Chapter 527: First Battle, First Victory

Zhang Nuo's killing of Yin He happened in a very fleeting instant; by the time the crowd below looked up, they discovered that everything was already over!

Deng Tianlin felt a surge of wild joy in his heart. Previously, when Zhang Nuo made his move, he hadn't expected Zhang Nuo to be able to kill the opponent; as long as he could stall for time, that would be enough! He would finish off his own opponent and then return to help Zhang Nuo!

Yet, a major reversal had occurred right before his eyes! Zhang Nuo had been the first to slay his opponent, while the battle between Deng Tianlin and Jin E was currently at its most intense!

The numerous human cultivators on the ground below, upon seeing that Zhang Nuo had actually killed a Nine-Tier demon beast, immediately erupted into a chorus of shouts! With their morale soaring, they launched powerful techniques one after another, pressing the demon beasts back step by step!

Jin E's Divine Sense merely swept over the area and he discovered that the fellow Yin He had fallen! He cursed him inwardly for being useless, but things had reached this point; no matter how much he cursed, Yin He could not be brought back to life!

The great river above in the sky, because its master had fallen, suddenly turned into faint Spiritual Qi and vanished. Zhang Nuo glanced downward and saw that the pitch-black ground was still filled with demon beasts; these demon beasts were fearless, trampling over the corpses of their companions as they continued to charge upward!

With a slight frown, Zhang Nuo cast his gaze toward Deng Tianlin's side. Although Jin E knew his companion was dead, his formation remained completely steady; every strike he launched was aimed at a spot Deng Tianlin was forced to defend!

With a swift turn of thought, Zhang Nuo felt that if he went to help Deng Tianlin, it would be of no use at all. It would be better to take advantage of the fact that the Eight Extremes Demon Veins still had some power left and go help the human cultivators below first!

Thinking of this, Zhang Nuo's figure flickered, and he charged toward the group of demon beasts below! When he was still about a hundred feet away from those demon beasts, he flipped both his hands, and a golden hammer and a small cyan axe appeared simultaneously!

Under the infusion of Demonic Qi within his body, these two Magic Treasures rapidly expanded, finally reaching half a zhang in size! The phantom image of the Underworld King above his head reached out and grabbed the two enlarged Magic Treasures! As it separated its hands, ten thousand strands of Demonic Qi surged wildly toward the "Heaven Breaking Hammer" and the "Heaven Opening Axe"!

Zhang Nuo had pushed the Eight Extremes Demon Veins to their absolute limit, draining the surrounding Demonic Qi dry and injecting it all into the two Magic Treasures!

Demonic Qi churned on the surface of the Magic Treasures, as if what the phantom was holding in its hands were merely two great masses of Demonic Qi!

"Boom!"

The Underworld King phantom slammed the hammer in its left hand heavily onto the axe in its right! A sound of metal clashing rang out, and from the blade of the Heaven Opening Axe, a blade-light several tens of zhang long surged toward the demon beast ranks below!

After a thunderous roar, the blade-light cut through the middle of the demon beasts, carving a gap several zhang wide into the earth! It extended for several hundred zhang!

The demon beasts struck by the blade-light were almost turned into a pile of meat paste! Even some demon beasts caught in the periphery suffered no light injuries!

Before these demon beasts could react, the sound of a second heavy strike rang out! This time, another blade-light swept across the ranks of the demon beasts!

By the time the third blade-light swept across the beast horde, the demon beasts had already lost nearly half their numbers! The human cultivators looked up toward the sky, unable to believe that the attack just now had been unleashed by Zhang Nuo! Such a powerful attack was something even a cultivator at the Integration Stage might not necessarily be able to produce!

Deng Tianlin sensed the change in the beast horde and was overjoyed! Some are happy while others are sad; Jin E was fully occupied dealing with Deng Tianlin when he suddenly discovered the massive losses in the beast horde below. His heart tightened, and he swept his Divine Sense toward Zhang Nuo in mid-air, only to see that at this moment, the Demonic Qi on Zhang Nuo's body was dim—the time limit for that secret technique must have been reached!

"Damned human!"

Two glints of killing intent erupted in Jin E's eyes. He turned his body, wanting to abandon Deng Tianlin and go kill Zhang Nuo! But how could Deng Tianlin give him that chance?

Even in his prime, Zhang Nuo would absolutely not be a match for Jin E, let alone now that Zhang Nuo was exhausted! He would not let Jin E get close to Zhang Nuo no matter what!

Just as Jin E turned, Deng Tianlin grabbed at the void in the distance. With a flash of spiritual light, several Flying Swords, each an inch in size and formed entirely of Spirit Power, appeared! With a whistling sound of breaking air, these Flying Swords directly blocked Jin E!

Zhang Nuo sensed the movement on Deng Tianlin's side and looked back, only to find that Jin E was pushing toward his direction! At this moment, the effect of the Eight Extremes Demon Veins had already worn off, and he felt as if his body had been hollowed out; he couldn't muster a single bit of strength! The Underworld King phantom and the Magic Treasures above his head were also retracted into his body!

Turning his body, Zhang Nuo flew toward the interior of Anling City! Zhang Nuo did not want to be any hero; after completing his mission, his next step was to ensure his own safety!

Facing the vast army of demon beasts below, he had already done his best!

"Human brat! Don't run! Give me your life!"

