Chapter 493: Overwhelming Victory

Instead of leaving, the crocodile king flew away with his subordinates and then circled back around. They lay hidden in the forest as they stared at the battlefield outside of Yongding.

"You're truly wise, King! If you hadn't fled with us decisively, we would have been the ones torn to pieces by the red rope. Now Commander Mo and the others are the ones in danger."

"Commander Mo? That bastard tried to use me as cannon fodder. He deserves what's happening to him now," the crocodile king replied.

"King, are we still going to make a move?"

"Of course. I haven't avenged my son yet. Xiao Nanfeng said I could swoop in after their fight, and I do plan on doing that."

"And if it's a trick?"

"That's why we're going to see how things play out now."

"When are we going to make a move?"

"Let's see which of them wins first. If Mo Lengxuan wins, we'll demand compensation from him. At the very least, we won't give in until he brings us a True Immortal relic. If Xiao Nanfeng wins, that's fine too. He's fighting using the might of his empire, a finite resource. Once he uses it all up, he won't be able to fight back against us. At that point, I'll take my revenge and steal his treasures."

"What treasures does Xiao Nanfeng have?"

"I don't know, but the fact that they're so invested in Xiao Nanfeng must be because they want one of his treasures. Just wait. We'll see what happens."

"Understood!" his subordinates replied expectantly.

The fighting grew more and more intense. Xiao Nanfeng took on two cultivators at once without losing the upper hand.

The Iron Fist True Immortal might be a True Immortal, but he had no relics of that realm and was at a stark disadvantage against Xiao Nanfeng. He spat out blood continuously, and seemed as though he would already have perished without a True Immortal's physique.

Although Mo Lengxuan boasted the strength of a True Immortal, this body was one that he possessed, and he couldn't fully use its strength or manipulate it agilely, even with his blazing shield. The ropes all around him struck him rapidly from all around. Before long, he was wounded and bleeding all over. He knew that if the situation were to continue as is, he would die at Xiao Nanfeng's hand. Rather than expose himself as the Taiqing Demonic Sect's right division leader, his eyes glinted.

"Iron Fist True Immortal, I'll lend you my blazing shield for now. Activate its full strength with your power!" Mo Lengxuan shouted.

He tossed the blazing shield to the Iron Fist True Immortal.

"What about you?" he exclaimed.

"Don't worry about me. Just remember this: if Xiao Nanfeng doesn't die, both of us are going to suffer. We have to take down Xiao Nanfeng at any cost."

The Iron Fist True Immortal understood Mo Lengxuan immediately. If Yin Tianci's avatar were to die and Xiao Nanfeng remained wholly unharmed, they would surely suffer.

"Got it!" the Iron Fist True Immortal replied.

"Let me see just how long you can survive without a shield," Xiao Nanfeng called out.

Xiao Nanfeng shot toward Mo Lengxuan. Simultaneously, countless lengths of red rope wrapped around him. This time, he didn't attempt to avoid them. Instead, he too headed straight for Xiao Nanfeng.

By the time Mo Lengxuan appeared before Xiao Nanfeng, he was already tied down by a considerable amount of red rope.

"Something's wrong!" Xiao Nanfeng's eyes widened as he immediately retreated.

Mo Lengxuan sneered. "It's too late. Explode!"

Mo Lengxuan caused his own True Immortal body to explode in a fiery tempest.

Xiao Nanfeng was drowned in blistering flames.

The Iron Fist True Immortal was far away and possessed the blazing shield. He blocked the shockwaves resulting from the explosion, but was still sent careening back. The red rope all around them seemed to have been completely destroyed, and the skies were occluded by flames.

The spirits gaped. One Immortal spirit murmured, "Did Commander Mo just commit suicide? He should have caused the blazing shield to explode rather than his own body, surely!"

The crocodile king frowned. "No. Commander Mo's physical body is unlikely to be his main body.

"Oh?"

"Commander Mo's background is a mystery, and only the lord of the Thousand-Spirit Island is aware of it. The lord thinks particularly highly of him, and all I know is that he's working for some bigshot. I always thought he fought in a strange manner, but now I understand. He simply took over a True Immortal's body. Just who could his backer be, to provide him with a True Immortal's body for his use?" The crocodile king frowned.

"Isn't he dead?"

"His main body is unhurt, at the very least, but I don't know about the fragment of his soul in this avatar. Rather decisive of him to be able to give up on a True Immortal's body and the blazing shield just like that."

"But why wouldn't he have caused his blazing shield to explode? Why sacrifice his own body?"

"Who knows? Perhaps there's a hidden flaw in his body, or perhaps Xiao Nanfeng would have been too easily alerted if he had tried to cause his blazing shield to explode instead. Sacrificing himself might have been the only way to catch Xiao Nanfeng off-guard," the crocodile king analyzed.

"I suppose Xiao Nanfeng's done for now, too," his subordinate said.

