Chapter 262: Destroying the Jingang Temple

Seated in the plaza overlooked by a huge stone Buddha at the Jingang Temple, Xu Fa grew madder and madder the more he stewed. "Bring all the Taiqing disciples we've caught over!"

Dozens of Taiqing disciples were brought to the plaza. Their clothes were tattered and bodies wounded. Many of them were bleeding and bruised, some even unconscious.

"Hang them all up!" Xu Fa commanded.

The Taiqing disciples were trussed up in the air.

"Spare us, spare us!"

"Don't beg for mercy. They're not going to let us go after they've captured us. Listen to me. We can't tell them anything about the Taiqing Immortal Sect—not our sect techniques, nor what's going on within the sect. If you divulge that information, you'll just perish even more quickly!"

The Taiqing disciples tried to encourage each other.

"I don't need any more information from you. Xiao Nanfeng has caused the death of my senior brother, Xu Kong. I've been forbidden to take revenge on him, so I'll take things out on you instead," Xu Fa told them chillingly.

"You're going to kill us?" The Taiqing disciples blanched.

"Not so easily. An ancient rite of torture in Buddhist sects is to have eagles consume raw flesh from the victims' bodies as sacrifice, as penitence, to extirpate sin. Today, your flesh shall feed the eagles I've been raising. Monks, release the eagles!" Xu Fa commanded.

The monks began to cut off chunks of flesh from the Taiqing disciples' bodies and toss them at the eagles circling the plaza.

"It hurts!"

"Don't kill me! Don't hurt me anymore! Argh!"

Screams and cries rang out.

"Isn't the Jingang Temple a Buddhist sect, beholden to the teachings of mercy and grace? What's the meaning of this torture? What Buddha could you possibly pray to? You're no monks—you're demons!"

"Even Buddha harbors anger, steely, righteous anger from which the name Jingang derives. We castigate and punish evil in the name of Buddha, ridding the world of demons and spirits. Against sinners like you, we will never be merciful. This punishment is meant to cleanse you of sin and rid you of bad karma. Amitabha!"

"We're not the demons. You are, you are!"

"The Taiqing elders will surely seek revenge on our behalf."

"The disciples of your sect shall be punished for what you've done!"

The Taiqing disciples howled in outrage, knowing that pleading for mercy would do them no good.

"The Taiqing Immortal Sect doesn't even know that you've been captured. How would they be able to seek revenge? Why don't you pray that they attack the Jingang Temple? Well? Have them show up right here and now!" Xu Fa taunted.

Just then, a boom rang out from deep within the island on which the temple was situated. The island shook and quaked. The formation around it dissipated into the air.

"Senior Uncle Xu Fa, something's wrong! Someone has destroyed the island-protecting formation!" a disciple exclaimed.

"Who dares attack the Jingang Temple? Insolence!" Xu Fa thundered in outrage.

He soared into the sky, heading toward the foundations of the temple's formation, when he suddenly sensed two tremendous auras before him.

Xu Fa hesitated and looked up to see two tongues descending toward him.

"Xiao Nanfeng's two toad spirits—that bastard!" Xu Fa cried out.

Xu Fa deflected the two toad spirits' tongues with a palm technique, but the toad spirits' bulk, falling under the effect of gravity, smashed into him like meteors. The three Wingform-realm cultivators and spirits tangled together and began to fight. The mountain peaks of the Jingang Temple collapsed in plumes of dust.

"Activate the other formations now!" Xu Fa cried out as he fought.

However, by then, You Jiu and the spectral guards had already infiltrated the island. The evil monks would not have the opportunity to set up any further defenses. Screams rang out all across the island.

Just then, Xiao Nanfeng and thousands of Taiqing disciples swarmed onto the island and above the central plaza. They were shocked to see dozens of Taiqing disciples being hung in the air, chunks of flesh cut of from their bodies in macabre torture.

"Junior brothers!"

"These evil monks—they've been torturing our juniors!"

"Die, you vile monks!"

The thousands of Taiqing disciples roared as they charged forward.

The majority of the disciples of the Jingang Temple had left to invade the Xiao lands, leaving only a few expert cultivators and a large number of weaker disciples behind in the temple proper. How could they be any match for the enraged Taiqing disciples?

"Kill!" the Taiqing disciples chorused.

The Taiqing disciples who had been strung up and left out for the eagles, who thought that death would surely come for them that day, couldn't help but cry as they saw salvation over the horizon.

"Save us, Senior Brother Xiao!"

"Senior Brother Xiao, they've been interrogating us about you!"

"They want to know about what's going on in the sect, Senior Brother Xiao!"

The Taiqing disciples had endless grievances that they wanted to share with their saviors.

Xiao Nanfeng and the others cut them down and rescued them, then handed them pills for their injuries. Swaddled in blankets and tended to with devotion, they couldn't help but feel at ease for the first time since they were caught.

"Ye Sanshui, set up the Immortal's Destruction," Xiao Nanfeng commanded.

