Chapter 572: I Want to Live

"Be careful." Ying Wuji stood at the edge of the restrictive barrier, watching the four about to step out, his voice low and solemn, his eyes holding a hint of barely noticeable concern.

Yuan Yao turned her head and nodded firmly at him, indicating she understood.

Immediately, Yuan Yao, Xie Yan, Qian Yunzhou, and Dong Jiao flickered, penetrating the invisible barrier outside the camp and appearing openly at the edge of the chaotic battlefield.

"It's you!" Gui YanHong's gaze flared like torches; the moment the four appeared, she sensed them and cried out in surprise mixed with wariness.

"It's us!" Yuan Yao crossed her arms, stood poised, her voice clear and laced with deliberate coldness and questioning: "What gall you have! Why did you lure so many abyssal beasts outside our camp? Are you deliberately seeking trouble?"

Her voice instantly reached every member of the Tian Jiaocheng Team; while they desperately fended off the abyssal beasts, they also diverted attention to look at Yuan Yao and her companions.

"We're not!" a nearby Tian Jiaocheng cultivator shouted in defense, but his focus split, and his defense showed a gap.

A huge sixth‑stage abyssal beast seized the chance, lowered its head hard, and its sturdy skull slammed heavily into his chest.

Boom!

With a dull thud, that Tian Jiaocheng cultivator flew off like a broken kite, crashed heavily to the ground, and spat blood profusely—clearly seriously injured.

On the other side, Ying Wuhuan clung to his severely wounded body, waving his long sword to emit faint glimmers of spiritual light, barely blocking the pincer attack of two abyssal beasts before him.

His face was as white as paper, obviously at his limit.

Seeing this, a flash of ruthlessness and resolve crossed his eyes; he quickly sent a secret sound transmission to a similarly distressed Ying family disciple beside him: "Hurry! Get them to rescue us! Make sure they agree to let us enter the camp for temporary refuge!"

The Ying family Tian Jiaocheng cultivator who received the transmission felt his complexion shift; he glanced at the perilous surroundings, then at the calm Yuan Yao quartet outside the barrier, and finally gritted his teeth, shouting hoarsely toward Yuan Yao: "Yuan Yao! We are both human kin, interdependent! Now we face imminent death—how can you stand by and do nothing? To see death and not save—is that what you so‑called righteous cultivators do?!"

With the first speaker, the other Tian Jiaocheng cultivators, desperate to live, forgot face and all began to shout.

"Not bad! If you're willing to lend a hand, we'll owe you a great favor and will surely repay it later!"

"Yuan Yao! You… you did this on purpose?! Knowing we're here, yet you delay helping—what's your motive?!"

For a moment, pleas, accusations, and questions mingled with the abyssal beasts' roars, creating an especially harsh din.

At that moment, a seventh‑stage abyssal beast noticed Yuan Yao and her companions and lunged at them to bite.

Xie Yan raised his hand and swung his sword— the seventh‑stage abyssal beast was already sent flying.

Bang!

The seventh‑stage abyssal beast crashed heavily to the ground.

Everyone was greatly startled.

That was a seventh‑stage abyssal beast!

It equals the Body Integration Realm of human cultivators!

Xie Yan felled it with a single sword strike?! Could he have also broken through to the Body Integration Realm?

Yuan Yao chuckled lightly, "You want rescue, yet you lack the proper attitude—we don't owe you anything. Moreover, your Ying leader has remained silent from start to finish, implying he thinks your current strength is enough to match these abyssal beasts. If so, what's wrong with us watching the show?"

Xie Yan sheathed his sword, his tone tinged with slight contempt, "No wonder you're the Ying leader—even in such peril you still have the courage to turn the tide against the wind."

Yuan Yao raised her thumb toward Ying Wuhuan.

"Commendable courage."

Xie Yan raised his brows, "Admired, admired."

"Awesome, awesome!" Seeing them praise, Dong Jiao immediately chimed in with praise.

Qian Yunzhou feigned puzzlement, asking, "Huh, why are there still so many people? Ying leader, did you send others on another mission?"

Ying Wuhuan hearing these half‑praise, half‑barbed remarks, his face darkened.

At this moment, he faintly sensed the members of the Tian Jiaocheng Team growing resentful.

Ying Wuhuan drew a deep breath, suppressing his surging qi and humiliation, then spoke loudly, his voice hoarse from effort yet unusually firm: "I, Ying Wuhuan, here implore you all to lend aid! My life is nothing; even if I am torn to shreds, I will protect them! They… are the future of Tian Jiaocheng, and moreover the hope of the human cultivator world!"

Before his words faded, he dragged his broken body toward Yuan Yao's quartet and decisively dropped to a half‑kneel!

"Leader!" The Tian Jiaocheng cultivators who had been blood‑fighting the abyssal beasts heard these words of self‑sacrifice, and seeing their usual lofty, steadfast leader lower his pride and kneel for them, all felt their eyes tear, hearts flooded with mixed feelings.

"Leader! Get up quickly! You must not kneel for us!" a Tian Jiaocheng cultivator cried, voice choking, eyes instantly reddened.

"Yes, leader! Even if we die here, we absolutely cannot let you suffer this humiliation for us!"

"If they won't rescue, then fine—we'd rather all die together!"

Gui YanHong's pupils contracted as she snapped, "Are you ill? Want to die? Go die! Who wants to accompany you to death? I certainly don't want to die!"

Immediately after, Gui YanHong's face darkened as she looked at Yuan Yao and said, "Yuan Yao, I'll kneel to you—save me! They've gone mad! They're insane! They don't even want to live! Isn't it just a kneel? I'll kneel, I'll kowtow—save me!"

Having spoken, Gui YanHong actually, after laying down several talismans to shield the area, truly knelt toward Yuan Yao and kowtowed to her.

One, two, three…

Foreheads striking the ground emitted a dull thud, the posture abject to the extreme.

Seeing this, Yuan Yao couldn't help but be slightly startled.

She hadn't expected Gui YanHong to actually yield, and in a way that, to her, was relatively humiliating.

"YanHong!" Gui YanQing also startled—his half‑arm bloody, his face deathly pale; seeing Gui YanHong like this pained him greatly.

He wanted to rush to Gui YanHong's side, but was repeatedly forced to halt by abyssal beast attacks.

Gui YanHong's forehead was red from kowtowing; she lifted her head, her eyes dark yet startlingly bright, "I'll kowtow ten more times—save my brother!"

She continued kowtowing.

This sight astonished everyone.

"Now that's the proper attitude to beg." Qian Yunzhou chuckled lightly.

Ying Wuhuan's face grew ever uglier.

Just then, an abyssal beast lunged at Gui YanHong, and the protective shield borne of the talismans shattered instantly.

Crack—

"YanHong!" Gui YanQing's eyes nearly burst as he let out a heart‑rending roar, his voice filled with despair and shock.

Gui YanHong felt her whole body stiffen; a piercing chill shot from her spine to her limbs.

The shadow of death had never so truly enveloped her.

Is she going to die?!

She doesn't want to die!

Really.

She doesn't want to die.

At this critical moment, a scalding, strong-smelling liquid suddenly drenched her, making her whole body convulse. Immediately after, a muffled 'bang' sounded as something heavy hit the ground beside her.

Wei Yanhong, still shaken from fright, trembled as she slowly lifted her head; through her blurred, tear-filled eyes, she saw two tall figures already blocking her path.

They turned around.

It's…

Yuan Yao and Yu Jing.

Wei Yanhong's eye sockets felt sore, and her heart gave a few violent throbs, as if she had come back to life.

【Target person Wei Yanhong, Awakening Value reaches 50.】