Supreme Sword Exalt

Since they had already been discovered, Gu Han simply gave up on hiding. He glanced at Yang Ying, who was still trembling uncontrollably. “It’s fine! Maybe I should go alone?”

Yang Ying gritted his teeth as if enduring immense pain, practically squeezing out the words. “No! You won’t make it alone.”

Gu Han frowned deeply. “What’s really going on?”

Yang Ying’s aura gradually surged, faintly carrying a hint of ferociousness. “I’ll explain later. Kill him first!”

With a low roar, Yang Ying’s aura instantly peaked. Gu Han was not a person given to indecision. His spirit power circulated at full force, his killing intent churning incessantly. A three-chi sword light abruptly shot from the tip of his sword.

“Let’s go!”

The two charged toward Yang Ji, one in front and one behind.

Upon seeing their attire, Yang Ji’s eyes gleamed coldly. “Assassins? The audacity!”

“Kill!”

Time was tight. The longer they dragged it out, the more likely they were to attract others. Gu Han wouldn’t hesitate in the slightest. With a fierce roar, he had already closed the distance to within one zhang of Yang Ji.

With a light arm gesture, the Kill Sword was already upon Yang Ji. Abruptly locked by Gu Han’s killing intent, Yang Ji briefly tensed up, his pupils constricted sharply.

Damn it!

Yang Ji was greatly alarmed. How could this be?! Earlier, he had clearly sensed that Gu Han was only at the Essence Gathering realm. Now, Gu Han’s spirit pressure was so strong, and his sword’s killing intent so intense. Even most Spirit Profound realm cultivators couldn’t compare to him.

Still, at the end of the day, Yang Ji was at the Divine Connection realm. He extended his divine sense, slightly resisting the killing intent’s invasion. Although the effect wasn’t completely neutralized, he had already regained his ability to move.

“You’re asking for death!” Yang Ji screamed furiously and flipped his palm, instantly drawing out a sword as well.

Infused with spirit power, his blade gleamed with a cold light as he thrust it straight at Gu Han. A crisp sound rang out. His mid-grade treasure item sword snapped cleanly in response.

How is this possible?! His expression changed drastically. He seemingly couldn’t comprehend why a tattered, broken sword could be so sharp. Without giving him a chance, the Kill Sword struck again, ruthless and swift.

This is bad! Yang Ji’s heart dropped.

At the moment of life and death, he seemed to summon all his lifetime’s potential. He twisted violently, barely managing to dodge the fatal strike. Even so, a wound over half a chi long still opened on his chest, deep enough to see the bone.

Before he could react, Yang Ying’s long spear followed. With a whistling sound, its tip a point of cold light, pierced toward him with an unstoppable momentum.

Seeing the spear and sensing that somewhat familiar aura, Yang Ji suddenly understood. “You are Yang Ying!”

Yang Ying didn’t answer. He couldn’t afford to care about that now. His dominant hand trembled incessantly. The hatred in his heart, coupled with the bone-deep, excruciating pain, drove him nearly insane. He only wanted to kill Yang Ji.

Yang Ji flew into a rage. “Wretched scum! You’re truly an ungrateful little bitch! You bastard born with a rebellious bone, you dare come to assassinate me! I shall eliminate the scourge of the Yang Family on behalf of my elder brother!”

In the blink of an eye, the two were already locked in combat, thirsty for each other’s blood.

Yang Ji had never considered Yang Ying, born of a maidservant, as part of the family. Hence why he deliberately exposed Yang Ying’s mother for secretly hoarding essence crystals back then. In his eyes, the boy and his family were inferior even to the servants.

Both sides moved with extreme speed. In just a short breath, they had collided over ten times.

Under normal circumstances, subduing Yang Ji would already require considerable effort from Yang Ying. Now, tormented by pain, Yang Ying couldn’t even exert seventy percent of his strength. If not for his unrelentingness and madness, he would have likely fallen long ago. In the end, his desire to kill Yang Ji was simply a fool’s dream.

Yang Ji was both shocked and furious. “Little bastard!”

He had never imagined that the quiet, unremarkable Yang Ying possessed such strength. The alarm stirred by a mere lowborn drove his rage sky-high. Consumed by rage, he failed to realize that Yang Ying had not come alone, nor was he the primary force behind the assassination.