Ye Sanshui and his group quickly began to set up the artifact as Xiao Nanfeng rushed toward Xu Fa.

Xu Fa was a mid-stage Wingform-realm cultivator, and even Croak and Warble working together were unable to take him down.

"Die, foul spirit!" Xu Fa howled. His palms slammed toward the skies as he struck at both toad spirits.

Just then, Xiao Nanfeng imbued a talisman for the Immortal's Destruction and sent a slash of energy crashing down from the skies. It was surprisingly strong, bearing the might of a Wingform-realm cultivator.

The slash struck Xu Fa on the head, prompting a frenzied cry. Simultaneously, You Jiu thrust a sword through his lower back.

"No!" Xu Fa cried out.

With Croak and Warble striking at him simultaneously, Xu Fa was unable to defend himself. You Jiu bisected his body, and Croak and Warble each swallowed half of it.

The fights elsewhere on the island quickly ended, leaving just Taiqing disciples roaming freely.

"Hurry, everyone!" Ye Dafu, Ye Sanshui, and the other commanders urged the Taiqing disciples to scour the Jingang Temple for any treasure, which were to be brought to the central plaza with the overlooking Buddha.

Before they had arrived at the island, Xiao Nanfeng had informed everyone that all the spoils would go to him; they would be used to reward the troops conquering cities in the Xiao lands. What the cultivators would gain from this expedition was none other than draconic aether.

No one minded such a distribution of treasure. Gold, silver, relics—none of that could compare to draconic aether. For a cultivator, raising one's cultivation was the utmost priority.

With all the loot taken care of, Xiao Nanfeng activated the Immortal's Destruction and sent eight Immortal-binding chains burrowing deep underground.

Not too long later, a dragon's cries could be heard from underground.

The moment he saw that the Immortal's Destruction had had the power of a Wingform-realm cultivator, Xiao Nanfeng knew that the draconic vein under the Jingang Temple had to be extraordinary.

The entire island shuddered and a whole mountain range began to topple. A tsunami formed in the sea surrounding the island.

A dragon cried out as a huge rumble resounded across the island. A fifteen-hundred-meter-long draconic vein was excavated and pulled out from underground, revealed in full display on the plaza.

"What a large vein!" Ye Dafu and the others cried out.

This was the first time they had seen a draconic vein of such magnitude. Fifteen hundred meters! It was longer and far wider than any they had seen to date.

Many salivated upon seeing the draconic vein in its full glory, but no one leapt forward. Everyone was waiting for Xiao Nanfeng's command.

"Not only can draconic aether enhance your cultivation, it can heal any injuries that you might have. All injured disciples, make sure to get your fill. Now, everyone, dig in!" Xiao Nanfeng commanded with a laugh.

"Yes, Elder Xiao!" everyone cried out.

Xiao Nanfeng was the first to absorb draconic aether from the huge draconic vein. Everyone else followed suit. Thousands of disciples imbibed the draconic aether, not willing to waste even a single drop of it. The draconic vein bellowed in despair.

Croak, Warble, You Jiu, and even a group of spectral guards wearing Taiqing robes and disguised as Taiqing disciples, absorbed their fill.

As everyone took in what draconic aether they could, the draconic vein was quickly drained.

Everyone glowed with golden light. They sat cross-legged in meditation.

Xiao Nanfeng distilled the draconic aether in his body into pure yang qi and sent it gushing toward the suns in his dantian.

Four hours later, a gust of energy was expelled from Xiao Nanfeng's body.

"The seventh stage of Spiritsong..." Xiao Nanfeng's eyes opened in a gleam of light.

The seventh nascent spirit had been gestated in his seventh sun.

Croak, Warble, You Jiu, and the others were likewise experiencing breakthroughs of their own. What most pleased Xiao Nanfeng was that another four Ascension-realm disciples had made their way into Spiritsong. They were overjoyed and testing out their newfound powers of flight—and, to Xiao Nanfeng's surprise, all of Ye Dafu's lackeys had reached Spiritsong as well.

Among those at the peak of Immanence, a full three hundred had managed to make it into Ascension. The new scope of their powers astounded them.

"I knew I made the right decision in following Elder Xiao!"

"I've benefited more from a month with Senior Brother Xiao than ten years cultivating alone. Senior Brother Xiao is truly generous!"

"I've reached Ascension too, haha!"

The disciples were jubilant as they probed their newfound strength. Soon, everyone had awoken from meditation.

"Alright. We'll be returning to Yongding immediately. Be careful on the way back. I, Croak, and Warble will be setting off first," Xiao Nanfeng instructed.

"Understood!" the disciples replied.

They knew that Yongding was currently an empty city; danger could strike at any moment. Croak and Warble were Wingform-realm lifeforms who would be able to bring Xiao Nanfeng back to Yongding at greatest speed to prevent any raiders from taking advantage of the situation.

Xiao Nanfeng, You Jiu, Croak, and Warble rose into the air and vanished across the horizon.

Ye Dafu and thirty or so Spiritsong-realm elders dragged the remaining Taiqing disciples in a large net and followed behind.