Supreme Sword Exalt

Chapter 164 - Gu Han May Have a Thick Face and a Black Heart, but He Would Never Abandon a Friend

Watching the red mist closing in, Yang Ying seemed to foresee his fate and closed his eyes in despair. He sighed softly. “Promise me. Take care of—”

“—Like hell I would!”

Before he could finish, a voice full of impatience cut him off, and he could feel a large hand slapping his shoulder. The expected invasion of red mist did not arrive. Yang Ying opened his eyes just in time to see a flickering, wavering spirit light enveloping him.

Beside him, Gu Han gritted his teeth, trembling slightly.

Yang Ying endured the intense pain. “Don’t mind me!”

He could tell that although Gu Han’s spirit qi was vast, protecting two people was extremely strenuous for him.

Gu Han’s face was a bit pale. “Shut up! You’re telling me to just watch as you turn into one of those monsters?!”

Yang Ying fell silent. In truth, the pain he was enduring now was far greater than Gu Han’s.

“Oh, dear...” Just then, Zhi Xuan finally arrived, panting heavily. Upon seeing the agony on Yang Ying’s face, she was full of concern. “What’s wrong with him?”

“Don’t ask!”

“But—”

“Shut up!”

“Then—”

“Be quiet!”

Zhi Xuan was so anxious she almost cried. “Oh no! T-they’re catching up...”

Gu Han looked back and saw several monsters still in relentless pursuit. “What!”

They were far from safe, as they hadn’t managed to get out of the monsters’ perception range yet.

Gu Han glared fiercely at Zhi Xuan. “Why didn’t you say so earlier?!”

Tears of grievance welled up in Zhi Xuan’s eyes. “You wouldn’t let me speak!”

Gu Han had a splitting headache. “Let’s go!”

If Yang Ying’s old affliction hadn’t flared up, they could have fought their way in and out three more times with their combined strength. Gu Han clenched his teeth, grabbing Yang Ying’s shoulder and dashed away.

Burdened with Yang Ying and forced to sustain two protective spirit lights at once, Gu Han’s speed inevitably suffered. Even when he pushed himself to the limit, he was only a bit faster than Zhi Xuan. They risked being caught at any moment.

Yang Ying said with difficulty, “L-let me go! Otherwise, none... none of us will escape!”

Gu Han wasn’t much better off than him. “Enough nonsense! Do you think I am as old-blooded and heartless as those clansmen of yours? I admit it, I am thick-faced and black-hearted. I am also greedy for wealth. But in all my life, I have never betrayed a friend! If you want to lighten my burden, then shut the hell up!”

Yang Ying sighed. “You can’t hold on for this long—”

Gu Han shoved a handful of pills into his mouth. “Nonsense! With my dual Supreme Stages, the vastness of my spirit qi is out of this world. Let me show you.”

Actually, what Yang Ying said was true. If it were someone else—even Shen Xuan, whose cultivation level was higher than Gu Han’s—they definitely couldn’t have held on this long. They could only accomplish such an unbelievable feat thanks to Gu Han’s exceptionally solid foundation.

As if guided by ghosts and gods, Gu Han glanced at Zhi Xuan. “Besides, we still have someone to take the fall if necessary...”

Zhi Xuan’s tears fell again. “You’re going too far...”

Gu Han felt a bit awkward. “Ahem... Run! If we can’t escape then we’re all dead.”

The chase lasted for nearly half an hour. Gu Han didn’t know how he persevered. In the end, his mind was blank, moving his feet almost purely on instinct.

Finally, just as he was on the verge of collapsing, Yang Ying said, “Alright, it’s over.”

Following that, Yang Ying’s spirit qi resumed its circulation, and the spirit light returned to envelop him.

Gu Han exhaled deeply in relief. Even with pills for replenishment, his spirit qi couldn’t keep up with the consumption. If Yang Ying had spoken just a bit later, he really wouldn’t have been able to hold on.

Exhausted to the brink of collapse, Gu Han kept shoving handfuls of pills into his mouth. “This isn’t the first time it’s happened! You have to give me an explanation today!”

After a moment of hesitation, Yang Ying prepared to confess everything. “Alright, actually—”

Right at this moment, Zhi Xuan finally caught up. “Oh my god... Why... why did you stop running...”

Her pretty face was deathly pale, stray strands of hair clinging to her cheeks, giving her a rather captivating charm. However, Gu Han didn’t even glance at her.

