"Annihilate... this branch?"
Pan Yichun thought he misheard, staring blankly at Ye Ling, his gaze somewhat dazed.
Although the Hongchen Pavilion branch had been destroyed once before, it didn't mean just anyone could provoke the Hongchen Pavilion!
Ye Ling was strong, Pan Yichun had to admit that. But in Pan Yichun's eyes, Ye Ling's strength was relative to him, and far inferior to the Hongchen Pavilion!
Seeing the obvious hesitation in Pan Yichun's eyes, Ye Ling's lips curved slightly. "I'll give you a chance to choose sides. I'll count to three. If you want to leave, I won't stop you. But if you fall into my hands again when I deal with the Hongchen Pavilion branch next, I won't hold back."
"Of course, if you choose to stay, I'll consider you to have completely betrayed the Hongchen Pavilion and entrusted your life to me. You must do as I say."
"Otherwise, you'll die a more miserable death."
Hearing Ye Ling's words, Pan Yichun's heart suddenly tightened, and he became flustered.
He hadn't expected the choice that would decide his life to come so suddenly!
This was a choice where one wrong step would truly lead to an abyss!
"Three."
Ye Ling spoke softly. Pan Yichun trembled and instinctively retreated, moving away from Ye Ling.
If Ye Ling wanted to court death, he certainly wouldn't accompany him!
Seeing Pan Yichun retreat, Ye Ling's eyes showed no fluctuation. He said calmly, "Two."
"Gulp!"
Pan Yichun swallowed hard and turned to flee.
"One."
But as Ye Ling's final count echoed in his ears, Pan Yichun froze on the spot.
His legs felt as if they were cast in lead, and he could no longer move!
Just moments ago, he had an extremely strong premonition…
If he chose to stand with the Hongchen Pavilion today, he would surely die!
Large drops of cold sweat slid down Pan Yichun's cheeks. His cloudy eyes widened, and his body trembled violently.
It was then that he remembered he had already thoroughly betrayed the Hongchen Pavilion. Even if he didn't accompany Ye Ling to deal with the branch, when the Hongchen Pavilion investigated, his leak of their secrets might be the best outcome for him.
Pan Yichun swallowed hard again, quickly turned, and hurried back to Ye Ling, kneeling and saying, "I choose to follow you, sir, and destroy the Hongchen Pavilion branch!"
Since death was inevitable, following Ye Ling at least offered a sliver of hope. Returning to the Hongchen Pavilion would likely leave nothing but bones.
"A wise choice."
Ye Ling smiled at Pan Yichun and took out a special USB drive that Xue Sha had transmitted via spatial teleportation, tossing it in front of Pan Yichun. "Copy the entire Hongchen Pavilion database into this, and then completely destroy their servers."
Hearing Ye Ling's command, Pan Yichun trembled, his hands shaking as he held the USB drive.
What Ye Ling asked him to do was equivalent to cutting off the Hongchen Pavilion's lifeline!
The conflict between them and the Hongchen Pavilion was now irreconcilable!
However, Pan Yichun understood that based on what he had already done, the Hongchen Pavilion would not let him go.
With more than enough troubles, Pan Yichun steeled himself and decisively began operating the console, copying all the data into the USB drive.
The alarms in the server room continued to blare, and the dim red lights created an oppressive atmosphere.
The few cultivators in the Hongchen Pavilion branch below, upon hearing the alarms, all grabbed their weapons and rushed towards the server room.
In the dormitory area of Daocheng University, many light sleepers were disturbed by the faint alarm sounds, feeling unusually irritable.
Suddenly, dozens of students, unable to sleep in the middle of the night, secretly climbed over the dormitory walls and headed towards the source of the alarm, wanting to know what was making the noise.
Those students had no idea what they were about to encounter.
If they had known what was about to happen underground at Daocheng University, they wouldn't have climbed out of their beds even if they were beaten to death!
...
"The intruder is over there!"
"Quick, surround him! Reinforcements from above are arriving soon!"
"Cultivators from Longdao Mountain are also heading this way, don't let the intruder escape!"
Amidst the shouts, many fully armed Hongchen Pavilion cultivators stormed into the server room, guns raised, surrounding Ye Ling and Pan Yichun, who was copying data.
Feeling the dark muzzles pointed at his back, Pan Yichun was already drenched in sweat!
His legs were trembling uncontrollably, and he was working purely on willpower.
Before, when he stood with the Hongchen Pavilion, he couldn't directly feel the power of their cultivators.
Now, standing on the opposite side of the Hongchen Pavilion, Pan Yichun realized what kind of monsters he was provoking!
A single breath from them could turn him to dust!
However, Pan Yichun knew he had no way back now.
His only chance of survival was to obediently follow Ye Ling's instructions and leave everything else to Ye Ling to resolve!
While Pan Yichun was under extreme psychological pressure, Ye Ling remained calm, completely unfazed by the Hongchen Pavilion cultivators.
"Sir, the intruder is him!"
"Pan Yichun is a traitor, he leaked our Hongchen Pavilion's secrets!"
The researchers who had fled earlier stood before a Rank Six cultivator, pointing at Ye Ling and Pan Yichun, accusing them. They hoped to use the Hongchen Pavilion cultivators to eliminate Pan Yichun so they could seize his position.
"Leaked Hongchen Pavilion secrets?"
Hearing the researchers' accusations and looking at Pan Yichun, who was still transferring data at the computer, the Rank Six cultivator's eyes narrowed slightly!
He couldn't fathom how anyone dared to be so bold!
However, the Rank Six cultivator was also a highly experienced warrior, and he could sense a fatal threat from Ye Ling.
He dared not be careless and immediately ordered those around him, "Listen up, whoever captures the intruder and Pan Yichun will receive a bounty of ten million, and their rank within the Hongchen Pavilion will be promoted by three levels!"
"Promoted by three levels?"
Hearing the Rank Six cultivator's words, the other low-ranking Hongchen Pavilion cultivators' eyes instantly lit up. They looked at Ye Ling as if he were a walking treasure trove!
The Hongchen Pavilion operated on a mercenary system for its lower-tier cultivators, meaning they earned money for the work they did each day.
They had no permanent positions, and the Hongchen Pavilion could discard them at any time, with no one to collect their bodies if they died.
But a promotion of three levels would convert them from temporary workers to officially recognized members, and they would even become squad leaders, protected by the Hongchen Pavilion!
With the benefits provided by the Hongchen Pavilion, a squad leader could earn a monthly salary of a million and live a life of ease!
However, according to normal standards, official members of the Hongchen Pavilion required at least Rank Four cultivation, and squad leaders even needed Rank Five strength!
This threshold alone was enough to block the vast majority of cultivators. Without special channels for promotion, other cultivators could only become lowly cannon fodder, doing menial tasks for the Hongchen Pavilion!
Thinking of this, the eyes of the Hongchen Pavilion cultivators in the server room instantly turned red.
Men die for wealth, birds die for food. As long as they captured Ye Ling, they would soar to success!
"Kill!!!"
Soon, a Rank Three cultivator charged towards Ye Ling!
Seeing this, the others, fearing their merits would be snatched away, rushed towards Ye Ling in a frenzy.
Unfortunately…
Driven by greed, their rationality was completely obscured, and they completely forgot the gap between themselves and Ye Ling.
They were…
Moths flying into a flame.