Chapter 202: Taking an Unorthodox Path! Old Ancestor, this special training of yours is a bit life-threatening!

The sound of the wind whistled past his ears, and Gu Lan felt like a little chick caught in the beak of an eagle, his internal organs sloshing around in mid-air.

I have to admit, Li Taixuan's speed in turning into a golden rainbow was absurdly fast; in less than a hundred breaths, the dense Devilish Qi and the smell of blood around him completely vanished, replaced by the refreshing and invigorating fragrance of pine wood.

"Plop!"

With a loose flick of Li Taixuan's hand, Gu Lan was directly tossed into a crystal-clear mountain cold pool.

The freezing pool water poured through his damaged robes, causing Gu Lan to shiver violently, instantly waking up his somewhat groggy brain caused by excessive blood loss.

"Cough… Cough cough! Old Ancestor, your landing method is way too brutal!"

Gu Lan poked his head out of the water, wiping the water from his face while gasping in pain.

He looked down at his chest, where the wound grazed by the spear was still oozing purplish-red blood, and the piercing pain of broken ribs constantly tortured his nerves.

"If I weren't a bit brutal, the restless Devilish Qi inside your body would blow you apart."

Li Taixuan squatted on a bluestone by the pool, uncorked his wine gourd again, tilted his head back to take a large gulp, and looked at Gu Lan with a playful gaze.

"Kid, the Purple Extreme Golden Core combined with two strange flames, plus this ancient demonic sword… How on earth did your Master Su Yunjin, that crazy woman, raise you? It's a miracle you weren't caught and sliced into pieces by those old fossils of the Righteous Path."

Gu Lan leaned against the cold rock and gave a bitter smile.

"Master… she was actually doing it for the Righteous Path."

"The Righteous Path? My ass."

Li Taixuan sneered, supporting his knee with his single arm, his gaze turning as sharp as a blade.

"In my eyes, power is power, and there is no distinction between righteous and evil. But this soul-devouring sword… its Master a thousand years ago was a cold-blooded lunatic who killed without blinking. The fact that you can suppress its ferocity and even make it develop a bit of 'cowardice' really makes me look at you in a new light."

[Big Boss… Big Boss, please plead for me! When this old man stares at me, I feel like my blade is about to crack!]

The Soul-Devouring Sword Spirit was frantically spamming in Gu Lan's mind.

"Old Ancestor, since you've seen through it, I won't put on an act anymore."

Gu Lan spat out a mouthful of foul air, and his gaze became open and untroubled.

"I am in the Demonic Cult, and I indeed have a mission. As for the void token three days from now, I must go. But before that, this body of mine…"

"Enough, stop playing the pity card. My eyes aren't so failing that I can't see the recovery power of your Top-grade Pure Yang Body."

Li Taixuan extended his single arm and sharply flicked his fingertips.

A strand of pure golden Sword Qi burst through the air, but instead of harming Gu Lan, it transformed into countless tiny golden dragons that burrowed into every pore of Gu Lan's body.

"Ugh!"

Gu Lan let out a muffled grunt.

He could feel those golden Sword Qi wildly coursing through his Meridians, and wherever they passed, his shattered blood vessels and dislocated bones were forcefully healing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

But the healing process was extremely painful, feeling as though someone were repeatedly scraping your bones with a steel brush.

"Bear with it. This is my Carefree Sword Intent helping you organize your Meridians."

Li Taixuan's tone was calm.

"Three days from now, you are going to Wanmo Cave in the Far North Ice Field. Not only is it cold there, but it is also where the Origin of the Demonic Cult slumbers. Your mixed righteous and demonic Qi will make you the best living target once you get there."

"For these three days, I won't teach you sword moves; I will only teach you one word—'Hide'."

Gu Lan's heart stirred: "Hide?"

"Hide the sword in the heart, hide the breath in the void. Turn the Purple Extreme Golden Core inside your body into an inconspicuous pebble, and turn your soul-devouring demon sword into a dull firewood-chopping knife."

Li Taixuan stood up, his Aura undergoing a heaven-shattering transformation in that instant.

"If you fail to Master it, don't even think about walking out of this back mountain. When the time comes, I'll personally cripple you myself, which is better than letting you go outside and getting sucked dry as a tonic by that girl named Ye Hongzhuang."

Meanwhile, inside the basin of the recent great battle.

The dust had settled, but the atmosphere was even tenser than before.

Jiang Wanqing tightly clutched the blood-stained Sect Leader seal, her knuckles turning pale from excessive force. She stared fixedly at the direction where Gu Lan was taken, the chill in her eyes almost overflowing.

At a spot less than three zhang away from her side, Saintess Ji Wushuang was coldly stroking the soul-locking whip in her hand.

"Fairy Jiang, have you seen enough?"

Ji Wushuang wore a sarcastic smile on the corner of her lips.

