Supreme Sword Exalt

Chongming stared at Gu Han. “Do you regret it? If you hadn’t been so hell-bent on chasing down that bastard to get even for Little Yun, you wouldn’t have ended up in this mess.”

Gu Han shook his head. “I’ve never done anything I regret. I’d regret not killing him.”

A trace of reminiscence flickered through Chongming’s eyes. “No wonder Little Yun likes you so much. The two of you really are cut from the same cloth. The choice you made now is exactly the same as his back then.”

For a moment, both man and rooster fell silent, their gazes dim.

After a long pause, Gu Han sighed. “Master Rooster, if we end up buried here—”

Chongming cut him off. “No. The one dying here should be you. I’m not afraid of that. At worst, I’ll suffer a bit, but I won’t actually die.”

In the pitch-black gloom, man and rooster drifted up and down, the five-colored divine light growing dimmer by the moment.

Many tentacles soundlessly materialized out of the darkness around them, their mouthparts opening and closing incessantly, flecks of pink dotting their surfaces. They were beautiful, yet radiating boundless eeriness. They were waiting for the moment the divine light vanished, allowing them to drain Gu Han and Chongming dry.

Gu Han gripped his sword tightly, relentlessly gathering what little strength he had left. Even if he died, he would never let himself turn into something like Yun Tu.

Just then, Chongming asked, “There’s something ahead?”

He stopped drifting with the current, forcibly channeling his divine light to pick up speed. In just a few breaths, they arrived before a pitch-black wall. It was impossibly tall and wide, with no end in sight. Ravines and uneven protrusions crisscrossed its surface. It somewhat resembled a stone cliff, or maybe the bark of a tree that had grown for untold ages.

Chongming’s pupils split in two, a flash of divine light passing through his eyes as if he’d seen right through the wall’s true nature. “This thing is alive!”

Gu Han froze, lost in thought. Alive?

Recalling the rhizome earlier in the forbidden zone, he felt a stir in his heart. “Master Rooster, this might just be its bark. If we break through it, we might be able to get out!”

Chongming shook his head. “It’s tough. It’s going to be very hard to break.”

Gu Han didn’t want to die, especially in such a twisted and sinister place. “We have to try.”

He closed his eyes slightly, channeling the last wisp of cultivation he’d forcibly conserved into the black sword. The sprout of Mortal World Intent within his mind trembled faintly, specks of starlight clinging to the blade. With a soft hum, the black sword flashed from his hand, piercing into the tree bark. Doing so aggravated Gu Han’s injuries, causing his face to turn pale.

He no longer had any strength left. The black sword sank half a chi into the bark, but could advance no further.

Gu Han’s heart sank. “It’s so tough!”

Even though that strike carried at most twenty to thirty percent of his peak power, it was enough to show that the bark’s hardness far exceeded his imagination.

Just then, the tentacles howled as they surged toward them, ignoring the threat of Chongming’s divine light. Gu Han’s actions seemed to have enraged them. On the densely packed tentacles were countless hideous mouthparts, too many to count. The mouthparts gaped wide, revealing rows of fine, barbed teeth, emitting one strange shriek after another that made Gu Han’s scalp crawl.

As they came in contact with the divine light, puffs of black smoke kept rising. However, more tentacles swarmed in like mad, encasing them both.

“Insignificant little creatures!” Chongming’s divine light surged up once more, transforming into a five-colored halo that spun ceaselessly around Gu Han. His tone shifted, now filled with majesty and sacredness. “How dare you act insolently before me!”

Black smoke billowed, and countless strange shrieks mingled within. Nevertheless, Chongming’s outburst lasted less than two breaths before exhaustion appeared in his eyes.

The halo dissipated on the spot, and the five-colored divine light dimmed, barely even shielding Gu Han anymore. The eroding force and the countless gaping mouthparts were about to fall upon him.

Gu Han’s scalp tingled as he summoned the sword back and hacked wildly. “Master Rooster, pull yourself together!”

Chongming said weakly, “Kid... you... you’re the one Little Yun chose. I definitely won’t let you die so easily!”

Gu Han felt as though he was about to die.

The situation was dire as Chongming gritted his beak. “I will take you in one final gamble. If we win, you have a chance of survival!”

Gu Han asked with great difficulty, “How much of a chance?”

“Nine out of ten!”

Gu Han’s spirits lifted. “Master Rooster!”

Pushing past his limits, he forcibly squeezed out another wisp of cultivation. With a swing of his sword, he severed several tentacles that were about to bite into him. “Don’t hesitate, let’s gamble!”

“Nine out of ten... is your chance of dying.”

Gu Han was speechless as his movements stalled. In that instant, a tentacle sank its teeth into him. That excruciating, soul-deep pain surged through him again, and he could barely even lift his sword. “Then... let’s gamble anyway!”

If he didn’t gamble, he’d die right now.

Chongming had already seen Gu Han’s plight and stopped hesitating. In that instant, he too squeezed out the last of his power. “Great Might God-Slayer Sword!”

The five-colored divine light erupted, transforming into over a hundred five-colored sword beams that shielded Gu Han while severing many tentacles. ℯℯ𝑙.

Chongming erupted with divine might. “Go!”

For a moment, he almost recreated the grandeur of his battle against that divine servant within the God-Slaying Formation. As the divine light countered the tentacles, the sword beams bored a massive gap right through them.

“Break!”

The divine light surged, wrapped around Gu Han, and hurtled straight toward the tree bark. A tremendous crash rang out. The bark belched thick black smoke. The five-colored divine light breached it with ease, boring a hole over a zhang deep.

“Break! Break for me!”

With each of Chongming’s thunderous shouts, the hole grew deeper, reaching three zhang. Even so, they still hadn’t broken through.

Gu Han looked back at the tentacles surging after them. Gritting his teeth, he swung again and again, but the effect was negligible. “Master Rooster, hold on! We’re almost—”

Just then, Chongming rolled his eyes, on the verge of passing out. “Holding... Can’t hold on anymore... Kid, sorry. Just accept your fate...”

With that, the five-colored sword beams slowly dissipated.

“Master Rooster!”

Before he could finish, a vague, irritable, and impatient will descended. A formidably powerful suction followed in its wake, way stronger than when they’d first entered. Gu Han and Chongming were blasted backward through the hole.

Even though the tentacles were gone, that eroding force remained. As Gu Han endured the agony of crumbling apart, he gripped his sword and the bodhi seed tightly. His consciousness grew hazy. Faintly, he seemed to see a strange sight. In the endless void, a canopy so vast it blotted out the sky and had no end in sight stretched across. It was ancient, weathered, and laced with a hint of sinister strangeness.

There were many grayish-green fruits below the canopy, emitting a faint, soft glow. The large ones could be several chi across, while the small ones were only a few cun. They were densely packed, too many to count. The eerie thing was all the fruits were human-shaped: from old and young, to male and female. They all sat cross-legged with eyes tightly shut, with similar faces.

“Humanoid fruit?”

In an instant, the scene before him changed. A flash of brightness entered his vision, and everything vanished, replaced by a brilliant sky. White clouds coiled below, and mist wreathed everything. All was peaceful.

Did we get out? Where are we?

The moment these two thoughts crossed his mind, a deafening sound rang out as he slammed heavily onto the ground, his consciousness fading into complete darkness.