Chapter 270: The Divine Emperor's Bell

Outside the city of Yongding, Cui Haisheng and Tang stood hidden as they spied on the city from afar.

"Division Leader, you've been sneaking into Yongding daily and leaving the moment you come into contact with the toad spirits. Might I ask why? I don't understand your actions," Tang admitted curiously.

As Xiao Nanfeng had suggested, he was doing his best to spend more time with Cui Haisheng. He had volunteered to accompany Cui Haisheng when he made a move, as he did now.

"I naturally have my reasons for doing so," Cui Haisheng replied confidently.

"Oh?" Tang asked.

"Aren't you aware of what happened at Mt. Swallowtail? Can't you tell?" Cui Haisheng asked.

"There was news from a month ago that all the Jingang Temple disciples have gathered by Mt. Swallowtail and dispatched all the other rogue soldiers to the frontlines. Not only that, they've shrouded Mt. Swallowtail in a formation. What have they been doing? Trying to—excavate the draconic vein there?!" Tang's eyes widened.

Cui Haisheng glanced at Tang and murmured, "You really are intelligent, aren't you? All my disciples must have stones for brains if they don't understand what's going on."

"You overpraise me, Division Leader," Tang hastily replied.

Cui Haisheng continued, "Xiao Nanfeng excavated the draconic vein that lies under the Jingang Temple. Xu Ming and his group, not daring to venture to the city of Yongding, have no other means of retaliation but to attempt to excavate the draconic veins of the Xiao lands. One objective is to productively spend the time they would otherwise waste while waiting for Xiang Pojun to undergo secluded cultivation; another is to lure Xiao Nanfeng over."

"Lure Xiao Nanfeng over? For an ambush?" Tang asked.

"That's what I think. Xiao Nanfeng's cultivation is lacking, and what he needs most are these draconic veins. If he finds out that his draconic veins have been stolen from under his nose, would he be able to bear it?" Cui Haisheng smiled.

"I certainly wouldn't," Tang acknowledged.

"Exactly. I've been raiding the Xiao manor these last few days, but Xiao Nanfeng hasn't shown himself. I suspect that he's already gone to Mt. Swallowtail. Of course, he might still have some avatars around, but they're likely too weak to show themselves," Cui Haisheng continued.

"Oh?"

"Xiao Nanfeng can't afford to give up on the draconic vein under Mt. Swallowtail, and he certainly won't give up on the city of Yongding. Therefore, as long as I remain around Yongding, he'll have to leave some of his strongest subordinates in the vicinity—his two toad spirits, at the very least. The forces that he can bring with him to Mt. Swallowtail will be weaker than they otherwise have been. If Xu Ming and the others make sufficient preparations, they might be able to kill Xiao Nanfeng right then and there," Cui Haisheng stated expectantly.

Tang blanched. "Division Leader, you're planning on taking advantage of the Jingang monks to kill Xiao Nanfeng? And supporting them in their venture?"

"No, I plan on making a move myself as well."

"What?" Tang exclaimed.

"Xiao Nanfeng's like a cockroach. He's very intelligent, and I'm worried that Xu Ming and the others won't be able to get rid of him or will only be able to wound him seriously. I've prepared a backup by Mt. Swallowtail to deal him a finishing blow if Xiao Nanfeng escapes from the mountain heavily injured."

"You have cultivators lying in ambush by Mt. Swallowtail? You really have planned for everything, Division Leader!"

Cui Haisheng smiled haughtily. "My plans have no flaws."

Within the formation of black smoke at Mt. Swallowtail, Xiao Nanfeng struck at the shadows attacking him as he protected Yu'er.

"Has Xu Ming died?" Yu'er exclaimed.

"He deserves it," Xiao Nanfeng spat out.

"But what should we do now?"

"Don't worry. Let's start by getting the dragon-quelling spike." Xiao Nanfeng continued to swat at the shadows with his divine undying blade as he made a beeline for the spike.

The dragon-quelling spike emanated an aura that prevented the shadows around them from approaching it. Xiao Nanfeng flew toward the spike and grabbed it with his free hand.

"Shadows, you won't be able to hurt me," Xiao Nanfeng called out. "Why don't we call a truce?"

"A truce? You've been humiliating us by swatting us with your blade. Do you think we'd settle for a truce? Lad, you and this girl here will both die today!" a shadow seethed.

The other shadows showed their teeth as they shot toward him.

"You won't give up? Don't blame me for this, then," Xiao Nanfeng warned them.

Xiao Nanfeng looked toward his left hand. "Do you want to make a move? Otherwise, I'll handle them myself."

The shadows stilled. Was this lad mad? Why was he speaking to his left hand?

Yu'er was also giving Xiao Nanfeng a surprised look. What had Xiao Nanfeng done to his left hand in the past year?

Suddenly, the ring on Xiao Nanfeng's left hand's middle finger flew into the air and released a huge cloud of smoke.

"What's this?" The shadows felt that something was deeply amiss.

A pitch-black figure appeared from the black smoke. It had no features that distinguished it as male or female, but there seemed to be a crown-like halo of smoke around its head. It gave off a frightening aura.

"You're a shadow, too? What division are you from?" one shadow asked.

The crowned shadow suddenly reached out with a pitch-black hand and flicked at the ring hovering in the air. The ring shot up into the sky and transformed into a large, golden bell.

