Chapter 528: Capturing Them All

No one whom the spirit kings had tasked to explain things from within the Cursed Earth formation had any success. None of the spirits believed their words, and those subordinates of theirs who had avatars outside found their avatars killed. The spirit kings' rage mounted.

Finally, one of the spirit kings thundered, "Don't worry. This Cursed Earth formation can only trap us, not hurt us. Xiao Nanfeng won't be able to do anything against us, and the island lord will return soon enough. After that, he'll be dead meat."

The other spirit kings could only nod, exasperated.

There were simply too many spirits outside the Cursed Earth formation. He ignored all spirits below Spiritsong, but even then, the purple-furred monsters were all tired out by sealing the cultivation of the regular spirits.

Before long, the islands in their vicinity had all been filled by spirits.

Of course, not all the spirits had been tricked. Some attempted to flee.

Xiao Nanfeng's ten golden crows gave chase, tearing them apart.

"All spirits who flee must be those who hate the Imperial Court. Don't let any of them escape—kill them!" Xiao Nanfeng shouted.

"Understood!" A few purple-furred monsters rushed over.

𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"Ao Shuai, haven't you heard my command?" Xiao Nanfeng demanded. "Go take down those enemies of the Imperial Court!"

Ao Shuai and the others frowned, but had no choice but to obey.

Only a rare few spirits managed to escape the carnage. The majority died on the spot or were forced to return and have their cultivation sealed.

After several hours, almost all the strongest spirits on Thousand-Spirit Island had been taken down, and those that had perished had been cleaned off the battlefield.

Spectral guards were appearing out of nowhere, bringing ships to the island and escorting the sealed spirits onto them.

Ao Zhou flew up to Xiao Nanfeng. "These spectral guards are amazing actors. I never thought there would be spirits among them, too!"

"Your acting wasn't bad, either," Xiao Nanfeng said.

"Of course!" Ao Zhou preened. "I want half of these spirits."

Xiao Nanfeng rolled his eyes. "Dream on."

Ao Zhou stiffened. "Are you going to take them all for yourself? You can't! Think of how much work I've done!"

"We'll need to check on these spirits' background. Wait until we do so—if there are sea spirits that truly are interested in joining you, feel free to take them."

"That's more like it," Ao Zhou replied.

Ao Shuai had flown over as well by then. He frowned at Ao Zhou and gave him a few looks before turning to Xiao Nanfeng. "Xiao Nanfeng, how do you intend to handle these spirits?"

"We'll talk about that after the fight."

Ao Shuai pursed his lips in dissatisfaction. He wanted to say more, but Xiao Nanfeng wasn't giving him any more of his attention.

He turned to the purple-furred monsters. "Generals, leave with these spirits for the time being."

"Understood!" thousands of purple-furred monsters replied.

A large number of purple-furred lifeforms flew across the surface of the sea, picking up the ships filled with spirits, clouding themselves in white fog, and soaring into the air.

Ao Shuai frowned. He immediately said, "Martial Aspect Xiao, it's dangerous for you to take away the spirits like that. Why don't I assign some of my subordinates to guard the monsters?"

Xiao Nanfeng shook his head. "There's no need. We have a tough battle to come, and all of your subordinates will be needed."

"But these purple-furred monsters don't have any intelligence whatsoever! They've only been hypnotized. What if—" Ao Shuai continued, unwilling to give up.

"I am the commander-in-charge. You listen to my orders," Xiao Nanfeng declared.

Ao Shuai stiffened. "Understood."

"Generals, make sure to keep an eye on your surroundings to prevent anyone from trailing you," Xiao Nanfeng warned.

"Understood!" the purple-furred monsters not responsible for conveying the ships replied.

They flew across the air, keeping an eye out over the sea, until the ships completely vanished within the clouds.

By then, Ao Shuai's subordinates had arrived around Thousand-Spirit Island. They lay hidden, biding their time—but with the purple-furred monsters keeping an eye out, none of them dared to rush out of the water and strike.

"Xiao Nanfeng, I just received news that Sage Yellowbrow is on his way back, and will be here in no time. How do you intend to handle the spirit kings?" Ao Shuai asked.

"The Martial Aspect of Silverfrost will deal with him. Don't worry," Xiao Nanfeng replied.

Ao Shuai's face turned dark. He murmured inwardly, "I'm not worried about you. What I mean is, if you can't collect Thousand-Spirit Island's treasure yourself, let me do it!"

"The Martial Aspect of Silverfrost may not be able to catch up to Sage Yellowbrow, and we'll have to deal with these spirit kings as quickly as possible. Why don't I have my subordinates help?" Ao Shuai asked expectantly.

"There's no need. I'll do it myself."

"You? How?"

"All you have to do is guard me. Don't ask anything unnecessary."

Ao Shuai swallowed another heave of annoyance.

"Dispel the fog and allow sound to pass through the formation once more!" Xiao Nanfeng commanded.

"Understood!" the cultivators manning the formation replied.

