Chapter 56: Emergence of the Serpent
Outside the hidden realm, Marquis Wu and the others stared gravely at the entrance to the portal. Strong though the cultivators were, they didn't dare charge headlong into unknown dangers. They were waiting for the scouts, who had gone in ahead, to come back with any information of use at all.
Just as the cultivators were growing impatient, two wounded black-armored warriors rushed out of the portal. They seemed to be in dire straits, but this was unimportant—they would have news about the hidden realm!
"What happened?" Xiang Kun asked impatiently.
"Wasps, countless wasps! Save us, Marquis!" Xiao Nanfeng cried out hoarsely.
"Wasp spirits?" Everyone was startled.
The marquis, however, only sighed in relief. Those that had entered the realm were just unlucky—they had encountered a group of spirits! That information was precious indeed—a known danger was far better than an unknown one.
Just then, a fierce buzzing that sounded almost like war drums could be heard from the portal, causing the cultivators that had grown relaxed to tense up once again. Were the wasps emerging from the portal?!
An ear-splitting droning emerged from the portal like the flood of water from a waterfall. A dense cloud of wasp spirits filled the entire valley, instantly swamping the black-armored warriors nearby. They paled as they tried to run.
The wasps had identified Yu'er and Xiao Nanfeng via their black armor. When they emerged from the portal to see huge quantities of black-armored warriors, they naturally categorized them all as enemies.
The wasps struck at every black-armored figure they saw. The entire valley was full of black-armored warriors, and they were especially densely packed around Marquis Wu. As a result, a large swarm of wasps instantly shot toward the marquis.
"Take this!" One cultivator in black stepped forward and sent a gust of wind at the wasps, a large swathe of which were immediately sent flying. The strongest wasps, however, were able to avoid the attack and charged forward even more ferociously.
The crow spirit king cawed in outrage and spat out a large wave of flames at the wasps.
Most of the wasps were burned to a crisp, but the larger and stronger ones didn't fear the flames—they were fire-attuned creatures themselves.
"Not good—protect the marquis' children!" Another cultivator in black stepped forward. Shockingly, he was also in the Spiritsong realm.
Unfortunately, there were far too many wasps to deal with. They gushed out from the portal in a flood, and they were growing stronger and stronger. The strongest wasps were half as tall as a human and shockingly ferocious. They were all but impervious to blades. Under their furious assault, the countless black-armored warriors in the valley let out despairing cries.
"Marquis! Save us!"
"Baihu, Xuanwu, Crow King, don't hold back. Kill them all!" Marquis Wu shouted.
"Understood!" the two men in black and the crow king charged toward the wasps,
killing them in huge swathes. However, even more wasps surrounded them, causing even the Spiritsong-realm cultivators to start to panic.
Meanwhile, Xiao Nanfeng and Yu'er were safe as could be.
After they escaped through the portal and screamed for help, they didn't attempt to flee. Rather, they ran toward the foot of the altar. Xiao Nanfeng pushed Yu'er down beneath him and covered her up with his body.
As the wasps furiously charged toward everyone in sight, some also headed in Xiao Nanfeng's direction. However, Xiao Nanfeng was furiously emitting spiritual power from his body to create a local hypnotic effect of disdain.
The wasps glanced disdainfully at Xiao Nanfeng, then headed toward other targets instead.
"Indeed, the techniques detailed in A Spirit of Disdain were really effective! Thank goodness for the jade token the Lady Arclight gave me," Xiao Nanfeng murmured to himself in relief.
"Nanfeng? The wasps... don't seem to be attacking us?" Yu'er cried out in surprise.
"Perhaps their eyesight is bad," Xiao Nanfeng replied. He didn't have time to explain the specifics to her. He continued, "Once all the wasps have emerged, we'll make a move immediately, tossing the elder and the other disciples into the large river running through the hidden realm. The wasps might be strong, but they surely won't be able to take down the marquis. We'll die if we stay here, but we may be able to survive in the hidden realm."
"I trust you!" Yu'er's head was buzzing madly, and she could hardly think. The fact that Xiao Nanfeng could remain so steadfast and calm was incredible to her.
Finally, as another huge wave of wasps emerged from the portal, the entrance to the portal was momentarily clear.
"We need to move, now!" Xiao Nanfeng urged.
The two of them jumped onto the altar and headed toward the Taiqing disciples.
Fortunately, the wasps had only targeted the conscious cultivators. The Taiqing disciples, all of which were unconscious and half-dead, hadn't attracted the attention of the wasps.
"There's no time. Pick them up and throw them through the portal as fast as you can!" Xiao Nanfeng picked up Ye Sanshui, cut apart his bindings with his flying sword, and tossed him through the portal. As Ye Sanshui was sent flying, the red whip connected to the center of his forehead snapped and dissipated in a cloud of mist.
Yu'er likewise worked rapidly, helping Xiao Nanfeng toss the Taiqing disciples through the portal.
By then, a large group of wasps had noticed them and were swarming over.
"Continue, Yu'er! I'll stop the wasps!" Xiao Nanfeng was just about to defend against them with his flying sword when a flute rang out from behind him. Yu'er had infused her spiritual energy into the flute, causing a blue phoenix to emerge from its head. It dove into the swarm of wasps,
dazing any that it touched.
Although Yu'er had successfully slowed them down, this technique was particularly draining on her spiritual power. Her face quickly turned pale.
