Chapter 439: Holding Up a Piece of the Sky

"Snap!"

Following this soft sound, a palm gently patted Yang Huzi on the shoulder!

"I say, Third Leader! You don't intend to face this bunch from the Great Underworld Mansion all by yourself, do you? Or are you hoping to snag some benefits for yourself?"

The voice of the person speaking was extremely gentle, yet lacked no force of character!

Hearing this familiar voice, Yang Huzi's heart stirred. He found it hard to believe; the voice was so familiar, it was as if... as if it were Zhang Nuo's! He slowly turned his head back, and a young face appeared in his eyes! Who else could it be but Zhang Nuo? Not only that, behind Zhang Nuo were many Giant Spirit Pavilion cultivators. Those disciples who had originally packed their bags, prepared to leave the Xian Mountain, had all picked up the Magic Treasures in their hands and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Liu Qingshan and the others!

"Third Leader! Fourth Master is back! We aren't leaving either! Even if we die, we will stay with Yulong Immortal Mountain!"

Liu Qingshan shouted with his arms raised, driving the cultivators behind him to cry out in unison!

"Yulong is our home! We aren't going anywhere!"

Wave after wave of sound rang through the sky. Yang Huzi, a man of iron-willed integrity, almost shed tears! With trembling hands, he grabbed Zhang Nuo and looked him up and down incessantly, unable to believe that Zhang Nuo was actually still alive, and looking even more formidable than before!

"Old Fourth! You... you're back, this is truly wonderful!"

"We can save the reminiscing for later; let me first deal with this bunch of scum from the Great Underworld Mansion!"

Zhang Nuo's gaze turned cold. His figure slowly arrived at the entrance of the Xian Mountain. Looking at the bewildered Shi Liang, he shrugged his shoulders and let out a cold laugh!

"Shi Liang, so many years have passed. Today, I finally have the chance to execute you to pay respects to Sect Master Sun!"

The Sect Master Sun that Zhang Nuo spoke of naturally referred to Sun Yiyang, the figure who had perished together with the Divine Sword Sect back then!

"You little brat, how are you still alive to come back!"

Shi Liang had met Zhang Nuo many times before, but had never dared to face him head-on. Now, seeing Zhang Nuo's cultivation base greatly increased, a desire to retreat arose in his heart! At the same time, he cursed Qin Xiaofeng thoroughly in his mind. Wasn't it said that there was only one Nascent Soul stage cultivator in the Giant Spirit Pavilion, Yang Huzi? Where did Zhang Nuo pop out from?

"I came back to take your dog life!"

Suddenly, just as Zhang Nuo's voice fell, he took a small step forward with one foot. Yet this single step instantly crossed a distance of nearly a hundred zhang, arriving right in front of Shi Liang in the blink of an eye!

At this moment, the distance between the two was less than three zhang. Shi Liang gasped; at such close range, if Zhang Nuo launched an attack, he would absolutely have no chance to dodge!

He who strikes first gains the advantage; he who strikes later suffers! Having mingled in the Great Underworld Mansion for many years, Shi Liang was long since ruthless. He opened his mouth abruptly, and a Flying Sword flew out from it, flashing with spirit light as it slashed toward Zhang Nuo!

"Hmph! Traitor! Pay with your life!"

With a cold snort, Zhang Nuo did not dodge Shi Liang's Flying Sword. With a flick of his robe sleeve, a white radiance flashed out. This white radiance was like light and electricity, flashing once to strike the incoming Flying Sword!

"Hum!"

After a vibrating sound, Shi Liang's Flying Sword was knocked hundreds of zhang away, falling straight toward the ground! This time, Shi Liang was even more panicked! A single strike had destroyed all the Spirit Power on his Magic Treasure! What kind of divine ability had Zhang Nuo cultivated?

However, he had no time to think about this now. As his escape light rose, he wanted to flee! Zhang Nuo let out a long whistle, and with another flick of his robe sleeve, several streaks of white light flashed out! These white lights were so fast that one could almost only see a tiny dot! In a few flashes, they reached Shi Liang!

The tenth layer of the "Shangqing Sword Art" had pushed the speed of the Flying Sword to its peak! Previously, when the Flying Sword streaked across the sky, it would leave behind trails of shadows, but this time, it left no trace at all, as if it had appeared out of thin air!

Seeing over a dozen streaks of white light closing in, Shi Liang's body spun rapidly downward, barely dodging the strike. But before he could change direction to flee again, Zhang Nuo's second strike arrived! A small silver ruler, narrow and long, flashed with spirit light and pierced directly through Shi Liang's heart!

Not until the small ruler passed through his chest did Shi Liang realize he had been hit! And it was a fatal blow, with no possibility of survival!

With a spurt of blood, Shi Liang grabbed the small ruler embedded in his body with one hand, while his other hand slapped hard against his crown. With a flash of green light, a Nascent Soul flew out!

One could see the Nascent Soul holding a Flying Sword in its hands. As soon as it appeared, it stepped onto the Flying Sword, and with a flash of green light, it fled rapidly toward the distant sky!

Zhang Nuo had killed the leader of the Great Underworld Mansion with almost no effort, leaving the thousands of people behind in astonishment! Among these people, Shi Liang had the highest cultivation, followed by a few Golden Core stage cultivators, with the rest all being Foundation Establishment stage cultivators!