Seeing Zhang Nuo about to return to the city, Jin E let out a long, urgent howl. If Zhang Nuo truly entered the city, no matter how great his divine abilities were, he would be unable to slay him!

In his desperation, Jin E's figure flickered, and suddenly a figure rushed out from his body! It was none other than an External Incarnation! He would rather weaken his main body's power slightly than let Zhang Nuo be killed outside the city!

"Zhang Nuo, watch out!"

Deng Tianlin broke out in a cold sweat; he never expected Jin E to pull such a move!

Jin E's External Incarnation was incredibly fast, catching up to Zhang Nuo's figure in a single flash! With a roar, its hands rapidly grew to over two zhang in size, transforming into two giant claws. The sharp claws radiated a chilling aura as they grabbed directly at Zhang Nuo's head!

At this moment, there wasn't a single cultivator around Zhang Nuo, and even if Deng Tianlin wanted to save him, it was impossible! Zhang Nuo felt the fierce claw-light, and the wind it stirred up brushed against his cheeks, causing a stinging, intense pain! He wanted to use his Magic Treasure to defend against this strike, but his thoughts turned swiftly, and he deemed it impossible!

A strike from an Integration Stage cultivator was simply not something his current Magic Treasure could defend against! Just as the claws were about to grab onto Zhang Nuo's head, two figures suddenly flew out rapidly from his body—they were the two Buddha-Demons!

They both blocked the two giant claws of the descending Jin E. Using this time, Zhang Nuo mobilized the last bit of Spirit Power in his body, and purple electric arcs surged from him. Amidst the rumbling sound of thunder, he transformed into a slender purple arc and vanished from where he stood!

The next moment, Zhang Nuo's figure appeared at the edge of Anling City. At the same time, the two Buddha-Demons flew back into his body, and his figure flashed, entering the city!

When his feet stood on the city wall, Zhang Nuo's heart finally settled! After looking up and revealing a faint, cold smile toward Jin E's External Incarnation, he clasped his hands behind his back and watched the battle outside the city coldly!

Jin E's External Incarnation roared in anger! After retracting its divine ability, it returned to Jin E's main body. Seeing that Zhang Nuo had safely returned to the city, the heavy weight in Deng Tianlin's heart was also lifted!

"Jin E, with your current cultivation, you are simply no match for this old man! Prepare to die!"

On the side of Anling City, because of Zhang Nuo, morale soared instantly. Even Deng Tianlin was infected by it, and without reservation, he unleashed all his divine abilities!

Although Jin E had not fully reached the Transformation Stage, his intelligence was not low. He discovered that the demon beasts below were retreating step by step; if he continued to force the issue, he feared they would fall into a state of total annihilation!

Though he was unwilling, he had no choice but to issue the order to retreat!

"Deng Tianlin! You just wait!"

Leaving behind a harsh threat, Jin E turned and transformed into a streak of light, shooting away into the distant sky! Deng Tianlin did not order a pursuit, but instead sent people to clean up the battlefield first. He himself returned to the city first, only to see Zhang Nuo still standing on the city wall, the spiritual fluctuations on his body significantly weaker!

"Haha! You brat really have a way!"

Having defended against this demon beast siege, Deng Tianlin was so happy he couldn't close his mouth! Since the Demon Beast Tide began, Anling City was the only one to have held the city with minimal losses!

"Grandmaster, I am going back to rest first!"

Zhang Nuo didn't say much more. After saying this in a weak voice, his figure transformed into a streak of light, charging toward the direction of the Seventh Team's residence! Deng Tianlin watched his departing back, and a bold thought suddenly appeared in his heart: if Zhang Nuo were given enough time and opportunity, perhaps his future achievements would surpass the current Leaders of the Three Great Powers!

This feeling was very strange, bubbling up on its own! When Deng Tianlin tried to think about it deliberately, he felt it was somewhat impossible; those people were the most elite existences in the Immortal Domain, and Zhang Nuo perhaps could not compare to them at all! He shook his head and gave a bitter smile, truly not knowing why he had such contradictory thoughts.

He glanced toward the outside of the city; everywhere his gaze reached, there were corpses of demon beasts, and the ground outside the city had almost turned red! Several hours later, the cultivators of the Third Team all returned to the residence!

When Deng Tianlin finished counting the heads, his brows furrowed slightly! In this great battle, the Seventh Team lost two Spirit Severing Stage cultivators and over a dozen Golden Core stage cultivators! If not for Zhang Nuo becoming the crucial factor in this battle, the number of fallen cultivators would likely have been several or even dozens of times higher!

Letting the other cultivators go back to rest, leaving only a small portion for patrols, Deng Tianlin finished his instructions and walked directly toward Zhang Nuo's room!

He heard from a small cultivator in the residence that Zhang Nuo had ducked into his room as soon as he returned and hadn't come out since! He paced before Zhang Nuo's door for a long time, knowing not whether he should enter; perhaps Zhang Nuo was currently in a critical period of healing!

Suddenly, the door opened, and Zhang Nuo, wearing a cyan robe, stood at the doorway with a slightly ruddy complexion!

"Grandmaster, do you have something to find me for?"

Seeing Zhang Nuo come out and looking somewhat recovered, Deng Tianlin smiled faintly and then walked into the room! Looking at Deng Tianlin's appearance, Zhang Nuo felt he must have something to tell him!