Chapter 258: Uncle

"Oh my! This fellow Daoist truly has heaven-reaching magic power; even the water flood dragon was defeated by you!"

Upon seeing the water flood dragon flee, Li Xue flew to Zhang Nuo's side and said with beaming joy; the disheveled, wretched appearance she had while being chased by the water flood dragon just moments ago vanished instantly.

Zhang Nuo's face stiffened slightly; this girl was far too difficult to deal with. He had only just met her, yet she was already acting as if they were very familiar.

Ignoring Li Xue, Zhang Nuo walked toward Nanxuan Laozu and, after bowing deeply, said:

"There was a reason for what happened just now; I ask that Laozu please do not blame me!"

Before Zhang Nuo had acted, Nanxuan Laozu had warned him not to move, but at the time, Zhang Nuo had acted as if he hadn't heard and forcibly fought the water flood dragon. Now that the battle was over, he immediately thought of this issue! After all, Laozu was the leader of this expedition, and doing this had inevitably made him lose face.

Glancing at Zhang Nuo, although Nanxuan Laozu was unhappy, he could not easily vent it, especially since Zhang Nuo was considered a core cultivator among the Four Great Sects; if he truly provoked the other party, future matters might become very troublesome.

"Forget it! This matter cannot be blamed entirely on you; that demon beast was far too overbearing and unreasonable!"

After speaking these few understated words, Nanxuan Laozu beckoned lightly to Li Xue, signaling her to come over. Only then did Li Xue restrain her playfulness somewhat and walk honestly to the front of Laozu.

Before her was a Nascent Soul Stage old monster, someone who could turn hands to clouds and rain; her little life was entirely in his hands.

"Just escaped the dragon's pool only to enter the tiger's den!"

Muttering softly, Li Xue slowly arrived before Nanxuan Laozu, performed a deep curtsy, and said loudly: "Greetings, Laozu!"

Seeing others always address him as Laozu, she was quite quick to adapt and used the same title, calling it out very affectionately, which left the group from the Four Great Sects speechless.

"Did you come here by yourself?"

In Nanxuan Laozu's eyes, Li Xue was just a child, merely a bit mischievous, so he did not hold it against her; he was simply surprised to see that she had no other cultivators with her and had been chased by a powerful demon beast.

"No, I came with my uncle!"

The crisp voice was not loud, but it stunned everyone! 'Uncle!' Who exactly was her uncle? Zhang Nuo's eyes flickered, and he swallowed a mouthful of saliva! This little girl was simply someone who feared nothing in heaven or earth; she dared to say such things even in front of Nanxuan Laozu.

"Who is your uncle?"

Nanxuan Laozu frowned slightly, guessing that this girl's uncle must have a significant background.

"My uncle is a member of the royal family of the Great Sui Empire on the Tianyuan Continent, and he is also a cultivator! His cultivation has reached the Nascent Soul Early-stage!"

Upon hearing this, everyone's expressions changed. The Great Sui Empire was a name many had heard of before; in that country, almost everyone knew some cultivation methods, especially the royal family, where the atmosphere of cultivation was even stronger. It was rumored that the founding emperor of the Great Sui Empire was a cultivator with no small amount of divine ability.

No wonder this little girl's cultivation was not weak and she acted so lawlessly; it turned out she was a member of the Great Sui Empire's royal family! Nanxuan Laozu's expression did not change; within the Great Sui Empire, there were only two cultivators who had reached the Nascent Soul Stage.

One of them was in long-term seclusion and never asked about outside affairs, while the other supported the Great Sui Empire; whenever a rebellion appeared, this person would appear and leave no survivors, and it was rumored that when suppressing one rebellion, that expert had killed thousands of people in a single step.

Later, someone gave him the nickname "One Step, One Thousand People," and his name was: Sui Huayuan! Zhang Nuo was not very clear about this matter, but the Sect Masters of the Four Great Sects all knew it well!

"Your uncle is Sui Huayuan, then!"

Nanxuan Laozu's expression softened; it seemed that Zhang Nuo had accidentally saved a relative of a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator. Perhaps in the future, he could use this to build a connection with Sui Huayuan!

"You know my uncle's name too!"

Li Xue appeared extremely curious, her round eyes scanning Nanxuan Laozu back and forth. Seeing that the other party had no ill intent, she became even more presumptuous.

"Then what is your name? Maybe my uncle knows you too?"

Zhuge An frowned deeply; this little doll was too presumptuous, as even he would not dare to be so unreasonable toward Laozu. Just as he was about to step forward to stop her, Nanxuan Laozu patted his hand lightly.

"I think your uncle must know me as well; I am Nanxuan Laozu of the Nanxuan Sect on the Tianjiang Plain!"

"Nanxuan Laozu? Why have I never heard my uncle mention you?"

Although Li Xue's cultivation was not low, her emotional intelligence was pitifully low; this one sentence left Nanxuan Laozu unable to keep a straight face. In front of so many juniors, he had lost a great deal of face this time!

