Chapter 596: Three Dragons' Expulsion

High in the sky above the city of Yongding, a group of Martial Aspects fought against the strongest cultivators of Dayin. The situation seemed to be a stalemate, though it was likely that neither side was expending all its strength.

The most intense fight was between Yin Shenhua and Ao Canghai, taking place in the highest echelons of the sky. A flaming tempest surrounded them. Mirage-like backdrops surrounded the two cultivators.

Behind Yin Shenhua was a lofty, majestic mountain filled with Buddhas, bodhisattvas, and arhats. He was glaring at Ao Canghai, who stood opposite him. As death chants echoed around him, the Buddhas, bodhisattvas, and arhats attacked Ao Canghai alongside Yin Shenhua in a wave of towering might.

Behind Ao Canghai was a raging sea within which dragons thrashed. Spirits roared, glaring at Yin Shenhua. A tide swept across Ao Canghai as he and countless sea spirits struck at Yin Shenhua.

The clash between Yin Shenhua and Ao Canghai pitted their respective backdrops against each other in a bout of incredible force.

Yin Shenhua and Ao Canghai continued to struggle against each other.

"Yin Shenhua, on the Heavenly Emperor's orders, we won't let you destroy Yongding today!" Ao Canghai shouted.

He was hinting at Yin Shenhua to deal with Xiao Nanfeng, but to do so away from Yongding.

If Yin Shenhua were calm, he would naturally be able to understand what Ao Canghai was implying, but he could hardly remain calm now. His subordinates were sending him urgent mental transmissions.

"Ancestral Buddha, I have an avatar in Dayin's capital. Xiao Nanfeng and that cursed effigy pretending to be the Past Buddha are attacking the capital! Only Buddha Ananda and three bodhisattvas are there to repel them!"

"Ancestral Buddha, Xiao Nanfeng's suppressing Buddha Ananda and another bodhisattva with his imperial seal. The other two bodhisattvas won't be able to hold on for long!"

"Ancestral Buddha, the two bodhisattvas have fallen. The sealed bodhisattva self-destructed, but was unable to free Buddha Ananda from the imperial seal. Things are looking dire!"

"Ancestral Buddha, Xiao Nanfeng's using his Immortal's Destruction to excavate the superior draconic vein underneath the Thunderclap Hall! Dayin's capital is completely in disarray now!"

Yin Shenhua felt as though he were about to go crazy after hearing his subordinates' reports.

Ever since meeting Xiao Nanfeng, nothing had gone right for him. His subordinates had been captured, and Xiao Nanfeng had even stolen 60% of Dayin's fortune. After that, Xiao Nanfeng had tricked him into being attacked by the Imperial Court and being deemed a traitor by the Heavenly Emperor himself. Now, there were eighteen Martial Aspects attacking him.

And not only that, Xiao Nanfeng was now launching a sneak attack on Dayin's capital! How was he supposed to hold back when faced with such targeted attacks?

"Xiao Nanfeng, I'll kill you!" Yin Shenhua roared, his eyes bright red.

Meanwhile, Ao Canghai nodded, gratified. He thought that Yin Shenhua had understood his hint. Given Yin Shenhua's hatred of Xiao Nanfeng, all he needed to do was relent a little, and Yin Shenhua would immediately give chase after Xiao Nanfeng.

"Desist!" Ao Canghai roared, shoving Yin Shenhua aside in Xiao Nanfeng's direction.

He watched on expectantly, waiting for Yin Shenhua to capture Xiao Nanfeng and kill him. Then, Ao Canghai would pretend that he had tried, but failed, to rescue Xiao Nanfeng in time. He was simply too weak, after all, and Yin Shenhua too strong. How could anyone blame him?

Indeed, Yin Shenhua swiftly gave up on fighting against Ao Canghai and turned to flee.

"We won't let you leave! Take him down!" Ao Canghai roared.

Of course, he would need to act things out properly. If Yin Shenhua intended to take on Xiao Nanfeng, he would at least have to attempt to save Xiao Nanfeng—though of course he would fail.

"Everyone, return to Dayin!" Yin Shenhua roared.

"Understood!" his subordinates replied.

The cultivators of Dayin struck their opponents and took advantage of the recoil to fly into the skies. Then, they rushed off with Yin Shenhua, straight toward Dayin's capital.

The fighting had ended, just like that.

The Martial Aspects gaped in shock and confusion.

"Yin Shenhua fled? Why would he?"

"Why would he run off out of nowhere? Their side wasn't losing!"

"Just why would they have done that...?"

The Martial Aspects were confused, one and all. Rather than give chase, they looked toward Ao Canghai, still floating in the sky. After all, Yin Shenhua was the one who had given the order to retreat. Ao Canghai, who had been fighting him, surely knew about what was going on.

Ao Canghai's eyes were twitching as he stared in the direction in which Yin Shenhua had fled. What had gone wrong? Shouldn't Yin Shenhua be chasing after Xiao Nanfeng? Why had he run off?

Beneath them, Xiao Nanfeng shouted, "Thank you for protecting Yongding, Martial Aspects!"

The Martial Aspects' gazes flicked toward Xiao Nanfeng. They frowned.

