Chapter 196: Righteous Path Bigshots Gather! Junior Brother, Is Your Free Ride at Its End?

"The Sect Leaders of the four major Righteous Path Sects… are all actually here?!"

Gu Lan's pupils contracted sharply. Looking at the old men at the edge of the basin desperately maintaining the Formation, his scalp felt numb.

Besides the Qingyun Sect Master and the Abbot of Wanfo Temple, of the other two, one was the Heavenly Sword Sect Master, and the other was the Master of Xuanyin Pavilion.

These four old fellows, usually elusive like dragons, were all Soul Transformation Stage powerhouses. Now, they actually all ran to the bottom of the Sword Tomb to play tug-of-war with that terrifying black phantom?

"What the hell kind of level is this monster?!"

Gu Lan swallowed hard and subconsciously touched the soul-devouring sword at his waist.

[Don't touch me! I know nothing! I'm just a weak, helpless, pitiable sword!]

In his mind, the Soul-Devouring Sword Spirit was trembling even harder than he was, its voice wobbly like wave lines.

[That thing's aura is too terrifying! Even more terrifying than a thousand years ago! Boss, let's run! We can't afford to wade into these muddy waters!]

Gu Lan ignored the sword spirit's wails.

Run?

Run where?

The exit of the Sword Tomb was likely sealed off long ago. Furthermore, since Ye Hongzhuang had given him a strict order to steal the sword, if he went back empty-handed, his fate wouldn't be much better than being eaten by this monster.

"Junior Brother, what should we do?"

Jiang Wanqing gripped the taie sword tightly, a rare expression of gravity appearing on her aloof face.

"That Formation won't hold much longer. Once that monster breaks free from the chains, everyone present, including those four Sect Leaders, will probably…"

She didn't finish, but her meaning was clear.

"Don't panic yet. Let's observe first."

Gu Lan lowered his voice, staring fixedly at the battle in the center of the basin.

Every struggle of that colossal black phantom turned the faces of the four Sect Leaders a shade paler. Dense cracks covered the thick, dark-gold chains, threatening to snap at any moment.

"Prodigy! Submit to execution!"

The Qingyun Sect Master roared in anger and spat a mouthful of essence blood onto the ancient azure seal above his head.

"Buzz—!"

The ancient seal blazed with brilliant light, transforming into the phantom of a towering azure mountain that slammed heavily down toward the black phantom.

"Amitabha! Great Mighty Celestial Dragon!"

The Abbot of Wanfo Temple also pressed his palms together. Behind him, the Angry-Eyed Vajra avatar snapped its eyes open, shooting out two beams of golden Buddhist light like sharp swords, pinning down the phantom.

The Heavenly Sword Sect Master and the Xuanyin Pavilion Master didn't dare to slack off either. Exerting every ounce of their strength, they pushed their respective Sect-protecting treasures to their absolute limits.

Four Soul Transformation Stage supreme experts joining forces—such a scene was rare even in a thousand years.

"Jie jie jie…"

However, facing this world-destroying strike, the black phantom did not retreat. Instead, it let out a grating, strange laugh.

"Just a few ants like you think you can suppress this venerable one?"

"It's been a thousand years! Your Formation has long been riddled with holes!"

"Today, this venerable one shall see the light of day again and slaughter all you hypocrites down to the last!"

Boom!

With its furious roar, the black phantom suddenly expanded a notch.

An outburst of Devilish Qi ten times more terrifying than before erupted, shattering the crushing azure mountain phantom into dust!

"Pfft!"

Taking the brunt of the blow, the Qingyun Sect Master spat a mouthful of blood and flew backward, slamming heavily into the basin's rock wall.

"Sect Leader!"

Gu Lan, Jiang Wanqing, and the others hiding in the dark gasped in alarm at the same time.

"Oh no! The Formation is broken!"

The Abbot of Wanfo Temple's expression changed drastically. Behind him, the Angry-Eyed Vajra avatar also began to crack inch by inch under the assault of the Devilish Qi.

"Crack! Crack!"

The dark-gold chains holding the black phantom finally couldn't withstand the terrifying power and snapped one after another!

"Hahaha! This venerable one is out!"

The black phantom let out an earth-shattering wild laugh. With a sudden surge, it completely shattered the remaining chains on its body.

And then…

It slowly condensed in midair, ultimately turning into a black humanoid monster dozens of zhang tall.

It had no facial features, only a pair of eyes burning with crimson flames. Its body was composed entirely of dense Devilish Qi and fragmented Sword Intent, radiating a suffocating aura of death.

"Is this… an ancient Demon God Remnant Soul?!"

Hongxiu covered her mouth, her face pale with horror.

