Chapter 221: Resisting the Mid-Stage with Force (Part 1)

Watching Du Yuntang's figure enter, Zhang Nuo felt the situation becoming increasingly thorny; if not for the appearance of a Golden Core Cultivator, he would have felt somewhat confident in dealing with these Foundation Establishment Cultivators.

However, the unexpected appearance of this Sect Master of Xianghuang Demon Mountain made him groan inwardly; don't look at how Zhang Nuo could fight him back during the Foundation Establishment Stage, that was because Du Yuntang had fought bitterly against the Sect Masters of the Four Great Sects for an entire night, combined with the joint efforts of Han Liang and Gu Yu.

Even so, Zhang Nuo was in precarious situations at the time and nearly lost his life; had Han Liang not destroyed the Portal of Crossing at the critical moment of crisis, he might have fallen long ago.

"Little doll, do you still remember this old man?"

With a flash of his figure, Du Yuntang arrived opposite Zhang Nuo, his facial muscles twisted with rage, his pair of eyes filled with flames of fury.

"I remember! A defeated opponent!"

Though worried inside, Zhang Nuo did not show it on his face, a smile curling at the corner of his mouth as if he didn't take Du Yuntang seriously at all.

"You've entered the Golden Core Stage! What a fast cultivation speed!"

Seeing Zhang Nuo's appearance, Du Yuntang was also somewhat surprised; he had not expected that the boy who was merely at the Foundation Establishment Late Stage would appear before him as a Golden Core Cultivator after only a few years of not seeing him. This kind of cultivation speed was something he was seeing for the first time.

However, the old man's shock was only momentary; facing a little brat at the Golden Core Initial Stage, he was not very worried. Zhang Nuo had only successfully advanced a few days ago, and he believed his attainments in cultivation arts and Magic Treasures would not be higher than his own.

"Back when I was in the Foundation Establishment Stage, I could sever one of your arms; now that I am in the Golden Core Stage, I naturally won't be afraid of you!"

Putting on a lazy appearance, Zhang Nuo stretched his arms as if he were about to sleep, not taking the Du Yuntang before him to heart at all.

"How arrogant!"

In front of many Demon Mountain disciples, being reminded of an inglorious past, Du Yuntang was instantly enraged. After a wild roar, he flipped his palm gently, and a flash of black Qi passed; within the black Qi appeared a small sword like black crystal.

This small sword was only an inch in size, crystal clear, and simple yet exuding an evil intent! Seeing that the opponent was using a small sword, Zhang Nuo's heart immediately relaxed quite a bit; as long as Du Yuntang didn't use the Portal of Crossing or summon powerful demonic beasts the moment he attacked, he had the confidence to defeat him.

*Whoosh! *

A sharp sound of piercing through the air rang out, and without seeing Du Yuntang make any movement, the small sword in his hand actually broke away from his palm and rushed out rapidly, its target being exactly the direction of Zhang Nuo.

Silently and without a sound, the opponent had attacked. Although Zhang Nuo had been keeping careful, he was still startled. Opening his mouth wide, a streak of white light flew out, matching the speed of Du Yuntang's black small sword!

*Snap! *

The moment the white light collided with the black small sword, the black small sword shattered as if having suffered a heavy blow, turning into sky-filling black crystal fragments that spread out in all directions.

Zhang Nuo frowned slightly; he had not expected Du Yuntang's Flying Sword to be so fragile, but when his gaze fell upon the old man, he felt that things were looking ominous.

He saw Du Yuntang smiling coldly, as if the shattering of the black small sword was within his expectations. Silently, the fragments of the black small sword spread out to a radius of several miles without anyone noticing.

Moreover, the constantly flashing light grew larger and larger; as the fragments' light flickered once, the space around them fluctuated as well. Hundreds and thousands of black fragments flashed together, causing the entire space to become unstable.

Zhang Nuo had no time to think, his figure retreating rapidly, wanting to escape from this space, but it seemed it was already too late. Countless black fragments emitted bursts of explosions, followed by Demonic Qi surging over like a monstrous wave. In the blink of an eye, a black "Starry Sky" a full hundred miles wide formed above Zhang Nuo's head!

The so-called "Starry Sky" was not a night sky in the true sense, but was composed of Demonic Qi and the shattered fragments of the black small sword. As soon as this "Starry Sky" took shape, Zhang Nuo felt a tremendous pressure; situated beneath this "Starry Sky," even breathing felt extremely difficult.

Looking up at the pitch-black space above his head, Zhang Nuo felt an inexplicable oppression, and even his mind became restless and uneasy.

"Little doll! Today, I do not hesitate to use the 'Black Crystal Sword' I have refined for many years, just to avenge the grudge of that day!"

At this moment, Zhang Nuo didn't take in a word of what Du Yuntang said; he was forcibly suppressing his mind to keep himself clear.

*Swish! *

Just as Zhang Nuo stood blankly in place, a cold light shot out from among the fragments of black swords in the "Starry Sky." The light was very small, but its speed was astonishingly fast, arriving right in front of Zhang Nuo in a flash.

Sensing danger with his Divine Sense, Zhang Nuo's figure moved instinctively, dodging the attack. However, the next moment, Du Yuntang changed his hand seals repeatedly; above the "Starry Sky," hundreds of fragments flashed incessantly, and almost simultaneously, a hundred rays of light shot out, all targeting Zhang Nuo.

"Hah!"

