NOVEL WEB Chapter 351: Face Rearrangement
Elder Jiang was in high spirits. After a particularly fruitful cultivation session, he felt as if he had shed a few millennia off his age. He no longer felt like a decrepit mummy, but a sprightly few centuries-old man. The dense spiritual qi had done wonders, and he was confident he was only a step away from breaking into the 2nd stage of the Return To Void Realm.
He emerged from his quarters deep within the White Crow Sect and stretched his stiff joints with a satisfying groan. Warm sunlight hit his face.
"Ah... nothing beats a good sunbath after weeks of secluded cultivation," he said with a contented smile.
Then, his body froze. "Wait… sunlight?!"
His eyes widened in disbelief as he looked upward and saw the enormous hole blasted through the cavern ceiling. For a moment, his mouth hung open in stunned silence. Since moving underground, the White Crow Sect had relied entirely on Feng Fan's array for lighting. It mimicked the natural day-night cycle with precision. But now, with the array destroyed, real sunlight streamed down unfiltered, illuminating the sect for the first time in ages.
There was no need to ask who was responsible. His face darkened, and his voice thundered through the sect.
"FENG FAAAAAN!"
—
Somewhere on the other side of the universe, Feng Fan suddenly sneezed. "What the—? How can a cultivator even sneeze?" he muttered, rubbing his nose. "Who's cursing me behind my back?"
'This is the problem of being such a likable person. People can't stop but think and talk about me.'
Before he could dwell on it, Xue Qiang's voice snapped out of his thoughts. "Fanfan, where are we going now?"
"To the fortress where Xue Feng is," Feng Fan replied. "We'll need someone familiar with the cultists if we want to know where to strike."
Without bothering to conceal their presence, Feng Fan and his companions piloted the stolen vessel toward the fortress located in the Green region, the place where Feng Fan had been assigned to reinforce with defensive arrays. Now that he had a way to counteract the dark spiritual qi infecting members of the Intergalactic Council, stealth was no longer a concern.
They descended openly, landing the vessel right beside the fortress walls, drawing immediate attention. Inside, alarmed eyes turned toward them, including Xue Feng's. The commander now radiated a far denser concentration of dark spiritual qi, his eyes bloodshot and hostile.
"Feng Fan!" Xue Feng roared, his voice echoing with fury. "You traitor! You disappeared without permission, abandoned your post, and now you dare return? Soldiers! Kill him! He's working with the cultists!"
The soldiers wavered. Wasn't this the tier 9 Array Master who had been invited to strengthen their defenses?
But before doubt could settle, a few among them, already controlled by the dark spiritual qi, launched forward to attack. Their aggression triggered a bandwagon effect. Soldiers unsheathed their weapons and attacked, even those not infected.
Feng Fan smirked at their futile attempts. Even though he was not at the fortress's array core, he still had full control over it. Letting an Array Master take over your formation and then trying to kill him from inside it. What could be more idiotic?
With a flick of his sleeve, Feng Fan stopped most of the incoming attacks using the fortress's own barrier array. For those whose faces he did not like, he even bounced the attacks back at them. A free face rearrangement courtesy for his friends. Considering how expensive plastic surgery was, they should be thanking him.
Xue Feng had not acted yet, but since he was the commanding officer, Feng Fan decided to share the love. He subtly redirected a handful of attacks in Xue Feng's direction. Whether the man was being controlled or not no longer mattered. He had sent a command to attack Feng Fan, and now he would face the consequences.
Xue Feng's eyes widened in terror as a barrage of techniques, many from Return To Void and even some from Transcending Tribulation cultivators, hurtled toward him. He scrambled to summon his weapon and defend himself, but despite his decent cultivation, what could one man possibly do against such overwhelming force, especially from people at or above his own level?
"Feng Fan!" Xue Feng roared in fury as the barrage of redirected attacks struck him. Though he managed to survive, his left arm was blown off. This was a small price to pay for his life.
The cultivators from the Intergalactic Council paled at the sight. Seeing Xue Feng's mangled state, none of them dared to attack again.
Feng Fan smiled. "Tan Wei, can you patch up that old man for me?"
"Of course, Brother Feng. But we need to remove the spiritual qi corrupting him first."
Feng Fan retrieved the black dagger from his space ring and held it in his hand. As soon as his fingers wrapped around the hilt, a stream of knowledge flowed into his mind. This was information branded into the weapon by Lai Hu. 'Senior Lai Hu truly thought of everything.'
First, Feng Fan disabled the barrier between himself and the fortress. Then, channeling his spiritual qi into the dagger, he pointed it at those inside. The soldiers flinched, bracing for an attack, but to their surprise, nothing happened to them.
Within seconds, they realized what was actually taking place. Wisps of dark spiritual qi began to rise from their bodies, drawn out like smoke toward the dagger. The most intense concentration came from Xue Feng, who had clearly been the most deeply tainted. The dagger pulsed with a white light, then quickly dimmed as it absorbed the malevolent energy.
"W-What was that?" one soldier muttered, his face pale with shock. He could feel how foul and invasive the spiritual qi had been. Now that it was gone, he felt lighter, as though a weight in his mind had been lifted. One thing was clear to all of them: Feng Fan had just saved them. Some of them, including their leaders, had something foul inside them.
After Feng Fan finished, he returned the dagger to his space ring and turned to Tan Wei, who had already stepped up to Xue Feng and gently placed a pill into his mouth.