Supreme Sword Exalt

Gu Han bit his tongue as he endured the overwhelming agony. His trembling arm reached out and grabbed Ah Sha’s shoulder.

“Ah Sha... What’s wrong...”

The moment Gu Han touched her, the eerie glow in Ah Sha’s eyes vanished instantly. However, her eyes became dazed and unfocused again, as if the liveliness from before had disappeared along with the glow.

“Young master... I’m so tired...” Ah Sha said as she collapsed into Gu Han’s arms.

Damn it! Gu Han’s heart sank. Before he could say anything further, Ah Sha drifted into deep sleep, just like before.

“Kill me... I’m begging you...” The man was still pleading, but his voice was growing weaker.

Rage surged within Gu Han. “If it weren’t for you people, Ah Sha wouldn’t have ended up like this! You want a quick death? No way!”

After casting a cold glance at the man, Gu Han picked up Ah Sha and vanished in an instant.

Moments later, a series of ferocious roars erupted. Demonic beasts nearby had caught the scent of blood and swarmed to the scene. As for the man’s fate, it needed no explanation.

***

Inside the consciousness space, the shadow was visibly shaken after hearing Gu Han’s account. He jumped up, rubbing his hands together excitedly.

“This is great! I never thought I’d come across a heaven-defying bloodline in this remote corner of the world! Hahaha! This is fate! My fate!”

“Bloodline? What bloodline?” Gu Han frowned.

“You don’t understand, do you? You think everyone in this world is like you? A completely worthless mortal? Hehe, let me tell you the truth. Geniuses in this world are as abundant as the carp in the river. Some individuals awaken special physiques or bloodlines in their youth. Such people are known as geniuses among geniuses. If they grow without hindrance and fully develop their physique or bloodline, they will become true overlords!”

His tone was then tinged with envy. “That little girl has awakened the Eye of Shattered Illusions bloodline. Tsk tsk, it’s one of the ten most powerful known bloodlines and physiques. For example, you mentioned that she could see where spirit herbs grow. That’s just its most basic function. It is said that once someone has fully mastered the Eye of Shattered Illusions, can look into the past and future. In battle, they stand in an invincible position. You’re just a lowly mortal. Yet, you somehow ended up with a servant possessing the Eye of Shattered Illusions. What kind of ridiculous luck is this?”

The shadow looked at Gu Han with utter disdain.

Gu Han looked back at him coldly. “And you? What’s your physique or bloodline?”

“I was born with the Indestructible Demon Physique. While it’s not as powerful as the Eye of Shattered Illusions, it still ranks among the top fifty. This is something you can only dream of!”

“Is that so? Then what happened to your so-called ‘indestructible’ physique? You’re nothing but a remnant soul, so I suppose it wasn’t that indestructible after all,” Gu Han sneered.

The shadow was left speechless. This brat might be useless in cultivation, but his ability to stab where it hurts is unparalleled!

Not wanting to provoke Gu Han too much, the shadow quickly changed the topic. “Ahem... You mentioned earlier that her soul power is lacking. This is why she is in this state. The Eye of Shattered Illusions is massively powerful, almost invincible if it’s fully developed, but it comes with an equally massive flaw. Every time a bloodline ability is used, it consumes soul power, and the stronger the bloodline, the more soul power it consumes. In ancient times, there was someone who reached full mastery of this ability. They dominated everyone, and nearly shattered heaven and earth. But in the end, they vanished without a trace. I believe it happened because their soul power was completely drained.”

Gu Han immediately understood. Both times that Ah Sha had fallen asleep was when she had unconsciously activated the Eye of Shattered Illusions out of concern for him, resulting in the depletion of her soul power.

“Brat. How about this? Let me take that little girl as my disciple. Don’t worry, if she becomes my disciple—”

“No!” Gu Han refused without hesitation.

“Then how about this? I’ll trade you the golden seal for her!”

“No!”

“You don’t know what’s best for you! That golden seal is...Ahem, alright, this time I swear upon the Great Dao! If you release me and let her become my disciple, I will give my all in training her. As for her soul power issue, I will find a solution. How about it?”

Gu Han’s expression turned dark. “So your last oath was fake? As expected, you’re a scoundrel through and through! Your words can’t be trusted at all!”

“That’s not the point! Just tell me if you agree or not! Do you know how many people would beg to become my disciple—”

“Goodbye.” Gu Han didn’t bother with him anymore and turned to leave.

As the shadow watched Gu Han disappear, he raged. “Just you wait! Sooner or later, I’ll deal with you! That girl will be my disciple!”

***

In a secluded cave, Gu Han slowly opened his eyes and glanced at Ah Sha, who had just taken another pill and was sleeping soundly. Pushing aside his thoughts, he examined his loot from the earlier battle. There were several beast cores and over three hundred essence crystals.

Additionally, there was a bottle of Spirit-Gathering Pills to enhance cultivation and a bottle of Blood-Replenishing Pills for healing. They were nothing more than low-grade pills, and they weren’t as valuable as Black Ginseng, but they were still a pleasant surprise.

