At first, there was a hint of a smile on Lu Ran’s face, but when Gu Yunkai uttered those words, his smile vanished completely. His eyes turned icy, and his expression became extremely hostile. “You’re right,” he retorted, “back then, my master probably never expected that I would survive and return.”
As his emotions fluctuated, Gu Yunkai could clearly sense the surging malevolent energy emanating from him, as if it were beyond his control.
This overwhelming and uncontrollable malevolent energy would likely be discovered by others soon.
Gu Yunkai furrowed his brows, remaining silent for a moment as he stood there. He noticed that Lu Ran was also just standing there, seemingly waiting for his response.
After a while, Gu Yunkai finally spoke, saying, “Since you have already betrayed the Floating Light Sect, you shouldn’t have come back.”
Lu Ran, however, seemed to find something amusing in all of this. He walked up to Gu Yunkai, lips curling slightly, but his gaze was as sharp as an icy blade. He spoke mockingly, “What does Master think I’ve come back for now?”
Gu Yunkai met his gaze, feeling the coldness in his eyes and the overwhelming intensity of his presence. He had lost all the restraint and youthful innocence he once had.
In fact, Lu Ran’s traumatic childhood experiences had inevitably shaped his dark and extremist personality. It’s just that in the past, he had some self-control, but now, he didn’t even bother to hide it anymore…
But then again, with his current level of cultivation, he had nothing to fear.
Lu Ran looked at him but suddenly burst into laughter, changing his expression faster than flipping a book. “Master, over these hundred years, I’ve been thinking about you all the time, wondering why you didn’t even give me a chance to explain back then.”
Gu Yunkai hesitated for a moment, and before he could speak, Lu Ran continued in a mocking tone, mixed with an air of indifference, “The so-called righteous sects are nothing more than a bunch of hypocrites… Master, you’re no different from them.”
As his words fell, Gu Yunkai hadn’t reacted yet when he saw that Lu Ran had somehow appeared right in front of him. His steps were steady, and his robe emitted a silver light in the darkness, making his deep, unfathomable eyes appear even colder.
“Master,” Lu Ran took another step towards Gu Yunkai as he spoke. The distance between them had become incredibly close, reaching an intimate level. He gazed at Gu Yunkai’s face, smiling leisurely. “No, I shouldn’t say that. In my heart, how could Master be the same as them?”
Gu Yunkai raised his eyes, as if he had just realized something. His expression changed, and he placed a hand on the hilt of the Mystic Frost Sword, taking a step back. He lifted his chin and said coldly, “Shut up.”
The smile on Lu Ran’s face slowly faded, but his voice became even colder as he responded, “Master, there’s no need to be so angry…”
Gu Yunkai stood tall and firm, his long hair flowing with the wind. He extended his hand, and the Mystic Frost Sword erupted with spiritual energy. Lu Ran slightly tilted his body to block the sharp sword energy, but he still got a cut on his arm from the Mystic Frost Sword.
Blood dripped down from his arm onto his dark robe. Gu Yunkai retracted his sword and spoke with a cold voice, “Lu Ran, this is Cloud Crane Peak. You’re underestimating everyone here.”
Lu Ran chuckled and didn’t pay any attention to his wound, letting the blood flow freely. “Underestimating everyone? Anyway, in your heart, I’m always wrong,” he said. With that, his eyes darkened, and he suddenly launched an attack, summoning a purple-black demonic energy towards Gu Yunkai.
Fortunately, Gu Yunkai reacted quickly and managed to evade. At the same time, a powerful and domineering force swept past him. There were several loud bangs, and the walls of the main hall behind him were struck by the demonic energy, causing bright flashes and smoke.
With the first attack unsuccessful, Lu Ran immediately followed up with the second and third strikes. Although these attacks seemed highly destructive, their accuracy was lacking, and they kept missing Gu Yunkai. The main hall was filled with chaotic demonic and spiritual energy, and the walls were riddled with craters from the impacts. Gu Yunkai chose to evade rather than counterattack, making it appear less like a fight and more like a demolition operation.
Lu Ran remained composed and even had the leisure to speak to Gu Yunkai. “Aren’t you curious, Master, about why this commotion hasn’t alerted a single person on Cloud Crane Peak? Including your loyal disciple, Fu Qingzhou, who’s always by your side?”
