Chapter 142: Killing Marquis Wu
In the divine domain, the earth shook, the mountains trembled, the rivers collapsed, and the sky was torn asunder.
Xiao Nanfeng kept the cursed king's coffin and guarded Yu'er and the others until the void had completely collapsed.
The divine domain turned to ash as Xiao Nanfeng and company appeared outside it.
Before them was a land of fog that demarcated the limits of the divine domain, but that fog was quickly dissipating.
Xiao Nanfeng, Blue Lantern, Yu'er, the Lady Arclight, Croak, Warble, the unconscious serpent, and Marquis Wu and his four subordinates made it out.
"Elder Blue Lantern, why are we the only ones who made it out?" Xiao Nanfeng frowned.
"Only the living will survive. Everything else has disappeared," Blue Lantern explained.
"But what about my master's corpse, and those cultivators' and spirits' bodies? They belong to physical reality. How could they have vanished just like that?" Xiao Nanfeng seemed incredulous.
"That's just how it has been," Blue Lantern replied, shaking his head.
Xiao Nanfeng furrowed his brows. He couldn't help but feel that Blue Lantern was hiding something from him.
Xiao Nanfeng glanced all around himself. Marquis Wu and his four subordinates were still alive; not only that, they suddenly stood up, unsheathed their weapons, and stared coldly at Xiao Nanfeng.
"You weren't unconscious? You were feigning it all along?" Xiao Nanfeng cried out.
"To think there would be such a devious brat like you among the Taiqing disciples. You truly are fortunate, aren't you? You've claimed Emperor Wei's inheritance and have somehow survived close proximity to a whole slew of cursed effigies. You must be hiding a secret." Marquis Wu narrowed his eyes at Xiao Nanfeng.
"Marquis, shall we take him down?" one of Marquis Wu's subordinates asked.
"Be careful. He has powerful cursed effigies that he has some control over. Take him down, along with Arclight and Yu'er," Marquis Wu commanded.
"Yessir!" Marquis Wu's four subordinates shot toward Xiao Nanfeng.
"Take this!" Xiao Nanfeng stepped forward and kicked a figure at the four cultivators.
"You brat! What did you kick me for?!" the serpent thundered.
The serpent had also been pretending to be unconscious. As Xiao Nanfeng kicked it toward Marquis Wu's four subordinates, it was forced to whip at them with its tail, blocking their sword techniques.
"Serpent, I saved your life from the copper man. It's your turn to repay the favor!"
"I didn't ask for you to save me. I refuse! I won't help the likes of you!"
"I think you will. I've told my cursed effigies that if I die, you're the reason to blame, that they should start harassing you instead," Xiao Nanfeng called out.
The serpent stiffened. It thought that it was shameless, but Xiao Nanfeng had it beat. Who could have come up with such a shameless plan?!
"Of course I'll help you out!" the serpent replied, seething internally. "You did help me, after all. I was just joking with you." The serpent roared as it charged toward Marquis Wu's four subordinates.
"Ha! We only pretended to be weaker than the serpent in order to investigate the divine domain. The serpent won't be able to hold my subordinates back—but I won't waste time with you."
Marquis Wu shot toward Xiao Nanfeng, who sent a beam of light at him.
"You can't even land a direct hit!" Marquis Wu scoffed disdainfully.
Just then, he felt a sense of tremendous threat. He looked up to see golden runes appear above him in a wave of golden light. "Something's wrong!"
A sword slash shot toward Marquis Wu's head. He immediately defended himself as he stumbled back.
"A human treasure—the Immortal's Destruction?" Marquis Wu's hair, struck by the blow, fell over his shoulders. He unsheathed a longsword.
Just then, Xiao Nanfeng activated another talisman to control the Immortal's Destruction.
Marquis Wu smirked coldly. He wasn't afraid of the talisman; he shot into the air and struck down the golden glow of the Immortal's Destruction before it could manifest as an attack.
"The Immortal's Destruction is useless to those of us at Spiritsong," Marquis Wu jeered.
He shot toward Xiao Nanfeng again, only to find a sword technique shooting out from behind Xiao Nanfeng and straight at Marquis Wu's face.
Marquis Wu was forced to block with his longsword as he stumbled back.
"Have you awoken, Elder?" Xiao Nanfeng's eyes brightened.
The Lady Arclight had protected Xiao Nanfeng.
"The Lady Arclight?" Marquis Wu's face turned cold.
"Stand behind me, Nanfeng." The Lady Arclight stepped forward.
"I'll help you out, Nanfeng!" Yu'er's voice came from behind him.
