Chapter 273: The Pestilence Sage is the Best Disciple

The Wingform-realm crane was weaker than Yu'er or even Xu Ming. Yu'er's furious assault quickly whittled it down. Its body was filled with wounds, and its feathers had been stripped away.

"Please, I'm only here because of Cui Haisheng's request. He's the mastermind, and I haven't hurt either of you. Can't we just drop this matter entirely?" the Wingform-realm crane pleaded.

It had no choice but to do so, after all. Yu'er was a stronger cultivator on all fronts, and although Xiao Nanfeng was only at Spiritsong, he was unusually strong. It was unable to escape from either direction.

"If Nanfeng really had been injured, you would have taken his life, wouldn't you? Do you really think begging will work now? Dream on. Die!" Yu'er shouted.

Yu'er's Immortal sword gleamed with radiant light, as though there were a thousand arrows simultaneously shooting toward the Wingform-realm crane.

"No!" The Wingform-realm crane defended to the best of its ability.

With a bang, its qi barrier exploded, shattered by the blades of light. Its chest was speared clean through by Yu'er's sword.

Summoning its full strength, the crane expelled the sword from its body and attempted to retreat in a shower of blood,

but a slash of blue light sent its head flying. It stared gobsmacked at Xiao Nanfeng. It had taken on this responsibility in an effort to please Cui Haisheng, but had ended up losing its life as a result.

"You could have remained an auspicious spiritbeast of the Taiqing sect—but you'd rather be one of Cui Haisheng's lackeys instead? Serves you right," Xiao Nanfeng murmured disdainfully.

"Nanfeng, are there other ambushes in the region?" Yu'er asked.

"None that I can sense, but there are surely still a few spies around. It doesn't matter. I'm prepared for them." Xiao Nanfeng smiled grimly.

He shot a flare of light into the air. Very quickly, dozens of figures appeared from within a nearby forest.

"King Xiao? All that commotion shocked me. The fighting must have been intense," Ye Dafu said.

"Ye Dafu, clean up the battlefield and retrieve the storage rings of the cultivators here—Xu Ming, the Jingang abbot, and so on. In addition, give the four inner cores of these cranes to Zheng Qian. He's been working himself to the bone recently," Xiao Nanfeng instructed.

"At once, King Xiao," Ye Dafu said.

"Work quickly. Once you're finished, return to Yongding at once."

"Understood!" Ye Dafu and his lackeys replied.

"Let's go, Senior Sister!" Xiao Nanfeng rushed into the air with Yu'er in tow.

"Why are we in such a rush?" Yu'er asked curiously.

"The battle isn't over yet. We'll take down Cui Haisheng as well!"

Yu'er opened her mouth wide. "You're intending to get rid of all your enemies in one fell swoop?"

"Last time, while I was at Jingang Temple, he attempted to raid Yongding. This time, he predicted that I would be at Mt. Swallowtail and set up an ambush for me. If I don't retaliate, he certainly won't learn his lesson. This time, I intend to strike him where it hurts and scour my lands clean of all obstruction."

Yu'er nodded in excitement as she flew back toward Yongding with Xiao Nanfeng at full speed.

On a mountaintop outside Yongding, several demonic elders and Cui Haisheng were spying on the city.

Although Tang seemed relaxed, he was particularly nervous, because he had learned from Cui Haisheng that he had dispatched a number of strong cultivators to ambush Xiao Nanfeng. Wouldn't Xiao Nanfeng be dead meat?

He wanted to head to Yongding and tell Xiao Nanfeng's avatar what he had learned, but with so many cultivators around, he hardly had the opportunity to do so.

"Division Leader, I feel like Xiao Nanfeng won't die so easily," Tang said.

"Pestilence Sage, what nonsense are you talking about? The division leader has planned for everything, every possibility! How could Xiao Nanfeng make it out alive? He's guaranteed to perish this time!" a demonic elder retorted.

"What do you mean, Pestilence Sage?" Cui Haisheng asked.

Tang nodded. "Division Leader, Xiao Nanfeng isn't a fool. He might be able to predict our plans. What if he's made preparations in advance and is planning to take us down instead? We might suffer significant losses."

"Oh?" Cui Haisheng narrowed his eyes at Tang.

"Division Leader, I don't know why, but I have a bad premonition. I feel as though we can't stay here any longer, that it might be dangerous for us if we do. We had better leave," Tang advised.

"Pestilence Sage, if your intuition were truly accurate, you wouldn't have lost your avatars to Xiao Nanfeng back then."

"Everything's under the division leader's control. Do you intend for him to give up on this scheme? You aren't trying to let Xiao Nanfeng's toad spirits go aid him, are you?"

The other elders were suspicious of Tang, who began to panic. That was exactly his plan, but he could hardly admit to it. He didn't dare make any further suggestions.

Cui Haisheng glanced at Tang and frowned. He felt as though there was something amiss about Tang; his suggestion would only have helped Xiao Nanfeng. However, without any evidence for his suspicions, there was no need to make an accusation now. Better to wait until Xiao Nanfeng was dead before checking the Pestilence Sage's background carefully.