Lu Ran’s sarcastic tone when addressing him as “Master” made Gu Yunkai feel rather uncomfortable.
Gu Yunkai’s hand glowed with a silvery light as Mystic Frost Sword responded obediently, emitting a resounding, gleaming coldness.
Lu Ran’s gaze darkened, and with a flick of his five fingers, a surge of demonic energy materialized a pitch-black longsword in his hand. However, he didn’t unsheathe it completely, using only the scabbard to block Mystic Frost Sword’s sharp edge.
Nevertheless, Mystic Frost Sword’s energy remained razor-sharp, and when Gu Yunkai slashed down, it gouged a trench into the ground beside Lu Ran!
Lu Ran stepped back, his eyes now as frigid as falling stars, and his face twisted with anger. His brows furrowed with resentment. “Master seems to be eager to get rid of his disciple…”
“But too bad, it depends on whether Master still has the ability to do so now.” He held his sword, his expression icy as he stared at Gu Yunkai, and even his irises had turned crimson.
Gu Yunkai could only feel the surging demonic energy around Lu Ran, and the entire hall’s scenery seemed to distort and crumble in an instant. Above his head, a vortex-like sky descended, and in the blink of an eye, his vision blurred. The surrounding space seemed to be crazily compressed and split into countless threads, causing the spatial illusions to tremble uncontrollably. Gu Yunkai’s heart sank as if it had been frozen in an icy grip.
The surrounding space darkened in an instant. Gu Yunkai urgently tried to use his spiritual power to create a protective barrier, but his spiritual energy was sluggish, and he couldn’t muster it.
At this moment, an endless darkness enveloped him completely, leaving no room for escape.
Lu Ran stood in place, his black clothes billowing around him, and his jet-black hair and crimson eyes seemed to contain a brewing storm both in his gaze and within his chest.
The illusions distorted once more, and Gu Yunkai felt as if a thousand-pound boulder were pressing down on his chest, nearly tearing his heart apart.
The countless threads of illusions transformed into a sky full of ice blades. In the blink of an eye, blood splattered, and fine bloodstains appeared on Gu Yunkai’s face and body, yet there was no sign of any swordlight.
Sticky fluid rushed into his mouth from his chest. Gu Yunkai gritted his teeth and swallowed it down, then he lunged forward, wielding his sword, and his sword energy turned into a brilliant silver light. It crossed a distance of over ten meters, maintaining its full force. With a resounding boom, it swept through like a violent gale. The illusions shattered, and the ice blades scattered like broken pieces of porcelain, disappearing in an instant.
Amidst the flying sand and rocks, the illusions in front of him vanished, and Gu Yunkai couldn’t hold on any longer. He heavily pressed down the hilt of the Mystic Frost sword, and only through great effort did he manage to avoid falling to the ground.
Gu Yunkai tightly pressed his lips together, gazing silently at Lu Ran.
Lu Ran retracted one of his hands, keeping it behind his back, and he slowly, steadily walked toward Gu Yunkai. His eyes were chilly, and eventually, they settled firmly on Gu Yunkai.
Gu Yunkai took a moment to catch his breath. “Lu Ran…” But as soon as he began to speak, he coughed violently, spewing a mouthful of blood.
A trace of surprise flickered in Lu Ran’s eyes, but it only lasted for a moment. He then smirked and took a step forward, looking down at Gu Yunkai. “Master, you’ve been defeated so easily?”
Gu Yunkai remained silent, feeling like all his internal organs had shifted, and he couldn’t help but spew out another mouthful of blood.
It was evident that someone who used unconventional methods, like Lu Ran, was on a different level. The power gap was immense, even with just a one-level difference in cultivation.
Moreover, demonic cultivators were naturally adept at countering Dao cultivation. Few cultivators could withstand the illusions created by a demonic cultivator of the Soul Manifestation stage. If it weren’t for Gu Yunkai’s exceptional resilience, anyone else might have had their spiritual essence utterly annihilated in that battle.
Lu Ran’s gaze remained fixed on Gu Yunkai. Gu Yunkai’s dark hair, dampened by cold sweat, clung to the side of his face. His long eyelashes, though slightly lowered, formed a sharp curve at the ends, and his complexion, though a bit pale due to blood loss, still had a resilient and radiant quality, like fragile cracks in a thousand-year-old block of ice.
