Chapter 685: Taixu City

That afternoon, countless Yuqing disciples surrounded Xia Hong. Thanks to Xiao Nanfeng's strong recommendation, everyone was flocking toward the Shenfeng Empire.

Xiao Nanfeng took a break. As he was resting, he saw Ye Dafu and the others rushing back.

"Your Majesty, we headed to Taiyi Peak in search of the Demon Child. We saw signs of fighting, and even recovered a wooden puppet the Demon Child dropped," Ye Dafu reported.

He handed a toy puppet to Xiao Nanfeng.

"This is—the Calabash Brothers' grandfather!" Xiao Nanfeng exclaimed.

Ye Dafu nodded. "You gave this wooden puppet to the Demon Child yourself, Your Majesty. He's kept it by his side ever since. Perhaps he's trying to tell us that, just like the Calabash Brothers' grandfather, he's been captured and needs to be rescued!"

"I want to save him, but who knows where Sage Green Lotus went?" Xiao Nanfeng frowned.

"I remember that the Demon Child mentioned that his parents were aware of Sage Green Lotus bringing him to the Yuqing holy land. Should we ask them about the situation?" Ye Dafu suggested.

"I've already sent some subordinates to contact Senior Brother Zhao. He's currently at the city of Taixu, where the Demon Child's home is—but I haven't been able to get in contact with him just yet," Xiao Nanfeng said.

"What should we do, then?" Ye Dafu was beside himself in worry.

Just then, Xiao Nanfeng frowned.

"What's the matter, Your Majesty?" Ye Dafu asked.

"According to the blackguards, something is happening in Taixu. The whole city's in lockdown and is surrounded by layers of formations. No one's allowed in or out, and there's a sinister aura lingering about, as if some large-scale sacrificial rite is about to take place..."

"A sacrificial rite?" Ye Dafu exclaimed.

"Prepare to head to Taixu immediately!" Xiao Nanfeng shouted.

"Understood!"

Xiao Nanfeng rushed out of the hall as well.

Outside, there were still countless Yuqing disciples gathered around Xia Hong.

Xiao Nanfeng cut straight through them; the disciples all made way for him.

"Senior Brother, something urgent has come up. I'll have to leave the Yuqing holy land for a moment."

"Something urgent? Do you need my help?" Xia Hong asked.

"No, but I won't have time to say my farewells to your mothers. Would you let them know of the situation?"

"It's that urgent?"

Xiao Nanfeng nodded firmly. He turned to the Yuqing disciples. "Senior Brothers, Junior Brothers, I have urgent business to take care of, and I'll be leaving temporarily. I won't be able to have our usual discussions in the meantime. We'll start them back up again once I return."

"Senior Brother Xiao, do you need our help?" the Yuqing disciples offered immediately.

"I appreciate it, but I should be able to handle matters on my own. Thank you for the concern."

Then, he flew off with Ye Dafu and the others in tow.

Xia Hong likewise bade farewell to his fellow disciples as he flew up Chiyang Peak.

There, Xia Xingchen's three wives were taking turns lecturing Xia Lan, who looked as though all the life was slowly being sucked out of him.

When Xia Hong walked in, Xia Lan suddenly grew animated upon seeing his savior. "You're finally here, Second Brother! I was right about to drop dead!"

"Don't say that! Are you trying to curse yourself?" Xia Lan's mother exclaimed.

Xia Lan grimaced as he pressed his lips shut.

"Mother, Xiao Nanfeng had urgent business to take care of and has left the Yuqing holy land for the time being. He asked me to convey his apologies," Xia Hong said.

"What business? Was it that pressing?" Han Bingdie asked, frowning in worry.

"He didn't elaborate, but it looked particularly important."

Xia Lan's eyes lit up. "Second Brother, I know why Xiao Nanfeng left in such a hurry!"

"Oh?" Everyone turned to Xia Lan.

"He must be regretting helping you recruit new soldiers, Second Brother, so he ran off. He's going to wait until you leave before coming back and manipulating them into joining his empire instead!"

The three women gaped at him, then shook their heads simultaneously. "That's impossible. Nanfeng isn't like that."

Xia Hong frowned as well. "Third Brother, that's enough. I didn't chastise you beforehand for the sake of your reputation, but you're getting more and more ridiculous. How can you be so petty?"

Xia Lan's eyes widened in alarm.

What did his brother mean?

"Mother, don't listen to Third Brother's nonsense. Nanfeng did his utmost to help me recruit the Yuqing disciples to my cause, and he even staked his reputation on it. He could easily have influenced those disciples to join his empire instead—but he chose to support me wholeheartedly! He really does treat us like his family," Xia Hong asserted.

"Nanfeng really is understanding. How did Xia Lan get such a warped image of him?"

"We really ought to thank Nanfeng. Xia Lan, this is getting ridiculous."

"Lan'er, you must be itching for a beating!"

The three women glared angrily at Xia Lan.

Xia Lan stiffened. He shook his head in disbelief. "What? Did Xiao Nanfeng do all this just to get me in trouble?"

