Chapter 416: The Dream That Never Fades

The heavy rain still fell like a downpour, drenching the earth and landing on the fortress.

The place where the teleportation formation was located was open-air, so the rain soon washed away the blood on the ground.

Amidst the occasional flashes of lightning and rumbling thunder, Wang Chen's Yanmiao clone was quickly repairing the formation and changing the destination.

After all, this place had been occupied by the Black-Clad Guards of the Saint-Lan clan who had infiltrated Fenghai County. Even if the teleportation formation was repaired, it was difficult to ensure the safety of the planned destination.

So a safer way was to change the destination reached by teleportation.

During the repair process, Kong Xianglong also frequently raised his head to look at the direction of the Saint-Lan clan border, his expression carrying some gloom.

"This ambush here doesn't look like it was set specifically for me. They couldn't have known my whereabouts, and if it were targeting me, they wouldn't have such a small number of people."

"So it looks more like preventing anyone from approaching the border, and there should be problems with more than just this teleportation fortress." Xu Qing said in a low voice from the side.

"The Saint-Lan clan should be searching for the secret agent we are going to rendezvous with in the area ahead." Shan Hezi walked over and said slowly.

"Could it be that our route is true?" Ye Ling said in surprise, then instinctively looked around, because according to their previous analysis, the true rendezvous route likely had experts following in secret.

"Not necessarily. The Saint-Lan clan's performance also exposed that they haven't grasped the true route of our secret agent so far, so the border areas of several prefectures should all be under search."

Kong Xianglong's eyes revealed a sharp glint.

Xu Qing nodded secretly.

For this mission, everyone understood that there was a high probability that the rendezvous target was fake, and the return of that secret agent lurking in the Saint-Lan clan must be in a way similar to nine fakes and one true.

This made it difficult for the Saint-Lan clan to pinpoint and kill them accurately, and there were naturally secret agents of the Saint-Lan clan within Fenghai County, so the movements of the Sword-Holding Palace could also represent the accurate route of the secret agent to a certain extent.

This was also why the Field Office dispersed several teams.

Xu Qing even felt that it was also possible that all the rendezvous teams on the surface were smoke bombs to confuse the Saint-Lan clan, and perhaps there were dark teams in action.

In addition, that secret agent who truly returned from the Saint-Lan clan might not need any rendezvous at all.

This was a game between the two sides.

However, through this matter, Xu Qing once again felt the decline of the human race.

Like this border area, although there were restrictions on Nascent Soul practitioners stepping in, the fact that so many Saint-Lan clan cultivators could come here was enough to show the fragility of Fenghai County's defense line.

Everyone understood this principle and fell silent.

Not long after, amidst a series of thunderous roars, the teleportation formation was repaired.

Regardless of whether this rendezvous was true or false, their group had determined to continue moving forward. At this moment, they stepped into the teleportation formation quickly, and with the shining of the formation light, in this heavy rain, everyone's figures disappeared.

When they appeared, they were already in the border range of Linlan Prefecture, in a hidden valley.

"Everyone stay vigilant. There should be quite a few Saint-Lan clan infiltrators here. I will first investigate the hiding place of the secret agent we are going to rendezvous with. I hope they are still alive."

The moment they stepped out, Kong Xianglong spoke in a low voice and took out a compass.

There were a series of secret contact methods between Sword-Holders, and every mission used different ones, which only the person in charge of the mission could know.

For example, this compass was a special magic tool equipped for this mission. It would guide them to the location of the secret agent to be rendezvoused with.

Their mission was to find the other party through the compass and rendezvous to leave.

Xu Qing understood these things; the Sword-Holding Palace had popularized and taught them during the secret training.

In front of everyone, Kong Xianglong pinched a seal and pointed at the compass. Immediately, the needle on it turned rapidly. It didn't simply point out the direction, but manifested a scene during this rotation.

In the scene, there was a red dot, some distance from here, currently flashing weakly.

Seeing the flashing red dot, everyone felt relieved in their hearts.

This meant that the other party was still alive.

Kong Xianglong was also invigorated and began to arrange for everyone.

Rendezvous matters could not be reckless. If they went directly, it would likely expose the other party's position.

So the first thing to do was to lure the Saint-Lan clan in this area away, simultaneously unfold a cleanup, and at the same time carry out the rendezvous. These three steps had to be carried out together.

What Xu Qing had to do here was to clean up this area as much as possible, and the one cooperating with him was Ye Ling.

As for luring the Saint-Lan clan, it was Shan Hezi, Wang Chen, and others.

