Chapter 176: Cursed to Death
Five ships had secretly arrived by the outskirts of the Thousand-Serpent Island.
"There are three large valleys in the Thousand-Serpent Island that serve as gateways in and out. We'll split into three groups and attack them simultaneously. Don't allow even a single sea serpent to escape," Xiao Nanfeng instructed.
"What if they escape to sea?" Ye Dafu asked, frowning.
"Elder Zhao Yuanjiao borrowed the 'Thundersea Mountain Formation' from the sect on our behalf, which can block off water access to the island. As long as the sea serpents can't fly, they won't be able to escape, and the formation will even form a lightning net underwater to force the sea serpents back to shore," Xiao Nanfeng explained.
The disciples were all very curious about this formation.
"Croak, Warble, and Elder Zhao will handle all sea serpents at Spiritsong-realm and above. Ye Dafu, Ye Sanshui, the two of you will lead the three thousand fighters of the Isle of Xiao into two of the three valleys," Xiao Nanfeng commanded.
"Young Master, they're only at late-stage Acquisition! Will they be enough?" Ye Dafu asked in worry.
"I'm aware. The three thousand Taiqing disciples will accompany both of your groups and support my three thousand fighters," Xiao Nanfeng continued.
"What?" Ye Dafu and Ye Sanshui gaped.
"The goal of this expedition is to train these fighters. They do need practical experience, after all," Xiao Nanfeng continued.
"What about the third valley?" Ye Dafu continued.
"I'm right here," Xiao Nanfeng asserted confidently.
Ye Dafu and Ye Sanshui's eyes widened as they realized what Xiao Nanfeng meant. Was he going to take on a third of the sea serpents by himself?
"Young Master, won't it be dangerous?" Ye Sanshui asked carefully.
"The matter is settled," Xiao Nanfeng replied crisply. "Ye Dafu, make sure your lackeys are leading the troops well. I've requested that three thousand disciples be present to support your efforts, so don't lose too many of my fighters."
"Don't worry, Young Master. We'll bring them all back!" Ye Dafu promised.
"In that case, let's begin," Xiao Nanfeng announced.
Ye Dafu and Ye Sanshui began their preparations in earnest. The ships quickly divided into three groups and sailed toward three different points on the island. Sea serpents rushed out to attack them, but the cultivators had all consumed antidotes and didn't fear serpent venom. Following the command, they jumped ashore.
"Kill!" Ye Dafu and Ye Sanshui shouted, leading the charge. Everyone brandished their weapons at the sea serpent.
At the same time, over three hundred pillars of lightning formed around the Thousand-Serpent Island. Purple lightning shot out of each pillar and linked together to form a wall thirty meters tall all around the Thousand-Serpent Island.
The sea serpents who attempted to escape from the island by swimming were quickly forced back ashore.
At the same time, a golden serpent took to the air and howled, "An intruder! All serpents, prepare to face the enemy!"
Xiao Nanfeng stood by the entrance to one of the valleys in the Thousand-Serpent Island. As he looked at the golden serpent in the air, his eyes grew cold. He shouted, "Croak, Warble, strike now! All disciples, charge ahead with me, Xiao Nanfeng! Kill these sea serpents!"
"Kill!" the Taiqing disciples shouted. Croak and Warble swooped down from the air, smashing the flying serpent against a mountain peak.
Zhao Yuanjiao hovered even higher above them as he overlooked the scene. When another golden serpent emerged, he swooped down and slashed at it with his blade. The resulting tremor shook the entirety of the Thousand-Serpent Island.
The Pestilence Sage and his subordinates quickly arrived at the peak of a mountain as they surveyed the battlefield.
Croak and Warble were dealing with three golden serpents together, while Zhao Yuanjiao handled two on his own. As the Spiritsong-realm cultivators fought, the ground cracked and the mountains rumbled.
By the entrances to two of the valleys on the island stood Ye Dafu and Ye Sanshui, along with a large group of Taiqing disciples and fighters from the Isle of Xiao. They fought against tens of thousands of sea serpents. The fact that all the cultivators were immune to their venom greatly hindered the sea serpents; with every swing of their weapons, countless serpents died.
The entrance of the final valley was even more of a bloodbath. Xiao Nanfeng stood alone, his divine undying blade in hand. The sword technique he executed was fifteen meters wide, and it cut apart all that was in sight.
The sea serpents roared in outrage as they slithered toward Xiao Nanfeng, but none of them, not even the Ascension-realm ones, were a match for his weapon. They were instantly cut in half.
Xiao Nanfeng alone boasted the destructive strength of thousands of fighters from the Isle of Xiao.
A protective barrier of flame formed around him, incinerating any sea serpent that managed to get close.
"Is this really Xiao Nanfeng? How could he have such strength?!"
"How can he wreak such havoc alone?"
"Even Ascension-realm sea serpents die in a single blow. He must be strong enough to defeat Spiritsong-realm sea serpents, too!"
