235: A shocking gamble, using oneself as bait

This voice.

This voice, so familiar... it was etched into her very bones.

Yue Xi's closed eyes suddenly snapped open.

Everyone in the valley, including Yao Tianqi, froze, and they all looked toward the sound in unison.

In the shadows of the forest in the distance, a figure was leaning against a tree trunk, walking out step by step, struggling.

His face was pale as paper, and large patches of dried, dark red bloodstains remained on the clothes over his chest. He looked extremely weak, as if he could be blown over by the wind at any moment.

Yet his eyes were astonishingly bright, carrying an unquestionable firmness.

Lin Fan.

The moment she saw the newcomer's face, Yue Xi's body felt as if it had been struck by a bolt of Nine Heavens divine lightning.

She was completely stunned on the spot.

The sounds of the entire world seemed to drift away from her at this moment.

In her eyes, there remained only that figure who was "gravely injured" yet still chose to stand in front of her.

A scalding mist uncontrollably welled up in her eyes, blurring everything before her.

He... how is he still alive?

That Nether Blood Spear that pierced his Divine Soul, that body that dissolved inch by inch before her eyes—was it all fake?

Yue Xi looked at the glaring bloodstains on Lin Fan's chest, and a sharp, violent pain shot through her heart.

She subconsciously blurted out, her voice carrying a tremor she hadn't even noticed herself.

"You... are not dead?"

After a brief moment of shock, a ferocious sneer quickly appeared on Yao Tianqi's face.

"So it was you, this clown."

He looked Lin Fan up and down, making no effort to hide the contempt in his eyes.

"I wondered who it was; it turns out to be a piece of trash who used some feigned-death secret art."

"What, still want to stage a scene of a hero saving the beauty?"

"Don't even look at your own state of being at the end of your rope; what are you going to use to save her?"

Lu Xinghe, standing beside him, also had eyes that turned cold.

In his view, this Lin Fan was filled with strangeness everywhere and was a huge variable.

Now that he had delivered himself to their doorstep and appeared to be in a terrible state, it was the perfect time to finish him off.

The Prodigies from the other factions also silently adjusted their positions, faintly sealing off Lin Fan's retreat.

Killing intent, like a tangible cold current, permeated the valley.

Yet Lin Fan turned a blind eye to the killing intent surrounding him.

He didn't even glance at Yue Xi, keeping his gaze locked firmly on Yao Tianqi, his mouth curling into a provocative smile.

"A hero saving the beauty? No, no, no."

Lin Fan shook his head. Although his voice was somewhat hoarse due to his "weakness," it clearly reached everyone present.

"I am just here to tell you that you idiots have all been played."

He announced loudly, every word like a heavy hammer.

"What are the lotus seeds of the Harmony Flower?"

"You haven't even touched the edge of the true Opportunity in Burial God Valley!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the entire audience was in an uproar.

Yao Tianqi's pupils shrank violently.

"What do you mean?"

Lin Fan smiled, and the hand supporting him on the tree trunk moved as if unintentionally.

A trace of desolate aura—so faint it was almost imperceptible—from that ancient animal skin map flashed from his fingertips and vanished.

It was this very moment.

Hum.

The Heavenly Secret Compass that Yao Tianqi was holding in his hand suddenly emitted a violent buzzing sound.

The needle, which had been stably pointing at Yue Xi, began to spin wildly as if it had gone mad. The light it emitted flickered on and off, and finally, with a "snap," it pointed firmly in Lin Fan's direction.

The tip of the needle even revealed a demonic blood-red color.

Yao Tianqi's expression changed instantly.

He stared fixedly at his Heavenly Secret Compass, his breathing becoming rapid.

This aura.

This ancient aura that could make the Heavenly Secret Compass lose control could not be wrong.

That was a phenomenon that could only be triggered by a supreme treasure far more Advanced than the Harmony Flower lotus seeds, and closer to the Origin of the Dao.

Greed, like a wildfire, instantly incinerated all his reason.

Yue Xi's Dao Embryo Spirit Eyes were certainly tempting, and the Harmony Flower lotus seeds were also incredibly precious.

But if he could obtain that legendary item, let alone one Yue Xi, even ten would not be able to compare to it.

