A metallic ring echoed as Gu Han’s sword sliced through flesh, piercing Meng Xing’s fist deeply.

Wounding Meng Xing, despite his formidable physique, felt effortless now. It was a far cry from the secret realm, where it had taken everything he had just to carve through Meng Xing’s bones.

If he kept attacking relentlessly, Gu Han was certain he could sever both of Meng Xing’s fists. Thus, he unleashed his cultivation power and swung his sword again.

Meng Xing was left reeling. “Impossible!”

Gritting his teeth, he had no choice but to abandon his assault and retreat. Even he could sense that if the battle dragged on, something of his would not remain intact.

Instead of pursuing Meng Xing, Gu Han gazed intently at his sword with a serious expression. “Don’t worry, I will definitely find out your name!”

As if in response, the sword vibrated lightly again.

Not far away, Yuan Gang frowned deeply. “Junior Brother is stronger than he was that day!”

Gu Han’s unbelievable growth speed rendered Chu Kuang speechless. Without relying on his trump cards, he wouldn’t be able to defeat Gu Han, let alone kill him. For the first time, he truly regarded Gu Han as a real opponent—one who could stand on equal footing with him and even pose a lethal threat.

Oblivious to Chu Kuang’s thoughts, Gu Han swung his sword again. “Again!”

Twenty-seven strands of Great Evolution Sword Qi enveloped Meng Xing from all sides. Even after desperately evading, most of the sword qi still struck him. He was a bloody mess, his faintly visible silver bones covered in sword marks. Despair crept in his heart.

Gu Han’s spirit qi was astonishingly deep, enough to repeatedly unleash a technique that should have drained him dry. Meng Xing struggled to hold on regardless of how strong his defense was.

With a clenched jaw, Meng Xing gave up on defending and charged at Gu Han once more. I must fight to the death!

It was better to fight desperately than to await death.

***

In the distance, Murong Hai sighed with emotion. “Impressive! At his age, we seem rather ordinary in comparison.”

Lu Fang wore a look of regret. “Indeed. Missing such a promising seedling is the Yuqing Sect’s loss!”

Murong Yan rolled her eyes, then pointed at the despondent Yang Xiong in the distance. “Father, are you that free? Rather than wasting time, why not finish him off quickly?”

Murong Hai laughed heartily. “I almost forgot! Alright, alright, leave him to me—”

Mid-sentence, Yang Tong’s heart-wrenching scream suddenly cut through the air.

Already severely injured, he had the misfortune of facing an incomprehensible opponent like Gu Tian. He couldn’t hold on for long even after going all out. Under the endless erosion of demonic qi, he had shriveled into a ball, barely recognizable as human.

His cloudy eyes reflected boundless despair. “I-I refuse to accept this! I refuse to yield!”

His last two words in life were filled with resentment, refusal, despair, venom...

The next moment, Gu Tian’s large hand ruthlessly swept past, smashing him into a bloody mist.

“Old Ancestor!” Yang Xiong jolted awake, glaring at Gu Tian. “You killed the old ancestor?!”

Although he had resented Yang Tong for killing Yang Lin earlier, witnessing Yang Tong’s death inevitably brought him sorrow.

Sensing his hostility, Gu Tian abruptly turned around. “Hmm? Die!”

Having devoured part of Yang Tong’s cultivation, his demonic qi intensified. With a flicker, he appeared before Yang Xiong. Yang Xiong’s face paled as he retreated frantically. Already gravely wounded by Chongming and left with less than half his cultivation, how could he hope to match Gu Tian?

“What are you—”

Before he could finish, a large hand wreathed in demonic qi tightly seized his neck, lifting him up. The moment Yang Xiong revealed his hostility, he became Gu Tian’s mortal enemy, destined to serve as fuel for his demonic qi. Threads of black demonic qi crawled upward, burrowing into Yang Xiong’s seven orifices.

The agony Yang Tong experienced before death, Yang Xiong now relived. “No... Let... go of me!”

Gu Tian remained unmoved, the demonic qi growing denser.

“Quick...” Sensing his life draining away, Yang Xiong strained to turn his head toward the silent Yang Ying. “Tell him... to stop!”

Given Yang Ying’s relationship with Gu Han, he could probably persuade Gu Tian to spare Yang Xiong. This was Yang Xiong’s last hope.

Yang Ying trembled slightly, still silent.

“I am... still, your father!”

Murong Yan wore an expression of disdain. “You call him ’little bastard’ when nothing’s wrong, but when something happens, you’re suddenly his father? Have you no shame?!”

Yang Xiong continued to beg pitifully, “No matter how much you hate me, you still carry my blood!”

These words seemed to finally move Yang Ying. He hesitated for a moment before bowing to Gu Tian. “Senior, please spare his life...”

A flicker of hope rose in Yang Xiong’s heart as he looked at Gu Tian again. “Quick! My son, he—”

A flash of savagery appeared in Gu Tian’s eyes. His large hand swept down fiercely, smashing Yang Xiong’s head to pieces.

Murong Yan was stunned. “Huh? Uncle Gu isn’t like that, Yang guy already spoke...”

Shen Xuan’s expression turned peculiar. “Maybe he doesn’t recognize Junior Brother Yang.”

Murong Yan blinked, then burst out laughing. Since arriving, Gu Tian hadn’t had a chance to speak more than a few words with Gu Han before engaging Yang Tong. Of course, he didn’t know Yang Ying’s identity. Yang Xiong’s death was unexpected, yet understandable.

