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Although his heart was joyful, Su Baiche pretended to be anxious and looked at the man holding his arm, asking with feigned ignorance, “Who are you?”
Nan Yaoquan gazed at the beautiful face close to him, and his heart and mind shook. For a long time, he couldn’t find the right words to say.
It was an exact replica.
It was as if someone had carved him out.
“I am your elder brother,” Nan Yaoquan’s voice was dry.
Upon hearing this, Su Baiche’s expression eased slightly, and he spoke gently, “You must be mistaken. I am the only son in my family; there is no elder brother.”
Hearing his denial, Nan Yaoquan’s knuckles unconsciously tightened. Hearing a painful sound from his ear, he softened his grip, “I couldn’t interfere before, but from now on, it’s different.”
On the other side, Ling Ye’s face was filled with coldness.
“Crack—”
In the corner, Shen Liuxiang cracked a melon seed, enjoying the confrontation between the two sides.
Seeing his disciple looking like he had something to say, Shen Liuxiang took out a handful of melon seeds from his bag of star flowers and handed them over, “Here, have some together.”
Zhou Xuanlan: “…”
Although they were in a low-key corner, they still attracted the attention of many disciples. Everyone noticed that Shen Liuxiang and his disciple were nervously watching Su Baiche. This made them all curious about what was happening.
People around worried, and then there was Shen Liuxiang, who was leisurely munching on melon seeds, causing others to suddenly become angry.
“How can you just stand by and watch, even if you don’t like Su Baiche, at least there should be camaraderie among fellow disciples.”
“I thought Immortal Shen had changed for the better, but it seems it was all fake.”
“Sigh, I was mistaken about Immortal Shen too.”
Shen Liuxiang ignored the buzzing around him and focused on the scene in the sky.
Ling Ye seemed to be getting angry and activated his spiritual power, causing the surrounding spiritual energy to surge toward him. “If you don’t let him go, don’t blame me for being heartless.”
Shen Liuxiang was excited and grabbed a few melon seeds, tossing them into his mouth. He didn’t even turn his head as he instructed his disciple, “Don’t just look at me. The battles between Nascent Soul cultivators are rare and can greatly improve your state of mind. Watch it seriously.”
Suddenly being called out, Zhou Xuanlan shifted his gaze awkwardly.
In mid-air, facing the cold sword formed by Ling Ye’s gathering spiritual energy, Nan Yaoquan’s face showed no panic. He calmly activated his spiritual power, and a faint black mist enveloped him and Su Baiche.
Around the two of them, countless sword lights and knife shadows filled the surroundings, forming a powerful defensive barrier.
“If you use your full power, the Blood-Devouring Barrier may not hold, but this is Qingling Sect. If you exert more than seventy percent of your strength, your sect may suffer.” Nan Yaoquan had the upper hand. “I told you, you can only watch as I take him away.”
Ling Ye looked at the barrier for a moment and then dissipated his sword energy.
Su Baiche’s heart leaped with joy.
The Blood-Devouring Barrier was indeed powerful. Ling Ye couldn’t forcefully break through it, so he could only watch as Nan Yaoquan took him away. He had been worried that Ling Ye might rescue him, but now he could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
“Sect Master…” Subai Che pretended to be frightened, biting his lip and looking at Lingye with a trembling voice.
With just one call, before Lingye could react, the disciples of the sect were already in an uproar.
“What kind of rubbish barrier is this? Watch me break in and rescue the Master!”
“Yeah, how can we let the Master fall into the hands of the Demon Lord?”
“Calm down. Haven’t you heard of the reputation of the Blood-Devouring Barrier? Anyone who approaches it will have their spiritual power instantly stripped away and turned into blood!”
“It’s so terrifying, what should we do then?”
Everyone’s faces showed despair.
“The outcome is already decided,” Nan Yaoquan looked at Ling Ye, “You can’t break the barrier, and I will take him away.”
“Who said I have no way,” Ling Ye lowered his gaze and looked towards a hidden corner, “If I can’t break it from the outside, then I’ll break it from the inside.”
There, someone was munching on melon seeds and cracking them with relish.
“You mean I’ll willingly open the barrier to let someone in? That’s impossible,” Nan Yaoquan laughed loudly, “Ling Ye, today I will definitely take Su Baiche away. Even if you approach the barrier and turn into blood, I won’t stop my spell for a moment.”
