Ye Fan's Demonic Nature

Lu Feng's heart instantly fell into dead silence. If he had still harbored a thirty-percent chance of taking a gamble before, then Ling Tian's sudden stab in the back had crushed his last shred of faith where he stood.

In a moment of daze.

Ling Tian was seized by Yong Ye as well, clutched firmly in his hand.

The Demonic Nature throughout his body was forcibly suppressed by Yong Ye's imposing aura and driven back within him.

Regaining a brief moment of clarity, Ling Tian suddenly recalled stabbing Lu Feng in the back. Guilt immediately filled his pale face, and remorse flooded his heart.

Sky Shuttle, along with the Mad Blade Sect disciples led by him and the surviving elders of the Five Emperors Sect and Illusory Willow Sect, all landed atop the cliff.

Wu Yuanbo of the Ancient Moon Sect and Gong Hongting of the Nine Ring Sect had earlier followed the commotion of the group fighting the Azure Light Stone Toad and joined them. At this moment, they too appeared upon this Mountain Peak.

Seeing Ling Tian successfully restrained in Yong Ye's grasp, everyone wore uncertain expressions. Some breathed sighs of relief, while others secretly frowned, considering whether to tear all pretense away and seize him by force.

For a time, the atmosphere was extraordinarily taut. With swords drawn and bows bent, everyone remained locked in a stalemate stretched to its absolute limit.

"Let him go!"

At that moment, a young and chilly voice suddenly rang out from afar.

In an instant, it drew everyone's gaze.

Yong Ye looked over as well. He had been wondering which ignorant brat dared to shout at him like that, but when his eyes fell upon Ye Fan and Tang Yuan approaching the cliff entrance, his entire face immediately blazed with fury.

More precisely, he had seen Xiang Chang restrained in Ye Fan's grasp!

He had calculated everything, except that Xiang Chang, whom he had just protected and placed nearby, would be taken hostage.

When Lu Feng saw Ye Fan and Tang Yuan appear, joy first surged through him, his eyes filled with emotion. Yet concern soon followed. The present situation was not something they could change through their own strength; they might even be dragged into it.

Ling Tian, who was being restrained, was initially somewhat bewildered. He and Ye Fan were clearly not that familiar—why would the latter take such a great risk to save him?

Only after seeing the worry and urgency on Lu Feng's face did he understand. It was entirely because of Lu Feng. For a moment, he felt even more ashamed to show his face.

Sky Shuttle and the others had actually noticed Ye Fan and Tang Yuan long ago. Seeing the two rush straight at Xiang Chang and restrain him, none of them intervened.

In their eyes, with an outsider interfering at this juncture, there might well be a turn for the better—a chance to seize the Blood Butcher Three Sabers.

After his brief shock and fury, Yong Ye calmed down and barked at Ye Fan, who had stopped not far before him, "The one you've taken hostage is merely an ordinary disciple of my Illusory Willow Sect. Do you think I would trade something as valuable as the Blood Butcher Three Sabers for him?"

"Is that so?" Ye Fan gave a sinister smile. The hand restraining Xiang Chang remained still, while his other hand clamped down on the latter's shoulder and neck.

The next moment, a crisp crack of breaking bone suddenly rang out.

"You insolent brat, how dare you!" Yong Ye immediately panicked and roared in fury, hesitation appearing on his face.

How he wished someone among the onlookers would step forward to help, but reality was that every one of them merely watched coldly, wishing for the situation to continue exactly like this.

Everyone present understood that once Yong Ye was forced to release Ling Tian, Ling Tian's ownership would have to be decided anew.

As Ye Fan crushed his bones, Xiang Chang let out a grief-stricken howl of pain. His eyes, blazing with fury, glared fixedly at Ye Fan as he gritted his teeth. "If you've got the guts, kill me! You won't leave here alive today either—you'll be buried with me!"

"Chang Er, well done!" Yong Ye praised him resentfully. "If you die by this brat's hand today, I will personally cut him down and offer his blood as sacrifice for you!"

