Chapter 243: The Great Battle Descends from Heaven (Part 8)

Facing the attack of the Golden-Armored Heavenly God, before the great blade even arrived, a tremendous pressure descended upon Wang Ji! Terrified out of his wits, he moved his body to execute the Blood Escape once more, dodging nearly a hundred zhang away. Even so, Wang Ji still felt uneasy; he quickly rushed into the midst of the many demonic cultivators before finally coming to a halt.

To be able to force a Golden Core Late Stage cultivator into such a state, it seems the might of the Golden-Armored Heavenly God cannot be underestimated! Wang Ji broke out in a cold sweat; those who have not felt that kind of pressure could never understand his thoughts at this moment.

Turning his head, he looked toward where Zhang Nuo was. He saw this little fiend still wrapped in a faint divine light, pointing a finger solemnly toward Fu Ling and Gui Xiao in the distance.

The next moment, the Golden-Armored Heavenly God transformed into a streak of golden light, reaching Fu Ling in the blink of an eye! Long before Zhang Nuo activated the "Heavenly Soldier God Talisman," Fu Ling had already fled with Gui Xiao. The distance between them and Zhang Nuo had been stretched quite far, but the speed of the Golden-Armored Heavenly God was too fast; in a flash, he was right before the two of them.

With cold, emotionless eyes, the Golden-Armored Heavenly God shifted the great blade to one hand, freed his other palm, and struck heavily toward Fu Ling.

As if she had been stepped on the tail, the woman let out a sharp scream, flipped her body, and escaped with a "whoosh," leaving behind only the defenseless Gui Xiao!

"You..."

Seeing the other party act this way, Gui Xiao was so angry he nearly fainted. Before the "Eight Ghost Clones" were activated, Fu Ling had said all sorts of sweet words, yet when it came to a life-or-death moment, she actually abandoned him to save herself!

The Golden-Armored Heavenly God's palm struck empty air. He did not pursue Fu Ling, but instead leveled his great blade and, with a "pfft," pierced directly through Gui Xiao's body, lifting him high above his head!

This scene happened very quickly; before some people could even react, Gui Xiao had already perished! Fresh blood flowed down the blade and onto the arm of the Golden-Armored Heavenly God, making him appear even more cold and ruthless.

Zhang Nuo let out a long sigh of relief. As long as Gui Xiao was killed, he could at least protect some of the secrets on his person! At this moment, the golden light on his body dissipated, and the Golden-Armored Heavenly God in the distance also rapidly disintegrated, finally turning into specks of golden light that drifted away between heaven and earth.

Such a mighty Heavenly God—he came quickly and left just as quickly! Some people had not even seen his appearance clearly; they only remembered that golden great blade that had slain Gui Xiao.

As the divine light on Zhang Nuo's body faded, he felt the invisible pressure lessen significantly, but the Spirit Power in his body was also extremely depleted. Just now, using the "Heavenly Soldier God Talisman" had nearly drained the Spirit Power in his two Divine Seas! Coupled with the previous great battle, this time he was truly willing but unable.

"Wow!"

The cultivators of the Four Great Sects erupted once again with shouts that shook the heavens. Since the start of the great battle, Zhang Nuo had brought them surprises time and again. This time, he had fought two demons alone and even slain a Sect Leader of a Demon Mountain!

Wang Ji's face was ashen. He could not believe that two Sect Leaders of the Five Great Demon Mountains had both died at the hands of Zhang Nuo. He had heard about the fall of Du Yuntang from the disciples of Wushuang Sacred Demon Mountain, but this time, he had witnessed the fall of Gui Xiao with his own eyes. He wondered if he could have escaped unscathed if he had confronted Zhang Nuo with his true strength.

From this moment on, whether it was the Four Great Sects or the Five Great Demon Mountains, no one dared to look down on Zhang Nuo, especially those who had looked down on him in the beginning!

"Good! Well killed!"

Zhuge An was surrounded by dozens of demonic cultivators. Seeing the scene where Gui Xiao was slain, he burst into excited cheers, his voice carrying so far that nearly half the sky could hear it!

The Demon Emperor, who had been fighting Nanxuan Laozu all along, was speechless! He could not imagine that a young cultivator could possess such power, forcing back two Golden Core cultivators in succession and finally slaying one!

"Why did he have to kill Gui Xiao?"

While everyone else was in shock, Qin Xiaofeng lowered his head and fell into deep thought. With the strength the Golden-Armored Heavenly God had just displayed, there should have been no problem even if he had slain Wang Ji. Yet, Zhang Nuo had deliberately spared Wang Ji and Fu Ling, killing only the defenseless Gui Xiao? What secret was hidden in this?

Could it be that when Zhang Nuo destroyed Gui Xiao's "Eight Ghost Clones" in the grand formation, he had revealed some flaw that was discovered, hence the need to kill to silence him?

Many questions kept arising in Qin Xiaofeng's mind, leaving him completely baffled. However, the strength Zhang Nuo had displayed made him exercise more caution. His previous intention to capture Zhang Nuo had also faded; he wondered what other strange tricks this kid had yet to unleash!

Zhang Nuo stood in mid-air, continuously gathering the Spiritual Qi within his body, but it was difficult to find any excess Spiritual Qi in his parched Divine Seas to use. Nevertheless, he kept his gaze cold and feigned an appearance of being unafraid of any challenger.

Never mind that he had this expression; even if he had appeared extremely weak and ready to collapse at a touch, no one would dare to challenge him at this time.

