Chapter 621: Preaching the Dao in Haogao Town

Seeing Zhang Nuo come out, Zhou Qian and the others immediately stepped forward to pay their respects!

"How has the Human Emperor been resting?"

"It is fine!"

Zhang Nuo spat out these two words indifferently, swept his gaze over the crowd, and then continued:

"Have you all been waiting here the whole time?"

"Yes, Human Emperor. We juniors have a presumptuous request; we would like to ask the Human Emperor to preach the Dao to us for one day!"

As Zhou Qian spoke, he watched Zhang Nuo out of the corner of his eye, ready to retract what he had just said the moment he noticed the Human Emperor's expression turn sour! After all, standing before them was a Human Emperor of the Human Emperor Realm; even if he refused to preach to them, it would be a perfectly natural thing!

"Very well! But there is only enough time for four hours!"

After hesitating for a moment, Zhang Nuo said in a deep voice! He had not wanted to agree to Zhou Qian's request, but this was the Human Emperor Realm, his own territory; if he were to refuse just like that, it would be very unfavorable for establishing his prestige in the future!

"Many thanks, Human Emperor! Four hours is enough!"

A wave of wild joy appeared on their faces; being able to receive guidance from this Human Emperor would likely save them, these low-level cultivators, a great deal of cultivation time!

That day, right in the main hall of the Zhou Mansion, several prominent figures of Haogao Town arrived. They stood respectfully below, listening to Zhang Nuo, who sat in the main seat, expounding on the path of cultivation! Among these people, there was one purple-robed youth whose cultivation had already stepped into the Integration Early Stage, yet his appearance was very young!

At the beginning, Zhang Nuo had not noticed this person, but later on, he discovered that while everyone else was listening to his preaching intently, only this person kept staring at him. Deep within the pupils of his eyes, there seemed to be a wisp of blue light flickering. With the sharpness of Zhang Nuo's Divine Sense, he was actually unable to probe the truth of it!

Burying his doubts, Zhang Nuo spent four hours and finally finished his lecture. At this time, many cultivators thanked him and left one after another. The youth with the blue light in his eyes, who had been there before, also wanted to turn and leave, but he was called back by Zhang Nuo!

"Fellow Daoist, stay a moment! This Emperor has a few words to ask you!"

The purple-robed youth was stunned for a moment, but he still stopped his movements, turned back, and asked with an expressionless face.

"Is the Human Emperor calling this junior?"

"Indeed. What is your name, and are you also a cultivator of Haogao Town?"

Zhang Nuo said with a stern gaze, and that air of natural authority made the purple-robed man slightly startled! At this moment, Zhou Qian, who had not yet left, hurriedly walked up to smooth things over:

"Human Emperor, he is a relative of this old man. Hearing that the Human Emperor was preaching here, he came specifically to listen to the Human Emperor's Daoist arts!"

"Oh! So that is how it is. What is your name?"

Discovering that Zhou Qian kept his head lowered while speaking and dared not meet his gaze directly, Zhang Nuo felt there must be something strange about this! When his gaze turned back to the purple-robed man, it already held a bit more hostility!

Forced by the biting aura radiating from Zhang Nuo, the purple-robed man took a few steps back, and the expression on his face also became unnatural!

"This junior is named Zhou Peng! Zhou Qian is this junior's uncle!"

"Zhou Peng! Looking at your cultivation, it is already not weak. What kind of divine ability did you just activate in your eyes?"

Zhang Nuo took a step forward, and immediately, a pressure like a collapsing mountain and an overturning sea was applied directly onto Zhou Peng. Even though Zhou Peng had reached the Integration Early Stage, he still could not withstand the pressure Zhang Nuo had intentionally exerted. His entire body instantly tensed up, and he used his cultivation power to resist!

At this moment, Zhou Qian's face changed drastically; he had not noticed at all what divine ability Zhou Peng had used while listening to Zhang Nuo's lecture!

Seeing Zhou Qian's expression, Zhang Nuo guessed the situation roughly. He grabbed at the empty air toward Zhou Peng with five fingers, and the surrounding space immediately tightened, binding him to the spot!

"Zhou Qian, who exactly is he?"

Pressed repeatedly by Zhang Nuo, Zhou Qian finally could not hold out any longer. He knelt before him with a thud and said, his body trembling like chaff:

"This person is not this junior's nephew at all. He is a cultivator who suddenly appeared at the gate of the Zhou Mansion and was willing to pay ten thousand High-grade Spirit Stones to come in and listen to the Human Emperor's lecture. This junior was greedy for a moment and brought him in!"

In a flurry of words, Zhou Qian spilled everything. This caused the cultivator who called himself Zhou Peng, trapped on the spot, to have his face change instantly! He struggled forcefully a few times, but he actually failed to escape!

Zhang Nuo ignored Zhou Qian, who was kneeling to the side, and walked a few steps to stand before Zhou Peng, looking him up and down!

"Tell the truth! Otherwise, do not blame this Emperor for being merciless!"

"I truly did not expect that the Human Emperor would have such strength, to be able to discover even such a hidden technique!"

Zhou Peng gave a cold, sinister laugh, and the fearful look from before vanished without a trace.

"You are not a cultivator from the Immortal World!"

Just now, when the other party laughed, his aura was exposed, and Zhang Nuo clearly sensed a Yin aura—a pure Yin aura! If one had not been practicing an Underworld cultivation method from the very beginning, it would be impossible to have this kind of aura on one's body!

"Since you have discovered it, I have nothing to say! Do it!"

