Chapter 494: The Golden Immortals' Advancement

After Xiao Nanfeng finished handling affairs in the physical world, he brought Ye Dafu and his crew into the Spirit Emperor's hidden realm.

Within the realm, Blue Lantern had erected various Formations of the Complete Heavens. As his cultivation advanced, the amount of starlit energy he could command increased proportionally.

The two Formations of the Complete Heavens respectively trapped the crocodile king and the Iron Fist True Immortal. The remaining Immortal spirits were stuck in a formation of blue fog.

"Xiao Nanfeng, if you release me, we'll let bygones be bygones. I'll hand over a great deal of my own treasure!" the crocodile king exclaimed.

He knew that he had fallen for Xiao Nanfeng's trick. Xiao Nanfeng had been far too prepared, and his formation too secure for the crocodile king to batter down.

"Ha!" Xiao Nanfeng replied. "If I kill you, I achieve the same result and gain all your treasure."

The crocodile king stiffened. He retorted fiercely, "Xiao Nanfeng, don't you know where I hail from? I'm one of the leaders of Thousand-Spirit Island. If you dare kill me, Thousand-Spirit Island will surely take revenge on your empire of Dazheng."

"We'll talk about it when the time comes," Xiao Nanfeng replied disdainfully.

He turned toward the trapped Iron Fist True Immortal. "And who are you? Why did you attack me?"

The Iron Fist True Immortal gave him a dark look. "Dream on. I won't talk."

"That's fine. I'll exhaust you bit by bit."

"Xiao Nanfeng, you won't be able to kill us, and someone will come rescue us in no time. I advise you to let us go, or you'll surely die," the Iron Fist True Immortal threatened.

"Ha! How childish you are. How could I let you go after all this?"

"This formation and those starlit blades of yours won't be able to hurt us at all. I bear the blazing shield. Even if you draw on the might of Dazheng, you'll be able to deal me a heavy injury at best. The Thousand-Spirit Island will surely rescue us quickly, so you won't get the last laugh."

Xiao Nanfeng ignored the Iron Fist True Immortal and turned to Ye Dafu. "Who do you want to challenge?"

"Let me start with this True Immortal. I'd like to test whether I can withstand his strength before I let the others have a go," Ye Dafu began.

Xiao Nanfeng nodded.

Ye Dafu flew toward the Iron Fist True Immortal, passing through the starlit barrier and entering the interior of the formation.

The Iron Fist True Immortal was taken aback. "Xiao Nanfeng, you're sending your subordinates to die?"

He could see that this Ye Dafu was only a Heaven Immortal. He had sent Ye Dafu flying many times when Ye Dafu was trying to stall for time against him. Was Ye Dafu now intending to die?

Ye Dafu called out, "I'm your opponent!"

The Iron Fist True Immortal glanced at him disdainfully. He punched forward; Ye Dafu was sent flying. He smashed into the barrier and lay paralyzed on the ground.

"Arrogant fool," the Iron Fist True Immortal spat out.

Just then, Ye Dafu slowly crawled up. He clutched his nose and winced. "Really? You had to hit me on the nose? It's going to go crooked. How am I going to find a wife now?"

The Iron Fist True Immortal: ...

He struck Ye Dafu with another punch, sending him sprawling against the barrier again.

"It hurts!" Ye Dafu bellowed. "Again!"

The Iron Fist True Immortal continued to pummel Ye Dafu.

"I can't stand it anymore. It's too comf—no, it hurts far too much!" Ye Dafu screamed.

"Boss, how strong is he? Can we fight against him? Can we come in?" one golden cultivator shouted.

"Come on! You should be able to withstand it too. We'll share in our fortune—no, our misery!—together," Ye Dafu wheezed.

"We're coming in!" All the golden cultivators rushed through the starlit barrier.

"You're only peak Earth Immortals! Do you think I can't kill you? Die!" the Iron Fist True Immortal thundered/

The barrage of punches caused the golden cultivators' faces and bodies to swell up, but shockingly, they did manage to withstand the Iron Fist True Immortal's attacks.

The crocodile king, observing from his own formation, gaped. "What's going on? Why is Xiao Nanfeng having his subordinates tortured?"

An hour later, one golden cultivator cried out, "I can't handle it anymore! I'm about to explode! Let me out!"

"Blue Lantern, isolate them!" Xiao Nanfeng commanded.

"Divide!" Blue Lantern intoned, manipulating the formation.

The Iron Fist True Immortal was partitioned from the golden cultivators, who finally managed to get a breather.

"Oh? Why are you all running off? Come at me again if you dare!" the Iron Fist True Immortal shouted.

"Give us just a moment. Let's digest our gains first!"

"What a good man he is. I love his fists."

"I'm really comfortable now. I' d like to have another go!"

The golden cultivators chatted happily to each other.

The Iron Fist True Immortal: ...

"Are these all crazy idiots...?" the crocodile king murmured.

