Chapter 901: Slaying Sage Qingyun

"W-What treasure did you use to defend against me?!" Sage Qingyun shouted in disbelief.

He could tell that Xiao Nanfeng only had the aura of a Golden Immortal. What was more, the wild wastes hidden realm was bound by heavenly restrictions, and Xiao Nanfeng could hardly have a protection token himself. How could a Golden Immortal block a full-force strike from a Boundless Immortal? It was impossible! Xiao Nanfeng had to have used some treasure in self-defense.

"Try it again and you'll see," Xiao Nanfeng retorted coolly.

He sheathed his divine undying blade and adopted a battle-ready stance. While the divine undying blade was incredibly effective against opponents of the same realm, Hegemon's Fist would do more against stronger opponents.

Sage Qingyun's gaze turned cold. "Fine. Let's see just what sort of treasure you're hiding."

With that, he charged at Xiao Nanfeng again.

Xiao Nanfeng's eyes narrowed as he launched a punch. "Hegemon's Fist! Flurry of Ten Thousand Fists!"

Countless fists materialized in thin air, coalesced into one, and then shot toward Sage Qingyun.

"A mere Golden Immortal—no matter how strong you are, do you really think you can confront me head-on? Nonsense!" Sage Qingyun scoffed, meeting Xiao Nanfeng's attack with one of his own.

Their punches collided in a fiery explosion.

Xiao Nanfeng was sent flying, but Sage Qingyun was also forced back.

"Impossible! How can you possess such strength as a Golden Immortal?!" Sage Qingyun roared.

In a blur, he closed the distance, appearing behind Xiao Nanfeng and striking at the back of his head with a heavy punch.

Though Xiao Nanfeng's cultivation focused heavily on physical defense, which limited his speed, he could block even blows from Boundless Immortals. Sage Qingyun's fist struck the back of his head with a sound like a hammer striking steel. A firestorm erupted around Xiao Nanfeng.

Despite the blow, Xiao Nanfeng barely staggered as he stabilized himself. He exhaled softly.

𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

His head was unharmed. Sage Qingyun's fist technique had simply dissipated.

"How can this be?" Sage Qingyun exclaimed in disbelief.

"Hegemon's Fist!" Xiao Nanfeng shot forward once more.

The two clashed violently once again.

Though Sage Qingyun was faster and slightly stronger, Xiao Nanfeng's physical defenses were clearly superior to Sage Qingyun's.

Even after taking ten punches from him, Xiao Nanfeng remained unscathed. Conversely, when Xiao Nanfeng landed a punch to Sage Qingyun's abdomen, the latter coughed up blood, his face contorting in pain as his hat was knocked off.

"Oh? Why are you so fragile, Sage Qingyun? Have you been neglecting your health?" Xiao Nanfeng taunted.

"Insolence!" Sage Qingyun roared.

He drew his longsword and slashed at Xiao Nanfeng.

"Imposing Avatar of Rulai!" Xiao Nanfeng shouted.

His body radiated with golden light, allowing him to block Sage Qingyun's sword with ease.

Afar, Ye Dafu and the others were watching in awe.

"Truly incomparable—His Majesty's body is practically indestructible!"

"We cultivate the golden bodies of bodhisattvas, but His Majesty's is the body of Rulai himself!"

"His Majesty's physical form is truly overwhelming!"

The golden cultivators marveled at the fight unfolding before them. They retreated to the edge of the formation, knowing that they couldn't hope to interfere in such a battle.

Within the formation, Xia Yu'er's face grew darker and darker. She thundered, "Sage Qingyun, do you intend to kill Xiao Nanfeng? He's the master of the Taiqing Immortal Sect. The Yuqing holy land won't stand for this!"

Sage Qingyun was growing more and more infuriated. He thundered, "I'll kill him today, regardless of what happens! So what if he's the master of the Taiqing Immortal Sect? After today, he'll be nothing more than history!"

"My father won't let you off!" Yu'er shouted.

"Have Xia Xingchen confront me, then. Do you think I'm afraid of him? Ha!" Sage Qingyun shouted disdainfully.

Yu'er was speechless in her anger.

"Qingyun? From the Shanhuang faction? Has he already advanced to the Boundless Immortal realm?" Blue Jade murmured, frowning. She turned to Xia Yu'er. "Just how strong is Emperor Xiao? Why can he defend against a Boundless Immortal?"

Yu'er frowned. She didn't understand how herself.

Beside them, Ye Dafu replied casually, "Being able to block a Boundless Immortal's blow is nothing. His Majesty has killed a whole slew of Boundless Immortals by now."

Blue Jade gave Ye Dafu an odd look. She felt as if he were merely boasting, but she didn't want to confront him about it while they were facing a mutual foe.

"Don't you believe me? Just you watch. If things drag out, Sage Qingyun will surely die to His Majesty's hands," Ye Dafu continued.

Blue Jade fell silent. She clearly didn't believe his words, but Ye Dafu didn't press the matter. It was hardly as if he could tell them that Xiao Nanfeng had even killed two saints—some truths were better left unsaid.

Seeing that Xiao Nanfeng was unharmed, Xia Yu'er sighed in relief.

The battle raged on. By then, Sage Qingyun had struck Xiao Nanfeng with over a hundred punches and slashed at him with his sword over a hundred times, and yet Xiao Nanfeng remained unscathed. On the other hand, though Xiao Nanfeng had landed only a dozen punches on Sage Qingyun, he was repeatedly spitting out blood.

