Chapter 988 It's You Who Are Surrounded by Me (Part 3)

“Brother Lin, have we met before?”

“No, this is my first meeting with Brother Jiang.”

Lin Chen shook his head, though he was slightly surprised. He had altered his appearance before, even changed his aura, yet Jiang Chen could still detect something amiss. As expected of the Thousand Mechanism Sect, reputed to have the strongest Divine Soul cultivation.

“Senior Brother Jiang, why do you ask?”

Zeng Xi looked curiously at Senior Brother Jiang from the side. He knew that Senior Brother Jiang hadn’t met Lin Chen before.

“I just felt that Brother Lin seemed familiar, as if I’d seen him somewhere before. Perhaps Brother Lin resembles a friend I know.”

Jiang Chen smiled and explained, thinking he might be mistaken. Lin Chen was different in both age and aura compared to that person.

“This is what they call ‘a friendship at first sight.’

Zeng Xi chuckled from the side and chimed in, hoping Senior Brother Jiang and Lin Chen would get along.

“Brother Lin, no one from your Canglan Sect is here, but quite a few people from the Eight Desolates Sect have arrived. You should be careful.”

Hearing Zeng Xi’s voice transmission, Lin Chen subtly nodded. He had just been puzzled since it seemed out of character for Zeng Xi to say such things. Now he understood why.

People from the Eight Desolates Sect were on the plains. Zeng Xi feared Lin Chen might suffer, and hoped he would befriend Jiang Chen, so the Eight Desolates Sect’s martial artists might shy away from troubling him due to apprehension of Jiang Chen.

As Lin Chen and Jiang Chen conversed, somewhere else on the plains, over ten people heard the news, and their faces filled with excitement.

“Senior Brother Wan, Lin Chen actually came here.”

“A heaven-sent opportunity. If we can kill Lin Chen here, the elders will surely give a generous reward.”

Several disciples of the Eight Desolates Sect transmitted messages among themselves. Junior Brother Sima was defeated by Lin Chen on Martial Arts Mountain. Right as the two sects were at war, which had dampened morale in the Eight Desolate Domain for quite some time.

Back then, the sect issued a kill order on Lin Chen, promising a generous reward for his assassination.

After Lin Chen’s achievements at the Heaven-Reaching Pagoda were announced, the sect further increased the reward for his assassination, to a point where every disciple felt their breath quicken.

“On the whole plains, no other martial artists from the Canglan Sect are here, just Lin Chen alone. I refuse to believe Lin Chen can still escape.”

Wan Xingyao’s eyes filled with murder intent. He was in the middle period of the Innate Fourth Realm and was a steward of the Eight Desolates Sect. However, to advance to the Innate Fifth Realm would, at minimum, require twenty years in his current situation. But if he could defeat Lin Chen, with the sect’s rewards, he was confident he could reach the Innate Fifth Realm within ten years.

Reaching the Innate Fifth Realm ten years earlier, he might have a chance to attempt the Innate Sixth Realm. At worst, he could become a sect elder by reaching the Innate Fifth Realm.

In the Eight Desolates Sect or the entire Flame Dynasty, all super sects required their elders to reach the Innate Fifth Realm before the age of sixty. Failing to do so would mean only becoming a steward within the sect, with lesser privileges compared to elders.

He was forty-six this year and still had a chance to vie for an elder position. Not just for himself, but for his descendants.

Lin Chen’s appearance here was simply a heaven-sent chance.

On the battlefield, many senior and junior brothers were keeping an eye out, yet Lin Chen remained absent from the frontline, leaving no opportunity to kill him.

“Go!”

Wan Xingyao whispered softly, and the surrounding martial artists from the Eight Desolates Sect all perked up.

Wan Xingyao and his team did not rush directly towards Lin Chen’s side but spread out and surrounded Lin Chen, forming a converging stance.

“You search high and low only to find it all without effort!”

After confirming Lin Chen couldn’t escape, Wan Xingyao’s figure dashed swiftly, reaching Lin Chen in almost an instant.

The other disciples of the Eight Desolates Sect also revealed themselves, stepping out from among the surrounding crowd, enclosing the area where Lin Chen was.

This sudden change compelled the surrounding martial artists to make way, and those who recognized Wan Xingyao and others showed signs of realization.

With the Canglan Sect and Eight Desolates Sect at war, Lin Chen appearing alone, the Eight Desolates Sect’s martial artists definitely wouldn’t miss this opportunity.

Lin Chen was far too careless.

Wan Xingyao’s voice drew everyone’s attention, with all eyes trained on Lin Chen and the disciples of the Eight Desolates Sect.

And not far away, at the largest group in the center, many disciples of the Ten Thousand Flames Sect overheard the disturbance, and their expressions shifted.

“Senior Brother Meng, the martial artists from the Eight Desolates Sect are targeting Lin Chen, we can’t just stand by.”

“The junior brothers said if Lin Chen hadn’t arrived in time, they would have suffered an accident.”

With the Holy Fire Hall opened, the Ten Thousand Flames Sect acted as hosts and sent the most numerous group of disciples. Leading them was Meng Bing, who had reached the peak of the Innate Fourth Realm.

“Lin Chen has been kind to our Ten Thousand Flames Sect, I certainly won’t sit by as the Eight Desolates Sect handles Lin Chen.”

Meng Bing made the decision, regardless of the animosity between the Eight Desolates Sect and the Canglan Sect, Lin Chen had been kind to their sect, and he must repay this kindness.

He believed even the sect elders would support his actions.