Chapter 83: Desperate Straits!

"Heh, but you need the strength to do that. There are plenty who want us of the Dark Sect dead," Shi Yuan sneered coldly. The next instant, seven figures advanced menacingly toward Bai Feiyu.

For the first time, Bai Feiyu faced so many powerful cultivators at the Shackled Realm, and naturally, he felt a certain pressure in his heart.

"Shi Yuan, to think I once considered you a brother. I didn't expect you were this kind of person!" Yang Fan spat on the ground with force, then stepped to Bai Feiyu's side. "Today, I must stand with Bai Feiyu. Let me tell you, since ancient times, evil has never triumphed over righteousness. Bai Feiyu is blessed with great fortune—he is not someone mere chickens and dogs like you can touch."

Hearing Yang Fan's righteous declaration, Shi Yuan could only shake his head repeatedly. At this moment, Qian Shuang felt her nerves tighten as well. After all, altogether, there were eight Shackled Realm experts present.

No matter how formidable Junior Brother Feiyu might be, handling so many at once seemed impossible. Even someone at the second level of the Shackled Realm would find such a lineup a headache.

But there was nothing she could do now. All she could hope for was that Bai Feiyu could escape. The mission no longer mattered. What was important was that Bai Feiyu survived—that was paramount.

"Can you tell me who hired you?" Bai Feiyu gazed at them with cold indifference.

He had made many enemies recently, each eager for his life. For a moment, he truly didn’t know which one had sent these killers after him.

"Sorry, client information is strictly confidential," replied one of the masked men in black. "Once you're dead, we'll whisper everything in your ear."

Bai Feiyu laughed coldly. "You don’t need to say—I can guess. Only someone with such wealth and who could chart my route so precisely would do this. It must be the Grand Elder’s grandson, Chen Xuan."

"Who would have thought—the Grand Elder, willing to pay such a price for his grandson’s vengeance, just to deal with me. I never expected such a person to be the Grand Elder of the Gui Xu Sect..."

Bai Feiyu had immediately deduced who was behind the assault.

Shi Yuan and the others neither confirmed nor denied his words, but Yang Fan and Qian Shuang were shaken to their core. They hadn’t imagined the Grand Elder could be so despicable, plotting against Bai Feiyu. Such a thing was shocking, yet it was happening right before their eyes.

"Hmph, what if you did guess? Either way, you will die—sooner or later!" sneered one of the masked men. "Shi Yuan, you’ll join us in hunting Bai Feiyu. As for Yang Fan and Qian Shuang, Number Five will handle them personally."

Hearing this, Shi Yuan hesitated, then forced a bitter smile. "Please, have mercy. Could you let Senior Brother Yang Fan and Qian Shuang go? They are truly good people, and this matter has nothing to do with them. I swear, I’ll make sure they keep this secret forever..."

Qian Shuang and Yang Fan were momentarily stunned—Shi Yuan was pleading for them? This meant that their time together had truly meant something to him.

Now, Shi Yuan must have realized he could not protect Yang Fan this time, so he was trying every possible way to save them.

After Shi Yuan’s desperate plea, the masked man snorted coldly. "Shi Yuan, have you forgotten your father is still in our hands? Only we can treat your father's illness. If you let them go, not only will we not heal him, we’ll kill him."

"Once you join the Dark Sect, you are always of the Dark Sect. Surely you understand that."

Shi Yuan nodded bitterly, then could only follow behind the masked men.

With a crash, Yang Fan smashed through a window and began to flee with all his might. At this point, all thoughts of escort missions were meaningless; survival was all that mattered.

As for Qian Shuang and Yang Fan? Bai Feiyu believed that as long as he drew most of the attackers’ attention, not even a single Shackled Realm expert could stop both Qian Shuang and Yang Fan. They would surely make it safely back to the sect.

The moment Bai Feiyu leapt out the window, six masked men in black, along with Shi Yuan, pursued him relentlessly.

"Bai Feiyu, your death is at hand. You cannot escape!" the masked men shouted behind him, while the sound of battle erupted from within the inn—Yang Fan and Qian Shuang had already begun fighting their pursuers.

"Hmph, whether I escape or not is not for you to decide," Bai Feiyu retorted coldly, leaping onto the roof of a nearby building. To his surprise, a sheer cliff lay ahead—the inn was perched atop a precipitous cliff, something they had not previously realized.

"Hahaha, Bai Feiyu, before we came, we’d already scouted the terrain thoroughly," the masked men laughed. "We told you, you can’t escape!"

Shi Yuan, following their lead, joined the charge against Bai Feiyu. Their withered hands, sharp as eagles’ talons, reached for him, ready to tear him apart.

Faced with this onslaught, Bai Feiyu showed not a hint of fear. Instead, his eyes burned with fervent fighting spirit; his entire being exuded the will to battle, murderous intent surging.

To think they dared to plot against him—how laughable! Now, he could only fight to the bitter end.

Fortunately, he had the Attribute-Collecting System. Although these men were formidable, if he fought with everything he had, perhaps he still had a chance to survive.

This was the truest crisis he had ever faced—a perfect test of his system’s power. Would he, through unceasing combat, truly grow stronger and turn the tide? The answer would come now.

But the price of this trial was grave—if he failed, he would die utterly.

"Die!" Bai Feiyu swept the War God Spear in a broad arc. Shi Yuan and his allies leapt aside with uncanny agility, moving like ghosts—clearly the secret techniques of the Dark Sect. It made sense; the Dark Sect was a renowned assassin organization. Without such unique skills, they could never have grown so powerful, nor attracted the attention of someone as notable as the Grand Elder, or been paid to target someone as important as Bai Feiyu.

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