Master, Wait for Me to Save You

Zhao Wuji.

These three words were like barbed hooks, viciously scraping across Gu Yang's throat, drawing out a sickly sweet, rusty taste of blood.

The Grand Elder of the Falling Cloud Sect, a great cultivator at the late stage of the Golden Core realm. He usually appeared so sanctimonious, his mouth full of benevolence, righteousness, and morality.

Who could have imagined that beneath this skin of a righteous gentleman hid such a filthy, despicable heart?

Gu Yang stared fixedly at the golden text floating in the void, the coldness in his eyes even more piercing than the late autumn night wind.

Zhao Wuji, that dog.

Soon enough.

The raging fire in Gu Yang's eyes was forcefully suppressed by reason, turning into a pool of bottomless, stagnant water.

Anger was the most useless emotion.

Right now, he was nothing but a cripple at the seventh level of Qi Condensation. Let alone the Grand Elder Zhao Wuji, even that traitorous maidservant Hongxiu could crush him with a single hand.

He had to find a way to save his master.

Gu Yang's eyes flickered as his mind raced.

His gaze slowly moved upward, finally settling on the purple piece of intelligence in the middle.

[Purple Intelligence: ...Devouring this fire can reforge a shattered Dao Foundation, fully restore one's cultivation, and awaken the one-in-a-million Desolate Ancient Extreme Yang Physique.]

Desolate Ancient Extreme Yang Physique...

His master, Shen Qingyue, possessed the Nine Yin Physique, an extreme Yin constitution.

Ancient records stated that the poison of extreme Yin could only be cured by extreme Yang.

And in this world, what could be more masculine and overbearing than the Desolate Ancient Extreme Yang Physique forged by the Golden Crow Origin Fire?

If he awakened the Desolate Ancient Extreme Yang Physique, he could transfer his own spiritual energy to his master to alleviate her pain.

And prevent Zhao Wuji from getting his way.

Gu Yang quickly made his decision.

Awaken the Extreme Yang Physique first, then go warn his master.

...

The night was as dark as ink.

The Hour of Yin was approaching.

The Sword Washing Pool, at the back mountain of the Falling Cloud Sect.

Jagged, grotesque rocks surrounded the area, looking like countless evil spirits baring their fangs and brandishing their claws in the dark.

The air was bone-chillingly cold; every breath felt as if it would turn into ice shards in the lungs.

A thin, gaunt silhouette, using the cover of the night, silently appeared by the edge of the Sword Washing Pool.

"This is the place."

Gu Yang lowered his head, looking at the pool of stagnant water beneath his feet.

The pool's water was an eerie, inky black. It did not have a single ripple and was bottomless, as if it led straight to the Nine Nether Underworld.

Time ticked by, minute by minute, second by second.

The Hour of Zi had arrived.

The originally deathly still Sword Washing Pool suddenly rippled.

Immediately after.

Gurgle... Gurgle...

The water's surface began to boil, and from the deep abyss of the inky black pool, a blinding streak of golden light suddenly lit up!

The golden light was initially only the size of a pinprick, but in an instant, it spread wildly like a prairie fire.

An incredibly overbearing, extremely Yang and rigid wave of heat burst forth through the freezing water!

A wisp of golden flame, as thick as a thumb, broke through the heavy, dark water like a nimble little golden dragon, swimming out joyfully.

The Golden Crow Origin Fire!

"It's here!"

Gu Yang's pupils shrank abruptly.

"Rather than sitting idly and waiting for death, it is better to be reborn in the fire."

Without a shred of hesitation, he leaped forward.

With a splash, his figure was instantly swallowed by the dark green pool water.

The extremely cold pool water drilled in through his pores, instantly freezing his flesh and blood to the point of stiff necrosis. Right after, the overbearing Golden Crow Origin Fire coiled around him like a fire clinging to his bones.

Sizzle, sizzle—

A teeth-aching searing sound echoed within his body. The sensation was like throwing a piece of raw meat into a vat of boiling oil and deep-frying it inside out.

Gu Yang's consciousness instantly blurred, his vision turning completely blood-red.