Ye Dafu and the others took four hours to heal what wounds they had incurred and digest their gains.

The golden cultivators' bodies began to shake. A series of cracking and popping sounds emanated from them as they released waves of energy.

"They're all Heaven Immortals now? How can that be? How did they manage to survive such serious injuries so quickly—and how did they break through?!" the crocodile king shouted.

"Your Majesty, we can continue now! We can't wait!" one golden cultivator shouted.

"Your Majesty, don't worry about our safety. They won't be able to take us down, so let's continue!" Ye Dafu added.

"Very well. Let's get going, then," Xiao Nanfeng replied.

"Understood!" everyone replied.

Half the golden cultivators entered the crocodile king's formation, and the other half, the Iron Fist True Immortal's formation.

"Haha, we're here!"

"Come on, beat us up! We have plenty of time."

"Fight us right here, right now! I've been dreaming of it!"

The golden cultivators taunted their opponents.

"Scram, you perverts!" the crocodile king shouted.

"Damn it, I'll kill you all!" The Iron Fist True Immortal was likewise disgusted by the true nature of these golden cultivators.

The fighting continued in earnest in both cages.

The golden cultivators all received a heavy beating, but their physical bodies were so developed that the crocodile king and Iron Fist True Immortal weren't able to do anything against them even with their weapons. Of course, after enough time, even the golden cultivators' defenses wouldn't be able to hold out any longer. At that point, they would call for Blue Lantern's assistance to give them some time to rest.

After that, they would rush forward into their opponents' formations again.

"I'm back! Come on, fight me!" the golden cultivators shouted.

The crocodile king and Iron Fist True Immortal began to panic. If this dragged on, they would eventually run out of energy. Where did Xiao Nanfeng get such perverted subordinates?!

"Blue Lantern, I'm leaving Ye Dafu and the others to you. I'll be off handling other business," Xiao Nanfeng said.

"Very well." Blue Lantern nodded.

Days later, in a fog-shrouded hall on Thousand-Spirit Island,

Tang was recuperating after consuming a limb regeneration pill. His arm and leg were quickly healing, and a pile of high-quality pills was arrayed before him.

"Yin Tianci really is wealthy, isn't he? He gave me all these pills!" Tang's eyes widened with greed.

Just then, a burst of golden light shot through the hall and into his body.

Tang shook as he widened his eyes. "Fortune? And such a huge burst of it, too. Where did it come from? Oh, it must be from His Majesty! He's rewarding me for my merit. He told my avatar that I earned the most merit out of anyone during the war—so this fortune is what I'm getting out of it! What a large infusion..."

In comparison to the fortune he had just retrieved, the pills that Yin Tianci had awarded him suddenly seemed paltry in comparison. He could buy the pills at any time, but not the fortune that Xiao Nanfeng had given him, and especially not such a large cloud at that.

"This is enough for me to advance to Yin Body! His Majesty truly is generous. What's more, I'm getting two sets of rewards for the same amount of work. This is great!" Tang grinned as he continued to heal from his injuries.

At the same time, Mo Lengxuan arrived on another part of Thousand-Spirit Island, his body completely translucent. He was clearly in the form of his yin body. He gaped at the black-robed man before him. "What did you say? His Highness returned, as did Tang?"

"That's right. You must be disappointed, mustn't you?" the black-robed man demanded.

"What nonsense are you talking about? I'm overjoyed His Highness has returned safely. Where's Tang? I have a score to settle against him!"

"You have no right."

"What?"

"His Highness has stripped you of any responsibilities, and you don't command me any longer. He guessed that you might attempt to harm Sir Tang and has commanded us to protect him. You're not to cause trouble for him before His Highness leaves secluded cultivation."

"What? Sir Tang?"

"Sir Mo, you almost caused His Highness to die. He ordered us to investigate you. Could you describe how you managed to escape?" the black-robed man asked.

"The moment I destroyed my physical body, my yin body escaped to and hid within the red moon illusory realm. I cultivate the Taiqing Yin Body, and I hid in the realm for many days before finding an opportunity to escape. Isn't that obvious?"

"Why did you refuse Sir Tang's suggestion to bring the crocodile king to the borders of Dazheng? Why did you choose to lead him to Yongding instead? Why did you leave His Highness in danger after Sir Tang repeatedly pointed out the danger inherent in the situation?"

"It's all a coincidence! I didn't realize Xiao Nanfeng would be so crafty."

"Sir Tang has repeatedly emphasized Xiao Nanfeng's craftiness. Why did you ignore him?"

"I—"

"You could have saved His Highness from danger. Why did you propose for him to die?"

"I—"

"Furthermore, you and the Iron Fist True Immortal clearly had an opportunity to escape from Yongding. Why did you remain there and allow Xiao Nanfeng to capture you?"

"I—"

"Are you a spy Xiao Nanfeng sent?"

"Damn you, what sort of questions are these?! Who's spying for Xiao Nanfeng?!" Mo Lengxuan was so angry that his entire body was shaking.