"At such close range, I'm sure he's at least crippled. Even if he's protected by the might of his Dazheng Empire, it surely wouldn't be strong enough to neutralize the attack. His empire's too small, after all."

Xiao Nanfeng was revealed in the distance as the smoke from the explosion faded.

Much of the golden light around him had faded, and his draconic robes seemed a little tattered, as though he had suffered a heavy injury. However, his body was completely intact, surprising the crocodile king.

The Iron Fist True Immortal flew toward him again and pummeled Xiao Nanfeng until he retreated. The fighting continued anew.

The Iron Fist True Immortal struck rapidly and was protected by his blazing shield. He seemed to have seized the upper hand. Even Xiao Nanfeng's red rope was much reduced in strength.

From afar, an Immortal spirit said, "Xiao Nanfeng might still be alive, but he looks badly injured. Much of his empire's energy also seems to be gone. He can't hold out much longer, can he?"

The crocodile king's eyes lit up. "Come on. We'll take him down."

"King, didn't you say that you were going to wait until one of them was defeated?" one spirit asked.

"We don't have time. Xiao Nanfeng's showing signs of great decline, and he'll be done for in no time. That True Immortal possesses the blazing shield, so it'll be hard to rob him. We have to seize Xiao Nanfeng's treasures, now!"

"Understood!" The Immortal spirits quickly followed the crocodile king into the fray.

Mo Lengxuan's explosion had been tremendously strong, but Xiao Nanfeng was a True Yin cultivator who could harmonize with the world. He looked to be in bad shape, but that was all a trick. The explosion had hardly hurt him as badly as it appeared.

While he took on the Iron Fist True Immortal, he observed his surroundings carefully. As he expected, the very next moment, a beam of light shot toward him from afar.

Despite thinking that Xiao Nanfeng was weak, the crocodile king still chose to launch a sneak attack. He was behind Xiao Nanfeng in the blink of an eye.

Just then, Xiao Nanfeng turned around and gave up on the Iron Fist True Immortal to attack the crocodile king instead.

"What?" The crocodile king and Iron Fist True Immortal hesitated, both sensing that something was amiss.

In the spur of the moment, however, they had no time to think about the situation further. They continued to strike at Xiao Nanfeng.

Just then, Xiao Nanfeng raised a relic up high. He activated it and formed a void portal, the entrance of which was directed toward the crocodile king.

"What?!" the crocodile king exclaimed.

The portal swallowed the crocodile king up. Knowing that something was very wrong, he immediately tried to retreat, but it was too late. A starlit barrier trapped him.

𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

On Xiao Nanfeng's other side, after Xiao Nanfeng sent the crocodile king into the Spirit Emperor's hidden realm, he punched at the Iron Fist True Immortal.

The two cultivators' punches struck each other as the Iron Fist True Immortal was sent flying.

"Weren't you badly injured? How did you suddenly grow so much stronger? Could you have been deceiving me just now?!" the Iron Fist True Immortal shouted.

He turned tail and attempted to flee, but Xiao Nanfeng would never allow him to do so. Xiao Nanfeng caught him in the blink of an eye and punched forward with Hegemon's Fist, forcing him to defend himself with the blazing shield.

The two cultivators smashed into each other in the air. With his other hand, Xiao Nanfeng activated the relic in his hand, causing the void portal to appear once more. With a shove, he pushed the Iron Fist True Immortal into the portal.

"No!" the Iron Fist True Immortal cried out.

He too was trapped within a starlit barrier.

In the physical world, the Immortal spirits that had rushed over following the crocodile king blanched. They shouted, "Flee!"

"Where do you think you're going? All of you can stay right here!" Xiao Nanfeng shouted.

Countless lengths of red rope trapped the spirits once again.

"No! Save us!"

"Let us go, Xiao Nanfeng!"

The Immortal spirits transformed from humanoids into their native spirit forms. They roared in rage, but were unable to break free.

With a wave of his hand, Xiao Nanfeng sent all of them through the void portal and into the Spirit Emperor's hidden realm as well. There, they were trapped by the formation that Blue Lantern had established in advance.

Xiao Nanfeng then shut the portal with the key to the Spirit Emperor's hidden realm. He floated in the air and surveyed his surroundings, confirming that there were no other enemies before he announced, "Citizens of Dazheng, all those enemies who have come to attack Yongding have been dealt with. I thank you once more for your assistance. With your aid, Dazheng shall be invincible!"

Xiao Nanfeng's voice could be heard by the side of every citizen of Dazheng.

The people cheered.

"We won! His Majesty used our strength to take down those spirits!"

"He said that Dazheng is invincible! Dazheng is invincible!"

"Dazheng is invincible!"

The people cheered. The rally "Dazheng is invincible!" echoed far and wide across the kingdom.

There were plenty of spies in Yongding, and they had all witnessed Xiao Nanfeng win against a group of True Immortals. They were shocked by what they had seen, and quickly relayed the news to the forces that they represented.