After the crowd below was stunned for a moment, they erupted into cheers of joy, tears of relief streaming down their faces. However, the crisis was far from over.

In a last-ditch effort, a master from the Chen family, who had set out with the ship, decisively abandoned his magical treasures and the others, escaping with the most valuable woman in the group at a critical moment. He nearly got crushed by the spatial turbulence and had to protect a severely injured person, so his first reaction was to transform into a beam of spiritual light and flee.

The two members of the Tianji Sect were almost caught off guard, astonished that someone could escape in such a dire situation. No wonder he was a master supported by the Chen family. If they let him get away, the Chen family would definitely not let this matter rest.

Without hesitation, they pursued him.

Jiang Baiyu decisively took a blue pill, instantly swapping positions with the master from the Chen family. He grabbed the woman and pressed a dagger against her neck, threatening, “Stop! Don’t move!”

The two members of the Tianji Sect had never seen Jiang Baiyu use the position swap to trap someone before, but their reaction speed was quick. They immediately joined forces to deal with the master from the Chen family, and the threat made all three of them halt their actions.

This person was powerful, and the reason he had escaped was to immediately flee with someone else. He had been wary of this very tactic. Alone, he could have easily fought the three of them, but he never expected such a bizarre and unreasonable turn of events, and he still couldn’t escape.

Moreover, this time, it was his position that had been swapped, with no warning whatsoever.

He gritted his teeth, his eyes filled with malice, wishing he could devour Jiang Baiyu alive. He never thought he would fall into the hands of the same person multiple times, and that person was just a young boy.

“Truly a young calf not afraid of tigers. Do you know who you have in your grasp?!”

Jiang Baiyu replied, “Of course I know. It’s someone who wants to kill me.”

The master from the Chen family choked, trying to persuade Jiang Baiyu to let her go. “If you kill her, the Chen family in Linchuan will hunt you down relentlessly, and you will never have a moment of peace!”

Jiang Baiyu chuckled, “If I let her go today, the Chen family will still hunt me down relentlessly, and I will never have a moment of peace.”

The master from the Chen family’s eyes narrowed, “What do you want?”

Jiang Baiyu pressed the dagger harder against the woman’s neck, the sharp edge immediately drawing blood. “This is a question for you to ponder: how can you earn our trust so that we let you go?”

“After scaring me so badly, do you think a few words will let you leave safely?”

“If you want to live, you better think it through.”

The implication was clear: he wanted something in return.

This condition made the master from the Chen family feel slightly relieved. Having something they wanted was better than just wanting their lives.

Indeed, he was still a child, naive and inexperienced.

The master from the Chen family gritted his teeth, “I can give you spirit stones, magical treasures, and medicinal herbs—these are all my collections from many years! Just let her go, and I will give you all of these!”

Jiang Baiyu didn’t respond; he just pressed the dagger deeper, making the wound larger and deeper.

The master from the Chen family panicked, “I swear to the heavens that I will never oppose you again! If I break this oath, may the heavens strike me down, and may I die a terrible death!”

Jiang Baiyu didn’t react, but the two members of the Tianji Sect’s expressions shifted slightly.

The young man who had used the sword technique to counter the giant magical treasure said, “Little friend, a cultivator’s oath to the heavens cannot be broken. If violated, they will face heavenly retribution. The Chen family in Linchuan is powerful; it is the largest family in Linchuan and holds a significant position in the dynasty, being one of the top immortal cultivation families.”

“This woman should be one of the direct descendants of the Chen family, of high status. If she dies, the Chen family will definitely investigate thoroughly.”

Jiang Baiyu pondered for a moment, “Just like the young master of the Chen family who was killed when entering the Demon Mountain?”

The young man nodded, “Large families usually have secret methods. Once a key family member dies, they will immediately know and can even recreate the scene before the important person’s death. If this girl dies at our hands, the Chen family will not only know the time and place of her death but will also know that we were the ones who killed her.”

Jiang Baiyu couldn’t help but sigh, “If only she had died in the spatial tunnel, it would have been so clean, leaving no traces behind.”

He glanced at the master from the Chen family, and sure enough, his expression relaxed a bit, the arrogance in his brows resurfacing, confident in the Chen family’s intimidation.

He didn’t believe anyone would be foolish enough to know they would offend the Chen family and still attempt to kill a direct descendant of the Chen family.

“Young friend, I have already sworn to the heavens and promised to give you all my collections as compensation for this incident. You should also keep your promise and let her go?” His words carried a hint of threat, “Considering your youth and ignorance, I am willing to take a step back, but don’t think that the Chen family is weak and can be bullied. You should know when to stop!”

Jiang Baiyu scoffed, continuing to press the dagger deeper.

The other party was furious, “You!”

Jiang Baiyu replied leisurely, “You swore, but she hasn’t sworn anything.”

The pain from the dagger cutting into her vital area awakened the woman. Compared to her severe injuries, this little wound seemed trivial; it was merely the outer skin that was broken, not her throat.

