Chapter 269: Bottom of the Vortex

The flying boat that Nanxuan Laozu and the others were riding had been flying in the sky for over ten days. Inside the flying boat, the cultivators were all silently meditating, and the atmosphere felt very stifling. Even Li Xue, who was always eccentric and whimsical, had shut her mouth at this time and was sitting quietly in a corner.

The fall of Zhang Nuo and Leng Xinghun was a significant blow to everyone. Leng Xinghun was the dignified sect master of the Corpse Refining Sect, and his cultivation had even advanced to the level of Golden Core Late Stage; no one expected him to be easily killed by a white bone skeleton!

As for the fall of Zhang Nuo, it was even more unexpected to everyone. Back then, Zhang Nuo had been the center of attention on the Tianjiang Plain, and the cultivators of the Five Great Demon Mountains would almost have their legs go weak just hearing this name.

Killing Du Yuntang and Gui Xiao while at the Golden Core Initial Stage had almost become two great legends! Yet, these two cultivators had fallen on the way to finding the Xianhuan Continent. Who could guarantee that they themselves wouldn't encounter an accident on the road ahead?

After Zhuge An finished listening to Nanxuan Laozu recount everything that happened in the great hall, he felt secretly shocked. Under those circumstances, even the ancestor had almost fallen, let alone Zhang Nuo.

"Sigh! Kid, your life is thin!"

With a soft sigh, Zhuge An closed his eyes and said no more.

Only Nanxuan Laozu knew the truth of the matter! If it weren't for borrowing Zhang Nuo's body, perhaps none of the few of them would have been able to escape the Magic Qi Vortex.

"Your death was worth it! At worst, this old man will erect a monument for you in the future, so that the disciples of the Nanxuan Sect for generations to come will remember your name!"

In order to find a good excuse for himself, Nanxuan Laozu thought this way in his heart. If it weren't related to his own life, he wouldn't have been willing to treat Zhang Nuo this way, but with his cultivation at this level, there was still a long way to go before the next realm, the 'Spirit Severing Stage'.

Once he reached the Xianhuan Continent, perhaps Nanxuan Laozu could become a Spirit Severing Stage cultivator. The temptation of such great cultivation, compared to the life of a small Golden Core Initial Stage cultivator like Zhang Nuo, was simply a drop in the bucket.

The flying boat shone with brilliant light, flashing across the sky of the Mist Sea!

At this moment, in a dark space, the surroundings were extremely damp, and occasionally eerie sounds were emitted. There was no light at all. Everything appeared extremely terrifying.

Somewhere in this space, a black butterfly shadow about a zhang in size was suspended in mid-air. Below it, a man was lying face down on the ground full of white bones. There were many unknown small creatures surrounding this man, looking as if they wanted to rush up and gnaw him away.

However, intimidated by the pressure of the black butterfly shadow above, they were all timid and did not dare to take a step forward!

"Kid Zhang! Wake up quickly!"

A weak voice came from the man's body, sounding very anxious. At this time, the man's breathing was faint, his whole body was cold, and while his eyes were tightly shut, one of his hands was still tightly clutching a small silver ruler!

This person was none other than Zhang Nuo! After being sucked into the Magic Qi Vortex, the surroundings were filled with lightning and thunder, along with immense Spiritual Pressure, which caused Zhang Nuo to lose consciousness instantly. Countless chaotic Spiritual Pressures struck his body, and sounds of shattering came from his limbs and bones. If it weren't for being unconscious and unable to feel the pain, a normal person would likely have been tortured to death alive!

"Kid Zhang! Wake up quickly! Otherwise, this old man will have to be buried with you!"

The one constantly calling out to Zhang Nuo was none other than Chunyangzi. As soon as they landed here, many unknown creatures crawled over. These creatures looked as if they hadn't seen meat for many years, and they swarmed over, wanting to eat Zhang Nuo. Fortunately, the 'Hell Butterfly' inside his body flew out automatically.

Relying on its powerful soul strength, it extracted the souls of the few creatures that rushed forward first, causing them to die, which scared off the other creatures!

However, this situation had lasted for over ten days, and the surrounding unknown creatures were gathering more and more. The 'Hell Butterfly' was on the verge of being unable to hold on. After all, it was fused into one with Zhang Nuo, and with the original body injured, its strength was also greatly reduced!

Chunyangzi called out repeatedly, when suddenly one of Zhang Nuo's fingers moved, and then a 'gurgling' sound came from his mouth!

"Kid Zhang! Get up for me, stop playing dead!"

At this moment, two more fearless creatures rushed to Zhang Nuo's vicinity. These two creatures were not large, only the size of a fist, and they looked a bit like turtles with giant jaw pincers!

However, they moved very quickly. With a few 'swish' sounds, they reached Zhang Nuo's side. As soon as the 'Hell Butterfly' in the sky saw this, its wings flapped, and a violent suction force rose from its mouth. One could see wisps of souls rising into the sky from the tops of the creatures' heads, and in the blink of an eye, they were sucked into the black butterfly's mouth.

'Thump!'

With a flip of their bodies, the few creatures that had been moving like the wind just a moment ago flipped over and died!

"Kid Zhang!"

Chunyangzi kept calling out, his voice sounding very anxious. Things like what just happened had occurred dozens of times today. If this continued, once a large group of creatures swarmed up together, even the 'Hell Butterfly' would be helpless!

"Ah!"

