206: Chapter 205 Divine Contract

Jiang Hanzhou stood guard on Taikang Island for the entire night.

By noon the next day, Jiang Tao's injuries finally stabilized.

Although he was awake, his face remained as pale as paper; while the pitch-black palm print on his chest had mostly faded, the Meridians broken beneath it would take at least half a month to heal.

"Master..." He struggled to sit up.

"Don't move," Jiang Hanzhou held him down and took out the Void Escape Talisman from his sumeru pouch.

The pale gold jade talisman felt cool to the touch, its surface covered in dense Formation patterns that shimmered slightly in the sunlight.

He remembered Master Xue Mu's words—within ten thousand miles, one could arrive in an instant wherever the mind willed.

He circulated his True Qi and infused it into the talisman.

The Void Escape Talisman jolted violently as the engraved Formation patterns suddenly blazed with light!

A brilliant golden light surged from the talisman, enveloping them both!

In the next instant—

The world spun.

It felt as if they were seized by an invisible giant hand and hurled into a distorted spatial tunnel.

Everything around them turned into a blur of light and shadow, with a sharp whistling sound in their ears, making it impossible to discern any direction.

Three breaths.

Only three breaths.

As the light dissipated, Jiang Hanzhou found himself standing in the Cultivation room halfway up Red Fire Peak.

He looked down at Jiang Tao. Jiang Tao's face was deathly pale, his eyes were tightly shut, and a trickle of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth—the tearing force of the spatial traversal just now had worsened his injuries.

"Jiang Tao?" Jiang Hanzhou crouched down and checked his pulse.

His pulse was still beating, but it was extremely weak.

He picked up Jiang Tao and rushed out of the Cultivation room.

—

Inside Lihuo Hall, Master Xue Mu stood by the window with his hands behind his back.

Hearing footsteps, he turned around, his gaze falling upon the blood-covered middle-aged man in Jiang Hanzhou's arms.

"He's badly injured." He stepped forward and reached out to check Jiang Tao's pulse, his brow furrowing slightly. "His internal organs are displaced, forty percent of his Meridians are severed, and the palm print on his chest contains residual Blood Fiend Power that is eroding his heart vessels."

He looked up at Jiang Hanzhou:

"Who is this kid?"

"The leader of the Prodigal Society, Jiang Tao," Jiang Hanzhou said in a heavy voice. "A subordinate this Disciple recruited while away. Blood Shark Island launched a surprise attack on Taikang Island, and he fought his way out to bring word to this Disciple."

Master Xue Mu nodded without asking further questions.

He turned and walked toward the back of the hall. "Follow me."

—

Behind Lihuo Hall was a hidden stone chamber.

The chamber was not large, about thirty feet wide, with its four walls engraved with dense Formation patterns.

In the center of the chamber was a pool about ten feet wide, filled with churning dark red liquid and a faint mist rising from its surface.

Dragon Blood Pool.

One of the true foundations of Red Fire Peak.

Although it couldn't compare to the main pool in the rear mountain Forbidden Ground used for the Cultivation of True Disciples, this small Dragon Blood Pool also used Dragon blood as its primary ingredient, supplemented by twelve types of fire-attribute Spirit Medicine, and was kept in a constant state of boiling.

Master Xue Mu pointed to a jade bed by the pool. "Put him on there."

Jiang Hanzhou placed Jiang Tao on the jade bed.

Master Xue Mu walked to the edge of the pool and lightly swept his hand over the water.

From the churning dark red liquid, a wisp of dark red mist suddenly rose, condensing in the air into a thin, blood-colored thread.

He pointed with his right hand.

The blood-colored thread slowly drifted toward Jiang Tao and entered his body through the wound on his chest.

Jiang Tao's body jolted violently!

At the moment it entered, countless intricate blood-colored patterns could be seen frantically racing beneath the skin of his chest!

Wherever those patterns passed, his flesh spasmed and trembled!

But after three breaths, the spasms stopped.

The wandering blood-colored patterns slowly settled down, eventually gathering at his severed Meridians and forming a very faint blood-colored film that temporarily "glued" the broken Meridians back together.

Master Xue Mu withdrew his hand and said calmly:

"Dragon Blood Power, fighting poison with poison. The Blood Fiend Power in his body has been suppressed, and his severed Meridians have been temporarily reconnected. Now he just needs quiet rest, and he will recover in half a month."

He paused and looked at Jiang Hanzhou:

"However, did he say anything before he lost consciousness?"

Jiang Hanzhou remained silent for a moment, then took out the dark red Jade Slip from his sumeru pouch—it was the contract formed by the Divine Soul that Jiang Tao had established with him.

After Jiang Hanzhou had originally accepted it, he had learned the "Divine Spirit Contract" technique in the Dragon Abyss Palace, which allowed him to transform memories into a Jade Slip.

"Jiang Tao's memories are in here." He handed the Jade Slip to Master Xue Mu. "When the people from Blood Shark Island were pursuing him, he saw a black-robed man. That man mentioned the 'ancient flood dragon remains' and 'Fishing Ground No. 4'."

Master Xue Mu took the Jade Slip and sent his Divine Sense into it.

Three breaths later, his brow furrowed.

"A black-robed man..." he murmured softly. "This aura doesn't seem to belong to someone from Blood Shark Island."

He closed his eyes, searching through the Jade Slip with his Divine Sense in detail.

Suddenly, he opened his eyes.

A sharp glint flashed in his deep eyes.

"Found it," he said in a low voice. "When Jiang Tao fled Taikang Island, he left a 'Blood Soul Talisman' on his person. That talisman has a strand of a Blood Shark Island evil cultivator's aura Sealed within it, which can serve as a tracking marker."

He raised his right hand, and a very faint blood-colored light emerged from his palm.

The light was extremely faint, almost invisible, but a strange aura could be seen circulating within it—

It was the unique blood fiend Qi of the Blood Shark Island evil cultivators, mixed with a type of power that was even colder and more eerie.

"Where does this aura lead?" Jiang Hanzhou asked.

Master Xue Mu closed his eyes, sensed for a moment, and said slowly:

"Deep in the East Sea, about three thousand miles away. There is a deserted island there, covered in blood fiend Qi—that is the Blood Shark Island's lair."

He opened his eyes and looked at Jiang Hanzhou.

In that gaze, there was scrutiny, warning, and a hint of indefinable complexity.