Chapter 125: The Serpent's Misstep
"You dare trick me? Seize him!" Crown Prince Qi thundered.
"Seize him!" the various clan heads echoed.
Just then, Xiao Nanfeng dashed forward and right up to Crown Prince Qi in the blink of an eye.
"Be careful, Your Highness!" One of his subordinates stepped forward to protect him, but he was of no use whatsoever. Xiao Nanfeng sent him flying with an elbow.
As he struck Crown Prince Qi in the face, a jade pendant that the latter was wearing shone with red light, forming a barrier that shielded his body. However, Xiao Nanfeng was far too strong. The barrier shattered as Crown Prince Qi was sent flying, grievously injured, with fresh blood pouring from his lips.
"Use your relics!" the clan heads shouted.
Three talismans burning with inexhaustible fire surrounded Xiao Nanfeng, trapping him within a sea of blazing fire so intense that the clan heads were forced to stagger back.
The next moment, however, Xiao Nanfeng opened his mouth and swallowed the blazing fire whole.
"Impossible! That talisman has been passed down my clan for generations. Even after a millennium, how could he withstand such an attack?!" one clan head cried out.
"All I'm doing is rescuing my seniors, whom all of you have kidnapped and tortured—and you consider yourself maligned by my actions, so much so that you'd try to kill me? Die, then." Xiao Nanfeng's eyes flashed with frost.
He struck the clan head in the face, caving his skull in and killing him on the spot.
"Talisman of Arcane Wood!"
"Talisman of Radiant Gold!"
"Talisman of Arcane Yin!"
A dozen more talismans shot toward Xiao Nanfeng, running the gamut of elements. It seemed as though the gathered cultivators were trying to destroy him whole.
"Resplendent Sun!" Xiao Nanfeng shouted.
A barrier of fire formed over Xiao Nanfeng's body, radiating waves of heat that forced the gathered cultivators back. The countless talismans that sent orbs of energy flying at him quickly had that energy absorbed and diminished by the fiery barrier.
Explosions rang out all around Xiao Nanfeng as he seemed to transform into a golden sun.
"How could this be?!" the clan heads cried out.
Flames burning all over his body, Xiao Nanfeng struck back at the clan heads that had attacked him.
"He's coming! Do something!" the clan heads cried out, slashing at him with their swords.
Xiao Nanfeng's flames easily blocked the blows. As he retaliated with a punch, one clan head exploded into fiery smithereens.
The remaining clan heads' eyes widened. They howled at each other, "Go on, attack!"
Xiao Nanfeng snorted, then unleashed a slaughter. He killed all the clan heads that had tried to kill him with a single punch each. Killing intent billowed from him.
Suddenly, a chain looped around Xiao Nanfeng's fiery barrier. More such treasures encircled him, hindering his mobility.
"We've trapped him!" the clan heads cried out in excitement.
"Everyone else, kill the members of the Hall of Specters! Don't let any of them escape!" Crown Prince Qi roared, wiping at the blood that trickled from his lips as he laughed.
"Have the warriors ambushed in the forest make their move. Kill them all!" the clan heads shouted fiercely.
Xiao Nanfeng snorted. He waved a hand, sending a beam of golden light piercing through the artifacts keeping him in place. The golden glow shone with innumerable runes.
"This is—"
"No! It's the talisman that controls the Immortal's Destruction?!"
"How could it be?"
As the cultivators shouted in shock, a huge sword slash shot straight toward them. The clan heads who were struggling to restrain Xiao Nanfeng were struck by the technique. They exploded and dropped dead on the spot.
Their relics immediately went out of control, whizzing around and sending blood splashing all over.
"No, impossible! That was a blow from the Immortal's Destruction!" Crown Prince Qi cried out.
He immediately activated his own talisman and targeted Xiao Nanfeng, but his talisman didn't seem to be functional.
Xiao Nanfeng frowned upon seeing Crown Prince Qi's actions. Without any hesitation, he sent another blow from the Immortal's Destruction straight at him.
"Run, Your Highness!" one clan head screamed.
Crown Prince Qi looked up above him to see a beam of golden light raining down. Runes flashed, and a sword technique shot downwards.
"No!" Crown Prince Qi yelled out.
