Bai Yang leaned back sharply, his body flying backward in the same motion.

The whirlwind landed on the demon beast, causing it to roar repeatedly. A closer look revealed that more than half of its body was missing.

But the demon beast seemed completely unaware, still attempting to charge Bai Yang.

It didn’t manage more than a few steps before it collapsed to the ground with a THUD. After a few twitches, it stopped moving.

Seeing this, Bai Yang’s gaze hardened. As he swung his sword, he quickly formed a hand seal with his left hand.

Instantly, a strange set of Array Patterns appeared, radiating outward from his body.

The Array Patterns rapidly expanded and contracted, sweeping up all the surrounding demon beasts.

In an instant, the demon beasts began to struggle as if they had been ensnared by something.

At that moment, Bai Yang’s Sword Intent arrived once more.

BOOM—

A pile of demon beasts were sent flying by the blast.

Bai Yang was like the god of death at that moment, expressionlessly reaping the lives of the demon beasts.

The demon beasts fell one after another.

But even so, the demon beasts continued to surge forward one after another, completely fearless of death...

Bai Yang’s heart sank. Though he had never experienced a beast tide before, the state of these demon beasts was clearly wrong.

’It seems the Sect Master and the others were right in their analysis. These demon beasts must be after something!’

’But... what is it?’

Bai Yang furrowed his brow and glanced swiftly into the distance.

For some reason, he felt a strange summons coming from deep within the mountains...

At the same time, a few of the auras within were so formidable that he didn’t dare approach rashly.

Bai Yang retracted his gaze and quickened the speed of his attacks.

After a full day of fighting, he was utterly exhausted. If not for the Elixir Pills sustaining him, his Spiritual Energy would have long since run dry.

Even so, his body was covered in injuries.

Dragging his weary body, Bai Yang followed the crowd back to the camp.

Hiding in the shadows, Song Wanning watched the group return. Knowing the divine beast wouldn’t appear today, she had no choice but to turn and head for the Song Family’s camp.

She recalled Bai Yang’s performance that day and had to admit his strength. Though young, he was calm and composed in battle, able to learn and adapt with incredible speed. His comprehension was outstanding.

If given time, he would surely grow as quickly as he had in her past life and become a mighty figure in his own right.

The more outstanding Bai Yang proved to be, the less Song Wanning could afford to let her guard down. She would have to follow him closely for the next few days, as she had no idea when he would encounter the divine beast.

She even began to suspect that the cause of this demon beast uprising was related to that divine beast.

Why else would the demon beasts be so frenzied?

However, this was all just her speculation and needed to be verified.

...

For the next few days, Song Wanning’s life fell into a routine.

She followed Bai Yang during the day and checked in on the Song Family’s situation at night.

This period of calm, however, put the Song Family elders on high alert. Compared to the other camps, theirs was running with unbelievable smoothness.

The disciples returned victorious every day, bringing back heaps of demon beast corpses. So far, they had only lost a total of five people...

Song Qingyun also became visibly anxious, because they had yet to discover anything unusual.

He didn’t know if their target would fall for the trap they had set.

The only thing they could do now was to go into battle alongside the disciples, constantly watch over their safety, and be ready to protect everyone the moment danger appeared.

No one at the Heavenly Inquiry Sect had noticed anything was wrong, either. After all, Song Wanning placed Elixir Pills at her door every day, so everyone assumed she was in seclusion practicing Alchemy. No one dared to disturb her.

If anyone came looking for her, the Scarecrow would contact her immediately.

Her cover wouldn’t be blown.

Today was the ninth day of the suppression campaign, and Bai Yang once again headed out with the team.

With the experience he’d gained over the past few days, the murderous aura around him had intensified. His own cultivation presence had also reached the Peak of Foundation Establishment. He was only waiting for an opportunity to advance to the Golden Core Stage.

And contracting the divine beast was that very opportunity.

The premonition in Song Wanning’s heart grew stronger, and she followed him silently.

"ROAR—"

Thousands of demon beasts roared as they charged toward the border line.

"Charge!"

The disciples roared and met them head-on, beginning a new round of slaughter.

...

Bai Yang was killing demon beasts just as he had on previous days, but this time, he was targeted by a fourth-rank demon beast.

A fourth-rank demon beast’s combat power was equivalent to the Golden Core Stage, so its might was self-evident.

What was even stranger was that the demon beast seemed to have singled him out. It ignored everyone else and relentlessly attacked him.

The Sect’s Nascent Soul Cultivators quickly noticed and prepared to destroy the beast, but they were intercepted by several half-transformed demon beasts and could no longer spare any attention for Bai Yang.

The other Golden Core Cultivators were also tied down, completely unable to lend a hand.

And so, everyone could only watch helplessly as Bai Yang was forced into the mountains by the demon beast.

"Junior Brother Bai!"

"Bai Yang!!"

The crowd’s shocked cries still echoed in the air, but Bai Yang’s figure had already disappeared beyond the edge of the mountains.

...

"ROAR—"

The demon beast pursued Bai Yang step by step, toying with him like a rag doll, tossing him about wantonly.

Bai Yang was thrown through the air again and again, his body twisting in agony as he let out continuous groans.

His vision swam. He tried to fight back but was interrupted every time, and the Spiritual Energy within his body was already in turmoil.

"THUD—"

Thrown down from a great height once again, Bai Yang felt like he was about to die.

He stared dizzily at the canopy of trees above, which blotted out the sky, leaving not a single ray of sunlight. It was just like his current mood—overcast and gloomy.

Just then, the demon beast lifted him up with its sharp horn.

"SQUELCH—"

The sharp horn pierced straight through Bai Yang’s waist, impaling him on it.

"Ahhh—"

Bai Yang cried out in pain as blood began to flow rapidly from the wound.

The demon beast let out a triumphant roar, lowered its head, and with a powerful flick, threw Bai Yang off again.

From the shadows, Song Wanning watched the demon beast torture Bai Yang, the smile on her lips growing wider.

The more brutally he was savaged, the more satisfied she felt.

She watched his figure leisurely, her eyes narrowing slightly. ’It looks like the divine beast should be revealing itself soon.’

After waiting a moment, Bai Yang was, as expected, thrown violently off the edge of a cliff by the demon beast.

"CRASH—"

Bai Yang hit the ground hard and was knocked completely unconscious.

Blood poured out from under him, quickly soaking the ground.

He lay there silently, and even the wind around him seemed to stand still.

Song Wanning slowly flew down from the top of the cliff, concealed her aura, and hid in the tall grass.

Just as the sun began to set, there was finally a stir in the distance.

A group of mutated ants crawled over in a swarm and began carrying Bai Yang toward their nest as if he were food.

Each one was as large as a rat, their antennae tinged with a bloody red. They chittered about something as they walked.

Song Wanning couldn’t understand them, but she could sense the swarm’s excitement.

’It seems they’ve mistaken Bai Yang for food.’

Following the ant swarm, she arrived at the entrance to a damp cave.