Supreme Sword Exalt

At the border, the great war was nearing its end. There was a limit to how many barbarians there were. Fewer and fewer rushed to the battlefield, their number already negligible. The battlefield had completely turned the color of blood. Having fought for so long already, both sides were now exhausted. They could only rely purely on instinct to carry on.

However, unlike the barbarians’ numbness, a flame still burned within the border army’s hearts: bringing back Gu Han. Unless he died, it would never be extinguished.

Compared to before, the zither music had grown so faint that it was almost inaudible. Given her cultivation, it was a miracle Xue Yu lasted this long, even with countless pills.

At that moment, the zither’s tone changed and abruptly stopped.

Her face was deathly pale, her ten fingers reduced to white bone. She stared blankly at the broken zither string. “Young Master, I did my best...”

After a soft sigh, she coughed up a mouthful of blood and fainted. Two figures quickly arrived at her side. One of them was Zhao Mengyou, whose white dress had turned red.

Xue Yu's state rid Zhao Mengyou of all traces of their rivalry and all the hostility in her eyes. Gently, she placed her last Emerald Condensation Pill into Xue Yu’s mouth. She then turned pale and coughed up blood as well.

Yun Fan wiped the blood from her face. “Rest a while. You did your best.”

Zhao Mengyou shook her head firmly. “H-he hasn’t returned yet.”

***

Further away, Zuo Yang’s knife had lost its sharpness, yet he kept fighting. Yu Miao’s jade needle also no longer flew as unpredictably as before, yet she did her best to keep it from stopping.

Meanwhile, Zhou Ye and Wang Yong could no longer compete because they had been sent to other parts of the battlefield.

***

Li Xun, who was disheveled and severely injured, still gritted his teeth and held on desperately.

He murmured to himself, “I can’t die! If I die, who knows which bastard will get the bottle of Transcendent Substance? W-what if it ends up in that old bastard Murong’s hand?! No! How could I let him get something that I earned with my life?!”

***

Murong Yan roared with all her might, “Kill!”

With her left shoulder reduced to a bloody mess, she could no longer hold the club with both hands. She was on her last legs, yet she still fought relentlessly.

Like before, Shen Xuan quietly hid behind her, clearing away hidden dangers from their surroundings. He was also coughing up blood incessantly.

***

Up above, Elder Cen stared at the dense horde of barbarians ahead, inhaling deeply. “Open!”

A trace of blood flowed from his seven orifices. No one knew how many times he had used a secret technique to temporarily restore a trace of Saint realm cultivation.

A terrifying wave of pressure, mixed with an almost imperceptible trace of Saint might, crashed down ahead. Facing far less resistance than before, it turned multiple barbarians into bloody pulp. At last, he had opened a gap several zhang wide ahead.

The barbarians reacted somewhat sluggishly, unable to close the gap in time. The border army also had a delayed reaction.

“O-open... It’s open!” Old Liao furiously roared and charged toward the gap first. “The gap is open! Kill! Follow me and kill our way in!”

Like a splash of blazing oil, the words turned the flame in the border army’s hearts into a fiercely raging inferno.

The border army reacted immediately.

“Kill!”

“Fight our way through!”

“Fight into the Northern Domain!”

Amid the earth-shattering roars, they plunged straight into the gap, becoming as sharp as a blade. The barbarians tried to close it, but they were too late. The gap was completely torn open and shredded into pieces. With the first gap came a second, a third...

In just a short time, the barbarians’ defense had completely collapsed. Even though they still outnumbered the border army, they could not reverse their decline. An army in defeat was like a landslide. No matter how high or heavy the mountain was, it still fell.

***

Within the void, Yun Ao and the other four reacted instantly.

The Luoheng Holy Master sighed with genuine emotion. “The Great Flame Border Army is really remarkable!”

He compared it to the people of Luoheng Holy Land. Not only were they way stronger than the border army, but they also had a vast arsenal of techniques and divine abilities. Nevertheless, with such heavy casualties, maintaining such strong cohesion would be utterly impossible.

Yan Qianjue and Fu Dahai shared the sentiment.

With a complex expression, the War Prince remarked, “This is the true inheritance and the final will of the Dragon Ancestor. The enemy may outnumber and surround us. We may die, and our souls may be extinguished, but even if we fight to the last man, we will never admit defeat!”

The others remained silent. Yun Ao had once said something similar, but coming from the Flame Emperor, it now held a different meaning.

The War Prince put away his emotion. “Yun Ao, you lost.”

Yun Ao simply stared toward the direction of the Great Lu Mountains, a strange light flashing in his eyes. Ignoring the interwoven vital qi of the field, he slowly stood up. “Interesting. He wins a round against me. Even more impressive than Yun Tu!”

The Flame Emperor also moved, seeming to sense his intention.

Everyone immediately cried out in shock.

“Fellow Daoist!”

“Brother!”

The fierce vital qi, strong enough to instantly kill a Saint realm expert, all fell upon the two. They almost collapsed. The next moment, the two had vanished from the field.

With their departure, the vital qi weakened considerably, yet still went haywire.

Their expressions changed slightly. “This isn’t good!”

The Dao book, demonic cloud, and gray light instantly reappeared, firmly protecting the others. Although these strands of vital qi were not as strong as before, they were still a deadly threat to those at the Saint realm.

***

Outside the Great Lu Mountains, a group of people kept fleeing toward the border. Green and purple lights flashed in the distance before landing in the field and transforming into two figures.

Yun Ao landed across from Gu Han, while the Flame Emperor landed beside him.

As a python, Yan Qi’s sensitivity to the Dragon Ancestor aura was a hundred times greater than that of an ordinary person. He immediately tumbled down and curled into a ball, unable to say a word.

Yun Ao glanced at Gu Han with approval. “Kid, I didn’t expect to lose to you!”

The barbarians’ defeat and consequently his loss were ultimately all due to Gu Han alone.

Even though Yun Ao’s face was aged, Gu Han still recognized him. “It’s you? Senior Chi Yao asked me to send you a message. It’s pretty harsh. Want to hear it?”

Yun Ao sighed. “Chi Yao? That man had some backbone. Unfortunately, like Yun Tian, he clung too stubbornly to those pointless principles. What a pity... And your excellence far exceeds my imagination. I’ll make an exception and give you another chance. Work for me! In time, we would surely reach the apex of all realms!”

Gu Han broke into a smile. “Senior Chi Yao said to go fuck yourself!”