Supreme Sword Exalt

Following the trail of blood, Yang Feng sped all the way, quickly arriving within a dense forest. As a direct descendant of the Yang family, he believed no one in the Northern Domain would dare touch him. Without a second thought, he delved inside.

After advancing another stretch of distance, he abruptly stopped. Ahead, two black-robed, masked figures stood there quietly, as if waiting for him. Next to them was Yang Ji’s corpse.

Eyes turning bloodshot, Yang Feng screamed at the top of his lungs, “You! Are you the one who did this to Second Brother?!”

Gu Han openly admitted it. “Yes!”

Yang Feng gnashed his teeth. “You lowlifes, daring to kill a member of the Yang family! Don’t think you can get away with this! By the time this is over, you’ll regret ever offending the Yang family!”

Even as he spoke, he fished for a communication jade talisman. No amount of anger could blind him to the truth. Yang Ji was stronger than him, yet he still died. Yang Feng stood no chance against them either. In fact, Yang Feng was secretly regretting chasing them so rashly.

As soon as he took out the talisman, there was a sudden flash of light. The talisman was shattered into pieces. It was the Great Evolution Sword Qi.

Yang Feng stared fixedly at Gu Han. “Just who are you?!”

Gu Han paid him no mind, glancing at Yang Ying instead. “You recognize him?”

Yang Ying nodded. “I do. He’s Yang Feng, a direct descendant of the Yang family, third stage of the Divine Connection realm, Yang Ji’s younger brother.”

Gu Han rubbed his chin. “Hmm... I don’t think I saw his name on the board.”

Yang Ying was calm. “It’s normal. This man is too cruel.”

“Too cruel?”

“Three years ago, someone accidentally offended him. He tortured them for a full month before finally granting them death. Their relatives and friends weren’t spared either. Afterward, he divided that person’s family wealth with Yang Ji. There are many more incidents like this, but since everyone involved died, no one placed a bounty on him.”

Gu Han raised an eyebrow. “He’s that awful?”

Yang Feng had recognized Yang Ying’s voice. “Y-you’re Yang Ying! Have you no shame?! Colluding with an outsider to ambush and kill your own family! This is a major crime, a capital offense!”

“Family? When have you ever treated me as one?!” Yang Ying screamed, his aura surging to its peak. “When my younger sister was still young and clueless, she accidentally offended you, and you struck her so hard she nearly died! Family?! In your eyes, we’re lower than servants!”

Gu Han’s sharp spirit perception suddenly picked up something unusual. “Hmm?”

Yang Ying seems a bit stronger than just moments ago.

Yang Feng’s face paled. “If the family head learns of this, a thousand deaths would not absolve you—”

“He won’t.” Gu Han shook his head, slowly brandishing his sword. Even his aura started to climb. “You aren’t that bright, are you? Do you still not understand your place? Brother Yang, same rules?”

As his voice fell, two overwhelmingly powerful attacks instantly descended.

“Good!”

***

In the main hall of the Yang family estate.

Yang Xiong’s face was gloomy, his eyes filled with cold intent. “So? Still no news?”

Beside him, a Yang family elder shook his head. “None. I’ve already sent people to inquire. Quite a few have taken on this task, and even the Ma Brothers have made a move. We should have results soon.”

Yang Xiong’s expression was blank. “Go to Yue Mountain City and raise the bounty to three million.”

The Northern Domain was vast. Aside from their main base, the black market had also established small outposts in various places, allowing people to post bounties and tasks nearby.

The elder hesitated. “Family Head, with this plus the Meng family’s one million, that makes four million. Although he’s quite strong, isn’t it a bit excessive for a mere Essence Gathering realm cultivator? We can assassinate a few Divine Connection realm cultivators with this many essence crystals.”

Yang Xiong glanced at him. “He must die before Lin’er exits seclusion. The sooner the better. Do you hear me?”

The elder’s heart trembled. “Yes, I’ll go handle it immediately.”

***

Meng Qian was still reeling from that day’s incident. Overflowing with resentment, she sought out the family head, Meng Chuan, once again.

“Any news, Father?! Is that man dead yet?!” she demanded.

Large bruises were still visible on her face. Gu Han didn’t hold back when he slapped her twice. Now, she simply had no face to go out. The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. She wished she could slice Gu Han into a thousand pieces.

Meng Chuan’s face darkened. “Nothing for now, but don’t worry. With that bounty out, he won’t live much longer.”

His hatred toward Gu Han was no less than Meng Qian’s. Not only was his daughter nearly crippled, the overseer sent to Yue Mountain City was also on the brink of death. In all the years since the Meng family’s establishment, they had never endured such disgrace.

Meng Qian spat out hatefully, “How could Old Ancestor listen to Zuo Yang?! If our people made a move, that bastard would have died long ago!”

Meng Chuan rebuked, “Don’t be presumptuous! Old Ancestor has his own considerations. Do you think he doesn’t know about the bounty? He’s just turning a blind eye for now.”

Just then, a steward entered. “Family Head, Young Lady!”

Meng Qian’s face lit up with joy. “Steward Meng, any good news? Is that person dead?”

Steward Meng shook his head. “No. News just came from within the Yang family. They’ve raised the bounty on that person to three million essence crystals!”

Meng Chuan’s eyes narrowed. “Three million? It seems Brother Yang is quite restless. Hehe... In that case, we can’t let others look down on the Meng family either. Raise our bounty to five million!”

