Supreme Sword Exalt

Du Teng’s face turned ghostly the instant his eyes fell on the two essence crystals in Luo Wushuang’s hand. He fell to the ground with a thud. The lofty Deputy Pavilion Master of the Yuqing Sect’s Alchemy Institute, a Soaring Realm expert, was now weeping and wailing, without a shred of dignity left.

Luo Wushuang slowly approached. “Uncle, you guessed wrong. You must die.”

Du Teng’s eyes widened abruptly as he pleaded bitterly, “No! Wushuang, I’m begging you! G-give me one more chance, please!”

It never even occurred to him to retaliate. He didn’t dare. It wasn’t just him. Not even his senior brother and the sect leader of the Yuqing Sect would dare.

Luo Wushuang helped him up, his tone still gentle. “Uncle, do you understand your mistake now?”

Du Teng nodded subconsciously. “I-I do.”

Luo Wushuang smiled slightly, raised his arm gently, and passed his hand over Du Teng’s head. “Is that so? Then your death won’t be in vain.”

In that instant, Du Teng’s facial expression froze, the light in his eyes rapidly dimming.

***

Within the Wild Forest, nearly seven or eight days had passed since Gu Han and Fatty disappeared. During this time, Elder Wu and the others searched tirelessly, yet still found no trace of them.

Elder Wu said with a helpless look on his face, “Should we stop looking?”

Mei Yun glanced at him. “Why?!”

Elder Wu sighed. “We can’t go on forever. Several days ago, both of us received news that the upper sect will soon reopen its gates. In three days, all Ten Nations’ Martial Academies will proceed there for the grand competition, and select disciples based on merit.”

Han Fu frowned. “Reopen the gates? Wasn’t it usually a year later?”

Elder Feng sighed. “I’m not too sure either. How could we possibly fathom the intentions of the upper sect?”

Mei Yun was somewhat reluctant. “Are we just going to abandon them here?”

Elder Wu smiled wryly. “We’ve scoured this area from top to bottom for days, even daring to go deep inside, but alas”

Elder Feng also wore a look of defeat. “We also want to keep searching, but we really can’t afford to.”

In truth, they wanted to find Gu Han and Fatty more than anyone. Without the two representing them in the grand competition, the Great Qi Martial Academy would be doomed. Forget achieving a ranking, they would be lucky if they weren’t severely punished by the Yuqing Sect.

After a moment of silence, Han Fu said decisively, “I’ll stay. My returning wouldn’t accomplish anything. Staying behind might offer a sliver of hope.”

Mei Yun quickly chimed in. “I’ll stay too!”

Elders Wu and Feng looked at each other and didn’t object. This demonic beast riot had come and gone quickly, far less intense than the last one. With Han Fu and Mei Yun’s cultivation levels, they wouldn’t encounter much danger as long as they kept their guard up.

After giving a few instructions, the two of them delayed no longer. They soared into the air and vanished into the distance. “Be careful, you two!”

As for Commander Zhou, neither of them mentioned him. Anyone could see that he was involved in the ambush against Gu Han. They cursed him endlessly in their hearts.

Upon seeing the two leave, Mei Yun approached again. “Instructor Han, should we—”

Han Fu was extremely decisive. “Split up! Searching separately offers a greater chance of success.”

Mei Yun’s eyes lit up. “Fair point! I’ll take my leave first then!”

As Han Fu watched Mei Yun’s departing figure, he let out a long sigh of relief.

***

At that moment, in an extremely remote dense forest, far from the others.

Commander Zhou stared at the horribly mutilated, desiccated corpse before him. He was livid, and his fists were clenched tightly. After staring for a long time, he stored the corpse, and set off towards the capital.

***

Meanwhile, an unknown distance away from the others, in the extreme depths of the Wild Forest.

Gu Han and Fatty were continuously advancing forward.

Gu Han casually tossed a spirit herb into his mouth, swallowing it without chewing. “Fatty, are you sure this is north?”