Not far away, Gu Han remained calm, yet his killing intent had tipped over, almost erupting. The commotion was so great that he knew the Yang family had likely already been alerted. They could be exposed at any moment. He only had one chance.

If that one strike failed, Gu Han could retreat at any time. The same didn’t apply to Yang Ying and his family. Thinking of this, the killing intent in his heart surged yet another notch. The sword trembled lightly, instantly shooting out several chi of sword light.

“Kill!” he roared furiously, and the sword light shot toward Yang Ji, swift as lightning.

Sensing the killing intent attacking from behind, Yang Ji’s face changed dramatically. “You?!”

He was already overwhelmed by Yang Ying. With Gu Han joining the fray, he stood no chance of winning. In that instant, he had already devised a strategy. His divine sense withdrew from Yang Ying and focused on Gu Han instead.

Actually, his plan was simple: stun Gu Han momentarily with divine sense, then break free with all his might from Yang Ying, and rush back to the clan to seek help.

His judgment was sound. Besides probing the environment and enhancing spirit perception, his divine sense could also serve as a means of attack. Moreover, it held a unique advantage against cultivators below the Divine Connection realm. It was just a pity he had chosen the wrong target. Gu Han’s soul power far surpassed his, rendering Yang Ying’s divine sense useless.

Just as Yang Ji was carefully considering his next step for escape, a sharp pain pierced his chest. The sword had pierced him.

Yang Ji froze and turned his head with difficulty. “Why... weren’t you affected...”

Gu Han was utterly baffled. “By what?”

For a moment, Gu Han did feel his vision darken briefly, but that was it.

Yang Ji’s eyes were filled with unwillingness and venomous hatred. “I won’t accept this—”

Over ten strands of Great Evolution Sword Qi roamed incessantly, severing all vitality within his body. Upon seeing Yang Ji dead, Yang Ying could no longer hold on. He suddenly knelt on the ground, gasping for breath as his knuckles clenched white.

Gu Han was about to ask again when suddenly, his expression changed. “Someone’s coming, let’s go!”

Without the slightest hesitation, he grabbed Yang Ji and Yang Ying with the other. He vanished into the distance in the blink of an eye.

A moment later, a figure arrived at the spot. He bore a striking resemblance to Yang Ji.

The man frowned deeply. “That’s strange. I clearly heard some commotion, why is there no one—hm?”

He swept around with his divine sense and discovered the bloodstains remaining on the ground. His heart sank, and a cold laugh slipped from his lips. “As expected! Someone fought here! The sheer audacity!”

Thus, he activated his movement technique, chasing the trail of bloodstains all the way.

***

The Black Market’s main hall was bustling like an ordinary marketplace, completely devoid of its usual solemn and dignified atmosphere. Everyone stared intently at their jade tokens. Not even their black robes and masks could hide their excitement.

After the initial shock, they had gradually accepted the fact that Fu Fatty dared to challenge the Yang family. By now, they no longer cared about how many Yang family members had died or how the family’s reaction would be. All they cared about was how high Fu Fatty’s rank would climb.

“Yang Fa, fifth stage of Spirit Profound, bounty eight hundred thousand! Yang Gui, seventh stage of Spirit Profound, bounty eight hundred fifty thousand! Yang Cai, ninth stage of Spirit Profound, bounty one million!”

Suddenly, someone excitedly shouted, “He’s in! After killing Yang Cai, his ranking has entered the top thirty!”

“Impressive! Truly impressive!”

Fu Fatty’s mission execution speed had also slowed down by now. That was only natural. Everyone understood that the stronger the opponent, the more variables there were.

Of course, they had great confidence and patience in Fu Fatty. At the same time, in various cave dwellings, the black-clad individuals maintaining order were also focused intently on the specially-made jade tokens.

No one was taking on missions, claiming bounties, treasure hunting, or exploring secrets. They were idle. Since they had nothing to do, watching Fu Fatty wasn’t a bad idea.

Just then, someone shouted again in the main hall, “Good heavens! Yang Qi, second stage of Divine Connection, bounty one million one hundred thousand!”

