Chapter 252: Extreme Push and Pull! Exalted One, this is a normal physiological response from your subordinate!

The air completely froze at this moment.

The black Demon Essence Pool water was still gently rippling around their waists, making an extremely faint "splash" sound.

"Hiss…"

Ye Hongzhuang slightly frowned, letting out an extremely light gasp.

Her phoenix eyes, as deep as a cold pool, instantly narrowed into a dangerous slit.

The fingers pinching Gu Lan's chin tightened abruptly, and her sharp armor almost pierced his skin.

"Does it feel good?"

Ye Hongzhuang's voice was frighteningly hoarse, every word seeming to be squeezed out from between her teeth, carrying a killing intent that chilled one to the bone.

"Do you want this seat to dig out her heart and let you touch it to your heart's content?"

"No, no, no! There's no need!"

Gu Lan was so terrified that his Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering, pulling back that suicidal hand as if electrocuted.

He raised his hands above his head in a posture of surrender, but because of the previous consumption and extreme tension, his body uncontrollably trembled slightly.

"Exalted One, please examine the truth! This subordinate really suffered a Qi Deviation just now, my mind was in utter Chaos, and I had no idea what I was grabbing!"

"This subordinate thought… thought I was grabbing a stone at the bottom of the pool!"

"A stone?"

Ye Hongzhuang sneered; not only did she not let go, but she instead pressed forward by an inch.

The two bare chests inevitably pressed against each other.

Gu Lan's skin, burning like fire from forming the Purple Extreme Golden Core, directly collided with Ye Hongzhuang's bone-chillingly cold delicate body.

Extreme heat and extreme cold clashed once again above the water's surface, stirring up a faint layer of water mist.

"Is the stone at your home soft?"

Ye Hongzhuang stared down at him from above, her red lips parting slightly, breathing like orchids, but that breath landed on Gu Lan's face like a knife scraping.

"Gu Lan, do you really think this seat can't bear to kill you with this bad habit of yours spouting nonsense?"

"Where was that crazy urge to swallow this seat whole when you were holding me down and kissing me just now? Why are you now cowering like a dog?"

Gu Lan looked at the peerless face close at hand, a face carrying undisguised mockery and overbearance.

He knew that if he blindly begged for mercy at a time like this, it would instead make her find him uninteresting, or even truly slap him to death.

Deep down, this Female Demon Lord loved those untamable things that dared to challenge her.

Since that was the case, he could only take a gamble!

"Gulp."

Gu Lan swallowed a mouthful of saliva with extreme difficulty, forcing himself to calm down.

He did not retreat any further, instead meeting Ye Hongzhuang's gaze head-on, a glint of recklessness even surfacing in the depths of his eyes.

"Exalted One, this subordinate is a man."

Gu Lan's voice was hoarse, carrying a trace of post-Core Formation weakness, but his tone was exceptionally firm.

"This subordinate did indeed suffer a Qi Deviation just now, but the very moment I regained consciousness, Exalted One was hanging on this subordinate's body with your clothes half-stripped."

"Exalted One is as beautiful as a Heavenly Immortal, and so proactive."

"This subordinate has just formed the Purple Extreme Golden Core, the blood and Qi in my body are churning, and my Yang Qi is flourishing."

"Under that kind of circumstance, if this subordinate didn't have some instinctive physiological response, then this subordinate wouldn't be a man, but a eunuch!"

Gu Lan said these words with righteous confidence, even carrying a bit of grievance of "I am the victim".

The main hall fell into dead silence once again.

Ye Hongzhuang clearly did not expect Gu Lan to give such an utterly rogue response.

She was stunned for a full three seconds.

Afterwards.

"Haha… Hahaha!"

Ye Hongzhuang suddenly raised her head, letting out an extremely unbridled and extremely arrogant burst of loud laughter.

The laughter echoed in the spacious underground ice hall, shaking the stalactites overhead into slight trembling.

She let go of the hand pinching Gu Lan's chin, laughing so hard that her shoulders shook, even the astonishing expanse of snowy white on her chest rising and falling violently along with it.

"What a physiological response! What an instinct!"

Ye Hongzhuang laughed so hard that a trace of tears even welled up at the corners of her eyes.

She looked at Gu Lan, the killing intent in her eyes having completely dissipated, replaced by an extremely intense appreciation and playful amusement.

"Gu Lan, you really have guts."

"You are the first person to dare phrase taking advantage of me so freshly and refined in front of this seat."

"Since you say it's an instinct…"

Ye Hongzhuang suddenly restrained her smile, her gaze turning extremely enchanting.

She extended her slender fingers, sliding them all the way down along Gu Lan's sturdy pectoral muscles, her nails gently tracing across his taut abdominal muscles, and finally stopping at the junction of the water's surface.

"Then this seat would like to see just how much fiery temper your so-called instinct really has."

Gu Lan's whole body suddenly stiffened, his scalp instantly exploding.

"Holy crap! Exalted One! You mustn't!"

Frightened, he took a heavy step back, directly falling with a thud into the shallow water area at the bottom of the Demon Essence Pool, splashing a large area of black water droplets.

"This subordinate has just completed Core Formation! My Realm is still unstable! If this fiery temper is vented, that Golden Core will be ruined!"

Gu Lan protectively guarded his lower body with both hands, his face as red as a monkey's buttocks, desperately searching for excuses.

"Look at that pathetic look of yours."

Ye Hongzhuang stood in the waist-deep water, watching Gu Lan's panicked and wretched appearance as if facing a formidable enemy, a trace of disdain and complacency flashing in her eyes.

She didn't actually intend to make a move; she just wanted to scare this audacious little undercover agent.

"Just now, in order to draw out the demonic obstacles for you, this seat expended quite a bit of Origin."