The ornate bell was engraved with all manner of spirits, tens of thousands of them in all. Their likeness had been captured by this all-encompassing relic.

"The Divine Emperor's bell? You're the Divine Emperor?!" The shadows were astounded.

The bell tolled. Golden sound waves emanated from the bell and swept across the formation. About thirty shadows were forced out of the barrier around the formation.

The shadows were taken aback by the sudden attack.

The Divine Emperor howled, causing the shadows to tremble as they retreated in fear.

The Divine Emperor caught the nearest shadow and opened its maw, revealing rows upon rows of sinister fangs. It bit down on the shadow.

"No! Please spare me, Divine Emperor!"

"Divine Emperor, we didn't want to betray you. We had no choice! The Spirit Emperor forced us to defect!"

"Don't kill me, Divine Emperor! Don't—save me!"

The shadows all shouted in fear, but the Divine Emperor ignored them all. It swallowed up the shadow it had caught, then shot toward another one.

"No, don't! Please, save me!"

"Spare me, Divine Emperor!"

The shadows began to flee. They struck the formation of black smoke, but it had been reinforced and shielded from them by the Divine Emperor's bell. Unable to escape from the formation, they scattered all over, but none were faster than the Divine Emperor.

One after another, the shadows were consumed.

Some of the shadows shot toward Xiao Nanfeng, attempting to hold him hostage, but Xiao Nanfeng swatted them toward the Divine Emperor.

"No!" the shadows howled.

Yu'er's eyes widened. "You've reached an agreement with the cursed effigy in the ring? It's willing to help you?"

"It's not helping me," Xiao Nanfeng corrected. "Rather, it wants to consume these shadows itself—and if it doesn't make a move, someone else will."

"Who? Who else would dare to eat these cursed effigies?" Yu'er exclaimed dubiously.

Xiao Nanfeng held the dragon-quelling spike up to his mindscape. "Senior Black Lotus, I apologize for not having anything good with which to welcome you. Please at least have this dragon-quelling spike."

The dragon-quelling spike was sucked in.

"Nanfeng, that dragon-quelling spike was meant to be used to deal with cursed kings. How could you have given it to a cursed king to eat?" Yu'er fretted.

Xiao Nanfeng smiled. "Don't worry. I know what I'm doing."

The moment he claimed the dragon-quelling spike, he had attempted to activate its true strength. However, despite the fact that he was already at Spiritsong, he was unable to do so. Rather than go around carrying a useless dragon-quelling spike and rousing the distaste of the cursed kings in his orbit, why not develop relations further with the black lotus?

Yu'er gave him a strange look. "Have you managed to communicate with them, then?"

"Actually, they're quite easy to talk to," Xiao Nanfeng replied.

Yu'er gave him a wide-eyed stare. What sort of situation was this? Her parents would never believe that such a feat was possible.

"How did you do it, Nanfeng?" Yu'er shook her head in disbelief.

"Perhaps I was lucky in that all the cursed effigies I've encountered are fundamentally good," Xiao Nanfeng replied.

He didn't dare brag about himself. It would be better to praise the cursed effigies around him instead.

Yu'er's brows furrowed. Weren't cursed effigies uniformly evil?

Just then, a palm struck at Xiao Nanfeng's back. The attack happened so quickly that even Xiao Nanfeng was caught unawares.

"Be careful!" Yu'er shouted, pushing him aside.

The palm landed on Yu'er's body, sending her flying back as she coughed out a mouthful of blood.

"Yu'er!" Xiao Nanfeng shouted.

The moment she pushed him, he realized that something was amiss. He immediately leapt toward her and grabbed her prone body.

Yu'er had fallen unconscious.

"Who's there?" Xiao Nanfeng thundered.

A black-robed figure had emerged not far away.

The figure floated in the air and chuckled coldly. "You dare trick me, lad?"

"Envoy Ying? What are you doing here?"

"I've been following you, of course. I knew you had to be hiding something up your sleeve. The ring you gave me was nothing more than a replica. As I suspected, I would be able to find the true ring by tailing you. Haha!" Envoy Ying guffawed, pleased that its plan had worked.

"You've been following me? How strong are you? Why couldn't Hong Lie detect you?"

"Hong Lie? Ha! As if he could keep an eye on you all day long." Envoy Ying scoffed in disdain.

"What have you done to Yu'er?"

"Don't worry, I've just injected some cursed spiritual power into her body. She won't die just yet. It's your turn now."

Xiao Nanfeng retreated, still holding onto Yu'er. He knew that Envoy Ying had to be particularly strong. Even the Divine Emperor had refused to meet with it upon hearing that it was present.

"You won't be able to escape, lad. You cultivate pure yang origin qi, don't you? You must have an impressive physical body if even the Divine Emperor is interested in it. I'll claim it for myself, haha!" Envoy Ying floated closer and closer.

By then, more than half of the shadows had been devoured by the Divine Emperor. When they saw Envoy Ying, they immediately flocked toward him.

"Save us, sir! Save us!"

The Divine Emperor roared and swiped at them, dragging a whole slew of shadows to its side. The Divine Emperor seemed to be particularly anxious as it swallowed them all.

Envoy Ying's face grew tense. It gave up on trying to capture Xiao Nanfeng and appeared before the Divine Emperor instead.