“Who is it?!”
Everyone was startled, instantly turning around, their faces filled with vigilance.
However, upon seeing Gu Han, their vigilance gradually transformed into excitement and greed.
“He… he seems to be that Gu Han?”
“That’s right, he’s ninety percent similar to the description in the bounty, it must be him!”
“Tsk tsk tsk, I was just worrying about not finding this kid, but I didn’t expect him to deliver himself to our doorstep!”
“Isn’t he an idiot? He dares to expose his identity like this?”
“…”
As they spoke, the crowd slowly closed in on Gu Han.
“Bad guys!”
From Gu Han’s back, A Sha spoke resentfully.
“Young Master doesn’t even know you guys, why do you want to kill Young Master?!”
“Because he murdered his father!”
From the crowd.
The Cultivator with the highest cultivation looked self-righteous.
“When we kill him, we are ridding the world of a scourge!”
“Since we can eliminate this scourge and earn yuan crystals, why wouldn’t we?”
“Exactly! In my opinion, we’ve helped the Gu Family so much, two thousand yuan crystals are still too little!”
“…”
Everyone spoke one after another, making A Sha’s eyes well up with tears.
“You…!”
Gu Han remained expressionless, slowly raising his long sword.
“There’s no need to waste words with them. Actually, whether I murdered my father or not is no longer important! What’s important is that my life is now worth two thousand yuan crystals!”
“Remember!”
“Reasoning with unreasonable people is the stupidest thing in the world!”
“Young Master…”
A Sha wiped away her tears.
“Then what should we do?”
“It’s simple!”
Gu Han’s gaze swept over everyone, and he softly uttered a single word.
“Kill!”
Whoosh!
As soon as his voice fell.
A Sword Qi, about a foot long and incomparably sharp, suddenly flew out, splitting into two mid-air and landing among the crowd!
Having reached the Meridian Opening Fourth Realm in cultivation.
He had successfully condensed his second Da Yan Sword Qi!
“Ah!”
“Help…!”
The Sword Qi was so fast that even a Cultivator in the Acupoint Opening Realm would find it difficult to dodge, let alone them?
Screams came one after another.
In just the blink of an eye, several people fell to the ground, howling miserably!
“Charge!”
The person with the highest cultivation felt his heart sink, and he immediately shouted, “This kid is not simple! Attack together! If anyone dares to not put in effort, don’t even think about getting a single yuan crystal…!”
Whoosh!
Before he could finish speaking.
The sword light flashed again!
“…divided.”
His neck felt cold, and he uttered the last two words relying on his remaining instincts. A moment of dizziness, then darkness, and he lost all consciousness!
Only at this moment.
Did everyone finally realize Gu Han’s terrifying strength!
However… it was too late!
Accompanied by screams and wails, in just a short while, this place had turned into a slaughterhouse. The dark soil mixed with a large amount of fresh blood, and the pungent, nauseating smell filled the air.
From beginning to end.
This battle was a one-sided affair.
The prey became the hunter.
And the hunters… had instead become lambs with no power to resist!
On his back.
A Sha’s body trembled slightly.
With a portion of her Soul Power replenished, she naturally regained many normal human emotions. Moreover, for ten years she had lived in a daze, her mind a blank slate, so suddenly witnessing such a bloody scene naturally left her somewhat at a loss.
“A Sha, are you scared?”
“A… little.”
“It’s alright, you’ll get used to it.”
“En!”
Since he had decided to teach A Sha how to cultivate, Gu Han naturally hardened his heart and instilled in her some principles of the cultivation world.
The strong prey on the weak.
Survival of the fittest.
These were especially evident and cruel in the cultivation world. If he had possessed sufficient strength earlier, how would Gu Tian have been surrounded and killed by his clansmen? And how would he have been branded with the crime of patricide, exiled outside the city, and almost died?
Everything.
Was simply because he wasn’t strong enough.
If he wasn’t strong.
Then he would become strong!
After quickly clearing the battlefield, he didn’t linger and left again.
…
In a flash.
More than half a month had passed.
During this time.
Gu Han frequently appeared, using himself as bait to draw others to attack him.
As for the outcome, it was naturally self-evident.
The Loose Cultivators who came here.
Acupoint Opening Realm was already their limit. As for the Gathering Yuan Realm, they were barely considered strong in the Great Qi Dynasty. They either occupied a territory and lived freely, or became honored guests of various Families. If there wasn’t a particularly urgent matter, why would anyone personally venture into the Barren Forest?
After a period of time.
Everyone was almost terrified by his killings, and no one dared to mention the bounty anymore.
On a small hill.
Several people gathered there, discussing non-stop.
“Did you hear? Yesterday, someone was still unwilling to give up and went to ambush that Gu Han, but he killed them instead!”
“Of course I know. There was someone I knew among them, a Cultivator at the Meridian Opening Ninth Realm, but I didn’t expect him to be no match for him either!”
“This Gu Han…”
One person’s face was full of apprehension.
“Just how strong is he?”
“Who knows? Anyway, now even those Acupoint Opening Realm experts don’t dare to easily attack him. With just a few of us, let’s give up on that idea. yuan crystals are good, but you need to be alive to get them!”
“Heh heh, this damned Gu Family, they put out a bounty but didn’t mention Gu Han’s strength. It’s clearly a trap for us!”
“Bah, I knew it wouldn’t be that easy!”
“Quick!”
Suddenly.
A Cultivator hurriedly ran down the hillside, his face filled with shock.
“I just… seemed to see that Gu Han coming in our direction!”
“What?!”
“Why is this killing god here?!”
“Quick, run!”
