Chapter 45: Phoenix of the High Heavens
Xiang Zhirou sat cross-legged on stage, a guqin placed before her. Her gaze had lost all modesty; she stared at the Taqing disciples with a burning gaze of incomparable arrogance.
"Taiqing cultivators, brace yourselves!" Xiang Zhirou smiled sweetly. She plucked a string of the guqin. Instantly, a gust of spiritual power revolved around the hall, heading straight for the disciples' brains.
"How strong she is!" Yu'er murmured.
That note alone caused many of the disciples' heads to buzz. They glanced around blearily, as though they were about to be transported into an illusory realm.
Xiang Zhirou's music headed toward a crescendo as wave after wave of spiritual energy struck the disciples' souls.
"Calm your heart and qi. Start circulating your spiritual power, protecting mind and body, brain and heart!" Ye Sanshui instructed.
He had discovered that Xiang Zhirou's spiritual power was no weaker than his own—but she trained in the guqin, which was able to magnify her use of spiritual power!
Everyone suddenly felt as though they were facing a great foe. No one had suspected Marquis Wu's daughter of being so accomplished in terms of spiritual cultivation and skill with the guqin. The only one who seemed unruffled was Xiao Nanfeng.
Xiao Nanfeng had begun cultivating Body of Yin at Acquisition, and he had had significant spiritual power even before spending the last six months reading countless Taoist scriptures and bolstering his cultivation while Elder Ku and Yu'er played the guqin. His spiritual cultivation had long since reached the Stellar Lake stage, and he boasted a vast and mighty wealth of spiritual power. How could Xiang Zhirou's meager reservoir compare? Even with her guqin, it was far too insignificant to have an effect on him.
Xiao Nanfeng sent a small wisp of spiritual energy to his eyes, allowing him to see what others could not.
As Xiang Zhirou plucked at the guqin, spiritual power gushed toward the disciples, conveyed by the music. Others might not even be able to see the sound waves, but Xiao Nanfeng could see transparent black snakes materializing from the guqin.
The black snakes shone with an eerie, malicious light, each over a few feet long. They swarmed the Taiqing disciples, coiling around them and heading into their brains, bringing the disciples into a mass illusion.
"Ah? What a beauty. Come, let me hug you. Ah, it really is comfortable. Give me a kiss!" Ye Dafu's voice broke through the music.
His eyes were vacant as he grinned a lecherous smile, tearing his robes apart as he kissed the air. He was clearly under the influence of the technique.
"Ye Dafu, wake up! This is the spiritual cultivation technique used by the former Emperor Taiwu! Master yourself!" Ye Sanshui shouted.
Xiang Zhirou, however, only smiled disdainfully. This was just the beginning. After Ye Dafu, the other disciples of the Taiqing sect quickly found themselves incapacitated. Their eyes glanced vacantly around as they began to speak gibberish.
Ye Sanshui was unable to attempt to wake Ye Dafu up himself, because cold sweat was already beading on his forehead. As more spiritual snakes coiled around him, he was struggling to hold out. Only the thought of his reputation stopped him from turning on Xiang Zhirou—if he were to do so, it would be all but a surrender. He was an Ascension-realm cultivator who had been training in spiritual cultivation for years! How could he fail to withstand a noblewoman's dilettante studies? The Taiqing sect would become a laughing stock! He fretted anxiously as sweat drenched him.
"Isn't it boring to be playing alone? Allow me to join you!" Yu'er had observed Xiang Zhirou's aggressive behavior early, gotten up, walked up to where the troupe had been playing, and dragged a guqin right to Xiao Nanfeng's side. She was worried that Xiao Nanfeng would be affected by the technique, and insisted on protecting him by her side.
As Yu'er began to play, her spiritual power flowed out. A pale blue phoenix ascended from the strings of the guqin, spreading its wings and striking at the black snakes all around.
Others might not be able to see the accumulation and clash of spiritual power, but Xiao Nanfeng could see it all. The phoenix immediately took down a large group of black serpents, rescuing the disciples that had been captured within an illusion. Subsequently, the phoenix headed straight for Xiang Zhirou.
Xiang Zhirou gaped at Yu'er, not having anticipated her mastery over the guqin.
The two women clashed with their musical arts as the spiritual phoenix and snakes battled it out. Within moments, Yu'er had contained the majority of Xiang Zhirou's spiritual attacks, and the disciples of the Taiqing sect were gradually awakening. They frowned as they stared at the two budding musicians.
After Ye Sanshui was freed from the attacks, he wiped his forehead as he panted, staring incredulously at Xiang Zhirou.
He had thought her to have an exaggerated opinion of her own abilities, but her spiritual cultivation was immense, as was her skill with the guqin. The magnification caused by the combination had been sufficient to threaten him. It was fortunate that Yu'er had been around, or he would have caused the sect to lose its standing today.
"May I ask your name?" Xiang Zhirou glanced toward Yu'er as she played.
"Beat me first!"
The two women's music marched urgently on.
Xiang Zhirou had given up on attacking the others, and she was entirely focused on Yu'er. Countless snakes merged together into a titanic serpent ninety meters long, which roared and shot straight at Yu'er.
Yu'er began playing more and more quickly. She was under immense pressure. The phoenix that she had manifested no longer had an advantage in terms of size, and it seemed to be dwarfed by the serpent.
The serpent roared, sending discordant sound waves radiating throughout the hall.
The phoenix keened, not backing down.
Yu'er was more skilled than Xiang Zhirou with the guqin, but her spiritual cultivation was somewhat lacking. Her smaller reservoir of spiritual power meant that Xiang Zhirou was quickly gaining on her.