"We're done for now! Completely done for!"

"Junior Brother, what do we do?"

The Senior Sisters all looked at Gu Lan at once. Without realizing it, this Junior Brother who used to be just a "nepotism hire" in their eyes had now become their backbone.

Gu Lan knit his brows, his mind racing.

Fight? Definitely out of the question. This thing couldn't even be handled by four Soul Transformation Stage bigshots; a Half-step Golden Core like him going up there would just be handing himself over on a silver platter.

Flee? Probably can't escape either. This monster is extremely fast and seems especially sensitive to the aura of the living.

"We can only outsmart it."

Gu Lan narrowed his eyes, staring fixedly at the monster.

Just then…

The monster's crimson eyes suddenly turned toward where Gu Lan and the others were hiding.

"Hmm? Such pure Devilish Qi…"

The monster uttered a puzzled murmur.

"And another… noble Righteous Qi that this venerable one detests!"

Whoosh!

The monster reached out a giant black demonic hand, tearing straight through space and grabbing toward Gu Lan and the others!

"Dodge!"

Gu Lan shouted loudly, pushing away the Senior Sisters beside him while rapidly retreating using the recoil of his Heavenly Flame.

Boom!

The demonic hand slammed heavily onto the boulder where they had been hiding, smashing it straight into dust.

"Playing hide-and-seek?"

The monster sneered, swinging its demonic hand once more, this time completely sealing off all of Gu Lan's retreat paths.

"Time to risk it all!"

Gu Lan gritted his teeth, the two Heavenly Flames inside his body spinning wildly as he prepared to tank this hit head-on.

Right at this critical juncture…

"Don't you dare hurt my Junior Brother!"

A crisp, delicate shout sounded out.

Jiang Wanqing, holding the taie sword, transformed into a golden streak of light and actually charged straight at that terrifying demonic hand!

"Taie—Exorcise Evil!"

The resplendent golden sword beam burst with blinding light, slashing viciously onto the demonic hand.

"Chii!"

A harsh sound of friction echoed out.

The taie sword's noble Righteous Qi possessed a natural suppressing effect against this Devilish Qi.

That demonic hand was actually carved open with a gash by Jiang Wanqing's sword strike!

"Ah!"

The monster uttered a cry of pain and yanked its hand back sharply.

"The taie sword?!"

Looking at the gleaming golden longsword in Jiang Wanqing's hands, a hint of wariness flashed in its crimson eyes, but it quickly turned into boundless greed.

"To think that after a thousand years, I would actually see this sword again!"

"Little girl, hand over the sword! This venerable one can spare your life!"

"In your dreams!"

Jiang Wanqing replied coldly, though her hand holding the sword was trembling slightly.

That strike earlier had already drained more than half of her spiritual energy.

"Refusing a toast only to drink a forfeit!"

Enraged, the monster opened its bloody maw and spat a beam of pitch-black Devilish Qi light straight toward Jiang Wanqing.

"Senior Sister, watch out!"

Gu Lan's eyes turned blood-red as he charged forward recklessly.

He pulled Jiang Wanqing into his arms and unreservedly unleashed the Heavenly Flames inside him, forming a blue and red wall of fire.

Rumble!

The Devilish Qi light beam slammed violently against the fire wall, exploding with a deafening boom.

Gu Lan felt a surge of blood churning in his chest, and with a sweet taste in his throat, he spat out a mouthful of blood.

Yet he held Jiang Wanqing tightly, refusing to take even a single step back.

"Junior Brother…"

Leaning in Gu Lan's embrace and watching him get injured to protect her, Jiang Wanqing's eyes instantly turned red with tears.

"Are you stupid?! Why didn't you run?"

"Run?"

Gu Lan wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and grinned at her.

"I have a bad habit: I'm just too used to living off a woman."

"If my 'meal ticket' is gone, how am I supposed to get by in the future?"

"You…"

Jiang Wanqing was both annoyed and touched, her tears finally overflowing.

What time did he think it was to be making jokes like this?!

"Touching. Truly touching!"

Looking at the embracing pair, the monster let out a cruel, mocking laugh.

"Since you are so deeply in love, this venerable one will send you off to be lovebirds in death!"

It raised its demonic hand again, preparing to deal them the fatal blow.

"Stop!"

Just then, a furious shout came from the edge of the basin.

The Qingyun Sect Master had stood up at some point; though his face was pale, his gaze was exceptionally firm.

"Gu Lan! You Rebellious Disciple!"

He pointed at Gu Lan and yelled furiously.

"You colluded with the demonic cult and betrayed your Sect! Your sins are unforgivable!"

"Today, this old man shall enforce justice on Heaven's behalf and purge the Sect!"