Chapter 312: Entrance to the Yao Pool

Xiao Nanfeng continuously dodged the Immortal-realm divine slaves. The unusual phenomenon left him alert. Something was wrong; the situation was more complicated than it appeared.

As he fled, he suddenly turned sharply and leapt up onto a mountaintop. A crane spirit there jumped in shock as it stretched its wings and attempted to flee.

"Stay right there!" Xiao Nanfeng shouted.

He grabbed the crane spirit's neck, forcing it to remain still.

Only then did he notice that there were crane spirits everywhere in sight. When they saw Xiao Nanfeng, however, they fled and darted away through the fog.

Shortly after, three more crane spirits appeared in the air. Behind each of them was an Immortal-realm divine slave. As they approached Xiao Nanfeng, they immediately flew away into the fog, having lured the divine slaves toward Xiao Nanfeng.

The three Immortal-realm divine slaves howled as they shot toward him.

"I was wondering how divine slaves kept finding me—it's all because of you!" Xiao Nanfeng exclaimed.

"Let me go!" the crane spirit in his hand shouted.

Xiao Nanfeng tossed the crane spirit at an Immortal-realm divine slave.

"No!"

The crane spirit was bisected by one of the divine slaves' blades.

Xiao Nanfeng then continued to flee. After he had escaped from all three Immortal-realm divine slaves' pursuit, he flew into the fog and found the crane spirits again. They didn't dare to fly too high up, for fear of what awaited them there. He shot toward the crane spirits.

"Kill!" Xiao Nanfeng shouted.

"No!" the crane spirits exclaimed.

"Who instigated you to have the divine slaves chase me?" Xiao Nanfeng asked the crane spirits as he attacked them.

Crane carcasses continued to fall to the ground as Xiao Nanfeng's attacks grew fiercer and fiercer.

"Help! Save us, Your Highness!"

"Save us! Xiao Nanfeng's gone crazy!"

The crane spirits cried out in fear.

Xiao Nanfeng continued to pursue the fleeing cranes as he dodged the Immortal-realm divine slaves coming his way. He had no intention of letting the crane spirits go.

Suddenly, two cultivators draped in multicolored light shot over.

"Hold it!" one of them shouted.

"Nalan Yunhai? Qiangwei? It was you!" Xiao Nanfeng glared at the two cultivators.

Upon seeing their arrival, the crane spirits hurried to their saviors.

"Your Highness, you've finally come! He found us and killed many of our number. Please, save us!" the crane spirits cried out.

Xiao Nanfeng continued slicing them apart.

"Xiao Nanfeng, how dare you!" Nalan Yunhai thundered.

Qiangwei and Nalan Yunhai struck simultaneously, blinding light emanating from their bodies as they attacked with Immortal swords. Xiao Nanfeng wouldn't be able to defend against them unarmed.

He reached out and tossed two exploding Immortal relics at them, which burst into flames. The two cultivators were forced back while Xiao Nanfeng vanished into the fog.

"Your Highness, be careful! There's a large group of divine slaves coming from the south."

"Qiangwei, how could you endanger His Highness so? Don't you know what kind of place this is?"

"Quick, there's a large group of Immortal-realm divine slaves coming from the north, too!"

A number of voices could be heard through the fog.

Xiao Nanfeng's eyes widened. "So many Immortals...?"

He could see a group of Immortals defending against the incoming Immortal-realm divine slaves, protecting Nalan Yunhai as they escaped from danger.

Xiao Nanfeng fled, returning to a secluded valley he had passed by on the way to the Yao Pool. He had hidden a crane spirit there, one whose cultivation had been sealed and which he had knocked unconscious.

"Wake up!" Xiao Nanfeng demanded.

The crane spirit was slapped awake to find a blade by its neck.

"Please, spare me, Young Master Xiao! I was only acting on orders!" the crane spirit exclaimed.

"On whose orders?"

"On Nalan Yunhai's orders! When we were scouting around, we saw your tracks and reported them to Nalan Yunhai. He had us lure Immortal-realm divine slaves over to kill you, and we had no choice but to act as he commanded."

"What are you doing here?" Xiao Nanfeng demanded.

"We don't know either. Emperor Tianshu commanded us to keep guard over here. Nalan Yunhai's not the only one in the vicinity. There are a few marquises from the Tianshu Empire, along with their followers. Emperor Tianshu gave a few of the marquises Immortal pills that allowed them to ascend to Immortal-realm. They've been laying in ambush since."

"For me?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.

"No! We reported your presence to Nalan Yunhai and the marquises, but they told us to mind our own business. They don't care about you; only Nalan Yunhai does."

"Oh? Then who are you laying an ambush for?"

"I don't know, and none of the marquises have revealed a thing. They're all waiting for Emperor Tianshu's orders, and so are we."

"Emperor Tianshu is in the vicinity?" Xiao Nanfeng exclaimed.

"He's searching for something with Ku Jiang and Han Bingdie, but I'm not sure about the specifics," the crane spirit replied.

