Chapter 281 - Fierce Battle! Seek Life From Death!
The ethereal sword light arrived in an instant. Though smaller than usual, it carried even greater sharpness and killing intent.
Seeing the incoming attack, Song Jian’s pupils constricted. He exerted all his skill, abruptly twisting himself. The sword light grazed past him, leaving a small, three-cun-long wound. Blood continuously dripped down from his face, which felt icy and stung.
Overcome with shock and fury, he stared fixedly at Gu Han. “You...”
As a second-stage Heavenly Tribulation cultivator, he had undergone two lightning tribulations to temper his body. His physical strength was much greater than that of a Soaring realm cultivator. Just how did the wind stirred up by the sword light injure him?! He didn’t dare imagine what would happen if it had been the actual sword light.
“He’s strong!”
“The sword light is too fast!”
“No way, since when is a Spirit Profound realm cultivator this formidable?!”
“Bullshit, the guy obviously has some special ability! Otherwise, how come we Spirit Profound cultivators don’t have this ability?”
The crowd buzzed with discussion. If earlier, they had merely admired Gu Han’s courage, now they had acknowledged his strength.
Zhao Mengyou and Xue Yu’s eyes lit up. “Can he win?”
Yun Fan dropped his lackey act and observed them. With his rich combat experience, he could roughly gauge the strengths and weaknesses of both sides. “Hard to say. Not only did Song the lackey ring the Dao Bell five times, he’s also born with a Golden Fiend Physique. Besides, Brother Gu didn’t plan on just winning.”
All Gu Han wanted was a sliver of an opportunity for a breakthrough brought about by a life-or-death crisis. From this perspective, the stronger Song Jian was, the better. However, it also meant that Gu Han had a higher chance of dying.
Yun Fan understood this clearly and felt very conflicted. He hoped that Song Jian was strong, but not too strong.
Song Jian touched the blood on his face with a fierce expression. “I got careless. I didn’t expect you to actually have some ability.”
Gu Han leveled his sword. “Stop the bullshit. You’re considered someone important in the Great Flame Empire, right? You can still call yourself a marquis despite acting like such a wastrel?”
His Dual Supreme Stage cultivation base erupted completely. A wave of powerful, unparalleled spirit qi instantly radiated outward, nearly solid to the touch. Those who stood a bit closer all felt a suffocating pressure.
There were many knowledgeable people among the sea of people.
“This is the Supreme Stage!”
“What?! So this is the Supreme Stage?!”
“No wonder he is so strong despite seemingly not having any special physique or bloodline! If it’s the Supreme Stage, then it makes sense!”
The crowd discussed endlessly. Although Gu Han’s meridians were fine, wounds continuously appeared on him, blood flowing incessantly, causing Yun Fan and the others heart-wrenching concern.
Gu Han acted as if unaware, continuing to provoke Song Jian. “The way I see it, you’re just a load of bullshit pretending to be a young marquis. At best, you’re just a monkey jumping up and down.”
Feeling humiliated, Song Jian could no longer suppress his killing intent. “I’ll kill you!”
His cultivation base peaked as streaks of sharp intent flashed across him, continuously merging into his sword. When he swung it down heavily, several streams of sword qi carrying sharp intent descended upon Gu Han.
The crowd was astonished. “Sword qi?!”
Only then did they remember that Song Jian also claimed to be a sword cultivator.
The red in Gu Han’s eyes grew darker. Instead of dodging or evading, he charged straight ahead.
The sound of metal clanging rang out continuously. Despite relentlessly swinging his sword, Gu Han was being pushed back. More and more wounds covered him. Half were caused by operating his cultivation at full power, the other half from being grazed by those streams of sword qi.
Another light sound echoed. When he had retreated several paces away, he twisted his sword, dispersing the last stream of sword qi.
Gu Han was somewhat disappointed. “That’s it? This qualifies as sword qi?”
Though many used swords, true sword cultivators were few and far between. Lacking a proper technique to manipulate spirit power, most people failed at the very first step—releasing sword qi externally. Naturally, the subsequent techniques for dividing and combining sword qi, and even the realm of intent that Gu Han was now vaguely touching upon, was even more difficult.
Gu Han could already tell that Song Jian’s sword qi was crude and unrefined, riddled with flaws. Setting aside the cultivation base, just discussing sword dao accomplishment alone, Song Jian couldn’t catch up to him even on horseback.
Song Jian found it hard to accept that Gu Han was only lightly injured. “Impossible! This is a Heaven-tier sword technique! How could—”
Gu Han’s tone carried a hint of mockery. “I wouldn’t blame the technique, just the user.”