Lu Ran observed the once-snow-white robes on Gu Yunkai, now stained with blood and dirt, giving him a disheveled appearance. He couldn’t help but feel a twisted yet satisfying pleasure in his heart. However, even in this situation, he maintained a smile on his face as he asked, “Master, why are you so gravely injured?”
Gu Yunkai had long retracted his sword, turning it into tiny specks of silver light. He chuckled softly, tinged with self-mockery. “Indeed, it’s you, Lu Ran… It’s only been a short hundred years…”
Lu Ran continued to look at him, asking, “So, does Master regret it now? Regret being the esteemed Peak Master of Cloud Crane Peak, a life of integrity, only to end up teaching me, a treacherous fiend who betrays his master and ancestor?”
Gu Yunkai remained silent, occasionally emitting subdued coughs due to his severe injuries, which sounded particularly clear in the silent hall.
Lu Ran stood still for a moment, as if he had finally realized how superfluous his question was.
Just then, the entire hall fell into a deathly silence, and the surrounding scenery began to shake. The space around them rapidly distorted. Lu Ran raised his head and looked at the upper part of the hall, his brow slightly furrowed.
It seems that Lu Ran’s barrier is about to collapse. Cloud Crane Peak is rich in spiritual energy, and Lu Ran, despite his powerful and unconventional cultivation, cannot truly dominate everything.
Meeting Lu Ran’s gaze, Gu Yunkai understood his intentions. As expected, Lu Ran withdrew the barrier and turned to Gu Yunkai, saying, “Master, it seems like this is not a good place for catching up.”
Before his words could fully register, Gu Yunkai suddenly felt his throat constricting, and his head was forcibly tilted backward. Breathing became extremely difficult, especially with his current heavy injuries, he couldn’t move at all.
Lu Ran was extremely close, and his hand reached up to Gu Yunkai’s lips, delivering a pill into Gu Yunkai’s mouth.
As the pill rolled down his throat, Gu Yunkai clearly felt his spiritual energy dissipating rapidly throughout his body, as if it vanished into thin air, leaving him completely drained.
At that moment, the pressure on his throat eased, and Gu Yunkai, feeling weak, almost fell to the ground. However, Lu Ran had a smile on his face as he approached and helped him up.
“Only this way can I be sure, don’t you think so, Master?” Lu Ran said with a smile.
[I always feel like I picked up the wrong script for this world. Wasn’t the protagonist supposed to be a scoundrel? To be honest, I don’t think Gu Yunkai is that much of a scoundrel; he’s just a bit unfeeling. There’s no need for a redemption arc.]
After all, he only crippled someone’s cultivation and sent them to the Demon Realm with his own hands.
[My Lord, do you consider this “a bit unfeeling”?]
Chu Yan sighed, [When so many people love me, is it wrong to not be able to like all of them?]
[…]
After telling the system, he conveniently fainted, making it easier for Lu Ran to continue his plans.
[My Lord, if you don’t think you’re a scoundrel, then don’t pretend to faint.]
Lu Ran saw him fall and instinctively reached out to catch him, his eyebrows furrowing almost involuntarily.
His fingers involuntarily clenched slightly, and he lowered his gaze to Gu Yunkai’s face. For a moment, he felt like his hands were burning, making him increasingly restless.
This was the person he had once looked up to, the one who had given him hope but cruelly shattered it.
What was it like to have everything destroyed by the person you trusted and loved the most? Lu Ran chuckled bitterly, finding it absurd that he had even entertained hope after experiencing it once. He wished he could take his heart out and present it to Gu Yunkai, but in Gu Yunkai’s eyes, it was utterly worthless. He hadn’t even been granted a chance to explain himself in the end…
Seemingly as unattainable as the purest frost of the Ninth Heaven, yet just as hypocritical, cruel, and cold-hearted…
Lu Ran stood there for a while, and the darkness in his eyes grew deeper and deeper. The turmoil in his chest threatened to overwhelm him.
Realizing his loss of control, Lu Ran quickly cut open a spatial barrier and carried Gu Yunkai inside before stepping through.
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