Chapter 114: Bleeding the Serpent

Chapter 114: Bleeding the Serpent

Blue Lantern was silent for long moments. He ignored the serpent.

"I apologize. My discipline was not up to par, and it's made a fool of itself. Would you spare it on my behalf?" Blue Lantern looked at the gathered crowd.

"Master Blue Lantern, I'm being serious! I never provoked them. They're the stubborn, domineering ones!" the serpent cried out.

Blue Lantern was silent once more. It was clearly familiar with the serpent's personality.

The Lady Arclight hesitated. With Blue Lantern having spoken, she had no choice but to let it go. She was about to accede when a voice interrupted, "Hold it."

Everyone turned to Xiao Nanfeng, who was walking up to them.

Xiao Nanfeng looked toward the serpent. They had already taken it down; why should they release it freely?

If they did so, the serpent would only remember that Blue Lantern had asked for clemency on its behalf, and it would only hate them all the more. Considering its personality, they would never be able to reclaim the Lady Arclight's storage bangle. Better to offend it and reclaim what belonged to them instead.

"Elder, I heard from the serpent that Spiritsong-realm cultivators could be allowed to abstain from heading to the divine domain. Is that so?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.

"Indeed?" Blue Lantern suddenly turned serious. His chilly aura pressed against the serpent.

"How dare you besmirch my name! When did I ever say anything of the sort? Master Blue Lantern has commanded me to send all Spiritsong-realm spirits and cultivators into the divine domain. Don't you know that?" the serpent thundered.

"Didn't you allow the crow king to remain? It's an Immortal-realm spirit. Why did you permit it to reside here long-term?" Xiao Nanfeng's smile widened.

"The crow king? It was injured. I allowed it to recuperate before heading over. This is no violation of the rules!"

"You did it because of a bribe, didn't you? Doesn't that mean I can bribe you so as to avoid heading to the divine domain, too?"

The serpent scowled in frustration. It shouldn't have accepted that bribe in full view—what it had done was now causing problems for itself!

"Liar! Xiang Kun offered me that storage bangle out of respect. It has nothing to do with my permitting the crow king to rest before heading to the divine domain," the serpent quickly replied.

"Are these matters entirely unrelated? Many people saw you take that bribe. It shouldn't be difficult to find a few witnesses. Do you think it's that easy to hoodwink Elder Blue Lantern?" Xiao Nanfeng continued.

The serpent froze. Blue Lantern had given it freedom and allowed it to do what it wanted, but his own commands were to be followed to the letter. It didn't dare make any more excuses.

"Elder Blue Lantern, that storage bangle belongs to the Lady Arclight. We simply want to take back what's ours," Xiao Nanfeng explained.

The serpent cried out in outrage, "You must be crazy! Do you intend on stealing my treasures? Dream on!"

"Take out the bangle and we'll see whether you're lying or not," Xiao Nanfeng challenged.

Blue Lantern stared at Xiao Nanfeng for some time before turning to the serpent. "Is he telling the truth?"

"No, he isn't! Master Blue Lantern, don't believe him!" the serpent cried out.

Blue Lantern stared at the serpent for long moments, a chilly air surrounding him. The serpent began to panic.

"Serpent, if you continue trying to hoodwink Elder Blue Lantern and refusing to take out that bangle, he'll stop minding you," Xiao Nanfeng added.

The serpent's eyes grew wide. If Blue Lantern were to leave, it'd be dead meat!

"Master Blue Lantern, I did claim a storage bangle, but it surely doesn't belong to them! He's lying to you. Here, Master, have a look!" The serpent immediately gave in.

"What compensation do you want, brat?" The serpent huffed at Xiao Nanfeng.

"My flying sword and my senior sister's flying sword were destroyed because of our actions. Just compensate us with one flying sword each, at least the quality of what we lost. That shouldn't be too hard, should it?

The serpent: ... You call this 'shouldn't be too hard'? These are flying swords, rarest of the rare, and you want two of them at once! Do you even know how rare your flying swords were?

The serpent eyed Blue Lantern, only for him to ignore it. In exasperation, it spat out a slender black rapier, carved with exquisite floral patterns. It was clearly a rare treasure.

"This is the only flying sword I have. Master Blue Lantern said that this was once used by a female immortal. Take it if you want!" The serpent eyed the treasure longingly, not wishing to let it go.

Serpents valued treasures like their lives. Even when Xiang Kun had trapped it in an array, it refused to free itself with one of the treasures it had collated. It felt as though its heart was bleeding after paying yet another of its treasures to Xiao Nanfeng.

"On account of Elder Blue Lantern's request, I'll take this flying sword for now. Don't forget—you owe me another flying sword," Xiao Nanfeng reminded it.

"What? Look carefully. This is a sword an Immortal used! It's far superior to your dinky flying swords from before. And you still want more?!" the serpent roared in outrage, barely suppressing its desire to tear Xiao Nanfeng to bits.

"Senior Sister, attune yourself to this flying sword for now. See if the serpent is lying." Xiao Nanfeng proffered the sword to Yu'er.

Yu'er's eyes brightened. She sent a wisp of spiritual power into the sword, but it remained inert.

"Oh, what's this? It's refusing my attunement—but I have a heart attunement technique that Master just taught me. I'll try again." Yu'er immediately made a few cryptic gestures as she infused spiritual energy into the sword again.

The sword suddenly shook, then glowed with dark red light. The entire cave was suddenly filled with sword energy, dense and ethereal, almost like ripples in the air. The waves of sword energy shimmered with light, bathing all that it touched in killing intent. This flying sword was far superior to the Immortal Cicadas.

"What an amazing sword!" Yu'er caressed the blade lovingly.

"How could this be? Is this flying sword crazy? I've been trying to attune to it for decades, but it's been nothing more than scrap metal all that time! How could you have suddenly activated it?" the serpent cried out.

Everyone gave the serpent a strange look. It really was shameless, wasn't it? It had only given the sword away because it was unable to attune it to itself.

"No, this won't do! I'll switch this treasure out for another one. Quick, hand me back that flying sword!" the serpent cried out.

Yu'er cradled the handle of her new flying blade, ignoring the serpent's words.

"Don't forget, you still owe me a flying sword," Xiao Nanfeng reminded the serpent.

The serpent: ...

It was so angry it might well spit out blood. It had already lost two treasures—but Xiao Nanfeng was still hounding it for more! Was there anyone else more shameless in the world?

"Thank you for being just and righteous, Elder." Xiao Nanfeng bowed toward Blue Lantern.

Not far away, the Lady Arclight pulled her blade from the serpent's body. Now freed, it quickly slid behind Blue Lantern and stared at Xiao Nanfeng with unbridled hatred.

Blue Lantern gave Xiao Nanfeng a searching look. "Nanfeng, you realize that this serpent is my envoy?"

Clearly, Blue Lantern was a little ticked off by his antics.

"Nanfeng dealt with things smoothly and logically, with reason and evidence. What has he done wrong? Blue Lantern, don't you think you should manage your subordinates better rather than blaming Nanfeng? Nanfeng is the successor of Emperor Wei—and don't you forget how much he did for you back then."

The dragon-quelling spike nearby trembled weakly as the Red Emperor made an appearance.

"Your Majesty!" Xiao Nanfeng's eyes lit up.

"Master!" Yu'er cried out.

The Red Emperor's spiritual avatar was growing fainter and fainter, but she still continued to protect Xiao Nanfeng.