“Understood!”

After the steward left, Meng Qian was full of complaints. “Father, why must you always compete with Uncle Yang? Brother Yang Lin won’t be happy if he finds out!”

“Brother Yang Lin? Why bring up your brother all of a sudden.”

Meng Qian curled her lip. “He’s been out training for several years without a word of news! Does he even know how badly his little sister was bullied?!”

Meng Chuan said with emotion, “Don’t worry. He will definitely return before the secret realm opens. Hehe, I want to see then, whether the Yang family’s prodigy is more impressive than ours!”

Meng Chuan no longer mentioned Gu Han, as though the man were already dead.

***

Within Yue Mountain City, there was a secluded and extremely inconspicuous small courtyard. It was one of the black market’s outposts.

The Yang family elder handed over a storage ring. “Raise the bounty on the Fengwu Court chief disciple to three million essence crystals!”

Across from him, the black-clad man wore an odd expression. At a time like this, the Yang family still has the mind to place bounties on others?

After increasing the bounty, the black-clad man finally couldn’t hold back anymore and asked, “Nothing happened to the Yang family today, right?”

That elder was startled. “No—hmm? Why do you ask?”

The black-clad man hesitated for a moment, then handed over a jade token. “How about you take a look yourself?”

***

After killing Yang Feng, only two bounties from the Yang family remained.

Within a small valley, Yang Ying analyzed for a moment, then shook his head. “It’s too risky! We wasted some time at Yang Ji’s place because of me. Then, we spent even more time at Yang Feng’s place. The remaining two targets are both within the Yang family estate. If we force our way to act, the probability of failure is seventy percent.”

He sighed. “It’s my fault. My apologies.”

“It’s fine! There’s no such thing as perfection. Twenty-seven already exceeded my expectations. If I came alone, I probably couldn’t even achieve half.” Gu Han waved his hand. Then, he glanced at Yang Ying. “Well? Feel better now?”

Yang Ying nodded. “Much better! I’ve never felt this good before!”

His long-suppressed emotions had erupted today, leaving him agitated and unable to calm down for a long time.

Gu Han smiled. “I told you that you won’t regret cooperating with me.”

Yang Ying didn’t say anything, but he tacitly agreed. In fact, wasn’t Gu Han also the best possible partner for him? Not only did Gu Han have high battle prowess and outstanding killing power, he was bold yet meticulous, decisive in killing, and more importantly, very principled and loyal. Without Gu Han, Yang Ying’s hopes for revenge would’ve been buried in this lifetime.

Calming his emotions, Yang Ying changed the subject. “As for the Meng family, my understanding is far less thorough than with the Yang family. It probably won’t go as smoothly.”

Gu Han patted his shoulder. “Brother Yang, do your best, no need to force it.”

Yang Ying nodded, then looked at the jade token in his hand. His expression gradually turned strange. “There’s something...”

“What is it?”

“The Yang family raised your bounty to three million essence crystals!”

Gu Han’s eyes narrowed. “Three million? They really are wealthy and powerful. It seems coming to the Yang family today was the right move!”

Yang Ying said, “The Meng family also raised your bounty to five million...”

Gu Han stared intently at Yang Ying, dead serious. “Brother Yang, we must go all out against the Meng family. Formulate the most perfect plan for me!”

Yang Ying was speechless.

***

In the main hall of the Yang family estate. After sending that elder away, Yang Xiong paced back and forth, irritated and restless.

Right at that moment, a servant cautiously approached. “Family Head, a steward at the mine died.”

Yang Xiong frowned deeply. “So what? It’s just a steward, must I be informed of such a trivial matter? Get out!”

“Understood.”

Unexpectedly, not long after, that servant returned. “Family Head, at the Yang family’s shop, another shopkeeper died, he was a branch clan member.”

Yang Xiong glared at him coldly. “Didn’t I tell you to handle such minor matters within the clan?! Are you deaf?!”

“Understood.”

However, not long after, that servant returned once more, trembling, his face pale.

Yang Xiong was so angry he laughed, a hint of killing intent appearing in his eyes. “Ha! What now? Who else died?

The servant shook with fear. “Yang Hong, a direct descendant of the family.”

Yang Xiong was stunned. “Yang Hong?”

He hadn’t expected another one to really die. Vaguely, he remembered that Yang Hong was a young man from the family with fairly decent talent.

A deep frown appeared on Yang Xiong’s face. Three people are dying one after another in a single day? Something’s off!

However, before he could ponder further, the elder who had gone to Yue Mountain City walked in. “Family Head, something big has happened!”

Yang Xiong’s heart skipped a beat as a bad premonition arose. “What is it?!”

The elder’s face was full of shock and uncertainty. “S-someone is slaughtering the Yang family’s younger generation.”

He relayed the news he obtained from the black market outpost. Twenty-six bounties, twenty-six people. Actually, he had missed Yang Feng, who wasn’t on the bounty board.

Furious, Yang Xiong slammed his palm down, shattering the white jade chair beside him into pieces. “Damn it!”

Nearly half were direct descendants of the Yang family, and a few even were extremely close to him, his usual right-hand men.

To think they were all dead...

Yang Xiong glared at that elder, gnashing his teeth, his face twisted. “Who on earth did this?!”

The elder braced himself. “I don’t know. There’s only a codename.”

Killing intent surged in Yang Xiong’s eyes. “Codename? What codename?!”

“F-Fu Fatty.”