Supreme Emperor of Swords

“Of course, if you aren’t afraid of death and pain, I have other ways to make you suffer even worse than death.” As Ding Hao spoke, the rock under his butt suddenly levitated gently, noiselessly disintegrating into fine powder, dispersing in the breeze.

The assassin’s body trembled even more violently.

Naturally, he could see that the levitation of the gigantic rock just now was not due to Ding Hao’s Qi power.

Instead, Ding Hao had applied his incomparable Divine Senses to directly move a material object.

This was the legendary skill of a super expert above the Martial Grand Emperor Realm.

When one’s Divine Senses were this powerful, it was said that one could execute terrifying secret techniques. The most terrifying was the use of the Divine Senses to forcibly scour another’s consciousness—not only afflicting pain many thousand times more painful than slow slicing, but also possibly turning an expert into an idiot.

The end result would be even more unbearable than death.

“Is this Ding Hao an absolute expert who can condense his Divine Senses?”

“Of course, if you tell me everything honestly, I guarantee that I won’t hurt you at all and will let you go,” Ding Hao added.

Ding Hao’s words dispelled that last bit of hesitation in the assassin’s heart.

Experts at Ding Hao’s realm would usually not go back on their word.

What was more, what Ding Hao wanted to know was not against the rules of the Netherworld Hall for assassins.

“I’m a mercenary assassin. Of course, I’m here for the bounty, but the reason why I was able to locate you so quickly is because Miaoyu Bordello has sprinkled some ‘Moonlight Essence Powder’ on you. It’s one of the secret skills of Miaoyu Bordello’s Moonlight Fairy. I have something on me that can pinpoint your exact location.”

The assassin revealed everything he knew.

Ding Hao retracted his Qi oppression.

What he had just displayed was the imperious “Overlord Descending on Earth,” one of the 12 divine moves of his Invincible Fighting Method’s Fight Essential, which could make himself appear many times more powerful than his real cultivation—a matchless, wondrous skill.

Ding Hao, once only at the Martial Mentor Realm, was now crushing Lu Pengfei with this imperious skill. At present, Ding Hao’s strength was many times stronger than before, his imposing air comparable to that of a Martial Grand Emperor. Naturally, he could easily oppress this assassin already badly tormented by that Great Demon, Evil Moon.

The assassin felt the pressure oppressing his body vanish and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He took out a palm-sized crystal jade token and tossed it over to Ding Hao from a distance.

It was a white jade token shaped like a full moon—round, quaint, and of primitive simplicity, only half an inch thick. There was a circle engraved on it, while in its center was a spot of constantly flickering light, no bigger than a fingertip.

“This jade token can detect the location of a person sprinkled with the Moonlight Essence Powder. The center of the circle represents the position of the jade token holder. This shifting light spot in the circle indicates the direction in which the pursued man is moving. This jade token was given by Miaoyu Bordello. Many pursuers have one.”

The assassin stretched his limbs to loosen up, speaking slowly.

Confronted by an expert at Ding Hao’s level, he was utterly terrified. Although he had now regained his freedom, he still did not dare leave without Ding Hao’s permission.

“Where are the people of Miaoyu Bordello now?” Ding Hao tossed the jade token back to him.

The assassin thought carefully and then replied, “The disciples of Miaoyu Bordello are elusive, but have been very active lately. They are rumored to have rebuilt the Golden Boat of the Nine Heavens Mystic Fairies, and will reappear in Yellow Province in five days’ time.”

“Yellow Province?”

Ding Hao pondered for a moment.

He soon remembered the map drawn by Golden Cicada, with an introduction to Yellow Province. It was a large province, one of the 20 largest provinces of the Divine Central Continent, with a territory even larger than Jin Province. It was full of individual talents, sects, as well as powerful Human Clan martial artists.

Ding Hao nodded and said, “Well, you can leave now. Go back and tell those who want to take revenge on me: five days later, on the full-moon night, I, Ding Hao, invite them to take revenge on me at Yellow Crane Tower in Yellow Province.”

The assassin was stunned. He did not expect Ding Hao to have dared say that.

He obviously knew many wanted to seek revenge on him, but still dared to reveal his whereabouts to the public. Was he going to massacre everyone at Yellow Crane Tower, and wipe them out alone, challenging the martial arts forces of the entire Central Region within the surrounding million kilometers?

He was too crazy.

When he thought of this, he could not help but feel a chill in his heart.

Although the assassin could not figure out what Ding Hao really wanted, he did not dare to say anything. There was only one thought in his mind: he must never meet this devil from the Northern Region again. His figure flashed, and turning into a stream of light, he disappeared into the distance.

“Meow. You actually let him go?” Evil Moon spoke, squinting its eyes.

The cute cat had resumed its lazy posture, basking supine in the sun on the shore. Its wings were throwing hot sand on its body, an action christened “sand-bathing.”

“Why shouldn’t I let him go?” Ding Hao asked.

