Chapter 72

The sword light crisscrossed, and Poie and Lingluo, the twin swords, emerged together, the white life-bound divine light shining brightly.

Bai Cangdong had not practiced the *Baiye Sutra* for many days, nor had he used it, but now he could not afford to be picky; he had to break through the encirclement first.

Although the knights' combined attack was exquisite, it could not confine Bai Cangdong, who could fly and maneuver in the air. Bai Cangdong, like a butterfly, danced gracefully in the air, dodging and attacking from all sorts of unimaginable angles, and in the blink of an eye, he broke through the knights' encirclement.

"You won't get away that easily." Hua Qianwu, clad in fiery red armor, flames dancing around her, thrust her flaming spear with a roar toward Bai Cangdong's back as he tried to escape.

"I've been waiting for you." Bai Cangdong used the air to his advantage, dodging the flaming spear and closing in on Hua Qianwu. His twin swords moved swiftly, each strike unpredictable.

Hua Qianwu could not evade Bai Cangdong's attacks and relied on the Hell Flame Messenger set to block the repeated slashes and thrusts.

"Mask, I have the Hell Flame Messenger set. No matter how skilled your swordsmanship is, you can't hurt me. Surrender quickly and come back to see the Earl for mercy. Perhaps the Earl will spare your life," Hua Qianwu said proudly.

Bai Cangdong's twin swords did not stop attacking, and his figure stayed close to Hua Qianwu. Although he could not kill her, he prevented the knights from attacking him.

"You only manage to fight me because of the Hell Flame Messenger set. If I go back to see the Earl, and he makes me Yan Mengyun's knight and gives me another set, wouldn't you be afraid?" Bai Cangdong laughed.

Hua Qianwu was slightly taken aback, then sneered, "You are truly detestable. Do you think I, Hua Qianwu, would fear you?"

Though she said this, her attacks became even more ruthless, truly intent on killing him.

Bai Cangdong could not break through the Hell Flame Messenger set's defense, so he used his agility to keep Hua Qianwu engaged. Hua Qianwu tried several times to break free but was always held back by Bai Cangdong.

The knights could only circle around them, unable to help. Bai Cangdong's speed was too fast, and his movements too unpredictable. They feared that their attacks might harm Hua Qianwu instead of Bai Cangdong.

"Mask, it's no use holding me. You won't escape today," Hua Qianwu said angrily, unable to break free.

"It's not useful now, but once your life-bound divine light is used up, it will be a different story. I remember you recently advanced your life-bound divine light to seventeen levels. How long do you think you can hold out?" Bai Cangdong laughed.

Hua Qianwu was startled but quickly calmed down, "You remind me. You are constantly using your agility, and your life-bound divine light is consumed much faster than mine. I remember you have less than ten levels of life-bound divine light, even less than me. Let's see how long you can hold out."

"Haha, let's see who can last longer," Bai Cangdong laughed loudly.

At first, Hua Qianwu was confident she could outlast Bai Cangdong, but gradually, her life-bound divine light began to wane, while Bai Cangdong's remained as bright as the sun, seemingly endless, making her both shocked and angry.

Bai Cangdong twisted his body in the air, dodging Hua Qianwu's sword in an impossible manner, then suddenly accelerated, appearing behind her. He retracted his twin swords, one arm around her neck, the other pressing her head.

"Now your life-bound divine light is almost gone. If I twist your head around, do you think your Hell Flame Messenger set can save you?" Bai Cangdong said in her ear.

Hua Qianwu felt a chill, "If you touch a single hair on my head, the Earl will tear you apart."

"It seems I am more important to Earl Fenghua than you. He said he would entrust the knights to me. If I kill you and then go to Earl Fenghua to plead for mercy, offering to be Yan Mengyun's knight, do you think he will kill me for you?" Bai Cangdong said, holding Hua Qianwu back.

"Tell them to stop and not follow us. Otherwise, if I can't escape, you know what will happen to you," Bai Cangdong said to Hua Qianwu, seeing the knights still surrounding him.

Hua Qianwu hesitated, then gritted her teeth and said to the knights, "All of you, stop."

"That's better." Seeing the knights obediently stop, Bai Cangdong held Hua Qianwu and slowly moved toward the forest.

Once Bai Cangdong and Hua Qianwu entered the forest, the knights did not pursue, and Bai Cangdong breathed a sigh of relief.

"Are you going to let me go?" Hua Qianwu said coldly.

"I never said I would let you go." Bai Cangdong looked at Hua Qianwu with interest.

"You..." Hua Qianwu was so angry she could hardly speak, but she had no way out.

"You can go if you want, but you'll have to pay a price. This Hell Flame Messenger set is quite good. Take it off and give it to me, and I'll let you go."

"You despicable scoundrel, you think I'll give it to you?" Hua Qianwu shouted in anger.