Song Jian stared fixedly at Gu Han. “You’re saying I am doing it wrong?”
Gu Han shook his head. “No. You’re just too shit at it. Even if the technique surpassed the Heaven tier, you still wouldn’t be able to practice a damn thing from it.”
The crowd exchanged glances. Young Marquis Song, rumored to have rung the Dao Bell five times, is trash?
Song Jian said nothing more, trembling slightly from anger. In his fury, his sharp intent intensified severalfold. Strands of pale yellow golden fiend qi coiled around him, cutting the stone ground into a mess.
He swung his sword rapidly, pouring his cultivation base into it as if it cost nothing. “Die! Go to hell!”
Endless streams of golden fiend sword qi cascaded upon Gu Han. He retreated, resulting in more injuries, yet he simply didn’t care. His sword became almost a blur, blocking all the sword qi.
Yun Fan and Zhao Mengyou’s expressions darkened slightly. “This is bad!”
Xue Yu and Divine Physician Xue’s hearts dropped. “What’s wrong?”
Yun Fan sighed. “Brother Gu is right. Song the lackey does have brains after all. He realizes his sword dao accomplishment isn’t as good as Brother Gu’s, so he simply abandons the sword dao contest. Now he’s maximizing his strengths while minimizing his weaknesses, using his realm and cultivation to oppress. Given Brother Gu’s current state, he definitely wouldn’t be able to hold out for long. He wants to exhaust Brother Gu to death!”
Zhao Mengyou added, “Moreover, this costs almost nothing to Song Jian. It’s the safest method and costs almost nothing.”
Xue Yu and Divine Physician Xue immediately grew concerned.
Streams of sword qi descended, ravaging the ground almost beyond recognition. Amidst flying dust and smoke, Gu Han flickered in and out of sight, growing more ragged with each passing second.
He suddenly stopped briefly, and another brilliant sword light flared up, flying straight toward Song Jian. “Saying you’re trash would be a compliment!”
Along the way, the streams of sword qi collapsed one after another, dissolving into nothingness. The sword light broke through the blockade, but was spent by the time it reached Song Jian. He slashed it away heavily, but his pride had already been wounded. He simply hadn’t expected that with such a vast disparity in cultivation, Gu Han still had the strength to counterattack.
He flickered, trading safety for risk. “You want to die? I’ll grant your wish!”
In that instant, Gu Han was once again submerged in his assault.
Yun Fan sighed. “Is provoking him like this really a good idea, Brother Gu?”
Suddenly, Fatty’s slightly grave voice sounded in his ear. “What’s happening?”
Yun Fan was delighted. “Brother Yulin, you’re back!”
Fatty had rushed over upon hearing the commotion. The veins on his forehead were bulging, and he wasn’t in the mood to correct his form of address. His beady eyes narrowed into slits, staring at Song Jian in mid-air, his tone unfriendly.
Fatty moved to slap Song Jian to death on the spot. “Bastard, I’ll kill you!”
Yun Fan hurriedly blocked him. “Brother Yulin, don’t. Brother Gu—”
Suddenly, two voices came from left and right simultaneously.
“May I ask, is that injured one Young Master Gu?”
“May I ask, is that one with the low cultivation base Young Master Gu?”
The tones differed, but the questions were almost identical. It was Elder Wang and Elder Zhou. The two arrived almost at the same time and happened to overhear Yun Fan and Fatty’s conversation, quickly coming over.
Yun Fan was startled. Why do they look so similar?!
Elder Zhou and Elder Wang were also sizing each other up covertly, the vigilance in their eyes very apparent.
This person is a formidable opponent! The thought surfaced in both their minds simultaneously again.
Fatty ignored the two completely, somewhat anxious. “Can someone tell me what the fuck is going on?!”
Zhao Mengyou explained, “He is in a death duel with someone. Seeking life from death, seeking that sliver of an opportunity for a breakthrough amidst life and death.”
Elder Zhou and Elder Wang’s hearts tightened. “What?!”
The two, who had originally planned to annihilate Song Jian on the spot, immediately hesitated. They had heard about Gu Han’s situation from Zuo Yang and Yu Miao. This death duel was both Gu Han’s death tribulation and his chance for survival. Above all, it was Gu Han’s own choice, so they dared not interfere without authorization.
However, Fatty was different. Golden light enveloped him as he charged out.
Yun Fan shouted urgently, “Brother Yulin, the rules of a death duel—”
Fatty was extremely overbearing. “Bullshit! You think the rules of the Great Flame Empire can control me?”
