Supreme Sword Exalt

The moment Gu Han arrived outside the city lord’s mansion, a gray-haired man was already waiting for him. It was City Lord Liu. Due to his position, he knew of Gu Han’s return earlier than anyone else. Though he had aged considerably, his dignity as city lord remained.

He seemed to have guessed Gu Han’s purpose and did not resist. “Go ahead. I’ve waited for this day for many years.”

Back then, for the sake of profit, he had obstructed Gu Han from seeking revenge. Although Chief Steward Li had stopped him at the time, he had failed to prevent a grudge from taking root between the two.

Gu Han shook his head. “City Lord Liu, I didn’t come to settle a score. I came back to see you because Liu Ying asked me to.”

City Lord Liu’s expression changed dramatically. “Ying’er?”

All traces of his dignity vanished, replaced by anxiety and worry. “Where is she? Why hasn’t she come back?”

He was a father before he was a city lord. His daughter had not returned for over ten years. Every year, he would travel to the capital to make inquiries, but never found even the slightest clue. He had long formed a guess in his heart, yet he still held onto a final shred of hope.

Gu Han took a deep breath. “She passed away.”

City Lord Liu looked as if he had been struck by lightning. He staggered back several steps, his face aging another ten years in an instant. “Dead...? How could that be...? my daughter was so smart, so outstanding...”

Gu Han sighed and handed a storage ring to him. “She left this for you.”

City Lord Liu stared blankly at that storage ring. His hands trembled, and tears streamed down his aged face. In the end, the one who cared most about her was still her father.

Even though there were some valuables in her storage ring, Gu Han did not hesitate to give it away. It had nothing to do with anything else. It was only because City Lord Liu was a good father.

***

After leaving Tianwu City, Gu Han went to the capital again and saw Murong Chuan. They caught up for a while. To repay Murong Chuan for sheltering him back then, Gu Han left behind many pills, then headed to the Yuqing Sect.

Five years ago, the extremely mysterious sect master could not hold on and breathed his last. Wu De and Duan Ren followed a year later, leaving Murong Yuan on his own.

Upon arriving, Gu Han found the atmosphere somewhat off. Everyone carried fear and worry, and female disciples seemed rarely seen.

He then found Jiang Feng by himself, quietly tending to his wounds. “Brother Jiang, what’s wrong?”

Having not seen Gu Han for over ten years, Jiang Feng was naturally overjoyed. “Brother Gu? You’re back!”

His aptitude was not poor to begin with, and he had a Heaven-tier technique to rely on. Moreover, with the many pills Gu Han had left for Yang Lan, he felt at ease relying on her. His cultivation had entered the Divine Connection realm as a result.

Gu Han frowned deeply. “Where are Brother Shen and the others? And where’s Yang Lan? Why isn’t she here?”

The joy on Jiang Feng’s face vanished instantly and he let out a heavy sigh.

Apparently, the outer domain Heavenly Prides had done it again. They had occupied Yue Mountain City, using it as their temporary lodging. However, since they came seeking opportunities, they could not bring servant girls with them. Thus, they gathered all decent-looking female cultivators in the Northern Domain as temporary servants.

Neither Yang Lan nor her fellow good-looking female cultivators escaped. Not just them, the entire Northern Domain was now filled with panicked people. Since most people did not know about the ancient path, they had no idea where these outer domain Heavenly Prides who kept calling them “natives” had come from.

Gu Han slowly narrowed his eyes.

Jiang Feng smiled bitterly. “Brother Gu, they are too overbearing and strong. Even Senior Sister Murong got hurt after arguing with them. Thankfully, the supreme elder has quick wits and gave away many things to compensate, otherwise—”

Gu Han’s face was expressionless. “Let’s go to the Murong estate.”

***

Having arrived at the Murong estate, it was the same gloomy scene. Murong Yan and Shen Xuan were overjoyed at Gu Han’s return, and even some of their worries faded away. With Divine Physician Xue around, Murong Yan and the others had never lacked pills.

Ten years had passed without seeing each other. Murong Yan had barely managed to cross the earthly tribulation, and was about to step into the Half-Step Transcendent realm. Shen Xuan had also crossed the fourth stage of the earthly tribulation. Their progress could not be called slow.

