Chapter 81: No Way Out, Only a Fight to the Death

The sky darkened, and the sect fell into chaos.

Lin Fan stood at the foot of the sect's mountain path, watching the fellow disciples who had shed their Holy Demon Sect robes and donned ordinary clothes, feeling a touch of sorrow.

The majority were leaving, while few were willing to stay.

Indeed, life was still the most important.

"Senior Brother Han."

"Junior Brother Fang."

At that moment, Lin Fan spotted Fang Han and Han Lu, whom he had once tormented severely.

Fang Han and Han Lu saw the person standing nearby and frowned slightly.

"Junior Brother Lin, aren't you planning to go down the mountain?" Han Lu sneered inwardly.

"I'm not going down. Senior Brother Han, Junior Brother Fang, I've offended you in the past. I apologize here and now." Lin Fan cupped his hands.

"It's nothing, trivial matters. I'm not that petty." Han Lu sneered even more, wondering what this bastard was up to now.

"Between us, have you offended me?" Fang Han asked then.

Lin Fan was taken aback, then waved his hand with a smile. "No, I must have misremembered."

At this moment, Lin Fan naturally wanted to maintain a good image. This Junior Brother Fang's house—he had torn it down himself. Since Fang still didn't know, there was no need to admit it.

"Junior Brother Lin, we'll meet again someday." Han Lu, carrying his bundle, didn't linger and cupped his hands.

As he stepped out of the sect, he cast a sidelong glance at Lin Fan, a cold smirk curling at the corner of his mouth.

It seemed he couldn't take revenge himself, but that was fine—he could use the other sects' hands instead.

Regarding the sect's current predicament, Han Lu had never thought of living or dying with it. He possessed a heaven-defying treasure; becoming a peerless powerhouse in the future was a sure thing. There was no need to throw away his life.

If he achieved great success in cultivation later, he could avenge the sect then—that would be repayment enough.

As for Fang Han, it was even more so. He had come to the Holy Demon Sect seeking protection and a place to stay.

Now that the sect was about to fall, there was no reason to stay any longer.

He was destined to become the Eternal Demon Emperor, renowned across the universe. Dying for this sect was utterly worthless; besides, this sect didn't deserve the life of a future Demon Emperor like him.

Watching the two leave, Lin Fan sighed, as if the sect had lost its former prosperity.

"Eh..."

At that moment, Lin Fan spotted another acquaintance, and a very familiar one at that.

"Senior Brother Wang..." Lin Fan called out warmly.

Wang Tianfeng, watching the junior brothers he had once bullied leave one by one, was also filled with melancholy. Just then, hearing someone call him, he turned to look.

"You..." Wang Tianfeng was shocked, unable to believe it. Even if this guy turned to ashes, Wang Tianfeng would recognize him.

This guy had stolen his peaches, but wasn't he dead? How had he reappeared?

Wang Tianfeng didn't know Lin Fan had returned to the sect. Seeing Lin Fan before him now, he was naturally startled—was he seeing a ghost?

"Senior Brother Wang, you haven't left?" Lin Fan was somewhat surprised. Wang Tianfeng, who specialized in bullying weaker junior brothers in the sect, should have fled immediately. He never expected him to stay.

"Whether I leave or not is none of your damn business. If you've got nothing to do, don't bother me." Wang Tianfeng mustered his courage to speak. He was genuinely afraid this guy might steal from him again.

That time was still fresh in Wang Tianfeng's memory—the pain was unbearable.

Lin Fan smiled at this. This Senior Brother Wang was indeed crude and vulgar, but this might be their last exchange, so Lin Fan let him off.

At that moment, Lin Fan felt a gaze fixed on him, making him somewhat uneasy.

When Lin Fan looked over, he saw a junior sister he couldn't quite remember smiling at him.

Lin Fan smiled back, puzzled. Who was this junior sister? Why couldn't he recall?

"Ah... there are ferocious beasts..."

Just then, screams erupted from the foot of the mountain.

Lin Fan's mind tensed. Ferocious beasts? How could there be ferocious beasts at the foot of the Holy Demon Sect?

At this moment, the disciples who had been heading down the mountain scrambled back up the sect as if they'd seen a ghost.

Panicked junior brothers ran up from below, some terrified, others stained with blood.

"In the forest at the foot of the mountain, there's a huge gathering of ferocious beasts! As soon as we went down, we were attacked by them—so many, so many." A disciple's face was pale with terror, as if the scene below was a hell on earth.

Lin Fan's expression changed, and he sighed softly. It seemed that even if they wanted to leave now, they couldn't.

The Yan Emperor and the other sects had probably already begun their move—this was a massacre.

They had hidden ferocious beasts in the forest at the foot of the mountain. Any disciple who went down would be attacked.

Given the strength of the outer disciples, who could be a match for these beasts? Even the weakest beast was at the Xiantian realm.

The outer disciples naturally couldn't withstand them.

"What do we do? The way is blocked by ferocious beasts; we can't leave even if we want to."

"I just saw a Xiantian realm senior brother devoured alive by a beast."

"Terrifying, it's too terrifying. We're all going to die here."

"I don't want to die! I'm the only son in my family. I came up the mountain to learn skills."

...

At this moment, chaos reigned. The disciples who had been forced back sat on the ground, hands hanging limp, eyes vacant, as if they had lost all hope for the future.

Fang Han and Han Lu returned, still shaken. Those ferocious beasts were too fierce—far beyond what they could handle.

If they hadn't been quick, they would have become food for those beasts.

But for the two of them, what now? How could they die here? Their future paths were still long.

"Don't panic..." At that moment, an elder appeared.

He was powerless against the great calamity befalling the Holy Demon Sect. With ferocious beasts at the foot of the mountain, there was absolutely no way out.

The elder's appearance now was of little use, as the disciples were in a panic and couldn't listen to reason.

Lin Fan looked at the scattered disciples and shook his head helplessly.

This time, it would be difficult.

Lin Fan raised his head and gazed at the discolored clouds in the distance.

Perhaps the Yan Emperor and the various sects had already gathered outside the Holy Demon Sect.

When the time came, a great battle would be inevitable.

Lin Fan pulled up his own data panel and examined it carefully.

Through his cultivation journey, he had reached the second layer of "Dragon Emperor Overlords the World" and also the second layer of "Formless Heavenly Demon," increasing his true essence by five thousand.

He had the strength for a fight, but it might not be enough.

Death was not frightening, but one must die with dignity.

"Whoosh..."

A piercing wind swept through. Lin Fan looked into the distance, where faint glimmers shone so brightly.

"Is it coming?"

Lin Fan clenched his fists. This would be the first fierce battle of his life.