Chapter 184: Portal of Crossing

The heavy footsteps echoing from within the Black Giant Gate could be clearly heard for hundreds of miles around. Zhuo Zhiyan, who was in the midst of a battle with Wu Xu, suddenly lifted her head and saw the giant gate that had appeared in the distant sky!

"The Portal of Crossing!"

Her phoenix eyes narrowed slightly. She had heard before that Du Yuntang of Xianghuang Demon Mountain possessed a secret technique that could use a 'Portal of Crossing' to summon certain demonic beasts from another dimension. Seeing it today, it was just as rumored! It seemed he had no other options left and had resorted to this method!

Her gaze fell back upon Zhang Nuo and his two companions. Zhuo Zhiyan shook her head with a look of pity; it seemed the three of them were in grave danger!

"Boom!"

As soon as Wu Xu's War Drum sounded, a mass of black Demonic Qi suddenly erupted. Just as Zhuo Zhiyan was looking toward the Portal of Crossing, her focus wavered, and he immediately launched an attack!

"You fat pig!"

Zhuo Zhiyan cursed in anger, her figure flickering as she dodged the attack!

"Hehe! Want to go save those three brats? Don't dream about it! Old man Du has already activated the Portal of Crossing! There is no possibility of them surviving!"

After a cold laugh, the fat on Wu Xu's face trembled along with him. He had never seen with his own eyes what was inside the Portal of Crossing, but he had heard countless times how terrifying that thing was!

"Bang! Bang!"

The heavy footsteps grew louder and louder, as if the thing inside was about to walk out at any moment. Du Yuntang's eyes narrowed slightly; for some reason, even his expression became uneasy.

Zhang Nuo and his two companions remained frozen in mid-air like wooden statues, their breathing somewhat rapid. At this moment, the Demon Sect cultivators around the Black Giant Gate were quickly fleeing the area.

Once the disciples of the Four Great Sects saw this, they also quickly departed. The powerful Spiritual Pressure coming from within was not something they, as ordinary disciples, could handle. Rather than throwing their lives away for nothing, it was better to go find Demon Sect cultivators of their own rank to fight!

Just at this moment, a demonic beast's head, fully three zhang in size, stretched out from inside the Portal of Crossing. This head was shaped like a cow's, yet it was not a cow's head; its furry face was covered in many fleshy lumps, looking extremely disgusting.

Two eyes, each the size of a fist, radiated a deep blue light, and a pair of curved, forward-pointing strange horns were wreathed in swirling black mist.

The demonic beast opened its mouth and let out a roar, "Awoo!", which caused the surrounding air to ripple like water! Zhang Nuo and his two companions were standing at least a hundred zhang away from the Portal of Crossing, yet despite this, the foul stench that emanated from the beast's mouth when it roared still drifted to their side.

Frowning, Zhang Nuo hurriedly held his breath. After the roar, the three men's Magic Treasures all trembled to varying degrees; Han Liang's Square Heaven Painted Halberd even had its shaft blur and transform into countless electric arcs.

"What terrifying might!"

That these words could come from Han Liang's mouth was enough to prove the beast's power! Even when he had destroyed the two-headed demonic snake, he hadn't had this feeling.

Du Yuntang, standing beneath the beast's head, had also been shaken quite a bit just now, but he forced himself to put on an indifferent appearance, his gaze coldly fixed on the three men.

"You summoned me out; surely you don't mean to just deal with these three little brats in front of us?"

The cow-headed demonic beast looked around, and seeing the three people standing in mid-air a hundred zhang away, it asked Du Yuntang beside it with some displeasure.

"This... let's just wipe those three out first!"

It was clear that even Du Yuntang was quite afraid of this demonic beast; he hesitated before explaining.

"Hmph! You can't even handle three Foundation Establishment Stage brats! I really don't understand why the Leader would sign a contract with someone like you!"

Without any regard for Du Yuntang's face, the cow-headed demonic beast let out a cold snort! It then lunged its head forward slightly, and its entire body leaped out of the Portal of Crossing. Only then did Zhang Nuo and the others see it clearly.

The demonic beast was seven or eight zhang tall in total, standing upright like a human, its entire body covered in thick, long gray fur, with a tail a zhang long growing from behind. It had hands and feet, looking just like an incompletely evolved humanoid monster!

However, the Spiritual Pressure radiating from this demonic beast was not weak; it was at the level of a Sixth-Rank Demonic Beast, which was equivalent to the Golden Core Late Stage of a human. Even if Zhuge An and the others encountered a beast of this cultivation, they would walk around it.

Zhang Nuo and Han Liang looked at each other, their faces unable to hide a bitter smile. Facing such a powerful demonic beast, even if the three of them joined forces, they had absolutely no chance of winning!

"Lord Man Jiang! I have been fighting all night, and the Demonic Qi in my body is almost completely exhausted. I ask that you take action!"

Standing respectfully beside the demonic beast, Du Yuntang requested politely.

"I can take action! Bring it here!"

The massive demonic beast named Man Jiang held out a large hand, demanding something from Du Yuntang, as if it would not act without it.

Du Yuntang's expression changed several times, but in the end, he helplessly took a small Jade Box from his Storage Bag. After opening it, inside was a Demon Core emitting a green light. Just by looking at the surface of this Demon Core, one could feel it was at least from a Sixth-Rank demonic beast.

"Hmm? Only Sixth-Rank!"

