white-mist specters that You Liu had spawned instantly shot into Xiao Nanfeng's body, paralyzing him in place.
As he continued to cradle his wound, You Liu said, "So what if you're an Ascension-realm cultivator? You've still been struck by my attack! For the loss of my arm, I'll strip you of all your limbs!"
"Is that so?" Xiao Nanfeng replied.
"You! How could you still be speaking?!" You Liu's eyes widened. "Impossible! You've suppressed my white-mist specters and held them off right at the surface of your skin?"
"Take them back!" Xiao Nanfeng called out.
The white-mist specters rebounded, growing stronger in the process, as they shot back toward You Liu.
"Impossible! How could you know our techniques? No!" You Liu shouted.
The specters were even faster than when You Liu had sent them toward Xiao Nanfeng, and they rushed into You Liu's body within moments.
You Liu vomited out fresh blood as he slumped to the ground, unable to move. His eyes clouded over with fear. "How could you have learned this technique? How could you? It was strong enough to destroy my muscles and bones! This is impossible!"
"If you're not skilled, you shouldn't try to pull off a coup," Xiao Nanfeng replied calmly.
With You Liu frozen stiff, the black-robed cultivators around sensed that the tide was turning against them. Some ran off immediately.
"Running off already? Weren't you here to catch me?" Xiao Nanfeng called out.
He summoned two hundred white-mist specters, each flying into the group of black-robed cultivators.
"No! How could this be? How could he be in control of so many white-mist specters?! No!"
The Immanence-realm cultivators were struck by the attack instantly and fell to the ground as they vomited out blood. Like You Liu, their bodies had locked up in paralysis. The three Ascension-realm cultivators only froze for a moment before regaining their mobility, but that moment of hesitation had been deadly. You Ba struck at the three of them in succession as they fell amidst pools of their own blood.
"Impossible!" You Er cried out, still fighting against You Jiu.
How could all his men have fallen? Not only that, You Jiu wasn't losing out to him!
"You Jiu, let me help you!" You Ba cried out.
"There's no need. He can handle it himself," Xiao Nanfeng replied.
"What?" You Ba was shocked.
Although You Jiu did seem to be on the losing end at the moment, he was gradually growing stronger even as You Er grew weaker. His strikes began to force You Er back.
"This is impossible! You were no match for me shortly before this. How could you have grown strong enough to suppress me so quickly?" You Er cried out.
Though he didn't want to believe it, You Er began to take more and more damage, and his stamina was starting to falter.
In shock, You Er cried out, "You have spectral eyes? They can see through an opponent's weaknesses—but they've never appeared in our bloodline ever since the founder, the Specter King himself! How could you possess them?!"
You Jiu's sword thrust straight through You Er's heart as he fell to the ground amidst a pool of blood.
"No! This won't do. I still haven't established my own empire, and neither have I united the world! I still haven't—" You Er screamed in despair.
You Jiu slashed at You Er again, killing him for good.
He walked back to Xiao Nanfeng. "I apologize, Sir Xiao. That was the internal unrest in the Hall of Specters I was talking about."
"Power and authority, is it? Have you ever dreamt of taking the Seal of Great Wei for yourself and uniting the world?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.
You Ba gave Xiao Nanfeng a wary glance, sensing the interrogative nature of this question.
You Jiu smiled wryly. "To be frank, Sir Xiao, I did harbor such a notion in the past, but I know that trying to unite the world is a fool's dream. I wanted to obtain the Seal of Great Wei for another reason."
"Sir, You Jiu doesn't mean what he's saying. Please don't blame him!" You Ba jumped in.
"It matters little. Indeed, You Jiu's response makes him sound even more honest for it. Who hasn't thought of ruling over the entire world before? I don't blame You Jiu for it—but even without my presence, it would have been very hard for You Jiu to claim the seal," Xiao Nanfeng replied.
You Jiu seemed confused.
"Do you remember what I told you at the Plaza Stairway?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.
You Jiu nodded slowly. "That my fist technique was flawed, Sir Xiao?"
"That's right. Your fist technique is lacking, and the lacking portion precisely counters what you currently know. I suspect that the Specter King did so as a means to control his subordinates."
You Jiu frowned. "No wonder I was never able to beat the Specter King during the trial! He's always mentioned that no spectral guard has ever been able to get past that plaza."
You Ba was likewise shocked by the revelation. She glanced at Xiao Nanfeng with deep longing, as though hoping that he would be able to teach them what was missing.
"Deal with these cultivators first," Xiao Nanfeng said.
He didn't teach You Jiu the complete technique; it wasn't something to be taught lightly.
You Ba and You Jiu nodded in tacit understanding when they saw that Xiao Nanfeng had no intention of elaborating, but it was hard to hide the look of disappointment on their faces.
As for the remaining cultivators, You Jiu interrogated You Liu for some time, then killed them all. He handled the matter cleanly and decisively.
"Sir Xiao, as you guessed, the serpent headed to the humans' domain and spread the word that you received the Seal of Great Wei. The major clans of the humans' domain are all starting to make their move, and there'll likely be more people like You Liu here to stop you," You Jiu began worriedly.
"That's fine. We'll head to the humans' domain immediately."
"Yessir!" the two cultivators chorused.
The three of them headed toward their destination. Not long later, they caught three spirits and mounted them to speed up the journey.
As they rode, Xiao Nanfeng took out a jade tablet and began reading the Taoist scriptures within.
Although he had acquired the countless techniques of Emperor Wei's inheritance, the majority had to do with physical cultivation. There were quite a few spiritual ones too, but Xiao Nanfeng found that all of them paled in comparison to his Body of Yin.
The cultivation of Body of Yin required a deep understanding of all manner of spiritual cultivation, and studying these Taoist scriptures was the fastest route to that understanding. Xiao Nanfeng had never given up on scriptures as a result.
Days later, a huge city appeared within sight of the three cultivators.
"We've arrived at the humans' domain, Sir Xiao!" You Jiu called out.
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