Chapter 264: The Blood Sickle Emerges! Today, I’ll Show You What True Demonic Path Is!

The howling wind ripped past Gu Lan's ears. Like a giant black bat spreading its wings, he plummeted rapidly from the demon god ship thousands of feet up in the sky.

He didn't cast any sky-soaring Spells to reduce the impact, allowing gravity to push his speed to a terrifying extreme. The heavenly demon blood armor, intertwined with dark black and crimson, faintly flickered with dark purple devilish flame as it frictioned against the air. From afar, he looked like a world-destroying meteorite crashing down from beyond the heavens onto the Sunset Plain.

On the arena stage.

Zhao Kuang, at the Foundation Establishment Great Perfection, had eyes bursting with flames, his burly frame swelling a whole size from over-activating his True Essence. He tightly gripped the door-sized, top-grade dark iron heavy sword with both hands, looking up at Gu Lan, who was plummeting rapidly.

"Come at me! Today, I'm going to cleave you demonic lackey in half!"

Zhao Kuang let out a roar like a fierce tiger.

"Mountain-Cleaving—Earth-Splitting Slash!"

He didn't choose to dodge this terrifying falling impact, but directly faced the challenge head-on. The heavy dark iron sword whipped up a violent, yellowish-brown sword glow, bearing a heavy momentum capable of splitting mountains, slashing fiercely upward from below toward Gu Lan!

This single slash drained all the Spiritual Qi in Zhao Kuang's Dantian. Wherever the sword edge passed, the air let out an overwhelmed sonic boom.

"Great! Senior Brother Zhao's slash already possesses the might of a Golden Core Immortal Master!"

"That Devil Head dares to be arrogant and jump from such a height—he's simply seeking death!"

The Righteous Path Disciples below the stage burst into excited cheers, as if they could already see the bloody scene of Gu Lan being cleaved to pieces by the blade.

However…

Gu Lan, suspended in midair, looked at the yellowish-brown sword glow sweeping over like an overwhelming mountain wave; yet in his deep peach-blossom eyes, there was not the slightest ripple.

"Want to slice me?"

A cruel, playful smirk curled up the corner of Gu Lan's lips.

Previously, he was used to taking hits head-on with his fists, but constantly using one move made him, the demonic cult's Sword-Wielding Envoy, look a bit lacking in style. Since he wanted to establish his authority, he had to use the method that would shock people the most!

Gu Lan reached his right hand behind his waist extremely naturally.

"Clang—!!!"

An extremely shrill blade whine, seemingly capable of tearing apart a person's Soul, suddenly exploded in midair.

Immediately after, a massive, strange, dark-red crescent moon bloomed in Gu Lan's hand without warning!

That was the peerless ancient sinister weapon from the bottom of the Abyss of Buried Demons—the blood moon demon sickle!

The moment the demon sickle appeared, the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi within a thousand-foot radius froze instantly. A thick, ancient bloody fiendish aura swept across the entire Sunset Plain like a tsunami.

Everyone felt their breath hitch at this moment, their hearts pounding uncontrollably.

"What kind of weapon is that?!"

The Elders of the Righteous Path faction narrowed their pupils sharply, drawing in cold breaths one after another.

In midair.

Gu Lan didn't even swing that massive bone scythe to clash head-on.

He simply held the hilt in one hand and poured the Purple Extreme Devilish Qi from his body into it.

"Go."

"Clatter—!!!"

The several crimson chains wrapped around the blade of the blood moon demon sickle seemed like wild pythons smelling blood, coming alive instantly! They transformed into a dozen crimson bolts of lightning, shooting out wildly from midair.

Their speed was so fast it exceeded the limit of sight.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

The crimson chains wrapped with extreme precision around Zhao Kuang's dark iron heavy sword that was slashing upward.

The earth-shattering explosion of Spiritual Qi that was expected didn't happen.

In its place was a scalp-numbing, gurgling sound. That was the blood moon demon sickle frenziedly devouring!

That top-grade Spiritual Artifact, treasured by Zhao Kuang and infused with deep-sea sunken silver, had its yellowish-brown sword glow instantly collapse like snow under a scorching sun the moment the chains wrapped around it.

In less than a single breath's time.

The spirituality, Formation patterns, and even the metallic essence contained within the dark iron heavy sword were completely drained clean by those eerie crimson chains!

The heavy sword that had been gleaming with cold light instantly turned into a piece of rust-covered, utterly faded scrap iron.

"What? My sword?!"