Seeing this, Zhuge An immediately stepped in to smooth things over:

"What would a little child like you know? These are matters between great figures; how could you possibly know about them!"

Scolding Li Xue with slight anger, Zhuge An acted as if he understood everything, though anyone with a discerning eye could see that his words were pale and weak, intended entirely to save face for Nanxuan Laozu.

"How did you get separated from Daoist Sui?"

Although Nanxuan Laozu was angry, he could not lash out at a junior in front of so many people.

"Don't mention it; originally, I and many cultivators from the Great Sui Empire were sailing on the sea in a giant ship, but who would have thought that a group of demon beasts calling themselves the Sea Flood Dragon Clan would rush out halfway, rob us of many things, and finally destroy the giant ship. With no other choice, we had to escape on a small boat."

Speaking to this point, Li Xue looked helpless, her expression sinking to the lowest point; her flippant attitude instantly turned into one of misery.

"My uncle also went missing during the chaos, and I have been pestered by this demon beast called a water flood dragon until now! It's fortunate I met you all!"

At this point, Li Xue suddenly broke into a smile through her tears, which left Nanxuan Laozu and the others speechless; the little girl before them changed her face faster than the weather—one moment she was miserable, and the next she was radiant!

"You say Daoist Sui is missing?"

By comparison, Nanxuan Laozu was more concerned about the life or death of Sui Huayuan. A Nascent Soul Stage existence, if placed on the Tianyuan Continent, would not easily go missing; it seemed the demon beasts within the Mist Sea were not to be provoked lightly.

"We will leave this place now to avoid the Sea Flood Dragon Clan coming for revenge!"

After speaking to the few people beside him, Nanxuan Laozu was the first to walk into the flying boat. Zhang Nuo had severed one of the water flood dragon's arms, and this matter would not end there; plus, according to what Li Xue said, the Sea Flood Dragon Clan could destroy the Great Sui Empire's giant ship, so his flying boat would naturally be no exception.

"Senior, you must take me with you, otherwise I'll be dead for sure if I'm left here alone!"

Seeing that the people from the Four Great Sects were leaving, Li Xue became anxious; she trotted to catch up with Nanxuan Laozu in front, looking pitiful. Zhuge An and the others frowned; letting an outsider onto the boat was always somewhat improper! However, they could not speak, and their gazes all fell upon Laozu.

"Take her with us!"

Sighing as if very helpless, Nanxuan Laozu said softly. He was not taking Li Xue out of any sense of benevolence, but to win over Sui Huayuan; although he did not know if he was alive or dead, leaving a glimmer of hope for himself was always good.

As soon as she heard Laozu agree, Li Xue jumped three zhang high and dove directly into the flying boat, fearing that the other party might change his mind and throw her off.

After the group exchanged glances, no one could do anything about her, so they followed one after another into the flying boat. At this moment, the flying boat was enveloped in spirit light, slowly flew into the air, turned into a streak of light, streaked across the silent night sky, and disappeared into the distance in the blink of an eye.

Half an hour after Nanxuan Laozu's flying boat left the small island, several streaks of light rose from the sea surface and landed on the ground in a flash.

The light faded, revealing many demon beasts that looked like flood dragons, numbering nearly a thousand, among which one was the water flood dragon that had been severed of an arm by Zhang Nuo.

"They actually got away!"

The water flood dragon scanned the small island, only to see that the island was completely empty, with not even a shadow of a person to be seen, leaving only a desolate scene.

"Water flood dragon, you said there was a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator among that group; it seems we cannot catch up now!"

At this time, a middle-aged man in white robes walked to the front of the water flood dragon and said slowly with a gloomy expression. This man was tall, his face like jade, and on his forehead were two slightly protruding small bumps, which did not look ugly but instead added a bit of a majestic aura to him. The Spirit Power fluctuations radiating from his body were even stronger, reaching the level of a Seventh-tier Demon Beast!

Among the many flood dragon-type demon beasts, the white-robed man appeared to be the Leader; he understood that if a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator was present, after so much time had passed, they would certainly not be able to catch up.

"Boss, was my arm severed for nothing?"

The water flood dragon seemed somewhat displeased, yet it dared not be overly presumptuous.

"It is not as if your arm cannot grow back, and furthermore, their goal is also to go to the Xianhuan Continent; there will always be an opportunity to meet, what are you rushing for!"

After being reprimanded by the white-robed man, the water flood dragon quieted down at once.

"We shall rest here for a while and continue our journey tomorrow!"

Turning back to speak to the group of flood dragon-type demonic beasts, one could see these demonic beasts each emitting strange cries, rapidly filling the small island like a chaotic dance of demons.

The white-robed man did not go to sleep immediately; his body slowly transformed under the moonlight, and in the end, he actually turned into a giant flood dragon with a body entirely white as snow. This flood dragon was over ten zhang long, and the not-yet-fully-formed horns on its head released streaks of spiritual light, appearing like two bright lanterns in the darkness.

The spiritual light emitted from the white flood dragon's horns formed a faint curtain of light around the small island, like a defensive Restriction; as soon as anything approached, he would immediately know.