"Thank you for defeating Yin Shenhua and rescuing the people of Yongding, Martial Aspect. You truly possess the strength of legends," Xiao Nanfeng continued. "Even Yin Shenhua was forced to flee against you."

High in the sky, Ao Canghai couldn't help but feel deeply repulsed. How had he ended up helping Xiao Nanfeng out? That shouldn't have been the case! Was Yin Shenhua crazy? His hint had been obvious! How had he not noticed a thing?

Back in Dayin's capital, Xiao Nanfeng dragged a superior draconic vein out from underground.

He continued to manipulate the Immortal's Destruction, freeing the draconic vein from its chains.

The superior draconic vein exuded a fearsome aura as its howls resounded across heaven and earth.

"Who dares wake me from my slumber?" the superior draconic vein thundered.

"Superior dragon, the divine empire of Dayin sealed and trapped you here with hypnosis. I awoke you and freed you," Xiao Nanfeng declared.

"Hm?" The superior draconic vein glared at Xiao Nanfeng, still shrouded within the black fog.

The black lotus had returned to its usual size, but was still trembling violently. Clearly, the Buddha it had swallowed was still attempting to struggle. It flew back into Xiao Nanfeng's mindscape to distill the Buddha down to reserves of energy, while the black fog dissipated to reveal Xiao Nanfeng.

As the superior draconic vein glanced toward Xiao Nanfeng, an incredible wave of energy shot toward him.

Even so, Xiao Nanfeng didn't relent. He activated the Immortal's Destruction once more, releasing countless Immortal-binding chains deep underground.

The dragon-headed mountain was where the superior draconic veins lay hidden; Xiao Nanfeng didn't need to hunt or catch them down. As a result, the chains quickly found their next target.

With another howl, the dragon-headed mountain continued to collapse as another superior draconic vein was unearthed.

The second superior draconic vein's howl likewise reverberated around Dayin's capital.

"Who dares disturb my slumber?" the second superior draconic vein roared.

The first superior draconic vein belatedly realized what was going on. Xiao Nanfeng had saved it.

By then, Dayin's cultivators had rushed over and were surging with killing intent.

"Superior dragons, halt them! We'll escape together in a moment. If you don't listen to me, none of us will be able to escape!" Xiao Nanfeng shouted.

The first superior draconic vein still didn't have a firm grasp of the situation, but its allies and enemies at least were obvious. These Dayin cultivators were surely enemies.

"You wretched fools! I remember now. Cultivators bearing your robes were the ones who seized me in the first place! Die!" the first superior draconic vein roared.

With a swipe of its tail, it sent the approaching cultivators flying.

Meanwhile, the Dayin cultivators tossed relic after relic at the superior draconic veins. At that point, the second draconic vein likewise understood what was going on. It roared and spat out countless bolts of lightning, sending the relics back.

Then, the Immortal-binding chains thrust deep underground once again.

A third superior draconic vein howled.

"Rise!" Xiao Nanfeng shouted.

The dragon-headed mountain collapsed as the third superior draconic vein was unearthed.

"Who dares disturb my slumber?" the third superior draconic vein roared.

"None of this nonsense," the second superior draconic vein roared. "Deal with those bugs coming from that side!"

The third superior draconic vein: ...

Upon seeing its two brethren, it had more or less realized what was going on.

"Superior dragons, we're short on time. Yin Shenhua's about to arrive with a large batch of strong subordinates. We need to flee immediately!"

"Very well," the first superior draconic vein replied.

It shot up toward the multilayered barriers high in the air, breaking a few layers. Even so, the moment it twisted its body, the broken layers restored themselves.

"Damn formation!" it roared.

"Don't strike over there! The formation's weakness is by the southern watchtower. Follow me!" Xiao Nanfeng commanded.

The three superior draconic veins followed behind Xiao Nanfeng without any hesitation as Xiao Nanfeng guided them toward the southern watchtower.

"Activate all our defenses, hurry! Don't let them escape!" a general howled.

More and more defensive formations activated, forming barrier after barrier.

Meanwhile, by a formation node along the southern watchtower, You Jiu had killed quite a few cultivators responsible for setting up the various formations that were now being activated. He had destroyed much of the formation node, dramatically weakening the barriers in that area.

"Break through!" Xiao Nanfeng commanded.

The three superior draconic veins roared, striking at the barriers' weak spot simultaneously. The ground rumbled around the southern watchtower as an earthquake spread throughout Dayin.

A large number of floating islands collapsed to the ground as the southern watchtower crumbled, revealing a gaping hole.

"Let's flee!" Xiao Nanfeng shouted.

The three superior draconic veins, Xiao Nanfeng, and You Jiu rushed out of Dayin's capital.

The three superior draconic veins had regained their freedom in the blink of an eye. They prepared to leave without any hesitation.

"Everyone, be careful. Dayin's cultivators might tail you. I am Xiao Nanfeng, of the empire of Dazheng. May we meet again!"

The three superior draconic veins eyed Xiao Nanfeng thoughtfully, then split up. The three dragons and two cultivators scattered, vanishing from sight.

There was indeed a large group of Dayin cultivators following behind them, but they were fast enough to shake off their pursuers within moments.

Just then, Yin Shenhua and his subordinates returned to Dayin's capital in a mad rush.