Evil Moon said matter-of-factly, “You’re now the butcher, the devil, the executioner. As a devil who massacres without batting an eyelid, you ought to be as cold and ruthless as they claim. Wherever you go, there should be no grass growing, nor anyone left alive. Only then will you fit the description those warriors of the Central Region give you.”

Ding Hao said ill-temperedly, “In that case, as a Devil King, should I silence you first, a fat cat who knows my whereabouts so well?”

Evil Moon chuckled heartily and said, “Meow, I’m your henchman. Of course, I’m an exception.”

Ding Hao no longer paid it any attention.

“Seniors, do you know what the Moonlight Essence Powder is?” Ding Hao tried asking the Saber Master and the Sword Master.

Over the past few days, Ding Hao had carefully examined his entire body but had not detected anything at all. It seemed that the powder Miaoyu Bordello sprinkled on him was no ordinary powder.

“I’ve never heard of it,” said the Sword Master.

“It must be some shady thingy. I don’t care about that sort of unorthodox thing.” The Saber Master was always so domineering. She obviously did not know what it was, but still sounded high-minded and indignant.

Ding Hao was at a loss for words.

From its name, one could deduce that it must have something to do with the Moonlight Fairy.

She was a frightening woman, not only powerful but also full of wiles and schemes. Until now, Ding Hao had not figured out what this woman was planning.

However, all these mysteries did not really bother Ding Hao much.

Since he could not figure it out, he would ask someone about it.

Ding Hao decided to go to Yellow Province.

“Seniors, is there any way to stop the Moonlight Essence Powder from tracking me?” Ding Hao asked tentatively.

“I have a few formations that can isolate your essence and aura. We can try them out, but I need you to first refine a few small things to help set up the formations.” The Sword Master thought for a while and gave this answer.

Three days passed in a flash.

In the past few days, a sensational piece of news had been spreading wildly, to the surrounding millions of kilometers—

Ding Hao, the murderous devil from the Northern Region, that bloody butcher, after slaughtering hundreds of masters and experts, had challenged the friends and relatives of his victims through the mouth of a supreme, king-level assassin of the Netherworld Hall. The date was set for the full moon night at Yellow Crane Tower, in the civic center of Yellow Province. They would settle all their feuds then.

This swordsman from the Northern Region had become infamous after his massacres.

In less than a month, he had slain so many madly, starting from that massacre at Dreamy Cloud Swamp in Jin Province. Unleashing his sword on moonlit nights, he was like the Death himself wherever he went. Many martial arts masters famous in their own provinces had become victims of his murderous blade.

Because of these crazy massacres, this swordsman from the Northern Region, Ding Hao, was now notorious.

His methods were cruel, his heart vicious, and his strength exceptionally brutal. Innumerable experts of the Divine Central Continent had been shocked and overcome by wrath. Even famous experts and sects, who had previously nothing to do with this matter, had joined in the chase to kill him out of indignation.

He had come from the Northern Region but was slaughtering masses on the Divine Central Continent. This swordsman named Ding Hao was a madman, a bane in the entire martial arts world of the Divine Central Continent.

If he was not hunted down and killed, the entire martial arts world of the Divine Central Continent would lose face, its reputation completely trampled under his feet.

Although they all belonged to the Human Clan, there were still territorial conflicts.

In particular, with certain forces adding fuel to fire in secret, more and more people were censuring Ding Hao’s actions openly. Many famous masters from various provinces were enraged by these massacres. They announced that they would fight back to help the martial artists of the Central Region regain face. There were also some forces and sects who dispatched masters to hunt down Ding Hao, searching everywhere.

This was a golden opportunity for some martial artists to win fame.

Once they defeated Ding Hao, they would become heroes and famous overnight.

“It’s the duty of our Black Warrior Sect to kill this scum of the Human Clan. We have already dispatched our best disciples and he will definitely be slain!”

“Although I, Ji Wushuang, the Swift Gale, is a hermit of the forest, I’m still concerned about this land. Everyone should make it their responsibility to kill Ding Hao, the devil butcher. My 36-style Swift Gale Sword Technique will definitely win back dignity for the martial artists of the Central Region.”

“Hahaha, I have been cultivating hard in the mountains for 10 years, and no one knows me. Now’s a good time for me to make it big in this world. I, Nan Tianfeng, will definitely chop off Ding Hao’s head!”

“A puny swordsman from the Northern Region, causing such upheaval in so many provinces of the Central Region… how sad! Where have all the masters of the Central Region gone?”

Every day, people were saying all kinds of things, full of confidence that they could kill Ding Hao.

All kinds of characters boasted that Ding Hao would become their stepping stone. They would step on his dead body and become a hero looked up to by everyone.

However, in stark contrast, Ding Hao had disappeared without a trace in the past few days.

A few days ago, many could still locate Ding Hao using the tracking jade tokens provided by Miaoyu Bordello. But in the past two days, their jade tokens had lost their effects and could no longer offer any clues of his location. Many holding a jade token could only search like headless flies for Ding Hao in cities and the wilderness. They could no longer detect Ding Hao’s whereabouts.