Chapter 65: Killing One and All
After Xiao Nanfeng killed two cultivators in succession, he picked up a long blade from the ground and struck at the remaining six.
The six of them shied away in fear, none having expected Xiao Nanfeng to possess such insane strength. He had killed two people with his fists alone—and they were Immanence-realm cultivators, too!
As the cultivators panicked, Xiao Nanfeng appeared right by their sides.
The scene from before had given them an innate fear of Xiao Nanfeng. When they saw him approach with a blade, they instinctively defended.
Just then, the Immortal Cicada appeared behind one of the cultivators like a shade, piercing through his chest with a clean snick. The cultivator's chest exploded in a fountain of blood, shrieking in such a ghastly fashion that the other cultivators found their scalps prickling.
Suddenly, Xiao Nanfeng tossed out his blade at one of the cultivators in a raging torrent of energy. The cultivator managed to avoid the projectile, only to see the Immortal Cicada flying toward his forehead the next moment. A large hole was drilled into his forehead on impact.
The Immortal Cicada had killed yet another cultivator!
Xiao Nanfeng had killed six of the cultivators in the blink of an eye, taking advantage of his initial momentum and the panic of the resulting cultivators. The remaining four were frightened beyond measure. They retreated quickly and glanced at him warily, worried that he would continue his killing spree.
They thought to flee, but Xiao Nanfeng cried out, "Are you trying to flee? It's too late. Whoever runs first will be the target of my flying sword!"
The four cultivators were paralyzed with fear. None dared move, worried that they would be the next target.
Meanwhile, Xiao Nanfeng walked toward the Lady Arclight, huffing out a breath. "I apologize for the delay, Elder, and for causing you a shock."
"It's not an issue." The Lady Arclight was shocked by the change in Xiao Nanfeng. His tremendous combat ability went beyond the expectations of the enemy cultivators—and hers, as well. He was impossibly strong for a new Immanence-realm cultivator.
"Elder, don't you worry. For beheading my senior brother, I'll make them pay. I'll take their heads and use it as an offering for my deceased seniors!" Xiao Nanfeng cried out, stepping forward and shielding the Lady Arclight protectively.
"Crow spirits! Charge forward with me and kill him, now!" a black-armored cultivator commanded the two Immanence-realm crow spirits hovering in the air.
The two crow spirits cawed and struck at Xiao Nanfeng.
Xiao Nanfeng picked up a discarded blade from the ground and slashed at one of the crow spirits, which countered with sharp claws brimming with red light. It was sent flying from the confrontation, and the impact broke its right claw. The other crow spirit had been flying toward Xiao Nanfeng when it was forced to evade the Immortal Cicada coming at it head-on. It flew up into the air to avoid the blow, but even so, a large number of its feathers were sliced off its body.
The Immortal Cicada transformed into a beam of golden light that immediately ended the two crow spirits' lives.
Xiao Nanfeng then looked in the direction of the black-armored warriors, only to find that they had fled while he was dealing with the crow spirits.
"Tricking even their allies? They really are shameless." Xiao Nanfeng told the Lady Arclight, "I've already killed the crow spirits, and I doubt those cultivators will dare come back here again. I'll chase them down. Elder, please rest here. I'll be right back!"
Xiao Nanfeng rushed off in the direction of the four fleeing cultivators.
As she glanced at Xiao Nanfeng's departing figure, the Lady Arclight's heart thudded heavily. Although she had long since reached the Spiritsong realm, Xiao Nanfeng's stellar performance had shocked even her.
For a moment, her thoughts were all over the place.
The skies darkened. Xiao Nanfeng had been gone for quite some time, and the Lady Arclight fretted as she glanced in the direction in which he had departed.
Suddenly, a lone figure appeared in sight. Xiao Nanfeng, dripping blood, like a god of killers, walked back toward the valley.
The Lady Arclight couldn't help but feel a sense of tremendous relief, but as Nanfeng walked closer, she schooled her features into impassivity and her natural pride.
Two days later, above the boar spirit's valley, countless crow spirits were scouting in the air, and four golden ones had even landed in the valley proper. A large number of black-armored cultivators were dragging corpses toward the center of the valley for Xiang Wei's perusal.
"Second Master, we've checked the corpses. The wounds were all caused by a flying sword, likely the Immortal Cicada. On those other corpses were slash wounds from a large blade. According to the severity of the wounds, it's very likely that the culprit was a late Immanence-realm cultivator. Those wounds were killing blows," one black-armored cultivator analyzed, frowning.
"The Immortal Cicada again? The crow spirits by the eastern region of the spirits' domain claim that there's an Immortal Cicada over there wreaking havoc, likely that damn brat Yu'er. In that case, the Immortal Cicada here must belong to Xiao Nanfeng?" Xiang Wei narrowed his eyes.
"That's right, but Nanfeng's cultivation isn't strong enough to generate wounds of this magnitude. There has to be a second cultivator here!"
"Crow Generals, have the crow spirits scour the area and try to find any sign of them. If they do, they'll be richly rewarded!" Xiang Wei commanded the golden crow spirits nearby.
The four golden crow spirits cawed in acknowledgement.
"Deal with the bodies. We'll be on our way!" Xiang Wei commanded.
"Second Master, the crow spirits have discovered the pond, but there are quite a few Ascension-realm beasts in the vicinity. I'm afraid it'll be dangerous," one of the black-armored cultivators reported.
"Aren't you all Ascension-realm cultivators yourselves? We even have these four golden crow generals here, so what's there to fear? Father has gone toward the divine domain to compete for opportunities, so the three great natural havens of the spirits' domain belong to us three Xiang siblings! Of course we have to claim them. Let's continue!" Xiang Wei commanded.
"Understood!" everyone chorused.
Deep within a hidden valley, the Lady Arclight had exchanged her Taiqing robes for blue armor, just like Xiao Nanfeng. Although the crow spirits would occasionally spot them overhead, they weren't recognized.
The two of them ignored the scouting crows as they are Xiao Nanfeng's roasted pheasant, prepared with a special marinade.
"It tastes alright, though it's a little light on flavor," the Lady Arclight evaluated.
Xiao Nanfeng: ... Could she have been lying any more blatantly? She had eaten the majority of the pheasant!
"Elder, where are you bringing us?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.
"I don't know!" The Lady Arclight shook her head, tearing off a strip of meat from the wing of the pheasant.
Xiao Nanfeng: ???
"By the Spiritsong realm, you'll develop extreme sensitivity to spiritual aether. It's the most concentrated in that direction, and since we don't have any other target, why not head there? The more dense the spiritual aether, the faster I'll be able to recover." The Lady Arclight pointed past the hills in the distance.
"Is that so?" Xiao Nanfeng glanced in that direction with some worry.
There were quite a few giant birds hovering in the air above those hills. Perhaps the spiritual aether was denser in that region, but it was surely more dangerous, too! However, Xiao Nanfeng didn't object. He needed the Lady Arclight to recover more quickly so that she could help him find Yu'er.
After the meal, the two of them set off once again. They encountered fewer and fewer Immanence-realm lifeforms and more Ascension-realm ones instead, all of whom seemed to be heading in the same direction as they were.
Xiao Nanfeng cautiously any confrontations with the spirits by scouting ahead with spiritual power.
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