With a great bang, Crown Prince Qi and the two cultivators beside him dropped dead in a ghastly explosion of blood.
The clan heads all backed away in fright.
Xiao Nanfeng turned toward Crown Prince Yan. "Release him, or you'll be the next target."
The clan heads were confused. Who was Xiao Nanfeng talking about?
Crown Prince Yan's face was a mask of fear. "Aren't you going to show yourself? Or are you going to wait for me to die first? The Immortal's Destruction that you want is in his hands. If you want it, claim it for yourself!"
Crown Prince Yan's howl left everyone baffled.
Only Xiao Nanfeng continued waiting patiently.
The Hall of Specters had sent word that Crown Prince Yan had written to Crown Prince Qi proposing an alliance to take down Xiao Nanfeng together. He would surely have guessed that Crown Prince Qi would surely move the Immortal's Destruction close by, but the fact that he proposed the alliance anyway must have meant that Crown Prince Yan had a backer of his own, one which would give him a guaranteed victory.
The only other player on the board, who Xiao Nanfeng instantly thought of, was the serpent. The serpent had spread the news that he had obtained the Seal of Great Wei, inciting them to attack him. It had long been the mastermind behind this whole series of affairs, and Crown Prince Yan's mysterious backer was likely it as well.
Just as Xiao Nanfeng was starting to grow wary, a sword slash shot toward him. The sword slash was countered by the golden light from the Immortal's Destruction, and the resulting explosion caused a tremendous amount of smoke and dust to form. The clan heads were sent stumbling back; some even tried to take the opportunity to escape.
"All of you, stay where you are!" a cold voice called out.
Slashes of sword qi struck the surroundings, wounding the legs of the clan heads who attempted to flee. They fell to the ground screaming.
The dust faded to reveal a red-robed man—no, a red-robed eunuch, the very same one from Marquis Wu's manor. In conjunction with Marquis Wu, he had once wounded the Lady Arclight severely.
"You?!" Xiao Nanfeng cried out in shock.
"Hoh! Lad, fortune must have blessed you, if you've even managed to acquire the Seal of Great Wei," the eunuch remarked, chuckling.
"This can't be. Crown Prince Yan, is he your backer? Could you be mistaken?" Xiao Nanfeng frowned at Crown Prince Yan.
Crown Prince Yan looked back at Xiao Nanfeng, entirely confused.
"Who are you waiting for, lad?" the eunuch asked coldly.
From some distance away, hiding under forest cover, the serpent had been spying on affairs at Mt. Liangjie. By now, it was growing rather annoyed.
"Is everyone in the humans' domain a piece of trash? Can't any of them fight him? None have even forced him to use the Seal of Great Wei and drain its fortune! How am I supposed to deal with him now?" the serpent grumbled.
It did want to deal with Xiao Nanfeng, but it feared the strength of the Seal of Great Wei. That was why it had been skulking behind the scenes all this time, fanning the flames of conflict.
"Serpent, are you a coward as well as an ingrate?" Xiao Nanfeng shouted. "Show yourself!"
The serpent cursed, "Who would show themselves? I accepted a small bribe from the crow king, but you managed to leverage that to steal two important relics from me as a result! And this old fellow's a Spiritsong-realm cultivator, too. If I show myself, wouldn't you have another chance to scam me? Dream on!"
Just then, a voice called out from beside the serpent. A spectral guard shouted, "The serpent's hiding here!"
Everyone turned toward the forest where the serpent was located.
The serpent's face twitched. Was the entire wilderness crawling with spectral guards?
"It's not me. You're mistaken. I'm not the wise and majestic serpent envoy!" the serpent shouted back. Then, surrounding itself with a significant quantity of frost qi, it soared into the heavens and out of sight.
That spectral guard: ...
Xiao Nanfeng: ...
The old eunuch: ...
Everyone had guessed that that was the serpent, but who would have expected it to flee all of a sudden? Just what was he afraid of?
"Serpent, you really are a coward, aren't you? It's futile. Just you wait. Once I see Blue Lantern again, I'll have you cough up some more treasures." Xiao Nanfeng's eyes flashed with annoyance. He turned to the old eunuch, who had clearly shown up with an ulterior motive in mind.
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