Chapter 513: Mirage

As soon as his feet stepped onto a rock, Zhang Nuo felt a scorching heat rise from the soles of his feet. It seemed these scattered rocks had stood in the desert for years, and after being exposed to the wind and sun, the heat accumulated inside had long reached a terrifying degree!

Finding a shaded spot among the rocks, Zhang Nuo sat down and recalled his journey through the "Nine Lives Desert" over the past few days! A moment later, he let out a long sigh! It seemed he was truly lost! He couldn't even remember where he had entered from, let alone how to get out!

Lowering his head to think for a moment, Zhang Nuo flicked his sleeve, and Xuan Jin crawled out from within! Seeing Zhang Nuo's helpless expression, Xuan Jin glanced at the surroundings!

The desert stretched out endlessly, and the rolling heat waves made the air seem to steam under the sunlight!

"Xuan Jin! Go down and take a look to see if there is any place to take shelter!"

If he remained exposed in the desert for too long, the scorching heat was one thing, but it would be troublesome if he were targeted by some demonic beast. Zhang Nuo had previously encountered a group of "Mofen," and although he had escaped disaster using "Purple Lightning Wild Thunder," this did not mean that all the demonic beasts in the "Nine Lives Desert" practiced "Demonic Arts"!

Xuan Jin nodded slightly, and his body slowly disappeared into the sand! Zhang Nuo used this time to meditate and breathe, recovering the Spirit Power within his body!

After about half an hour, Xuan Jin returned! His body was slightly stained with blood!

"Master, not far from here, there is an underground cave belonging to a demonic beast. I have already killed the beast there, so we can go there to hide for the time being!"

Zhang Nuo stood up and looked at Xuan Jin with gratitude:

"Alright!"

The man and the beast quickly disappeared from the rocky hill! When Zhang Nuo appeared in the underground cave, he felt that the air inside was equally dry, and there was even a faint, fishy stench!

This cave was not large, only about three zhang in size, and there were several demonic beast carcasses around the cave! It seemed they had all been slain by Xuan Jin!

Regardless, this counted as a place to stay! Zhang Nuo reached out and cast several "Restrictions" to seal the cave, then sat down to have a good rest.

Judging from the situation when he left the "Stationing Tower," Ling Hua and Han Feiyi had likely already perished! If he hadn't escaped a step ahead, the consequences would have been the same as those three.

After staying in the cave for a full month, Zhang Nuo had recovered to his peak state, and he pondered how to walk out of this "Nine Lives Desert!"

Over the past few days, Xuan Jin had been using "Earth Escape" to scout the path in all directions, but he either encountered powerful demonic beasts or found nothing at all! Finally, unable to hold back any longer, Zhang Nuo left the cave, set his sights on a direction, and flew off! No matter how large this desert was, there would always be an end to it; as long as he flew in one direction, he would certainly be able to walk out!

Along this journey, it could be said that Zhang Nuo had a narrow escape from death nine times out of ten. The demonic beasts in the desert were strange and varied, and their various methods of ambush had truly broadened his horizons! Several times, Zhang Nuo had to resort to using the "Magic Buddha" that devoured "Divine Sense" to escape disaster!

On this day, just as Zhang Nuo was flying forward with all his might, a palace suddenly appeared in the distance! This palace was magnificent and extremely vast! Wrapped in the heat of the desert, it appeared somewhat illusory!

"Could it be a mirage?"

Zhang Nuo muttered to himself. He had encountered several mirages over these past few days, but the one he saw this time seemed a bit more real than the previous ones! Even so, he did not hold much hope in his heart; after all, who would build such a large palace in a godforsaken place like this?

Flying slowly forward, when he was still several hundred zhang away from the palace, Zhang Nuo discovered with pleasant surprise that this was not a mirage, but real!

Amidst his surprise, Zhang Nuo also reacted quickly! Whose palace was this? Since this person could build a palace in the "Nine Lives Desert," their supernatural powers must be extraordinary! If he barged in so recklessly, would he invite a fatal disaster upon himself?

When he couldn't find a place to go before, Zhang Nuo was very distressed, but now that he had found one, he was still distressed! He pondered this question repeatedly in his heart! He could not make up his mind!

Just at this moment, in the desert below Zhang Nuo, a pair of eyes were staring fixedly at him. These eyes were entirely golden, and hidden under the cover of the sand, they were not easy to detect!

Even though Zhang Nuo had been as careful as possible, he still did not discover the pair of eyes below. Just as Zhang Nuo was hovering in mid-air, deep in thought, more than a dozen streaks of light flashed out from inside the palace, their speed so fast that even Zhang Nuo could not catch up!

Upon seeing the streaks of light, Zhang Nuo was terrified. Judging solely from the light, the people coming out of the palace possessed the strength of the "Integration Stage," and there were so many of them appearing at once—what kind of place was the palace ahead?

Zhang Nuo did not move, waiting quietly for the arrival of the dozen or so cultivators! Because he knew that even if he wanted to run, it would likely be impossible to escape the pursuit of a dozen "Integration Stage" cultivators!

