Supreme Sword Exalt

The spear gave a fierce shake. An aura of extreme power erupted, briefly blocking the attacks of the four men.

An opportunity!

Gu Han’s spirits lifted as he disengaged from the battle. He had no time to see who had arrived.

At that moment, a tremendous explosion erupted as the spear collided with the four men’s attacks. Borrowing the recoil, the spearman withdrew to Gu Han’s side. He was a cold, solemn man clad in tight black combat attire.

Only then did Gu Han recognize the newcomer. “Wait, you are?!”

It was Yang Ying, who had tested him that day.

Yang Ying wasn’t one for many words. “Mhm.”

“Why are you here?”

Yang Ying flicked his spear. “We’ll talk later.”

The four men across from them wore grim expressions. After all, just as success was within reach, Yang Ying had appeared out of nowhere. What shocked them most was that they hadn’t sensed Yang Ying’s presence before he acted.

Actually, even Gu Han hadn’t sensed him. Of course, that also had something to do with his being completely preoccupied with the fight.

The leader frowned slightly, scrutinizing Yang Ying for a moment, before a flash of insight struck him. “Aren’t you Shadow?”

Yang Ying did not deny it. “Yes.”

The man’s gaze turned grave. “So, you’re also here for the bounty!”

Gu Han’s heart dropped. “Bounty? What bounty?”

Instinctively, he increased the distance between himself and Yang Ying.

Yang Ying curtly said, “Don’t worry. I mean no harm.”

However, the leader didn’t believe Yang Ying’s words. “I should have realized it sooner! With such a high reward, how could it not attract the notorious Shadow? Alright then, let’s join forces to kill him. We’ll share a portion of the reward with you!”

One of the men behind him grew anxious. “Big Brother, you can’t—”

The leader glared at him. “Shut up! I know what I’m doing! It’s our honor to be able to form a good connection with Shadow! What do you think, sir?”

Yang Ying remained unmoved. “Leave or die.”

The leader’s expression turned cold. “Sir, you have quite the appetite. Do you intend to take the entire bounty for yourself?”

Yang Ying shook his head. “I said, leave or die.”

The leader laughed in anger. “Fine! I had intended to give you face and split the bounty with you. Who would’ve expected you to be so unreasonable? Do you think we’re afraid of you? Hmph, this man just killed my fourth brother. Today, whether it’s for the bounty or not, I will kill him to avenge my brother.”

Yang Ying said firmly, carrying an unmistakable finality. “Then die.”

Before his words faded, he had already transformed into an afterimage. The spear lunged with a domineering aura, aiming straight for the leader’s head.

The leader was taken by surprise by the sudden attack. “How dare you?! Attack! Kill him first, then kill that brat!”

In the blink of an eye, the four men surrounded Yang Ying, raining down all sorts of attacks upon him. Four against one, and Yang Ying was only slightly disadvantaged, showing no sign of defeat. He even seized the opportunities to counterattack from time to time.

In reality, his cultivation level wasn’t higher than theirs. Nevertheless, each of his strikes was a life-for-life exchange, making them hesitate and fight with restraint. Paired with his unpredictable movements and astonishing speed, the two sides became evenly matched.

Gu Han also brandished his sword. Although he wasn’t sure if Yang Ying was on his side or not, the four men definitely weren’t. Thinking of this, he swung his sword, and over ten strands of Great Evolution Sword Qi shot out toward the weakest man.

The leader was horrified. “Fifth Brother, dodge!”

Restrained by Yang Ying, that man had no chance to dodge even if he wanted to. Several squishes, accompanied by a scream, and the man was instantly grievously wounded.

How could Gu Han let such an excellent opportunity slip? Killing intent boiled in his heart. The Kill Sword technique emerged again, aiming straight for the man’s head.

“Kill!”

The injured man cried out mournfully, “Big Brother, save—”

A thin sword mark appeared on his head and his corpse tumbled to the ground.

The leader gnashed his teeth, glaring hatefully at Gu Han. “Fifth Brother... How dare you kill my brother!”

Gu Han sneered repeatedly. “What? You’re allowed to kill me, but I’m not allowed to kill you?”

The flames of hatred in his heart were fanned, and he instantly abandoned Yang Ying to pounce straight at Gu Han. “I’ll slaughter you!”