As if hearing Chunyangzi's call, Zhang Nuo's throat moved, and he let out an 'ah' sound. With all the bones in his body broken, this feeling would not be pleasant for anyone! Using all his strength, he slowly opened one eye. The sight before him made Zhang Nuo, who was not yet fully awake, almost cry out in alarm.

Darkness! Dampness! Chill! Terror! Eeriness! All sorts of words were hard to describe everything here, and there were many unknown creatures peering at him!

He wanted to get up and stand, but his whole body couldn't muster a shred of strength, and even moving a finger was heart-wrenchingly painful!

"Kid Zhang, it's good that you're awake!"

Seeing Zhang Nuo wake up, Chunyangzi was so happy he almost cried. All these days, he had been afraid that Zhang Nuo would die right there. If that really happened, his own remnant soul would also completely dissolve into this endless darkness.

"Nanxuan Laozu! You bastard!"

Zhang Nuo's consciousness had just cleared, and he immediately recalled everything that had happened before. He hated him so much his teeth itched. As soon as his emotions became agitated, the circulation of blood within his body sped up, and the pain immediately coming from his limbs and bones made Zhang Nuo behave a bit more.

"Stop cursing him for now! Saving your life is the priority!"

Fearing that Zhang Nuo would be impulsive and cause his blood to flow in reverse, leading to a big disaster, Chunyangzi comforted him.

Hearing this, Zhang Nuo's eyes flickered. Although his body couldn't move, his Divine Sense could still be released. With a sinking heart, he slowly released his Divine Sense out of his body. One sweep made Zhang Nuo's heart turn cold.

He saw that with him as the center, within a radius of nearly several tens of miles, strange unknown creatures were everywhere. These creatures all had their targets set on him, and some were even emitting low roars!

"Hmph! This old man isn't that easy to die! Want to eat me! Try next life!"

The anger in his heart was ignited, and Zhang Nuo transferred his desire for revenge against Nanxuan Laozu onto these creatures. With another movement of his Divine Sense, the Nine Dragon Sword Case flew out from his body. As it spun in mid-air, three Flying Swords were summoned out.

He had wanted to summon a few more Flying Swords, but Zhang Nuo unexpectedly discovered that the four Divine Seas within his body were nearly dried up, and it was very difficult to release any more Spirit Power.

He gave a bitter smile in his heart; who would have thought that a dignified cultivator of the Four Spirit Seas would fall to such a state! However, three Flying Swords were enough.

With a flash of the Flying Swords, they cut the surrounding creatures in two. With another flash, a dozen more creatures died. This time, all the creatures became restless. It seemed as if the guys who were dead had come back to life; they no longer dared to harbor designs on him and fled in all directions.

The unknown creatures that had been everywhere just a moment ago disappeared without a trace in the blink of an eye! Seeing the danger resolved, the 'Hell Butterfly' flashed and returned to Zhang Nuo's body.

"Don't be in a hurry to stand up. The bones in your limbs are all broken; connect them back together first!"

With the threat around them gone, Chunyangzi also felt much more at ease.

"Understood!"

Zhang Nuo had killed dozens of unknown creatures, and the anger in his heart had dissipated quite a bit. Now that he had calmed down, he carefully examined his body.

Looking inside, he saw that the bones in his body were broken into pieces and his internal organs were displaced; there was no longer any trace of a human form! If it weren't for the foundation he had in Body Refining Technique, he likely would have fallen long ago.

He took a deep breath of the air here and only felt that the scent of decay was extremely heavy. More importantly, the Spiritual Qi here was extremely thin. As for when he would be able to refill all four Divine Seas in his body, he didn't know which year that would be!

However, as long as he was alive, there would be hope. Zhang Nuo did not give up. Since his body couldn't move, he lay on the ground and silently operated the 'Shangqing Sword Art' to draw the thin Spiritual Qi around him into his body.

Thus, two months passed, and finally, a shadow of Spiritual Qi was seen in one of the Divine Seas within Zhang Nuo's body. Using this pitiful amount of Spiritual Qi, he began to repair his body.

About six months later, Zhang Nuo was able to sit up, though his body was still painfully sore. Scanning his surroundings, this was a strange world he had never seen before.

"Senior, do you know where this is?"

Zhang Nuo transmitted his voice to Chunyangzi inside his body.

"I don't know! This old man has never seen such a place either! But Kid Zhang, have you noticed? The Spiritual Qi and Demonic Qi here are thin, but the Yin Qi is very abundant!"

After hearing Chunyangzi's words, Zhang Nuo nodded slightly; having stayed here for a long time, he had long since discovered this point, but as far as he was concerned, he still did not know how to utilize the yin energy, and his half-baked Immovable Underworld King technique was not enough to give him much insight into yin energy, which is to say, no matter how much yin energy there was here, it was of no help at all to Zhang Nuo's cultivation.

"Since you are recuperating here anyway, why not take advantage of this yin energy to properly practice the Immovable Underworld King?"

Chunyangzi was not worried but happy instead; yin energy might be of no use to others, but to Zhang Nuo, it was an extremely useful thing, and while it was difficult to find a place rich in yin energy in the outside world, there was a heaven-sent opportunity right before them, so why not make use of it?

Zhang Nuo felt a bit bitter inside; Chunyangzi's suggestion was exactly what he had been thinking himself, but he just did not know whether being framed by Nanxuan Laozu this time was a good thing or a bad thing.