The rendezvous would be completed independently by Kong Xianglong.

Listening to Kong Xianglong's arrangements, Xu Qing nodded. Their approach was very routine and also the proper thing to do, so they quickly divided into three parties and acted separately.

Xu Qing flickered, his body merged into the black night, and he began to search for the Saint-Lan clan in the surroundings.

Ye Ling was also the same, and the Sword-Holders of the Field Office in this team also dispersed.

Time passed. Half an hour later, following the echo of rumbling sounds, technique fluctuations came from afar.

Xu Qing raised his head to look. That was the direction where Shan Hezi and Wang Chen were, and they were responsible for luring the Saint-Lan clan's attention.

But soon Xu Qing frowned.

Because he had walked all the way, and he hadn't found any traces of the Saint-Lan clan in this area. The other party seemed not to exist, which was inconsistent with their previous judgment that the other party was searching for the secret agent.

"Something is wrong!" Xu Qing's vigilance was higher.

Shan Hezi and Wang Chen also discovered that something was wrong. Their luring action didn't lure any Saint-Lan clan members.

This eerie scene made everyone's heart sink.

Not long after, a signal light formed by a technique shot into the sky, shining in the sky. This was an emergency assembly signal.

Looking at the signal, Xu Qing's heart sank. He knew that there was indeed a problem.

Because the place where the signal came from was the place where the rendezvous target Kong Xianglong went to was located.

If everything went according to plan, Kong Xianglong couldn't have released the signal there. He should have notified everyone only after taking the person far away.

Xu Qing immediately changed direction and headed straight for the place where the signal came from. After an incense stick of time, he finally arrived and saw Kong Xianglong and Shan Hezi and the others from afar.

This was a plain, and a hundred zhang away in front of them, a person lying on the ground was dying.

This person was a teenager of fifteen or sixteen, covered in blood, permeated with countless wounds, most of which were deep to the bone.

Even looking carefully, one could see that except for the skin on his face, which was normal, the skin on other places had been peeled off alive!

Clearly, he had endured unimaginable torture and pain.

His bones were even more than half shattered, and all his dharma apertures were gone, all collapsed.

From the collapsed points, it could be seen that this teenager was actually a prodigy with one hundred and twenty dharma apertures.

Now one of his eyes was blind, the eyeball dug out and placed in his own mouth, and both ears had disappeared.

Even his body had been poisoned and was rotting.

He couldn't live anymore, and at this moment, only one breath remained.

Shocking to the heart.

Xu Qing's expression was solemn, a cold glint flashed in his eyes. When he walked over quickly, he noticed that within a hundred zhang around the teenager, the ground had been laid with a formation.

He didn't understand formations, but he could feel the earth-shattering killing intent here. This formation was extraordinary and belonged to a must-kill formation.

That teenager was placed at the center of this must-kill formation.

"This teenager is not the secret agent we are going to rendezvous with, but there should also be a connection. When I arrived here, it was like this, and there is also this jade slip left by the Saint-Lan clan!"

Kong Xianglong's eyes were red, he roared in a low voice through gritted teeth, and opened a jade slip he had discovered here.

Immediately, a calm voice came from the jade slip, echoing all around.

"Fellow Sword-Holders, hello."

"It's a pity we can't meet, but we Black-Clad Guards have left a small gift for you Sword-Holders. I hope you like it, please enjoy it well."

The voice carried gloom and even more cruelty, and finally, it even laughed.

This was a recorded message.

Shan Hezi and Wang Chen on the side, as well as Ye Ling who had also arrived at this moment, and other Sword-Holders, looking at all this and listening to the recorded message of the jade slip, had expressions revealing anger.

The matter was very clear. Without too much contemplation, everyone could understand everything.

The Saint-Lan clan used the fortress matter to delay the rescue time of their group and found the target the Sword-Holders were going to rendezvous with.

But clearly, this target was not the true secret agent, so they used cruel torture to abuse them until only one breath remained, and then laid out this must-kill formation and left.

The purpose of the Saint-Lan clan Black-Clad Guards was to let the Sword-Holders see the mission target die with their own eyes.

Once this formation was stepped into, it would be triggered. The people inside would die, and those who stepped in would also die. It was even highly likely that the method of triggering was not limited to stepping in; there were other unknown behaviors that could also cause the formation to erupt.

Moreover, even if the formation didn't erupt, the teenager inside had already lost his vitality and only had that one breath left, which could break at any time.

This was the viciousness of the Saint-Lan clan.

Everyone was silent.