Lin Fan keenly captured the change in Yao Tianqi's eyes.

Now is the time.

He turned abruptly, and in the instant Yue Xi was still in a stunned state, he grabbed her cold wrist.

That gentle and soft touch made Yue Xi's body tremble slightly, and her chaotic thoughts instantly cleared.

"Follow me!"

Lin Fan let out a low shout, pulled her, and turned to charge toward a rugged, rocky area deep in the valley where spatial fluctuations were extremely unstable.

"Follow me if you have the guts!"

His voice echoed in the valley, full of wanton provocation.

"Pursue!"

Yao Tianqi issued the order almost without hesitation, his eyes left with only endless greed and fanaticism.

"Kill him and seize the treasure!"

Lu Xinghe and the others were also stirred by this sudden turn of events and Yao Tianqi's loss of composure. Their greed was infinitely magnified, and they immediately turned into streaks of light, pursuing closely.

The wind whistled in their ears.

Yue Xi was pulled by Lin Fan, her body uncontrollably rushing through the jagged rocks.

His palm was not broad, and it even felt somewhat cold due to his "serious injury," yet it was unusually strong, conveying a firmness that put one at ease.

Yue Xi looked at his back, looking at his shoulders, which were rising and falling slightly due to the rapid running, her mind in Chaos.

Why did he come back?

He could have clearly escaped.

Why did he have to put himself in such dangerous situations over and over again?

Sshhh.

A pitch-black thin line appeared before the two of them without warning.

A spatial rift.

Yue Xi's heart tightened violently, and she subconsciously wanted to channel her magic power.

But Lin Fan, who was pulling her, seemed to have foreseen it in advance. His footsteps shifted in a strange way, and he pulled her at an incredible angle, narrowly brushing past the edge of the rift.

The rift passed silently, taking a strand of broken hair with it.

Yue Xi's pupils contracted.

This ability to predict spatial crises was simply inconceivable.

The journey that followed further verified her conjecture.

Lin Fan was like a dancer dancing on the tip of a knife, able to stay half a step ahead every time, leading her to find the only path of survival amidst the dense spatial rifts.

The pursuers behind them were not so lucky.

From time to time, one or two screams could be heard; clearly, some people had failed to dodge in time and were swallowed by the spatial rifts.

But Yao Tianqi and the others were powerful, still hanging on tightly behind them, and the distance was constantly closing.

Finally, the scene ahead made everyone stop in their tracks.

That was a spatial fault.

Countless large and small spatial rifts, like a violent tornado storm, were interwoven into an insurmountable death zone, completely sealing off the road ahead.

A dead end.

"Run, then."

Yao Tianqi's voice came from behind, carrying a trace of cruel glee.

"Let's see where you can run now."

He approached step by step, his eyes looking as if he were looking at two corpses.

Yue Xi's expression became grave once again. She gripped Lin Fan's hand back, and the magic power in her body began to condense again.

Even if she had to die, she would fight until the last moment.

But just at this moment.

Lin Fan suddenly applied force, a massive surge of strength pulling Yue Xi's wrist.

She was uncontrollably pushed forward violently by Lin Fan.

This push, both in strength and angle, was calculated with exquisite precision, just enough to send her to a relatively stable safe area beside the rift storm.

Yue Xi staggered a few steps, steadied herself, and turned back in astonishment.

She saw Lin Fan, all alone, slowly turn around to face the dozens of Prodigies, including Yao Tianqi and Lu Xinghe, who were pursuing them.

On his face, there was no fear, no despair, but instead a bright, relieved smile.

"I'll accept your burial offerings!"

He spread his arms and issued his final declaration to everyone.

Before the words had even faded.

The rift storm behind him, as if drawn by some attraction, suddenly erupted.

Several massive, pitch-black spatial rifts, like the scythes of the Grim Reaper, simultaneously cut toward his body.

In Yue Xi's heart-wrenching gaze, Lin Fan's body, before he could even let out a muffled groan, was instantly sliced into countless tiny fragments by those crisscrossing pitch-black lines.

No blood, no remains.

His entire being, along with his Divine Soul, was completely annihilated in that instant, turning into the purest nothingness and dissipating into this chaotic space.