Wayfarer

Chapter 527: The Importance of Moles

The spirit kings were in a quandary. If they agreed to Xiao Nanfeng's offer, they would have to sacrifice their subordinates first. If they didn't agree, then Xiao Nanfeng would kill their subordinates.

They were deeply conflicted. Xiao Nanfeng was far harder to trick than they had expected.

"Martial Aspect Xiao, why don't you seal our cultivation first? We have too many subordinates for you to handle. You can seal their cultivation later!" one spirit king suggested, trying to trick Xiao Nanfeng into the formation.

"On the contrary. I have thousands of troops here, so they can easily seal the spirits' cultivation in no time at all. Just wait patiently.

The spirit kings: ...

They were deeply frustrated, but what could they do?

Xiao Nanfeng didn't give the spirit kings any time to think. He shot Ao Zhou, Croak, and Warble a glance, a signal the three spirits understood.

Croak suddenly said, "Spirits, I'm sure you were all aware of the war against the Dazheng Empire a few months ago. Perhaps you think that Xiao Nanfeng, a mere Heaven Immortal, is too weak to rule over you,but did you know that he hasn't even been a cultivator for a decade?"

The spirits gaped at Xiao Nanfeng in astonishment.

Croak continued, "Warble and I only joined Xiao Nanfeng several years ago. Back then, we were Ascension-realm spirits—and we've ascended all the way to Heaven Immortals since."

Many of the ordinary spirits gave them envious glances.

Warble added, "Xiao Nanfeng is a particularly generous leader. He gives us a share of whatever treasure he claims, and even provided us with Heaven Immortal pills not too long ago. If you follow him, you'll surely grow as quickly as we did."

"Right, don't fool yourself into thinking that Xiao Nanfeng's weak. He's able to kill Heaven Immortals easily after just a few years. What do you think he'll be able to accomplish in a few more? He's a Martial Aspect of the Imperial Court, and no one would dare to go against him. Martial Aspects have endless supplies of cultivation resources, and his generosity means that your cultivation will surely advance as well. You'll only have one opportunity to take this offer. Don't miss it!"

"What good is following the current island lord? He's currently in Yongding, and might already have been killed by the Martial Aspect of Silverfrost by now. Do you all want to die? Has your cultivation advanced much while being part of the Thousand-Spirit Island? You can't even protect your own homes! The Imperial Court might destroy you at any moment. Look at what's going on now. Even if Xiao Nanfeng can't take you down, don't you think it would be trivial for the Imperial Court to send a few more armies?"

"If you don't submit, you'll be killed. Why do all you spirits cultivate? It's for the same reason we do: to strengthen ourselves by following a wise leader. Don't trust false promises, only concrete gains and rewards. An incredible opportunity lies before you. Join us and grow strong. We're responsible for Xiao Nanfeng's recruitment program. All spirits willing to join us, fly over here!"

Croak and Warble continued to persuade the spirits.

Thousand-Spirit Island was a spirit stronghold. The spirits there all believed that Thousand-Spirit Island would be a nexus for their growth, which was why they had come to it in the first place. It was true that Xiao Nanfeng seemed to possess incredible potential, and they were growing tempted by the offer to join him.

Beside Croak and Warble, Ao Zhou began to shout, "I am the new dragon king of the Eastern Sea, and I possess the Dragon Gate! I'm working together with Xiao Nanfeng, and I can help sea spirits evolve into dragons. All those spirits willing to join us, fly over here!"

Countless sea spirits' eyes lit up. Evolving into dragons was something they had only ever dreamt of.

"I'm willing to join Martial Aspect Xiao's service!"

"Me too!"

"And me!"

Suddenly, many of the spirits began to fly toward Croak, Warble, and Ao Zhou under the lead of moles that Xiao Nanfeng had prepared beforehand. Being able to 'turn over a new leaf', follow a 'rising star', and not immediately dying on the battlefield were three particularly compelling reasons, and the spirit kings had even commanded them to do so moments ago. They felt no compunction whatsoever about joining Xiao Nanfeng.

Of course, there were plenty of spirits that remained silent.

As the first batch of spirits joined Xiao Nanfeng, even more began to do so. Croak, Warble, and Ao Zhou each had a group of subordinates under their command, so the recruitment process was proceeding quickly and smoothly.

Ao Shuai and the other cultivators watched on with displeasure. They too had been intending to lure the spirits into their ranks—but Xiao Nanfeng had done so before they could!

The spirit kings within the formation gaped at what was happening. How had Xiao Nanfeng managed to recruit the spirits so quickly? And right in front of their eyes, too!

"Don't listen to him! We were only trying to trick Xiao Nanfeng just now. The island lord is rushing back from Yongding and will be here in no time. At that point, Xiao Nanfeng's party will surely be done for. Don't let him trick you!" a spirit king howled. The next moment, it was taken aback. "Hold on, when did the Cursed Earth formation start blocking sound? No one on the outside can hear me!"

Not only that, a burst of fog emerged from the Cursed Earth formation, obscuring what lay within.

The spirit kings blanched and furiously attacked the formation.

"We're not intending to join Xiao Nanfeng! We were only trying to trick him. Don't fall for it!"

"All spirits, leave immediately! Return once we finish off Xiao Nanfeng."

"Damn it, can't we get any sound out?"

The spirit kings roared in fury. Xiao Nanfeng had truly tricked them.