Ling Ye neither confirmed nor denied it, but instead, he turned to the person who had just grabbed a handful of melon seeds and said, “Junior Brother, come here.”
Shen Liuxiang raised his head, blinked in confusion, and then took Zhou Xuanlan’s hand, placing the melon seeds on it. “Help me hold these for a while.”
In a blink of an eye, he appeared by Ling Ye’s side.
Under the watchful gazes of everyone, the command of the Sect Master was hard to refuse, but it didn’t have much impact. Shen Liuxiang thought to himself that if his senior brother asked him to take action, at most, he could just battle in the water crazily—he could go all out (1).
In front of everyone’s eyes, Ling Ye pointed towards the barrier and straightforwardly said, “You charge in.”
Shen Liu Xiang: “???”
If he rushed in, he would be immediately dissolved by the blood-devouring barrier. Is Ling Ye asking him to be a cannon fodder?!
Not only was Shen Liuxiang dumbfounded, but the disciples who were previously in an uproar were also stunned, with hesitant expressions. “This doesn’t seem right… Is the Sect Master sacrificing Immortal Shen?”
Among the crowd, there was one person secretly delighted.
Su Baiche’s lips slightly curved upwards. Although he didn’t know Ling Ye’s plan, he knew better than to think that the Demon Lord would be lenient with Shen Liuxiang and let him enter. He was absolutely mistaken.
He looked forward to the person who had bullied him in the past, Shen Liuxiang, turning into blood foam!
In his joy, Su Baiche didn’t forget to continue playing the role of a weak person. “Sect Master, you must not let Immortal Shen come over. I would rather die at the hands of the Demon Lord than bear to see Immortal Shen shed blood for me.”
Ling Ye said calmly, “I will save you.”
Hearing this, a smile couldn’t be suppressed on Su Baiche’s lips.
The more Ling Ye wanted to save him, the more likely he would recklessly use Shen Liuxiang to test the Demon Lord’s bottom line. Tong Xi had already made it clear to him that the Demon Lord and Shen Liuxiang had no relation whatsoever. Therefore, if Shen Liuxiang really came towards the barrier, there would be no escape for him.
Su Baiche felt extremely satisfied in his heart.
Shen Liuxiang glared at Ling Ye, vaguely guessing his intentions, but… why did Ling Ye gamble with his life for Su Baiche’s safety? Besides, Su Baiche would be living a life of luxury in the Demon Realm!
Shen Liuxiang turned to run, but he was stopped in his tracks by a hand on his shoulder.
“Don’t be afraid,” Ling Ye’s voice was warm, and his tone carried an inexplicable conviction, “Nan Yaoquan would never kill you. This is the only way to break the barrier.”
As he spoke, Ling Ye’s palm exerted force and pushed Shen Liuxiang towards the barrier.
There was a collective gasp from the onlookers.
Nan Yaoquan’s eyes showed a hint of mockery, remaining motionless as he waited for Shen Liuxiang to be crushed by the barrier. “Ling Ye, do you think I’m still the same as before…”
Suddenly, his voice trailed off.
A message rang in Ling Ye’s mind, “Emperor Xing Yu, he is his father.”
Nan Yaoquan’s expression changed dramatically as he looked at the youth about to be engulfed by the barrier. In an instant, he stopped the barrier from closing.
The surrounding black mist dissipated almost completely.
Su Baiche’s smile froze for a moment as he had not yet reacted when Ling Ye suddenly pulled him close.
He calmed himself and looked at the opposite side.
There, he saw Nan Yaoquan tightly holding onto Shen Liuxiang, his expression uncertain, as he spoke to Ling Ye, “If there’s any deceit, be prepared to collect your younger brother’s corpse.”
With that said, the Demon Lord directly stepped into the void, disappearing along with Shen Liuxiang from the original spot.
Su Baiche who almost bit his lip out of frustration:…
T/N: Damn and just like that Immortal Shen has been traded off…
(1) Okay what I have essentially got from this translation is that Shen Liuxiang will fight dramatically, because he was confident that no matter what he did the plot would follow on and Su Baiche would still get captured no matter what he did.