Man Jiang's fist-sized eyes widened, its deep blue gaze filled with dissatisfaction.

"I couldn't find a higher-ranked one; Lord Man Jiang, please just make do with this!"

With a bitter face, Du Yuntang said in a negotiating tone.

"This won't do either, but I will only deal with the three brats in front of us! I won't care about anyone else!"

Without waiting for Du Yuntang's agreement, Man Jiang reached out a large hand and snatched it, Jade Box and all, then opened its large mouth and tossed it in along with the box.

The "crunch, crunch" chewing sound made Zhang Nuo and the others feel a chill run through their hearts. Just at this moment, Man Jiang's massive figure suddenly flashed, leaving an afterimage in place as it rushed to the front of the three men.

Seeing this, the three were so frightened they gasped. The speed of this demonic beast was simply too fast; they hadn't even seen it move beforehand. To have such a massive body and yet possess such speed and power! It was truly a headache!

With no time to think, the three quickly scattered, surrounding Man Jiang in a triangle! Seeing the Demon Core in his hand was gone, Du Yuntang felt a pang of pain, but seeing that Man Jiang had already taken action, he had no more concerns. He stood near the Black Giant Gate, watching Zhang Nuo and the others with cold eyes.

"Awoo!" It roared to the heavens, its eyes flashing with blue light. It suddenly landed in front of Zhang Nuo, stepped into the void with both feet, and shot forward like an arrow. In mid-leap, it raised a large hand and struck at Zhang Nuo.

The moment this large hand was raised, it almost covered half the sky. Zhang Nuo only felt his head go dark as the beast's palm slammed down like a black cloud. If he were actually hit, wouldn't he be turned into a meat patty instantly?

However, Zhang Nuo was not resigned to this. As his body flew backward, the Wu Hook in his hand flashed with green light, and a green streak of energy struck toward Man Jiang's palm.

"Boom!"

It was as if he had struck steel; the attack of the green streak had no effect on the demonic beast's palm, and its speed did not slow down in the slightest!

Startled in his heart, the Flying Magic Tool under Zhang Nuo's feet flashed with spiritual light, and he quickly dodged to the side, a few drops of cold sweat seeping onto his forehead.

Seeing the attack miss, Man Jiang let out a low, angry roar, backhanded its claw, and swept it horizontally toward Zhang Nuo.

"Whoosh!"

Although the demonic beast's palm was large, its change of direction was extremely flexible. Before Zhang Nuo could even catch his breath, the second move was already upon him! It was too late to dodge!

"Bang!"

After a heavy impact sound, Zhang Nuo's body was knocked flying by Man Jiang like a leaf. Han Liang was shocked; the force of the demonic beast's strike was immense, and he feared Zhang Nuo's life would not be saved.

However, within the figure of Zhang Nuo flying backward, a small crimson shield appeared before him, formed by the condensation of Red Glow Fire. At the critical moment, seeing he could not dodge, Zhang Nuo had no choice but to use the Red Glow Fire for defense. Despite this, as he finally stopped his momentum, he felt a sharp pain in his chest, his vision went black, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.

If he hadn't practiced some Body Refining Technique, the beast's strike just now would have flattened him into a meat patty! Stopping a hundred zhang away from Man Jiang, Zhang Nuo held his chest with one hand, but a chilling murderous intent erupted on his face!

The stronger the opponent, the more it stirred his fighting spirit. He slowly stood up, moved his shoulders, and with a slight movement of his Divine Sense, all nine Flying Swords returned to his side. Wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, he glared at the massive demonic beast with eyes spitting fire.

"Hmm? Hehe! A mere human actually managed to withstand one of my blows?"

A look of surprise appeared in its fist-sized eyes, and the Demon General could hardly believe it. However, it recovered in an instant, and just as its figure was about to rush toward Zhang Nuo again, a sound of air being torn reached them. Turning to look, a Great Halberd, its entire body radiating dark blue electric arcs, was striking toward its body.

Without moving his body, the barbarian general shifted his target to the Square Heaven Painted Halberd; just as the Great Halberd was about to strike into his body, he suddenly swung his fists forward, and instantly the space in front of the monster became distorted, causing the attack of the Square Heaven Painted Halberd to slow down significantly.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the monster general grabbed with one hand and caught the Great Halberd; he looked toward Han Liang, who had thrown the Great Halberd, with a strange smile on his face, but when he saw Han Liang's expression, his heart stirred slightly, for he saw Han Liang's eyes narrowed slightly, shooting out two rays of triumphant light.

"Explode!"

Following Han Liang's low shout, the form of the Square Heaven Painted Halberd held by the monster dissipated, and in an instant, it turned into countless Blue Electric Arcs; immediately after, these Blue Electric Arcs emitted a loud bang and exploded right in the barbarian general's hand!

After a cloud of dust and smoke cleared, apart from blowing off some of the monster's fur, it had not even injured the opponent's skin. Han Liang's previously triumphant expression vanished in an instant. At such a close distance, to have been struck heavily by the Square Heaven Painted Halberd and remain completely unscathed! This was simply an incredible thing.

Extending his five fingers, Han Liang grabbed at the void, and immediately countless Blue Electric Arcs flew back from the explosion site, re-condensing into the Square Heaven Painted Halberd in his hand!

"Humble human! You seek death!"

Although Han Liang's strike did not injure the barbarian general, it still made him feel pain; in a fit of rage, the monster lunged toward Han Liang.