Chapter 393: Good News

Zhang Nuo sat in his Cave Abode, feeling depressed. His cultivation had advanced to the Nascent Soul Middle Stage, yet this brought him not the slightest joy. As for the origins of the Buddha-Demon, perhaps only the Skull Monk knew, but where could he find the Skull Monk now? Even if he found him, with his current cultivation, he was likely no match for that monster!

For a time, various headache-inducing matters left Zhang Nuo at a loss. He tapped his temples lightly; the various aftereffects brought on by splitting his soul had not yet completely vanished, and in particular, the waves of tearing pain radiating from the depths of his soul made him feel incredibly vexed!

He stood up and paced back and forth in the Cave Abode. After moving about a little, he felt much more comfortable. With a light lift of his palm, dozens of Flying Swords immediately surged from his robe sleeves. After entering the Middle Stage, the number of Flying Swords Zhang Nuo could wield had increased once again to eighty!

This number was enough to shock Chunyangzi. Such a massive quantity of Flying Swords required not only sufficient Spirit Power, but one's Divine Sense also had to exceed that of others at the same rank!

"Kid Zhang, why don't you release the final Flying Sword as well!"

With a light sweep of his Divine Sense, Chunyangzi discovered that there were only eighty Flying Swords in front of Zhang Nuo. This was just one short of the eighty-one in the Sword Box. Could it be that this last Flying Sword was his limit?

Zhang Nuo gave a bitter smile and shook his head slightly. It was not that he did not want to draw out the last Flying Sword, but he had tried several times, and that final Flying Sword simply would not budge no matter what!

"I don't know why either. It seems that the last Flying Sword requires extremely powerful Spirit Power to activate!"

"Could it be that the last Flying Sword truly can only be activated at the Nascent Soul Late Stage?"

After muttering to himself, Chunyangzi recalled the time he had used the Sword Box; he had been able to operate all the Flying Swords only after reaching the Nascent Soul Late Stage!

"By the way, Kid Zhang, doesn't the 'Shangqing Sword Art' you cultivate have a set of Sword Formation every three layers? You have reached the Ninth Layer now, so why have I never seen you use the new Sword Formation?"

With a shift of thought, Chunyangzi suddenly remembered the 'Shangqing Sword Art'. This cultivation method, which complemented the Nine Dragon Sword Case, unleashed truly immense power; even he could not help but marvel at it!

At the mention of this matter, Zhang Nuo felt even more helpless. It was not that he did not want to activate the new Sword Formation of the ninth layer, but he simply could not activate it at all!

"Senior! You may not know, but this ninth-layer Sword Formation requires all eighty-one Flying Swords to be released. I am just missing this last one!"

Sighing softly, Zhang Nuo felt like crying but had no tears. He had finally cultivated the 'Shangqing Sword Art' to the ninth layer, yet the new Sword Formation could not be used; now he had condensed a Second Demon Infant, yet he dared not use the Buddha-Demon lightly! Although his cultivation was improving step by step, depression followed one after another!

"So that's how it is!"

After a moment of silence, Chunyangzi finally said slowly. However, these various encounters of Zhang Nuo were truly the most unique he had ever seen in his life! To clearly possess powerful techniques yet be unable to use them!

After Zhang Nuo rested in the Cave Abode for another month, he felt the pain had lessened significantly, so he left the Cave Abode and flew toward the direction of Yulong Hall!

Along the way, many Giant Spirit Pavilion cultivators looked at Zhang Nuo with surprised gazes!

"Senior Brother, I heard that this Fourth Master had gone into seclusion? How did he come out so soon!"

A young Foundation Establishment Stage disciple asked the elderly disciple beside him.

"It is said he was attempting to break through to the Nascent Soul Middle Stage. In my view, he most likely failed!"

The elderly disciple glanced at Zhang Nuo flying in the sky. No matter how gifted this young cultivator was, wanting to step into the Middle Stage in just a few short years was truly a pipe dream!

Zhang Nuo's light of escape soon vanished from the eyes of the two. They did not take it to heart, continuing on their way while discussing other matters.

Inside Yulong Hall, Zhou Huizheng looked distressed for some unknown reason, while Yang Huzi and Liu Qingshan, who were also sitting in the hall, were even more worried.

Suddenly, Zhou Huizheng's brows twitched slightly, and then he raised his eyes to look toward the entrance of the hall! His face was full of surprise!

"Pavilion Master, what happened!"

Yang Huzi raised his head, looked at Zhou Huizheng, and asked in great confusion.

"It seems Zhang Nuo has come!"

Zhou Huizheng's cultivation had already reached the Nascent Soul Late Stage, and his Divine Sense far exceeded that of Yang Huzi, so the moment Zhang Nuo's light of escape approached the area he could perceive, he discovered him immediately.

"Fourth Brother? He has only been in seclusion for a few months, right? Even if he failed, it's impossible for him to come out so quickly!"

Upon hearing this, Yang Huzi was also full of surprise. However, very soon, Zhang Nuo's figure arrived in the hall. The three of them scanned him with their Divine Sense simultaneously, and in an instant, all three of their eyes widened, and they could not utter a word for a long time.

Because Zhou Huizheng and the others were astonished to discover that Zhang Nuo had actually advanced to the Nascent Soul Middle Stage. Such a terrifying speed of advancement was like a monster! It was simply unheard of!

"Fourth Brother! You... you really advanced!"

Yang Huzi finally closed his wide-open mouth, walked around Zhang Nuo several times, and then asked this question.

