Chapter 266: Painful Loss of an Ancient Treasure

Following the crack in the Heaven-Turning Seal, golden light as viscous as liquid slowly flowed out; the seal itself trembled incessantly, and the Chaos Beast atop its crown roared without end!

"Not good!"

As Zhang Nuo's body dodged the pursuit of the Magic Lion, he felt the change in the Heaven-Turning Seal and was instantly struck with terror! The seal had not been fully repaired to begin with, and forcing it to activate had already damaged its core; if he did not retract it now, this Ancient Treasure would likely be shattered completely!

With a shift of his Divine Sense, Zhang Nuo tried to retract the Heaven-Turning Seal, but the four fingers of the skeleton, wrapped in cyan flames, gripped the seal like pincers, refusing to let go!

In his desperation, Zhang Nuo suddenly flipped his palm and brought out the Measuring Heaven Ruler. He pointed it into the void at the skeleton's body, and the ruler instantly elongated, striking heavily against him.

"Boom!"

The small silver ruler erupted with biting light and slammed directly into the skeleton, but as the cyan flames on the skeleton's surface gathered and contracted, they neutralized the attack entirely.

Zhang Nuo gnashed his teeth in resentment, clutching the small silver ruler while gazing at the Heaven-Turning Seal with eyes full of heartache! The gap in cultivation between him and the skeleton was too vast; the opponent hadn't even moved, yet had taken his attack head-on, and appeared completely unscathed!

"Crack!"

Another crisp sound came from the seal; at this moment, several cracks had appeared all over its body, and from the fissures, the liquid-like golden light flowed out like molten lava.

"Boom!"

A loud crash shook the earth and mountains, and the entire hall trembled along with it. Zhang Nuo was slightly startled; what kind of attack had produced such great power?

He raised his eyes to look toward the source of the sound and saw that Nanxuan Laozu had shaken off the Magic Lion's pursuit. He stood at the edge of the translucent light barrier outside the hall, his hands forming seals as he exerted his full strength to break the Restriction!

Taking advantage of the moment Zhang Nuo's Magic Treasure had trapped the skeleton, Nanxuan Laozu had set his mind on breaking the Restriction. At this time, the other few cultivators had also concentrated all their attacks onto the light screen.

One attack after another, like ripples in water, struck the light screen, causing the originally transparent barrier to become murky and unclear.

People all have an instinctive desire to survive. Grasping this favorable opportunity, they all wanted to break out. Zhang Nuo let out a hateful, cold snort. Previously, Nanxuan Laozu had said they would kill the skeleton with all their might, but when he had finally gone to great lengths to trap the skeleton, Nanxuan Laozu had made his move, and upon seeing that killing the skeleton was hopeless, he had actually turned his mind to breaking the Restriction instead.

Now, only Zhang Nuo was inside the hall, while the others were all gathered near the light screen at the hall's entrance, all exerting their full strength, determined to break the barrier!

"Rumble!"

Just as Nanxuan Laozu and the others were attacking the light screen with all their might, the Heaven-Turning Seal could no longer hold on and was crushed by the skeleton's giant hand! Amidst streaks of radiance and a loud noise, the seal was thoroughly ground into dust!

Zhang Nuo's heart and mind shuddered, and he spat out a mouthful of fresh blood. The Heaven-Turning Seal had been refined within his body for many years; now that it was destroyed, the impact on him was not small!

"Hehe! Thinking you can trap this old monk with a mere Ancient Treasure! What a joke!"

The skeleton let out a cold laugh and turned its head toward Nanxuan Laozu's side. Seeing them exerting their full strength to break the Restriction, it felt slightly worried! Regardless, a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator, plus several Golden Core Stage cultivators—breaking the light screen was only a matter of time!

Thinking of this, the skeleton shifted its Divine Sense. The prayer beads that had previously transformed into the Magic Lion flashed with light and returned to their original appearance. With several "whoosh" sounds of breaking air, dozens of beads shot toward Nanxuan Laozu and the others!

The group had no choice but to scatter. The skeleton had destroyed Zhang Nuo's Heaven-Turning Seal and regained its freedom; they were all terrified. Each of their faces changed drastically, and the shadow of death loomed over their hearts!

Zhang Nuo gently wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. During the battle on the Tianjiang Plain, none of his Magic Treasures had suffered the slightest damage; he had not expected that today, in a battle with a skeleton, he would suffer the painful loss of the Heaven-Turning Seal!

"Go to hell!"

Red bloodshot veins surged within his eyes, and the Evil Qi on his body rose abruptly. Zhang Nuo acted as if he had gone mad; he unleashed the Measuring Heaven Ruler in his hand. The small ruler split into two in mid-air, then into three, and in the blink of an eye, it turned into ten thousand silver ruler shadows.

These ruler shadows flashed with silver light and, without any hesitation, all smashed toward the skeleton!

"Hehe! Little brat! This old monk will send you on your way first!"

Having been trapped by Zhang Nuo's Heaven-Turning Seal for so long, the skeleton already harbored some resentment. With its cultivation, being trapped by a junior's Magic Treasure was truly shameful!

Seeing the ten thousand ruler shadows attacking, the skeleton remained motionless. It spread its hands to the left and right and raised them high, then lowered them toward the sides in a seemingly slow motion. This action appeared very sluggish, but as its hands fell, a hand shadow would appear. By the time both of the skeleton's arms had fallen,

dozens of hand shadows had appeared to the left and right of the skeleton. These hand shadows pressed their index fingers and thumbs together, making a flicking gesture. Just as the silver ruler shadows attacked its body, the dozens of hand shadows moved in unison; as they opened and closed, several crisp sounds rang out in succession like New Year's firecrackers.