Xiang Chang smiled bitterly in despair and said, "Make sure he suffers the same pain I have before he dies!"

Ye Fan's hand around Xiang Chang's throat suddenly tightened, choking him until he could no longer speak.

Standing to one side, Tang Yuan looked anxiously at Ye Fan. From the looks of things, Xiang Chang's life did not seem enough to break the deadlock.

Whoosh!

Just then.

Ye Fan suddenly raised his hand, and a small knife shot directly toward Yong Ye.

"Overestimating yourself!"

This scene drew a trace of contempt from everyone present.

With Ye Fan's strength, trying to wound Yong Ye through a sneak attack was nothing more than a fool's dream.

But in the next instant, everyone, including Yong Ye, froze in shock.

At the very moment the flying knife neared Yong Ye, a tiny silver needle detached from the lower end of the blade and shot straight into Ling Tian's body, whom Yong Ye held in his hand.

This scene exceeded everyone's expectations.

Yong Ye had never imagined that Ye Fan would actually attack Ling Tian.

Watching Ling Tian suddenly spit out a mouthful of black blood after being injured.

Torrential waves of shock rose in everyone's hearts.

"A needle hidden beneath a blade—what a sinister method!"

"That brat's target wasn't Yong Ye at all, but Ling Tian!"

"Has he come to kill Ling Tian? Does he want to destroy the inheritance of the Blood Butcher Three Sabers?"

Even Lu Feng was stunned where he stood by Ye Fan's move. Ling Tian, on the other hand, after suffering such a heavy blow, faintly felt a trace of release.

Now that he had avenged his wife's death, dying by the hand of Lu Feng's friend could be considered a good end.

"And now?" Ye Fan looked at Yong Ye with a wicked, cold smile. "If you still don't release him, then once the poison takes effect, none of you will get the Blood Butcher Three Sabers."

"You!" Yong Ye's Killing Intent surged at once. The glare he fixed upon Ye Fan seemed capable of bursting forth with blade light.

Seeing this, Ye Fan sneered again. "The poison coating this hidden needle is no ordinary poison. Don't even dream of being able to cure it yourself!"

Tang Yuan added at the right moment, "This is Dreamlike Secluded Heart, ranked among the top three poisons in the Qin Family's Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion. You should all know its power. Without the corresponding antidote, his soul will dissipate and his dreams will shatter within the time it takes three incense sticks to burn, and he will fall forever into Yama's realm."

Upon hearing this, Yong Ye's grip on Ling Tian abruptly loosened, his face wavering with shock.

Most of the Soulmasters present had heard of Dreamlike Secluded Heart. It was the work of Ghost Doctor Song Ci, a famed figure on the Black List. This poison was concocted from over a hundred strange poisons, and each refinement required the sacrificial refining of a Secluded Dream insect gu. Such gu insects were born in opposing yin and yang pairs—one yin, one yang—and if separated, they died at once.

The yin gu contained poison, while the yang gu held medicine. Because of these strange poison gu insects, every successfully refined dose of Dreamlike Secluded Heart had only one corresponding antidote.

"Yong Ye, release that brat first!"

After a brief silence, Sky Shuttle was the first to step forward.

With him taking the lead, the remaining elders of the Nine Ring Sect and Five Emperors Sect also spoke up one after another, glaring threateningly at Yong Ye.

Clearly, they all understood that if Yong Ye did not comply with Ye Fan's demand, Ling Tian would likely have no hope of survival, and the Blood Butcher Three Sabers they had been counting on would vanish from the world forever.

Therefore, Ling Tian absolutely could not die!

Intimidated by the crowd, Yong Ye's expression turned ugly to the extreme. Yet he was unwilling, no matter what, to hand Ling Tian over just like that.

He immediately shouted directly at Ye Fan, "Brat, since you risked coming here, you surely do not wish to see the Blood Butcher Three Sabers lose its inheritance either. Do you truly dare kill him? If he dies, I will surely kill you as well!"

