Chapter 904: The Ferocious Golden Crows

In the wild wastes hidden realm, outside the pure yang pillar, a group of black-robed figures continued to chant and manipulate formations. The pure yang pillar was surrounded with countless golden characters representing the Earthly Branches. They were remotely activating the intricate formation within the pillar's subspace.

The pillar trembled violently.

"Crown Princess, are you certain that this will kill Xiao Nanfeng?" one black-robed cultivator asked anxiously.

"I'm certain."

"But Xiao Nanfeng's ten golden crows are immune to fire!"

"The same doesn't hold true for Xiao Nanfeng. As long as we continue to supply the formation with energy, the formation beasts will only keep growing in number. Either Xiao Nanfeng will die from exhaustion, or he'll die from the flames."

"Understood!"

The cultivators continued to manipulate the formation as they waited for the disturbance within the pillar to subside.

After two hours, one of the black-robed cultivators frowned. "Crown Princess, something is wrong. Some of the golden characters in the formation have disappeared."

"Xiao Nanfeng must be disrupting the formation from within," the crown princess replied, frowning.

"In that case, what should we do?"

"It matters not. The formation in the interior of the pillar is vast, and he can't destroy it all. Continue channeling energy into it."

"Understood!"

Two more hours later, another subordinate called out, "Crown Princess, almost half the golden characters are gone. The internal formation must be in complete disarray!"

Another subordinate added, "Doesn't the pure yang pillar seem to have dimmed? Could something have gone wrong inside?"

The black-robed cultivators began to panic as they noticed more and more discrepancies.

"If you're so worried, why don't you go inside and take a look for yourself?" the crown princess suggested coldly.

The group exchanged uneasy glances before shaking their heads vigorously. "We don't dare, Your Highness."

They were already unable to bear the flames by the time they left; now that four more hours had passed, they would only be burnt to a crisp if they tried to enter the pillar.

"In that case, don't talk nonsense. Continue to manipulate the formation. This is Xiao Nanfeng's last-ditch effort. Once he dies, all will be well."

"Understood!" everyone replied.

Two more hours passed.

The crown princess suddenly called out, "Halt! Everyone, halt!"

Her black-robed subordinates stopped what they were doing and glanced toward her.

"How can this be? Only 30% of the golden characters remain! And why has the pure yang pillar dimmed to such an extent?!"

"We don't know, Your Highness."

"I told you to stop manipulating the formation! Why are some of these golden characters still flashing?!" the crown princess demanded.

The cultivators glanced at each other. "We're not doing anything, Your Highness."

The golden characters around them continued to flash, as if they were being guided by some unseen force.

"Is Xiao Nanfeng responsible for this? Impossible!" the crown princess shouted.

"Something must be going wrong within..."

"One of you, enter and find out what's going on." The crown princess pointed at one subordinate.

"Crown Princess, I can't bear the flames within!" the unfortunate subordinate exclaimed.

"Don't you have an avatar? Send him in, now!"

"Yes, Your Highness." The cultivator had no choice but to accede.

The cultivators worked together to summon a cloud of golden fog that surged toward the avatar and sent him within the pure yang pillar.

The moment the avatar entered, he saw an astonishing sight.

The endless flames that had filled the interior of the pillar had vanished entirely.

Xiao Nanfeng was sitting cross-legged as Yu'er guarded him. His ten golden crows cawed loudly, having grown hundreds of meters tall. They opened their mouths wide, sucking in all the formation beasts that had just spawned.

Though the golden characters had briefly vanished when the formation was stopped, they were being forcefully reactivated by the ten golden crows' suction. As new formation beasts materialized, the golden crows consumed them immediately.

The situation within the pillar was shocking.

It was less a fiery crucible and more a feast for the golden crows within.

"Who's there? Die!" Xia Yu'er shouted.

Dozens of Yuqing swords shot toward the intruder.

"No!" the man screamed.

The swords slashed at him just as he activated the formation and escaped, severing one of his arms before he managed to flee.

Yu'er didn't give chase. She continued to guard Xiao Nanfeng, who seemed to be at a critical period in his breakthrough.

The ten golden crows took one final breath and absorbed all the formation beasts in their vicinity.

Then, they flew back into Xiao Nanfeng's dantian, releasing all the power they had absorbed.

A wave of flame emanated from Xiao Nanfeng's body.

"A breakthrough!" Yu'er exclaimed.

Xiao Nanfeng opened his eyes and took a deep breath. "Indeed. I'm at the sixth stage of the Golden Immortal realm. There really is an incredible quantity of energy in here."

