Chapter 78: Battle to the Death

Then he said: "Chen'er and I had agreed on a time, half a month; if he couldn't…… couldn't meet me tonight, I suppose something happened."

The Grand Elder kept stepping back, heartbroken.

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath: "An accident? What accident? Only now do you tell me you suspect what accident?"

"Su Changfeng! Su Changfeng!"

"How can you joke with the lives of three thousand cultivators? How is this any different from the extraterritorial heavenly demon spoken of outside?"

"Do you know what kind of eyes these sect disciples are looking at us with? It's anticipation, it's dawn, it's a lifeline, it's also dullness, numbness; even now they still hold hope for us."

"Thinking…… thinking that the next moment a miracle would appear, the next moment there would be dawn, they wouldn't need to have violent spirit energy enter their bodies and explode to death."

"But now, the only dawn is gone; it's my blindness, choosing you, betting their lives, that I've harmed these three thousand disciples!"

The Grand Elder, usually gentle in his dealings, many of these disciples followed him from the Heavenly Profound Dao Sect, together they followed Su Changfeng.

He had never owed anyone absolutely in his life, but now he could no longer hold back his tears.

He hates!

Hating himself for being blind,

Hating his own incompetence,

Yet he can do nothing about it.

Reality is so cruel; just because of his words, he has doomed the lives of thousands.

"Reporting to the Sect Master——"

Suddenly,

A cultivator with a swollen abdomen and an unsightly complexion came flying like a meteor to report, urgently telling Sect Master Su and others on the city wall: "The beast tide, for unknown reasons, has suddenly retreated."

"Even the Ye family disciples stationed in East Yunhai City, for unknown reasons, have suddenly withdrawn."

"Originally there were four thousand guards; now fewer than one thousand remain."

What,

Screech!

The Grand Elder's murky eyes suddenly lifted.

Outside the city, the beast tide is now the fiercest wave of attack; the four city gates to the east, south, west, and north of Yunhai City are all garrisoned by Ye family disciples led by Ye Han.

At each gate there are over four thousand cultivators, completely eliminating any thought of smuggling spirit stones.

Su Changfeng wanted to fill Yunhai City's treasury, so he had to charge out of the city.

Go to another city to purchase spirit stones.

Moreover, outside the city there are various killing formations set up by Ye family formation masters, specifically to prevent a high-level cultivator like Su Changfeng from forcibly breaking through.

But today…… they withdrew?

"Sect Master, this matter is probably suspicious."

A centurion stepped forward, with a grim face began to analyze the pros and cons: "Sect Master Ye Han would not miss such a crucial opportunity; they clearly know we cannot resist this final wave of attack, and if they strike while we are unprepared at this time, Yunhai City will surely fall."

"At most, in no more than two days, our people will be slaughtered to the last by the demon tribe."

"But at this critical juncture, the Ye family disciples have withdrawn?"

However, the most speechless thing is——

Even the centurion present and the elders were moved; they wanted to take a gamble.

Because the current situation does not allow them any other choice.

The cultivators guarding Yunhai City are nothing more than waiting a bit longer for the violent spirit energy to enter their bodies and burst them alive.

Today is already the last day Su Chen promised to come to Yunhai City to meet up; Su Chen cannot possibly enter the city.

If they fight to the death, perhaps……

Perhaps……

there might still be a sliver of hope.

"Sect Master!!"

The Grand Elder's pair of murky eyes once again showed a glimmer of light, temporarily setting aside his previous resentment toward Su Changfeng: "Now the deadline has arrived, let's fight again; perhaps we can still carve out a path of survival."

"That's right, Sect Master!"

"We are not unwilling to wait, nor unwilling to trust the Young Sect Master, but anything he has done in Qianyuan City and at the Heavenly Profound Dao Sect makes it hard for people to believe he can reverse the decline and support the sect."

"Now the spirit explosion phenomenon blankets the sky and earth, the beast tide outside the city, and the Ye family disciples led by Ye Han guarding it—how could he possibly bring a hundred million spirit stones to Yunhai City to rescue us?"

"Rather than rely on him, we'd better use our fists, burn our cultivation, and carve out a bloody path."

"……"

Su Changfeng gazed at those pleading eyes, each pair filled with fearlessness.

Several elders were even more resolute, clutching their fists tightly; although their bodies were somewhat weakened from the torment of spirit energy, their eyes still burned with fierce fire.

This battle,

The elders are not fighting just for themselves, but also for the three thousand disciples behind them, to carve out a sliver of hope for them.

But his Chen'er……

Why hasn't he returned yet?

And where is he now?

Is he being detained by Ye Xuan as a hostage, or has he fallen victim to a sneak attack by the Ye family disciples?

Therefore he cannot come?

"Sect Master, opportunity must not be lost, it will not come again!"

"Yes! Sect Master, don't be indecisive any longer."

"Sect Master!!"

Su Changfeng finally resigned, closed his eyes, and lightly sighed as the thought lingered in his mind: Can't wait any longer……

Even now, the jade slip he kept against his chest, carried with him, had no news about Chen'er, and he didn't know what had happened in Qianyuan City?

Is Chen'er safe?

Ye Xuan bears the Star Battle Body; three years ago he was humiliated in every way by Chen'er, ending up with his meridians utterly destroyed, and now that the king has returned, he likely won't let Chen'er off so easily.

No.

He wants to leave the city himself.

He wants to confirm whether his son is safe.

As a father, how could he stoop to waiting for his son's rescue?

It should be him, as the father, who protects his son.

「Scrape! 」

The Su Sect Master opened his eyes again, as if having made some decision; the aura of his Martial Sovereign Realm no longer concealed, fully revealed: "Listen to my orders—leave a thousand disciples to guard Yunhai City, and the rest follow me out the East Gate!"

The Martial Sovereign Realm aura made the few elders closest to Su Changfeng stare at each other, their eyes all flashing with a hint of shock.

When did he break through to Martial Sovereign?

Their previous behavior of capturing and killing……

With Su Changfeng's order.

On the central plaza of Yunhai City, a hysterical roar rose: "Charge out the East Gate and take Ye Han's head!"

"Charge out the East City Gate and take Ye Han's head!"

Several hours later.

The disciples whose meridians were not completely destroyed by spiritual energy torment, and who could still use their cultivation, numbered two thousand, all fully prepared.

Ye Han, garrisoned in the East City, suddenly gulped a mouthful of spirit liquor.

Staring at the jade slip sent by Ye Xuan, killing intent flared in his eyes: "Supreme Inheritance—I never expected your spoiled, good-for-nothing second-generation heir to have such damn luck."

"Talisman Master… tsk tsk, is that inheritance really fitting for you?"

"Ye Xuan, as long as we capture Su Chen, then use Soul Search Technique to extract his Supreme Inheritance, I only need to seclude myself for a few years; upon emerging, I will be invincible under heaven—then even if you are the Star Pavilion Master, you would hardly be my opponent."

At this moment, Ye Han revealed his ambition; although he is an adopted son of the Ye Family, he has always disliked Ye Xuan since childhood, and moreover covets Ye Xuan's mother.

All those vying for Ye Xuan's favor, now fawning and flattering him, are merely wary of the mighty Star Pavilion behind Ye Xuan and the like.