Chapter 68: Ambush
The Lady Arclight was exceptionally pleased to have much of her cultivation restored. She chatted with Xiao Nanfeng about dinner on their way back to the cave.
As they approached the valley in which they had rested yesterday, Xiao Nanfeng suddenly felt a premonition of danger.
"Be careful!" He tackled the Lady Arclight and sent both of them sprawling to the ground. Two arrows suddenly whizzed by where the two cultivators were standing.
Xiao Nanfeng and the Lady Arclight hurriedly hid behind a large boulder.
"Even if you hadn't pushed me, I would have been able to avoid that arrow. No one at Immanence can defeat me—I'm stronger than you now! But look at this mess you've made," the Lady Arclight grumbled, wiping at the mud on her robes.
"I apologize, Elder. My first thought was to protect you." Xiao Nanfeng scratched his head with some embarrassment.
The Lady Arclight stilled. Her heart thrummed, and her dissatisfaction disappeared in the blink of an eye. Even the mud on her robes didn't feel as bothersome anymore.
"Hand me a blade," she said softly.
Xiao Nanfeng pulled out two longswords from his storage ring, passing one of them to the Lady Arclight. They carefully peeked out from the boulder toward the valley.
"Young Master Wei, it looks like there's no need for us to worry. The two of them were hard-pressed just avoiding those arrows, and it's clear that they're only at Immanence. That man isn't Ye Sanshui, and that woman, well, with this sort of cultivation, clearly isn't the Lady Arclight," a man analyzed from a distance.
"In that case, there's no need to hide. Show yourselves. Surround them so they can't escape," a young man commanded.
From all around them, out of the mountains and forests, came a group of blue-armored cultivators.
Clearly, those two arrows had just been a test.
Xiao Nanfeng saw that the young man who had spoken was standing rather far away, under the protection of over a dozen men. He held a white paper fan in his hand and was staring pridefully in the direction of Xiao Nanfeng. He was clearly the supposed Young Master Wei.
"Come out, the two of you! Let's have a chat!" Young Master Wei cried out, folding his fan.
Xiao Nanfeng and the Lady Arclight exchanged a glance, then stepped out from behind the rock. They looked around them. There were almost a hundred armored cultivators in all, dozens of whom were archers, along with five spiritbane crossbows.
They had clearly been too obvious about stealing the draconic aether with Xiao Nanfeng's Immortal Cicada for them to have been caught in just a day.
Clearly, this Young Master Wei had even planned out an escape route for if the two cultivators were at Ascension-realm. The spiritbane arrows would serve to distract them as the cultivators ran off.
"Oh? And a beauty, at that! I've never seen someone so ravishing even in the capital!" Young Master Wei's eyes lit up.
The Lady Arclight's eyes rimed over.
"How do you know our names?" Xiao Nanfeng asked balefully.
"I interrogated one of your seniors, of course! Who are you? Xiao Nanfeng? And I know this beauty too—she's Yu'er, isn't she? Just how many Immortal Cicadas do you have?" Young Master Wei glanced at the two of them expectantly, not realizing his mistake.
"Where is that disciple?" the Lady Arclight asked in a chilling tone.
"Oh, him? He ignored me when I asked him a question, so each of us carved a bit of flesh out of his body. He resisted for quite some time, too—it took us a few dozen cuts before he started talking. Unfortunately, my men aren't terribly skilled. He died after a hundred or so cuts. It's a pity," Young Master Wei sighed.
"What did you say?!" The Lady Arclight burned with rage. This was a group of demons!
"Oho? Angry, are you? If you don't listen up, you'll end up like him. The two of you are just Immanence-realm cultivators—what can you do?" Young Master Wei scoffed at them.
"How do you intend to deal with us, then?" The Lady Arclight's grip on her blade tightened. She swung it back and forth, killing intent emanating from her body.
"Kneel down and recognize me as your master, then hand over your Immortal Cicada. I'll spare your life then. Woman, you seem quite feisty, and I like that—but you better understand your circumstances. Treasure my goodwill and be my pet. That's better than dying, isn't it? As for this man, forget it. Send him to his senior brother!" Young Master Wei commanded, tapping his fan against his palm.
"Be careful!" the Lady Arclight shouted at Xiao Nanfeng.
Just then, five giant arrows shot toward where he had been standing, sending a spray of rubble into the air.
The armored warriors, on seeing Young Master Wei's signal—the tapping of his fan against his palm—had shot their crossbows at Xiao Nanfeng simultaneously, but he had dodged them all.
"Hmph! You might have been able to dodge the attack once, but not twice. Leave that woman alive—kill the man!" Young Master Wei commanded.
A rain of arrows shot toward the two cultivators.
Xiao Nanfeng and the Lady Arclight leapt up, twisting their bodies to avoid the attack.
