Chapter 738: Lou Yujing Flees in Defeat

The Demon Child and Ye Sanshui each held a zombie king back. Yang Chuan defended against two.

The twelve golden cultivators were strong, but there were simply too many zombies around. They were quickly surrounded by a group of Golden Immortal zombies who leapt forward and tried to bite down with their bloody fangs.

To their surprise, their fangs merely sparked as they came in contact with the golden cultivators, unable to break through their defenses. One of the zombies, having used too much force, even broke off its own fangs.

"Come on, you trashy zombies! Take us down if you can!" the golden cultivators taunted.

The zombies roared as they furiously attacked the golden cultivators.

Meanwhile, Lou Yujing reattached the severed half of his arm. He could recognize the signature of Yu Fuli's attack. He didn't think Yu Fuli would have given Xiao Nanfeng more than one heart sword, but he didn't dare risk it.

"All zombies, attack him!" Lou Yujing commanded, pointing at Xiao Nanfeng's main body.

Though he didn't dare try to block Yu Fuli's heart sword, he could try to bait it out with ordinary zombies.

Countless zombies shot toward Xiao Nanfeng, whose main body retreated into Yongding, behind the defensive formation. He had no intention of wasting his heart sword on a horde of ordinary zombies.

Meanwhile, his avatar stepped out and quickly took down the horde with Hegemon's Fist. The fists rained down like a meteor shower, knocking the zombies flying as he shot straight toward Lou Yujing.

"Die!" Xiao Nanfeng's avatar shouted.

Imbued with the might of Dazheng, Xiao Nanfeng leapt toward Lou Yujing like a golden dragon as he threw out a punch.

Lou Yujing blanched. He had just reattached his arm and wouldn't be able to fight with it just yet. He had no choice but to defend with his other arm.

The two fists met in a blistering explosion. Lou Yujing, who had defended with just a single arm, was forced back.

"Attack with me!" Lou Yujing shouted.

Countless zombies flocked toward him, but the four remaining zombie kings were being held back by the other cultivators. Only ordinary zombies remained to take down Xiao Nanfeng.

"Do you really think these ordinary zombies will be able to save you? How laughable," Xiao Nanfeng said, charging forward.

"Your imperial might is going to be drained soon enough. Let's see you try to fight me after that! These zombies might not be able to take you down right now, but enough termites can eat through a tree. I'll kill you soon enough!" Lou Yujing roared back.

Xiao Nanfeng sent countless zombies flying with a punch as he fought his way forward to Lou Yujing.

They began to fight once again. Xiao Nanfeng's Hegemon's Fist filled the sky. If Lou Yujing hadn't suffered a critical injury, he might have been able to fight Xiao Nanfeng on equal footing—but not at the present moment.

"Hegemon's Fist: Skyshatter!"

"Hegemon's Fist: Mountainbane!"

Lou Yujing was sent flying time and time again.

Xiao Nanfeng's attacks were lethal. Lou Yujing spat out blood as he retreated.

"You've grown far too quickly over the past decade. I should have killed you long ago," Lou Yujing spat out.

"Do you regret it? The Taiqing Immortal Sect regrets sponsoring you, too. Think about how many resources it devoted to you, only for you to betray the sect outright. You should have been killed right then and there, ingrate!" Xiao Nanfeng declared.

He sent Lou Yujing flying with another punch.

The ordinary zombies all around them tried to close in on them, only to be deterred by the two cultivators' powerful auras. At the most, all they could do was block Xiao Nanfeng's way when the two cultivators clashed, but Xiao Nanfeng would easily sweep them away with his fists.

Xiao Nanfeng's imperial might grew weaker as the fighting continued, but Lou Yujing's body was quickly getting battered, too. He spat out mouthfuls of blood as they fought.

"If not for the damnable restrictions on this body, you would never have gotten the better of me!" Lou Yujing thundered.

"Come fight me with your main body, then. I'll await you at Yongding at any time," Xiao Nanfeng replied coldly.

Lou Yujing grimaced. From the looks of it, Xiao Nanfeng really might have a second heart sword waiting for him. It would be far too risky to chance it.

If he were to keep fighting here and now, his body would only grow more and more wounded. The defensive formations around Yongding were too strong; without any zombie kings in the lead, the ordinary zombies would never be able to break into Yongding. Staying here would only prove disadvantageous to him.

"All zombies, gather up and enter this bottle!" Lou Yujing commanded. He tossed the bottle toward a Golden Immortal zombie nearby.

Except for the zombies holding enemy cultivators at bay, the zombies all swarmed toward the bottle.

"Let's go!" Lou Yujing roared.

All the remaining zombies flung their opponents back simultaneously and gathered around Lou Yujing.

"Xiao Nanfeng, just you wait. I'll be back!"

Lou Yujing shot off toward the south, zombies trailing behind him.

"Don't give chase," Xiao Nanfeng commanded.

The cultivators of Yongding stopped short.

"Why not, Xiao Nanfeng?" the Demon Child asked, somewhat dissatisfied.

