432: Chapter 432 Zhao Qian forces Xiao Nianyin to take action?

Stalling for time? That was even more impossible and unnecessary.

Situ E and Zhao Qian weren't fools like Mo Feng; they wouldn't give him the chance.

Since they were able to block him here, it meant they were well-prepared and wouldn't allow him to stall.

The point of stalling was knowing that someone would come to save them.

But Xu Ruyu thought of every possibility and couldn't imagine who would come to save the Hehuan Sect at a time like this.

The Taihu Clan? Impossible. Those Grand Elders had just kicked them out. It would be a blessing if they didn't stab them in the back, so how could they possibly come to the rescue now?

As for Lady Qingli, she was in secluded cultivation.

The Clan Chief was also in secluded cultivation.

The Taihao Clan woman had been injured by the joint efforts of the Grand Elders and was currently hiding somewhere unknown.

Yue Ling was still in a deep slumber.

Who would save them? No one. The people of the Hehuan Sect could only fight a last-stand battle—one where the entire army would likely be wiped out.

After some thought, for the first time, Xu Ruyu felt what a true desperate situation was like.

Just then, Zhao Qian stopped paying attention to Situ E and took a step forward himself.

His gaze passed over Xu Ruyu and fixed intently on Xiao Nianyin behind him once more, the hatred in his eyes almost tangible.

“Xu Ruyu,” he said, eyes fixed on Xiao Nianyin but speaking to Xu Ruyu with a tone of unquestionable command, “hand over Xiao Nianyin.”

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the Hehuan Sect members behind Xu Ruyu. His voice turned even colder, each word squeezed out from between his teeth:

“Today, I can choose not to participate in the Jile Sect's affairs. I only want Xiao Nianyin.

If you hand her over, the people of my Tianshu Sword Sect will withdraw immediately.

I guarantee that my Tianshu Sword Sect will not touch a single Disciple of your Hehuan Sect.”

He spoke with a veneer of high-mindedness, as if a single nod from Xu Ruyu would spare the Hehuan Sect from total annihilation, as if he were giving them a way to survive.

But his eyes betrayed him—there was hatred, resentment, twenty years of indignation, and a madness twisted into an obsession.

He didn't want justice or righteousness; he wanted revenge.

He wanted the life of the woman who had made him lose Face and destroyed his Dao Heart.

Situ E sneered from the side, crossing his arms with an expression of watching a good show. “Elder Zhao, you really know how to play the good guy.

If you take the person away, what about me?

I’ve been waiting outside Tianyin Mountain for over half a month just for you to come and snatch the prize?”

Zhao Qian said coldly, “That is your business. I only want Xiao Nianyin.

As for the rest, do as you please.”

Situ E shook his head and smiled. “Elder Zhao, that’s not very fair of you.

With so many people in the Hehuan Sect, you only want Xiao Nianyin and nothing else?

Wouldn't I be getting the better end of the deal? You’re being quite shrewd with this trade.”

Zhao Qian ignored him and stared at Xu Ruyu, speaking word by word in an increasingly cold voice: “Xu Ruyu, did you hear me? Hand over Xiao Nianyin, and the rest of your Hehuan Sect can live.

This deal isn't a loss.

One Xiao Nianyin in exchange for over three hundred lives. What is there to hesitate about?”

His voice was calm, but within that calmness was a chilling indifference—for Xiao Nianyin, he was willing to sacrifice anyone, including the Disciples he had brought with him.

He didn't care about the lives of the others in the Hehuan Sect; he only cared about getting Xiao Nianyin and personally destroying the woman he had hated for twenty years.

Hearing this, an indescribable fury welled up in the hearts of the Hehuan Sect members.

They looked at Xu Ruyu's back, waiting for his answer.

Zhou Daniu clenched his fists, Li Ergou's lips trembled, and Zhao Tiezhu's eyes were filled with fire.

By now, they weren't afraid of death.

Once one steps onto the path of cultivation, no one is immortal.

But they couldn't die so pathetically, harvested like mere weeds at someone's whim.

Even if they were to die today, they would die fighting, rather than compromising just to drag out a miserable existence.

The fury in their hearts almost made them lose their reason, but they forced themselves to endure it because they knew now was not the time for impulse, and the Sect Master had not spoken.

Sun Xiaohua, Zhou Xiaolian, and several other female Disciples huddled together, their Faces pale, but not one of them cried out.

They were afraid, but they didn't want to distract the Sect Master.

They knew that at this moment, the Sect Master's heart was heavier than theirs.

If it weren't for his concern for them, with the Sect Master's abilities, it would definitely be possible for him to leave.

The Grand Elder stood where he was, silent.

He wanted to stand up and speak for Xu Ruyu, but he knew that anything he said now would be useless.

Fifth Elder Hua Xunhuan's eyes reddened, but she gritted her teeth, gathering all her anger into strength. With one word from the Sect Master, she would kill; even if she died in the end, she would take a few down with her.

Granny Liu leaned on her cane, a trace of sorrow flashing in her cloudy old eyes.

She had lived most of her life and had never felt as powerless as she did now.

Qingyan stood in the crowd, her small Face deathly pale, biting her lip until it bled.

She wasn't afraid of dying, but she was afraid of something happening to Xu Ruyu.

She looked at Xu Ruyu's back and prayed silently—Big Brother Sect Master, you must have a way, right?

Xiao Nianyin stood behind Xu Ruyu, her head lowered, not saying a word.

She knew Zhao Qian hated her, and had hated her for twenty years.

That hate had already twisted into an obsession, a madness.

She knew even better that if Xu Ruyu handed her over, the others in the Hehuan Sect could live.

No matter how one calculated it, this deal was not a loss.

She couldn't help but think back to the events of that year.

Back then, she had just been promoted to Sect Master of Hehuan Sect, a newly ascended Saint Realm Expert, standing high above.

Zhao Qian had pursued her madly, and she had rejected him.

He had been persistent, so she humiliated him in public, saying his 'Sword Heart was impure and he was unworthy of being a Sword Cultivator'.

She thought it was just a man pursuing a woman and that rejection would be the end of it.

She never expected he would hate her for twenty years—hate her enough to join forces with the Demonic Path, hate her enough to want to destroy her with his own hands.

She certainly never expected that twenty years later, this would become the reason for the entire Hehuan Sect being hunted down.

Had she known, she should have just killed Zhao Qian back then.

Thinking this, Xiao Nianyin slowly raised her head and looked at Zhao Qian.

That once high-spirited so-called Righteous Path Sword Cultivator now had a grim Face, his eyes full of gloom and madness.

Twenty years of hatred had turned him into a complete stranger.

The spiritual Qi within Xiao Nianyin's body slowly began to circulate, and she subconsciously squeezed forward another step...