Supreme Sword Exalt

The female barbarian cared not for Gu Han’s explanation. She only wanted Gu Han to spare her life. After all, the Great Flame Border Army had thoroughly terrified the current barbarian tribes.

“C-can I... leave now?” she asked.

Gu Han sighed. “Yes.”

He wouldn’t bother targeting a mere Acupoint Unsealing barbarian. Ignoring her, he slowly turned around and saw the demoness standing not far away. Her smile was like a flower, her figure lovely and charming. She was still beautiful, still moving. Yet unlike before, she did not throw her arms around him, keeping her distance.

Now that Gu Han really saw her, he found himself unable to ask why she had to leave.

“How can I help you?” the demoness asked.

After a moment of silence, he asked, “Is it the golden seal that you’re looking for? I’ve experienced how strange that thing is. It’s very terrifying. Even if you got it, there’s a high chance it would harm you. My father became like that because of it.

“If you need it, wait until my friend wakes up. He has probably reached the absolute pinnacle of the demonic path. With him around, the risk will be much smaller if you try to comprehend that thing.”

If previously he did not want to give her the golden seal for other reasons, now he was worried about what would happen after she obtained it.

“Are you worried about me?”

Gu Han fell silent for a moment. “Yes.”

The demoness smiled happily. “Good. I trust you. That seal no longer matters much to me.”

She did not know when it started, but her Heavenly Demon Physique had slowly begun to dissipate. The more time she spent with Gu Han, the faster it faded. This was also why she had grown weaker and weaker.

The Heavenly Demon was inherently unfeeling. Its cultivation path resembled that of the Illusory Demon, toying with human emotions in the palm of its hand. The true cultivation path lay in forging emotionlessness from the pinnacle of emotion.

As Qian Ye once said, developing true affection would shake a Heavenly Demon’s foundation, leading to a very miserable end.

She gazed at Gu Han. “You’ve also developed feelings for me, haven’t you?”

After a moment of silence, he nodded. “Yes.”

The demoness smiled. “Seeing you chase after me made me very happy. I just wanted to see you one more time. Leaving without saying goodbye is never good...”

“You still want to leave?”

The demoness’ expression grew increasingly delicate. “Hold me once.”

A figure flickered before his eyes, and Gu Han had already pulled her into his embrace, holding her very tightly.

It was also the first time he took the initiation. “Just once, alright?”

The dissipation of her physique accelerated rapidly. The solution was actually quite simple, especially now that he had fallen for her. She could take this opportunity to firmly control Gu Han’s heart, using utmost emotion to raise emotionlessness and reconstitute her physique.

Yet she did not want to, nor could she bring herself to do it.

Gently, she broke free from Gu Han’s embrace. “I’m leaving now. Do not hold me back, it will kill me.”

She retreated far away and fled into the distance. Until the moment she vanished from his sight entirely, she never once looked back

Gu Han stood motionless, feeling empty and lost.

***

Deep within the Southern Border, a barren land concealed a rundown mountain gate. Calling it a mountain gate was overselling it a bit. It was just five or six crooked stone steps and a half-collapsed, dilapidated memorial archway.

Beneath the archway, a purple-robed young man had his hands tucked into his sleeves, wearing a lazy expression. No one knew how much time had passed. He slowly opened his eyes, then walked into an old, small side room. Kneeling on a yellowed, old prayer cushion, he devoutly kowtowed to a statue on the altar table.

That statue was strange. It had three eyes and six arms, with a fierce and malevolent expression, completely different from ordinary human cultivators. Wisps of blood-red mist seeped out from some unknown place and flowed into him.

He slowly raised his head. The skin at the center of his brow bulged, as if something wanted to break through. Silently and imperceptibly, a green light descended into the courtyard outside. It rapidly condensed into the figure of a green-robed man, hazy and unreal in appearance. It was Yun Ao!

Upon seeing the young man’s actions, he gently shook his head and simply waited quietly. After some time, the young man slowly rose, and the red mist dissipated as well.

