The Peacock Clan's beast cultivators were completely enraged.
Gong Ye had killed their young mistress in such a cruel way, it was no different from slapping their entire clan in the face. That was absolutely unforgivable!
In an instant, the group went mad and charged straight toward Bai Yao Palace.
The elders' hearts ached terribly. They'd watched Hua Kongque grow up, and her talent was exceptional. Sure, her temper was a little sharp at times, but with that kind of strength, who cared? Now she'd been cut down by Gong Ye, and they wished they could flay him alive right this second.
"We'll avenge her!"
"Charge!"
The elders dove into the battle without hesitation. Their moves were vicious and ruthless, venting all the rage that had been boiling inside.
The clan patriarch, on the other hand, looked like his soul had been hollowed out. His eyes were bloodshot, and when he finally came back to himself, his killing intent had already reached the sky.
"Gong Ye!"
His roar shook the heavens, and the very next moment, he transformed back into his true form.
Today, he'd drown Bai Yao Palace in blood!
The Peacock Clan went mad.
The Snake Clan, realizing what had happened a little later, were almost laughing themselves silly. Before, their alliance with the Peacock Clan was shaky at best. They'd always worried about betrayal. But now Gong Ye had killed Hua Kongque with his own hands.
That sealed it. The Peacock Clan and Bai Yao Palace were sworn enemies with no way back. Wasn't that the best outcome possible?
The Snake Clan patriarch immediately gave the order to attack Bai Yao Palace with everything they had.
By the time Gong Ye managed to return, the palace would already be nothing but rubble.
Fight them? He was far too young and naive to think he could win!
All over Bai Yao Palace, screams tore through the air. Blood sprayed, severed limbs flew, and the carnage was beyond words.
Meanwhile, trapped inside the array, Gong Ye had just finished a brutal attempt to smash his way out when he suddenly sensed something was wrong. He stopped, forcing himself to calm down. Breaking the formation by brute force only left him battered and bloody. It wasn't going to work. He steadied his mind, his gaze on the formation cold and terrifying.
Then, when a trusted subordinate's urgent message reached him, realization hit—and he laughed in fury. He'd thought Song Wanníng left Hua Kongque behind to trap her enemies along with him. But no, she'd laid the groundwork for him to fall into the perfect pit.
She'd known from the start that the Peacock Clan was colluding with the Snake Clan to strike Bai Yao Palace. She'd guessed he'd fly into a rage and kill Hua Kongque in the heat of the moment.
Everything had been inside that woman's calculations.
Gong Ye never imagined he'd be played so thoroughly, from beginning to end. He wanted nothing more than to rip Song Wanníng apart and see what went on in her head to read him so perfectly.
Ever since arriving in this world, his temper had been unstable. After the Snake Clan's betrayal, it only worsened. The higher his cultivation and status grew, the darker and crueler he became. If something displeased him, he killed. That was why his karmic burden was so heavy.
And Song Wanníng had seen through it all after such a short time with him.
She was infuriating… and fascinating.
Suppressing the storm in his chest, Gong Ye forced himself to focus on solving the array. Bai Yao Palace… he knew it was already doomed. The only thing he could do now was order his subordinates to scatter. If even a few managed to escape, it was worth it. As long as he lived, Bai Yao Palace still existed. He could rebuild it one day.
…
Bai Yao Palace was drowned in blood. Some beast cultivators died, some fled, and what remained was nothing but broken ruins and a field of corpses.
The Peacock Clan wasn't satisfied. They destroyed everything that remained, then issued a bounty for Gong Ye's head. They and the Snake Clan didn't rest, either. Every treasure, every resource in Bai Yao Palace was looted clean. They even claimed its cities and the surrounding territories for themselves.
The news of Bai Yao Palace's downfall spread quickly across the entire beast race.
Countless people sighed. The palace had only been established recently, and no one expected it to collapse so quickly. As for the bounty, hardly anyone paid it any attention.
Gong Ye was a Mahayana cultivator. Who dared provoke him? Who dared leak his whereabouts?
No amount of money was worth losing your life.
Everyone understood that much.
Elsewhere, Song Wanníng and Liu Lanyi were still searching for the Soul-Swapping Pearl. Naturally, her clone had already passed the news on to them. Hearing everything had unfolded exactly as she planned, Song Wanníng curved her lips in a satisfied smile.
All these invaders shared the same flaw. They thought they were different from the natives, and they carried that arrogant sense of superiority everywhere they went. Every one of them believed they were Heaven's chosen, reckless and overbearing in everything they did. The ones before had been like that, and Gong Ye, with his higher cultivation, was even worse. Deep down, he looked down on everyone else and thought himself invincible.
And that, exactly, was why Song Wanníng could predict him so perfectly. Now, with Gong Ye locked in mortal hatred with the Snake Clan and the Peacock Clan, his days of leisure were over. Just the thought made her mood even better.
What mattered most now was finding the Soul-Swapping Pearl, so they could deliver Gong Ye another crushing blow. At that moment, Liu Lanyi suddenly shouted, "Wanníng, come here!"
"Coming!" Song Wanníng immediately flew over.
They'd been scouring the desert with their divine sense for days, searching inch by inch, but the pearl never showed itself. Did Liu Lanyi finally discover something?
She landed quickly and followed Liu Lanyi's gaze to a small mound of sand. There were plenty of such mounds in the desert, but this one was different. Their divine sense couldn't penetrate it. That mound was suspicious.
The two exchanged a glance, set up their defenses, and Liu Lanyi reached out toward it. But just as her fingers brushed close, something shot out from inside. They both tried to snatch it, but only caught empty air. The thing streaked across the sky like a meteor and vanished.
"Not the Soul-Swapping Pearl."
Liu Lanyi let out a relieved breath and lowered her hand. Still, that flash of light didn't seem ordinary.
Song Wanníng frowned, ready to speak, when the ground suddenly quaked beneath her feet. Both of them shot into the air at once. When they looked down, the mound had already split open, widening rapidly. And the more it grew, the more it looked like a gaping mouth. The surrounding desert began to tremble, all the sand streaming into the pit.
Rumble!
The roar shook the entire wasteland. Rising higher, Song Wanníng peered down and saw the fissure lay at the very heart of the desert. Endless sand poured into it, as if some colossal monster had opened its maw to swallow the world. The storm of yellow sand rose higher and higher, quickly blotting out their sight.