At the same time, large swaths of silver light and cyan flames intertwined. In just a moment, the skeleton was enveloped within these radiances. Although the number of the ten thousand ruler shadows was astonishing, the skeleton's hand shadows were even swifter. With the final crisp sound, the true form of the Measuring Heaven Ruler was flicked away.

Zhang Nuo flew into mid-air and, with a flick of one hand, steadily caught the small ruler. This Magic Treasure absolutely could not be lost; it was related to the terrain of the Immortal Illusion Continent!

Just as Zhang Nuo leaped up, Nanxuan Laozu made an astonishing move. He flicked his robe sleeves, and dozens of white, jade-like discs flew out, overlapping each other in a flash.

He lightly cut his fingertip and flicked a drop of bright red blood onto the overlapping discs. In an instant, the white discs turned dark red, and at the same time, faint sounds of wind and thunder emerged.

Nanxuan Laozu's lips moved slightly, and a bitter, incomprehensible incantation sounded. Endless spiritual light erupted from his entire body as he flew forward, holding the dark red overlapping discs in one hand, and smashed them wildly against the light screen in front of him.

"Boom!"

A loud crash came, and all dozens of discs were forcibly shattered. However, the moment the discs shattered, a wave of dark red energy rapidly spread out. The translucent light screen enveloping the hall trembled slightly, and then shattered with a bang like glass!

Nanxuan Laozu had just spared no effort to consume his own vital blood to use a secret technique to break the light screen Restriction. With this, now that there was no light screen wrapping them, everyone could quickly leave this hall!

Having succeeded in one strike, Nanxuan Laozu was instantly overjoyed. His escape light surged, and he wanted to be the first to fly out. When the others saw this, they naturally would not let this opportunity pass.

But just when everyone thought they could escape once the light screen was broken, the skeleton let out a dark, cold laugh and pointed a finger into the void at the center of the hall's floor! A bizarre scene occurred.

The originally flat floor of the hall suddenly collapsed, revealing a deep pit with a diameter of several dozen zhang. At the same time, streaks of Demonic Qi rapidly gathered at the edge of the giant pit, and in the blink of an eye, they formed a Magic Qi Vortex!

As soon as the vortex appeared, a strange, immense suction force was generated around the hall. Some objects in the hall were sucked into the vortex. The group, who had just steered their escape lights, had their bodies caught by the suction force emitted by the vortex and could not move forward even an inch!

Even someone with Nanxuan Laozu's cultivation was no exception! Although he exerted his full strength to drive his escape light, his body moved backward instead of forward, being pulled toward the vortex bit by bit.

This shock was no small matter! He had not expected the skeleton to have such a trick up its sleeve. Just as they saw a chance to escape, they had fallen into danger once again.

Zhang Nuo was in the depths of the hall. As soon as he saw the Restriction shatter, he had just steered his escape light to rush outside, but who would have thought that as he flew to the center of the hall, the ground would undergo a strange change? A strange, immense suction force trapped him in mid-air. The escape light on his body was dazzling, but facing the powerful suction of the Magic Qi Vortex on the ground, his body was still descending involuntarily! The situation was extremely critical!

"Laozu!"

At this moment, Xiao Zhengxing's body was flying rapidly toward the center of the vortex. Although his escape speed was fully unleashed, he still could not slow his movement! Seeing his life was in danger, he sent a cry for help to Nanxuan Laozu!

At this time, Nanxuan Laozu could barely save himself. He turned his head back to look at Xiao Zhengxing, but he still waved his left hand. A streak of light radiance rolled out from his robe sleeve, firmly wrapping Xiao Zhengxing in the middle! Only then did Xiao Zhengxing's speed slow down.

"Laozu, save me!"

Zhuo Zhiyan could no longer hold on either. The young woman was frightened out of her wits, and her retreating figure was already at the edge of the vortex! Similarly, Nanxuan Laozu released light radiance again, wrapping her inside as well.

"Hehe! Let's see how long you can hold on!"

It was very strange; the Magic Qi Vortex on the hall floor had no effect on the skeleton at all. It laughed loudly, watching all of this unfold.

Suddenly, in Ye Yuemiao's jade hand, a bronze mirror appeared from who knows where. She cast several incantations in succession, and after they merged into the Magic Treasure, the bronze mirror flew rapidly above her head. Golden light spilled down, covering her entire person inside. The skeleton was slightly stunned; the moment the golden light covered the young girl's figure, the suction of the vortex was reduced by quite a bit.

Ye Yuemiao, who had been retreating, stopped instantly! The young woman changed the hand seals in her hands, and her entire body, along with the Magic Treasure, disappeared from the spot. The next moment, she appeared safely outside the hall!

This time, not only was the skeleton surprised, but even Nanxuan Laozu gasped in cold air. With his cultivation, he could not resist the Magic Qi Vortex, but this young girl from the Ye Family had used the power of a Magic Treasure to break through in one go. It seemed this young girl's bronze mirror Magic Treasure was no ordinary object!

Just as he was pondering this, the group's figures moved another few zhang toward the center of the Magic Qi Vortex! It looked as if they were about to be sucked in!