Another person shouted excitedly, “Hahaha! I told you, this Fu Fatty definitely has skills, he can definitely take down Divine Connection realm cultivators! The one who bet with me earlier, hurry up and hand ten thousand essence crystals over!”

“He’s now ranked twenty-seventh!”

After the heated discussion, everyone once again focused their attention on the jade tokens, afraid of missing firsthand news. This time, they waited an exceptionally long time.

Just as they thought Fu Fatty was going to stop here, someone softly raised his head and gulped. “Yang Ji, Yang family elder, sixth stage of Divine Connection, bounty one million five hundred thousand!”

The entire hall fell silent. Everyone instantly cast their eyes on the assassin leaderboard. Fu Fatty was now ranked twenty-first. It should be noted that the higher one went on this leaderboard, the harder it was to advance. Forget the top thirty, even the top fifty rarely saw changes. At most, there would be a shift of one or two places, yet Fu Fatty jumped six places!

Someone said in a complex tone, “What do you think? How high can he actually climb?”

“I think, at least top fifteen!”

“What’s that?! Top ten!”

Suddenly, the person who had won the bet earlier roared, “First place! I have confidence in Fu Fatty. I think he’s definitely going to top the assassin leaderboard!”

The hall fell silent again.

Immediately after, uproarious laughter erupted. “First place? Are you kidding?”

“Right, even if Fu Fatty is formidable, he absolutely can’t reach first place. Top five is his limit!”

“The one ranked first is the extremely mysterious Lone Eagle! He has held the first place for ten years. Though he had been quiet of late, he was once a fearsome presence that made all tremble. Fu Fatty is still a bit lacking.”

Yet the person who bet on first place was adamant, craning his neck and shouting, “I BET ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND ESSENCE CRYSTALS, FU FATTY IS DEFINITELY GOING TO REACH FIRST PLACE!”

Huh? Everyone was stunned. They had never seen someone so reckless.

“I’ll take that bet. Seventy thousand essence crystals, betting he won’t make it!”

“I bet fifty thousand he won’t make it!”

“I bet thirty thousand, also betting he won’t make it!”

For a moment, everyone else in the hall placed bets against Fu Fatty reaching first place. In just a short while, the total essence crystals bet amounted to seven or eight hundred thousand.

Actually, as soon as the words left his mouth, that person already felt a bit of regret, but he was too proud to back down. He stared fiercely at the jade token, his eyes turning red.

Fu Fatty, you must prove me right! Climb to first place! One hundred thousand essence crystals is my entire fortune. If I lose, I’ll be done for!

***

Unbeknownst to Gu Han, he already had a devoted fan. He weaved through the terrain. In just a quarter of an hour, he was already far from the Yang family estate. Despite knowing the person who came later had a weaker cultivation than Yang Ji, he didn’t dare to engage again. However, he didn’t dare to engage again, lest he attracted a whole group. To continue clinging to the fight would truly be somewhat foolish.

Suddenly, Yang Ying said, “Alright, you can let go of me now.”

His voice had regained its calm, clearly having recovered.

Upon hearing this, Gu Han immediately stopped. “What exactly happened just now?”

He understood that Yang Ying was cautious by nature, and meticulous in his thinking. If not for a special reason, he definitely wouldn’t have made such a huge blunder.

Yang Ying remained silent. However, his gaze was fixed on Yang Ji’s corpse.

Gu Han knew he had reasons he couldn’t disclose and didn’t press further. “Congratulations. You’ve avenged your wrongs!”

Yang Ying seemed somewhat emotional, cupping his fists towards Gu Han. “Thank you. All these years, whenever I thought of my mother’s suffering, I really, really wanted to kill him.”

Gu Han waved his hand. “There’s no need for thanks. Cooperation requires basic sincerity. Besides—hm?”

His expression shifted. “That person has caught up!”

Gu Han glanced at Yang Ying. “What do you think? Can you still fight?”

Yang Ying hesitated for a moment. “Don’t worry. It won’t flare up again for a short while. Our cooperation can continue.”

Gu Han also smiled. “Good! Then should we wait for him?”

“Mhm. Let’s wait.”