However, his strength had been greatly reduced by his accumulated injuries and the loss of his trusty Dao artifact. Upon seeing his attack, Gu Han slowly closed his eyes, his killing intent reaching a breaking point.

Just as the leader was only a few feet away, Gu Han opened his eyes again. “Kill!”

Meeting Gu Han’s bloodlust-filled gaze, the leader froze. He felt as if he had fallen into an icy cellar. The next moment, searing pain shot through him as Gu Han’s sword pierced him once again.

At the same time, the miserable screams of the other two men came from behind him.

“Aaah!!!”

“Big Brother!”

Given Yang Ying’s strength, it didn’t take much effort for him to slaughter both of them on the spot.

“Second Brother... Third Brother...” The leader wallowed, full of unwillingness and hatred. “Shadow, you are vicious!”

Gu Han remained calm. “Don’t move, or you’ll die faster!”

The leader laughed bitterly. “You think you can escape by killing me? You’re too naive... You don’t really think Shadow is here to help you, do you?”

Gu Han remained unperturbed. “I’m wondering the same. I don’t know you at all. Why did you come to kill me?”

Yang Ying’s voice came from the side. “There’s no need to ask. They are the Ma Brothers, ranking high on the black market assassin leaderboard. Working together, they’ve assassinated quite a few Divine Connection realm experts!”

Gu Han narrowed his eyes. “Assassins? But who wants me dead?”

Yang Ying shook his head. “I don’t know. The employer’s identity is always kept absolutely confidential.”

“How do you know all this?”

The leader sneered. “His codename is Shadow. He’s on par with us five brothers on the assassin leaderboard. To think we would be destroyed by a mere Essence Gathering realm brat like—”

Before he finished, the sword trembled slightly. The light in the man’s eyes rapidly dimmed.

“An assassin? You’re quite talkative for one!” Gu Han sneered repeatedly. Then, he looked at Yang Ying, frowning slightly. “You’re an assassin too?”

Yang Ying admitted openly, “Yes.”

Gu Han turned his sword, pointing it directly at Yang Ying. “Then, are you here to kill me too?”

Yang Ying shook his head. “No. I said I amhere to help you.”

Gu Han didn’t believe him at all. “Help me? We don’t even know each other. If anything, we should be enemies!”

Yang Ying was silent for a moment. “You saved my little sister, Yang Lan, so I came to save you.”

Given his nature, he normally wouldn’t bother explaining, but Yang Lan held too important a place in his heart.

Everything suddenly made sense to Gu Han. “Yang Lan? You’ve met her?”

“Mhm. I was on a mission and just returned yesterday. She told me about what happened the other day. I also happened to see your name on the bounty board, so I rushed over.” Yang Ying nodded, hesitating for a moment before saying, “Thank you. If not for you, my little sister would have suffered greatly.”

“There’s no need for thanks. I helped her because I wanted to. It has nothing to do with you. Since you genuinely helped me, we’re even.” Gu Han relaxed inwardly and lowered his sword. Still, he remained vigilant and looked Yang Ying up and down. “I’m curious. Aren’t you strong? You even joined Qingyun Pavilion. How did you let the Yang family bully you like this?”

Gu Han could clearly tell that Yang Ying was much stronger than before. Either he had hidden his strength, or he had some fortuitous encounter recently, advancing his cultivation greatly.

“I have no friends. People in Qingyun Pavilion go their own ways. And Senior Brother Yuan wouldn’t offend the Yang family for my sake,” Yang Ying explained calmly, albeit his tone carried a hint of bitterness and helplessness.

It was uncharacteristic of him to speak at such length, a clear sign that he held Gu Han in some regard.

Gu Han sighed. “I see. Damn Qingyun Pavilion. Good thing I didn’t join that day.”

Yang Ying said no more and the atmosphere suddenly turned cold.

Even Gu Han couldn’t stand it after a while. “Aren’t you leaving?”

A faint light flickered in Yang Ying’s eyes. “Mhm. You go first. I’ll wait a while.”

Gu Han also felt somewhat awkward. “I-I’m not in a hurry either.”

For a time, the two fell into a stalemate again. Another unknown length of time passed. The two seemed truly unable to bear it any longer. They glanced at each other and moved simultaneously.

The loot!

As if sharing an understanding, Yang Ying went for the two men he had slain, while Gu Han focused on the leader and the fourth brother among the five.

