Traitor

In the Kunlun Mountains.

Chen Feng once again slowed his pace, risking his life to absorb some life force using the Beiming Divine Art to replenish his stamina.

"Don’t these guys ever get tired?"

The pursuers behind him had changed wave after wave.

Now, he had been chased for ten full days.

Ten days without sleep—an ordinary person would have dropped dead long ago.

Even as an advanced martial artist, he couldn’t endure such relentless mental exhaustion.

Chen Feng felt dazed, his body screaming for sleep.

In truth, the foreign invaders chasing him weren’t faring much better.

"Damn it! This Great Xia bastard’s stamina is insane!"

"He knows some kind of technique that drains others’ life force—be careful."

"All I want right now is to sleep and eat. Who knows how long this chase will last?"

"That billion-dollar bounty isn’t easy money. Not only is he hard to catch, but the competition’s fierce too."

"Up ahead is the alliance’s gathering point. Soon, that brat won’t have anywhere left to run."

Soon, Chen Feng realized something was wrong.

More and more invaders began appearing in the direction he was fleeing.

At first, it was just one or two. Relying on his mastery of the Harmony of Heaven and Man, he crushed them effortlessly, absorbing their life force in the process.

But the invaders kept multiplying, and in the distance, he spotted their encampment.

A sinking feeling gripped him.

"Could my luck really be this bad?"

"I’ve run straight into their main base."

At this moment, he felt as if the heavens themselves had abandoned him.

Chen Feng no longer dared to flee at full speed, thinking to himself:

"If I’m going to die, I’m taking as many of them down with me as I can."

Not far ahead, at the entrance to the Jade Mountain’s Heavenly Pool,

a massive battle was already underway.

Tens of thousands of invaders were crowded before a mountain pass, barely ten meters wide, flanked by towering cliffs.

The pass stretched about twenty meters long.

It was only thanks to this bottleneck that the people of Great Xia had managed to hold off an enemy force dozens of times their size.

Originally, more from Great Xia had entered the Kunlun Mountains.

At first, the younger ones had ventured out alone, searching for rare treasures.

But after encountering organized groups of invaders, casualties had mounted.

Now, most of those holding the pass were elders.

Only a handful of young fighters remained.

And as the battle dragged on, their numbers dwindled further.

Their goal was simple: hold out until the Kunlun Mountains sealed themselves.

Once that happened,

both the people of Great Xia and the invaders would have their life force drained.

As for what came after—none of the survivors had ever lived to tell the tale.

They only knew that once the mountains sealed, no one could leave.

The invaders were growing desperate.

Jones, the alliance’s commander, was also waiting for the right moment.

With only a month left,

if they didn’t break through Kunlun soon,

they’d lose their chance.

They still needed at least twenty days to retreat from the mountains.

Jones knew he couldn’t wait any longer for the Great Xia traitors to act.

Days had passed without any sign of movement.

He ordered his men to send a signal, urging them to move.

Dozens of green flares shot into the sky, exploding with a sharp crack.

Inside the pass,

over thirty members of the Yelu clan tensed.

They knew—this was the invaders’ way of telling them to act now.

But within the pass, tens of thousands of Great Xia fighters stood guard.

The moment someone fell at the entrance, another would immediately take their place.

They were buying time with their lives, determined to hold out until Kunlun sealed itself.

If these thirty-odd traitors struck now, they’d be signing their own death warrants.

The Great Xia fighters around them wouldn’t spare them.

The group huddled together, whispering:

"Time’s running out. If we wait any longer, Kunlun will seal."

"If the invaders retreat, our family’s migration plan will fail."

"The Western Continent will expose our betrayal."

"Success gives us a chance. Failure means certain death."

"All of us—move to the front. Take control of the pass."

Stealthily, the thirty-odd traitors edged closer to the entrance.

Every time a defender fell, they pushed forward,

fighting to claim a spot at the front.

The ten-meter-wide pass could only hold so many.

Soon, the Yelu clan had seized every position.

Some of the Great Xia fighters behind them even admired their bravery.

After all, stepping forward early meant certain death.

But then—a shout rang out.

"Now!"

The Yelu fighters at the entrance suddenly abandoned their posts,

turning their blades on their own people instead.

The sudden betrayal cleared a bloody path.

Dozens of Great Xia experts were caught off guard—

some killed instantly, others left grievously wounded.

Seizing the moment, the invaders surged forward,

climbing over corpses to flood into the Jade Mountain’s Heavenly Pool.

Further back, many Great Xia fighters didn’t understand what had happened.

They only saw chaos erupt at the entrance,

as wave after wave of invaders poured in.

Then—a furious roar made everything clear.

"Traitors!"

"I recognize them—the Yelu clan’s dogs!"

"I’ll tear these bastards apart!"

"Kill them all!"

Rage erupted among the Great Xia fighters.

At the critical moment, they’d been betrayed—

and by one of Great Xia’s own Nine Great Clans, no less.

The Yelu traitors were quickly surrounded,

slaughtered with even greater fury than the invaders.

Desperate, they tried to flee toward the enemy lines, shouting:

"We’re the Yelu clan—your allies!"

But the ordinary invaders knew nothing of secret pacts.

To them, a Great Xia face was a target—nothing more.

Caught between both sides, the Yelu traitors were wiped out in moments.

Meanwhile, Chen Feng, still locked in combat with his pursuers,

suddenly heard the distant roar of the invading army.

"The pass is breached!"

"All forces—advance! Destroy Great Xia’s dragon vein!"

Chen Feng froze.

The distant invaders were now charging toward the Jade Mountain’s Heavenly Pool.

Without hesitation, he fled in the same direction.

If he was going to die, he’d at least see this legendary dragon vein for himself.

High atop a mountain peak, hundreds of meters above the chaos,

several figures stood in silence.

They wore traditional Great Xia scholar robes, hair tied in ancient fashion.

But among them stood a young man in a tracksuit—utterly out of place.

Watching the battle below, the young man smirked.

"These fools finally broke through!"

"Oh, they’re in for quite the surprise."

A young woman beside him frowned, her voice uneasy.

"Mr. Bowen… so many have already died here over the years."

"This time, with so many entering the Four Symbols Chasm… most won’t make it out."

"Aren’t we being too cruel?"

Cruel?

The young man burst into laughter.

"Learning our techniques, killing our people, stealing our rare treasures, slaughtering our sacred beasts."

"Do you think this is cruel?"

"Guess how they felt about it?"

The young woman was left speechless.

The middle-aged men and women around them, whose eyes had briefly flickered with pity, instantly hardened their expressions.