Chapter 318: Slaying Nalan Yunhai

Outside the ruins of the Yao Pool, crane spirits were flocking en masse toward the divine slaves that had crumbled to pieces. They picked up huge quantities of Immortal pills and weapons, then brought them to the marquises and Nalan Yunhai.

There was treasure everywhere. The huge haul left everyone excited.

Within just a short period of time, the cultivators had stripped the realm clean of treasure.

"The temporal rifts are about to close up!"

𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"His Majesty said that there might be unexpected disaster in the realm. We're to leave immediately!"

"Let's leave, then!"

The cultivators rushed toward the temporal rifts, followed by flocks of crane spirits. Very quickly, they had all departed, leaving only Qiangwei and Nalan Yunhai behind.

"Your Highness, I've had the cranes leave first. We should depart as well," Qiangwei stated.

"I'd like to go up there and have a look." Nalan Yunhai looked at the sky.

Qiangwei followed Nalan Yunhai's gaze to see a hole in the sea of clouds, one flashing with lightning. That hole had been left behind when a heavenly pillar collapsed.

"Without confirming Xiao Nanfeng's death, I won't be at ease," Nalan Yunhai said.

"But this temporal rift might close at any moment! If we miss it, we may not be able to escape," Qiangwei argued.

"The lightning's left this area, and the temporal rifts here are about to close, but there's still plenty of lightning by the Thousand Spirits' Hall. There are surely still temporal rifts there. If even that fails, Father will definitely be able to bring us out," Nalan Yunhai replied.

Qiangwei thought for a moment before she nodded. "Very well. There's lightning up above the sea of clouds, so there may be other opportunities there."

The two cultivators shot into the sky without any hesitation. They drew their Immortal swords in case of a sneak attack as they passed through the gigantic hole in the sea of clouds and arrived at its upper layer.

There, they saw a huge sphere of lightning a few thousand meters in diameter. Within the sphere, lightning was continuously striking at countless shards of black water.

Beside the sphere were Xiao Nanfeng and the Divine Emperor's bell.

"Xiao Nanfeng? You are here, after all." Nalan Yunhai's eyes brightened.

"The Divine Emperor's bell?" Qiangwei's eyes flashed with greed.

"Neither of you left despite seizing all these Immortal relics for yourself? Are you here to give them all to me, then?" Xiao Nanfeng drew his divine undying blade.

Nalan Yunhai didn't understand why Xiao Nanfeng wasn't afraid of him. He looked all over to see if there was an ambush lying in wait.

"Don't worry, Your Highness. As His Majesty said, even if Ku Jiang and Han Bingdie aren't dead, they'll be so badly injured that they won't be able to do anything. Xiao Nanfeng is alone here," Qiangwei deduced, glancing at their surroundings.

"He's not afraid of us! Perhaps the Divine Emperor is within her bell, waiting to ambush us," Nalan Yunhai said.

"No! He's simply trying to bluff. The Divine Emperor is likely within that sphere of lightning. She doesn't have the energy to spare on Xiao Nanfeng." Qiangwei pointed at the huge sphere.

Nalan Yunhai nodded hesitantly.

"Your Highness, didn't you say you wanted to marry me? Why not give me this bell as a gift?" Qiangwei suddenly smiled.

"The Divine Emperor's bell is an incredible treasure..."

"Your Highness, what's mine is yours. Once you hand me the bell, you'll have both me and the bell. Isn't that so?" Qiangwei caressed Nalan Yunhai's arm as she pouted.

The flirtation caused Nalan Yunhai not to waver any longer. He nodded. "Very well. If you're willing to listen to me, I can hand the Divine Emperor's bell to you."

"Thank you, Your Highness!" Qiangwei smiled coquettishly.

Xiao Nanfeng's eyes twitched as he listened to their dialogue. "Are the two of you finished? When did you take possession of the Divine Emperor's bell? Aren't you being rather shameless?"

Nalan Yunhai turned to Xiao Nanfeng and was about to strike at him when Qiangwei pulled him back.

"What's wrong?" Nalan Yunhai asked.

Qiangwei frowned. "Something's wrong. I was intentionally acting with you in order to probe Xiao Nanfeng's response. How could he be so calm? There really might be an ambush."

Nalan Yunhai's face stiffened. You were acting with me? Why didn't I know?

"Your Highness, we can't stay here. We have to leave!" Qiangwei grabbed Nalan Yunhai's arm and was right about to depart.

Xiao Nanfeng was surprised by their behavior. Qiangwei really was a careful schemer. It was little wonder that Cui Haitang assigned her to Nalan Yunhai. That was a deliberate move to account for her son's idiocy, wasn't it?

"Leave? Why? He's just a Wingform-realm cultivator. What's there to be afraid of? He has a few Immortal relics, but we have more. I'll end him today, right here, right now!" Nalan Yunhai retorted.

"Your Highness, Xiao Nanfeng's a known schemer. Have you forgotten about the news from before? A red moon and a cultivator at Yin Body appeared in the city of Yongding!" Qiangwei exclaimed.