Rogue cultivators were normally poor. As they constantly faced danger and conflict, they would immediately use any resources they acquired to increase their cultivation. Naturally, they rarely accumulated any wealth.

As Gu Han shoved the pills into his mouth, he grabbed several essence crystals, and absorbed the spirit qi within them. If anyone else saw this, they would surely mock him for his recklessness. Pills contained toxins, while essence crystals contained impurities.

That was why most cultivators absorbed them slowly and carefully. Consuming them all at once like Gu Han might provide a temporary boost in cultivation, but over time, it would corrode one’s foundation, making future progress nearly impossible. Gu Han understood this well.

However, after absorbing the Scorching Sun Fruit, he had realized the peculiarity of his newly formed meridians. No matter what he consumed, it didn’t affect him in the slightest. Those tiny vortexes in his meridians filtered away the impurities, then everything was expelled, leaving behind only the purest spirit qi. Within his meridians, pure spirit qi continuously condensed into spirit liquid, flowing through his body.

To reach the Meridian Opening Realm, one had to completely open all meridians. The human body had twelve primary meridians and three hundred sixty subsidiary meridians, mirroring the number of the heavens. This was the reason the human body was considered the ideal form for cultivation despite its frailty. Even demonic beasts and exotic species would ultimately choose to take human form once they reached a certain level of power.

As one meridian after another was opened, the essence crystals in his hand rapidly depleted. Suddenly, Gu Han’s aura surged, and he broke into the third stage of Meridian Opening. At this point, the essence crystals and the spirit pills were all gone.

“Hah...”

He exhaled a mouthful of impure qi, then took out the Black Ginseng, stuffed it into his mouth and chewed it before swallowing.

In that moment, a surge of spirit qi far stronger than before flooded his meridians. This single Black Ginseng provided more spirit qi than everything he had absorbed earlier combined.

After some time, Gu Han opened his eyes again. This time, he had reached the fourth stage of Meridian Opening. However, there was not the slightest hint of joy on his face. With his meridians expanding and his spirit qi turning into liquid, his strength had undoubtedly grown. However, the amount of resources he needed to reach each level was also ten times greater than that of ordinary people, and as his cultivation increased, his resource consumption would also increase.

At that moment, Ah Sha finally stirred from her sleep, rubbing her eyes as she sat up. “Mm... Young Master...”

“Ah Sha, how are you feeling?” Gu Han felt his heart skip, and he set aside all thoughts about his depleted resources.

“I slept so well. But... I had another dream.” Ah Sha’s eyes regained their usual liveliness, but her mood seemed somewhat off.

“A dream?”

Ah Sha stared straight at Gu Han. “I dreamt that someone took me away again... but... I couldn’t bear to leave you...”

Seeing that she was finally back to normal, Gu Han didn’t dwell on the matter. Instead, his expression turned serious.

“Tell me, when you looked at those people earlier, what did you feel?”

Ah Sha huffed angrily. “They were all bad people! They wanted to kill you just like Commander Gu. I don’t have any cultivation, so I couldn’t help you fight... I could only glare at them!”

At this point, she suddenly became excited. “And I think it actually worked—”

“Ah Sha! Listen to me. From now on, you must never do that again. Do you understand?” Gu Han said sternly.

“Why?”

“No reason! Just do as I say. Those people cannot hurt me, and they certainly cannot kill me. What you need to do is stand aside and watch; I’ll deal with them. Do you understand?”

“I understand.” Ah Sha had never been scolded by Gu Han, so she instinctively nodded when she heard his harsh tone.

After she agreed, Gu Han finally let out a breath of relief, and his tone softened. “You’ve already helped me a lot. That Black Ginseng you helped me find was a great help. Without it, I wouldn’t have advanced so quickly.”

Ah Sha’s eyes lit up again. “Then can I keep helping you find spirit herbs?”

“That, you can do.”

“That’s great! Can we go right now?”

“Let’s go.” Gu Han slowly stood up, his eyes flashing with a chilling light. “And while we’re at it... we’ll take care of some people.”

“Take care of them?”

“My father once told me that those who wish to kill others must be prepared to die as well. Right now, there are many people in the Wild Forest who want me dead. So I’ve decided that I will kill them first.”

***

Somewhere in the Wild Forest, a group of more than ten people had gathered. Their cultivation levels ranged from the first stage to the sixth stage of Meridian Opening. They were rogue cultivators that had banded together to claim a bounty.

“Damn it! We haven’t even seen a single trace of him!”

“Maybe he caught wind of the bounty and went into hiding? This place is huge. How are we supposed to find him?”

“Aih! I knew earning two thousand essence crystals wouldn’t be that easy!”

“Even if we can’t find him, we have to keep looking. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!”

As the group continued to complain, a cold voice suddenly echoed from nearby.

“I heard that you were looking for me?”

Before the words even settled, a young man carrying a petite girl on his back stepped forward with a battered sword in hand.