Yu'er's face turned pale. She had clearly consumed too much spiritual power, and her defense was starting to flag.
Ye Sanshui and the other Taiqing disciples saw Yu'er's dire straits, but they didn't dare disturb her, worried that she would lose concentration and be struck by backlash. At the same time, they came to the realization that this banquet had been targeting them from the beginning.
The phoenix's mournful cry rang out from Yu'er's guqin as it finally gave out. The black serpent squeezed it more and more tightly, preparing to swallow it whole.
This wasn't a confrontation merely between the phoenix and the serpent, but also between Yu'er and Xiang Zhirou. Once the phoenix perished to the serpent, Yu'er would surely be struck by backlash, causing damage to her soul.
"It looks like I'm about to win, dear! So this is the extent of the Taiqing sect's spiritual cultivation techniques? It seems to be rather lacking," Xiang Zhirou murmured, smiling in contempt.
The phoenix let out another anguished scream. Yu'er was at her limits. Her face turned pale; she was already preparing for the mental and spiritual backlash. Just then, a burning palm placed itself against her shoulder.
Nanfeng? Yu'er immediately grew anxious. She wanted to shout for Nanfeng to escape, to get away from her. Once the phoenix died, the serpent's malicious spiritual power would flood toward her, striking everything in the vicinity—not just her, but also Nanfeng himself! He was only an Acquisition-realm cultivator; he couldn't bear such an attack!
"Don't worry. I'm here to assist you," Xiao Nanfeng whispered softly.
Xiao Nanfeng channeled an immense torrent of spiritual energy into her body through the point of contact at his palm. The spiritual power was of such quantity and quality that all the damage she had sustained was healed on the spot, and her own Heavenly Spring was refilled to beyond its peak.
Yu'er gaped at what had just happened, but her instinct and training quickly took over. She became immersed in the music, in her guqin.
A tidal wave of spiritual energy surged into the gasping phoenix. Countless pale blue flames lit up its body as it resurrected in a fireball of flame.
The phoenix of the high heavens shrieked. Tremendous sound waves erupted from Yu'er's guqin, causing the porcelain plates from the banquet to crack. Many of the disciples clutched their ears in pain as their ear membranes were disrupted.
"I, I saw a pale blue phoenix!" Ye Dafu shouted from nearby.
The resurrection of the phoenix had given off such tremendous spiritual power that it manifested as a physical phenomenon, allowing everyone to see a huge phoenix ascend to the heavens.
"What?!" Xiang Zhirou cried out.
The gigantic black serpent that had been coiled around the phoenix was torn to shreds by the phoenix's wings, and the phoenix's frightening flames instantly burned all the black snakes to a crisp.
Xiang Wei, the second son of Marquis Wu, had been enjoying a flagon of wine while watching his sister suppress the Taiqing cultivators. When the tides suddenly turned against her, he blanched. "Be careful, Sister!"
The strings of Xiang Zhirou's guqin all snapped at once in an explosion of force that turned her hands bloody. However, she didn't have the time to worry about her physical body—the wounds inflicted on her soul were far more debilitating. Her face instantly turned pale, and her prideful gaze lost its spark. A mouthful of blood sprayed out from her as she fell to the ground, paralyzed and unconscious.
"Sister!" Xiang Wei rushed over in shock.
Outside the hall, a group of black-armored warriors reached out for their weapons, waiting to be commanded by those within.
After the phoenix resurrected and tore apart the serpent, it flew back to Yu'er's body and into the center of her forehead.
"We've won! You've triumphed over her, Senior Sister Yu'er! You're incredible!" a group of Taiqing disciples cheered.
Yu'er, however, was panting for breath. She turned to Xiao Nanfeng, her eyes filled with disbelief. Had Nanfeng provided all that spiritual power? How could that be? Didn't he have none of his own?
Xiao Nanfeng smiled at Yu'er, relieving her and leaving her at ease.
Yu'er still had plenty of questions, but she forced herself to hold them until later.
At this point, Xiang Kun and Ye Sanshui were both looking toward Xiao Nanfeng. They had more spiritual power than an ordinary Immanence-realm cultivator, and they could sense how precarious the situation had been—as well as the fact that it was Xiao Nanfeng who had lent Yu'er his assistance.
"Junior Brother Nanfeng, you..." Ye Sanshui gaped at Xiao Nanfeng in shock. How could he have imagined that this junior disciple, who had been making plans to oust him from leadership, had such tremendous spiritual power?
"Thank you for your concern, Senior Brother, but I'm quite alright," Xiao Nanfeng replied with a smile.
"Third Uncle, what does this have to do with Nanfeng?" Ye Dafu asked, perplexed.
Evidently, many of the Taiqing disciples at Immanence hadn't understood the danger of the situation, nor that Yu'er had only won out because of Xiao Nanfeng's timely assistance.
Xiang Kun looked toward his sister, who was still unconscious. His smile froze on his face. "I apologize for the disturbance, honored cultivators. My sister has always been prideful and has overestimated her own abilities. Today, she has finally learned a lesson."
After Xiang Zhirou's display of arrogance, however, no one looked kindly on Xiang Kun. The disciples murmured among themselves.
"Senior Brother Ye, we've had our fill. Shall we head back to our residence to rest?" Xiao Nanfeng suggested.
Ye Sanshui didn't want to remain in the hall, either. He was just about to nod when a stentorian shout interrupted him.
"None of you can leave!" Xiang Wei, cradling his sister's body at the center of the hall, was glaring at Xiao Nanfeng with anger and loathing.
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