Feeling some of his spirit qi restored, he sneered coldly. “Run? Do you think I can stand being chased around forever?”

The two monsters had persistently chased them from the beginning until now.

Gu Han narrowed his eyes. “Brother Yang, we’ll talk about your matter later. Now, help me vent some anger!”

He had already charged toward the monsters.

***

Inside a rather well-hidden cave, Yang Lin slowly opened his eyes. His severed hands had regrown under the repair of the dark green qi. Of course, storage rings wouldn’t regrow.

Seeing him awake, the remaining members of the Yang family and the Qixia Court gathered around.

“Young Master!”

“Senior Brother!”

Yang Lin clenched his fists tightly. “I will get my revenge!”

Given his strength and status, from childhood till now, he had never suffered such a great loss and humiliation. He had already come to hate Gu Han and Yang Ying to the core.

Meng Xing asked with a slight accusation, “Brother Yang, what exactly happened here?”

Yang Lin understood his meaning and shook his head. “I don’t know, but I can assure you, it has nothing to do with that object or the Yang family.”

Meng Xing snorted coldly. “You better be telling the truth. If I find out this matter has anything to do with you... Hmph!”

Yang Lin forcefully suppressed his anger. “Brother Meng, we shouldn’t be fussing about this right now.”

“What do you mean?”

Yang Lin’s gaze grew deep. “You are aware of the secret realm’s rules, right? To give us time to refine the liquid treasure, it won’t open again until half a month later!”

Meng Xing’s face turned sour. He had obviously realized the problem being time and pills. Without enough pills to restore their cultivation, trying to resist the red mist’s invasion was simply a fool’s dream.

Not to mention Yang Lin’s loss of his storage ring, Meng Xing’s pills would only last three days if he maintained the protective spirit light nonstop. And that was him speaking as a young master of the Meng family, carrying only high-grade pills. Others were even worse off. After all, no one expected such an anomaly would occur within the secret realm.

Even now, wisp after wisp of red mist still coiled around the group. The atmosphere suddenly became oppressive.

After a long while, Yang Lin turned to the disciples from the three families.

“Keep enough pills for one day’s use for yourselves, and hand over all the rest!” he commanded, his tone icy and ruthless.

Besides Yang Lin and Meng Xing, only ten disciples remained from the three families. Six of them knelt down, pleading desperately.

“Young Master!”

“Senior Brother!”

“Spare us!”

“Without pills, we won’t survive!”

A cold light flashed sharply in Yang Lin’s eyes. “Hmm? Leaving you with one day’s worth of pills is already the utmost benevolence! If you still don’t know what’s good for you, don’t blame me for disregarding past sentiments and taking action against you. When that time comes, you won’t get to keep a single pill.”

Everyone’s hearts turned cold and they didn’t dare speak anymore. Yang Lin’s authority was simply too domineering for them to resist. With great reluctance, they handed over their pills.

Meng Xing followed Yang Lin’s example, seizing the pills from the Meng family members. The two counted their pills while ignoring the sour looks on others’ faces.

Their brows knitted again. Yang Lin’s pills could only last seven days. Meng Xing hadn’t lost his storage ring, so his supply would last eight days. Provided, they couldn’t act recklessly.

It’s not enough! It’s far from enough! Even if they snatched all the pills from everyone, they’d still be short by a day or two. Nevertheless, given the current situation, the red mist could claim their lives at any moment.

As a side note, the two refrained from coveting each other’s pills not out of goodwill, but because neither dared make a move. Familiar with each other’s backgrounds, they knew neither could overpower the other, and thus avoided something as foolish as internal strife.

Meng Xing’s brow was deeply furrowed. “What do we do? It’s still not enough! There are plenty of spirit herbs around, but we can’t use them!”

A Meng family member swallowed hard. “Young Master, isn’t there still the liquid treasure inside the secret realm? If we can be the first to get there, won’t that solve the problem?”

Meng Xing shot him a cold look. “Idiot! Haven’t you noticed? The closer to the depths, the stronger the red mist becomes!”

Yang Lin nodded. “He’s right. Even Brother Meng and I might not last a day at the center. If you go, you’re seeking death. Moreover, with such a big anomaly occurring, can you guarantee that liquid treasure won’t have problems? If there really is a problem, we wouldn’t even have a chance to return.”

Despair instantly washed over everyone.

Meng Xing took a deep breath. “Then, there’s only one way left.”