Xiao Nanfeng hurriedly continued to toss Taiqing disciples through the portal.
"Father, look, the Immortal Cicadas! It's those two bastards from the Taiqing sect! They've put on the crow troops' armor—damn it, they must have been the ones to lure the wasps over here!" Xiang Kun cried out from the air.
Marquis Wu had likewise been surrounded by wasps, but he was more than strong enough to defend against them while protecting his three children.
"What?" Marquis Wu glanced at the altar, only to see Xiao Nanfeng and Yu'er toss the last of the Taiqing disciples through the portal before escaping into it themselves.
"If there's no more spiritual power being supplied to the altar, the portal will grow unstable!" Marquis Wu howled. He shouted in rage, "Everyone, charge into the hidden realm with me!"
"Yessir!"
Ignoring the assault of countless wasps, Marquis Wu himself ran straight for the portal.
At the same time, Xiao Nanfeng pulled Yu'er through the portal, simultaneously infusing her with a great deal of spiritual energy to replenish what she had consumed. Yu'er's pallor retreated at a rate visible to the naked eye.
Along the way, they were chased by quite a few wasps, but their Immortal Cicadas and Xiao Nanfeng's spiritual defense cleared the way as they rushed into the hidden realm.
"Jump!" Xiao Nanfeng shouted, pulling Yu'er down the cliff with him.
Beneath the cliff was a roaring river. Taiqing disciples were intermittently surfacing from its depths. All had been unconscious before being awoken by the shock of landing in the cold river. Then, they were swept away by the tides.
"Have they woken up? Thank goodness! Even if they're still in danger, this is still far superior to dying on the altar," Yu'er murmured, simultaneously happy and worried.
"They were all originally going to die. We're too weak to stop the marquis and his troops, after all, and this is our limit. The wasps can't stop the marquis and his men for long. We have to dive into the river and make our escape!"
Xiao Nanfeng and Yu'er had just done so when Marquis Wu and his three children arrived by the cliff, looking down at the roaring rapids below.
Huge swarms of wasps surrounded them, but Marquis Wu ignored them all. He was glaring at the figures that had vanished underwater in rage.
"Father, they've escaped!" Xiang Kun shouted angrily.
"Guard my children!" Marquis Wu commanded his subordinates.
"Yessir!" Two men in black and the crow king surrounded the three Xiang siblings protectively
as Marquis Wu flew toward a mountain range in the distance.
By then, the Taiqing disciples had been swept away by the rapids.
Marquis Wu sucked in a deep breath and executed a palm strike in mid-air. Countless illusory palms manifested in a large sphere all around him, simultaneously striking at the mountain peak.
With a huge crash, the top of the mountain split apart, sending rubble flying into the river like a meteor shower.
Splashes rang out where the boulders fell—right as the Taiqing disciples floated through that region of the river.
One disciple had awoken and was treading water when a huge boulder suddenly smashed into his head. He had already been weakened from before, and was caught wholly unawares. With a scream, he sank deep into the river, never to resurface.
Xiao Nanfeng and Yu'er dove through the water, not daring even to chance a peek at what was happening above the surface. A boulder almost smashed into the two of them, but they barely managed to evade it.
However, a figure deep within the river wasn't so lucky. The boulder smashed right into its head.
Xiao Nanfeng had thought the black figure was a pile of rocks at the bottom of the river, but when the boulder smashed into it, it suddenly began to twist and writhe. The river water exploded forth, and Xiao Nanfeng and Yu'er barely avoided being sent flying.
It was now evident that what they thought to have been a pile of rocks was actually a pitch-black snake—no, it had four huge claws and long dragon's whiskers! It was a serpent!
The serpent had been resting deep within the river when a huge boulder suddenly smashed into its head. The boulder could hardly do any damage to it, but this was clear provocation! It was a local tyrant, one who ruled at the top of the ecosystem, and it had never, ever suffered such an ignoble attack.
Its sixty-meter long body twisted as a huge wave appeared over the river. The serpent stuck its head out of the water, its eyes like two glowing lanterns. It immediately noticed Marquis Wu hovering in the sky, continuing to chip away at a mountain. He was the culprit!
The serpent roared as it flew into the air, surrounded by a huge screen of water that shot straight toward the marquis.
"A serpent?" Marquis Wu was shocked. How had he managed to draw the attention of such a monster?
In a flash, the serpent had appeared right before him. Its gigantic maw sprayed out frosty breath, freezing the space before itself. A howling blizzard spawned in the direction of Marquis Wu, causing currents of wind to manifest all around him.
Marquis Wu roared in outrage and anger.
Xiao Nanfeng and Yu'er had been by the side of the serpent as it flew out of the river, and its tail swiped straight toward them. It moved so quickly neither seemed able to dodge in time.
"It's over!" Yu'er cried out in despair.
Just then, however, Xiao Nanfeng pushed Yu'er aside, almost by instinct. He was hoping that the force would allow the two of them to fall down on either end of the dragon's tail and avoid its unintentional attack, but the tail's movement was erratic. The tail flicked and hurtled straight toward Xiao Nanfeng, sending him flying through the air. He spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, crashed into the river, and was carried away.
"Nanfeng!" Yu'er cried out in shock, chasing after him, heedless of her surroundings.
The rapids caused the two disciples to disappear in the blink of an eye.
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