The purple-robed man named Zhou Peng narrowed his eyes slightly, then held his head high, putting on a look of facing death with equanimity! This left Zhang Nuo somewhat puzzled; no matter how high one's cultivation is, one will eventually fear death, yet this cultivator with an Underworld cultivation method in his body was actually fearless. There must be some reason for this!

However, a moment later, Zhang Nuo smiled faintly and said:

"Very well, since you want to die so much, this Emperor will grant your wish!"

As he spoke, a flash of Yin aura moved at the center of Zhang Nuo's brow, and then the Hell Butterfly flew out from within. It circled once in front of the purple-robed man, causing his face to change drastically! The look of facing death with equanimity from before vanished!

For any Underworld cultivator, there is generally only one reason they are not afraid of death: soul retrieval, followed by reincarnation into someone else's body. Zhang Nuo had released the Hell Butterfly to tell the other party that his soul would not be able to escape either!

Sure enough, the purple-robed cultivator lost his confidence! Just as he was about to open his mouth to beg for mercy, a silver thread as thin as a hair shot out from the ground not far away! It pierced directly through the purple-robed man's heart!

In an instant, the purple-robed man turned into a pool of black blood, not even leaving behind a scrap of bone! Zhang Nuo and Zhou Qian both gasped in shock. To be able to kill someone right under the nose of a Refining Void Stage cultivator meant the other party's cultivation was certainly no lower than the Refining Void Stage!

Furthermore, Zhang Nuo's Divine Sense had been wide open, constantly monitoring everything around him. For someone to be able to launch a sneak attack successfully under his powerful Divine Sense, it seemed this person must know some kind of technique to conceal their cultivation!

Sweeping his gaze quickly over the black blood the purple-robed cultivator had turned into and seeing it had no value, Zhang Nuo flashed and flew out of the hall! He stomped his foot hard on the ground, and immediately the earth shook, with spiritual light erupting from the ground for several miles around!

At the same time, on a certain street in Haogao Town, a figure was forced out of the ground by this shaking power, but very quickly, they submerged back into the ground!

In that fleeting instant, Zhang Nuo's Divine Sense immediately sensed the abnormality. He transformed into a streak of light and rushed toward that street! The cultivators of Haogao Town all knew that the current Human Emperor had arrived in the town, and upon seeing a powerful escape light rise from the Zhou Mansion, they all guessed it might be the Human Emperor!

Especially with the spiritual light that had just appeared on the surrounding ground, it made them feel even more that something was wrong! Everyone's gaze turned toward the direction Zhang Nuo was speeding toward!

With a few flashes of his figure, Zhang Nuo had already flown out of Haogao Town. He opened his Divine Sense wide again, and at the same time, as he closed and opened his eyes, a wisp of Yin aura appeared within his pupils!

Sweeping his gaze over the nearby ground, a cold sneer appeared at the corner of Zhang Nuo's mouth. The next moment, his figure flickered, and Xuan Jin separated from his body!

"Go underground! You must drag that fellow out for me!"

"Understood!"

Answering with these two simple words, Xuan Jin transformed into a golden light and vanished into the ground in the blink of an eye! Then, Zhang Nuo's escape light rose again, and he flew off in a certain direction!

Two months later, Zhang Nuo appeared in a dense forest, with Xuan Jin standing by his side, his expression very grave!

"It is here; that thing disappeared without a trace after running here!"

Listening to Xuan Jin's account, Zhang Nuo nodded slightly and let Xuan Jin return into his body!

"Fellow Daoist, since you could easily kill someone right in front of this Emperor, why do you not dare to come out and meet me?"

He seemed to be speaking to the air, but Zhang Nuo silently circulated his Mysterious Technique, and his voice carried very far; a moment later, a light chuckle emerged from the ground!

Just a few dozen zhang away from Zhang Nuo, a wisp of yin energy rose from the ground, and this yin energy slowly condensed into a human figure!

This person wore a black brocade robe, a black-gold hair-binding crown on his head, and a jade hairpin inserted horizontally; his complexion was somewhat greenish, giving off a sinister feeling. Although it was only a figure, the pressure on his body was not weak at all, possessing the strength of the Late Void Refinement Stage!

"As I expected, which king of the Underworld's split soul are you?"

Truly sensing the aura on the figure, Zhang Nuo recalled that powerful soul that had passed through the ground back when he was at Twin Peaks.

"Oh! It seems the Human Emperor knows quite a lot! To think you knew at a glance that this king comes from the Underworld!"

The black-robed figure was slightly surprised, but he quickly regained his composure and said:

"This king is Qin Guang Wang, one of the Ten Kings of the Underworld!"

Although Zhang Nuo was shocked inside, he did not show it on his face. Qin Guang Wang was ranked first among the Ten Kings of the Underworld; this did not mean his technique was the most powerful, but rather that the hall he occupied was Di Yi Dian, the very place in the Underworld specifically responsible for collecting souls!

After people die, the first place they arrive at is the hall where Qin Guang Wang resides.

This hall is specifically in charge of the lifespan and death of all living beings in the world, managing the fortune and misfortune of the netherworld, and guiding the virtuous to ascend; those whose merits and demerits are equal are sent to Di Shi Dian to be processed and cast back into the world, men turning into women and women into men. Those with more evil than good are escorted to the high platform to the right of the hall, known as the Mirror of Retribution, where they are made to look and see the good or bad of their hearts while they were alive, and are then immediately sent to Di Er Dian to be sent to prison and suffer.