Supreme Sword Exalt

Chapter 172 - I’m Going to the Secret Realm’s Center For a Trip

After a brief silence, he seemed to think of something, his tone tinged with mockery. “Does this have something to do with that bastard—”

In the next instant, a flash of sword light flickered before his eyes, and his other arm was severed.

Enduring the excruciating pain, he glared fiercely at Gu Han. “What are you doing?!”

Gu Han said cheerfully, “Nothing much. It’s just that your tone really pisses me off. Reminds me of my dear big brother, really!”

Yang Lin was full of venom. “You are playing with fire! This is a path to your death! Don’t think that just because Zuo Yang protects you, you can—”

A streak of sword light flashed past and brushed right by his ear, leaving a deep crater in the ground.

Gu Han smiled. “Yang Lin, forget your young master identity. Right now, you’re just a prisoner, a bargaining chip for me to negotiate with the Yang family. You should behave accordingly. Always putting on this stinking, lofty air in front of me... Hehe, you’re that confident of your physique’s recovery?”

As he spoke, he gently pointed his sword at Yang Lin’s legs. Yang Lin’s face changed slightly, not daring to speak anymore. He finally understood that Gu Han had no restraints and cared nothing for status. Even if he wouldn’t die, he couldn’t endure the pain of repeatedly losing his limbs.

Right at that moment, the ground beneath their feet trembled slightly. A conversation faintly drifted over.

“Let me go!” said Zhi Xuan.

“Shut up! You’re so slow, what if it delays me from saving Brother Gu!” Murong Yan shot back.

“Haa! If I had known, I would have left some people behind,” complained Shen Xuan.

“It doesn't matter. He’s smart. Even if he couldn’t defeat them, he likely wouldn’t be in any serious danger,” said Yang Ying.

It was Murong Yan and the gang!

Gu Han grabbed Yang Lin by the shoulder. “Young Master Yang, let’s go meet them. Oh, and you better rein in that foul temper of yours. Sister Murong isn’t as easy going as I am!”

In an instant, Yang Lin’s face turned ashen.

***

Outside the cave, seeing the corpses strewn across the ground and the mess left behind after the fierce battle, everyone’s hearts instantly sank.

Shen Xuan’s expression was grave. “A-are we too late?”

Murong Yan’s eyes were red with fury as she glared at Zhi Xuan, whom she was holding by the scruff. “Why didn’t you tell us earlier!”

Zhi Xuan was almost scared to tears. “I-I ran as fast as I could...”

Gu Han appeared in everyone’s line of sight. “Don’t worry. I’m fine.”

Looking at Yang Lin, half-dead and being held by Gu Han, everyone was stunned. What’s going on? It’s not what we imagined would happen...

Gu Han glanced at Zhi Xuan, who was being held by Murong Yan and dangling in the air. He shook his head. “Didn’t I tell you to go?”

Upon seeing that Gu Han was unharmed, Zhi Xuan was full of joy. “I knew I would hold you back, so I-I went to get reinforcements...”

Gu Han was taken aback. “Wow! You have some brains after all!”

Zhi Xuan seemed proud. “Of course! I’m very smart! Hurry up and let me down...”

Murong Yan casually tossed her aside. “Brother Gu, what on earth happened?”

Instead of answering, Gu Han glanced at Yang Ying, who looked puzzled. He broke into a smile. “Brother Yang, here’s a big gift for you!”

Saying so, he threw Yang Lin right at Yang Ying’s feet.

***

At another location within the secret realm, a monster roared. Its vertical eye opened wide, shooting a red beam straight at Meng Xing. “Glory!”

Meng Xing gritted his teeth. “Damn it!”

He forcefully twisted himself, narrowly avoiding the beam. Silver light erupted all over him as he closed in on the monster, using all his strength to tear off its normal arm.

The monster’s agonized howl rang out as the endless red mist surged inward. Meng Xing gasped for breath as he snatched the storage ring from the severed arm, then immediately fled into the distance.

Meng Xing had suffered massive losses after battling Gu Han. Not only had he lost all his clansmen and disciples, pills were even more lacking now. Naturally, he didn’t dare provoke the Qingyun Pavilion on his own.

Left with no choice, he could only set his sights on these mindless monsters. However, as the red mist gradually thickened, the monsters steadily grew stronger. They even became a bit smarter than before, making it more difficult to obtain pills.

Seeing the monster behind him, he gasped again and checked the storage ring, his brow furrowing deeply. “It’s not enough! It’s still not enough!”

At most, the newly acquired pills could help him last half a day longer.

He grew increasingly anxious. What do I do!

“Hmm?” Suddenly, his expression changed. He instantly put away the storage ring and stared into the distance, fully alert. “Who’s there?! Come out!”

A figure slowly emerged from within the red mist. “As expected of the Meng Family’s young master, to actually detect my traces.”

“It’s you?”

Meng Xing had an idea who the newcomer was. He was a disciple of a certain First Seat from the Yuqing Sect, named Wang Zhi.

Subconsciously, he glanced around, but didn’t detect anyone else. “What are you doing here?!”

Wang Zhi smiled. “Young Master Meng, I came to help you!”

“Help me?”

Even as he spoke, Meng Xing had already set his sights on Wang Zhi’s storage ring. He didn’t have to hold back against a single opponent. Besides, Wang Zhi should be far easier to handle than those monsters.

Wang Zhi seemed to guess his thoughts. “Young Master Meng, the pills in my storage ring aren’t many. If you want them, I can give them to you.”

Saying so, he actually tossed his own storage ring over.

Meng Xing glanced at it, scoffing as there really weren’t many. He couldn’t quite figure out Wang Zhi’s intention. “What exactly do you want?!”