Ye Fan chuckled softly. "I'm an apothecary. Do you think I care about some goddamn saber technique? Whether he lives or dies has nothing to do with me. As for you, I have never regarded you as a threat!"

His words made everyone present admire his courage, yet they were also deeply puzzled, unable to grasp why Ye Fan had gone to such lengths.

Suppressing his anger, Yong Ye asked with a dark face what everyone was wondering. "Since you have no interest in this saber technique, why do you want this man? Why not change your condition? My Illusory Willow Sect will grant you any resources you desire!"

"For no reason," Ye Fan sneered, saying with a measure of anger, "This brat stabbed my brother in the back. I have to return that blade to him!"

Other things might have been false, but Ye Fan's anger was genuine.

Thinking of how Lu Feng had rushed thousands of miles to this perilous place to save someone, only to receive a stab in the back in return, he felt it was utterly worthless!

If not for the circumstances restraining him, he might truly have wanted to kill Ling Tian.

"That's all?" Hearing Ye Fan's offhand words, Yong Ye had clearly never expected his original intent to be so simple, so pure.

Sky Shuttle and the others also revealed astonished expressions. They clearly had not expected Ye Fan to act with such demonic disregard, doing whatever he pleased without the slightest reservation.

Was he not afraid of the consequences once Ling Tian was killed?

Would he truly throw everything aside just to stand up for his brother?

Tang Yuan wore a faintly proud, cold expression, clearly supporting Ye Fan's actions. Earlier, from afar at the foot of the mountain, he had glimpsed Lu Feng being stabbed in the back, and it had enraged him as well!

After hearing Ye Fan's words, Lu Feng could not help but smile bitterly, feeling helpless over his temperament.

Ling Tian forced himself to endure his injuries. Once he understood Ye Fan's intentions, his feelings became complicated. Part of him wanted to cooperate and "repay" the debt, while another part felt a faint envy.

He envied Lu Feng for having a friend willing to risk everything and rush into such a deadly place to save him.

Yet at the same time, he felt somewhat fortunate. Before his death, he too seemed to have encountered such a friend.

But he had been unable to control himself and had hurt him.

Seeing Yong Ye still hesitating, Ye Fan suddenly sighed. "Fine. Since you cannot make up your mind, I'll help you."

As he spoke, he suddenly twisted his hand and hurled Xiang Chang toward the cliff.

Yong Ye froze in shock. After a moment's hesitation, he could no longer spare any concern for Ling Tian. He also knew that continuing to hold him would be futile, so he abandoned him and flew toward the bottom of the cliff. At the final instant before impact, he successfully saved the thrown Xiang Chang.

Yet the moment he caught him, his face immediately turned deathly pale, and Killing Intent surged forth.

The same violent poisonous aura permeated Xiang Chang's body. He too had been poisoned with Dreamlike Secluded Heart!

Remembering that Dreamlike Secluded Heart had only one antidote capable of saving a life...

Yong Ye's heart instantly sank, as though he had fallen into an Ice Cellar.

At the cliff entrance.

After Yong Ye left, Lu Feng immediately took Ling Tian back.

Ye Fan and Tang Yuan also hurried to Lu Feng's side and fed the antidote to Ling Tian.

Taking into account Ling Tian's Demonic Nature, which flared up again after Yong Ye's suppression vanished, Lu Feng and Ye Fan acted at the same time. One sealed his acupoints, while the other used silver needles. Together, they sealed several major acupoints around Ling Tian's body, restricting the use of his strength.

Seeing that both Ling Tian's poison and Demonic Nature had been stabilized, the many watching Soulmasters finally moved as one, closing in around Lu Feng's group of four and forming a rigorous encirclement.

An encirclement formed by nearly ten Soulmasters at the Heaven Soul Realm Late Stage was a sight rarely seen in the world!

This time, even with wings, they could not escape!

Lu Feng's face was full of bitterness. He had never imagined that the first time the four of them gathered together, it would be amid such a desperate scene.