Yun Fan’s eyes widened. “Triple Supreme Stage! W-wow...”

Wang Yong exclaimed in admiration, “Young Master Gu is a peerless genius through the ages!”

Elder Zhou sighed in amazement. “Young Master Gu is an unparalleled prodigy!”

The two instantly exchanged glances, turning unpleasant. Hmm? You’re copying me! You think you’re funny, huh?! You’re really detestable!

Only Fatty understood what Gu Han’s Triple Supreme Stage meant.

His tone was slightly sour. “That’s not a big deal. It’s not like I don’t have a Supreme Stage too, right?”

Yun Fan leaned in. “Huh? Brother Yulin, you also have a Supreme Stage? What a coincidence, so do I! Of course, the two of us definitely can’t compare to Brother Gu.”

Fatty patted his shoulder. “First, don’t call me Brother Yulin.”

Yun Fan scratched his head, a little embarrassed. “Got it, Brother Yulin. And second?”

Fatty sighed, giving him a profound look. “Never mind. There’s plenty of time.”

Yun Fan was taken aback. Gu Han broke through and the crowd was full of astonishment. While Yun Fan and the others were overjoyed, the only unhappy one was Song Jian.

Just nine steps, Gu Han went from the Spirit Profound realm to the peak of the Divine Connection realm. How could that be possible? If breaking through realms was this fast, why would anyone bother with arduous cultivation? If everyone just took eighty or a hundred steps, wouldn’t they all be invincible?

Gu Han grinned at him. “Thanks a lot. Although you’re a waste, you’re good as a stepping stone.”

Song Jian turned livid. “W-what did you say?!”

The light in Gu Han’s eyes flickered and vanished. “As thanks to you, I’ve decided to send you to the afterlife.”

He was confident, overbearing, and ferocious.

Song Jian was so angry he laughed. “You? Don’t think that just because you’ve broken through realms, you can be so arrogant—”

Gu Han raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Not enough? What about this?”

As his voice fell, he took another step forward. In an instant, a thousand-zhang divine sense spread out. Everything within a thousand zhang were all clearly presented in his mind. It wasn’t just that, the divine sense continued to spread, instantly connecting with the surrounding space.

Spirit qi drifted out, gently vibrating at an almost imperceptible frequency, gradually merging into the surrounding space. Silently and imperceptibly, he slowly rose, floating in mid-air.

The crowd’s eyes widened in an instant. He had broken through again! From the Spirit Profound realm straight to the Soaring Realm, two whole realms. This was unheard of!

A strange thought flashed through everyone’s minds. Maybe only Feng Xi, the number one prodigy of the Great Flame Empire, could be compared to this man.

In mid-air, Gu Han seemed deep in thought. “So that’s how...”

The Soaring Realm was attained when divine sense reached its limits. One would begin to grasp space, allowing spirit qi to resonate with spatial barriers and granting the ability to fly.

At that moment, an unexpected change occurred. Within the consciousness space, the Great Evolution Sword Scripture that was long dormant, trembled slightly for an instant. A golden rune exploded, transforming into a profound technique that fell into his perception, the Ultimate Sword!

Of all the myriad techniques in the world, everything is breakable. Only speed prevails! The Ultimate Sword is the ultimate speed of the sword. With one sword strike, a chi is the horizon, the horizon is a chi. Wherever thought reaches, the sword reaches. At advanced mastery, one can shatter myriad realms, roam the heavens, and reach the ends of the earth with a single thought.

Upon seeing Gu Han distracted, Song Jian was overjoyed. An opportunity! In a life-or-death battle, he still dares to be distracted? He’s asking for death!

He slightly moved, about to land a vicious blow on Gu Han. In the next moment, a light flashed before his eyes. Before he knew it, a thumb-sized, bloody hole had already appeared in his chest.

He stared down in disbelief. “W-what...”

The crowd looked at each other in confusion as they hadn’t seen anyone move at all. Who did that? Who?!

