Wayfarer

Chapter 526: Sky of Ten Suns Clearing the Spirits

Outside Thousand-Spirit Island, the ten golden crows swept across the land, tearing apart the dozens of Immortal spirits in an instant. Everyone else, including Ao Shuai and his subordinates, gaped at Xiao Nanfeng.

"Heaven Immortals, kill him! All of you!" one spirit king shouted.

"Understood!"

A group of Heaven Immortal spirits shot toward Xiao Nanfeng.

"Control yourselves. Let more of the Heaven Immortal spirits get past your guard," Ao Shuai commanded his subordinates.

"Understood!"

The subordinates all feigned weakness, allowing more of the Heaven Immortals to attack Xiao Nanfeng.

As expected, the ten golden crows were quickly obstructed by ten Heaven Immortals. Dozens of Heaven Immortals prepared to strike at Xiao Nanfeng.

Xiao Nanfeng's gaze was as sharp as a blade. He waved a hand and shouted, "Ten suns, sweep!"

The ten golden crows suddenly grew larger, until they were thousands of meters in size. They looked like ten bright suns that glowed with such radiance that all the Immortal spirits halted for a moment.

The skies above the Eastern Sea turned pitch-black, as if night had just fallen. The ten suns radiated golden flames that burned resplendently as they emanated waves of heat.

"The golden crows have gathered all the sunlight for hundreds of kilometers around..."

"What frightening heat! Is the sea itself going to evaporate?"

"A sky of ten suns, bringing drought to the world—could the legend be true?"

The cultivators gaped at the scene unfolding before them.

In general, though sunlight was sometimes harsh, even the harshest sunlight couldn't kill anyone with limited exposure. However, if all the sunlight within a radius of a few hundred kilometers were focused and concentrated on one point with a lens, that would be far more frightening. The golden crows' enlarged size meant little, but the heat from the sunlight they had gathered made Thousand-Spirit Island feel like a sea of fire—and no ordinary fire at that, but facsimile solarfire, neverending in magnitude or energy. Where the golden crows flew, mirages appeared, distorted by the heat radiating from their bodies. When they swooped down toward the surface of the sea, it immediately began to steam. A golden crow struck at a Heaven Immortal, who was quickly burnt to a crisp after a few moments of struggling. Then, its carcass turned to ash.

The Heaven Immortal spirits fell one after another. None were a match for the golden crows; they couldn't even flee from them. The golden crows caught up to them within moments, tearing them apart and charring their carcasses.

The ten suns blazed through the air, invincible in their might. All Heaven Immortals and below were burnt to a crisp. None of the spirits dared to draw near.

"Isn't this ridiculous? He might as well be invincible among Heaven Immortals!" Ao Zhou cried out.

"We're all Heaven Immortals. Xiao Nanfeng must have gained an immeasurable quantity of treasure from the Imperial Court. It's only natural that he would be stronger," Croak said.

"Does the Imperial Court provide that many benefits?" Ao Zhou's eyes flashed covetously.

The other cultivators around were likewise stunned by Xiao Nanfeng's incredible technique.

"Sky of Ten Suns... Indeed, no ordinary Heaven Immortal will be able to take down Xiao Nanfeng."

"There have been several cultivators from the Imperial Court who have studied this technique, and they've all been incredible cultivators that have shaken the world. Even the Eastern Aspect praised it multiple times."

"I heard that, fifty thousand years ago, the Heavenly Emperor from the spirit race cultivated this exact technique."

The cultivators marveled at what Xiao Nanfeng had displayed.

Ao Shuai frowned. "Is there no way to deal with it?"

"There is!" a subordinate said.

"Oh? How?" Ao Shuai demanded.

"The ten golden crows of the Sky of Ten Suns can create near-infinite facsimile solarfire from sunlight in the day, but at nighttime, once the golden crows don't have an external source of power to draw on, they'll have to drain Xiao Nanfeng's Immortal qi. They'll weaken significantly then."

"Nighttime? It's far from nighttime," Ao Shuai replied.

"Another alternative is to use such relics as the Sunfell Bow and Sunstrike Arrows that specifically counter these golden crows."

"Right!" Ao Shuai's eyes widened expectantly. "A Sunfell Bow and Sunstrike Arrows—how could I have forgotten? Do you have such relics?"

"No."

Ao Shuai: ...

Afar, the spirit kings gazed at the ten suns overwhelming the battlefield. They were so enraged that they struck bitterly at the battlefield. They could see that only they could defend against the facsimile solarfire; ordinary Heaven Immortals would easily perish. However, all the True Immortals were trapped within the Cursed Earth formation!

"Xiao Nanfeng, let me out of this formation if you dare! Let's fight one-on-one!" a spirit king roared out.

Xiao Nanfeng looked toward the spirit king who had spoken as though he were staring at a fool. "Are you an idiot? Why would I do such a thing?"

The spirit king: ...

Xiao Nanfeng slowly flew back toward the battlefield as the fighting progressed. With more and more of the Immortal spirits being killed by the golden crows, however, the remaining spirits drew back in fear. The battlefield cleared out.

"Spirits of the Thousand-Spirit Island, might you listen to what I have to say?" Xiao Nanfeng called out.

