And now, she was slandering his master time and time again.

It made her feel like a stranger to him.

But deep down, Bai Yang still cherished their past affection and didn’t want to break things off with Ye Chuxue just like that.

’Everyone gets stuck in a rut sometimes.’ He would find a way to slowly reconcile things. Perhaps one day, the two of them could make amends.

But Ye Chuxue didn’t feel any of Bai Yang’s "good intentions."

Her heart sank bit by bit to the very bottom, and her gaze gradually grew desolate.

At that moment, the affection she once had for Bai Yang completely evaporated, and she only hated that she had been so blind in the past.

’Bai Yang has been brainwashed by Song Wanning.’

’That idiot doesn’t deserve my affection.’

"I understand."

She closed her eyes indifferently, her heart filled with desolation.

No one believed her. No one.

She was still all alone.

Ye Chuxue pressed her lips together, feeling incredibly wronged.

How she wished her master was by her side right now...

"Senior Sister Ye, I believe everything you said is true! Please don’t be sad!"

An Ze noticed Ye Chuxue’s forbearance and pain, and quickly tightened his arms around her.

"I believe you, really!"

’A petty, scheming person like Song Wanning—is there anything she wouldn’t do?’

’Senior Sister Ye is definitely not lying.’

He remained firm, even under Bai Yang’s displeased gaze.

Hearing this, Ye Chuxue trembled, and a single tear slid from the corner of her eye.

’Who would have thought that only An Ze would believe her?’

She silently clenched her fists, the hatred for Song Wanning in her heart deepening.

One day, she would surpass Song Wanning.

One day, Song Wanning would kneel and beg her for mercy.

One day, she would make every single one of them regret it!!!

*

At the Song Family Courtyard, Song Wanning had just rushed home to see the bead bouncing around the house, looking quite cheerful.

The Dan Fire hadn’t caused it any harm; in fact, it had made the bead even more radiant.

Song Wanning stopped in her tracks, her expression turning rather peculiar.

She had planned to destroy what she couldn’t obtain, but now it seemed the bead was a fine treasure. It would be a great pity to destroy it.

She had to find a way to conquer it, tame it, and make it serve her.

If that ultimately proved impossible, it wouldn’t be too late to destroy it then!

As she stepped into the house, the bead sensed her presence and immediately hid up on a ceiling beam.

Though it had no expression and hadn’t yet developed consciousness, Song Wanning could still feel its defiance.

It seemed to be arrogantly declaring, ’See? Your little tricks can’t hurt me at all, you weakling!’

The curve of Song Wanning’s lips deepened, and her gentle smile made the bead shudder involuntarily!

’This is bad!’

’Danger!’

The bead immediately tried to flee. It had a feeling this human was terrifying.

"Trying to escape?"

"Too late."

Song Wanning flew forward and swiftly snatched the bead in her palm.

No matter how the bead struggled, it couldn’t escape. In the end, it just lay limp in her palm, looking half-dead.

Staring at the bead in her palm, various methods of taming it flashed through her mind.

In her opinion, the best way to deal with this bead was to treat it like taming a demon beast.

’It already has a master it favors. No matter how much I try to coax it, it’ll be useless. I’ll just be looked down upon, which isn’t worth the effort.’

’It’s better to just suppress it with brute force.’

’If it doesn’t submit, I’ll beat it.’

’Beat it until it submits!’

Putting her thoughts into action, Song Wanning took the bead to the Song Family’s confinement chamber.

This place was originally used to lock up disciples who had made mistakes. It was completely isolated from the outside world, and no one could open it without a jade tablet.

The confinement chamber was currently empty, allowing Song Wanning to do as she pleased without easily attracting attention.

She opened the confinement chamber. The pitch-black room was devoid of any light, with only faint currents of air circulating from different corners.

RUMBLE—

As the great door slowly closed, Song Wanning brought out the bead. The dark room was instantly filled with a dazzling radiance, bathing the entire confinement chamber in light.

She loosened her fingers slightly, and the bead immediately broke free and flew off.

Sensing that something was wrong, the bead frantically zipped around the room like a headless fly, unable to find a way out.

Seeing this, a glint flashed in Song Wanning’s eyes. Her aura changed in an instant, and the oppressive presence of a superior being bore down directly on the bead.

Her expression was indifferent as a longsword suddenly appeared in her hand, gleaming with a cold light.

A thick killing intent instantly locked onto the bead.

She raised her hand and swung the sword.

Her Sword Dao Realm descended upon the bead like a range of endless mountains.

No matter how it darted left and right, the bead was still easily trapped within.

Within the realm was endless killing intent. Hundreds of sword gleams crisscrossed back and forth, all of them slashing down on the bead.

Song Wanning stood holding her sword, seemingly motionless, but in reality, her entire Divine Soul was poured into the realm.

She deliberately awakened the Demonic Qi within her body. A frenzied killing intent burst forth from the depths of her heart, nearly drowning and consuming her.

Before her eyes, there seemed to be nothing but a sky of blood-red light.

It was as if she had returned to the moment the Song Family was slaughtered, she herself was ground to dust, and the villagers were mercilessly butchered.

Countless streams of Demonic Qi swirled around Song Wanning, engulfing her and making her look like Yama himself—terrifying beyond measure.

She struck with her sword again, swinging without reservation, filled with endless hatred and killing intent.

One strike.

Another strike.

And another.

Like an unfeeling machine, she vented the boundless killing intent in her heart.

Within her Sea of Consciousness, the Golden Small Sword boiled with battle lust, growing more murderous with each of Song Wanning’s strikes.

Such a violent Sword Dao Realm sent the bead into a panic. It darted about wildly within the realm, desperately trying to dodge the sword gleams, only to find there was no escape.

Countless streams of Sword Intent hacked down upon it. The bead shuddered violently and couldn’t stop itself from falling.

It hastily tried to steady itself, only to be met by a new wave of attacks.

Terrifying sword gleams struck it one after another, making it unable to even maintain its stability.

But it still refused to admit defeat, let alone submit.

’This Sword Intent is indeed more powerful than the Dan Fire, but so what?’

’As long as I’m unwilling, a mere human can forget about controlling me!’

The bead stubbornly continued to dodge, showing a tendency to fight harder the more it was attacked. It even deliberately provoked Song Wanning, trying to drive her mad and be completely consumed by her Heart Demon.

But in the end, it had underestimated Song Wanning.

At that moment, the bead no longer existed in her eyes; she had even forgotten her original purpose.

In her Sea of Consciousness, the figure of the Mo Yang Immortal Monarch appeared once more.

A world-shocking strike that could part heaven and earth, so powerful it made one’s Divine Soul tremble.

Another strike that could destroy the heavens and extinguish the earth, so powerful it drove one to despair.

That towering figure, that indifferent back standing with a sword—the mere sight of him was enough to make one willingly submit.

Such was the might of a Sword Dao Venerable.

Song Wanning stood there, stunned, her mind reeling in shock.

Just now, a feeling of submission had actually risen from the bottom of her heart...

Even in her past life, when she had knelt and begged those people for her family’s sake, she had never felt such an urge.

That strike was truly terrifying.