Suspended in midair, Zhao Kuang's eyes widened as he watched his Lifebound Treasure turn into mortal iron, his face full of disbelief and terror.

"Your piece of scrap metal isn't even worthy to get stuck between my blade's teeth."

Gu Lan's cold voice resonated from above.

Right after, the chains wrapped around the scrap metal shook violently.

"Crack!"

The dark iron heavy sword, devoid of spirituality, shattered directly into a cloud of rust.

One of the crimson chains lost none of its momentum, whipping fiercely against Zhao Kuang's chest like a poisonous whip.

"Pfft—!"

Zhao Kuang was struck as if by lightning, spewing a large mouthful of blood. Like a kite with a broken string, he flew backward out of the hundreds-of-feet-wide arena stage, slamming heavily into the Righteous Path array Formation and passing out on the spot.

"Boom!"

At the same time, Gu Lan landed steadily in the center of the obsidian arena stage.

Holding the menacingly shaped blood moon demon sickle with one hand, its blade pointed diagonally at the ground. A drop of dark crimson blood slid slowly along the sharp edge of the scythe, dripping onto the black stone slab.

"Thump! Thump! Thump!"

On the now silent stage, an extremely bizarre, dull heartbeat clearly echoed.

The sound emanated from inside the blood moon demon sickle. With every heartbeat, a visible crimson ripple spread outward, causing all the Righteous Path Disciples who felt this wave to feel dizzy, breathless, and nauseous.

The entire field fell dead silent.

Just one move! They hadn't even had a physical weapon clash.

Just the weapon's own chains drained a top-grade Spiritual Artifact dry and sent a Prodigy at the Foundation Establishment Great Perfection flying!

Such eerie and terrifying methods completely shattered the worldview of these greenhouse flowers of the Righteous Path.

"An ancient sinister weapon! That is a true sinister weapon of the Demonic Path!"

An Elder of the Tianjian Sect finally recognized the origin of the blood moon demon sickle, his face instantly turning deathly pale.

"Ye Hongzhuang actually gave such a sinister weapon, stained with countless grievances, to a kid at Half-step Golden Core? Is she insane?!"

Hearing the old man's exclamation, Gu Lan cocked his chin provocatively, resting the demon sickle arrogantly on his shoulder.

"At least you old fogey have a bit of vision."

Gu Lan sneered, his gaze sweeping over the young Righteous Path Disciples who were silenced by fear.

"One-on-one is too boring."

"Since you Righteous Path people keep spouting about eliminating demons and upholding the Dao, then let's not bother with rules at all."

Gu Lan put his empty left hand behind his back, gripping the demon sickle in his right hand, declaring loudly in a manner that looked down on the world:

"Anyone under thirty years old, regardless of who you are, regardless of how many."

"Come at me together."

Uproar—!

As soon as these words were spoken, the Righteous Path camp completely erupted.

Arrogant! Too fucking arrogant!

Facing the elites of the world's Righteous Path, he actually intended to single-handedly challenge the entire younger generation under thirty?!

This was simply showing utter disregard for the entire Righteous Path!

"Demonic Disciple, how dare you assume there is no one capable in our Righteous Path!"

"Fellow martial brothers! This Devil Head's methods are eerie and his weapon evil; single combat offers little chance of victory! Since he actively seeks death, we shall grant his wish!"

"Form the array! Use the 'Heavenly Dipper Demon-Slaying Formation' to suppress him!"

Accompanied by shouts of fury.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh—!"

Eighteen white-robed inner court elite Disciples from the Tianjian Sect rose into the air on Flying Swords simultaneously, landing around the stage like eighteen shooting stars and surrounding Gu Lan completely.

All eighteen of them had cultivations above Late Foundation Establishment, with the leaders among them even at Half-step Golden Core.

The moment they landed, their feet immediately executed extremely profound footwork. Eighteen Flying Swords soared into the sky, weaving an airtight net of Sword Qi in midair that tightly covered the entire stage.

A chilling, righteous aura instantly dissipated part of the bloody fiendish pressure brought by the blood moon demon sickle.

"The Tianjian Sect's Eighteen Luohan Sword Formation!"

"Fantastic! Once this Formation is set up, all eighteen share spiritual energy endlessly. Even a real Mid Golden Core Stage Immortal Master trapped inside would be worn down to death by the Sword Qi!"

The Righteous Path Disciples saw hope once again.

On the stage.

Gu Lan looked at the faces around him distorted in anger, as well as the Sword Qi net poised to strike above his head, unable to resist sighing in his heart.