"Don't listen to him! Charge forward, break through those purple-furred monsters, disrupt the foundation of the formation, and release the spirit kings!" an Immortal spirit shouted.

Three golden crows swooped down toward the speaker and tore it to shreds, then burned its carcass into ash—along with the smaller spirits that stood by its side.

None of the remaining spirits dared make a fuss any longer.

"Who else dissents?" Xiao Nanfeng shouted.

The ten golden crows cawed at once, releasing waves of terror that shook the spirits to the core.

"Listen to what he has to say," a spirit king shouted.

The spirit kings could tell that, if this situation were to continue, Xiao Nanfeng would easily slaughter over half the Immortal spirits outside the barrier. It would be a one-sided massacre.

The fighting stopped short.

Xiao Nanfeng looked toward the gathered spirits. "I bore Thousand-Spirit Island no enmity nor grudge. The Thousand-Spirit Island attacked my kingdom out of nowhere, starting this entire fiasco. I assume you're all aware of this?"

"Xiao Nanfeng, that was the fault of the crocodile king and Commander Mo. It's none of our business!" a spirit king cried out.

"Isn't it? You're all members of the Thousand-Spirit Island, so you share collective blame. The Thousand-Spirit Island has attempted to conquer the surrounding regions of the sea and slaughtered countless sects and spiritbeast lairs. I won't discuss those that have been wronged today—but it's certainly the truth that the Thousand-Spirit Island has provoked the Imperial Court several times before. This time, you even dared to gang up on a Martial Aspect of the Imperial Court and go against the authority of the Imperial Court. Don't you think some punishment for your insubordination is warranted?" Xiao Nanfeng demanded.

"What happened between you and the crocodile king was an individual affair! The rest of us never thought to look down on the Imperial Court!" a spirit king called out.

"Your word doesn't count. Only mine does," Xiao Nanfeng replied coolly.

The spirit kings: ...

"Of course, I'm hardly a bloodthirsty man. I'll offer you one opportunity."

The spirits waited.

"I will grant those spirits willing to join my faction a chance to start over. Will any of you do so?"

"You want us to become your underlings?" the spirit kings cried out.

Ao Shuai frowned. Xiao Nanfeng was trying to swallow up the Thousand-Spirit Island and claim all its treasures for himself! How could this do?

"While you remain on Thousand-Spirit Island, you're nothing but bandits and robbers. Join me, and you can become part of the Imperial Court's army. This will be your only chance to make this decision. Will you join me?" 

The spirit kings frowned. They were naturally unwilling, but that didn't mean they couldn't trick Xiao Nanfeng instead.

"Will you release me if I'm willing?" a spirit king asked.

"As long as you do so and seal your cultivation as a measure of your sincerity."

The spirit king froze. Seal his cultivation? What kind of joke was that?

Ao Shuai smirked. Xiao Nanfeng's request was puerile. Those spirit kings had long since been lords of their own domain; why would they want to bow down to a lowly Heaven Immortal?

The spirit kings eyed each other, seemingly coming to some sort of unspoken accord. "Very well. We accept. We'll seal our own cultivation, so let us out."

Ao Shuai's smirk froze on his face. How could this be?

The next moment, he understood what was going on. These spirit kings were attempting to trick Xiao Nanfeng! All this talk of sealing their cultivation was only for show—it was all an attempt to get Xiao Nanfeng to take down the formation.

Xiao Nanfeng nodded in satisfaction. "Very well. You've all agreed, so what about your subordinates?"

Xiao Nanfeng looked toward the spirits outside the formation.

Some of the spirits bared their teeth, while others looked perplexed.

"They accept! They all accept," the spirit kings shouted. Then, they called out toward their respective spirits, "Accept the Martial Aspect's offer!"

The massed spirits nodded uncertainly. "We will serve under you, Martial Aspect Xiao."

"Very well! I believe you."

The spirit kings and Ao Shuai were astounded. Was Xiao Nanfeng this easy to trick?

"In that case, all spirits outside the formation, line up and have your cultivation be sealed," Xiao Nanfeng commanded. He instructed the purple-furred monsters, "Generals, please seal these spirits' cultivation."

The spirits: ...

Something seemed wrong.

Within the Cursed Earth formation, a spirit king shouted, "Martial Aspect Xiao, aren't you going to release us? Take down this formation!"

"Your cultivation hasn't yet been sealed. Once I finish with these spirits out here, I'll seal your cultivation, then take down the formation."

"No, no, there's no need! We can seal each others' cultivation. Take down the formation now!" the spirit king urged.

"Right, we can do it ourselves," the spirit kings agreed.

It wasn't difficult to pretend to seal each other's cultivation. All that was necessary was to trick Xiao Nanfeng into taking down the formation.

Xiao Nanfeng shook his head. "There's no need. Just wait patiently, and I'll seal your cultivation myself. I'll deal with these ordinary spirits first before the rest of you."

The spirit kings fretted, "What should we do? We can't trick Xiao Nanfeng. If we agree, all our subordinates are going to be under his control!"

Beside him, Ao Shuai and his subordinates also seemed to panic. Was Xiao Nanfeng doing this intentionally? Did he intend to claim the entirety of Thousand-Spirit Island on his own? What about the plans all of them had been preparing for so long?