"The one who killed Liu Suifeng?"
The several people present exchanged glances, then threw their heads back in uproarious laughter.
One bald middle-aged man clutched his stomach laughing, momentarily unable to straighten up: "Kid, are you even old enough to grow hair? How dare you boast about killing Liu Suifeng."
"Looking at your miserable state, you couldn't have washed up and put on those girly clothes..."
Whoosh!
Several strands of Sword Qi appeared like biting cold wind, spreading toward the crowd with lightning speed, two of them heading straight for the bald middle-aged man.
The man never expected Gu Han to suddenly attack. By the time he reacted, one strand of Sword Qi grazed his bald head while another struck his chest.
"Pfft!"
The bald middle-aged man spat out blood tinged with cold energy, his entire body sent flying back several yards.
The other Sword Qi strands shattered the room's door and several chairs into pieces, the cold energy freezing everything within a three-meter radius.
"Nine-star Dou Fighter!"
Lin Hu, captain of Qinghe Town's Tiger Fang Mercenary Group and the strongest present as a three-star Dou Master, narrowed his eyes, his face filled with disbelief.
So young, yet already a nine-star Dou Fighter?
"So what if he's a nine-star Dou Fighter." A one-star Dou Master standing where the bald man had been earlier said coldly: "Daring to strike my brother Tang Hao, you've already chosen the path to death."
"Don't be foolish." Lin Hu reached out to stop Tang Shan's movement, then cupped his hands toward Gu Han: "Young master, we meant no offense. We'll take our leave now."
Gu Han's expression remained cold and detached as he slowly sheathed his longsword.
The blood on the sword had already transformed into crimson frost when he unleashed those Sword Qi strands.
"Let's go."
Lin Hu breathed a sigh of relief, waving for his two subordinates - a one-star Dou Master and a seven-star Dou Fighter - to leave.
As for the others, he had already intervened once and wouldn't speak up again.
The remaining Dou Fighters, though confused, all followed suit.
Only Tang Shan remained with a gloomy expression. After standing still with shifting eyes for a moment, he waved to his two attendants behind him.
The two immediately lifted the unconscious Tang Hao and came to stand behind Tang Shan.
"Kid, you..."
Tang Shan wanted to utter a threat, but happened to meet Gu Han's calm eyes.
So calm they held no trace of life, looking at him not as a person but more like a corpse.
The surrounding temperature seemed to drop. Tang Shan felt chills throughout his body. Without changing expression, he turned and walked out of the inn.
Within moments, only Gu Han remained in the room. Without hesitation, he raised his hand and pointed a finger toward Liu Suifeng's Dantian on the ground.
Profound Yin Power entered Liu Suifeng's liquefied Qi Cyclone, completely destroying it.
"Pfft!"
The destruction of his cultivation caused Liu Suifeng to violently spit out blood, awakening from the intense pain stimulation.
Pain from his arms, lower abdomen, and lower body, along with an emptiness originating from his soul, made him emit miserable cries of agony.
"You, who are you!?"
"I, ah, hiss, what's happening!"
Liu Suifeng's body trembled on the ground, his bloodthirsty gaze falling upon Gu Han.
"I heard you're quite valuable."
Gu Han didn't answer, instead crouching down to take the Storage Ring from Liu Suifeng's hand.
When his soul power probed inside, his mouth twitched, almost making him throw the Storage Ring away.
Inside lay a pile of various colored bellybands and undergarments, likely trophies from a flower snatcher.
Suppressing his disgust for this person, Gu Han transferred a pile of roughly thirty thousand gold coins into his own Storage Ring.
Perhaps due to frequently needing to flee within the empire, the Storage Ring mostly contained daily necessities and second or third-grade healing medicines and Dou Qi recovery pills, with no particularly valuable natural treasures.
There were also some special bottles and jars, unlabeled but likely what Yao Lao referred to as "the potions I pass down to Little Yan Zi."
However, as a wandering cultivator at the Seven Star Dou Master level, it was impossible for him to carry anything too valuable.
The real gains were the three scrolls in the wooden box in the corner.