"The Xiao manor has a cultivator at Yin Body. So what?" Nalan Yunhai said.

"What if Xiao Nanfeng's that cultivator?"

"Impossible. How could he have reached Yin Body?" Nalan Yunhai refused to entertain this possibility."

"Have you forgotten? Xiao Nanfeng was already at mid-stage Lunar Deluge while in the Eastern Sea Draconic Palace. He has so many secrets that we don't yet know about. After so much time has elapsed, he might well be at Yin Body already."

Nalan Yunhai's eyes twitched in doubt.

Xiao Nanfeng stared at Qiangwei with killing intent. If this woman were to remain by Nalan Yunhai's side and complement his lacking intelligence, Nalan Yunhai really would be a difficult foe to deal with.

Nalan Yunhai was silent for a moment before sucking in a deep breath. "You're right, but if you can predict all this, can't others?"

"Your Highness, you mean...?"

"Xiao Nanfeng has grown too strong in too short a period of time. He must have some incredible secret up his sleeve. If we miss it, my brother and uncle might find out what it is before us."

Qiangwei frowned.

"Xiao Nanfeng's secret ought to belong to us," Nalan Yunhai concluded.

Qiangwei considered Nalan Yunhai's words. In the end, her greed won out. "You're right, Your Highness."

"Catch him. I'm going to send him to my torture chamber and slowly extract all the secrets from his body. They'll be ours, then; everything that he possesses shall be mine. I'll make him beg for death himself." Nalan Yunhai's eyes filled with avarice.

"You're right, Your Highness. If we leave now, we might miss out on incredible treasure. This is worth fighting for. What's more, we just acquired a batch of Immortal weapons."

"Attack!" Nalan Yunhai commanded.

"Understood!" Qiangwei shot toward Xiao Nanfeng.

Both cultivators activated their qi barriers and sent a slash of energy toward Xiao Nanfeng from afar.

Xiao Nanfeng's eyes grew cold. "The two of you really are malicious, aren't you? I can't leave you alive."

A silver moon emerged from his forehead as his yin body appeared in a burst of silver light.

"He really has developed a yin body!" Nalan Yunhai exclaimed.

"Kill him!" Qiangwei shouted.

Xiao Nanfeng's yin body defended with the divine undying blade. He slashed at the two of them, cutting apart their sword techniques. Xiao Nanfeng's yin body launched himself at them so quickly that they were taken aback.

"Be careful, Your Highness!" Qiangwei shouted.

Xiao Nanfeng sent another slash at Nalan Yunhai, summoning a windstorm around him. His yin body was simply too strong; Nalan Yunhai was sent flying within moments.

Behind him, Qiangwei struck at Xiao Nanfeng. His silver moon emitted large quantities of moonlight to form a silver barrier that blocked Qiangwei's attack.

Xiao Nanfeng whirled around and slashed at his assailant, cutting apart Qiangwei's Immortal sword in one fell swoop.

"What strength!" Qiangwei exclaimed as she retreated.

Xiao Nanfeng chased after her and executed another slash, causing blinding blue light to fill the air.

"Save me!" Qiangwei screamed, manifesting her barrier at full strength.

"If you dare hurt Qiangwei, I'll kill you! Release her!" Nalan Yunhai howled.

"Oh? Did it take you that long to realize the importance of life? Her life is precious; what about mine? Do you think I'll let you keep attacking me? Die!" Xiao Nanfeng shouted.

The divine undying blade broke through Qiangwei's qi barrier.

"No!" Qiangwei screamed, as she was split in two.

Nalan Yunhai was terrified, his eyes as round as saucers. Rather than seek revenge for Qiangwei, he shot toward Xiao Nanfeng's physical body instead.

"Do you think you can destroy my physical body? You're too slow!" Xiao Nanfeng shouted.

He shot forward, intercepting Nalan Yunhai. With a slash, he sent Nalan Yunhai flying once more.

"You're not getting away today, either!" Xiao Nanfeng shouted, launching himself at Nalan Yunhai again.

Nalan Yunhai hastily tossed out objects sparkling with light.

"Explode!" Nalan Yunhai howled.

"Learning from me, are you?" Xiao Nanfeng frowned, activating his qi barrier to protect himself.

Countless Immortal relics exploded in a mushroom cloud that forced Xiao Nanfeng back.

Nalan Yunhai didn't take advantage of the opportunity to strike. Instead, he continued to run. Just as he was about to head below the sea of clouds, Xiao Nanfeng caught up to him with his superior speed.

"Die!" Xiao Nanfeng shouted.

"I'm the second prince of the Tianshu Empire! You can't kill me—no!" Nalan Yunhai shouted. He attempted to defend himself with his Immortal blade,

but it cracked from the impact. The divine undying blade thrust forward, momentum undeterred, as blazing blue light illuminated the heavens and bisected Nalan Yunhai. He died on the spot.

Xiao Nanfeng placed both corpses before him, retrieved their storage rings, and froze them stiff with a bout of frost. Then, he punched forward, shattering their corpses.

After all that, Xiao Nanfeng's yin body flew back into his physical body's mindscape as he awoke.