Chapter 157: Attacking the Isle of Nalan
Aboard a large ship, Xiao Nanfeng gripped the railings tightly as he watched the mists surrounding the Isle of Nalan not far away. He knew that the mists represented a huge formation protecting the island.
He glanced at the surface of the sea, where the two toad spirits were waiting to strike on his command—then suddenly noticed a small boat closing in.
Two figures jumped toward Xiao Nanfeng's ship—Ye Sanshui, who had suddenly rushed over, and Ye Dafu's lackey, who had been responsible for delivering him the message.
"Young Master, what's Dafu's status now?" Ye Sanshui asked anxiously.
Xiao Nanfeng glanced at the mists and sucked in a deep breath. "He should still be alive."
"Really?" Ye Sanshui's eyes lit up.
Xiao Nanfeng nodded. He had a pact with You Jiu. Although he didn't encounter any of You Jiu's men, You Jiu had left a signal for him by the shore. Apparently, the interior of the formation was particularly dangerous, and the people that Nalan Feng had kidnapped were still alive.
"What's the situation on your end?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.
"I did everything as ordered," Ye Sanshui reported immediately.
"Then we'll head to that island!" Xiao Nanfeng commanded.
The ship quickly sailed toward the harbor of the Isle of Nalan. From afar, the guards on patrol on the island grew wary.
"Who's there? Stop now!" the guards called out.
"Disciple of the Taiqing Immortal Sect, Xiao Nanfeng, requests to meet Senior Brother Nalan Feng!" Xiao Nanfeng announced.
"His Highness has no time for the likes of you," a guard replied, clearly having been ordered to do so in advance.
Xiao Nanfeng called out, "You dare state that he's busy without even reporting my request? Will you take responsibility if a time-sensitive sect matter falls through because of your insolence?"
The guard stiffened, but bit back a retort. "Hold on."
He rushed deeper into the island to report Xiao Nanfeng's arrival.
He quickly returned with another guard behind him, a cultivator in purple, with an aristocratic air about him. The cultivator stepped toward shore, beyond the protective formation, as the guards all bowed.
"He was the one who descended from the skies yesterday and seized Boss and Mr. Zheng!" Ye Dafu's lackey quickly whispered, pointing at the man.
"He's Mr. Qin, who reached Spiritsong three years ago. He's particularly skilled with the guqin," Ye Sanshui reported.
"Mr. Qin? Where are my people?" Xiao Nanfeng asked coldly.
Mr. Qin smirked. "I don't know what you're talking about. What do I have to do with the disappearance of your men? His Highness is in secluded cultivation and won't be meeting anyone."
"And if I insist?"
"You can try it."
A tremendous aura formed around Mr. Qin, causing the sea to shake and ripple as Xiao Nanfeng's ship barely avoided drifting away.
Xiao Nanfeng frowned. A beam of golden light shot out toward him.
"Immortal's Destruction, is it? Pick your target wisely—I'm hardly like that idiotic serpent," Mr. Qin called out.
A fist manifested from the formation of protective mist around the island, which shot toward the beam of golden light.
Xiao Nanfeng's frown deepened. You Jiu's information was right. The protective formation around the Isle of Nalan was impressive enough that it could manifest a Spiritsong-level blow without any strain whatsoever.
The fist technique appeared to be as strong as previous strikes from the Immortal's Destruction; was his trump card going to fail him here?
Just then, the golden light surged and redoubled in intensity. A layer of golden light flared around the blade of the Immortal's Destruction, and its aura coalesced around it.
Xiao Nanfeng's eyes widened.
"What? How could that blade have the strength of a late-stage Spiritsong cultivator? Something's wrong!" Even Mr. Qin was taken aback.
With a huge crash, the blade shattered the fist of mist and continued toward Mr. Qin.
Overconfident as he had been, Mr. Qin wasn't poised to defend against the sudden blow. He hastily lifted both arms into the air before him.
With a huge crash, that part of the harbor beneath his feet splintered and cracked. Fragments of stone and wood were sent flying, leaving a huge furrow in the ground.
Mr. Qin gasped in shock as blood sprayed out of his mouth. He was sent flying to the ground.
"Sir!" The guards ran to help the bloody Mr. Qin as they retreated behind the protective mist.
"Senior Brother, how did the Immortal's Destruction suddenly become so strong?" Ye Sanshu gaped.
Xiao Nanfeng was also confused. How had the Immortal's Destruction grown so much stronger? A blow of this caliber would have easily killed the golden sea serpents in one hit!
Xiao Nanfeng suddenly turned to look at the distant Isle of Xiao, a conjecture in mind. It wasn't the Immortal's Destruction that had changed, but rather that the Isle of Xiao was different from the other lands he had encountered. The Immortal's Destruction absorbed the latent power of the land for its attacks—if there were a draconic vein underground, its attacks would grow far stronger.
Xiao Nanfeng couldn't help but be thankful for this unexpected boom.
"Show yourself, Nalan Feng!" Xiao Nanfeng shouted.
However, the formation remained tightly shut. Mist and smoke drifted; no one responded.
"Young Master, what do we do? None of them are showing themselves!" Ye Sanshui asked.
"That's exactly what I was hoping for." Xiao Nanfeng launched the Immortal's Destruction once and again, sending golden blades raining down on the formation of mist.
The blades weren't able to break apart the formation, but Xiao Nanfeng didn't give up. He continued releasing more and more attacks.
Loud booms shook the Isle of Nalan. The tremendous power of the attacks caused huge waves to form in the ocean, and the entire island was rumbling.
