435: Chapter 435 The Joyful Union Sect: Not a Single Person Was Afraid of Death

One, two, three... More and more Disciples walked out from the crowd, standing behind Xu Ruyu and beside Zhou Daniu.

They were men and women, old and young, including Core Disciples at the Golden Core Stage and newly initiated Disciples at the Qi Refinement Stage.

On their faces were fear, determination, anger, and unwillingness, but more than anything, a desperate courage that erupted after being pushed into a corner.

A young female Disciple at the Qi Refinement Stage, looking no more than fifteen or sixteen years old, squeezed out from the crowd and stood at the very front.

She held no Magical Artifact in her hand, only a stone she had picked up from the ground, gripped tightly.

Her small face was deathly pale, and her lips were trembling, but in her eyes, there was no retreat.

"I... I won't run either."

Her voice was very soft, trembling, yet firm.

"Although I don't have much ability, I still want to fight. Even if I can't win, I still want to take a bite out of them. My mother once said that the people of the Hehuan Sect must not be looked down upon by others."

A male Disciple beside her tugged at her and whispered, "Junior Sister, step back and let us handle it. You are still young..."

"I won't step back!"

She shook her head stubbornly, tears swirling in her eyes, but she forced them not to fall.

"My Senior Sisters aren't retreating, so I won't either. I want to be with all of you, even if it means death, I am not afraid!"

More and more people stood out; in this group of over three hundred, not a single person retreated at this moment.

They stood together, shoulder to shoulder, facing enemies several times their number.

Some gripped Magical Artifacts, some clenched their fists, some picked up stones from the ground, and some broke off tree branches to use as weapons.

They did not have much cultivation, nor many Magical Artifacts, but they possessed a heart that did not fear death.

"Sect Master, let's fight them to the death!"

"Right! Fight to the death! Killing one is breaking even, killing two is a profit!"

"Even if I have to bite today, I'm going to tear a piece of flesh off them!"

"The Hehuan Sect has no cowards! If we die, we all die together!"

The voices rose and fell, one wave higher than the next.

The roar of over three hundred people echoed in the valley, shaking leaves down with a rustle and startling the birds in the forest.

In that sound, there was anger, unwillingness, and despair, but more than anything, it was a desperate courage that erupted after being pushed into a corner.

The Grand Elder stood in the crowd, looking at these young Disciples, tears streaming down his old face.

He had lived for more than half his life and had never seen such a scene—a group of young people with low cultivation, facing enemies several times their number, not running away, not begging for mercy, but choosing to stand and die.

His lips trembled, wanting to say something, but he could not utter a single word.

He raised his hand to wipe away the tears from the corners of his eyes, then straightened his hunched back and drew the long sword that had accompanied him for many years from his waist.

The blade had some rust on it, but at this moment, in the twilight, it gleamed with a cold light.

"Good, good." His voice was hoarse, yet exceptionally clear, "I have lived for so many years; today, I will go crazy with you youngsters. It's just a pity; if these seeds could make it out, what a wonderful future our Hehuan Sect would have..."

Even the usually unserious Fifth Elder Hua Xunhuan had red eyes, but she did not cry. Instead, she raised her head, looking at the people from the Jile Sect and the Tianshu Sword Sect, a cold sneer curling the corners of her lips.

She threw away the broken fan handle in her hand and drew a short sword from her waist—that was her final Magical Artifact, which she never showed to others.

The blade was only one foot and two inches long, entirely silver-white, shimmering with a cold, eerie light under the moonlight.

"Wonderful, wonderful." She murmured, her eyes full of Battle Intent.

"I have lived for so many years; today, let me show you that the Fifth Elder of the Hehuan Sect doesn't just know how to fan herself. This sword of mine hasn't been unsheathed for twenty years. Today, let it drink its fill."

Granny Liu leaned on her cane and slowly walked to the front of the crowd.

Her gait was still stumbling, and with every step, her cane struck the ground, making a "thud-thud" sound.

But her back was straighter than it had ever been.

She looked at the people from the Jile Sect and the Tianshu Sword Sect, and a sharp glint flashed in her cloudy, aged eyes. In that glint, there was killing intent, determination, and a sense of indifference that saw through life and death.

"I have lived for so many years; it's enough."

Her voice was hoarse, yet exceptionally clear.

"Today, let me contribute one last effort for the Hehuan Sect. Although I am old, this life of mine can still trade for a few of yours."

She let go of her cane, and it fell to the ground with a "clatter."

She pulled a short dagger from her sleeve; it was a Magical Artifact she had used in her youth, and she had not brought it out for decades.

The dagger was covered in the marks of time, but the blade remained sharp, gleaming with a cold light in the moonlight.

Leng Ningshuang did not speak, but she had already walked to Xu Ruyu's side.

Her sword slowly left its sheath, a layer of thin ice condensing on the blade, shimmering with an eerie blue light in the twilight.

A great chill surged around her, and the frost beneath her feet spread out, freezing the surrounding vegetation into ice crystals; even the air seemed to be frozen.

Her gaze was as cold as ice as she looked at Situ E and Zhao Qianyi; there was no fear in her eyes, only a cold killing intent.