The demonic sect disciples were all astounded by what they could see.
"Xiao Nanfeng, is it? He does have some skill, I'll admit," the Pestilence Sage said.
"Sage, I wasn't wrong, was I? There's something strange about Xiao Nanfeng. Just a year or so ago, he was only in Acquisition. Now, he's able to kill Ascension-realm cultivators easily. We'd better run," Tang continued to urge.
"In the end, though, he's only an Ascension-realm cultivator. I can easily kill Spiritsong-realm cultivators, so why should I be afraid of him?" the Pestilence Sage continued.
"Sage, why don't you defeat Zhao Yuanjiao instead?" Tang suggested again.
"Do you presume to instruct me?" the Pestilence Sage asked coldly.
Tang stiffened.
"I'm very fond of sinister people. In fact, I'll eat his soul right now. I wonder how it'll taste?" The Pestilence Sage snorted as he flew toward Xiao Nanfeng in the distance.
"No, Sage, please!" Tang shouted.
"Silence! It would be trivial for the sage to kill Xiao Nanfeng. Just watch," a group of demonic sect disciples hissed.
The Pestilence Sage rapidly approached Xiao Nanfeng from the back.
As Xiao Nanfeng swung his blade at the incoming sea serpents, he suddenly felt a threat heading his way from the back, which broke apart his barrier of flame in an instant. Startled, and without the time to swing his blade behind him, he had no other choice but to thrust his left palm backwards in a reverse strike.
The Pestilence Sage himself was shocked that Xiao Nanfeng's barrier of flame was able to dispel his own barrier of black smoke. However, he didn't care about that too much—his victory was imminent. He clawed forward, as if to drag Xiao Nanfeng's spiritual avatar from his physical body.
Just then, Xiao Nanfeng struck at him with a palm.
"You overestimate yourself," the Pestilence Sage murmured, scoffing.
All those who had attempted to match him palm for palm had their spirits extracted. Xiao Nanfeng would die in the same manner. Roiling frost qi surged from his claw toward Xiao Nanfeng's palm.
Just then, black light burst forth from the storage ring on a finger on Xiao Nanfeng's left palm. A pitch-black palm emerged from that black light.
The Pestilence Sage frowned. What sort of technique was that?
The palm grabbed ahold of his ghostly claw and tugged.
"What?!" the Pestilence Sage cried out.
Suddenly, the Pestilence Sage was sucked into the storage ring by the pitch-black palm, leaving behind a withered, dark-blue husk of a corpse. The withered corpse struck the ground with an audible thud, causing Xiao Nanfeng to look around in surprise.
"What was that just now...?"
Because everything had happened in the flash of an eye, he hadn't had a clear look at his attacker. All he could sense was the ferocious beast in his ring suddenly striking at his assailant.
Xiao Nanfeng picked up the dark-blue husk of skin on the floor. It looked like a human doll of sorts.
"An inflatable doll? Where did this come from? Why does it look so ugly?" Xiao Nanfeng was confused by its sudden appearance before he suddenly frowned at his storage ring. "Just what did you drag into the ring?"
"Help!" the Pestilence Sage cried out from within his storage ring.
Xiao Nanfeng's eyes widened. Had the beast nabbed another powerful spiritual avatar?
He looked at the inflatable doll in his hand. In that case, this could very well be a valuable possession. He didn't have time to inspect it carefully at the moment; rather, as though he were rolling up a carpet, he rolled up the inflatable doll and hung it by his waist.
"Kill!" Xiao Nanfeng cried out again, continuing to massacre the sea serpents in his vicinity.
The demonic disciples, watching the scene from high up on a mountain peak, saw the Pestilence Sage ready to peel Xiao Nanfeng's spiritual avatar away from his body—only to have his own be extracted in an instant. Then, Xiao Nanfeng rolled up the Pestilence Sage's corpse and hung it by his waist.
"Is he really an Ascension-realm cultivator? He has to be joking. He's pretending to be weak, isn't he?!" one disciple cried out.
"Xiao Nanfeng's grown even more sinister! I told you not to provoke him, but none of you listened. See? The sage ignored my warnings and ended up dying!" Tang cried out. He trembled as he backed away.
Suddenly, everyone looked toward Tang and retreated from him.
"What now?" Tang shouted.
"You were the one who cursed the Pestilence Sage to die."
"Right. Any of Tang's companions will die a gruesome death!"
"The sage didn't believe in the curse and chose to keep Tang beside him. In the end, he too perished!"
The cultivators stared at Tang in abject fear.
Tang frowned. "Xiao Nanfeng was the one who killed the sage. What does it have to do with me? You heard me advise the sage not to strike! He refused to listen to me."
The demonic disciples shook their heads. They were still staring at Tang in shock. "Omen of calamity, omen of calamity!"
"Are you all blind?! This has nothing to do with me!" Tang cried out.
"Omen of calamity, omen of calamity!" The chant grew even louder.
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