Supreme Sword Exalt

Since the small courtyard had gathered the most people, the area was basically filled with ladders. Some even crossed over one another, illuminating the area with golden light so bright it nearly blinded people.

Gu Han swept his gaze over and frowned slightly. Something’s not right.

The ladders of those from the outer domain, such as Xiao Yang and Hua Xing, seemed a shade or two lighter. The golden light even flickered slightly, seeming a bit unstable.

The others also discovered this problem and kept shouting.

“What’s going on?”

“Why is my gold ladder like this?”

“This is so unfair!”

Xiao Yang was completely baffled. “If I step on this, it won’t collapse, will it?”

Hua Xing shook his head. “Probably not, but didn’t this Gold List manifest from the Great Dao? The Great Dao is impartial and selfless, so why is it treating us differently?”

Off to the side, Qiu Qian clearly was also a bit confused.

Suddenly, a burst of loud laughter interrupted everyone’s contemplation.

Not far away, Mei Yun cried and laughed like a maniac, “This Gold List has taken a liking to me, Mei Yun! That old charlatan was right! I truly do have great fortune, great creation!”

Everyone was taken aback. Is it really that serious? Aren’t you the number one Heavenly Pride of the five domains?! Isn’t it perfectly normal for the Gold List to take a liking to you? It would be abnormal if it didn’t! Huh? Wait a minute! Isn’t your name Hao Yun? How did it become Mei Yun?

Gu Han fell into thought. The way the Gold List selected people was completely different from the Dao Bell. If it had been the Dao Bell, Xue Yu would have barely managed to ring it three times, whereas Mei Yun wouldn’t have been able to ring it at all. Yet now, both had a ladder.

Qiu Qian, who was at the Saint realm, had one. Even Yan Qi had already started climbing his own. His refusal to become human was so deeply ingrained that his appearance remained unchanged

Seeing everyone standing still, Yan Qi was a bit puzzled. “Why aren’t you moving? Break through the Heavenly Pass and fight for your fortune!”

Everyone was stunned. What’s the Heavenly Pass?

He wriggled as he kept climbing upward. “You’ll know once you come up.”

Upon seeing this, the outer domain people could no longer bother with the Great Dao’s judgement, and stepped onto their respective ladders one after another.

“Go!”

Although the gold ladders were unstable, they didn’t collapse as Xiao Yang had imagined. Only then did everyone understand what the flood dragon meant, yet no one spoke up to warn anyone. If anything, they only quickened their pace, rushing toward that scroll.

Unwilling to fall behind, Fatty also stepped onto his own ladder. “Let’s go!”

Gu Han and the others also stepped onto theirs at the same time. In an instant, a trace of understanding floated into their hearts. The Gold List had Nine Great Heavenly Passes, each of which would produce different treasures, spirit herbs, artifacts, and other rare treasures. The more passes one went through, the better the rewards.

However, the treasures appearing at each pass were limited, far from enough for so many people to share. Moreover, the further one went, the fewer there were. In the end, those with the greatest talent would receive the greatest rewards. It was a completely different mode than the Dao Bell.

Gu Han suddenly understood. “So that’s how it is.”

The qualifications for competing over the treasures depended not only on one’s aptitude and cultivation, but also on one’s strength. For example, Xue Yu’s aptitude and cultivation were average, but her zither dao was unique and extremely useful. As for Mei Yun, his bad luck was so strong that even Gu Han couldn’t withstand it. If he wasn’t qualified, then who was?

Fatty’s gold ladder was relatively close to Gu Han’s. Rubbing his double chin, he said thoughtfully, “Don’t you think the Gold List seems to understand human nature?”

Gu Han felt the same way. “Indeed.”

The Dao Bell had felt completely cold and impersonal to him, focusing only on aptitude and disregarding everything else. However, the Gold List was different. It seemed to have even taken each person’s hidden abilities into account. Calling it considerate wasn’t an exaggeration. Thinking of the abnormal condition of the outer domain people’s gold ladders, he felt it was even stranger.

Fatty looked around and quietly sent a voice transmission. “What do you think? If these Nine Great Heavenly Passes correspond to the Dao Bell’s nine rings, could there be a tenth pass? Like a hidden pass or something?”

Gu Han’s face darkened as if recalling some unpleasant memory. Ten rings, ten passes. It was entirely possible!

Fatty turned serious. “Listen to me. Even if there is, you absolutely must not go! My Golden Bell Cover can’t protect you!”

Gu Han was baffled. “What cover?”

Fatty repeated again, smugly saying, “Golden Bell Cover! It’s that new divine art the old man gave me. You’ve seen it before. It can grow as my cultivation increases! This is the name I came up with myself. Fitting, right?”

Gu Han was speechless. Too damn fitting!

He hadn’t forgotten the painful lesson of the Dao Bell’s ten rings and made an oath. “Don’t you worry! I absolutely won’t go! Nine passes are enough! Even if there really is a hidden pass... Whoever goes is a bastard!”

Fatty shook his head. “Now, now, calling yourself a bastard isn’t good.”

Gu Han nearly chopped him down.

***

Only when Gu Han and the others were completely out of sight did Yan Qianjue and the rest finally withdraw their gazes.

Fu Dahai stroked his beard. “What do you think? Who will be at the top of this Gold List?”

Yan Qianjue didn’t hesitate at all. “It’s definitely him! If it’s not him, I’ll twist my head off and give it to you!”

The Luoheng Holy Master shook his head. “Not necessarily. Don’t forget, there are Saint realm cultivators among them. His sword intent might not be usable inside.”

Yan Qianjue smirked. “Saint realm? Do you know what the first thing he did after overcoming his human tribulation was?”

“What?”

“He personally killed a Saint realm cultivator!”

The two of them were stunned. Suddenly, they felt a bit more of a sense of crisis. If he could kill a Saint cultivator, then killing a Feather Transformation cultivator shouldn’t be too hard for him, right?

In the distance, Chongming sighed. Apart from his shamelessness, Gu Han is still very similar to Little Yun in other ways.

***

Although they kept talking, Gu Han and Fatty hadn’t slowed down in the slightest. In just a moment, they had already pulled ahead of the others.

The people native to the five domains were fine, while the group from the outer domain felt an indescribable grief and indignation. Based on their cultivation levels, even if they couldn’t match Gu Han and the other man, they shouldn’t have been so far behind.

However, they had just been injured by Mei Yun’s bad luck, twice at that. As if that wasn’t enough, before they could even treat their injuries, Gu Han robbed them of their storage rings. When the Gold List suddenly appeared, they only had time to grab a few pills from their guardians before they started climbing. No matter how anxious they were inside, they simply couldn’t go any faster.

Yan Qi, who wasn’t too far from Yun Fan, sighed again. “Little Prince, I suddenly thought of something even more painful.”

“What?”

“The person is still here, but the storage ring is gone.”

Yun Fan was speechless. That one sentence stabbed the outer domain people right in the heart, causing them to nearly lose their breath and tumble straight down from the gold ladders.

This fire flood dragon is simply inhuman!