"Xiao Nanfeng, do you cultivate the Imposing Avatar of Rulai? It might have impressive defensive abilities, but how can you be so strong? How are you not taking any damage?!" Sage Qingyun shouted. He wiped the blood from his mouth, his frustration palpable.

Xiao Nanfeng had more techniques than the Imposing Avatar of Rulai, though he wasn't about to tell Sage Qingyun that.

"It's because you're too weak to hurt me," Xiao Nanfeng mocked.

"Outrageous!" Sage Qingyun roared. He charged forward once more in anger.

With a loud crash, his sword technique collided with Xiao Nanfeng's body. Another firestorm bloomed—but it couldn't hurt Xiao Nanfeng at all.

At that moment, a distant voice shouted, "Qingyun, are you out of your mind? Why are you so fixated on Xiao Nanfeng? You can't kill him, and he can't kill you either. Why waste your time? Why not deal with Blue Lantern instead?"

Xiao Nanfeng's heart skipped a beat. Judging by that tone—could this be another supreme cultivator?

Sage Qingyun frowned. He hadn't ever planned on fighting Blue Lantern. His goal was to capture Xiao Nanfeng and Xia Yu'er. Who had been the one to rebuke him?

He considered pretending not to have heard the voice, but he realized that dragging things out would only make Blue Lantern more difficult to handle once he fully attuned to the bronze compass.

Sage Qingyun snorted, punched Xiao Nanfeng and sent him flying, and then shot toward Xia Yu'er.

"He's... coming for me?" Xia Yu'er's eyes opened wide in shock.

With a deafening crash, Sage Qingyun punched the barrier around the valley. His immense force caused the formation to tremble violently and even cracked it in multiple places.

"This is my chance!" Xiao Nanfeng's eyes glinted.

While Sage Qingyun was distracted attacking the formation, Xiao Nanfeng seized the opportunity to launch a burst of purple light from above, which struck Sage Qingyun squarely.

"What?!" Sage Qingyun's face twisted in shock.

The Divine Seal of Dazheng slammed down on him with enormous force, pinning him in place and rendering him immobile.

"Sage Qingyun, even you can be careless at times, I see," Xiao Nanfeng called out.

At that moment, the sky rumbled ominously. A Heaven's Hand descended toward the Divine Seal of Dazheng.

"Be careful! The restrictions on the wild wastes hidden realm don't just target Boundless Immortals, but also Boundless Immortal treasures!"

Xiao Nanfeng grimaced. Realizing that he was in danger, he rushed toward Sage Qingyun.

"Xiao Nanfeng, when I free myself, I'll shatter your imperial seal!" Sage Qingyun roared.

The next moment, Xiao Nanfeng transformed into a streak of light and charged toward Sage Qingyun just as the Heaven's Hand was about to descend. He swiftly drew his blade.

"Wait!" Sage Qingyun yelled in panic.

At that moment, pinned down by the Divine Seal of Dazheng, he was immobile and relying solely on his qi barrier for defense. While it could easily withstand attacks from lesser Immortals, Xiao Nanfeng wasn't much weaker than he was.

"No!" Sage Qingyun screamed.

Xiao Nanfeng's blade severed Sage Qingyun's head, sending it flying. Blood sprayed through the air.

In an instant, Xiao Nanfeng snatched up the Divine Seal of Dazheng and escaped just as the Heaven's Hand closed in around it.

"Nanfeng!" Yu'er cried out.

"He's done for! No one can handle the heavens' might!"

Right before the Heaven's Hand clenched tightly, however, Xiao Nanfeng managed to escape by a hair's breadth.

The Heaven's Hand fractured the void with its immense force. Shockwaves hurled Xiao Nanfeng through the air, but he managed to store his imperial seal before he landed. With no further traces of a Boundless Immortal's power in sight, the Heaven's Hand slowly retreated back into the heavens.

Breathing heavily, Xiao Nanfeng descended to the ground. He had almost been caught and killed himself.

Not far away, the disciples of the Fenghuang faction stared at him in disbelief. Sage Qingyun's severed head lay on the ground and rolled to a stop.

"He... really killed a Boundless Immortal with a Golden Immortal's strength?" Blue Jade and the others murmured, astounded.

Xiao Nanfeng approached Sage Qingyun's fallen head.

Suddenly, Sage Qingyun's soul emerged, his expression twisted with rage and fear.

"Xiao Nanfeng, mark my words! I'll be back for revenge!" his soul howled.

He spat out a purple compass and began to channel golden runes through it, creating a vortex of energy.

Blue Jade's eyes widened. "He's trying to escape using a formation!"

Xiao Nanfeng's eyes narrowed as he accelerated, his blade flashing.

"You're too late. Just you wait!" Sage Qingyun sneered.

A portal began to form before him, and he prepared to dive into it.

"I'm not too late." Xiao Nanfeng's gaze turned cold.

He reached out and activated his candleflame powers, seizing the purple compass that Sage Qingyun had spat out.

Without the compass, the golden runes quickly shattered. The portal dissipated in a wisp of smoke.

"No!" Sage Qingyun's soul cried out.

Xiao Nanfeng's blade slashed toward him. The soul barely managed to dodge the blow, but the resulting shockwave left him fractured and weak. He tumbled to the ground.

"Xiao Nanfeng, you can't kill me! I'm a Mountain Lord of the Yuqing holy land. You owe the holy land a debt of gratitude!" Sage Qingyun's soul cried out.

"I'll repay my debt, but never to you," Xiao Nanfeng said coldly. He brought his blade down.

"No!" Sage Qingyun shrieked.

The blade's energy obliterated Sage Qingyun's soul entirely, leaving nothing behind.