The first thing she saw was the master from the Chen family, still trying to figure out who had her. In a weak voice, she ordered, “Qin Ling, kill them.”

Qin Ling: “…”

The woman was displeased, “Qin Ling, are you going to disobey orders?”

She felt uncomfortable and finally realized that a dagger was pressed against her neck, cutting deeper and creating a long, deep wound, blood and flesh mingling.

Turning her head slightly, she saw a face she despised.

“It’s you!” Her pupils constricted violently.

The woman hadn’t forgotten how she had been injured before.

“Qin Ling, kill him!”

The next second, the excruciating pain made her shut up.

Jiang Baiyu smiled coldly, “You better understand your current situation.”

Without the Chen family’s proud flying fortress, without the Chen family’s minions, it was just her and Qin Ling now, and she had fallen into enemy hands as a hostage.

The woman shot a fierce glare at Qin Ling, “Useless thing!”

What a waste!

Qin Ling remained silent, offering no explanation.

“You dare to hurt me? The Chen family will never let you go!”

“My Linchuan Chen family dominates the immortal path, one of the top immortal cultivation families in the dynasty. How can a broken family like yours afford to offend us? The Tianji Sect cannot afford to offend us, and you, a poor kid who doesn’t even know where you crawled out from, are even less able to offend us!”

“Do you dare to kill me? If you kill me, the Chen family will make you wish you were dead, or else how will you have any face left in the dynasty?”

“Little bastard, know your place! You are nothing but a weed trampled under the Chen family’s feet!”

Her venomous and arrogant words etched the mindset of a top family deep into her bones. Even after falling into someone else’s hands and becoming a hostage, she showed no signs of softening, still threatening and humiliating.

Jiang Baiyu didn’t know if it was her excessive confidence or if this was just the way the world worked.

He said, “Oh, I see. Since the Chen family seems to know the scene before your death, how about you swear to the heavens that you will never act against us again? If you break this oath, may the heavens strike you down, and may you die a terrible death?”

“You little bastard, if you’re scared, just let me go! If you kneel and beg for mercy, I might consider it!”

Without hesitation, Jiang Baiyu stabbed the dagger through the woman’s dantian.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!”

The woman let out a heart-wrenching scream, writhing in pain.

Jiang Baiyu not only stabbed her but also twisted the dagger forcefully, the power of the star map invading through the dagger, tearing through her meridians along the way.

The two members of the Tianji Sect were dumbfounded, unable to believe he actually went through with it.

Qin Ling’s eyes were filled with rage, and the next second, Jiang Baiyu swapped places with one of the people beside him, the dagger piercing into his dantian, instantly giving him a package deal of crippled cultivation.

A devil’s whisper echoed in Qin Ling’s ear, “You must have been injured quite badly when you escaped, right?”

Otherwise, your first reaction shouldn’t have been to flee but to attack the obvious culprit who was exhausted. It was precisely because you were severely injured, strong on the outside but weak on the inside, that you had to prioritize saving your life.

As long as the green mountains remain, one need not fear a lack of firewood.

The young man from the Tianji Sect reflexively grabbed Qin Ling, and the one who had swapped positions flew over as well.

The sword technique young man had a complex expression, as if he wanted to say something but held back.

Jiang Baiyu held the direct descendant of the Chen family in one hand and the dagger in the other, “What do you want to say?”

The sword technique young man said, “He has already sworn to the heavens and promised to hand over all his collections…”

Going back on his word, violating the righteous path.

The expressions of the two were quite similar, revealing a college student-like naive foolishness.

It was starting to make sense why the Tianji Sect had fallen apart.

They had fallen to the point of their sect collapsing, survivors hiding everywhere like rats crossing the street, mocked as stray dogs, yet they still remained so upright.

Jiang Baiyu pointed at the woman in his hand, “Her status is higher than his, right?”

The two nodded.

One said, “Qin Ling should be her personal guard assigned by the Chen family, specifically responsible for her safety.”

Jiang Baiyu asked, “So, is Qin Ling her property? Everything belongs to her?”

They nodded.

Jiang Baiyu continued, “Now that Qin Ling’s master has been captured by me, doesn’t that mean all her belongings are my spoils of war?”

The two thought for a moment and found it reasonable.

Seeing them nod, Jiang Baiyu let out a cold laugh, “Everything belonging to Qin Ling belongs to his master, and everything belonging to his master is my spoils of war. That means Qin Ling’s things also belong to me. He tried to use my things to bribe me as compensation, trying to pull a fast one!”

“As a servant, he has no authority to make decisions. What does it matter if he swears he will never oppose us again? It’s all empty talk.”

“As long as the master gives the order, he will follow it. He doesn’t have the subjective intention to oppose us, so it doesn’t count as breaking the oath.”

“Do you understand? He’s trying to fool us!”

The two members of the Tianji Sect were shocked, as if struck by lightning.

Jiang Baiyu wasn’t satisfied yet and posed a soul-searching question, “By the way, did I ever agree to let him go just because he swore to the heavens and handed over his collections?”