"We're awake, too." Croak and Warble leapt forward.
Four Spiritsong-realm cultivators shielded Xiao Nanfeng.
Marquis Wu's face turned dark. "Do you think you can win just because you have the numerical advantage?"
Not far away, the serpent screamed. It was sent flying by Marquis Wu's four subordinates. "How could this be? You were far weaker before!"
The four subordinates strode up to Marquis Wu's side and pointed their swords at Xiao Nanfeng's group.
"As I said, we were only pretending to be weak—but we don't have to pretend any longer. Five against five, is it? None of you will leave this place alive." Marquis Wu brandished his sword.
"This doesn't have anything to do with me! I'm just passing by!" The serpent immediately stepped aside.
"Five against four, then? Lady Arclight, your cultivation has improved to some degree, but you're still no match for me—and as for these two toad spirits and Yu'er? You must have just entered Spiritsong. Even my subordinates can take you down handily. The one I feared most was Blue Lantern, but he's just an incredibly frail old man now. Once I capture all of you, I'll take my time to interrogate you all." Marquis Wu cackled in laughter.
Blue Lantern's secrets, Emperor Wei's inheritance, the empresses' inheritance—all this information would be incredible treasure. Victory was within his grasp, and all of it would be his!
"A frail old man, you say? Survive this, then," Blue Lantern laughed.
He extended his quivering right hand and snapped his fingers.
Wheels of light appeared all around Blue Lantern, each encircling a series of golden runes. A giant compass surrounded the area, sucking in the mist that was about to dissipate and shrouding all the cultivators in its wake.
"Is this a formation?" Marquis Wu raised his eyebrows as he glanced around him with a sense of unease.
"Nanfeng, I've gathered the remaining fragments of the divine domain to form this illusory space. You can use your spiritual power within, but do it quickly before the space breaks down!" Blue Lantern wheezed.
Xiao Nanfeng's eyes lit up. He drew the divine undying blade, imbued it with spiritual power, and sent a hundred-meter-wide sword slash at Marquis Wu. Where the blade passed, a howling storm formed.
"What?!" Marquis Wu cried out.
"Be careful, Marquis!" his four subordinates shouted.
The five cultivators raised their weapons as one to block Xiao Nanfeng's devastating blow.
Despite their preparation, the five cultivators were sent flying, and a deep furrow was left in the ground where the attack had struck.
Marquis Wu and his four subordinates fell to the ground, bleeding and wounded all over.
"How could you have such strong spiritual power?!" Marquis Wu cried out, stumbling to his feet.
Xiao Nanfeng didn't bother to respond. He leapt forward and slashed down with his blade. The cursed relic was particularly powerful, and Xiao Nanfeng's spiritual power was multiplied in strength in an overwhelming attack.
"Assist me!" Marquis Wu urgently shouted.
His four subordinates arduously got to their feet, only to be blocked by the Lady Arclight, Yu'er, Croak, and Warble.
Marquis Wu was sent flying once more, the longsword in his hand shattering. He fell to the ground, bleeding all over, then stumbled up and tried to run.
"It's too late!" Xiao Nanfeng flashed before him and launched a third strike.
"No!" Marquis Wu wailed in despair, before being cut in two. The two halves of his body were sent flying. They landed outside the domain of mist.
Xiao Nanfeng emerged from the mists in shock.
The domain had only been about five hundred meters wide. Beyond it, Marquis Wu would easily have been able to kill him; the situation had almost reversed.
Marquis Wu's eyes grew wide as his corpse thudded on the ground. He died with his eyes wide open, clearly having realized that he had only been a few steps away from salvation.
The mists continued to diminish; the last traces of the divine domain wouldn't last for long.
By the time Xiao Nanfeng returned within the mists, the battle was over. Marquis Wu's four subordinates, already heavily wounded by Xiao Nanfeng, were easily killed by the remaining cultivators.
The Lady Arclight killed one, Croak and Warble slammed into two, and finally, the serpent caught the last one and allowed Yu'er to pierce him dead with one blow.
"Did you see that, lad? I helped you kill an enemy. We're even, now! Don't let your cursed effigies come near me!" the serpent told Xiao Nanfeng.
Xiao Nanfeng ignored the serpent. Only after checking that everyone was unharmed did he relax.
The mists faded as the illusory realm vanished once and for all, leaving a pile of bodies on the ground.
"Thank you, Elder." Xiao Nanfeng looked toward Blue Lantern, who gingerly sat upright.
He shook his head. "I'm too weak to do more. There's no need for thanks. We got rid of them together."
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