Just as everyone was astonished by Zhang Nuo's methods, a series of explosions came from the battleground between Nanxuan Laozu and the Demon Emperor.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The crowd looked up one after another. They saw Nanxuan Laozu flying backward, and wherever he passed, one White Disc after another was forcibly detonated by his magic power. The Demon Emperor, however, disregarded the power of the exploding discs, flying through the rays of light to strike directly at Nanxuan Laozu's vitals!

Everyone had been busy watching Zhang Nuo's side just now and had not paid attention to the two of them. No one knew what had happened, but Nanxuan Laozu seemed to have encountered danger; otherwise, he would never have detonated his own Magic Treasure.

A sheet of radiance covered a large portion of the sky. No one knew what was happening within that radiance. Only after hearing a few sounds like metal clashing did Nanxuan Laozu stagger out of the light, looking somewhat disheveled!

As the radiance dissipated, the Demon Emperor stood high in the sky, holding a pitch-black Small Tripod in his hand. The Small Tripod was only half a foot high, with Demonic Qi swirling on its surface, and wisps of blue smoke were slowly rising from within it. It appeared that Nanxuan Laozu had been forced into such a state by this very tripod just now.

"Hehe! Nanxuan Laozu, for all your calculations, you still miscalculated my 'Heavenly Demon Cauldron'!"

A cold sneer appeared on the Demon Emperor's face; it seemed he had gained some advantage in the recent battle because of this tripod.

Nanxuan Laozu's expression was slightly unsightly. His snow-white long eyebrows twitched several times before he steadied his mind and said:

"A mere tripod! This old man does not take it to heart!"

Although he said this, his heart was filled with shock! If he hadn't detonated several White Discs just now, he might truly have found it difficult to escape the strangulation of this tripod!

The two great experts separated! The cultivators of the Four Great Sects and the Five Great Demon Mountains quickly stood behind them. At this time, Zhuge Qing, Bai Xiu, and Xun Zhen all arrived near Zhang Nuo.

All three of them kept asking about his physical condition, their expressions of concern far beyond that of ordinary people!

"I'm fine! No worries!"

Forcing a smile, Zhang Nuo said indifferently.

"You scared me to death just now, but Senior Brother is truly amazing! You even slew that demon Gui Xiao!"

Xun Zhen smiled beautifully, as if she felt proud to have such a Senior Brother!

Upon confirming that Zhang Nuo was truly uninjured, Zhuge Qing also let out a long breath, revealing her signature smile, though she just looked at him without speaking.

Zhang Nuo was concerned about the situation in front, so he did not chat much with the three of them. With a move of his body, he stood among the ranks of the Four Great Sects' cultivators. As soon as he appeared, many disciples bowed to him in unison, surprised that he had become a person of such great respect.

Feeling somewhat embarrassed by the gazes of these people, Zhang Nuo shook his head with a smile and pricked up his ears to listen to the conversation between Nanxuan Laozu and the Demon Emperor.

"Nanxuan Laozu! As long as you hand over my item! I can let bygones be bygones!"

Having fought Nanxuan Laozu for so long, the two were almost evenly matched; neither could easily slay the other. Furthermore, Gui Xiao being wiped out by Zhang Nuo had caused the morale on the Five Great Demon Mountains' side to plummet; almost all the demonic cultivators had lost the confidence to continue fighting! Once they lost their fighting spirit, they would undoubtedly lose this battle!

"Demon Emperor! What exactly is the item you speak of?"

Nanxuan Laozu felt a surge of anxiety. The Demon Emperor kept insisting that something had been lost from his Fenzhong, but he had never even said what the item was.

"It is a Black Book!"

In the current situation, if he could retrieve the Black Book and return it to the "Great Underworld Mansion," the Demon Emperor could still reconsider the rest of the matters!

Nanxuan Laozu swept his gaze across the many cultivators behind him and said sternly:

"Have any of you entered the Demon Emperor's Fenzhong and stolen items from within?"

On the Tianjiang Plain, almost all Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators had entered the Trial Ground, but many cultivators did not know where the Demon Emperor Fenzhong was, let alone anything about a Black Book.

Zhang Nuo felt a slight stir in his heart, but he did not show anything on his face. Now that the matter had been brought to light, he would have to be even more careful when using the Black Book in the future, ensuring it was not seen by anyone.

Seeing that all the cultivators shook their heads, Nanxuan Laozu turned back to the Demon Emperor and said:

"You see! None of the cultivators from the Four Great Sects have taken your item!"

"That's impossible! All these years, only you have used my Fenzhong as a Trial Ground, and you wouldn't let cultivators from other sects enter. Who else could have stolen it!"

The Demon Emperor insisted that the Black Book had been stolen by the cultivators of the Four Great Sects.

Nanxuan Laozu let out a cold snort, and murderous intent suddenly erupted in his eyes; it seemed this matter could not be settled with words and could only be resolved through force—whoever had the harder fist, their words were the truth!

The battle that had just subsided was about to be reignited, and both sides once again brought out their Magic Treasures, but at this very moment, something that no one expected happened.

The occurrence of this event had almost no warning at all! Even the two Nascent Soul Stage experts, Nanxuan Laozu and the Demon Emperor, had their expressions change abruptly.

Qin Xiaofeng was even more shocked! Because the occurrence of this matter was even more important than retrieving the Black Book! He had to rush back to the Great Underworld Mansion as quickly as possible!