Within the array, Nalan Feng stood standing in a plaza, his gaze cold as he watched destruction rain down from overhead.
"This is far stronger than I expected," Nalan Feng murmured, his eyes flashing with greed.
"Your Highness, don't head out! Xiao Nanfeng's gone crazy. He might really kill you at this rate!" Mr. Qin warned, coughing as a result of his injury.
"Of course not. I'm very pleased that he's attacking the Isle of Nalan, in fact. I'm the seniormost disciple of the Mortal division of the sect, and I have the right to discipline ordinary disciples. My position is second only to an elder, and the sect strictly prohibits intrasect fighting. Not only has he dared to strike at me in the public eye, he's even trying to kill me. Ha! He'll be expelled from the sect in no time, even if Elder Ku attempts to shield him." Nalan Feng smiled coldly.
The commotion quickly drew the attention of many disciples. Those standing at the harbor of Taiqing Island could hear a series of booms coming from afar.
"Look over there! What's that?"
"Is someone attacking the Isle of Nalan?"
"That sword technique looks frighteningly strong—it has to be, if we can hear the racket all the way from here. Could it be a Spiritsong-realm expert?"
"Nalan Feng's still on the island! Is someone trying to assassinate him?!"
"Quick, inform the elders and division leaders immediately! Someone's trying to kill Nalan Feng!"
The disciples of the Taiqing sect burst into motion, and word of the attack quickly spread all over the island.
Nalan Feng and Mr. Qin's initial calmness gave way to shock.
As the barrage of blows from the Immortal's Destruction continued to rain down, the array shook and distorted, and cracks even began to appear on its surface.
"The Immortal's Destruction is far stronger than expected. It's about to break through the array!" Mr. Qin cried out.
"Damn it—where are the division leaders and elders? Are they blind? Haven't they noticed the commotion here yet?" Nalan Feng cursed.
"Your Highness, once Xiao Nanfeng breaks through the protective formation and attacks you directly..."
"We can't just sit here and wait. Mr. Qin, use your guqin to disrupt Xiao Nanfeng until the elders get here," Nalan Feng commanded.
Mr. Qin nodded firmly.
He sat cross-legged in meditation as he retrieved a guqin and began to play it. Spiritual power surged around him; his wounds were merely physical, and his spiritual prowess was unaffected. Invoking his spiritual cultivation at full strength, he summoned a white crane over thirty meters tall, which flew out with the music.
The spiritual crane released a fearsome aura, one which caused the gathered purple-clad guards to shake and shudder after just one look. It flew into the air, passed through the protective array, and shot straight toward Xiao Nanfeng's ship.
Ye Sanshui fretted anxiously.
"Young Master, the Immortal's Destruction is making too much of a commotion. If the elders and division leaders of the sect make an appearance, things might not go in your favor!"
"That's why I had you follow the instructions in my letter," Xiao Nanfeng replied calmly.
"Ah?" Ye Sanshui hesitated as he considered the actions he had performed in a brand-new lens.
"If not for the strength of this array, I wouldn't have had to make such a big commotion. This is the only way to save Mr. Zheng, Ye Dafu, and the others. I need Nalan Feng to think that I'm making a tactical error so that he's assured of his victory. Only then will he let down his guard and not immediately kill off Mr. Zheng and Ye Dafu to destroy the evidence of his crimes."
Ye Sanshui stilled, then nodded gratefully.
Just then, the cry of a crane could be heard from up above as a huge construct of spiritual power descended toward Xiao Nanfeng.
"This is Mr. Qin's signature spiritual attack! This white crane is supposed to be particularly strong and difficult to defend against, even at Stellar Lake!" Ye Sanshui exclaimed.
Xiao Nanfeng was unmoved. His spiritual cultivation had long since reached Lunar Deluge. What could this ordinary spiritual crane do against him?
Within the formation, Mr. Qin grinned maliciously. "Your Highness, would there be a problem if I were to turn Xiao Nanfeng into a gibbering fool?"
"We're acting in self-defense. Even if you kill him, you could hardly be blamed."
"In that case, I won't hold back. Die!" Mr. Qin called out.
The white crane shrieked fiercely and shot straight at Xiao Nanfeng's mindscape.
"No!" Ye Sanshui was paralyzed with fear from the aura surrounding the white crane, but Xiao Nanfeng easily grabbed the crane by the neck and held it tightly, impeding its motion.
"What?!" Ye Sanshui was shocked.
The white crane's meager spiritual power paled in comparison to that in Xiao Nanfeng's mindscape.
"How could this be? My crane seems to be behaving sluggishly...?" Mr. Qin remarked.
Sensing that something was amiss, he began to play more and more rapidly on his guqin, pouring all his spiritual power into his music. The white crane glowed with radiant light as it attempted to free itself from Xiao Nanfeng's grip. Its frightening aura of spiritual energy forced Ye Sanshui and the others to flee.from it.
"You overestimate your capabilities," Xiao Nanfeng muttered.
His other hand, surging with spiritual power, curled into a fist. As his spiritual power wrapped around the crane and he squeezed, the crane burst apart into a storm of spiritual power that raged all around Xiao Nanfeng.
At the same time, all of the strings on Mr. Qin's guqin snapped at once.
Suffering from tremendous backlash, Mr. Qin's face paled until it was bloodless. He spat out a mouthful of blood, his eyes rolled back, and he fell paralyzed to the ground.
"Mr. Qin?!" Nalan Feng cried out.
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