"What?" Young Master Wei's face grew concerned. Dozens of arrows, but none of them had landed? Not only that, Xiao Nanfeng's Immortal Cicada transformed into a beam of light that shot toward a spiritbane crossbow.
"Be careful!" one of the cultivators cried out.
With a huge boom, an archer's head exploded, pierced clean through by the Immortal Cicada. Not only that, the force of the explosion had destroyed the spiritbane crossbow.
"Something's wrong! Loose your arrows, quickly!" Young Master Wei cried out. He had been taunting the two cultivators in order to distract them so that the crossbowmen could accurately shoot at their targets—so how had they dodged the arrows? This wasn't going according to plan!
Xiao Nanfeng and the Lady Arclight had deliberately exposed themselves, not knowing how many archers were hidden in the forest, nor where they were located. They had been feigning weakness so as to cause the archers to reveal themselves.
Xiao Nanfeng had incredible spiritual power. The moment he discovered where they were firing from, the arrows were guaranteed not to strike him.
Although the Lady Arclight's spiritual power hadn't recovered fully, she had considerable experience and numerous techniques at her disposal. The glance she exchanged with Xiao Nanfeng had allowed him to understand that she would be able to deal with the arrows herself.
Both of them shot toward Young Master Wei.
"Shoot quickly!"
Another volley of arrows targeted the two cultivators, but they easily avoided them all.
Just then, explosions resounded from the distant forest.
"Young Master, something's gone wrong! All the spiritbane crossbows have been destroyed!" one subordinate shouted.
The spiritbane crossbows were large and unwieldy, and it was particularly difficult for them to aim at a small human target. However, if the arrows did land, they could even hurt Ascension-realm cultivators. This was a threat that Xiao Nanfeng prioritized handling.
The Immortal Cicada caused all the spiritbane crossbows to explode into smithereens, then transformed into a bolt of light that shot toward Young Master Wei.
"Protect the young master!" a group of cultivators cried out.
One pushed Young Master Wei out of the line of fire, defending him even as the Immortal Cicada pierced through his body.
The Immortal Cicada looped back toward Young Master Wei again. Another cultivator pushed him aside as his head exploded.
"Quick, everyone, kill that cultivator! Once he dies, his sword will be useless! Kill him now and I'll reward you lavishly!" Young Master Wei cried out.
Everyone turned toward Xiao Nanfeng and the Lady Arclight. Xiao Nanfeng prepared for their assault, but the Lady Arclight was faster.
As Xiao Nanfeng beheaded one cultivator, a storm of swords manifested around the Lady Arclight. She killed three armored cultivators in the blink of an eye, in a shower of blood.
"Nanfeng, protect yourself. I'll handle them!" the Lady Arclight cried out. She charged into the horde of cultivators, revealing her frightening combat prowess.
Another eight heads were sent flying in an explosion of blood. Xiao Nanfeng gaped. Was the Lady Arclight this strong?
He took a deep breath. As his blade flashed, countless armored cultivators were killed.
"Loose more arrows, quickly!" one cultivator commanded.
Another volley of arrows shot toward them, but neither Xiao Nanfeng nor the Lady Arclight were harmed. Rather, several armored cultivators fell to friendly fire.
The two Taiqing cultivators rushed straight toward Young Master Wei. Xiao Nanfeng was still manipulating his Immortal Cicada in Young Master Wei's vicinity, killing a cultivator each time he struck.
"Hold him back, hold him back!" Young Master Wei cried out in panic.
He had thought that everything was under his control, but who would have known that death was drawing so near? The two enemy cultivators approached him, beheading his guards in a spray of blood. This was a hellscape!
One strong cultivator managed to block Xiao Nanfeng's swing. Their strength looked to be evenly matched—but the next moment, the Immortal Cicada pierced through his head, and he perished on the spot.
Xiao Nanfeng was hardly invincible, but the Immortal Cicada was an incredible tool in combat. With it around, he would be invincible against any Immanence-realm cultivator. He was certain to behead an enemy with every slash of his sword.
It went without saying that the same was true of the Lady Arclight, who seemed to have turned into a god of slaughter. Where she struck, heads would fall.
Xiao Nanfeng and the Lady Arclight's bodies were covered in fresh blood. They had killed dozens of cultivators each, and were growing close to Young Master Wei.
As they approached, Young Master Wei's legs turned to jelly.
"Quick, fire a signal and inform my father, now!" Young Master Wei howled.
As fireworks were launched into the air, Xiao Nanfeng sent his Immortal Cicada chasing after it. The Immortal Cicada batted the projectile back down to the ground, where it exploded in a forest, the signal lost.
Young Master Wei's eyes filled with despair. "No—hold them back, hold them back!"
He had never imagined that these two cultivators would force him into such dire straits.
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