He instantly realized he'd been played again. His eyes widened in disbelief as he looked at Song Wanníng.
"You…"
Before he could finish, she grabbed his tail, yanked hard, and flung him aside.
Gong Ye steadied his body midair, then opened his jaws wide. Dozens of water swords infused with bone-chilling cold shot out in a torrent, each one aimed for her vital points.
But she tossed out a spatial rune, and in the blink of an eye, her figure reappeared several kilometers away.
Gong Ye roared and streaked across the sky, chasing after her at full speed.
Yet with just a few flashes, Song Wanníng appeared right beside Hua Kongque, snatching the storage ring from her hand without hesitation.
Hua Kongque's eyes went wide. Her curled-up body shot upright out of pure instinct as she tried to grab the ring back. But the next second, Song Wanníng erased the soul imprint on it with ruthless efficiency.
"Pffft—" The forced severing of the imprint tore at Hua Kongque's Primordial Soul, making her spit a mouthful of blood as her face turned deathly pale. She glared at Song Wanníng, eyes full of bitter hatred. Even with worry gnawing inside, her pride wouldn't allow her to show fear.
But Song Wanníng didn't even spare her another glance. She turned with an easy grace, ring in hand, and strode away.
By the time Gong Ye caught up, he smashed straight into the glowing formation barrier and was thrown back. Through the weaving runes, Song Wanníng's face looked more infuriating than ever. He narrowed his eyes, suppressing the flames of anger boiling inside.
Every time he faced her, she drove him insane.
That woman was his damn nemesis. Yet the strength she displayed always made him admire her too. The contradiction twisted his mood with every encounter.
"You planned this from the start?" Gong Ye slowly calmed, a crooked smile tugging at his lips. For some reason, the more she outplayed him, the more fascinated he became.
"Of course. I've heard plenty about the Beast King's skill in formations. Without careful preparation, how else could we trap you?"
Song Wanníng didn't deny it. Truthfully, she'd been considering this possibility for a long time. If Gong Ye had been secretly tailing them all this time, that meant he was shrewd and cautious. So she and Liu Lanyi prepared for it. Not just in the direction he approached from, but in every other direction as well, her clones had already scattered spirit stones in advance.
From the very start, she'd chosen this exact spot as the trap's center. The clones had finished their tasks long ago and returned to the serpent clan.
That was why Gong Ye never sensed anything.
The result was perfect. With layers of formations linking together, the array's range now covered dozens of kilometers. As long as he refused to give up the Soul-Swapping Pearl, he'd inevitably be caught inside.
"Heh."
Gong Ye stared at her confident face. For the first time, he really looked at her beauty, and a hungry light flickered in his eyes. Only a woman like her deserved to stand at his side.
"Song Wanníng, there's no need for us to fight to the death. In some ways, we could work together and both come out on top."
He deliberately called her by name. At first, he hadn't realized who she was. Not until she snatched her people back did he grow suspicious, then confirmed it by comparing her to her portrait.
After all, not many Out-of-Body cultivators could fight him evenly. And considering she'd killed several Mahayana Patriarchs of the Huo clan, no wonder she was this arrogant, bold enough to cause chaos right in his territory.
Song Wanníng didn't look surprised that he knew her name. Her lips curved coldly. "I could work with anyone else. But you? Never."
She gave Liu Lanyi a subtle smile, and Liu Lanyi immediately activated the formation.
This wasn't some ordinary trapping array. This was a trap woven with offensive formations, each one carrying a different attribute. Fire, water, lightning, earth, wind—seven or eight types at least. It was Feng Jiuxiao's modified design, and its power spoke for itself.
Even Gong Ye wouldn't break free so easily. But with his mastery of formations, there was always a risk he'd unravel it one day. That's why they had to strike fast. The moment the array lit up, Song Wanníng didn't hesitate. She pulled out her flying artifact.
"Go!"
Liu Lanyi leapt on, and the two shot away, vanishing in the blink of an eye.
Liar'er left with them, and Hua Kongque finally got a chance to breathe, collapsing to the ground with pained groans.
Gong Ye glanced at her once, disgust flashing in his eyes, before raising his head to glare in the direction Song Wanníng had fled.
"Think you can shake me off? Dream on. We'll meet again soon!"
With that, he braced against the barrage of attacks from the formation, searching carefully for the key to break it.
…
"Wanníng, you're just leaving that peacock in the formation?"
Doubt flickered in Liu Lanyi's eyes. Song Wanníng had already taken her ring, and now she wasn't finishing her off? That wasn't like her at all.
"Martial Uncle, the Peacock clan's been negotiating with the serpent clan lately. They're planning to join hands against Bai Yao Palace."
Song Wanníng shared the intelligence her clone had gathered. One sentence was enough. Liu Lanyi immediately understood her intention. Smiling, she tapped Song Wanníng's forehead.
"You little fox, you're getting sharper by the day."
Song Wanníng had thought through angles Liu Lanyi hadn't considered, reading people's hearts with uncanny precision. Seeing how fast her cultivation was growing, a pang of distress flickered in Liu Lanyi's heart. She couldn't imagine what hardships Song Wanníng had endured over the years.
Sensing her Martial Uncle's mood dip, Song Wanníng quickly cracked a joke, coaxing her into laughter.
The two of them flew happily toward the real location of the Soul-Swapping Pearl, praying it hadn't already been found.
Half a month later, they finally arrived.
But the sight made Song Wanníng blink in surprise.
The place Liu Lanyi led her to was a desert. Yellow sand stretched endlessly, the horizon swallowed by dunes with no end in sight. And somewhere within that vast sea of sand… lay the tiny pearl.
Song Wanníng blinked, then turned to Liu Lanyi with a helpless look. "Martial Uncle, are you telling me the Soul-Swapping Pearl burrowed into all this sand, and you've got no way to sense where it is?"
Liu Lanyi's eyes darted aside, her laugh awkward. "Back then, things were urgent. I only saw it sink in here. With Gong Ye chasing me all over, I didn't dare search."
If she hadn't been lucky that day, she would've been captured with the Pearl still in hand. Thankfully, in her frantic escape, she stumbled across this desert. That's when she tossed the Soul-Swapping Pearl inside.