[Flower Snatching Hand]: Attribute-less Profound Rank Secret Skill, increases attack speed. At the perfected level, the speed becomes astonishingly fast. When used with weapons or hidden weapons, it often allows one to strike first despite moving later, seizing the initiative.
[Universe One Night]: When practiced alone, it is a High-Level Profound Rank Exercise that can assist one's original cultivation method. With male yang and female yin volumes, if practiced together, the effect is comparable to a Low-Level Earth Rank Exercise (supportive type).
[Moon Reflection on Cold Pond Movement]: Initial Earth Rank Movement Battle Skill, created by Flower Snatching Venerable. When executed, it resembles moonlight moving alone, leaving behind frosty cold light. One must reach the Mortal Realm in soul cultivation to master it. When perfected, it can touch upon spatial power and increase the probability of advancing to the Dou Ancestor level.
"Hiss!"
Gu Han inwardly gasped, his expression shifting with astonishment.
Although Flower Snatching Hand was only a Profound Rank secret technique, its effect delighted him.
Whether using a sword, finger techniques, palm techniques, fist techniques, or hand seals, attack speed was always crucial.
Universe One Night was also quite impressive—it could be practiced alone, through Dual Cultivation, or as an auxiliary method, with excellent results.
What surprised him most was that his first genuine Earth Rank Dou Skill came from a flower snatcher, and it was a movement battle skill.
With such high-level resources, why did Liu Suifeng not lay low and develop steadily, instead becoming a notorious, hunted flower snatcher?
But he wasn't entirely foolish—he never revealed the true rank of his techniques in public, leaving others to speculate it was only High-Level Profound Rank at most.
Otherwise, even a Dou Emperor would have personally hunted him down.
"Such a waste of treasures—no wonder you died."
Gu Han stored all three techniques inside the Black Tortoise Mystic Realm and turned his gaze to Liu Suifeng.
"You... seem to already know about... those three techniques." Liu Suifeng, having lost much blood, was beyond feeling pain. Breathing weakly, he wore a self-mocking smile. "I was an ordinary person, with a childhood sweetheart. We promised to be together, but she turned and married the son of the mercenary leader who bullied me."
"I was hunted, fell off a cliff, and by chance found a Storage Ring containing these legacies."
"After growing stronger, I took revenge on all who wronged me, believing women in this world were mostly faithless, useful only for aiding my cultivation."
"I never thought... in the end... I would die like this."
"Is this retribution? Damn you, heavens!"
Liu Suifeng had recalled his memories before losing consciousness—he was seduced by a snake-woman for Dual Cultivation.
Dual Cultivation should benefit both parties, but that snake-woman seemed to have used him to practice some secret technique, devouring his Dou Qi and tearing his meridians.
At the last moment, a voice suddenly echoed in his mind, seemingly from the youth before him.
With his arms destroyed, his lower body ruined, and his cultivation lost, he no longer wished to live.
"That snake-woman has been slain by me," Gu Han said.
"Hmm?" Liu Suifeng's eyes widened, a final surge of vitality flashing through him. "Truly?"
Gu Han briefly retrieved Lisa's corpse before storing it back into the Black Tortoise Mystic Realm.
"Good, excellent!" Liu Suifeng laughed hoarsely. "Then I have no regrets. Southern Province, Blackwater City, Qingshui River Town... keep heading south until you reach the cliff. There's something valuable there... right there..."
His words trailed off as his head lolled to the side, life extinguished.
Gu Han stored the body into his Storage Ring, then moved to the window. Directly manifesting Dou Qi Wings, he soared toward Black Flame City.
This scene happened to be witnessed by the crowd gathered outside the inn, instantly silencing them.
Only when Gu Han's figure disappeared from view did the crowd erupt into even more fervent discussion.
"Was that a Dou King expert?!"
"That was a Flight Fighting Skill. The man was undoubtedly a Nine-Star Dou Fighter—otherwise killing us would've been effortless. This was just a warning."
"What origins does this youth have? So young yet already a Nine-Star Dou Fighter with Flight Fighting Skill."
"I know." Lin Hu's voice drew everyone's attention. "That person should be Gu Han—the most talented disciple of Cloud Mist Sect's current generation!"
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