The crowd dared not linger any longer. In the blink of an eye, they scattered in all directions, disappearing without a trace!
A moment later.
Gu Han’s figure appeared on the hill.
“Young Master.”
A Sha, beside him, looked around.
“They seem to have run away again.”
“Yes.”
Gu Han’s face was filled with mockery.
“Everyone is afraid of death, and they are no exception.”
Since being ambushed again yesterday.
He hadn’t encountered a single Loose Cultivator. Even if he occasionally saw one from afar, the other party would run as far as possible as if they had seen a ghost, not daring to approach at all.
“Young Master, are we still going to look for them?”
“No more!”
Gu Han took a deep breath.
“The time is almost here!”
Now everyone feared him like a tiger, so chasing those Loose Cultivators no longer held any meaning. Moreover, there were still several days until the Martial Academy Qualification Battle, and he also needed to convert all the resources he had obtained during this period into cultivation!
Then…
He would settle the score with the Gu Family!
“Young Master.”
A Sha’s eyes were somewhat dim.
“Are we going to avenge Uncle Gu?”
Although Gu Tian hadn’t treated her as his own like Gu Han, he had been quite good to her. So, she was naturally very sad about Gu Tian’s death.
“Yes!”
Gu Han’s eyes blazed with hatred.
“Blood debts must naturally be repaid with blood!”
At this moment.
If there were others present, they would surely notice the deep malevolence emanating from Gu Han.
…
Soon.
Various news from the Barren Forest also reached the Gu Family.
“Father!”
In the Gu Family’s main hall.
Gu Cheng looked at Gu Chang, who was seated at the head, his face filled with worry.
“What should we do now? These Loose Cultivators are completely useless! Now the other Families in the city are not only laughing at us, but rumors are gradually spreading, saying…”
“Saying what?!”
Gu Chang’s face was as dark as water.
“Saying… that Gu Tian was actually harmed by us, and Gu Han is just a scapegoat!”
“Let them say what they want!”
Gu Chang sneered repeatedly.
“It’s nothing more than those few Families playing tricks! Once Gu Yang emerges from seclusion and obtains the qualification to enter the Martial Academy, they will obediently shut their mouths! Hmph, by then, the truth will no longer matter! My Gu Family will also completely rise above Tianwu City, becoming an existence they can’t possibly hope to reach!”
“Father makes sense, but that Gu Han…”
Gu Cheng hesitated.
“With him around, he’s always a small but not insignificant menace!”
“This child cannot be allowed to live!”
Gu Chang narrowed his eyes.
“I thought I paid enough attention to him, but I still underestimated him! You take two people, go to the treasury and retrieve five thousand yuan crystals, then head to the Barren Forest. Under a heavy reward, there will surely be brave men. Use this to bribe a few Acupoint Opening Realm Loose Cultivators and have them fully encircle and kill him!”
“This…”
“Since we underestimated him before, this time we cannot be careless!”
“…Yes!”
…
Gu Han naturally didn’t know how much Gu Chang had paid to deal with him.
At this moment.
Inside a hidden cave.
He sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, surrounded by a pile of yuan crystals, fully focusing on improving his cultivation.
During this period of time.
His gains were naturally not small.
Over a thousand yuan crystals, four ordinary Spirit Medicine, more than ten bottles of Spirit Pills, over a hundred first-order beast cores, and more than twenty second-order beast cores.
In addition.
The most precious.
Were the two rather rare Spirit Medicine that A Sha helped him find.
A crimson Vermillion Fruit.
And a Spiritual Plant whose name Gu Han couldn’t even recall.
Both were no less valuable than the Profound Ginseng!
Suddenly.
Gu Han’s aura fluctuated for an instant, then he smoothly broke through to the Meridian Opening Sixth Realm!
And at this time.
The resources obtained from those Loose Cultivators were also running low.
Just like before.
He didn’t hesitate at all, grabbing the Vermillion Fruit and the Spiritual Plant, and directly stuffing them into his mouth.
In an instant.
A large amount of Spiritual Qi once again surged into his Meridians. The Spiritual Qi, which had been faltering, received a replenishment, gaining momentum and continuing to spread towards the remaining branch Meridians.
…
At the same time.
In the Barren Forest, the Gu Family’s bounty was once again circulated.
This time.
It wasn’t to capture Gu Han, but to reward information about his location. It didn’t need to be too specific, just a rough area, and one could receive a hundred yuan crystals!
This immediately.
Made the Loose Cultivators restless again.
A hundred yuan crystals, although far less than two thousand, required absolutely no risk, like picking up something for free. Some Loose Cultivators who fortunately caught sight of Gu Han’s tracks naturally rushed over to claim the reward.
Soon.
After paying out several hundred yuan crystals.
Gu Chang had already learned Gu Han’s exact location.
Immediately after.
He led three Loose Cultivators who had secretly sought him out, along with two Elders from the Family, and full of Killing Intent, they surrounded and attacked Gu Han’s position!
…
Inside the cave.
Gu Han’s aura fluctuated erratically, as he was precisely at the critical moment of breaking through to the next realm.
Beside him.
A Sha, having eaten and drunk her fill, didn’t disturb Gu Han. She rested her small head on her hands, her large eyes fixed on Gu Han, her gaze filled with affection.
Suddenly!
A faint murmur of voices drifted in.
“Is this it? Don’t let those people trick you!”
“Hmph, in Tianwu City, no one has ever dared to trick my Gu Family!”
“Alright, alright, just search carefully!”
“Look! There’s a cave on the cliff, it looks like it’s newly opened!”
“…”
Inside the cave.
Gu Han’s eyes snapped open with a whoosh!