"Do you really think this seat still has the leisure to harvest you now?"

Ye Hongzhuang turned around, no longer paying attention to Gu Lan sitting in the water.

She walked toward the shore step by step.

As she walked out of the Demon Essence Pool, that black gauze dress that had originally clung tightly to her body automatically evaporated its moisture the moment it left the water surface, becoming light and graceful once again.

It was just that the gauze dress was truly too thin.

With her back facing Gu Lan, that graceful back curve and the pair of slender jade legs that faintly appeared as she walked were simply more provocative than being completely naked.

Gu Lan sat in the water, looking at that peerless beautiful back, and swallowed hard.

This woman was definitely doing it on purpose!

She was simply a natural vixen, radiating that driving-people-crazy charm at every moment.

"What are you still soaking in there for? Waiting to turn into a fossil?"

Ye Hongzhuang walked to the shore, casually picked up the black gold phoenix robe she had previously thrown on the ground and draped it over her body, speaking coldly without turning her head.

"Hurry up and get up here. Put on your clothes properly."

"Yes!"

As if granted amnesty, Gu Lan hurriedly crawled up from the water.

The moment he left the Demon Essence Pool, he clearly felt that the surrounding temperature was frighteningly low, but his body did not feel cold at all.

On the contrary, he felt as if he were a walking furnace right now.

Gu Lan lowered his head and glanced at his own body.

The small scars originally left behind from years of practicing swordsmanship had all disappeared at this moment.

His skin had become tighter than before, presenting an extremely healthy bronze color, and his muscle lines had also become smoother and full of explosive power.

Most noticeably, a few dark purple mysterious demonic patterns faintly emerged on his chest and arms.

These demonic patterns were like some kind of ancient totem, flickering slightly with his breath, emitting a horrifying coercion that made one's heart palpitate.

"Is this… the power of the Purple Extreme Golden Core?"

Gu Lan clenched his fist, only feeling as though his finger joints contained the power to crush rocks and mountains.

With a thought in his mind, his Divine Sense instantly sank into his Dantian.

In the center of the Qi Sea, which had expanded more than tenfold.

A dragon-eye-sized Golden Core of entirely purple-gold color was quietly floating there.

On the surface of the Golden Core, nine extremely clear black demonic patterns wound around it like chains.

And beneath those nine demonic patterns, there was also a faint, extremely subtle tenth demonic pattern!

This tenth demonic pattern was extremely covert; if Gu Lan had not inspected his own interior, outsiders would have been completely unable to detect it.

"ten-pattern purple extreme golden core…"

Gu Lan took a deep breath, suppressing the wild joy in his heart.

He knew that this time, he had truly won the gamble.

Surviving nine deaths in this Wanmo Cave, he had finally obtained the strongest trump card that could establish a foothold here and even one day overturn this chess game!

He quickly took out a set of clean black clothes from his storage ring and put them on, covering his sturdy body once again.

After dressing neatly, Gu Lan walked behind Ye Hongzhuang.

Ye Hongzhuang had at this moment recovered that aloof sect leader posture.

She sat on a flat mysterious ice stone on the shore, gently wiping her wet long hair with a silk handkerchief.

"How does it feel?"

Hearing Gu Lan's footsteps, Ye Hongzhuang did not turn her head, asking indifferently.

"Replying to the Exalted One."

Gu Lan cupped his fists, his respectful tone carrying a hint of undisguised excitement.

"This subordinate feels better than ever before."

"The True Essence in my body is more than ten times thicker than before, and that Pure Yang Qi and Devilish Qi have completely fused, with no more stinging pain of mutual exclusion."

"That is only natural."

Ye Hongzhuang let out a cold snort, casually tossing the silk handkerchief onto the stone.

"This seat expended nearly twenty percent of her Origin Devilish Qi to cleanse your marrow and wash your tendons; if there wasn't even this bit of effect, you wouldn't be worthy of being this seat's Sword-Wielding Envoy."

She turned her head, her sharp gaze sweeping over Gu Lan's body in a circle.

"Nine-Pattern Purple Extreme Golden Core."

A trace of extreme satisfaction flashed in Ye Hongzhuang's eyes.

"In the several thousand years of our Holy Cult, those capable of forming a Nine-Pattern Golden Core, including you, can be counted on one hand."

"Without exception, those people later all became supreme mighty figures shaking one side."

"Gu Lan, you did not disappoint this seat."

"It is all thanks to the Exalted One's cultivation! This subordinate is willing to go through fire and water for the Exalted One, and will not refuse even ten thousand deaths!"

Gu Lan hurriedly pledged his loyalty.

"Alright, put away that hypocritical rhetoric of yours."

Ye Hongzhuang stood up, walked in front of Gu Lan, and reached out to straighten his collar that had been worn somewhat crookedly just now.

Her movements were very natural, just like tidying up a piece of her most beloved item.

"Since you have successfully completed Core Formation and your strength has skyrocketed, you should also go complete the task this seat gave you."

"A task?"

Gu Lan's heart tightened.

He knew that Ye Hongzhuang bringing him to Wanmo Cave was definitely not just as simple as helping him form his core.

This woman never did a loss-making business.

"Do you think this Wanmo Cave is really a place you can enter just because you want to?"

Ye Hongzhuang turned around, casting her gaze toward the deeper parts of this huge underground space.

There was an extremely narrow passageway shrouded in thick black fog year-round.

At the entrance of the passageway, it even faintly emitted a deathly silent aura that was even more terrifying and ancient than the Demon Essence Pool.

"This Demon Essence Pool is merely the outer perimeter of Wanmo Cave."

Ye Hongzhuang pointed at the passageway shrouded in black fog, her voice becoming solemn as never before.

"The inside is called the Abyss of Buried Demons."

"It is the ruins of the true ancient Demon God battlefield."