By then, within the formation, all the spirit kings were scowling at each other. They had learned of the situation outside the island and were so enraged that they were about to go crazy. They had lost all their subordinates at Spiritsong and above—was Xiao Nanfeng really intending to take them all down in one fell swoop?

"Keep an eye on your avatars. Report to me when you figure out where those purple-furred monsters are bringing you. We'll fetch you back once we're out of the Cursed Earth formation," a spirit king told one of its subordinates."

The subordinate frowned. "King, our cultivation has all been sealed, and the purple-furred monsters are clouding our vision with white fog. There are even guards on the ships themselves to keep an eye on us. We don't know where we're going..."

The spirit kings: ...

They had never felt so frustrated by anyone in their lives. They were fuming mad, their faces flushed red.

Just then, the formation shifted. The fog around the formation vanished, and sound could pass through it once again.

The spirit kings glanced all over the island to see that it was completely silent. Only a few Ascension-realm spirits were left roaming the grounds; none that could fly remained.

"Xiao Nanfeng, return my subordinates to me!" a spirit king thundered.

Xiao Nanfeng flew up to that spirit king. "Weren't you the one who commanded them to follow me? Are you going back on your word?"

The spirit kings all choked down their anger. One laughed out of rage. "You might be cocky now, but the island lord will be returning within moments. Prepare to die!"

"I don't have time to wait for him. Now, fulfill your promises. You swore to enter my service, so leave with me immediately."

The spirit kings frowned. One of them said in astonishment, "What? Do you still intend to take us on?"

"You're not going to try to step inside and seal our cultivation, are you? Try it, then! We're waiting right here for you!" another spirit king roared out.

They were certain that Xiao Nanfeng wouldn't be able to handle them. The moment the foundation of the Cursed Earth formation shook, they would break out and finish off Xiao Nanfeng en masse.

"I'll enter, then," Xiao Nanfeng replied.

The spirit kings were gobsmacked. They suspected that they had misheard. "Truly?"

"Of course. Didn't we agree? I would step in to seal your cultivation. You aren't going to go back on your word, are you?" Xiao Nanfeng smiled.

The spirit kings: ...

This time, they were certain they hadn't misheard, but how could that be? As strong as Xiao Nanfeng might be, he was only a Heaven Immortal. Wouldn't they be able to crush him within moments?

Not far away, Ao Shuai was similarly stunned. "Xiao Nanfeng, are you really going to head in there?"

"I am. Keep guard over the formation and prevent any spirits from entering."

Ao Shuai and his subordinates frowned at each other. Was Xiao Nanfeng addled in the head? Was he really intending to commit suicide like this?

As countless baffled gazes watched on, Xiao Nanfeng reined in his ten golden crows and stepped to the side of the Cursed Earth formation. "Let me in."

"Understood!" those manning the formation replied.

Roiling blue fog surrounded Xiao Nanfeng before dragging him into the formation.

Xiao Nanfeng had appeared within.

"Is he serious? Does he have a death wish?!" Ao Shuai shouted.

The spirit kings were equally astounded. "He really came in here to die?"

Just then, the sound of scripture could be heard within the formation, as though there were countless monks chanting.

"Where did these sounds come from?"

"This scripture sounds a little eerie, doesn't it?"

"It does seem cursed..."

The spirit kings were taken aback.

Outside the formation, Ao Shuai suddenly reared back in shock. "Death chants? They're death chants, I'm sure of it! Are the lotus hood cursed effigies back?!"

Ao Shuai's subordinates retreated in panic. Clearly, none of them had gotten over the trauma from the golden lotus hoods.

Just then, one spirit king said, "Ignore the scripture. Take down Xiao Nanfeng first!"

"Got it!" the other spirit kings replied.

They shot toward Xiao Nanfeng.

Suddenly, one of the spirit kings whirled around and struck two other spirit kings, who were leaping toward Xiao Nanfeng, in the back.

The two spirit kings vomited out blood from the sudden attack and were sent sprawling against the barrier.

The sudden transformation left the other spirit kings agape.

"Tiger King, why did you attack the two of them?!" the other spirit kings roared out.

The tiger king flew toward Xiao Nanfeng, landing protectively in front of him.

"You're in cahoots with Xiao Nanfeng?" the spirit kings exclaimed.

Just then, Xiao Nanfeng bowed toward the tiger king. "Senior, I've shown you what these spirit kings have done. They're all evil and malicious, killing and eating humans at will. There's no need to show them any mercy—including the tiger king you're currently possessing."

The tiger king nodded.

All the spirit kings reared back in shock.

"The tiger king has been possessed!" a spirit king cried out.

Ao Shuai blanched. "That tiger king's been possessed? How could the lotus hood cursed effigy be obeying Xiao Nanfeng now? That's impossible!"

Xiao Nanfeng looked toward the tiger king. "You don't have to worry about my safety, Senior. I'll be counting on you."

"Very well!" The tiger king shot toward the gathered spirit kings.