"Enough! If you keep trying to stain Nanfeng's reputation, I'm going to punish you," Xia Hong shouted.

Xia Lan: ...

"Xia Lan needs to be punished before he actively starts to go against Nanfeng."

"Perhaps a beating is a good idea, after all. Xia Hong, since your father isn't around, you'll do it in his place."

"Beat him up! Teach him how to be respectful to his family. I'm fully in support."

The three women quickly came to a consensus once more.

Xia Lan blanched. How could Xiao Nanfeng have tricked his second brother, too? He was done for!

"Mothers, please don't worry. Once I finish my recruiting, I'll bring Third Brother to the barracks with me. It's clear that he's gotten too complacent in such a comfortable environment. It's time for him to get a sense of what the real world is like," Xia Hong said.

Xia Lan: ...

Xia Lan gaped in shock at the sudden betrayal. He had helped out Yu'er when she was being kept under house arrest—Xiao Nanfeng was the outsider, not him!

"It's settled. Bring Lan'er with you," Xia Lan's mother said.

"Yes, Mother! Please continue lecturing Third Brother. I'll continue with the recruitment now. Nanfeng's support has been invaluable, and I expect I'll be off again in no time," Xia Hong replied.

"Very good." The three women nodded, then turned back to Xia Lan.

Xia Lan stiffened. He took a deep breath. His brother had deserted me; was there to be no escape?

Xiao Nanfeng's party flew out of the Yuqing holy land, dove into the Southern Sea, swam briskly for some time, and finally resurfaced at a secluded stretch of the sea.

"Did we shake off all the spies following us?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.

The golden cultivators scouted their surroundings before responding in the affirmative.

"There's no one following behind us now," Ye Dafu confirmed.

"Good. Let's set off, then."

The cultivators surrounded themselves with fog, then rushed off in a certain direction. A sonic boom rippled behind them as they vanished by the horizon.

A day later, in Yongding, Xiao Nanfeng's avatar followed Blue Lantern into the Spirit Emperor's hidden realm, where a huge formation of light had been constructed.

361 beams of starlight shone down overhead, and all sorts of auxiliary light festooned the formation. At the very center of the spectacle was the image of a green lotus.

"Have you managed to analyze the green lotus totem?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.

Blue Lantern nodded. "It's all thanks to that Golden Immortal pill. If my cultivation hadn't been restored, I would never have been able to manifest this reconstruction. I'm confident I know how the green lotus totem works now."

"Explain," Xiao Nanfeng instructed.

"Sage Green Lotus likely possesses a Boundless Immortal relic of incredible strength, imbued with natural law of its own."

"Oh?"

"The records of my sect made mention of one such relic. If I'm not mistaken, Sage Green Lotus is in possession of the Yuqing holy land's seventh-grade lotus. The Demon Child is to be tattooed with seven green lotus totems to form a seal.

"For what purpose?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.

"The green lotus seal can distill the Demon Child's soul and physical body down into essence that the seventh-grade lotus can then absorb. In the end, the Demon Child will become an avatar for Sage Green Lotus."

Xiao Nanfeng grimaced. "Sage Green Lotus is the Demon Child's master. Is he willing to do that to his own disciple? How despicable can he get?"

"Li Qianjun should be more than capable of figuring out Sage Green Lotus's intent. Why would he send his son to the Yuqing holy land regardless?" Blue Lantern wondered.

"We'll find out in no time."

"Oh?"

"My avatar has arrived at Taixu. If everything goes smoothly, I'll be able to catch Li Qianjun and interrogate him about all this."

In Taixu, right by the sea, Xiao Nanfeng's avatar was hiding in the clouds and surrounding his body in fog to hide himself. He was observing Taixu far below him.

Taixu wasn't a particularly large city, as far as Immortal cities went. The city seemed to have a propensity for darkness, and even its walls were pitch-black.

At the moment, huge black clouds were obscuring the sky overhead, leaving the city dim and dismal. Layers of formations extended around the city walls, and black fog roiled within. It was impossible to make out what was happening within the city. Some of its citizens could be seen rushing up to the boundary of the formations, only to be dragged back in by others within.

"What a sinister place."

"Doesn't it look like there are specters within the fog?"

"This doesn't look like anywhere good."

The golden cultivators shivered as they eyed each other.

"This is where the ruins of the Taiqing Immortal Sect lie," Xiao Nanfeng said. "Countless Immortals of the Taiqing Immortal Sect are buried beneath Taixi. Do not be disrespectful."

The golden cultivators stilled and bowed, ashamed.

"A blackguard just sent word to me. According to Senior Brother Zhao, it's a mess inside. A huge fight is about to break out, but this formation of black fog is keeping everyone trapped within," Xiao Nanfeng said.

"Zhao Yuanjiao's a late-stage True Immortal! Can't he make it out of this formation?" Ye Dafu exclaimed.

"Apparently not. We'll be heading inside to meet up with him."

"Understood!" everyone replied.

Perhaps others would be stymied by the formation of black fog, but entering and leaving it was trivial to Xiao Nanfeng. He demonstrated his candleflame powers with a snap of his fingers as he ushered everyone within.