Chapter 257: Taking Down the City of Yongding

Xiao Nanfeng walked up to the Chief Steward's corpse and retrieved his ring.

"It's precisely the same as my storage ring from before." Xiao Nanfeng considered this discovery.

He was certain that the Chief Steward had to have overheard his father mention that the ring could suppress the shadow cursed effigy, but the Chief Steward didn't know that his father had made a fake copy of the ring as well. How did it end up in the Chief Steward's hands?

Xiao Nanfeng stowed the ring. "We're done here. Ye Sanshui, dispel the formation!"

"Understood!" Ye Sanshui replied from beyond the barrier.

Moments later, the formation of red fog dissipated as Ye Sanshui, Ye Dafu, and a few other elders streamed into the yard.

"King Xiao, what happened to the cursed effigy?" Ye Sanshui asked in worry.

"I've handled the problem. Thank you for your help. Now, please go protect the sect disciples," Xiao Nanfeng stated.

"Understood!"

The cultivators returned to the battlefield.

By the time the first ray of dawn struck the city of Yongding, the battle was over. All the rogue soldiers had either surrendered or been killed. The citizenry hid behind locked doors and windows as they listened to the commotion on the streets.

Xiao Nanfeng took a deep breath and infused his qi into his voice, magnifying it so it could be heard throughout the city. "Citizens of Yongding, I am the son of Xiao Hongye, Xiao Nanfeng! When my father vanished thirteen years ago, my rogue servant the Chief Steward imprisoned me. Three years ago, I escaped from the prison that my home had become. Today, I return having exacted revenge with cultivators and disciples of my sect. I have reclaimed my rightful lands and property. I apologize for the disturbance that occurred late last night as I effected the takeover. Please, do not panic, and do not fear. The Chief Steward is dead. I, Xiao Nanfeng, have returned!"

The citizens were all shocked by the pronouncement.

"The Chief Steward's dead? How could it be?"

"He's a demon who kills without batting an eye. His death is deserved, I say!"

"Young Master Xiao's back? The real Young Master Xiao?"

A susurrus of whispers could be heard all around the city, but no one dared step out just yet. Who knew what the reality would be? Could these years of terror, this regime of fear, truly be over?

Two days later, near the surface of where the Eastern Sea Draconic Palace had once been located, fleets of ships were dredging up corpses from the sea. Although the corpses had decayed, many still had some distinctive features that would allow the various sects to identify the corpses of the disciples.

On one ship, Nalan Yunhai glanced at a tall, thin man standing before him. "Uncle, has Third Brother's corpse been found?"

"Not yet. I hope Yunfeng's still alive, but it's an unlikely possibility." The tall, thin man shook his head. "How many disciples did you manage to recruit from the Taiqing Immortal Sect?"

Nalan Yunhai's face scrunched up. "I wasn't very successful. You were right. Xiang Pojun really did attack Taiqing Island."

"Even if Xiang Pojun were to head to Taiqing Island, he wouldn't be able to destroy it. Hong Lie's become an Immortal, and Ku Jiang has even managed to reach Yin Body. At best both parties would be hurt," the tall, thin man replied.

Nalan Yunhai shook his head. "Xiang Pojun suffered a terrible defeat, and the Taiqing Immortal Sect barely sustained any damage.

"Oh?" The man seemed quite surprised.

"Not only that, I saw Xiao Nanfeng when I was there," Nalan Yunhai continued.

"What? He's still alive?" The man's eyes lit up.

"Why does it matter, Uncle?"

"Nonsense! I was the one who sent Yunfeng out of the Draconic Palace. How am I supposed to account for his disappearance to your parents? I've been worried sick about it these last few days. Thank goodness Xiao Nanfeng's still alive. He can bear responsibility on my behalf. I'll catch and interrogate him—you haven't done so already, have you?"

Nalan Yunhai shook his head, then recounted what had happened during Zhao Yuanjiao's appointment ceremony.

"Killing a Wingform-realm crow spirit? Ha. Don't be scared by Xiao Nanfeng. He was only able to accomplish such a feat thanks to the Immortal's Destruction and the draconic vein on Taiqing Island. Without either of those factors, he would hardly have been a match for them. After all, he's only a Spiritsong-realm cultivator, and the gap between cultivation realms is massive."

Nalan Yunhai nodded. "He has the support of a large number of Taiqing elders, and I was unable to strike."

The man narrowed his eyes. "Perhaps you might not be able to, but I'm around. Does he think that he'll be able to reclaim his titled lands? Unfortunately for him, those lands have already changed ownership."

As the two men spoke, another man flew over and landed by their side. He was one of the Taiqing Demonic Sect elders that had been prepared to save the Chief Steward's eldest son.

"Master, something's happened at the city of Yongding," the man said.

"Hmm?"

"Yesterday morning, Xiao Nanfeng officially reclaimed the city of Yongding, and the Chief Steward was killed on the spot." The man recounted what he had witnessed at Yongding.

"Xiao Nanfeng headed there this quickly? And he even reclaimed the city of Yongding?" Nalan Yunhai was astounded.

𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

The tall, thin man's face turned dark. "Irrelevant. So what if he killed the Chief Steward and dealt with the rogue soldiers? Does he think he'll be able to govern a city just with those Taiqing disciples that have joined him? What a joke. He doesn't have suitable manpower for the task."

"No, Master, that can't be. Before I came, I found that Xiao Nanfeng had already prepared a large number of officials, who were deftly taking over the governance of the city following Zheng Qian's orders."

"What? A large number of officials? From where?" The man was clearly doubtful of Xiao Nanfeng's capabilities.

"I don't know, Master. The officials are rather weak themselves, but Xiao Nanfeng has assigned Taiqing disciples to serve as their guards. They're currently wiping any traces of the Chief Steward from the city, and they've removed all the people that we have stationed there. He seems to have a surprisingly deep understanding of the complicated power structures in Yongding."

"It looks like Xiao Nanfeng has been planning this for quite some time..." Nalan Yunhai remarked.

The tall, thin man's frown deepened. "Three years? How has he done so much in three years? Where would he have found these officials?"

"Xiao Nanfeng is truly full of secrets. He won't be able to reclaim the land, would he?" Nalan Yunhai asked, worried.

"Don't joke around. We've all but split Xiao Hongye's lands among ourselves by now. What's more, the rogue soldiers of the Xiang clan are particularly active in those lands. He won't be able to reclaim them at all. Just taking down the nearby cities would require an inordinate amount of manpower."

"As you say, Uncle!" Nalan Yunhai nodded.

"Stay here and keep searching to see if Yunfeng's corpse can be found. I'll return to Yongding now and check on Xiao Nanfeng myself."

"Uncle, be careful. Arresting Xiao Nanfeng in public won't be good for your image," Nalan Yunhai warned.

"Don't worry. I don't intend on making a move myself, but no one can blame me if a group of rogue soldiers seize Xiao Nanfeng." The man chuckled coldly.

Nalan Yunhai's eyes brightened as he nodded. "Then I'll await your good news, Uncle."