Dashing Student Chapter 1327: The Traitor Exposed

Within the towering structure, as Chen Nan issued his order, tension gripped everyone present.

Chen Nan kept stressing that this mission tied directly to the survival of Ten Thousand Treasures City, allowing no room for errors, which pressed a heavy load upon their minds like an unyielding peak.

They released the array flags they held, letting them float overhead. Instantly, the flags glowed, linking together in the sky to create an intricate formation pattern.

All of them pushed themselves to the limit, pouring their mana into the array flags. The mana surged forth like a unleashed torrent, ultimately flowing into the flag positioned above Chen Nan's head.

Out of the group, Chen Nan expended the greatest amount.

A gentle buzzing echoed from the array as it collected the mana into a thick, sticky fluid that dripped like adhesive into the fissures on the array plate.

The combined mana from more than twenty individuals scarcely produced a tiny droplet, leaving uncertainty about how much more was required to mend the whole crack.

Time dragged on gradually, yet merely fifteen minutes in, one person reached their breaking point.

A Golden Core Cultivator at the First Layer dripped with sweat, his mana fully depleted. Though he clenched his teeth to persist, his frame teetered on the edge of breakdown.

"I can’t hold on anymore!"

"Even if you can’t hold on, you must!" Chen Nan's icy tone cut through.

With no choice, the cultivator pulled out elixir pills from his storage bag and pressed on through the strain.

On Xin Zi's end, the magic array barrier overhead abruptly flared with intense light once again, reinforcing the shield that had nearly shattered and making it solid anew.

"It’s effective after all!"

The report swiftly arrived at the high tower, boosting the spirits of those upholding the array. Individuals on the verge of quitting now bit down hard and vowed not to yield.

However, once one falters, others follow suit. Eventually, every cultivator soaked in perspiration, their bodies wracked with profound fatigue, and even the elixir pills fell short of sustaining them.

"I can’t hold on anymore either."

Guard Captain Yang Xing finally let out his cry as well. As the strongest cultivator on Ten Thousand Treasures Island, his struggle highlighted how taxing it was for everyone else.

Those with weaker cultivation than his appeared utterly drained, as though the array had sucked them completely dry.

"Hold on a little longer, it’s almost done."

Chen Nan noticed the crack in the array plate nearing complete repair and wouldn't relent. Still, he sent another surge of mana toward the cultivators with the weakest foundations.

The one who first voiced his limits had been utterly spent, but Chen Nan's aid revived his Golden Core like refreshing rain after a drought, lifting his morale sharply.

"I never thought the Envoy had the ability to help others? How abundant must his mana be?"

Shock rippled through everyone's core, yet the following events stunned them further.

For Chen Nan divided even more mana, directing it to those struggling to continue; fully half the cultivators benefited from his support!

A mana pool of such magnitude transcended mere terror in description.

Ning Yu and his four companions stood equally astonished by the display, though upon reflection, it made sense given how Chen Nan had battled Demon Sect foes for three straight days and nights without tiring.

That said, even Chen Nan strained under this drain. Through inner sight, he watched the mana sea in his Golden Core shrink away swiftly.

Exhaustion loomed near for him too.

"Hold on a little longer, it’s almost done!"

Chen Nan poured everything he had in, yet his frailty seeped through.

Right as the group believed the array plate's repair would succeed, an abrupt shift unfolded.

Yang Xing, feeding mana into the array, abruptly halted his flow and fixed a frosty stare on Chen Nan, with Tribute Elder Yan Huan rising beside him.

This abrupt move by the pair nearly unraveled the array they'd guarded so diligently, threatening to waste all their toil.

Cornered thus, Chen Nan had to dispatch two additional mana waves to cover the gap they abandoned.

"What do you mean by this?" Chen Nan questioned sharply.

Yang Xing smirked with chill disdain, "Haven’t you already figured it out? We weren’t using our full strength when maintaining the array, you should have noticed, right?"

"Demon Sect spies!" Chen Nan’s eyes hardened to ice. "You’ve hidden yourselves well, making the Island Master consider you as trusted subordinates."

Yan Huan scoffed dismissively, "Blame Xin Zi for being too stupid. We just put on a little act, and he believed it. That someone like him could become an Island Master is nothing short of a joke."

With Xin Zi’s skills, becoming Island Master on some ordinary minor isle wouldn't raise eyebrows.

Yet on resource-rich Ten Thousand Treasures Island, a key supplier of cultivation materials to the Righteous Alliance, appointing him felt like a poor choice.

"But that doesn’t justify your betrayal of the righteous path!" Chen Nan kept fueling the array, accelerating its function.

"Heh, we are Demon Cultivators by nature; how can there be talk of betrayal?" Yang Xing chuckled arrogantly. "Though you are formidable, you are now also approaching exhaustion, aren’t you?"

"By killing you and destroying the array plate, Ten Thousand Treasures City will be ours!"

With those words, the duo launched their strike together.

Yang Xing activated a talisman that morphed into a light streak hurtling at Chen Nan, as Yan Huan swung a longsword slicing through the air with a sharp keen.

Positioned at the array's center and focused on sustaining its multiple segments, Chen Nan lacked the chance to evade the onslaught. Stepping away would doom all their prior work.

In this dire instant, Chen Nan stayed remarkably composed: "So you are Yi Mingzi’s accomplices, looking to claim my life?"

Yi Mingzi had dispatched him here, undoubtedly knowing the Demon Sect targeted Ten Thousand Treasures Island, implying island insiders worked with the enemy.

"And what if we are?" Yang Xing confessed without hesitation. "You have no way to return and seek revenge anyway."

Boom!

The talisman detonated, fierce flames swallowing Chen Nan in a blinding blaze, while the flying sword stabbed into the inferno.

"No!"

A few Golden Core cultivators who saw it couldn't suppress their shouts, glaring at Yang Xing and Yan Huan with burning fury. If glares could slay, the traitors would lie in pieces.

"Rest assured, none of you will escape."

Yang Xing warned with icy menace, certain that with mana sapped from all, resistance was futile against them.

But moments later, their faces twisted in disbelief since the numerous mana flows from Chen Nan persisted unchanged.

"Impossible, he used up all his mana, how could he block our attack?"

As the fire cleared, Chen Nan reappeared unscathed before them. Beyond his scorched and ragged garments, he showed no injury.

"Hehe, I’ve finally lured you out; it was worth setting this stage."