Supreme Sword Exalt

Gu Han took a deep look at Wu Xin, then waved for the others to leave. “Let’s go.”

Fatty felt a bit reluctant. “We’re just leaving like that? This little bald donkey is really something else. He just kept staring at yours truly and wouldn’t let up, completely ignoring everyone else! Damn, what terrible luck!”

Gu Han was speechless. You stand in front of a demon fetus, say you have fate with demons, and then wonder why he’s staring at you instead of someone else?

Fatty glanced again at Xiao Yang, who was taking some medicine. “Brother Xiao, you alright?”

Xiao Yang wanted to cry. Zuo Yang and the other two were fine, Fatty was also hale and hearty. After all that fighting, the only one who actually got hurt was him. As usual, one couldn’t see the slightest trace of guilt on Fatty’s face. After all, back in the day, he had tricked Gu Han the same way.

Then, Fatty leaned closer to Gu Han and whispered, “Something’s off. That little bald donkey just now... The feeling he gave me was a bit like Uncle Gu!”

Compared to ten years ago, Gu Han felt it even more clearly today. The moment that ancient will appeared, an uncanny sense of familiarity washed over him. It wasn’t Gu Tian himself, but rather his demonic shadows. The feeling was exactly the same.

***

Chaos had erupted on the gold ladder, even more so than in the plaza. The moment they set foot on the ladder, everyone understood that it was the second pass. Unlike the first pass, the opportunities were distributed according to ranking. Whoever arrived first would receive the best reward. Hence, the further ahead one was, the more intense the competition.

Except for people like Qiu Qian, whom they simply couldn’t afford to provoke, everyone else began brawling fiercely over the opportunities. They constantly tripped up those around them, to the point that even being a few places ahead was considered an impressive lead.

At this moment, Yun Fan and his group had already fallen to the very back. They didn’t care about rewards at all, only worried whether Gu Han and the others could catch up.

Suddenly, he seemed to see something, and his expression changed slightly. “Oh no!”

The faintly visible archway in the distance had vanished.

***

At the Demon Clan Ancestral Land in the Central Continent, after seeing off a few young demons, the guardian gazed up at the sky. He quietly watched the enormous scroll, hoping to catch a glimpse of their Heavenly Pride.

Just then, a coughing sound came from nearby. Looking over, he saw several reclining figures appear on the empty ground not far away. The one at the front was the Heavenly Pride whom Gu Han had severely wounded.

The guardian’s pupils contracted. “How and why are you back? It ended so quickly... No!”

He looked up at the sky again. Amid the surging immortal light, twenty or so names manifested in the corner of the scroll, extremely conspicuous. Listed at the very bottom, they persisted for a few breaths, then disappeared.

The guardian exclaimed in shock, “That’s impossible!”

All the names belonged to the defeated demons, including their Heavenly Pride. The guardian knew all too well what this meant. Eliminated, last place, couldn’t even get past the first pass... He truly couldn’t understand. Hadn’t their Heavenly Pride elicited nine rings from the Dao Bell? At the very least, their Heavenly Pride should have ranked in the top three of the Gold List. Instead, he ranked third from the bottom!

After listening to the demons’ account, he clenched his fists tightly, a flash of intense unwillingness in his eyes. After a long while, however, he let out a dejected sigh. “Gu Han? Who would’ve thought a human Heavenly Pride would be that formidable? So, my clan is destined to fail after all?”

***

At the Central Dao Palace, watching the names that flashed and disappeared on the Gold List, Yan Qianjue and the other two appeared astonished. They knew a bit about the demon clan’s situation, and were aware that the demon clan had pinned endless hopes on their Heavenly Pride.

To think they’d end up in last place...

This thought lasted only a moment. They didn’t care at all about the demon clan’s affairs. Seeing no familiar names on the list, they secretly sighed with relief.

In the distance, a dozen or so outer domain people that had been unexpectedly eliminated gathered together. Each of them bore injuries, looking unwilling.

“Crazy!”

“His brain must be completely messed up!”

“Guess a damn essence crystal? Even three-year-old kids in the mortal world wouldn’t want to play that game!”

Amid the cursing and grumbling, everyone suddenly froze. They were all talking about guessing essence crystals?

One of them asked curiously, “How did you get eliminated?”

Another said hatefully, “Guess the essence crystal! I met a madman. He told me to guess the essence crystal. I refused, so he attacked me. Did you run into him too?”

That person sighed. “I did and I guessed.”

“Then how did you still get eliminated?”

“I guessed wrong.”

Everyone was speechless.

***

With the disappearance of the archway, the gold ladder itself seemed to become unstable, flickering in and out of sight.

Their hearts sank because the second pass was almost over. This is bad!

Mei Yun blinked. “What do we do? Are they still not back?”

Murong Yan’s expression drastically changed. “Oh no! Could Brother Gu have been eliminated?”

Suddenly, Yun Fan’s eyes lit up. “Look!”

He pointed at a few small black dots rapidly approaching in the extreme distance and said excitedly, “They’re coming!”

He made an instant decision. “Let’s go! We need to get over there too! It would be too frustrating to get eliminated like this!”

Everyone nodded in unison. They mustered all their strength and rushed forward. They had already reached the upper half of the ladder. Putting forth their full effort, it didn’t take them long to reach a huge vortex portal, and they all went in.

A few breaths later, Gu Han and the others also arrived in front of the portal.

Fatty appeared dejected. “Damn it! Last place—”

Before he finished speaking, Gu Han had already kicked him inside. The last one to arrive at the portal was the young monk, Hui Ren, who was carrying the half-dead Wu Xin.

Wu Xin appeared extremely grateful. “Hui Ren, thank you.”

Hui Ren’s expression was blank, as if he didn’t want to talk to him at all. Earlier, just as he was about to leave, Wu Xin had asked for his help. After hesitating repeatedly, he had still agreed. It wasn’t because he and Wu Xin were both from the Buddhist sect. In fact, in his heart, he had never regarded Wu Xin as a monk. He had agreed to help only because of an offhand threat from Wu Xin.

“If you don’t help me, after we go back, I will turn you into a demon!”

Sighing inwardly, he took a step forward, and they disappeared into the portal. As they left, the gold ladder trembled lightly for a moment, then shattered violently. Boundless immortal light replaced it, as though it had never existed.

***

After stepping through the portal, Gu Han was about to speak when he suddenly paused. Where is everyone?

Fatty was no longer in front of him. The others were gone too. Sweeping his gaze around, he soon discovered the reason. They had each been placed atop separate stone pillars, no more than ten zhang apart. Endless abyss stretched beyond the pillars.

The third pass, questioning the heart, questioning the self.