"Even so, you still must die!"
Nangong Ao roared, his body shot up, and he struck a palm towards Zhang Hao.
"Limitless Rampage!"
Zhang Hao used the second-tier Limitless Rampage. Instantly, all attributes were amplified fourfold.
"Hundred Blade Slash!"
A wave of blade shadows merged together and slashed down towards Nangong Ao.
"Break for me!"
Nangong Ao also sent out a series of palm shadows. He shattered Zhang Hao's blade wave. Inch by inch, the blade shadows were scattered.
"The Eighteenth Blade!"
This blade strike carried the power of a dragon. Coupled with the amplification of Limitless Rampage, its power far surpassed its original strength.
A terrifying power, like a great mountain, crushed down upon Nangong Ao, accompanied by the mighty and clear sound of a dragon's roar.
"Immortal Shattering Claw!"
Nangong Ao roared, unleashed a claw strike, and grabbed downwards towards Zhang Hao.
"Rumble!"
A claw and a blade collided fiercely in the void. Zhang Hao's blade strike directly shattered Nangong Ao's claw. The overbearing blade strike crushed down upon Nangong Ao with irresistible force.
Nangong Ao let out a muffled groan and retreated a hundred meters away to stand in the void. This blade strike directly wounded his shoulder, and blood stained his clothes.
Zhang Hao, having used Limitless Rampage, was also somewhat exhausted at this moment. The Eighteenth Blade of Hundred Blade Slash was originally extremely power-consuming, and coupled with the power of Limitless Rampage, his combat strength had now decreased by half. He heard over a dozen sounds of air breaking. He knew that the experts of the Nangong Family had arrived. Zhang Hao looked at Nangong Ao and let out a cold snort. He said, "We'll meet again next time. I believe I will definitely give Family Head Nangong a surprise."
After Zhang Hao finished speaking, he no longer lingered, turned around, and flew away.
Not long after Zhang Hao left, Elders such as Nangong Tai and Nangong Jing also arrived. After Great Guardian Nangong Jing saw the corpses of the six Guardians lying on the ground, his expression couldn't help but change, and he said with some difficulty, "Family Head, the Guardians..."
Nangong Ao nodded slightly and said, "That's right, they were all killed by that kid."
Nangong Jing gasped. Looking at the corpses of the six Guardians on the ground, his expression was extremely gloomy. The ten Guardians were completely annihilated. This blow to the Nangong Family was too great. The ten Guardians represented ten Martial Kings, and coupled with the four deceased Elders and the losses of the Nangong Guards, the Nangong Family was already more than just heavily injured.
Nangong Jing suddenly saw a wound on Nangong Ao's shoulder. He was greatly shocked. This Family Head was a Half-Step Martial Ancestor! Although a Half-Step Martial Ancestor was not a Martial Grandmaster, he was the number one person below the Martial Grandmaster! To think that he was also injured by Zhang Hao, this impact on Nangong Jing was too great.
"Nangong Jing, go and ask the Ancestor to come out. This time, the Nangong Family has reached a moment of life and death." Nangong Ao said with a focused gaze.
"Ah, the Ancestor?"
Nangong Jing was greatly surprised. He looked at Nangong Ao with some shock and said, "Isn't the Ancestor in death seclusion?"
Nangong Ao nodded slightly, took out a black token, and said indifferently, "The Ancestor instructed me when he was in seclusion. When he is in death seclusion, if it reaches a moment of life and death, True Qi can be poured into this token, and the Ancestor will sense it and temporarily come out of seclusion. But we only have one chance."
Nangong Jing was somewhat shocked. Nangong Family Ancestor Nangong Ba was the most outstanding figure of the Nangong Family in the past hundred years. His tenure as Family Head was during the most glorious period of the Nangong Family. There was even a trend of surpassing the royal Family of the Balong Empire. However, later, Nangong Family Ancestor was besieged by enemies. Although he killed all the enemies who besieged him, he was also critically wounded and near death. He recuperated for decades. Finally, his internal injuries healed. While healing, he found an opportunity to break through from the initial stage of Martial Grandmaster to the intermediate stage.
Upon reaching the Wu Zong Realm, the three stages are all very important, and the difference is significant. Nangong Ba had been stuck at the Peak of the initial stage of Martial Grandmaster for decades, without an opportunity to break through. Therefore, for decades, even when the Nangong Family encountered the most difficult times, they did not dare to disturb the Ancestor's seclusion.
Because the people of the Nangong Family knew the significance to the Family if Nangong Family Ancestor could break through to the intermediate stage of Martial Grandmaster.
The reason why the royal Family of the Balong Empire was wary of the Nangong Family and treated them with courtesy was primarily because of the Nangong Family Ancestor of the Nangong Family. After all, the wrath of a Martial Grandmaster expert was not something anyone could bear. Although it was rumored that Nangong Family Ancestor died from the siege, as long as the Nangong Family did not announce the news of Nangong Family Ancestor's death, the royal Family had to be wary of the Nangong Family.
However, this time, the power of the Nangong Family suffered an almost devastating blow. More than one-third of the Nangong Guards died. The ten Guardians were killed. Nearly half of the ten Elders were also killed. At this moment, it was the most dangerous time for the Nangong Family.
"Is there a problem?" Nangong Ao looked at Nangong Jing, who hadn't moved, and asked him coldly.
Nangong Jing woke up as if from a dream and said to Nangong Ao, "Family Head. No problem, I'll go do it now."
After Nangong Jing left, Nangong Ao looked at a youth beside him and asked, "What is your name?"
That youth quickly said respectfully to Nangong Ao, "This Disciple is called Nangong Ming."
This youth was precisely Nangong Ming, who had always been indignant towards Zhang Hao.
Nangong Ao looked at Nangong Ming and asked, "Why haven't I seen you before?"
Nangong Ming quickly replied, "Family Head, this Disciple entered the main Family from a branch Family of the Nangong Family."
"Why did you put Fire Scale Powder on Zhang Hao?" Nangong Ao looked at Nangong Ming with burning eyes.
Previously, the reason why the six Guardians could easily search for Zhang Hao was that they followed Nangong Ming's suggestion and found him by following the scent of the Fire Scale Powder on Zhang Hao. This was also the first time the Nangong Family accurately found Zhang Hao's whereabouts, although it cost the lives of the six Guardians.
Nangong Ming knew that the Family Head was suspicious of him, so he quickly recounted how he met Zhang Hao in the Demon Wild Forest, how they teamed up together, and then how a rift formed between him and Zhang Hao, leading to them going their separate ways. Of course, during this time, he naturally exaggerated and described Zhang Hao as utterly wicked.
Nangong Ao looked at Nangong Ming and said with satisfaction, "This time, if you can make another contribution, I can decide to let you enter the Ancestral Hall and officially become a direct descendant of the Nangong Family."
When Nangong Ming heard this, he was immediately overjoyed. He naturally knew what the Ancestral Hall of the Nangong Family represented. As long as he could enter the Ancestral Hall and become a direct descendant of the Nangong Family, it would be equivalent to reaching the heavens in one step. Although the treatment of direct descendants and branch Family members of the Nangong Family was not a world of difference, it was close. The dream of every branch Family member of the Nangong Family was to become a direct descendant of the Nangong Family.
"Family Head, this Disciple has a way to lure Zhang Hao out." Nangong Ming said, forcefully suppressing the wild joy in his heart.