Supreme Sword Exalt

Inside Gu Han’s military tent, Xue Yu focused entirely on playing the zither. Her slender fingers nearly turned into a blur as they danced across the strings. A melodious tune, continuous and unbroken, filled the air. Though it carried less gentle warmth, it had gained a more stirring, solemn quality.

As the piece ended, Xue Yu blushed slightly at Gu Han. “Young Master, h-how was it?”

Gu Han pondered for half a moment before giving an extremely high appraisal. “Majestic! Your music gives me a feeling of boiling battle intent, of blood running hot. If I had this music to help me when facing an enemy, it could boost my combat strength! A higher cultivation level would allow you to cover more ground, with a noticeably stronger effect!”

He wasn’t exaggerating, nor was he buttering her up. The effect of Xue Yu’s music was somewhat similar to Chu Kuang’s Barbaric War Physique. Although it fell short in terms of effect, its wide coverage made up for it. In battle, the latter was clearly more important than the former. This piece would turn Xue Yu into an asset with immense growth potential within the border army.

Xue Yu’s heart leaped with joy as her face reddened to a shade nearly rivaling Feng Xi’s battle skirt. “T-then... that’s good.”

She had composed this piece half a month ago after taking Gu Han’s words to heart and finding inspiration. The moment she finished it, she rushed over to have Gu Han evaluate it. Who would’ve expected him to praise it so highly?

Outside the tent, Zhao Mengyou held a cup of spirit tea. A slight bitterness welled up in her heart. Hmph! It’s just playing the zither, and he calls it majestic?!

Instinctively, she glanced down at herself. This is what you call majestic, you blind man!

After hesitating for a moment, she downed her spirit tea in one gulp and left in a huff. It wasn’t that she was angry at Gu Han, but she felt her tea ceremony couldn’t quite compete with Xue Yu’s zither skills.

Gu Han knew she was there from the start and just didn’t call her. He was also aware of the feelings both young women harbored.

With a soft sigh, he decided to make things clear to Xue Yu as well. “Miss Xue, actuallyI—“

Just then, countless sprays of blood mist erupted from all over him, soaking him with blood.

Xue Yu was terrified, losing all composure. “Young Master, y-you’re injured! I-I’ll go find grandfather!”

She had devoted the past half month to studying zither techniques, oblivious to the outside world. Thinking that Gu Han had suffered a hidden injury in the last great battle, her eyes welled with tears of worry. She panicked, ready to rush off and get Divine Physician Xue to save him.

In contrast, Gu Han was remarkably calm. “It’s nothing. I’m cultivating.”

Xue Yu was dumbfounded. Cultivating? How could there be such a bizarre cultivation method in the world?

Gu Han was indeed cultivating. When he had transformed himself into a sword, he realized how powerful it was. In fact, it was far stronger than the Kill Sword he used under normal conditions. Naturally, it had piqued his great interest.

Thus, he continued experimenting, surrounding himself with sword qi. As a result, he discovered that the more he compressed it, the more powerful the resulting sword strike became. Nevertheless, compressing the sword qi to a distance of three chi from himself seemed to be his absolute limit.

After all, he wasn’t a body cultivator, and his strength couldn’t compare to an actual sword. If he kept compressing the sword qi recklessly, he would likely collapse before he could even kill his enemy.

Though undergoing the heavenly tribulation would be a good solution, it was also very particular. The stronger one’s body before enduring the tribulation, the greater the rewards received.

After much contemplation, he found a unique method, which was tempering himself with sword qi. He would meticulously polish his flesh with sword qi, strengthening himself to its current limit, and then undergo the heavenly tribulation. This way, he would gain even greater enhancement.

He waved at her while stuffing an Emerald Condensation Pill into his mouth. “No need to panic!”

Then he vanished in a flash, reappearing outside. He called out, channeling his cultivation, “Fatty, time to work!”

Outside, passing cultivators saluted him one after another, paying no heed to his bloodied state. Tsk. The vanguard’s bleeding again...

Half a month ago, they were more nervous than Xue Yu. Now, it was just Tuesday. As expected of Vanguard Gu! Even his cultivation method is unique!

They felt great admiration for Gu Han’s actions.

Suddenly, a flash of golden light rose from afar, landing directly in front of Gu Han. “How bold of you! You’re just a vanguard! How dare you disrespect me?!”

Fatty clasped his hands behind his back, looking at Gu Han with a deep dissatisfaction. Little vanguard, sooner or later, I’ll demote you!

Gu Han urged repeatedly. “Hurry up! I feel like I’m almost reaching my limit.”

When he first started tempering himself with sword qi, he had nearly turned his own flesh into a paste even with the help of the Emerald Condensation Pill. Now, although he still couldn’t withstand the slicing of the sword qi, his strength had improved immensely.

Without hesitation, Fatty smacked toward Gu Han. “Do you really have to push yourself this hard?”

He understood better than anyone that even body cultivators had to temper their physiques gradually. Reckless and brutal methods like Gu Han’s were extremely rare. Though Gu Han had covered in just half a month what would take others several years, the pain he endured was dozens of times greater than that of ordinary people.

Sword qi entering the body meant enduring the agony of being cut into a thousand pieces every moment. Few could withstand it. In Fatty’s view, this was simply self-harm.

Under the relentless pounding of his golden light, the blood mist on Gu Han transformed into fountains of blood. If he weren’t a cultivator, he would have died eight hundred times over.

By now, a crowd had gathered around the two of them. They buzzed with discussion, full of admiration and reverence toward Gu Han.

“Vanguard Gu, you’re amazing!”

“If it were me, I definitely couldn’t bear this kind of pain!”

“There’s only one Vanguard Gu. There can be millions of Zhang Shans.”

The more Fatty struck, the darker his face grew. “Damn it! I’m the one doing all the heavy work here. How come no one’s praising me?”

No way! From the looks of it, my chances to beat up this bastard are running out. I need to make the most of it!

With that thought, he added another thirty percent force to his strikes. Of course, venting was one thing, but he didn’t forget his actual task either.

Though the golden light appeared chaotic, it was actually very methodical. Each strike landed precisely at the limit of Gu Han’s endurance, strengthening his resilience and imbuing him with some of Fatty’s physique traits.

Gu Han gritted his teeth and endured. Even though he had experienced this pain many times before, it was still difficult to bear. On top of the torment from the sword qi, Fatty’s golden light was like a great mountain, constantly grinding him down and threatening to crush him.

There were only two possible outcomes. Either he would be shattered to pieces, or achieve ultimate sublimation.

Inside his consciousness space, another rune from the Great Evolution Sword Scripture exploded, transforming into a passage of scripture that imprinted itself upon his heart.

Indestructible Sword Physique!