"Your Master is dead, the Sect is in chaos, and even that Junior Brother you treat like a treasure was carried away by that slovenly old man. It seems that you, the 'Number One Fairy of the Righteous Path', can't protect anything anymore except for this skin of yours."

Jiang Wanqing turned her head, her gaze like an unholstered sharp sword, piercing directly at Ji Wushuang.

"Ji Wushuang, don't get smug too early."

"Gu Lan is a Core Disciple of my Qingyun Sect, and the Supreme Grandmaster took him away to protect him. On the contrary, you… you must have heard the words of that black-robed person earlier very clearly, right?"

"Three days from now, the Far North Ice Field."

Jiang Wanqing stepped forward, and although the frost Sword Intent on her body was faint, it carried a resolute determination that would rather break than bend.

"Just what kind of poison did your Demonic Cult feed Gu Lan? To actually use his life to fill that Wanmo Cave?!"

"Poison?"

Ji Wushuang froze for a moment, then, as if hearing the greatest joke in the world, let out a burst of silver-bell-like laughter.

"You actually think that's poison? Jiang Wanqing, you are as ignorant as ever."

"Lord Cult Leader values him! In this Heavenly Demon Palace, I don't know how many people are begging to enter Wanmo Cave for a baptism and don't even have the qualifications."

A trace of imperceptible complexity flashed through Ji Wushuang's eyes.

In truth, she had no bottom in her heart either. The suppression displayed by Elder Ying was too strong, and Cult Leader Ye Hongzhuang's thoughts were unfathomable.

But in front of her archenemy Jiang Wanqing, she absolutely could not show weakness.

"As for the appointment three days from now… I advise you to obediently stay in the Qingyun Sect to keep vigil for your cheap Master."

Ji Wushuang put away her long whip and snorted coldly.

"A place like the Far North Ice Field is not somewhere a greenhouse flower like you who only knows how to shed tears can stay. Gu Lan can only live longer in the hands of my Holy Cult."

"Is that so?"

Jiang Wanqing took a deep breath, her tone suddenly turning exceptionally calm.

She lowered her head to look at the token in her palm, and the characters "Qingyun" engraved on it appeared extremely heavy under the dim moonlight.

"I, Jiang Wanqing, have cultivated the Dao for ten years, and have never disobeyed Master's orders."

"But this time, I won't listen to him."

"Since you want Gu Lan, then we'll meet at the Far North Ice Field."

Jiang Wanqing turned around, her white robes fluttering in the wind, her back appearing solitary yet as unshakable as a boulder.

She was going to the back mountain; even if the Supreme Grandmaster wouldn't let her enter, she would wait at the foot of the mountain.

She would never allow Gu Lan to disappear from her sight again, absolutely never.

In the back mountain cold pool.

Gu Lan felt that his body was almost becoming numb.

That strand of golden Sword Qi from Li Taixuan rampaged wildly inside his body, not only repairing his Meridians but also frantically polishing his Purple Extreme Golden Core.

"Old Ancestor… Does this 'Hide' technique of yours require shattering my Dantian first?"

Gu Lan asked, sweating profusely from the pain and gritting his teeth.

"Better if it shatters; only by shattering can it be reshaped."

Li Taixuan produced a dogtail grass from somewhere and bit it in his mouth, speaking indistinctly.

"Kid, watch closely. This waterfall on the back mountain, when you look at it falling, its Aura is magnificent, but when you look at it after it enters the cold pool, is there a single trace of motion left?"

Gu Lan looked up.

The hundred-zhang-wide giant waterfall above was like the Milky Way plummeting to earth, its roaring sound deafening.

But beneath this massive expanse of water, although the undercurrents were turbulent, the surface merely rippled with a faint trace.

"Flowing water does not contend for the lead; what it contends for is endlessness."

Li Taixuan's voice carried a power that struck straight at the Divine Soul.

"Your Devilish Qi is too fierce, the strange flames are too volatile, and the Pure Yang is too rigid. These three forces are fighting inside your body, and you are like a powder keg that could explode at any moment."

"Now, try to sink them all to the deepest part of the Dantian, just like the sludge at the bottom of this cold pool."

Gu Lan closed his eyes.

He tried to sense the true Qi inside his body that was like a wild horse breaking its reins.

Two strange flames leaped within his Sea of Consciousness, and the Purple Extreme Golden Core spun rapidly within his Dantian.

"Calm… calm down for me."

Gu Lan silently chanted.

But under this high-intensity healing pressure, how easy was it to calm down?

"Swish!"

Li Taixuan moved.

His toe lightly tapped the bluestone, and his figure swept across the pool surface like an afterimage.

That seemingly fragile withered branch, carrying a sharpness that pierced through the Void Realm, poked directly between Gu Lan's eyebrows.

"Can't calm down? Then I will help you pierce through that layer of window paper!"