Xiao Nanfeng asked the crane spirit a few more questions, but there was little else it knew. Xiao Nanfeng didn't pity the crane spirit; it was affiliated with the Taiqing Immortal Sect, and the fact that it had tried to harm him despite knowing he was the Mortal division leader was a crime punishable by death. He beheaded the crane spirit with a single cut.

Then, Xiao Nanfeng began to move even more carefully. Not only did he have to avoid the Immortal-realm divine slaves all around, he also had to make sure he wasn't spotted by the crane spirits either.

At the same time, on a hilltop, Qiangwei was helping Nalan Yunhai tend to his wounds.

Nalan Yunhai's face was dark. "These marquises refused to give chase after Xiao Nanfeng?"

Qiangwei shook her head as she applied salve to his wounds. "Your Highness, you can't blame them. Emperor Tianshu himself gave them orders to focus on their task."

"It's because they didn't help that Xiao Nanfeng got away—and I lost a batch of my crane spirits, too," Nalan Yunhai spat out.

"Xiao Nanfeng's cultivation has grown further, and it's only normal that he was able to get away. Your Highness, why pay so much attention to a cultivator who's about to die?" Qiangwei advised.

Nalan Yunhai frowned. "You don't understand how I feel. Xiao Nanfeng's ruined my plans several times. I have to kill him personally to resolve my hatred."

"Your Highness, I initially thought that Xiao Nanfeng would be easy to kill, so I went along with your plan. Now, however, it looks like Xiao Nanfeng has reached the peak of Wingform. It won't be easy to kill him, and we can't take the risk. We still have tasks that Emperor Tianshu assigned us, and we have to perform them perfectly," Qiangwei replied.

Nalan Yunhai's gaze turned dark.

"Your Highness, we only have a limited number of crane spirits. If they continue to perish at Xiao Nanfeng's hands, it won't be good news for us. The reason the marquises disobeyed you wasn't just because of Emperor Tianshu's orders, but because they're preparing to seize an even greater opportunity. If we lose too many of the crane spirits, we won't be able to participate—it'll only benefit the marquises," Qiangwei advised.

"But..." Nalan Yunhai still seemed reluctant to give in.

"We simply have to send word to the Spirit Emperor about Xiao Nanfeng. If the Spirit Emperor is prepared, Xiao Nanfeng will surely die."

Nalan Yunhai's eyes flashed again before he finally nodded.

One day later, Xiao Nanfeng finally found the location of the Yao Pool.

There was another region shrouded by black fog in the distance, with a pillar that extended into the skies by its side.

"It's not an easy place to get to..." Xiao Nanfeng murmured, frowning.

There was a large group of divine slaves patrolling in the vicinity of the Yao Pool, with a dozen or so Immortal-realm divine slaves among them. It would be difficult to make it into the pool while remaining unseen.

Just then, dozens of crane spirits flew out from the black fog, scattering all over and causing the Immortal-realm divine slaves to give chase.

The Immortal-realm divine slaves around the Yao Pool were all distracted for the moment.

"Am I that lucky?" Xiao Nanfeng exclaimed.

He was just about to rush inside when he halted, raising an eyebrow. "Something's wrong. Why did these crane spirits fly out from there? And why was it right as I was about to enter? Could my tracks have been discovered again? Is someone trying to scheme against me?"

Xiao Nanfeng stopped short and prepared to wait a little while longer.

Just then, a crane's cries could be heard by his side. The crane spirits that had scattered into the fog now flew back, accurately pinpointing Xiao Nanfeng's location.

Not only that, they had lured the dozen or so Immortal-realm divine slaves straight toward him.

"The crane spirits—they really were scheming against me! But how did they find where I was?"

Xiao Nanfeng fled as fast as he could, but the crane spirits had caught him off-guard. The divine slaves approached him in the blink of an eye.

The divine slaves all wielded Immortal relics. They attacked Xiao Nanfeng from afar, who retaliated by destroying even more of his Immortal relics. The divine slaves halted in surprise; not daring to stay, Xiao Nanfeng rushed straight into the Yao Pool.

The dozen or so Immortal-realm divine slaves chased after him.

"There's nothing else I can do now. I'll have to head inside the Yao Pool!" Xiao Nanfeng's eyes flashed with exasperation.

Before the divine slaves could strike at him, he charged within the black fog.

Just then, a crane spirit flew up to a mountaintop where Nalan Yunhai was standing.

"Your Highness, the Spirit Emperor discovered Xiao Nanfeng's location and had us lure him into the Yao Pool with Immortal-realm divine slaves," the crane spirit reported.

"Well done. You'll all be rewarded when our work here is done. Now, continue patrolling the area," Nalan Yunhai commanded.

"Understood!" The crane spirit quickly flew off.

Nalan Yunhai glanced at where Xiao Nanfeng had vanished. He smirked. "Xiao Nanfeng, the Spirit Emperor has been waiting for you for quite some time."