With a loud shout from his mouth, as if spitting out all the unhappiness in his heart, Zhang Nuo's figure swayed several times, dodging the attacks emitted from the "Starry Sky," while at the same time, dozens of Flying Swords surged out from his body, constantly guarding his surroundings.

For a time, sword Qi and cold light merged into one; explosions rang out incessantly around Zhang Nuo's front, back, left, and right, and several times he nearly lost his life!

"Haha! Little doll! Being able to fall within my 'Starry Night Sword Array' can be considered your fortune!"

Laughing wildly, seeing that Zhang Nuo only had the ability to parry and no power to fight back, Du Yuntang felt incomparably gratified! Xue Qianyang and the others standing behind him were also unable to stop their joy; they had long heard that the Sect Master of Xianghuang Demon Mountain possessed a secret technique that was not passed on, which could set up an extremely formidable array by exploding the Flying Swords refined with Pill Fire within his body. Now that they saw it, it was truly worthy of its reputation.

However, this secret technique also had a major flaw: once the black crystal small swords, cultivated with all one's might using Pill Fire, were exploded, they could not be repaired and had to be refined anew.

This was also the reason why Du Yuntang did not use it during the first great war between the Five Great Demon Mountains and the Four Great Sects; once used, it would take decades to be able to use it a second time.

But today, in order to kill Zhang Nuo, Du Yuntang could be said to have gone all out, even using this sword. Seeing Zhang Nuo bumping around in the array like a headless fly, his joy was beyond words.

"Now, you can go die!"

Du Yuntang watched for a while, feeling that the anger in his heart had been vented. Looking at Zhang Nuo in the array, he said softly, after which his hand seals changed, and the light of several large fragments in the "Starry Sky" flashed, simultaneously gathering together and condensing into one. Viewed from afar, it looked like a "bright star" in the dark night.

Feeling that the Spirit Power fluctuations above his head were not right, Zhang Nuo accelerated his figure, wanting to rush out of this "Starry Sky," but no matter how he moved, the starry sky above his head followed him. After rushing out several miles, he was almost still directly beneath the "Starry Sky."

*Boom! *

After a loud explosion, the "bright star" that had condensed earlier bloomed with dazzling brilliance, and a beam of light struck down directly at Zhang Nuo.

This beam of light was very fast, arriving above Zhang Nuo's head in the blink of an eye. Without even raising his head, just by the feeling of his Divine Sense, he knew that the power within this beam of light was no small matter!

Opening his mouth wide, the Heaven-Turning Seal was spat out from Zhang Nuo's mouth. Before the Golden Light had dissipated, the seal's body grew wildly, blocking him underneath.

*Boom! *

The beam of light smashed straight onto the Heaven-Turning Seal. As the seal's Golden Light flowed, it dissipated much of the force of this strike. Even so, Zhang Nuo's heart was shocked! This kind of attack was too overbearing; if not for the protection of an Ancient Treasure like the Heaven-Turning Seal, and if it had been any other defensive Dharma Treasure, it would have been shattered long ago.

Seeing that one strike had not killed Zhang Nuo, Du Yuntang was somewhat surprised and was just about to change his moves to attack Zhang Nuo again. At this moment, Zhang Nuo's eyes were blood-red, and he leaped above the Heaven-Turning Seal, his hands pointing out several Dharma techniques in succession. The seal let out a low hum, its surface covered in constantly flowing Golden Runes.

With a *whoosh*, it flew toward Du Yuntang. After previous experiments, he knew that escaping this array was simply impossible, so Zhang Nuo had no choice but to bite the bullet and fight the opponent to the end.

Just as the seal was struck out, Du Yuntang's gaze swept over, a cold sneer appearing at the corner of his mouth. He changed his hand seals several times, and the "Starry Sky" erupted with several rays of cold light, which struck the Heaven-Turning Seal that was attacking him in a straight line, knocking it off course.

At this moment, Zhang Nuo flipped his palm suddenly, and a small silver ruler appeared in his palm, pointing it toward Du Yuntang in one smooth motion.

*Whoosh! *

The Measuring Heaven Ruler extended at an astonishing speed, arriving in front of Du Yuntang almost like an Instant Movement. Having never seen Zhang Nuo use this Magic Treasure, the old man was so frightened he shuddered, his figure hurriedly dodging to one side, and the small ruler flew past the edge of his clothes.

However, the Measuring Heaven Ruler did not stop there, extending directly outside the array and knocking a demonic cultivator who was standing on the side watching the battle off their Flying Magic Tool.

This time, the Measuring Heaven Ruler extended a distance of no less than ten miles, its speed comparable to a meteor! With a *swish*, the Wushuang Sacred Demon Mountain cultivators who had been surrounding Du Yuntang's array immediately retreated several miles away.

Xue Qianyang was terrified to the extreme; if the previous strike had been aimed at her, she feared she would have met the same fate. The speed of the small ruler was too fast, giving no one any time to think.

Du Yuntang was likewise broken out in a cold sweat; it was only by a hair's breadth that the silver small ruler had missed passing through his body! Just as he was still shaken, the Heaven-Turning Seal that had been knocked off course earlier returned.

The Golden Light at the bottom of the seal shone, covering Du Yuntang. Having heard of the power of the Heaven-Turning Seal before, he dared not receive it easily. With a slight movement of his Divine Sense, several rays of cold light shot out from the "Starry Sky," all striking the seal.

As if drunk, the seal swayed and lost its direction again, smashing to the side!