Chapter 67: Fighting Against Beasts
After half an hour, Xiao Nanfeng slowly opened his eyes and saw the Lady Arclight staring at him.
"Just how much spiritual power do you have? You managed to send the flying sword to the lake four times?!" The Lady Arclight had grown very interested in Xiao Nanfeng.
"I'm almost at my limit. What stage of spiritual cultivation are you at, Elder?" Xiao Nanfeng feigned weakness and quickly changed the topic.
"At Stellar Lake," the Lady Arclight replied pridefully.
"Wow! That's amazing, Elder!" Xiao Nanfeng praised. Indeed, this tactic worked very well on the Lady Arclight. She no longer asked about Xiao Nanfeng's cultivation.
"Unfortunately, there's barely any draconic aether left. It's particularly valuable for healing and restoration, and I've already recovered to the level of an Immanence-realm cultivator," the Lady Arclight sighed.
Hmm? About to be able to beat me in a fight, then?
"Elder, look! Those spirits haven't departed from the lake. Rather, they've retreated and claimed a patch of territory for themselves. Perhaps there'll be another opportunity later. Why don't we stay here for a bit longer?" Xiao Nanfeng pointed toward the lake.
"That makes sense!" The Lady Arclight's eyes lit up. "If more draconic aether appears, let me have it all. Once my cultivation is fully restored, I'll chase these lifeforms away and claim this lake for myself. At that point, I'll return the draconic aether I took tenfold!" The Lady Arclight patted Xiao Nanfeng on the shoulder.
Xiao Nanfeng: ...She's really being rather demanding, isn't she?
"Let's celebrate by having honeyed bear paw tonight!" the Lady Arclight continued, her mood having improved greatly.
Xiao Nanfeng: ...Food, again? And you say you aren't a glutton?
The two of them didn't dare start a fire by the lake. They silently left, found a deserted cave by evening, and cleaned it. Then, Xiao Nanfeng took out a spirit bear paw from a bear he had killed along the way, along with spirit bee honey, and began to cook.
After having had her fill, the Lady Arclight sat cross-legged and began to meditate, distilling the remaining essence from the draconic aether she had absorbed, while continuously absorbing aether from the environment so as to restore her strength.
Meanwhile, Xiao Nanfeng took out the jade token the Lady Arclight had given him, then began reading through the Taoist scriptures within.
The Lady Arclight snuck a peek at Xiao Nanfeng during a break, only to see him intently looking at the jade token. She frowned. "You're memorizing a scripture?"
"Yes, Elder. I haven't finished going through the thousand scriptures in the token," Xiao Nanfeng replied. He nodded without raising his head.
The Lady Arclight pursed her lips. "You—You don't have to be so serious about it."
She had punished Xiao Nanfeng with memorizing all thousand scriptures in the jade token before he could be permitted to return to the sect, but she now felt that that punishment was too harsh. She wanted to persuade him against the herculean task.
"It's quite alright. The scriptures here are rather interesting, and I'll be able to memorize them quickly."
The Lady Arclight was very conflicted. She wanted to retract her punishment, but her strong sense of pride prevented her from doing so. In the end, she said nothing, but the issue bothered her all night long.
The next day, the two of them found a hiding spot early in the morning that allowed them a vantage point of the lake. It took until evening before the ground rumbled again.
"It's here! I expected we'd have to wait quite a few days, too!" Xiao Nanfeng's eyes gleamed.
"Quick, the flying sword!" the Lady Arclight urged.
With another huge boom, the draconic aether in the lake transformed into tens of thousands of small golden dragons that swam through the air.
The spirits surged toward the area where the dragons were most concentrated and began to fight over them. The Immortal Cicada joined their midst.
Suddenly, the giant purple bird from the day before saw the Immortal Cicada and spat out a bolt of lightning at it in rage, causing a huge splash in the lake. Unfortunately, the Immortal Cicada was too agile for it. It flew into the forest at speed, with a considerable number of golden dragons skewered on its blade. The giant purple bird roared in anger, but it was too late to give chase. It returned to the lake and continued fighting for the draconic aether with the other spirits.
Xiao Nanfeng gave all the draconic aether to the Lady Arclight, then sent the sword toward the lake once again.
At the lake, the elephant spirit howled in rage. The draconic aether that should have belonged to it was snatched away once more! It sprayed out a ball of frost at the blade, instantly freezing it, but the Immortal Cicada still managed to escape into the forest. The elephant trumpeted in growing anger.
Xiao Nanfeng deposited the draconic aether with the Lady Arclight, wiped away the remaining shards of ice, then sent the Immortal Cicada to the lake once again.
It continued to steal the aether from the gathered spirits, successfully enraging them all. Although the Immortal Cicada wasn't taking a large share of the aether, this was undoubtedly a provocation. Who wouldn't be angry at its antics?
In the end, thanks to Xiao Nanfeng's considerable preparations, he managed to make eight flights with the Immortal Cicada. By the last flight, there were dozens of lifeforms surrounding the blade and attempting to prevent it from escaping.
The Immortal Cicada was struck by a bolt of lightning and almost fell into the lake, but fortunately, Xiao Nanfeng possessed enough spiritual power to stabilize its flight. It barely managed to disappear into the forest, once again spawning a huge wave of cries and bellows from the gathered spirits.
As the flying sword returned, Xiao Nanfeng caressed the engraved runes on the blade that had grown dull with a pained wince.
As the Lady Arclight finished distilling the draconic aether, she slowly opened her eyes. "Hmph! Once my cultivation recovers, I'll beat them all up. You can make them all into food then!"
Xiao Nanfeng glanced at the Lady Arclight with some doubt. Is she planning on taking revenge for the Immortal Cicada, or just trying to make me cook for her?
"For that bear spirit, I'd like to have honeyed bear paws. For that giant purple bird, do what you did with the roast pheasant. For the elephant spirit, make teppanyaki. As for the leopard, braise it slowly and..."
Xiao Nanfeng: ...
The truth had been revealed. The Lady Arclight wanted his cooking; she didn't care about his sword!
Xiao Nanfeng swallowed the last batch of draconic aether himself, restoring the spiritual power he had lost in manipulating the Immortal Cicada so much.
"Draconic aether is truly amazing. My cultivation is recovering quickly. Let's continue tomorrow!" The Lady Arclight looked at Xiao Nanfeng with excitement.
"I feel like these spirits will focus on blocking and trapping the Immortal Cicada tomorrow, rather than on the draconic aether... We should take our time, or we might end up suffering for it," Xiao Nanfeng replied with some trepidation.
"Don't worry. I believe in your abilities!" The Lady Arclight patted Xiao Nanfeng on the shoulder.
Xiao Nanfeng: ...Is she trying to trick me into working for her?
"Even if the Immortal Cicada is lost, I'll help you get a better flying sword in the future. Come, let's have some roasted pheasant tonight!" the Lady Arclight urged.
Xiao Nanfeng: ...
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