With a flash of brilliance, these cultivators who rushed out of the palace surrounded Zhang Nuo. These people were dressed strangely, and the powerful "Spirit Power" on their bodies acted upon Zhang Nuo like a tidal wave!

Feeling as if he were being squeezed together by several great mountains, Zhang Nuo could almost not breathe! He glanced at the group, his brows tightly knitted! Although these cultivators were in human form, he could conclude with certainty that they were all demon cultivators! This time, he had truly poked a hornet's nest!

"A human boy? Hehe, truly rare!"

Among the dozen or so demon cultivators, a large man with a black face stepped forward, looked Zhang Nuo up and down for a long time, and then said with disdain! Even if a human cultivator advanced to the "Integration Late Stage," they would not have a good outcome when facing so many demon cultivators, let alone the fact that the boy in front of him was only a cultivator at the "Spirit Transformation Initial Stage"!

"Why waste words with him? Let's just wipe him out first!"

Standing behind Zhang Nuo, a thin demon cultivator with a handlebar mustache couldn't wait; he flipped both hands simultaneously, and two golden "Magic Treasures" shaped like plates were conjured by him!

"Wait!"

The black-faced man stopped the handlebar-mustached demon cultivator from attacking. He then lowered his head to ponder for a moment and said to Zhang Nuo:

"Human boy! Who sent you here?"

Looking at the black-faced man, Zhang Nuo had an urge to cry! Even if someone were to send him to the "Nine Lives Desert," he would absolutely not have come in!

"Seniors! This one stumbled into the desert unintentionally, and because I lost my way, I disturbed the quiet cultivation of you seniors!"

Bowing to the dozen or so "Integration Stage" demon cultivators around him, Zhang Nuo answered with fear and trepidation! He was terrified that if he said the wrong thing, it would provoke these people to attack him all at once! If that were the case, let alone one Zhang Nuo, even ten Zhang Nuos would absolutely have no chance of survival!

"Lost?"

The black-faced man clearly did not believe him!

"You managed to find 'Huan Shou Gong' while lost? It seems your ability to get lost is quite something, isn't it?"

Once these words were spoken, the surrounding demon cultivators all burst into laughter. When Zhang Nuo was in the "Human Realm" before, he had never received such treatment, but times had changed; when one is under someone else's roof, one has to bow one's head!

"Seniors, this is the truth! This one is truly lost!"

He kept explaining, but the black-faced man didn't listen at all!

"It seems that if I don't show you some color, you won't tell the truth! Let's go, follow us back to the palace!"

His face hardened, and a surge of angry killing intent steamed from the man's face. After Zhang Nuo's mind raced several times, he ultimately gave up resistance! If he attacked now, perishing was inevitable! If he followed them back to "Huan Shou Gong," perhaps there might be a glimmer of survival!

Therefore, Zhang Nuo followed the group of demon cultivators into the palace very honestly! As soon as he walked in, a refreshing coolness wafted over. Zhang Nuo's whole body trembled, and he immediately felt very comfortable! Compared to the scorching heat outside the desert, this place was simply heaven!

However, Zhang Nuo was in no mood to enjoy this now. He saw that the inside of the palace was extremely vast! At the entrance was a long corridor; the black-faced man was in front, Zhang Nuo was behind, and the other demon cultivators suddenly disappeared after entering the palace! It seemed they were very confident in the black-faced man's cultivation!

Walking along the way, Zhang Nuo discovered that the cultivators inside this palace were all demon cultivators, and each of them was not weak in strength! His heart felt increasingly terrified! What exactly did so many high-level demonic beasts want to do by gathering here?

Before long, the black-faced man brought Zhang Nuo into a room. As soon as he walked in, the man raised his voice and said:

"I say, Zhan Luo! Is this the human boy you mentioned last time?"

When Zhang Nuo also walked into the room and looked around, he saw a young girl in green clothes sitting on the main seat of the room! This woman was of peerless beauty and graceful bearing, her eyes flowing with light. Her green gauze dress was only smoothed across her chest, revealing skin as white as spring snow, and she wore no shoes on her feet, exposing a pair of jade feet!

Her ten petite toes were like pear blossoms in the rain, giving people a sense of aesthetic beauty!

Seeing this woman, it was as if he had suddenly gone from winter to summer! Zhang Nuo felt his mind ripple! After the "Inner Scene Art" circulated in his body several times, he finally calmed his mood! However, when he discovered the green-clad girl's cultivation, he could not be calm again! With Zhang Nuo's sensitivity of "Divine Sense," he actually could not see through her cultivation; he only felt that the other party's cultivation was like the vast Yangtze River, bottomless!

"Haha! So it is you, boy! Truly, there is a path to heaven you do not take! You break into the door of hell where there is no way!"

A laugh full of joy interrupted Zhang Nuo's thoughts. Turning his head back to look, he saw Zhan Luo clapping his hands, his face full of wild joy!

At this moment, Zhang Nuo was completely desperate. He had hoped that by following the black-faced man into the palace, there might be a glimmer of survival, but now he had encountered Zhan Luo; it seemed his life was going to be lost here!