Within the consciousness space, inside the sword cage.

The cross-legged black shadow, deep in contemplation, suddenly opened his eyes wide. “What’s going on?! Such a strong killing intent!”

The once-silent consciousness space was tinged with a faint bloody hue, and even the sword cage wavered.

With his experience, he recognized the killing intent at a single glance. Moreover, it was more than ten times stronger than when Gu Han had comprehended the Kill Sword! The Demon Monarch had to hide his shock.

“This brat... Where did such strong killing intent come from? Could something have happened—pft!” He frowned deeply, before realizing something and cursing loudly, “You masochist! Whether something happens to him or not, it’s none of your damn business! He’s a shameless, black-hearted bastard! He deserves whatever happens to him!”

He closed his eyes again, preparing to continue comprehending the golden seal. A moment later, he opened his eyes once more, seemingly a bit distracted.

Could something really have happened?

***

Outside, everyone clearly felt that icy-cold killing intent. They did not dare to move even a little, as if the slightest movement would bring a storm of attacks. The source of that killing intent was Gu Han.

Murong Yan clenched her fists, her eyes bloodshot. “Brother Gu, we—”

Gu Han’s calm voice reached her along with a bottle of Soul-Nourishing Pill. “Let’s treat your injuries first.”

Shen Xuan opened his mouth, but not a single word came out.

Gu Han stepped out of the great palace. As he passed Yang Ying, he paused for a moment before stepping forward to face the crowd.

He calmly glanced at Zhao Mengyou and Di Kan, asking flatly, “Were you guys involved in this?”

Of course, both of them knew what kind of explosive killing intent was hidden beneath his calmness. Gu Han was greatly exhausted, his aura less formidable than before. Yet they sensed he was far more terrifying than at his peak, so much so that even the humanoid figure seemed almost kind in comparison.

Zhao Mengyou’s face paled slightly. “No.”

Di Kan stared at Yang Ying and sighed softly. “This person is admirable.”

Gu Han ignored them and turned to Chu Kuang and the others. “Then it’s you guys?”

Chu Kuang finally couldn’t bear it anymore. “What are you standing around for?! Don’t be intimidated by him. He just looks strong. This is the perfect chance to kill him—”

A red sword light flashed and descended upon him, cutting his words. However, the size was far smaller than before, seemingly confirming what Chu Kuang had said.

Chu Kuang’s pupils constricted sharply as a powerful battle intent erupted from him. “Devouring Heaven!”

A vast, shadowy maw manifested behind him, meeting the sword light. The maw split in two without resistance, while the sword light’s speed did not diminish at all. As it collided with Chu Kuang’s battle qi, the blood-red hue it carried seemed to deepen.

A trace of panic appeared in Chu Kuang’s eyes. That’s impossible! How can he still be this strong?!

If it were before, he was confident he could contend with Gu Han for a while, but now he was powerless to fight back. His battle qi dissipated as a three-chi-long wound split open, exposing bone. He spat blood and flew backward. His defeat snapped everyone back to reality from their fear.

Wu Han’s eyes held deep terror. “Attack! Attack together! Kill him!”

Qi Jun also kept issuing orders. “He’s bluffing. Don’t let him pick us off one by one! Join forces to kill him!”

Though Gu Han had defied their expectations, they still harbored a shred of hope. The fact remained that Gu Han had been weakened. There was no way he could unleash many strands of powerful sword lights! By relying on their numbers, they could wear him down to death!

The followers gritted their teeth and charged at Gu Han. The man himself kept walking forward slowly as if he didn’t notice a thing. Only the temperature in the arena seemed to drop even lower.

The moment Gu Han was about to get hit, the blood-red sword light flashed again. The follower froze in place, his expression stiffening as a hair-thin line of blood slowly appeared on his brow. The line rapidly expanded, splitting him and the profound item in his hand. The ground was stained red with blood once more.

Qi Jun’s pupils shrank at his follower’s death. Despite eliciting five rings of the Dao Bell, he was powerless before a single blow. Moreover, Gu Han’s sword light showed no signs of weakening, which horrified Qi Jun even more. On the contrary, it was getting stronger!

The Kill Sword was driven by slaughter. The stronger the killing intent, the stronger the sword light. With endless killing intent came infinite sword light. Hence, although Gu Han was greatly exhausted, his strikes were even more powerful than before.

Without even sparing the corpse a glance, Gu Han stared at Qi Jun. “Are you scared? Good.”

He remained calm, his tone still flat, and even his pace didn’t change in the slightest. With every step he took, the blood-red sword light would flash once, taking another person’s life. One step, one kill!

The humanoid figure followed him the entire time, but Gu Han had no intention of using it to fight anymore. He wanted to slaughter them one by one with his own hands.

Severed limbs and bodies were strewn across the ground, fresh blood pooling into what had already dried. The dark, eerie scene resembled a slaughterhouse.

Only one last person stood in Gu Han’s path, a follower of Wu Han.

“Young Master, go quickly! Once the Profound Pill Pavilion disappears, he won’t be able to do anything to you!” He stared straight at Gu Han, seemingly ready to die. “If you want to touch my—”

With another flash of blood-red, he was cleaved in two. The dying man’s original courage and loyalty turned into agonizing screams of utmost pain.

Wu Han could no longer bear it. “You!”

He instantly soared into the air. Gu Han was simply too terrifying, Yang Ying couldn’t even compare. Wu Han could no longer muster any courage to resist and immediately prepared to flee, waiting for the pavilion to disappear. By then, with the guardians around, Gu Han wouldn’t stand a chance of harming him. His plan was solid.

Though fast for a Soaring Realm cultivator, he was still a bit slower than Gu Han’s sword light. A flash of red light passed, and Wu Han felt a pain. He subconsciously looked down and was almost scared out of his wits as his lower half had already left him. With a cry of pain, he could no longer control himself and fell.

Gu Han, as unhurried as ever, lifted his sword and approached. The despair of waiting for death nearly drove Wu Han mad.

“I am from the Wu family in the Central Continent! You cannot kill me!”

Gu Han seemed not to hear him. He was now only three zhang away.

“How dare you try to kill me! Once we’re outside, you won’t survive either!”

One zhang away.

“Isn’t that guy just a follower! And a useless mortal physique at that! I can give you as many followers as you want! I guarantee each one will be more outstanding than him!”

Gu Han expressionlessly raised his sword again.

Wu Han completely broke down. “I—what exactly do you want?! Just say it! Whatever I have, I’ll give it to you! Even if I don’t have it, my family does!”

Gu Han finally said, “Your life.”

Gone was his previous calm. His voice was like abyssal ice, brimming with boundless, explosive killing intent.

“The lives of all of you!”

He heavily swung his sword down, along with an immense, heavy spirit pressure.

The ground shook for a moment. When the commotion settled, a shallow pit had appeared on the extremely hard ground. Wu Han had long disappeared, leaving only a vaguely human shaped, faint blood-red mark.