Seeing that the situation was bad, the group from the Great Underworld Mansion wanted to turn and flee!

Zhang Nuo flipped his wrist lightly, and the "Measuring Heaven Ruler" spun over Shi Liang's corpse. Immediately, a loud boom followed, and Shi Liang's corpse turned into a Blood Mist filling the sky along with the sound!

He glanced toward the upper diagonal, just in time to see Shi Liang's Nascent Soul riding the Flying Sword in a rapid escape! However, Zhang Nuo did not immediately pursue, but said loudly to the ground below:

"Leave these people to you! I am going to destroy Shi Liang's Nascent Soul!"

Yang Huzi looked at the ground in surprise. Had Zhang Nuo brought help back? But where were they? Just as everyone was confused, several pillars of white light erupted from the ground below. Each of these pillars was over two zhang thick, and the moment they shot up, a massive might appeared with them!

Among the cultivators of the Great Underworld Mansion, several pillars of light exploded almost at the same time! After several loud rumbles, the entire sky was rippled by an invisible, massive force, and the void collapsed. Some Great Underworld Mansion disciples with lower cultivation could not even resist the powerful impact generated by the bursting light pillars, and their bodies instantly shattered into pieces!

Other cultivators with more combat experience had sacrificed defensive Magic Treasures early on. Although they withstood the strike, they were not lightly injured. The overall combat strength of the Great Underworld Mansion group dropped by a large margin in an instant!

Just as the bursting sounds faded, a rainbow light rose from the ground and arrived near Zhang Nuo in a few flashes! It was Su Haizhen!

"The formation was set up in a rush, so its full might wasn't unleashed!"

Looking at her handiwork, Su Haizhen shook her head, very dissatisfied! Zhang Nuo clicked his tongue! He thought to himself: Still not satisfied? My dear lady, that strike of yours just now nearly wiped out more than half of the Great Underworld Mansion's cultivators!

Yang Huzi and the others behind, upon seeing Su Haizhen appear, immediately understood that the pillar explosion just now must have been her doing! For a moment, the momentum of the Giant Spirit Pavilion surged! They had been worried about being wiped out just a moment ago, but in an instant, the battle situation had changed!

Even with Liu Qingshan and the others' strong mental fortitude, they were greatly shocked!

"Third Leader, we should charge over now!"

"Right! Let's charge! Let these guys from the Great Underworld Mansion suffer a bit more!"

Before Yang Huzi could even speak, the Giant Spirit Pavilion cultivators behind him were shouting in unison!

"Good! Everyone, attack together! Don't leave a single one, kill to your heart's content!"

With a long whistle, the pent-up anger in Yang Huzi's heart finally had a chance to be released. He was the first to charge into the fray, unleashing all his divine abilities like a fierce tiger falling into a flock of sheep. Streaks of blood light constantly erupted around him, and Liu Qingshan and the others behind him, unwilling to fall behind, also activated their Magic Treasures to fight and kill the Great Underworld Mansion group!

"You stay here to help them! I'm going to chase down Shi Liang's Nascent Soul!"

After Zhang Nuo said this to Su Haizhen, his escape light rose, and he chased in the direction the Nascent Soul had fled! This time, he would not let Shi Liang go no matter what! After chasing for several miles, Zhang Nuo discovered with surprise that the Nascent Soul was riding that Flying Sword at an incredibly fast speed!

With a cold laugh, Zhang Nuo moved his shoulders slightly, and a pair of pitch-black Butterfly Wings a zhang wide rose from his back. As the wings flapped, his escape speed instantly increased significantly! In the blink of an eye, he left a lingering shadow in mid-air as he pursued the Nascent Soul!

The Nascent Soul was fleeing for its life. Suddenly, it looked back and saw Zhang Nuo chasing, its face changing in terror. Its tiny hands kept changing hand seals, frantically driving the Flying Sword beneath its feet! But no matter how fast it was, it could not escape Zhang Nuo, who had activated his Butterfly Wings!

In a few flashes, Zhang Nuo caught up to the rear of the Nascent Soul. With a quick flip of one hand, a pale blue Small Tripod appeared in his hand! After casting several incantations into the Small Tripod, a purple electric arc surged out from it. These electric arcs expanded and grew, finally manifesting into a giant hand three zhang in size, which grabbed down toward the fleeing Shi Liang!

"Ah! ~"

A cry of alarm escaped the Nascent Soul, and at the same time, its figure, along with the Flying Sword beneath its feet, were all grabbed into that giant purple electric hand!

After a flash, the electric hand carried the Nascent Soul back into the tripod! With a satisfied smile, Zhang Nuo flipped his palm again, the Four Spirits Square Cauldron disappeared, and he turned and returned to the gate of Yulong Immortal Mountain!

By this time, those Great Underworld Mansion cultivators had long since fled without a trace, leaving only some Giant Spirit Pavilion cultivators cleaning up the battlefield. Seeing Zhang Nuo return, these people all raised their heads, looking at him with a gaze of reverence!

This young cultivator had given the Giant Spirit Pavilion too many surprises! Everyone felt a sense of awe toward him in their hearts! Especially Yang Huzi! He stared blankly at Zhang Nuo for a long time; for some reason, he vaguely felt that the sky above Yulong Immortal Mountain was being held up by Zhang Nuo alone!