Dropping the headless corpse, Gu Tian’s gaze grew more ferocious as he locked on Yang Ying. He instinctively felt Yang Ying resembled Yang Xiong, and thought that he probably wasn’t a good person either. “Who are you?!”

Murong Yan’s heart dropped. “Uncle, he is Brother Gu’s friend! The kind who is bound by life and death!”

Gu Tian fell silent for a moment, finally suppressing the urge to kill Yang Ying. “Friend...”

Suddenly, another scream rang out. Zuo Yang and Meng Chuan’s battle had also reached its conclusion.

Looking at the sharp knife piercing his heart, Meng Chuan trembled uncontrollably, his eyes filled with terror. “Spare me, I... cough, promise—”

The knife suddenly gleamed, extinguishing all life force within him. Meng Chuan’s corpse collapsed to the ground.

“I can’t trust your words.” Zuo Yang shook his head. Afterward, he glanced at Meng Qing, who was being pushed back by Murong Yuan. “One more!”

The knife flickered and lunged toward Meng Qing. Not to be outdone, Gu Tian surged even faster, closing in on the same target.

Meng Qing was already at the end of his rope. Now facing Zuo Yang and Gu Tian as well, he finally couldn’t hold on. Murong Yuan’s palm struck his brow, and he was hurled backward, vomiting blood.

Seemingly foreseeing his end, Meng Qing’s eyes flashed with lunacy. “If I’m going to die, all of you will accompany me!”

As his words fell, a layer of light enveloped him. An ethereal, almost transcendent aura spread out, faintly detached from his mortal body.

Murong Yuan went rigid with shock. “That’s not good! He’s igniting the Transcendent Substance, seeking mutual destruction! Stay away from him!”

He was already rapidly retreating. Even at his peak, facing such an attack would have left him severely injured. The only solution was to stay far away from Meng Qing and let him die on his own once the Transcendent Substance burned out. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Zuo Yang also stopped, frowning deeply. “You’re right! I’m still not very good at fighting. Killing Half-Step Transcendent realm cultivators is much more difficult!”

Even nearing death, Meng Qing still felt deeply insulted by Zuo Yang’s words. “Then I’ll kill you first!”

Saying so, he prepared to disregard everything and kill Zuo Yang on the spot. However, Gu Tian blocked his path. For him, fear was a useless emotion that simply didn’t exist. If he wanted to kill Meng Qing, he wouldn’t care about the opponent’s strength or realm. Just kill!

The madness in Meng Qing’s eyes intensified. “Since you’ve come to die, let’s go together!”

Murong Yuan and Zuo Yang seemed haggard, preparing to forcibly pull Gu Tian back.

“Damn it!”

“Come back quickly!”

Meng Qing wore an expression of cruel satisfaction. “Too late! In the end, I still took one life with me!”

The layer of light transformed into clusters of invisible flames, landing on Gu Tian.

Murong Yuan turned pale. “It’s over! Why does he not listen to reason at all?!”

Yet in the next moment, the anticipated scene did not occur. The colorless flames vanished the moment they touched the demonic qi, partially absorbed into Gu Tian.

Soon, the consequences caught up with Meng Qing. Devoid of Transcendent Substance, his face aged rapidly and his aura withered. Even maintaining flight became difficult.

Abject refusal and despair filled Meng Qing’s eyes. “Impossible! This can’t be! Even Transcendent realm cultivators would fear the flames generated from Transcendent Substance. Why are you—”

The answer was a large hand wreathed in demonic qi, imbued with boundless might. He suffered the same fate as Yang Tong, smashed into a bloody mist like a squashed bug.

Murong Yuan seemed to realize something. “No wonder! It seems I was worried for nothing!”

Gu Tian’s demonic qi could devour even Zheng Ning’s divine power, let alone such a measly amount of Transcendent Substance.

Gu Tian slowly turned around, staring at him. “And... Who?”

Actually, according to his innate killing instinct, all these people had to be eliminated. He only retained a sliver of reason because of Gu Han.

Murong Yuan scanned the area, shaking his head. “None left. As for that youngster, matters of the young are best left to him.”

***

In the distance, Meng Xing was once again sent flying by Gu Han’s sword strike. His proud Immortal Metal Treasure Physique was now riddled with wounds, and his silver light dimmed. Gu Han suffered some minor injuries as well, but far from affecting his combat power. The outcome was already clear.

Knowing death was certain, Meng Xing instead turned to look at Chu Kuang, looking somewhat maniacal. “Are you seeing how fast he’s growing?! Today it’s me, tomorrow it’ll be your turn! None of you can escape!”

He also hated Chu Kuang for standing idly by. Even in death, he wanted to thoroughly ignite the conflict between the two. However, Chu Kuang didn’t even glance at him.

Meng Xing laughed bitterly. “I’ll be waiting for you all in the Yellow Springs!”

Gu Han glanced at Chu Kuang, whose face was shifting between light and shadow. Then, he walked over to Meng Xing. “It’s useless. It’s too late for him to act now. As for you, you can be on your way.”

A faint sword light extended from his sword tip, aiming for Meng Xing’s brow.

Right at that moment, a majestic aura suddenly descended from above, causing Gu Han’s movements to stall.

Unbeknownst to everyone, a magnificent carriage had appeared in midair. Wei Fang stood beside the carriage, respectfully folding his hands. Unsure of what had truly transpired, he nevertheless breathed a quiet sigh of relief when he saw Gu Han and Chu Kuang unharmed. This way, there was still room for reconciliation.

From the carriage, the holy emissary said indifferently, “Explain. What happened?”