CHAPTER 1917: CHAPTER 1918: THE DEMONIC PATH’S RETURN GIFT

On the side, Yu Shuang softly chanted Xu Nanzhi’s name, watching that fearless back, refreshing her understanding of her once again.

Yu Shuang knew clearly that Xu Nanzhi kept her by her side definitely not because she wanted her help.

Moreover, in this bombardment of the violent Breath of Destruction, even if she wanted to intervene, there was absolutely no way to do so.

This was already a part of the Sword Momentum from enemies and allies, that aura intending to annihilate everything around. If she stepped in, she would inevitably be affected, only adding trouble to Xu Nanzhi.

Yet even in the face of Xu Nanzhi’s such frenzied offensive, Cui Manlou still wore an effortlessly calm demeanor.

After easily resolving Xu Nanzhi’s attacks time and again with a flick of his finger, he softly said: "Xu Nanzhi, why bother like this? You should be very clear that even if you truly give up your life here, you couldn’t harm me in the slightest."

"Is that so? Then why don’t you try taking one of my sword strikes head-on?"

Without the slightest hesitation, Xu Nanzhi raised the Weak Water Sword in her hand high and slashed down heavily.

Using the sword as a blade, the rushing water flowed in the air, turning into a roaring water dragon attacking Cui Manlou’s face.

Seeing the menacing sword strike, Cui Manlou finally took a step back, raising his hand, numerous strands of Demonic Qi behind him surged, transforming into countless ghastly hands clashing with the water dragon, deadlocking in front of Cui Manlou.

Watching Cui Manlou in such a state, Xu Nanzhi sneered, speaking with disdain.

"It seems the hardest part of your Nascent Soul body should be your mouth, right?"

"Boring."

Cui Manlou coldly replied, too lazy to engage in a futile war of words with Xu Nanzhi.

He indeed could fend off Xu Nanzhi’s offensive, wave after wave, not just Xu Nanzhi; for anyone, he had the confidence to remain undefeated beneath the Earth Immortal level.

But even so, he was still under the Earth Immortal level.

Beneath the Earth Immortal, he’s inevitably restricted by the same realm Heavenly Dao Laws.

He understood well that even he couldn’t take Xu Nanzhi’s attack imbued with the Breath of Destruction lightly.

While fending off Xu Nanzhi’s offensive, Cui Manlou’s gaze slightly shifted, moving to the companion on the side who was already targeted by Long Ao Tian and the three beasts, naturally understanding Xu Nanzhi’s true purpose for doing all this.

"Stalling for time, is it? Even so, what could you do? Failing to eliminate me, tearing apart this Prohibition is only a matter of time. This place will eventually fall into my hands. That passage will eventually be used by our Demon Clan."

"Not necessarily!"

Xu Nanzhi finally spoke, then refrained from any Divine Sense communication with Cui Manlou.

She knew the other party was using this method to probe her true purpose, and at this moment, as she only needed to buy time for Yu Yanshu and the others, she naturally wouldn’t expose any hints.

Xu Nanzhi didn’t know what more the opponent had in reserve. Facing such a person with no confidence in handling them, the more the opponent knew, the more dangerous she became, conversely, making herself safer.

Surely, in a state of internal hesitance, Cui Manlou’s actions became notably cautious.

Choosing what seemed to be the most conservative and safest approach, not giving Xu Nanzhi any chance to hurt him, occasionally even attempting to stop Long Ao Tian and others when he had spare power.

Fortunately, Bai Qiu did not let down his guard because of Xu Nanzhi’s presence. Though slightly injured, he ultimately joined forces with Ling Xiao to neutralize Cui Manlou’s attack.

Yu Shuang saw all this, finally understanding why Xu Nanzhi kept her close.

As long as she didn’t take action, in Cui Manlou’s eyes, she was like an unstable time bomb.

Though not sure why, Yu Shuang distinctly felt that the Demonic Path practitioner named Cui Manlou had a strange dread of her.

Yet, when everything was deadlocked, a giant tremor struck from all directions.

With the emergence of the tremor, the rules of the entire space began to twist, chaotic space storms even tore some cracks, turning into turbulent flows indiscriminately attacking everyone.

This situation forced Xu Nanzhi and Cui Manlou to put aside their standoff, expending effort to deal with the sudden space turbulence first.

After all, both of them were not Earth Immortals; for them lacking an Earth Immortal Body, the danger posed by space turbulence was not a bit less than the Heavenly Dao Breath.

And in the span of dozens of breaths, the space turbulence utterly dissipated, leaving Yu Shuang with several new visible scars.

Yu Shuang stood by, always vigilant against Cui Manlou seizing the chaos to attack.

But what puzzled both Xu Nanzhi and Yu Shuang was that the evidently more effortlessly handling space turbulence Cui Manlou did not take this golden opportunity to attack them but after pondering for a moment, he looked up at Xu Nanzhi.

"This turbulence wasn’t arranged by you?"

Xu Nanzhi sneered: "You guess?"

Gazing at Xu Nanzhi’s expression, it seemed that Cui Manlou’s competitive spirit was fully roused, as he coldly smiled, looking at the woman before him.

"Xu Nanzhi, you truly intrigued me. A woman like you following by Su Chengyu’s side is such a waste."

"No need to repeat useless words, right?" Xu Nanzhi spoke coldly, clearly uninterested in continuing on this topic.

"Rest assured, I know you can’t possibly join this side right now. But the future is long. Moreover, didn’t you just ask me to guess? Then let me share my thoughts."

Cui Manlou spoke, glancing around: "Space turbulence exists between the barrier of Cave Heaven and heaven and earth; this Cave Heaven belongs to the transformation of the Lord of the Sect, and causing such a huge disturbance to the Lord of the Sect. I reckon on one side, the Lord of the Sect is doing something, along with that young Sect Leader from Qingcheng Sect who entered with you."

Xu Nanzhi’s expression gradually turned grim, but to avoid revealing more, she did not say a word in response.

"No need to be so tense, since I’ve spoken, I’m already certain. No matter how you react, it won’t change my thoughts. I was very puzzled before, why you bothered to trap me here, as you and I both know, nothing you do can pose any danger to me in the slightest. But now I understand, you’re stalling for time, stalling for the Lord of the Sect and that young Sect Leader. Escaping this place is improbable, so there’s only one thing you could be doing: reshaping the seal."

Xu Nanzhi struggled to keep her expression unchanged, merely staring at Cui Manlou and saying: "Think whatever you like, anyway, I won’t let you leave."

"Xu Nanzhi, you had me guess so much. Now, let me ask you one question."

"Hmm?"

"When I’m certain what I thought is all true, why am I still wasting words discussing these things with you?"

With a smirk on his face, Cui Manlou’s expression of contempt and disdain finally shook Xu Nanzhi internally.

Clenching the Weak Water Sword, Xu Nanzhi suddenly soared, no longer using tentative attacks, gathering all her strength in this sword directly lunging at Cui Manlou.

And in the very next second, the corners of Cui Manlou’s mouth lifted again, watching everything before him, coldly sneering, saying.

"It’s indeed not easy to get you hooked. This strike is my present in return."