Chapter 226: Connections

"What is wrong with you?"

Seeing Zhuge Qing's nervous expression, Zhang Nuo felt suspicious; the young woman was always composed, and he rarely saw her like this.

"Back then, the Divine Sword Sect was seized by the 'Great Underworld Mansion', and now the 'Great Underworld Mansion' has set its main altar on the original site of the Divine Sword Sect. I suspect that Shi Liang might have defected to the 'Great Underworld Mansion'!"

Once these words were spoken, Zhang Nuo also gasped; if things were truly as Zhuge Qing suspected, could there be collusion between the Qingnian Demon Mountain and the 'Great Underworld Mansion'?

When the 'Great Underworld Mansion' destroyed the Divine Sword Sect, it took almost no effort. If the Five Great Demon Mountains really formed a connection with that group, the Four Great Sects on the Tianjiang Plain would only be waiting to be wiped out.

At that time, only three Golden Core stage cultivators from the 'Great Underworld Mansion' made a move, and as for what formidable characters were hidden within the black clouds, no one knew at all.

At the thought of those three people, Zhang Nuo recalled the red-haired man with the surname Chi among them; the Blood Sacrifice incident at Heiniu Village was still a hidden pain in his heart even now.

"No! I must tell the Ancestor about this!"

After Zhuge Qing finished speaking, she turned her body and walked straight toward the room of Nanxuan Laozu. Zhang Nuo did not follow; he just stood quietly in the room, thinking about the events of the past.

His eldest senior brother, Gao Dakuan, had been left by him at the Southern Dynasty Song Clan; his second senior brother, Qu Yuan, and third senior sister, Ye Ling'er, still had no whereabouts to this day; even his master, Lin Fan, and Xiao Jingxuan had unknown fates.

The sudden appearance of Shi Liang broke the past that had been sealed at the bottom of Zhang Nuo's heart. For these years, he had been cultivating bitterly just to one day return to Shenjian Peak and investigate everything that happened back then.

But facing the terrifying organization that was the 'Great Underworld Mansion', he still felt that his heart was willing but his strength was insufficient. Just the three Golden Core stage cultivators who came to attack the Divine Sword Sect back then were enough to give him a headache.

Especially that old man named Jin Buhuan, whose cultivation had already reached the Golden Core Late Stage Great Perfection; he really did not know if he had broken through in these few years.

As scenes of the past flashed before his eyes, Zhang Nuo really wanted to return to the Southern Dynasty Song Clan to see his eldest senior brother, Gao Dakuan; he did not know how he had been doing these past few years or if his cultivation had made any progress.

Just as he was lost in thought, a disciple of the Nanxuan Sect walked in, saying that Nanxuan Laozu had something to discuss with him. Zhang Nuo did not ask further and walked straight toward the Ancestor's room.

As soon as he entered the door, he saw that the faces of both Zhuge Qing and Nanxuan Laozu were as gloomy as water, deep in thought as if facing a formidable enemy.

"Qinger just told me about Shi Liang! I am very worried. How about this: you go to the Qingnian Demon Mountain now, but you don't need to attack the Restriction yourself; just keep an eye on Shi Liang. If there is an opportunity to catch up with him, ask him about the matter clearly."

Nanxuan Laozu no longer had his previous composure; it seemed he was also very wary of the organization known as the 'Great Underworld Mansion'.

"Understood! I also have many curiosities about the destruction of the Divine Sword Sect back then; I will take this opportunity to find out!"

Zhang Nuo nodded in agreement and said.

"You must be careful! If Shi Liang has truly surrendered to the 'Great Underworld Mansion', do not provoke him easily! In a few more days, I will break the Mountain Protection Restriction of the Qingnian Demon Mountain. After dealing with the matter of the Demon Emperor, we will go and study the 'Great Underworld Mansion' in detail!"

Fearing that Zhang Nuo would be impulsive and do something detrimental to the Four Great Sects, Nanxuan Laozu gave repeated instructions.

"Understood!"

Saying only two words, Zhang Nuo left the room. His escape light surged, turning into a brilliant rainbow as he rushed toward the direction of the Qingnian Demon Mountain.

"Qinger! You must gather people immediately; the matter of the Demon Emperor cannot be delayed any longer! I fear that a long delay will lead to more trouble!"

"Understood!"

Zhuge Qing agreed and also left the room.

Only Nanxuan Laozu remained in the room, his snow-white eyebrows twitching incessantly. He knew more about the 'Great Underworld Mansion' than Zhang Nuo did and deeply understood the extent of its terror.

Pacing back and forth in the room, Nanxuan Laozu was now also caught in a dilemma. If the Five Great Demon Mountains had truly joined forces with the 'Great Underworld Mansion', the Four Great Sects would likely be unable to escape the doom of annihilation, whether they fought or sought peace. Even with his cultivation, he was powerless to turn the tide.

The urgent priority before his eyes was to resolve the matter of the Demon Emperor first; perhaps once the Five Great Demon Mountains were destroyed, the 'Great Underworld Mansion' would naturally abandon the idea of joining forces with them.

Thinking this in his heart, Nanxuan Laozu made up his mind. In fact, his thoughts on the matter between the 'Great Underworld Mansion' and the Five Great Demon Mountains were also just speculation; he had no real evidence.

…………

After more than a day of flying, Zhang Nuo arrived near the Qingnian Demon Mountain. He saw that the surface of the mountain, which was so tall it reached the clouds, was glowing with a faint cyan light, and a water-like Restriction covered the entire Demon Mountain.

Outside the Restriction, cultivators from the Four Great Sects took turns attacking with Magic Treasures, but these attacks only stirred up a layer of ripples when they hit the light barrier and could not damage its essence at all.