Yun Ao shook his head. “I never expected that you would become their most faithful believer.”

The young man grew serious, seemingly unperturbed by Yun Ao’s arrival. “These are divine beings, do not blaspheme.”

Yun Ao smiled disdainfully. “Divine beings? Certainly, they’re slightly too strong for all the cultivators in this world. Divine beings command faith, the nether clan command curses, the ghost clan commands the Yellow Springs, and the immortal clan commands the Great Dao.

“However, that is no reason for you to completely turn to them. Yun Tian said I abandoned the Dragon Ancestor’s inherited will. In truth, the one who abandoned it was his son, Yun Tu!”

This purple-robed young man was Yun Tu, the only surviving son of the Flame Emperor.

Yun Tu tucked his hands into his sleeves and resumed that lazy expression. “What about you? Haven’t you always wanted to defect to them?”

Yun Ao shook his head. “An expedient measure. We are real dragons. A dragon can be large or small, can rise or hide. When large, it stirs clouds and breathes mist. When small, it conceals its form and hides its appearance. When rising, it soars between the heavens and the earth. When hiding, it lurks within the waves and billows.”

Yun Tu’s eyes lit up. “Not bad. Did you summarize them?”

“They circulated from our hometown. Only these few sentences remain.”

Yun Tu smiled. “Hometown, ah... So far away. Still, to think you lost to Father... That does surprise me a bit.”

He knew very well about Yun Ao’s condition, but he was a very lazy person, so lazy that he only cared about the results and never paid attention to the process.

Yun Ao raised an eyebrow. “Yun Tian? How could I lose to him?”

“Then who was it?”

“Gu Han.”

“Very formidable?”

“He’s only at the Earthly Tribulation realm. It’s not worth mentioning.”

Yun Tu suddenly became interested. “Is that so? How about I kill him for you?”

Yun Ao shook his head. “Forget it, now isn’t the right time. If you dare show yourself, Yun Tian will just risk destroying the dragon mark to kill you first. Our plan is more important. I’ve been covering for you in the Northern Domain all these years, so your harvest should be considerable. How many pieces of those divine corpses have you collected?”

Yun Tu’s expression turned cold. “They are divine bodies! Show some respect!”

“Whatever you say.”

Except for the divine clan, it seemed nothing could make Yun Tu angry. “The divine body in the Northern Domain is underground. As for the Southern Border, I’ve roughly found clues about it as well.

“With that old blind man guarding the Eastern Wasteland, I only dared send Zheng Ning there to lurk in secret. However, he died unexpectedly earlier. I was just about to send someone else when that rooster appeared. Very inconvenient indeed.”

Yun Ao sighed with emotion. “That old blind man has an undying body, soul, and will... Hehe, of the three paths, he is actually close to completing the most difficult one. That man is extraordinary!”

“He is still there now.”

“Do not provoke him for now. Put your focus somewhere else. The most important thing is still that corpse!”

Yun Tu fell silent for a moment, and an overwhelmingly powerful aura burst from him. The skin at the center of his brow pulsed, and his third eye slowly opened. In an instant, a red light swept across and fell upon Yun Ao. Yun Ao just trembled slightly, unscathed. Even his expression remained calm.

Yun Tu’s three eyes stared fixedly at him. “One last time! They are divine bodies! If I hear you blaspheme the divine beings again, our cooperation ends here!”

Yun Ao sighed. “Yun Tu, I can elevate you, and I can also kill you. Remember this.”

Yun Tu was dead serious. “Whatever. Until then, our goals are the same.” Yun Tu was dead serious. He slowly spread his arms, his expression devout. “The glory of the gods will eventually scatter across the mortal world once more!”

***

In a low mood, Gu Han had just returned to the military camp when he heard Fatty’s furious shout. “Yan Qi! Raise your head and look! This boundless starry sky is your final destination!”

Then, Yan Qi’s weak voice rang out as well. “Prince, I-I just want to transcend my heavenly tribulation. And the starry sky is too far away. Y-you’re also too heavy. I can’t lift my head!”