"We may not be able to kill him even if we give chase. Lou Yujing's main body could unite with him at any point, and there may still be assassins from Snowborne in the vicinity. Don't let others take advantage of us now," Xiao Nanfeng replied.

The Demon Child nodded grudgingly.

"Let's head back to Yongding for now," Xiao Nanfeng said.

Everyone flew back toward Yongding.

By then, the battle at Shenfeng's capital had ended with Tu Jiuniang and Yuan Wudi fleeing for their lives, grievously injured.

On the way back, Tu Jiuniang spat out a mouthful of blood. "How could the Divine Emperor have grown so strong in just a few months?!"

"Coupled with that bell of hers, she's far too strong. If she draws on Shenfeng's imperial might, I'm afraid even the Immortal Emperor won't be able to take her down," Yuan Wudi replied, nodding.

"Hardly!" Tu Jiuniang shot him a dissatisfied look. "My husband's stronger than anyone else. No one can defeat him."

She wouldn't allow anyone to badmouth Lou Yujing in her presence.

"Of course, Your Majesty. I misspoke. But what will you do now that you've lost your Bloodbell Aegis?" Yuan Wudi asked in worry.

Tu Jiuniang frowned. "We'll figure that out once we get back."

"Understood!"

The two cultivators fled for Hongyue's capital.

In Shenfeng's capital, countless cultivators cheered at the Divine Emperor's display of prowess. They grew even more astounded by Shenfeng than before.

Three Golden Immortals had joined Shenfeng with ulterior motives in mind, believing that Shenfeng was lucky to have recruited them than the other way around. After witnessing this battle, however, they had completely changed their minds.

The Divine Emperor had managed to take down two Boundless Immortals readily even without drawing on imperial might, an incredible show of power. They really were lucky to have joined Shenfeng.

After all, in another divine empire, a foreign Golden Immortal would find it prohibitively difficult to rise to a high station, but Shenfeng had easily fulfilled that request. In addition, once Shenfeng advanced into a divine empire, their stars would continue to rise. They bowed down in loyalty.

The Divine Emperor returned to her palatial valley, seemingly unbothered and unfatigued even by the unexpected battle. She asked one of her palace maidens with an avatar, "What's the situation like in Yongding?"

The palace maiden recounted everything that had occurred there.

The Divine Emperor sighed in relief. "It's good that they won."

She was clearly worried about Xiao Nanfeng's safety. Upon hearing that he was safe and sound, she relaxed.

"Your Majesty, Emperor Xiao wishes to speak with you," the palace maiden continued.

"Oh? Relay the conversation." The Divine Emperor's eyes lit up.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" She bowed. "How did the fight go? Are you hurt?"

"I'm just fine, thank you. I even picked up a treasure for you."

"Really? Hold on. I'll head right over."

"Very well." The Divine Emperor smiled.

Back in Yongding, Ao Zhou grinned cockily. "Look, Xiao Nanfeng! We managed to catch the zombies that failed to evacuate."

On a plaza clouded with fog, a large number of zombies had been tied up and bound. They howled and hissed to no avail.

"Well done." Xiao Nanfeng smiled.

"Ye Dafu and the others weren't being cooperative. We asked them to lure more zombies into the forests, but they just stood there like punching bags! We would have caught many more zombies otherwise." Ao Zhou shook his head.

Ye Dafu rolled his eyes. "You're the only Golden Immortal in your group. If we had lured more zombies into the forest, wouldn't they have overwhelmed you? We were trying to protect you!"

"Nonsense! A few zombies won't get the better of us," Ao Zhou retorted back.

"Enough, enough. All of you did well. Ao Zhou, you'll be awarded merit for your actions." Xiao Nanfeng smiled.

"Good, you get it! Why don't you award me the most merit for this battle, too?"

Everyone else rolled their eyes at Ao Zhou's shameless behavior.

Warble couldn't take it any longer. "Ao Zhou, don't be ridiculous. You caught the fewest zombies. Both I and Croak caught more than you did!"

"All of mine are zombies with advanced cultivation. They're worth far more than yours!" Ao Zhou countered.

Xiao Nanfeng ignored Ao Zhou's shameless request as he kept all the zombies in a storage artifact.

"Ye Sanshui, are you ready?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.

"I've written a letter for my wife," Ye Sanshui confirmed.

"In that case, let's go."

"Understood!" Ye Sanshui nodded.

"What about me, Xiao Nanfeng? Why don't I join you and have fun, too?" the Demon Child asked impatiently.

"I'll call you over once the war begins in earnest. For now, stay here and continue your lessons," Xiao Nanfeng replied immediately.

"My lessons?" The Demon Child shook his head and sighed.

Yang Chuan smiled as he patted the Demon Child on the shoulder. Then, he, Xiao Nanfeng's main body, and Ye Sanshui secretly left Yongding.

The three cultivators flew high up into the clouds. "Once I finish gathering allies, I'll take on Hongyue with you."

Xiao Nanfeng nodded.

The three cultivators split up. Yang Chuan returned to the Southeastern Aquatic Palace to start the meeting for revenge, while Xiao Nanfeng and Ye Sanshui headed straight to Shenfeng.