"The general is dead! Everyone, run!"
Amid the chaos, someone suddenly shouted. The Barbarians Wang Lang had brought no longer wore their earlier looks of cruelty and mockery; their faces were filled only with terror.
"Mad Wolf Butcher" Wang Lang was a First-rate Master at the peak of the third martial realm—the Blood Tempering Realm. Coupled with his inborn divine strength, his abilities were only a shade below those martial artists who had just entered the Inner Qi Realm. Even among the powerful Barbarian Tribe, there were not many such experts; only the leaders of several great tribes stood above him.
Yet this expert had been punched to death by the monk before them, even after forcibly breaking through into Inner Qi at the brink of life and death.
The monk's strength was plain to see. Could he possibly rival the great Barbarian King?
Every Barbarian present was seized by terror. They only hated that their parents had not given them two extra legs. Each one threw himself into a frantic escape, trying to get as far away as possible from this terrifying god of slaughter.
But once Gu Han made his move, how could he let them off so easily?
"Where do you think you're going?"
Gu Han narrowed his eyes, killing intent rising from the depths of his heart. With a thought, it seemed as though divine wind sprang up beneath his feet, his body as light as a goose feather. In a single step, he crossed several zhang, and then...
"Bang, bang, bang, bang..."
Dull impacts rang through the air. More than a dozen Barbarians fleeing in panic were swiftly and effortlessly caught by Gu Han, then ruthlessly struck down by his legs, fists, palms, and knees.
At that moment, Gu Han's body seemed to become the most terrifying weapon in the world. Every part of his body had turned into a weapon, and nearly every blow took a Barbarian life.
In less than thirty breaths, all the Barbarians had been dealt with by Gu Han. Blood streamed from their seven apertures. As though they had been smashed by heavy hammers, every bone and tendon in their bodies had been shattered, leaving them as heaps of mush.
"Let's go!"
Seeing that more time had been delayed, Gu Han's heart tightened, and he immediately urged them onward.
Since the Barbarian army had sent Wang Lang to patrol and lie in ambush here, there was no guarantee that others were not nearby.
Encountering one or two Inner Qi experts, or several dozen or even several hundred Barbarian soldiers, would still be manageable. But if they ran into a large force, they would be in danger.
Although Gu Han was powerful now, he was not invincible. If he were surrounded by an army of thousands upon thousands, or caught by the Barbarian King A Yanda, he would surely perish. They had to leave as quickly as possible.
"Martial Uncle... how could you...?"
At Gu Han's urging, aside from a small handful, most of the young monks unexpectedly did not move. Instead, they all retreated several steps from him and stared at him in fear, as though they were looking upon an asura from hell.
Those who had left the secular world were meant to hold compassion in their hearts, and killing was their greatest taboo.
Moreover, they were merely young monks who had only recently entered the temple, or had not been there long. The oldest among them was no more than fifteen.
In the temple, although their martial uncles, martial uncles senior, and martial ancestors were all rather strict, when they made mistakes, at most they were punished by reciting scriptures or carrying water. When had they ever seen blood? Let alone witnessed lives being taken.
Thus, although they knew these Barbarians were vicious and deserved death, seeing them all slaughtered by Gu Han, each dying horribly, was more than they could accept for the moment. They were even more terrified of Gu Han, who was drenched in blood.
"Fools!"
Seeing how pathetic these young monks were, Gu Han was immediately enraged. It felt as though the sacrifices of Huizhen, Yuanyin, and the others had been fed to dogs.
Their elders were still fighting in blood-soaked battle ahead, buying time for them. Yet behind them, they were creating a rift with one of their own and wasting time simply because he had killed a few foreign invaders who deserved to die. They were as stupid as pigs and dogs.
Forget it. Once I get them down the mountain and find them a safe place to settle, I'll leave on my own. What happens afterward will depend on their own fortunes. That way, I won't have failed Huizhen's solemn trust.
Gu Han thought this, then prepared to open his mouth and rebuke them once more, when suddenly...
"Boom!"
An orange blaze shot skyward from Treasure Pearl Mountain. Immediately afterward came a rolling thunder of collapses. Countless pavilions and towers that had stood upon Treasure Pearl Mountain for hundreds, even thousands of years, crumbled in an instant. The raging flames spread rapidly, soon dyeing the entire sky red, as if they had obscured the sun itself and stained the azure heavens with blood.
Beneath that blood-red sky, waves of excited Barbarian cries came from the mountain:
"Roar! Agada! Agada! Roar! Agada! Agada..."
The cries entered Gu Han's ears. He closed his eyes, his heart aching.
Because in that instant, he knew that Treasure Pearl Temple—founded by the legendary Patriarch Bodhidharma, standing in the Great Yan Kingdom for over a thousand years, and known as the foremost sacred land of the Great Yan martial world—
had been destroyed!
"Agada!"
This was a phrase in the Barbarian tongue. In the language of the Great Yan Kingdom, it roughly meant "mighty and victorious."
Over the dozen or so years since the Barbarians had risen to power, whenever they achieved a great victory and captured a city, the excited Barbarians would let out this cry to vent the joy and surging passion in their hearts.
Now, flames were spreading across Treasure Pearl Mountain, and the Barbarians were crying out like this. The fate of Treasure Pearl Temple was already self-evident.
"Martial Ancestor, Master, Senior Brothers..."
At the sight, the young monks beside Gu Han first froze blankly. Then, as though they too understood everything, they immediately collapsed to their knees and burst into loud sobs. Tears and snot streamed down their faces, which were filled with boundless grief.
For these monks, who had lived in Treasure Pearl Temple since childhood, the temple was their home. Now that their Lineage had been wiped out and their loved ones all killed, how could they not grieve?
"Enough crying! Do you still not know how great a sacrifice the Abbot and the others made for you? If you want to prove yourselves worthy of them, then stop throwing childish tantrums from now on. Train properly, strive to drive these Barbarians from the Central Plains one day, and rebuild Treasure Pearl Temple.
"Otherwise, you might as well stop living. Stay here and wait for the Barbarians to send you to the underworld, so you can join the Abbot and the others. Better than clinging to life and wasting food!"
At the sight, Gu Han immediately began cursing them out.
In the end, he still felt a bond of incense and faith with Treasure Pearl Temple. He did not wish to see the disciples Huizhen and the others had saved at the cost of their lives sink into despair and become such worthless cowards.
"Yes! This disciple shall heed Senior Brother Jingming's teachings. In the future, I will certainly train in martial arts, drive out the Barbarians, and restore the gates of Treasure Pearl Temple."
Having undergone such a scene, the disciples seemed to have grown up in an instant. Hearing Gu Han's harsh scolding, they did not grow ashamed or angry. Instead, they humbly accepted it, weeping bitterly as they spoke.
"Good! Since that's the case, follow me!"
Gu Han nodded faintly inwardly, though his expression remained cold. Taking the lead, he headed forward.
Behind him, the disciples hurriedly rose to their feet and followed, wiping away their tears.
Before you continue