Bai Cangdong knew Hua Qianwu would never give up the Hell Flame Messenger set, as she would have no way to explain it to Earl Fenghua. He was just saying it for the sake of it.

"If you don't give up the Hell Flame Messenger set, I can't just let my enemy go. This is a bit of a dilemma. Do I have to resort to violence today?" Bai Cangdong twisted Hua Qianwu's head slightly, his voice cold and low in her ear.

"Wait, you know the Hell Flame Messenger set is a gift from Earl Fenghua. I can't give it to you. I have a viscount-level golden armor. If you let me go, I'll give it to you," Hua Qianwu said in panic.

"Let me see it first. Is it enough to save your life?" Bai Cangdong knew Hua Qianwu was not the type to sacrifice herself, or she wouldn't have made the knights retreat earlier.

Hua Qianwu summoned a massive two-meter shield, the mark on it indeed being a viscount-level golden armor.

"This thing isn't very useful, but it's enough to save your life. Remove the armor."

"How do I know you'll let me go if I give you the shield?" Hua Qianwu said through gritted teeth, unwilling to trust Bai Cangdong again after being tricked.

"I will keep my word. You'd better make a quick decision. The knights are almost here. It won't look good if they see you paying for your life."

Hua Qianwu hesitated but could not resist the desire to live, so she removed the shield's armor.

Bai Cangdong took the shield, kicked Hua Qianwu in the buttocks, sending her flying, and quickly fled in the opposite direction of Fenghua City.

Hua Qianwu fell to the ground and took a while to get up. Seeing no sign of Bai Cangdong, she was filled with rage, "Mask, if I ever see you again, I'll tear you apart to avenge my hatred."

Bai Cangdong was already far away and did not hear Hua Qianwu's threat.

Suddenly, a sword light appeared out of nowhere, aiming for Bai Cangdong's throat. Bai Cangdong instantly summoned his twin swords, using Poie to block the sword light and Lingluo to cut toward the figure that appeared.

The sword light stopped about ten centimeters from Bai Cangdong's throat, not really stabbing him. Bai Cangdong's Poie sword missed, while Lingluo was about to cut the figure, who did not dodge.

Bai Cangdong forcibly stopped Lingluo, the sword light cutting through the figure's clothing and leaving a shallow wound on his arm.

"Why?" Bai Cangdong asked Lingbo.

"You saved my life, I can't hurt you, but I must follow the Earl's orders. This is the only way to satisfy both," Lingbo said softly.

"You foolish girl, the cut on your arm is enough to explain to the Earl." Bai Cangdong turned and left, quickly disappearing from Lingbo's sight.

In the Feng family garden, Feng Xian sat in a wicker chair among the flowers, holding a piece of paper. The paper only had four words written on it.

"Meeting again, I fear this may be the last time we see each other in this life." Feng Xian crumpled the paper in anger, wanting to throw it away.

But her hand hesitated in the air, unable to let go. She sighed, put the paper down, and carefully unfolded it, then neatly folded it and put it in her sachet.

"Miss, we have recruited a viscount. Would you like to meet him?" The steward entered the garden and said softly.

"At this time, there are still viscounts willing to join our Feng family?" Feng Xian was slightly taken aback, then said after a moment's thought, "Bring him here."

"Yes." The steward left and soon returned with a man.

"Miss, this is the new fist viscount who has joined our Feng family."

Feng Xian's body trembled involuntarily when she saw the man. She quickly regained her composure and said to the steward, "You can go. I'll talk to the fist viscount."

After the steward left, Feng Xian urgently pulled Bai Cangdong to sit on a wicker chair hidden among the flowers, lowering her voice, "You are truly daring. If you left, why did you come back?"

"Earl Fenghua wants to keep me and sent Hua Qianwu and Lingbo with a team of elite knights to intercept me. I broke through their encirclement, but I know Earl Fenghua won't give up. He might come after me personally. No matter how fast I run, I can't outrun a determined Earl. So, I decided to return with my true appearance. Earl Fenghua won't expect me to come back under his nose," Bai Cangdong laughed.

"You..." Feng Xian wanted to scold him but couldn't bear to.

"I can't stay here long to avoid arousing suspicion. Arrange a place for me to stay. We can talk more at night."

"You are worried about arousing suspicion now? It's too late. You came back, but you shouldn't have joined our Feng family. You should have joined the Hua family. That way, no one would suspect you," Feng Xian rolled her eyes.

Bai Cangdong shook his head, "I still want to go to the bottom of the abyss with you. If I joined the Hua family, Hua Qianwu wouldn't easily trust an outsider."

[PS: Thank you to oppamiss and piaozhongxingkongzx for your generous support, to aiyouxi007 for your update votes, and to fayifeixue for your evaluation votes. Your full ten-point reviews are truly delightful. I also want to thank everyone who votes for me every day. Your support is a powerful motivation for me. There's nothing more gratifying for a writer than having someone appreciate and enjoy their work.]

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