At the mention of Yang Lan, Murong Yan was so angry she breathed fire, her rage shaking the Murong family grounds to the core. “A bunch of bastards! A bunch of blind dogs!”

Gu Han frowned deeply, finding Murong Yan’s reaction a bit strange.

Shen Xuan secretly transmitted an explanation. “Brother Gu, she originally wanted to go in Yang Lan’s place, but those people said she was too...”

Yang Lan was gentle by nature, so Murong Yan was worried she would suffer and offered to go in her place. But those outer domain people found her too ugly and refused. Of course, she was furious. Words were exchanged, and they hurt her. If Murong Yuan had not given away all the Murong family’s resources to compensate, Murong Yan wouldn’t have lived.

The killing intent in Gu Han’s eyes nearly condensed into solid form. No one knew better than him about the true nature of these so-called outer domain Heavenly Prides.

He was expressionless. “I’ll go take a trip to Yue Mountain City.”

Murong Yuan quickly tried to stop him. “Don’t be so rash! You shouldn’t even be showing up now! They have been turning the world upside down just to find you! If you appear now, wouldn’t that be walking right into the net? They have Saint realm experts, and even plenty of those above the Saint realm! The entire Eastern Wasteland combined would still not be enough to defeat them!”

Off to the side, Yang Lan’s mother silently wept. On one hand, the outsiders acted arrogantly, and she worried that Yang Lan had met with misfortune. On the other hand, she did not want Gu Han to take the risk.

Gu Han assured her, “Don’t worry. I will definitely bring Yang Lan back!”

Yang Lan’s mother distinguished right from wrong. “Don’t go! We already owe you far too much. Those people are completely beyond our means to provoke—”

The killing intent in Gu Han’s eyes blazed fiercely. “Yang Ying was my brother! His little sister is my little sister too! That was my promise to him back then! If Yang Lan loses even a single hair, I will kill them all!”

Just then, someone demanded impatiently from outside, “Old Man Murong, get out here!”

Murong Yuan turned cold. “It’s these people again!”

Outside, they saw a cultivator standing arrogantly.

His cultivation was only at the Spirit Profound realm, yet his tone was extremely overbearing. “Old Man Murong, Young Master Chang and the other Heavenly Prides are gathering at Yue Mountain City today. This is a rare grand occasion in the Northern Domain! Where is the congratulatory gift from the Murong family? Hurry up and bring it out, lest you displease them and suffer the consequences!”

When the outer domain Heavenly Prides came, many chose to flatter and ingratiate themselves, pledging allegiance to them. To get a better understanding of the situation here, the outer domain people went along with it and took them under their command.

In truth, even if all the finest things in the entire Northern Domain were placed before them, they wouldn’t even bat an eye. Hence, congratulatory gifts and the like were fake. These people were merely using the outer domain people’s status to extort wealth. With this method, they had made a killing these past days.

The Spirit Profound cultivator was very pleased with himself. Murong Yuan? Transcendent realm? In the past, I might have respected and feared him, but now... heh, all worthless. You have to bow your head before me!

In that moment, he felt immensely grateful for his wise decision to side with the outer domain people.

Murong Yan was mad. “Bitch! Have you forgotten that you yourself are from the Eastern Wasteland?”

The man turned cold. “How dare you?! Murong Yan, have you forgotten—”

Before he could finish, Gu Han appeared before him.

The man had an air of reckless fearlessness. “Who are you?! Get lost!”

He announced himself, “I’m Gu Han. You just said those Heavenly Prides are gathering at Yue Mountain City?”

The man was startled, then immediately overjoyed. “You’re Gu Han?!”

Why, it was the very man those Outer Domain people had been searching for to the point of madness!

The man kept his composure. “Hurry and prepare a congratulatory gift! I’ll come back later!”

Aware of his lack of strength, he intended to go back and secretly tip them off.

Gu Han patted his shoulder. “There’s no need for that. Going back and forth is quite tiring. I’ll take you now.”

With that, his figure flickered slightly and vanished without a trace. At the same time, that man exploded into a cloud of blood mist.