Chapter 280: Hong Lies Death

Chapter 280: Hong Lie's Death

To celebrate the reclamation of the Xiao lands, there was a huge banquet in every city within. The banquet in the Xiao manor was bustling with excitement.

Xiao Nanfeng had even invited Hong Lie for a private banquet; only the two of them were present. They drank and reminisced about the past in a secluded dining hall. nove(l)bi(n.)com

"Where's your wife, Nanfeng? I haven't seen her today," Hong Lie said, giving him a sly smile.

"I haven't gotten to that point with Yu'er yet, Senior Uncle," Xiao Nanfeng replied.

"Haha, but you do intend to, then?" Hong Lie teased.

Xiao Nanfeng dipped his head as he smiled. He could sense that, despite initial appearances, Hong Lie did treat him sincerely and intimately. His jokes reflected that sentiment.

"Yu'er's in secluded cultivation. She's preparing for her ascension into an Immortal," Xiao Nanfeng replied.

Hong Lie gave Xiao Nanfeng a look, then sighed. "You really are audacious to have raided six Immortal sects. You were lucky. If you had failed—if they had been even a little wary—you wouldn't even have been able to get through their defensive formations."

"I knew they would be relaxed at the time, so I rushed over to their territory while they were distracted. Fortunately, I succeeded. I hope they'll learn their lesson and think twice before attacking me in the future," Xiao Nanfeng joked.

"And what about your territory? You're not particularly stringent on security in and out of Yongding, are you? It'd be easy for them to sneak inside. What if they emulate you?" Hong Lie asked.

"Security? What for? I don't even activate the defensive formation around Yongding unless absolutely necessary," Xiao Nanfeng replied, smiling. "Unlike the Immortal sects, who are afraid of cultivators attacking them, I fully welcome any attacks. I'll kill all enemy cultivators and claim their sects' draconic veins as compensation."

Hong Lie gave Xiao Nanfeng a weird look. "You really are as audacious as your father. Aren't you afraid that the six Immortal sects you attacked will gang up against you?"

"I'm still young, after all, and it's only normal that I'd be rash and impudent. As for those six Immortal sects, they're nothing major," Xiao Nanfeng replied.

Hong Lie didn't know whether to laugh or to cry. "Don't go around saying that, now, or you might anger the sect masters and elders of those sects to death!"

"With you around to protect me, Senior Uncle, they wouldn't dare try anything," Xiao Nanfeng replied jokingly.

Hong Lie laughed. "Don't try to flatter me. I don't have much time to help clean up your messes, so if they ally with each other and I'm not by your side, you'll have to deal with a six-pronged assault on your own."

"I won't," Xiao Nanfeng promised. "I'll delay until you can come rescue me."

Hong Lie rolled his eyes at him.

"Senior Uncle, there's no need to worry. I wouldn't be afraid of facing them all at once," Xiao Nanfeng continued confidently.

Hong Lie blinked. "Are there other cultivators in your orbit who have reached the peak of Wingform?"

"Croak and Warble are at the cusp of a breakthrough, and they're both in secluded cultivation right now. They'll become Immortals in their own right in no time," Xiao Nanfeng replied.

Hong Lie shook his head. "The Immortal ascension is hardly as straightforward as you think. Mortality is a fundamental concept, and subverting it is no trivial task. If not for the opportunity I obtained in the Spirit Emperor's hidden realm, I wouldn't have succeeded."

Just then, Zheng Qian rushed over.

"King Xiao, we've received battle reports from Marquis Wu's lands. Apparently, Xiang Pojun has returned." Zheng Qian passed him a sealed letter.

"Oh?" Xiao Nanfeng scanned the letter curiously.

"There are a tremendous number of rogue fighters in Marquis Wu's lands. Ye Dafu and Ye Sanshui have been having a hard time with our troops. It's been two months, but we've only had middling results to date, with significant casualties on both sides. To think that Xiang Pojun would challenge Hong Lie now..." Zheng Qian murmured.

"Xiang Pojun? He's lost to Senior Uncle before. Why would he challenge him again? There has to be something amiss." Xiao Nanfeng frowned.

"We don't know the results of that confrontation just yet. I expect we'll hear more by tonight," Zheng Qian said.

Just then, a beam of light shot into Xiao Nanfeng's manor at such great speed that the manor guards quickly massed around the intrusion. When they saw that Ye Dafu was the source of the light, the guards relaxed.

"King Xiao, something's gone very wrong. Division Leader Hong Lie was killed in battle!" Ye Dafu fretted.

"What?!" Zheng Qian exclaimed.

"Repeat yourself. Who perished in battle?" Xiao Nanfeng asked incredulously.

"Hong Lie, division leader of the Mortal division! He perished at Xiang Pojun's hands," Ye Dafu exclaimed. He was at a loss for words.

"Impossible. My senior uncle possesses overwhelming might, and he easily took on Xiang Pojun once before. How could he have died? You must be joking!" Xiao Nanfeng exclaimed.

"It's true! This morning, Xiang Pojun suddenly appeared in the air above our city, claiming to want to challenge Hong Lie in order to wipe clean the shame of his initial defeat. Hong Lie accepted the challenge, and the two Immortals clashed violently in the air, spawning bursts of flame and wind around them. We could barely see what they were doing, and they headed farther and farther afield as they fought. We dispatched a few messengers to send word of the confrontation as several cultivators observed the battle. Late in the afternoon, a huge explosion rang out in the air as two bursts of flame suddenly split apart from one another. Xiang Pojun vomited out blood and was sent flying. We thought that he had lost and were about to cheer when we saw that Hong Lie had also fallen to the ground, vomiting out blood himself," Ye Dafu reported.

"And then?" Xiao Nanfeng pressed.

"Xiang Pojun was rescued by a group of rogue cultivators, while we surrounded Hong Lie protectively. We saw that there was a terrible hole in the back of his head that was bleeding profusely. As we rushed forward, he suddenly slumped over. The light around him winked out; his eyes turned vacant. He was no longer breathing."

"How could that be?"

"Golden light manifested in the form of words in Hong Lie's mindscape, saying, 'Take me back to the sect. Have Xiao Nanfeng return.' Third Uncle and the others are bringing his corpse back to Taiqing Island, and he had me inform you of the disaster," Ye Dafu continued.

Xiao Nanfeng's body turned cold. Two months ago, Hong Lie had been joking around with him right here in Yongding. How could he have died so suddenly, so rapidly?

"Ye Dafu, are you certain? What if it was only a heavy injury?" Zheng Qian asked worriedly.

Ye Dafu shook his head at Zhang Qian, not providing further explanation. It was clear that he believed that Hong Lie was truly dead.

"King Xiao, Hong Lie's body might be dead, but a sliver of his truesoul remains. He wants to see you one final time," Ye Dafu continued.

"Come on, then. We have to get back to the sect!" Xiao Nanfeng cried out.