Not in a hurry to see Zhuge An, Zhang Nuo found a hidden place to hide. His goal was to find Shi Liang, not to participate in the battle to break the Restriction.

On a small mountain more than a hundred miles away from the Qingnian Demon Mountain, Zhang Nuo stopped, then reached out and took an Array Disk from his Storage Bag. After his successful Golden Core formation, he had spent some time specifically learning how to use Array Disks; now, Zhang Nuo could still use some simple ones.

Casting several incantations that sank into the Array Disk one after another, a white light surged back, and dozens of array flags flew out, hiding in the small mountain under Zhang Nuo's feet in an orderly fashion. After finishing all this, Zhang Nuo hid in a crack in a rock, and the Nine Dragon Sword Case within his body turned slightly, absorbing all the Spirit Power fluctuations emanating from his body.

However, three days passed, and Shi Liang still refused to appear, which made Zhang Nuo feel anxious. According to what the Nanxuan Sect disciple said, Shi Liang would appear around the Qingnian Demon Mountain every day or two, but after such a long time, why had he not shown himself?

Just as Zhang Nuo was waiting bitterly, on the other side of the small mountain where he was located, a thousand miles away from the Qingnian Demon Mountain, in a forest, two people were standing face to face.

Zhang Nuo recognized both of them; one was Qin Xiaofeng of the 'Great Underworld Mansion', and the other was Shi Liang, who had kept him waiting for many days!

"Is there any movement over at the Qingnian Demon Mountain?"

Qin Xiaofeng leaned against a large tree and asked very lazily.

Shi Liang stood respectfully opposite him, his face filled with fear and trepidation, and said in a low voice:

"The Four Great Sects are still attacking the Restriction; nothing else has happened!"

"Good! As long as you keep an eye on it, that is enough. What the 'Master' wants must not be lost. Only the Demon Emperor himself knows the way into the Fenzhong of the Demon Emperor. Once we get that thing, we can withdraw!"

Hearing that no changes had occurred, Qin Xiaofeng's expression looked much better.

"Go and find me a beautiful woman! It's too boring during this time, and I don't know when the Demon Emperor's physical body will be completed?"

Glancing at Shi Liang, Qin Xiaofeng was not polite at all, as if he were dismissing a servant.

"Alright! I'll go right now!"

The once dignified Elder of the Divine Sword Sect had now turned into this; anyone who saw it would be dumbfounded. With a flash of escape light, Shi Liang flew away.

While in the escape light, he revealed a ferocious face, but Qin Xiaofeng could not see any of this. The two of them had guarded this place for more than a month, all for the sake of waiting for the completion of the Demon Emperor's reconstruction of his physical body.

After more than an hour, an escape light landed in front of Qin Xiaofeng. The light faded to reveal Shi Liang and a young woman with quite a good appearance.

However, the young woman was unconscious, as if she had been struck by some kind of technique. Seeing the young woman brought back by Shi Liang, Qin Xiaofeng was immediately overjoyed. He reached out into the void with one hand, sucking the young woman to his side, and gently held her in his arms. After some praise, he said to Shi Liang:

"This one is not bad! Better than the last one! Rest assured, after this matter is completed and we return to the 'Great Underworld Mansion', I will definitely put in a good word for you in front of the 'Master'!"

"Many thanks! Many thanks!"

It was just a few empty words, but they made Shi Liang show a look of gratitude. After glancing at Qin Xiaofeng, he tactfully exited the forest.

Just as he stepped out of the forest, the terrified cries of the woman came from behind. To all this, Shi Liang acted as if he had heard nothing, a faint cold smile appearing on his face.

In the blink of an eye, six days passed. Zhang Nuo had been hiding in the rock crevice; let alone Shi Liang, he hadn't even seen the shadow of a cultivator. He felt suspicious in his heart, guessing that Shi Liang's appearance around here back then might have just been a coincidence.

Ahead at the Qingnian Demon Mountain, flashes of light flickered; the people of the Four Great Sects were still fiercely attacking the Restriction. He wondered how the secret method for Nanxuan Laozu to break the Restriction was coming along?

Thinking about these questions, Zhang Nuo had nothing to do, and he inadvertently remembered the technique 'Immovable Underworld King' obtained from the Black Book! Although the Yin energy was not enough for him to cultivate this technique now, the strangeness of the technique deeply attracted him.

He had no time to study it carefully a while ago, but now it was the perfect opportunity to contemplate the 'Immovable Underworld King' while waiting for Shi Liang to appear!

In a flash, another few days passed, and there was still no sign of Shi Liang; this time, Zhang Nuo was truly anxious, as staying holed up here like this was not a solution.

Just as he was thinking of retracting the Dharma Array and returning to the fortress, an escape light suddenly streaked over from the distant horizon, its speed far faster than that of a Core Formation stage cultivator.

A sharp glint flashed in his eyes; among the Four Great Sects, the only one capable of such flight speed was likely Nanxuan Laozu. Had he come to Qingnian Demon Mountain because his research into the secret technique for breaking the Restriction had succeeded?

Zhang Nuo steadied his figure again and watched carefully everything happening in front of Qingnian Demon Mountain. Before long, the cultivators of the Four Great Sects who had been attacking the Mountain Protection Restriction all stopped, and subsequently, many more cultivators appeared from the direction Nanxuan Laozu had flown from, a dark, dense mass that stretched as far as the eye could see.

Seeing this scene, Zhang Nuo felt a chill in his heart; it seemed the Four Great Sects had mobilized their entire force this time, and the true great war between them and the Demon Mountain was about to begin.

He looked around; at such a moment, Shi Liang still had not appeared! Could the previous events really have been a coincidence?