Fatty felt somewhat guilty. “Uhh... Don’t worry if it’s north or not, the direction is definitely correct. Haven’t you noticed? The tiers of demonic beasts we’ve encountered along the way are getting lower and lower.”

The demonic beast riot had ceased after Gu Tian had left. They only encountered a few demonic beasts at the beginning, and none as they went further. Hence, they simply devoted all their energy to traveling.

Then, Gu Han stuffed a red fruit into his mouth, saying while chewing, “If you get it wrong again this time, I won’t let you off!”

Fatty looked at Gu Han’s eating manners with disdain. “What a waste! It’d be a miracle if you absorb even a third of the medicinal efficacy by eating like that!”

In response, Gu Han took out another fruit, biting off more than half in one go. “Shouldn’t be a problem. Not a bit is wasted! You keep your eyes peeled, don’t miss any spirit herbs. Buying these things would cost who knows how many essence crystals!”

Now that he had achieved the perfect Acupoint Unsealing realm Supreme Stage, his spirit power capacity was twice as large as before, requiring massive replenishment.

Moreover, the extreme depths of the Wild Forest were rarely visited, making various spirit herbs more abundant. Although Gu Han couldn’t recognize them, Fatty was quite knowledgeable and pointed them out for him. They still gained quite a bit despite not actively looking.

Just then, a loud roar reached their ears. As they followed it, it was followed by a shrill, cry of people. They were extremely close.

The two instantly stopped as a flash of joy appeared in their eyes. People!

Fatty was excited. “See! I was right! We must be out, otherwise how could we possibly run into people?”

Gu Han mercilessly exposed him. “It was just a lucky guess, right?”

Fatty was somewhat proud. “Who cares if it’s a guess or not? Anyway, we’re out. Remember to put in a good word for me next time you see our father!”

Gu Han ignored him and tossed a spirit fruit into his mouth. He approached the source of the commotion. However, upon seeing the scene before him, he froze.

Fatty caught up. “What’s wrong? You saw a ghost—”

Halfway through his sentence, he also froze. Not far away, a giant ferocious beast—fully ten zhang long—lay on the ground. A dark-skinned, iron-tower-like man was busy working under it.

Although the man was burly, he wasn’t much different from others. What stunned the two were the large black pot tied to his back and the finger-thick, one-chi-long boning knife in his hand. The man seemed exactly like a butcher from the mortal world.

The man wasn’t surprised by their arrival, seemingly having sensed them long ago. He casually waved his hand. “You’re here? Wait a moment, I’m almost done.”

He swept his boning knife down. The beast hide, comparable to top-grade refining materials, was easily sliced open like paper. Moreover, the man’s movements were smooth and fluid, giving a sense of aesthetic pleasure. It seemed he had done this countless times.

Gu Han immediately realized that he was cutting the most essential parts of the beast meat!

Fatty’s old habit flared up again. His eyes shone, glued to that boning knife, practically drooling. “That’s a good knife!”

A moment later, the man stopped his work. He had only taken less than one percent of the massive demonic beast.

Perhaps sensing the doubt in Gu Han’s eyes, he inserted the knife into his waist and explained, “This part is the most important and delicious part.”

Then, he wiped his large hands and walked toward the two. “The demonic beast riot just ended not long ago, why are you two here?”

Gu Han and Fatty instantly felt a wave of pressure. He is too tall and burly!

Even Murong Yan was a full head shorter compared to this man.

Gu Han was being secretive. “We are from the Great Qi Martial Academy. We got separated from the others during the demonic beast riot and are trying to get back.”

The man scrutinized the two again. “Martial academy? It’s quite remarkable of you to survive the demonic beast riot!”

After a moment’s thought, he pulled two bloody pieces of beast meat from his storage ring and offered them to the two. “In that case, our meeting is fate. How about we chat while we eat?”

Looking at the blood dripping continuously from the pieces of meat, the two stared at each other.

It’s confirmed. He isn’t a butcher, but a cook!