Outside the valley.
A dense, dark mass of Sin Beasts had gathered there.
They came in all shapes and sizes, with hideous faces. Some were as massive as mountains, others were small but incredibly fast, and still others had sharp fangs and pointed claws that sent chills down one's spine.
The auras emanating from these Sin Beasts intertwined, forming a suffocating pressure so powerful that it seemed about to swallow the entire valley.
Just then, the restless horde of Sin Beasts suddenly fell quiet.
Immediately afterward, every Sin Beast turned its head in unison, their gazes fixed on the same direction.
Far away in that direction, a figure appeared.
It was a tall, straight-backed young man, slowly approaching with steady, powerful strides.
The young man's face was handsome and resolute, his eyes brimming with excitement and fighting spirit.
Suddenly, he tore a strip of cloth from his clothing. The cloth was blood-red, though whether that was its original color or the result of being soaked in Sin Beast blood was unknown.
Unhurriedly, the young man tightly bound his saber's hilt to his right hand with the cloth. As he continued approaching, the aura emanating from him grew increasingly powerful.
It actually rivaled the aura released by those Sin Beasts.
Only when the young man came within a hundred meters of the Sin Beasts did he stop.
A breeze blew past, and an inexplicable chill rose.
Roar...
The next instant, furious roars rang out as countless Sin Beasts swept toward Lin An like a black tide.
At the sight, Lin An's smile deepened, but his eyes brimmed with killing intent as he shot forward like an arrow.
Swish, swish, swish...
A series of sharp, piercing whistles cut through the air as the long saber in Lin An's hand instantly became a dazzling sweep of incomparably fierce saber light, sending streaks of saber qi slashing in every direction.
Wherever the saber qi passed, the approaching Sin Beasts were ripped apart, leaving corpses behind.
"Our young lord is way too brave."
In the distance, the personal guards gaped as they watched their young lord engage the Sin Beasts.
Despite having reached the Silver Realm, even if all ten of them joined forces, lasting a few minutes against so many Sin Beasts would have been impressive.
Yet their young lord not only refused to retreat under the encirclement of so many ferocious beasts, but kept advancing.
Like a sharp sword, he forcibly carved a path through the horde of Sin Beasts.
"Stay sharp. The moment the young lord can't hold on, move in immediately to support him," one personal guard said gravely.
The other guards nodded. They were already prepared to exchange their own lives for a chance for their young lord to survive.
As they were thinking this, they suddenly frowned and looked to one side in unison, spotting a group of people cautiously approaching.
"They're from the three great families." The guards quickly recognized the newcomers.
After all, aside from them, only members of the three great families were in the Spirit Realm this time.
"Hide yourselves. I'll go ask what they want."
"If they're planning to use this opportunity to target the young lord, find a way to warn him immediately, then take him and escape."
One personal guard said in a low voice, "Once we're out of the Spirit Realm, report everything to the city lord."
The other nine nodded and each found somewhere to hide.
Meanwhile, that guard headed straight toward the three great families.
At that moment, the hundred-odd members of the three great families were staring in bewilderment at the rampaging horde of Sin Beasts not far away.
"What's going on? We haven't done anything yet, have we? Why have these Sin Beasts gone berserk?"
Zhao Tao looked puzzled, turning toward Wang Qi and Zhang Yun beside him as he spoke.
"Don't look at us. We've been together the whole time. If we'd acted on our own, you'd have noticed long ago," Zhang Yun said, shaking his head.
"Something's wrong. Look at that horde of Sin Beasts. There seems to be someone inside," Wang Qi said in uncertainty as he watched the rampaging horde.
"What? Someone?"
Everyone looked shocked. Only those in the Bronze Realm could enter this Spirit Realm, and even counting the city lord's estate, the three great families' members numbered fewer than two hundred in total.
Yet there were fully ten thousand Sin Beasts before them. Even if they all charged in together, they would only be throwing their lives away.
Just as everyone was trying to see whether someone really was inside, a figure suddenly walked out of the woods.
Zhao Tao and the others quickly recognized him as one of Lin An's personal guards.
"You're the young city lord's personal guard? Why are you here? Where's the young city lord?" Zhao Tao asked in puzzlement.
"I should be asking you that. What are so many of you doing here?" the guard asked coldly, his heart full of wariness.
Although Zhao Tao felt somewhat displeased by the questioning, the man was the young city lord's personal guard, someone from the city lord's estate.
"General, we're here because we want to enter the valley and seize the treasure inside..." Zhao Tao promptly explained their earlier plan.
Seeing that they truly did not seem to be here to target the young city lord, the guard relaxed slightly, though he remained vigilant.
Zhao Tao suddenly thought of the person amid the horde of Sin Beasts.
Since it was not someone from their three great families, it could only be someone from the city lord's estate.
He was just about to ask when a startled cry suddenly rang out.
"Holy shit, look! Isn't that the young city lord?"
"It really does look like him. How did the young city lord get surrounded by Sin Beasts?"
"..."
At these cries, Zhao Tao and the others' eyes widened, and they hurriedly looked over as well.
Although they were some distance away, after looking closely for a while, they realized it really was the young city lord, Lin An.
"General, what's going on? Why is the young city lord in the horde of Sin Beasts?" Zhao Tao's expression darkened as he stared fiercely at the guard.
Could this guard have betrayed him and be trying to get Lin An killed?
The more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed. After all, he had not seen any of the other guards appear, which meant they might already be dead.
He did not care whether Lin An lived or died, but the problem was that if Lin An died, their three great families would become prime suspects.
Especially if this traitorous guard returned to Shenglin City and told City Lord Lin Xiao that their three great families had caused Lin An's death.
No matter how their three great families tried to explain, the enraged Lin Xiao would absolutely show no mercy and wipe out all three families to accompany Lin An in death.
At this thought, Zhao Tao's expression hardened. He signaled to those beside him, and they immediately surrounded the guard.
"Speak! Did you betray the young city lord and try to pin his death on our three great families?" Zhao Tao bellowed.
Wang Qi, Zhang Yun, and the others also caught on, staring at the guard with grim expressions.
It was as though they could already see Lin An dying and Lin Xiao going mad and wiping out their three families.
Meanwhile, the guard was dumbfounded too.
Me?
Betray the young city lord?
Holy shit, weren't you the ones trying to target the young city lord?
But the guard was no fool. He quickly understood what Zhao Tao and the others were thinking and realized they had misunderstood.
"Everyone, come out," the guard called.
The nine guards hiding in the distance then revealed themselves.
The guard was just about to explain the misunderstanding when Zhao Tao's expression changed, and he bellowed, "Well, well! You all betrayed the young city lord!"