Just then, a cultivator responsible for maintaining the Cursed Earth formation shouted, "Martial Aspect Xiao, I'm not skilled with formations, and I must have triggered something unexpected. The formation now isolates sound, and there's fog obscuring what lies within..."

All the spirits glanced over curiously, but Xiao Nanfeng only replied, "It doesn't matter. All the spirit kings have already agreed to join my service, and I expect they won't change their minds. We'll fix the formation later. Let's seal the cultivation of the spirits out here as planned.

The spirits looked toward Xiao Nanfeng somewhat reluctantly.

Xiao Nanfeng turned back to them. "I do trust you all, but there are plenty of injured and dead from the fighting just now. I'm worried that some of you spirits bear a grudge and are pretending to submit in order to launch sneak attacks and cause a disturbance. I'll have to ask that all of you bear this indignity for now."

The spirits fell silent again.

Just then, a spirit shouted, "Don't listen to his nonsense! Why would the spirit kings agree to Xiao Nanfeng's proposal? They had to be trying to trick him. I have an avatar on Thousand-Spirit Island. Xiao Nanfeng deliberately isolated the sound coming from within the formation so that the kings can't command us. They're telling us to strike immediately and kill Xiao Nanfeng, then rescue them!"

"Right! The kings even said that the island lord would return shortly. By then, Xiao Nanfeng would be dead meat! We shouldn't listen to him. We just need to survive a little longer!" another spirit shouted.

The other spirits were taken aback.

"Capture them!" Xiao Nanfeng shouted.

A group of purple-furred lifeforms caught the two shouting spirits. The other spirits around them growled in outrage, ready to criticize Xiao Nanfeng—only to stop short the very next moment.

The two spirits that had been caught seemed to undergo internal strife.

"Brother, didn't you say that we would be able to get everyone to kill Xiao Nanfeng and avenge our dead brothers? No one made a move!"

"I, I—"

The conversation between the two spirits caused all the others to be taken aback. Had they been lying all along?

"Kill them," Xiao Nanfeng said.

"Don't! I won't lie any longer. Martial Aspect Xiao, I have news to report. Spare my life!" one of the spirits said.

Xiao Nanfeng frowned for a moment. "Seal their cultivation and leave them aside for the time being."

"Thank you, Martial Aspect Xiao!" the two spirits squeaked in panic.

"Alright. Continue!" Xiao Nanfeng called out.

The spirits all around them frowned, still somewhat resistant to being sealed. Some spirits under Xiao Nanfeng's command, whom he had stationed by the enemy spirits beforehand, took the lead and voluntarily accepted being sealed as they encouraged the others to do so as well.

Just then, another spirit shouted, "Don't believe him! My avatar's with the spirit kings. They said that they weren't planning on submitting to Xiao Nanfeng, and that the island lord would return imminently! The spirit kings told us to hide, that we've been tricked by Xiao Nanfeng!"

"Take that spirit down!" Xiao Nanfeng shouted.

The spirit was quickly caught. After a vicious beating, the spirit cowered and cried out, "Spare me, Martial Aspect Xiao! I must have gone crazy. My master was killed just now, so I deliberately spread a lie. I thought that all the spirits here were foolish enough to be easily tricked. Please, spare me! I have a secret, and I can redeem myself with information!"

"Seal its cultivation and leave it by the side for now," Xiao Nanfeng said.

"Thank you, Martial Aspect Xiao! I won't dare lie any longer!"

The two successive liars caused the spirits to fall into a false sense of complacency.

A number of the spirits truly wanted to join Xiao Nanfeng's service, and another portion was doing so only on account of their spirit king's orders. Thanks to Xiao Nanfeng's 'moles' volunteering to have their cultivation sealed, many of the other spirits ultimately consented to doing so. Yet others refused the seal. They watched on from afar. Some flew off without any hesitation.

The purple-furred monsters continued to seal the gathered spirits and send them to the islands all around.

The spirit kings within the formation remained incapable of shattering it, and they were all very vexed.

One spirit king commanded a subordinate, "Quick, your avatar's outside, isn't it? Tell all the spirits that they've been tricked, that we never promised to submit to Xiao Nanfeng!"

The spirit said, "Some other spirits tried to say that, but they then suddenly admitted that they were doing it out of spite. Xiao Nanfeng has captured them, and the spirits on the outside are lining up to have their cultivation sealed."

"What?!" the spirit king exclaimed. It turned to the others. "Which of your subordinates spread the word to the spirits outside?"

"None of ours..." the spirit kings replied, confused.

The first spirit king suddenly blanched. "In that case, those liars who claimed to be speaking on our behalf before admitting to their lies must have been moles that Xiao Nanfeng prepared in advance."

"Moles?" The spirit kings were taken aback.

"Hurry! Tell the others the news!" a spirit king commanded another spirit by his side.

"It's too late. A second mole tried to incite rebellion and failed, then admitted that it was lying..."

"What? A second mole?" the spirit kings cried out.

"Tell them anyway!" that spirit king howled.

"Ah, Xiao Nanfeng prepared a third mole as well! It stole what I was going to say!" the spirit cried out.

The spirit kings: ...

"Continue anyway! Tell all the spirits!"

The spirit nodded before its face rapidly fell. "It's useless. After those three moles, no one's willing to believe my words."

The spirit kings: ...

"Ah! Because I wasn't a mole, they killed my avatar!" the spirit then cried out.

The spirit kings: ...