They were extremely fast, as if they were born for it. However, Yang Ying was slightly more adept, perhaps because he had done this many times before.

Gu Han watched, full of admiration, and asked curiously. “Are you very poor?”

Yang Ying gave Gu Han a surprised look. “Mhm. I am indeed very poor. Are you?”

Gu Han sighed. “Of course. Fengwu Court, heard of it? I’m their chief disciple. Tsk... I’m so poor I don’t even have essence crystals for cultivation anymore.”

Yang Ying’s gaze held a bit more sympathy. Gu Han didn’t speak further as he hurriedly checked the storage rings of the two men. At a glance, he almost laughed out loud. The gloom of being assassinated instantly dissipated by more than half. Combining the two storage rings, there were over three million essence crystals. That wasn’t even counting the Dao artifacts, pills, and various materials.

A faint smile also appeared on Yang Ying’s face. Clearly, his harvest was also substantial. However, after their joy, the two instinctively focused on the fifth brother’s corpse.

Gu Han said with a serious face, “I was the one who killed him.”

Yang Ying was unwilling to concede. “I know, but it only worked because I restrained him. The items should be mine.”

Gu Han stared disdainfully at him. “You’re so greedy! Does your little sister know? You even care about these few essence crystals?”

Yang Ying gave him a strange look. You have the nerve to say that to my face?

Gu Han wore a helpless expression. “So what do we do? We can’t just split it, can we? That would be too—”

“Good idea. Let’s split it.” Unexpectedly, Yang Ying nodded. Under Gu Han’s astonished gaze, he began calculating seriously. “I restrained him, which accounts for thirty percent. You killed him, which makes up the remaining seventy. There are 937,652 essence crystals, three supreme-grade spirit items, one mid-grade treasure item, three bottles of True Essence Pills, seven tier 4 beast cores—”

Gu Han’s eyes grew wider and wider. This guy must be an extreme case!

Yang Ying ignored him, listing out all the items, including the storage ring itself. He spoke rapidly, and his astonishing calculating ability left Gu Han in awe.“Based on market price, exchanging all these items for essence crystals, plus the original amount, totals 2,059,389 crystals. Giving you seventy percent is 1,441,572 crystals!” Yang Ying paused, then said, “The remaining one-third of a crystal, I can round it up to a whole number for you.”

That phrase ’round it up’ made Gu Han dumbfounded on the spot.

Finally, Yang Ying tossed over the storage ring. “Take it. This storage ring has a market price of 50,000 essence crystals. After deducting that, there are 1,391,753 essence crystals inside. Count them.”

Gu Han instinctively took a look. Sure enough, there was not half a crystal less. His impression of Yang Ying had dramatically changed. I’ve never been this impressed before! And one-third of a crystal? Why not just cut it open and split it?

Gu Han sighed. “You know why you have no friends, don’t you?”

Yang Ying ignored him, turned, and started to leave.

Gu Han took several deep breaths to slowly calm his emotions. “Let me ask. How much is my bounty?”

Yang Ying stopped in his tracks. “A lot. Two million essence crystals. It’s worth more than an ordinary Divine Connection realm expert.”

Gu Han drew a sharp breath. “Two million?!”

It wasn’t the high bounty that had him reeling, but the fact that Yang Ying could resist such a huge temptation and not attack him. Only now did he completely believe Yang Ying had come to help him.

Yang Ying seemed to remember something, pausing his steps again. “Right, that bounty is staying. These five are just the first batch. More will come in the future.”

Gu Han nodded. “I understand. Anyone who wants me dead is likely from those two families.”

Yang Ying didn’t speak, obviously knowing the same.

Gu Han shook his head and asked again, “Still, when I think about it, it’s unacceptable! What about them? Are there any bounties on people from those two families?”

Yang Ying nodded, deliberately emphasizing, “There are somany!”

It was only natural, given the nature of the Yang and Meng families. They had offended too many people.

Gu Han seemed thoughtful. “I see... Are those bounties still active?”

Yang Ying was silent for a moment. “Yes, but only a few dare to take them, that’s why there are many.”

“Hah, they’re afraid of revenge. Got it.”

“I’m leaving.”

Gu Han suddenly called out to him, “Wait! Brother Yang, you are quite poor, right?”

“Mhm.”

“Want to get rich?”

“Yes.”

Gu Han suddenly broke into a smile. “I have a way to make money here. Would you like to hear it?”