Wang Zhi shook his head. “It’s nothing much. I’m just following Junior Brother Chu and Senior Brother Yuan’s orders to invite you to meet them.”

Meng Xing’s eyes turned cold. “Meet them? Such arrogance, what gives them the right?!”

Wang Zhi said unhurriedly, “Young Master Meng, you probably don’t have many pills left, right? How much longer can you last? Five days? Four days? Or even less? As long as you go see Junior Brother Chu, you can solve your predicament. Of course, Junior Brother Chu said he won’t force you. It’s up to you.”

Then, he added as he tossed another pill over, “Oh, right. Junior Brother Chu also said, whether you agree or not, consider this True Origin Pill as forming a bond of goodwill.”

A True Origin Pill! Looking at the yellowish pill in his hand, Meng Xing’s eyes instantly burned with desire. He never expected Chu Kuang to have such pills. One True Origin Pill could help him last one or two more days!

The hesitation in his eyes instantly vanished. “Where are they?”

Compared to surviving, face truly wasn’t important at all.

Wang Zhi pointed in a direction and smiled. “They’re not far from here. Young Master Meng, you definitely won’t regret today’s choice! Oh, and where’s Young Master Yang? Why isn’t he with you?”

Meng Xing said hesitantly, “He... is probably already dead.”

***

Inside the cave, Yang Lin was casually tossed into a corner. Shen Xuan had placed over ten seals on him all over. Apart from being able to barely circulate spirit power to maintain the most basic protective spirit light, he wasn’t much different from a living corpse. It was also fortunate that he couldn’t hear the group’s conversation. Otherwise, he would have been so enraged he’d be vomiting blood.

After hearing Gu Han’s account, Murong Yan gave a thumbs up. “That’s so impressive!”

Surrounded by so many enemies and facing Yang Lin and Meng Xing, Murong Yan thought it would already be fortunate if Gu Han could escape. Who would’ve thought Gu Han would flip the table on them? He even captured Yang Lin alive and scared Meng Xing away. Gu Han gave them all a heaven-sent surprise.

Shen Xuan also sighed. “Such a battle record is enough to shame the entire Northern Domain! To think, we were only gone for most of a day, and your cultivation actually... Haa! Who would believe it?”

Gu Han remained quite clear-headed. “Actually, I just had the advantage of having many pills. If it were outside, I wouldn’t know how things would turn out. What a pity. Such a good opportunity, yet Meng Xing managed to escape. His treasure physique is much more troublesome than Yang Lin’s!”

Murong Yan glanced at Yang Lin, a flicker of sympathy in her eyes. “How pitiful that he met you!”

Shen Xuan deeply agreed. “Too pitiful!”

In truth, it wasn’t that Yang Lin wasn’t strong. A mutated Green Wood Spirit Physique was extremely rare, and the potent poison within his spirit power was extraordinary. If any of them were caught off guard, they would absolutely fall victim to Yang Lin’s trick. Unfortunately, Yang Lin met Gu Han instead.

A supremely toxic substance just happened to meet its natural enemy, the Poison Immunity Physique. As a result, Yang Lin’s barely revealed trump card was rendered useless. One could only say Yang Lin had the worst luck.

Yang Ying, who had remained silent since entering the cave, finally said, “This favor is too much...”

He already understood what Gu Han intended to do: using Yang Lin to exchange for his mother.

Yang Ying sighed. “This way, your situation will become even more—”

Gu Han shook his head. “Brother Yang, you saw what happened in the secret realm. Even if I didn’t capture him, the Yang family still wants me dead at all costs. The outcome is essentially no different. My situation can’t get much worse anyway. So, why should I continue to yield to them?”

“I can’t possibly—”

“You want me to kowtow to them, apologize, and beg for forgiveness?”

Murong Yan exclaimed, “What! You absolutely cannot do that sort of thing!”

Shen Xuan nodded. “That’s right! With the temperaments of those two families, the more you show weakness, the more they’ll bully you!”

Gu Han appeared speechless. I was just making an analogy. You guys actually took it seriously?

After a moment of silence, Yang Ying gave Gu Han a deep bow. “I can’t thank you enough for your great kindness.”

From the moment he decided to help Gu Han, he actually knew the fate his mother would face. He had long felt hopeless. Yet he never imagined Gu Han would turn around and give him such a surprise, accomplishing something he had always wanted to do, but simply couldn’t. This favor was far heavier than any resources, or even Heaven-tier techniques. The temptation was too great that he simply couldn’t refuse.

Murong Yan rolled her eyes. “So dramatic!”

Shen Xuan repeatedly shook his head. “Indeed. Too dramatic!”

Gu Han patted his shoulder. “Brother Yang, between friends, there’s no need for such formalities. In this regard, you should learn from a certain dead fatty!”

Yang Ying was taken aback. “Fatty? That fatty I’ve met before?”

Regarding Fatty, he still had some impression.

Gu Han said earnestly. “Yup! The fatty surnamed Fu is the most shameless person I’ve ever met!”

The three of them seemed speechless. They finally understood where Gu Han’s assassin codename came from.

Shaking his head, Shen Xuan said again, “Alright, since Brother Gu is fine, we shouldn’t disturb his cultivation any longer. After all, such an opportunity is rare—”

Gu Han thought for a moment. “As for cultivation, let’s set that aside for now. There’s a more important matter at hand.”

Murong Yan was full of excitement. “What is it! Going after Meng Xing?”

Gu Han rubbed his nose. “Let’s set that aside for now too.”

“Then what are you going to do?”

“I plan to go to the very center of the secret realm to see the liquid treasure there.”

The three of them were greatly shocked. “What?!”