"Yes!"

Feeling somewhat uncomfortable being watched by Yang Huzi, Zhang Nuo gave a soft affirmative. After receiving his personal confirmation, Zhou Huizheng and the others were even more shocked!

To go from the Initial Stage to the Middle Stage in a few years was such an incredible thing! Especially Liu Qingshan, whose eyes never left Zhang Nuo's body. Although he knew Zhang Nuo was extraordinary, he had never thought he would be such a heaven-sent talent! It seemed the bet he had placed on Zhang Nuo was correct!

After briefly asking about Zhang Nuo's breakthrough to the Middle Stage, Zhou Huizheng saw that Zhang Nuo was unwilling to talk about it, so he did not ask further!

For the remaining time, Liu Qingshan told Zhang Nuo about the things that had happened recently. There was nothing else of note, but when Taixu Palace was mentioned, Zhang Nuo's eyes suddenly lit up!

"Is Taixu Palace's offensive fierce recently?"

"Hmph! Those guys are too busy to look after themselves now! How would they have time to come and attack us!"

Yang Huzi snorted coldly, but there was a hint of anger on his face!

"What happened?"

Zhang Nuo looked surprised. Back then, Taixu Palace had gathered quite a few people to attack Yulong Immortal Mountain; how could something else have happened in the blink of an eye!

"That Wei Laogui brought this upon himself; the Hongjun Immortal Mountain he occupied has been seized by others!"

What Liu Qingshan said was originally something that would make people feel gratified, yet his face remained full of worry!

"Isn't this good news? Taixu Palace even had their nest taken!"

Zhang Nuo glanced at the expressions of the three and felt they were not happy. Could it be that even if the opponent had no place to stand, it was not something to be gratified about?

"Fourth Brother, you don't know. When Wei Laogui gathered many forces to attack Yulong Immortal Mountain, one of the reasons was to divert the attention of everyone eyeing Hongjun Immortal Mountain. He wanted to use the pretext of breaking through Yulong Immortal Mountain to stabilize Taixu Palace's position on Hongjun Immortal Mountain! But now that Hongjun Immortal Mountain has been snatched away, even if Wei Laogui has to risk his life, he will take Yulong Immortal Mountain! Before long, what we will face is a life-and-death battle!"

Zhou Huizheng's face turned somewhat pale, and when he said the words "life-and-death battle" at the end, his fists were clenched tightly!

"Why doesn't Taixu Palace take back Hongjun Immortal Mountain? You must know that Hongjun's ranking is much higher than Yulong's!"

Zhang Nuo was still somewhat puzzled.

"They simply cannot take it back!"

Yang Huzi stood where he was, his face equally gloomy! Zhang Nuo took a slight breath of cold air! Yang Huzi's words left him completely bewildered. What kind of force had seized the Immortal Mountain, leaving Taixu Palace without the ability to take it back!

"Who seized Hongjun Immortal Mountain?"

"I heard it is an organization called the 'Great Underworld Mansion'!"

The moment the three words "Great Underworld Mansion" were uttered, Zhang Nuo's expression changed drastically. He did not expect that the Great Underworld Mansion would have such power, being able to snatch Hongjun Immortal Mountain in an instant!

Seeing Zhang Nuo's expression flickering, Zhou Huizheng guessed that he might know something about the Great Underworld Mansion!

"Fourth Brother, do you know the Great Underworld Mansion?"

Nodding slightly, Zhang Nuo recounted the events that had occurred on the Tianjiang Plain.

"Could that person who claimed to be the Demon Emperor be the last Demon Emperor from tens of thousands of years ago?"

Only at this moment did Zhou Huizheng finally understand many things; he had heard rumors about the mystery of the Great Underworld Mansion back then, but so much time had passed that he had not expected them to still possess such formidable strength. As for that Demon Emperor, although his cultivation was relatively high, he was likely just a lackey for the Great Underworld Mansion!

"No wonder it was said that there was only one Nascent Soul Stage cultivator among this group, yet they still managed to seize the Hongjun Immortal Mountain!"

Liu Qingshan let out a long sigh; now everything was finally sorted out! Given the various strange and terrifying rumors about the Great Underworld Mansion, even without the existence of a Demon Emperor, they should have been able to take the Immortal Mountain!

"So they were unwilling to easily occupy the Immortal Mountain before because they were waiting for the big fish to appear!"

Zhang Nuo gave a cold smile, but in his heart, he thought again of the red-haired man Chi Bilie and the old man Jin Buhuan who had escaped from his hands!

"Pavilion Master! The strength of the Demon Emperor in the Great Underworld Mansion is not the most terrifying thing. If you encounter a person named Qin Xiaofeng in the future, you must never fight him head-on! Although he only has Golden Core Stage cultivation, his strength is enough to contend with Nascent Soul Stage cultivators. Even the Nanxuan Laozu back then could do nothing about this person!"

Zhang Nuo was the only person in the Giant Spirit Pavilion who had come into contact with the Great Underworld Mansion, so his words were not taken lightly! However, looking at the current situation, Zhou Huizheng and the others would not be encountering the cultivators of the Great Underworld Mansion for the time being. The most urgent matter at hand was to prepare the defenses of the Yulong Immortal Mountain and await the mad-dog-like counterattack from Wei Shang of the Taixu Palace!

Because of the Giant Spirit Pavilion, the Immortal Mountain had been lost, and this debt would naturally be settled on Zhou Huizheng's head; perhaps this time, the Yulong Immortal Mountain would truly be stained with blood!