All the golden characters and formation beasts in the vicinity had vanished, and their surroundings had grown cold.

Just then, a cloud of golden fog manifested. The black-robed cultivators from outside had rushed back in.

The black-robed avatar whose arm Yu'er had cut off immediately shouted, "See? It's all gone! Xiao Nanfeng was absorbing the formation with his ten golden crows. He was leveraging the flames in here to advance his cultivation!"

"That's what I said! With the ten golden crows protecting him, he wouldn't be scared of the flames at all! Was he just feigning his weariness all along?"

"All our effort only served to help Xiao Nanfeng out!"

"He's a liar! We've all been tricked!"

The black-robed cultivators were all enraged.

"Enough! Silence!" their leader commanded, livid.

Only then did the cultivators stop shouting. They all turned toward Xiao Nanfeng.

Xiao Nanfeng took a deep breath. "It's your turn to die."

With a wave of his hand, he sent his ten golden crows toward them.

The leader of the black-robed cultivators was incensed beyond measure. It was precisely because Xiao Nanfeng had killed a Boundless Immortal that she had been careful not to face him in direct combat. She had intended to use the pure yang pillar to slowly whittle Xiao Nanfeng to death, not expecting him to take advantage of the circumstances to cultivate instead.

"Die, Xiao Nanfeng!" she roared.

She unleashed a flurry of golden needles from her sleeves, directed straight at the ten golden crows.

The ten golden crows spat out quintessential fire, burning the golden needles to a crisp.

They charged toward the black-robed cultivators, their sharp claws like divine spears.

"Swell!" the crown princess commanded.

The golden crows suddenly stopped short. The flurry of golden needles had merely been a ruse. There were ten purple-gold needles in their midst that had passed through the flames and shot straight into the crows' bodies. Following the crown princess' command, they swelled in size, pierced through their bodies, and pinned them in place.

"I should've made a move sooner. Your ten golden crows are pathetic. Kill them!"

"Die!" the black-robed cultivators shouted.

With swords in hand, the cultivators charged toward the ten golden crows, who had been rendered defenseless.

From afar, Xiao Nanfeng commanded, "Explode!"

He shielded Yu'er behind him as his ten golden crows self-destructed.

"This isn't good!" the black-robed cultivators cried out.

Even their leader was astonished. "Xiao Nanfeng, are you crazy? You're destroying your own golden crows?!"

The flames that resulted from the ten golden crows' explosions overwhelmed all the black-robed cultivators. The void shook as flames consumed the realm.

Xiao Nanfeng continued to protect Yu'er, ensuring her safety.

The flames from the explosion rapidly surged back into Xiao Nanfeng's dantian.

The explosion had caused the pillar's subspace to be filled with cracks. The black-robed cultivators were all dead, all safe their leader.

She was a Boundless Immortal, and naturally able to withstand the explosion. Even so, she had been badly injured.

She spat out a mouthful of blood. Her black robes were ruined, revealing her bloodied body and face.

"You're the crown princess of the divine empire of Dachi, Su Qingchan!" Xiao Nanfeng exclaimed.

Su Qingchan wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth. "Xiao Nanfeng, were you trying to take me down with you? You've crippled your own technique!"

"What nonsense," Xiao Nanfeng replied, sneering.

He summoned another ten golden crows from his body, who launched themselves straight at Su Qingchan.

"What? You have more golden crows? Impossible! Doesn't the Sky of Ten Suns only come with ten crows, all of which exploded? How did you revive them?!"

By then, the ten golden crows had surrounded Su Qingchan once more.

"Die!" Su Qingchan slashed at one crow with her sword.

"Explode!" Xiao Nanfeng shouted.

The ten crows self-destructed once again. The frightening storm of flames engulfed Su Qingchan, leaving her stricken.

"No!" she howled.

Xiao Nanfeng didn't stop there. With a wave of his hand, he summoned a beam of purple light.

"Divine Seal of Dazheng, seal!" Xiao Nanfeng shouted.

The massive seal slammed down on Su Qingchan, pinning her to the ground.

The golden flames all around her returned to Xiao Nanfeng's body, revealing Su Qingchan's prone body pinned by the seal.

She tried to invoke a formation to escape. A cloud of golden fog had appeared before her like a portal, but she was mere moments too late. Pinned down by Xiao Nanfeng's divine seal, she was unable to move from where she lay.

Above her, as the heavens sensed the Divine Seal of Dazheng, a fearsome aura began to descend.