"These hypocrites get worked up so easily, and they really have no martial code at all."

However, Gu Lan didn't panic.

Not only was he unperturbed, he even stabbed the blood moon demon sickle from his shoulder into the adjacent obsidian ground with a "clang", then released his grip.

"What? Has he given up resisting?"

"Or is his Devilish Qi insufficient to wield this sinister weapon?"

Outside the array, the Righteous Path Elders frowned, faces filled with shock and doubt.

"Kill him!"

Regardless of anything else, the leading Tianjian Sect Disciple pinched a hand seal, causing the sword net above to instantly transform into a sky full of sword rain, shooting down toward Gu Lan like a torrential downpour to shred him!

Standing under the sword rain, Gu Lan let his hands hang naturally at his sides.

"Since you like ganging up on people."

"Then today, I will let you see what a true Demonic Path is!"

Gu Lan shut his eyes tightly, then suddenly snapped them open!

"Buzz—!!!"

His originally dark eyes instantly turned a sinister, dark purple at this moment.

Deep in his Dantian, the Purple Extreme Golden Core covered with ten demonic lines stopped its regular Devilish Qi output and instead erupted with an extremely terrifying mental wave!

This was the top Divine Soul Domain skill he comprehended after forming his Ten-Pattern Golden Core!

"Myriad Manifestations—Nether Illusion Domain!"

Gu Lan growled softly. A massive, invisible force of Mental Energy mixed with the subtle mind-altering hallucinogenic property of the Green Lotus Core Flame instantly erupted outward with him as the center!

There was no earth-shattering explosion, nor any gruesome scene of flesh and blood flying.

The moment that mental wave swept across the entire field…

The fierce sword rain pouring down from the sky inexplicably ground to a bizarre halt less than a foot above Gu Lan's head!

It wasn't just the sword rain that stopped.

The eighteen Tianjian Sect elite Disciples forming the sword Formation stiffened simultaneously in place.

After a brief moment of confusion, extreme panic replaced the look in their eyes. The originally orderly Formation collapsed on its own, and eighteen suspended Flying Swords lost control, clattering to the ground all over.

"Don't… don't come near me!"

"Ah! Master save me! There are ghosts!"

"I didn't steal Junior Brother's Medicinal Pills! Don't kill me! Don't kill me!"

The Righteous Path elites, who were righteous and dignified moments ago, were now like mad lunatics. Some scuttled around holding their heads, some swung their swords wildly at empty air, and others knelt straight onto the ground weeping bitterly, frantically kowtowing and begging for mercy.

A thorough display of hideous disgraceful behavior!

Their Divine Sense had been completely dragged into the deepest nightmare by Gu Lan's "Nether Illusion Domain". There, the things they feared most in their hearts and their darkest secrets were endlessly magnified, turning into life-claiming specters.

"What… what is going on?!"

The hundreds of thousands of Righteous Path Cultivators below the stage watched stunned, their scalps tingling.

Without spilling a single drop of blood, without executing a single martial strike, merely standing there broke the world-renowned "Heavenly Dipper Demon-Slaying Formation" without a fight, causing eighteen elite Disciples to go mad and break down collectively!

This eerie method of killing invisibly felt even more chilling than direct, bloody slaughter!

Meanwhile, at the rear of the Righteous Path camp.

Jiang Wanqing quietly watched that figure like a god and a demon on the stage, a thick mist of tears welling in her eyes hidden beneath her hood.

She bit her lip tightly, tears trickling down her drop-dead gorgeous cheeks.

Others only saw Gu Lan's eerie, devilish methods.

But she, the "Invincible Overthinking Queen", had deciphered the "deep tenderness" behind Gu Lan's actions.

"Junior Brother…"

Jiang Wanqing let out a faintly trembling sigh in her heart.

"He could clearly have easily shredded these eighteen people with that sinister weapon, but he didn't."

"He preferred to consume his extremely precious Divine Sense and risk severe backlash to unleash such a large-scale illusion Domain, letting the world curse him as venomous and heretical."

"He did all of this just to defeat them without bloodshed, so that he wouldn't stain himself with the blood of his former sect mates before my eyes!"

"Junior Brother, by using what seems like the most brutal method, you silently protect the Righteous Path and my Dao Heart as well. This deep painstaking effort of yours is something I, Jiang Wanqing, will never dare forget in this lifetime!"

Jiang Wanqing took a deep breath, her gaze toward Gu Lan completely turning into a fanatical frenzy mixed with admiration, heartache, and recklessness.