Not far away, Wang Yong and Elder Zhou instantly saw the clue.

“What a fast sword!”

“That sword is extremely fast!”

Although Song Jian didn’t know who had made the move, his first thought was of Gu Han. “That’s impossible! It couldn’t have been you!”

Gu Han replied with a chuckle, “You think so?”

The next moment, Gu Han lifted his arm slightly, and another hole appeared in Song Jian’s chest.

The crowd was dumbfounded. It really is him!

Song Jian was also dumbfounded. He couldn’t even track the trajectory of that sword light. How am I even supposed to block it?! If that sword light was aimed at my head—

Thinking of this, he nearly broke down as his battle intent was completely snuffed out. Gritting his teeth, he activated his technique and fled far away toward the imperial capital.

The crowd was taken aback, not quite processing it. He... ran? The dignified young marquis is scared off by two sword strikes?

Yun Fan was full of disdain. “Pft! What a disgrace!”

According to the rules, a death duel was a fight to the death, a complete resolution where one of them lived and the other died. Regardless of status, fleeing without a fight meant abandoning one’s dignity. Even if Song Jian survived by luck, he would still become everyone’s laughingstock. In just a few breaths, Song Jian had already fled very far.

Fatty stared at Gu Han in surprise. ”You’re not going after him?”

Gu Han smiled. “Don’t worry. He won’t get away.”

As his voice fell, he took a step forward. A faint layer of sword intent flowed over him, and he almost turned into an afterimage. He was even a few times faster than Song Jian!

Yun Fan’s mouth fell open. “This isn’t the speed a Soaring realm cultivator should have, right?”

Wang Yong recognized it instantly. “It’s a sword evasion technique!” 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

However, it was far from the ordinary sword evasion techniques they knew. Simultaneously, they thought, Gu Han is extraordinary!

Fatty was full of envy. “Damn! I’ll definitely make him teach me this later!”

Yun Fan came to undermine him again. “Brother Yulin, are you a sword cultivator too?”

Thinking about the characteristics of his own Indestructible Golden Physique, Fatty was full of self-pity. I am a meat shield!

***

Song Jian forced his cultivation with all his might, not daring to look back. He had cast all his dignity and shame behind him. Surviving was all that mattered now.

Just as he was burying his head in flight, a voice came from ahead. “Young Marquis, where are you going?”

Song Jian instantly stopped in his tracks, staring at Gu Han in despair. He knew that he couldn’t escape today.

Gritting his teeth, he shouted toward the already distant mansion of his, “Save me!”

Immediately, a powerful aura rose from within the mansion, hurtling toward Song Jian with layers of imposing might.

Fatty’s eyes narrowed. “Hmm? The Transcendent realm?”

Yun Fan’s expression instantly darkened. “Marquis Song, how dare you! His Majesty the First Prince decreed that all those in the Transcendent realm within the capital must head to the front lines! How could you disobey military order?!”

Fatty let out a cold laugh. “Leave this to—”

Before he could finish speaking, Wang Yong and Elder Zhou had already vanished in an instant. It was as if they were afraid of losing to each other.

Fatty was taken aback but relaxed again. “Forget it, it’s fine.”

Song Jian pointed his sword at Gu Han. “I told you! When pushed to the limit, a man is capable of anything! Even if you’re the tenth princess’ junior brother, it doesn’t matter. Push me too far, and I’ll still kill you without a second thought. Let me go, and I guarantee he won’t touch a single hair on your head. How about it?”

His voice was a little shaky, and so was his hand. Likewise, his sword was also shaking. Clearly, his emotions were stretched to the absolute limit.

Gu Han smiled, the red light in his eyes nearly materializing. “First, you’re not qualified to bargain with me. Second, Senior Xue has shown me great kindness. Third, that’s not how you use a sword.”

Just as Song Jian was about to retort, a light suddenly flashed before his eyes.

Man and sword were slashed in two.