Everyone’s eyes lit up, and they exchanged glances in unison.

’This young upstart is so easy to fool.’ Even though she was over a hundred years old, in the eyes of these old men, she was still just a youth.

"Master Song, stop being so secretive! Hurry up and bring out the treasure for us to see!"

Everyone was on the edge of their seats, dying to know what kind of treasure could have created such a terrifying phenomenon.

’Now that the Song Family has this thing, can they easily control people’s minds and force them to do their bidding?’

For now, it was all a mystery.

Seeing their undisguised greed, Song Qingyun grew increasingly irritated. ’If I didn’t have to keep up this peaceful facade,’ he thought, ’I would have kicked them out long ago!’

He shot a helpless glare at Song Wanning and said, "Wan Ning, since everyone wants to see it, you might as well take it out and show them."

"Oh? So the treasure is on True Monarch Song?"

"No wonder this incident occurred the moment True Monarch Song returned to the Song Family. It must be that she came across some great fortuitous encounter, didn’t she?"

The look in their eyes shifted, and they raked Song Wanning with probing gazes.

It was a long-standing consensus in the Cultivation World not to pry into another’s fortuitous encounters. Everyone had their secrets.

As astute cultivators, how could they not understand this?

Song Wanning smiled faintly, tidying a lock of her hair as she watched them like a troop of monkeys at a zoo.

"Fine. I’ll show you all right now."

"The treasure you seek is not as far as you think. In fact, it’s right before your very eyes."

With a brilliant smile, she raised a finger and pointed to her own face.

The elders stared, stunned, thinking they must have misunderstood. "True Monarch Song, what is the meaning of this?"

"Where is the treasure?"

Song Wanning let out a soft "Oh?" and blinked her large, innocent eyes. "I am the treasure."

"PFFT—"

Someone burst out laughing and teased, "True Monarch Song, you certainly have a sense of humor."

"True Monarch Song, are you messing with us? If you don’t want to show it, just say so. Why must you toy with us like this?"

The others caught on, and their expressions turned sour.

’Isn’t she just making a fool out of us?’

"Tsk. You are all mistaken," Song Wanning said. "I am not lying."

Song Wanning smiled, leisurely crossing her legs. "Since none of you believe me," she said languidly, "then I shall let you see for yourselves. How does that sound?"

"Heh..."

The elders present were fuming. Seeing her insistence, they were left speechless.

’This Song Family junior has no manners! Even if her cultivation is profound, she shouldn’t be making sport of us!’

None of them took her words seriously. They never expected that in the next instant, a halo of light would erupt from her seat at the head of the hall, moving too fast for their eyes to follow.

The moment the halo appeared, a terrifying power poured forth, enveloping them completely.

They were horrified. An instant later, their bodies moved against their will, forcing them to their knees.

THUD—

They all knelt in a neat row in the hall, their minds going completely blank. They hadn’t even had time to resist before their bodies had already acted.

Song Qingyun nearly burst out laughing at the sight. He quickly and discreetly took out a Memory Stone to record the comical scene, planning to share it with his wife later.

Song Wanning sat placidly in her seat of honor and clicked her tongue at the sight.

"See? I told you so, but you just wouldn’t believe me. Now look at this mess. How embarrassing for you."

Though she said that, she showed no intention of retracting the Sword Dao True Mirror’s power, leaving the elders red-faced and indignant.

They all struggled against her restraint, sweat beading on their foreheads, but they still couldn’t manage to stand up.

Their eyes darted about in terror. So it really *was* Song Wanning who had caused that disturbance.

And this pressure was clearly far more powerful than the one they had felt throughout the city earlier.

’How on earth is she doing this?’

Their minds were filled with questions, and a sense of dread toward Song Wanning began to grow.

All this time, Song Wanning had been famous across the lands as an Alchemy Grandmaster. Her combat prowess was never on display, so everyone had naturally overlooked it.

Who could have imagined she was this powerful!

’The Song Family really hid their cards well!’

Just as they looked about to snap, Song Wanning nonchalantly withdrew the Sword Dao True Mirror, a gentle smile still playing on her lips.

It was the kind of smile that made you want to clench your fists.

The elders scrambled to their feet, flustered and disheveled. They wanted to rebuke her, but they knew they had no grounds to do so.

After all, they were the ones who had insisted on a demonstration...

This left everyone with twisted, awkward expressions, and the atmosphere in the hall became incredibly bizarre.

In the end, it was Song Qingyun who stepped in to smooth things over and saw the guests out.

"HAHAHA—"

Watching their pathetic, retreating figures, Song Qingyun let out a hearty, cathartic laugh.

"Leave it to our Wan Ning to have a solution! Those old coots deserved to be angered to death!"

To deal with their shameless greed, it had to be Wan Ning.

Song Wanning just smiled. ’Well, who told them to come and ruin my good mood?’

’If she wasn’t happy, then nobody else was going to be comfortable either.’

*

「Heavenly Inquiry Sect」

Gu Qingyuan awoke.

Even without Elixir Pills, he had relied on his own power to gradually purge the Dan Poison from his system.

It was, after all, only Dan Poison. If not for his old injuries, Gu Qingyuan would never have been felled by something so trivial.

The moment she saw her master awaken, Ye Chuxue was overcome with sorrow and burst into tears, throwing herself into Gu Qingyuan’s arms.

"Master, you’re finally awake! You have no idea how much I’ve been wronged lately!"

She clung to Gu Qingyuan, endlessly recounting her recent ordeals.

Gu Qingyuan, however, didn’t hear a word she said. His body went rigid, and his heart began to race.

’This was the first time Chuxue had ever hugged him of her own accord.’

"Master, it’s so wonderful that you’re awake!"

The weight on Ye Chuxue’s heart finally lifted. Only now did she realize just how important her master was to her.

As long as her master was with her, she felt completely at peace.

"Oh, right. Master, how did you recover on your own? Is there still any poison in your system?"

She released Gu Qingyuan and looked up at him, her eyes filled with concern.

The thought that she was the one who had poisoned her master filled her with immense guilt.

Gu Qingyuan finally snapped out of his daze. "It was a trivial amount of Dan Poison," he said calmly. "It just needed some time to be neutralized. I’ve already purged it from my body. You don’t need to worry."

He spoke of it so casually, but Ye Chuxue suddenly grew agitated.

"What?"

"If it was that easy to cure, then why didn’t Master Lan say anything?"

"And Song Wanning said only a Heavenly Yuan Nourishing Heart Pill could cure it! She tricked me into spending hundreds of thousands of Mid-grade Spirit Stones at an auction for one, and it was stolen from me in the end!!!!"

Ye Chuxue was so furious she felt dizzy. A sweet, coppery taste rose in her throat, and she spat out a mouthful of blood.

’Those wretched people!’

’How dare they?’

"Chuxue, what are you talking about?"

Gu Qingyuan’s brow furrowed at her words, and he immediately asked for the full story.

Swallowing her rage, Ye Chuxue told him everything, adding her own embellishments and making sure to mention how Song Wanning had stolen her Storage Ring.