At this moment, Wang Chen, who was good at formations, squatted down, sensed the formation, and looked up at Kong Xianglong bitterly, speaking softly.

"It is the Spirit-Heart Must-Kill Formation unique to the Saint-Lan clan Black-Clad Guards. It is said that this formation was passed down from the Black Heaven clan, using humans as the core of the formation. That teenager has completely merged with this formation. Any method of entry will trigger it, even controlling strangeness is useless. The principle of its formation is still being studied by the County Chancellor, but unfortunately, there is no result yet."

"It is a one-time activation, unsolvable, and that teenager... is also at the end of his rope."

Kong Xianglong's eyes were redder, his breathing rapid.

Xu Qing looked at the teenager in the formation, walked silently to the edge of the formation, not knowing if the shadow could do it, so he spoke softly.

"I can try, but I'm not sure if I will succeed..."

Kong Xianglong gripped his fists, gritted his teeth, and was about to speak, but at this moment, the teenager's eyelids in the formation trembled, and he opened his eyes weakly.

Pain remained in his eyes, and he looked at Xu Qing and the others blankly.

"Are you... Sword-Holders?" The teenager's voice was incomparably weak, murmuring softly, carrying a trace of distrust.

Everyone looked over instantly.

Xu Qing took out his command sword, and Kong Xianglong and the others took theirs out as well. Following the shining of the bright light of the command swords, the teenager lying there dying had a glimmer of light reflected in his dim eyes.

"The imprint my father branded on my soul allows me to feel that you are Sword-Holders..."

"Sorry, let you see me like this." The teenager seemed to care very much about Sword-Holders. He tried hard to make himself look decent, but he couldn't do it anymore.

"My father is human, and my mother is Saint-Lan... I am not a Sword-Holder."

"But I know your secret storage technique. My father taught it to me."

"I didn't tell those Saint-Lan clan Black-Clad Guards, no matter how they forced me, I didn't say!" The teenager seemed to be having a flash of brilliance before death. His voice had some strength, and he tried hard to show a smile on his face, but the pain caused his smile to lose its beauty.

"Father asked me to bring an item here and hand it to the Sword-Holders. He told me this item would not be destroyed. After I die in a while, you can take it."

"I completed the mission."

The teenager still tried hard to smile, as if this was his final decency, and the completion of the mission finally made a satisfied look appear on his face, but the severity of his injuries caused his smile to slowly dim, and his breath became weaker.

And the pain of his body also caused his words to carry a trembling tone.

"My father is a Sword-Holder, he has always been proud of being a Sword-Holder, and I also wanted to become a Sword-Holder, but I am not human. He said that as long as I completed this mission, I could stay in Fenghai County and become a Sword-Holder!"

"I completed it, but I can't become a Sword-Holder anymore..."

These words moved Xu Qing.

Kong Xianglong and the others were also shocked in their hearts.

"Really want to... be like father, become a Sword-Holder..."

The teenager murmured. He seemed to have no strength to support his eyes that were about to close, and gradually they were about to shut. And before closing, he tried hard to pinch a seal and opened his secret storage space.

A package appeared beside him.

This scene caused indescribable thoughts to rise in everyone's hearts, churning and filling their bodies and minds. It was heavy, very heavy.

"You are a Sword-Holder!" Kong Xianglong looked at the teenager and said loudly, raising the command sword in his hand.

"I am willing to become a Sword-Holder, loyal to my duty, and not afraid of sacrifice."

Kong Xianglong roared the oath of the Sword-Holders, and the people around him also made sounds at the same time. Xu Qing was the same, his heart stirred up strong waves.

The teenager's body trembled, and his eyes that were about to close opened suddenly, looking at everyone, murmuring the same words.

"I am willing to become a Sword-Holder, never betray the human race, and be ready to fight at all times."

"I am willing to become a Sword-Holder, fight for the human race, and protect the human race."

"I am willing to become a Sword-Holder, cut off the evil fate of dawn, and bloom the light of heaven and earth."

The teenager's voice merged with the voices of everyone.

The next instant, his eyes closed, and the satisfied smile on his face became eternal, until an earth-shattering roar erupted from the formation.

He died, and the formation rose.

Violent wind and waves swept toward the surroundings, lifting everyone's clothes and long hair, until a long time later... following the dissipation of the storm, the teenager's bones were gone, and he vanished into smoke.

Only a box appeared where he died.

That was a wish box.

An opened wish box.

That was the intelligence he sent back with his life. ===== CHAPTER 417 =====