Just then, a cold gleam shot toward Cui Haisheng's lower back.

The hair on Cui Haisheng's neck stood on end as he felt a sensation of impending death. He flung himself to the side as he activated his defenses fully.

Suddenly, a sword pierced through his qi barrier and tore a huge wound under his armpit. Blood spurted as the sword struck bone and revealed his ribs.

The attack had occurred far too quickly. If not for his strength and reflexes, it would have struck him in the heart.

"You dare!" Cui Haisheng howled, striking at his assassin with a palm.

A black figure was sent flying.

Simultaneously, however, an Immortal sword, a cursed blade, and four huge toad palms struck at Cui Haisheng.

Cui Haisheng's eyes widened as the mountaintop on which he was situated burst into pieces. Tang and the other demonic elders, struck by the shockwaves that arose in the aftermath of the attack, coughed out blood and found their limbs broken and bent.

As fire and wind raged around him, Cui Haisheng drew an Immortal blade and barely parried the attack. Even so, his hair was in disarray, his clothes tattered, blood flowing freely all over his body. His internal organs had been badly damaged.

"You've returned, Xiao Nanfeng?!" Cui Haisheng exclaimed.

Xiao Nanfeng, Yu'er, Croak, Warble, and You Jiu had surrounded Cui Haisheng.

Despite the pristine Immortal sword in Cui Haisheng's hand, he wasn't sure if he would be able to escape death given the caliber of the cultivators that surrounded him.

"Kill!" Xiao Nanfeng shouted, unleashing the first blow.

Cui Haisheng's eyes grew frosty as he counterattacked Xiao Nanfeng, but Yu'er's sword was faster than his blade. It struck Cui Haisheng in a long arc, prepared to behead him the very next moment. Cui Haisheng immediately whirled his sword toward Yu'er, then tossed a corroded Immortal relic at Xiao Nanfeng.

Cui Haisheng blocked Yu'er's deadly blow as the explosion from the Immortal relic forced Xiao Nanfeng back. Even so, Croak, Warble, and You Jiu's attacks all landed. Struck by three heavy blows, Cui Haisheng spat out a mouthful of fresh blood as he was sent flying. His left arm exploded, revealing bone and hanging limply by his side.

"Die!" Cui Haisheng roared.

He simultaneously destroyed four corroded Immortal relics, tossing them at Croak, Warble, You Jiu, and Yu'er. Four fireballs erupted around the four Wingform-realm cultivators as Cui Haisheng fled in the direction of Xiao Nanfeng.

However, he saw that Xiao Nanfeng had destroyed a corroded Immortal relic of his own.

"No!" Cui Haisheng shouted fearfully.

Xiao Nanfeng had obtained a large number of corroded Immortal relics from the storage ring that his avatar carried, which were now being used against him. This was a disaster!

Yu'er, Croak, Warble, and You Jiu were on guard for these Immortal relics thanks to Xiao Nanfeng's reminders, and they easily dodged the resulting explosions. However, Cui Haisheng had attempted to flee at such speed that, even if he were to try to dodge, his momentum would carry him forward regardless.

With a huge bang, Cui Haisheng was caught directly in the explosion. His qi barrier shattered, and his injured left arm turned even more gory.

Cui Haisheng blanched. He knew that this was the end, that he was dead. Why had he listened to his idiotic disciples instead of the Pestilence Sage? The Pestilence Sage had done more for him than his disciples ever did!

"Xiao Nanfeng, if I have to die, I'll bring you along with me!" Cui Haisheng howled.

He caused the pristine Immortal sword in his hand to explode. The destruction of a fully functional Immortal relic resulted in an explosion of incredible magnitude.

"Flee!" Xiao Nanfeng shouted, his eyes widening.

However, Cui Haisheng moved even more quickly than Xiao Nanfeng did as he tossed the Immortal sword at him.

"Nanfeng!" Yu'er cried out.

"Sir!" You Jiu shouted.

A huge mushroom cloud formed where Xiao Nanfeng had once stood. The resulting shockwave buffeted Cui Haisheng, already grievously injured. He couldn't even activate his qi barrier any longer; how could he survive an explosion of this magnitude?

He could vaguely glimpse Xiao Nanfeng bringing out a huge chunk of purple rock. Before he could see whether his nemesis had died for real, he was swallowed up by a giant tongue and trapped within Croak's mouth.

As the explosion dissipated, Yu'er and the others ventured into the superheated smoke, only to see the giant purple rock disappear from sight and reveal a perfectly undamaged Xiao Nanfeng.

"I'm alright. Don't worry about me," Xiao Nanfeng replied, smiling.

Croak, Warble, and You Jiu all heaved a sigh of relief as they stopped short. Only Yu'er continued flying toward Xiao Nanfeng, unshed tears in her eyes. When she confirmed that Xiao Nanfeng really was alright, she embraced him tightly.