Yet he didn't utter a single sound, merely guarding the last bit of clarity in his sea of consciousness with his life.

However, the true danger had only just begun.

"Screech—!"

At the exact moment the golden flame drilled into his dantian, a tyrannical, ancient, and endlessly resentful cry suddenly exploded deep within Gu Yang's sea of consciousness!

That was no ordinary flame; hidden within it was a trace of the remnant will of an ancient Golden Crow!

Boom!

Gu Yang felt as though his brain was being ruthlessly churned by a red-hot iron rod.

A massive and tyrannical consciousness, carrying the terrifying pressure of burning the heavens and boiling the seas, madly assaulted his soul, attempting to completely erase his consciousness and take its place!

Possession!

This was the great terror hidden behind the purple fortuitous encounter.

If one was not of firm will, even if they obtained the flame, they would instantly turn into a walking corpse controlled by the Golden Crow's remnant soul!

"Get out!"

Bleeding from his seven orifices, Gu Yang's face was as hideous as a demon's.

The soul power of having lived two lifetimes erupted without reservation at this moment.

"I have already died once, crossed through time and space, and endured twenty years of despair... A feathered beast that has been dead for thousands of years wants to consume me?!"

"Be... suppressed!!"

He roared madly in his sea of consciousness. That greedy desire to live transformed into the most indestructible fortress.

He clenched his teeth tightly. Even if his teeth shattered, even if his soul suffered a tearing agony, he did not yield a single step.

The Golden Crow's remnant soul clearly had not expected this "ant's" will to be so resilient. After a prolonged tug-of-war, it let out an unwilling wail and was ultimately ruthlessly suppressed by Gu Yang's near-insane will to survive, completely merging into his dantian.

At this moment, the origin essence within Gu Yang's body was undergoing an earth-shattering qualitative change.

The hidden injuries left behind from forcefully attempting to break through to the Golden Core realm melted away like lingering snow before the overbearing True Fire of the Golden Crow, not even leaving the slightest trace.

It was a leap in the level of life.

He could feel his originally depleted lifespan wildly ticking upward: one year, five years, ten years, fifty years...

An unknown amount of time passed before the violent fluctuations at the bottom of the Sword Washing Pool gradually subsided.

The originally dark green pool water had now been dyed a magnificent pale gold. Wisps of hot steam rose, condensing in the air into the phantom images of various auspicious beasts.

"Phew—"

Gu Yang opened his eyes.

In that instant, it was as if two miniature blazing suns had fallen into his eyes, bursting with golden light.

Late stage of Qi Condensation...

Perfected stage of Qi Condensation...

The aura did not slowly settle down until it touched that ethereal barrier.

Bare-chested, he slowly stood up from the bottom of the pool.

His originally gaunt body had become well-proportioned and powerful. His muscle lines were as perfect as carved marble, and a faint golden glow vaguely circulated on the surface of his skin.

It was an aura of ultimate strength, full of primal masculinity, that would make any female cultivator's heart race at a single glance.

[Ding, successfully intercepted the purple fortuitous encounter—Golden Crow Origin Fire.]

[Rewarded 50 Destiny Points.]

[Congratulations to the host for successfully awakening the Desolate Ancient Extreme Yang Physique (Initial Stage).]

Gu Yang put on his somewhat thin gray disciple robe, covering the muscles that flowed with a dark golden luster.

The night wind was like a knife, yet it could no longer invade him in the slightest.

Do fortuitous encounters always come with risks...?

He lifted his eyes to look at the Cold Moon Palace at the peak of the mountain, shrouded in the chilly moonlight, his expression calm.

"Zhao Wuji wants to turn Cold Moon Peak into an isolated island, but I insist on bringing this dead end back to life."

"If my master is crippled, I will no longer have a place to stand in the Falling Cloud Sect. Saving her is saving myself."

Right now, his strength was not enough to kill Zhao Wuji, not even enough to kill Hongxiu.

The only way to break this deadlock lay with Shen Qingyue.

Only by restoring the battle power of this Golden Core master could this game of chess continue to be played.

Gu Yang's figure flickered, and like a gray ghost, he disappeared into the night.

Master, wait for me to save you.