White Eagle's hand trembled violently, his knuckles turning white from the excessive force.

"You..." Bai Ying's voice seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth, each word carrying a chilling coldness, "Did you trick Bai Ying into going to her death?"

These words struck Zhou Ying like a thunderbolt. Her face turned deathly pale, her lips trembled uncontrollably, and she staggered back several steps until her back hit the cold wall. This reaction said it all.

"Bang!"

White Eagle released his grip, staggered back two steps, and knocked over the sandalwood tea table behind him. The finest spiritual tea spilled all over the floor, its aroma mingling with a suffocating silence that filled the room.

"How dare you..." His voice trembled violently, his eyes bloodshot, "She's your own flesh and blood! Even if you despise her, you can't push her to her death with your own hands!"

Tears welled up in Zhou Ying's eyes, and she screamed hysterically, "I didn't!... And..." Her voice suddenly became shrill, "Have you forgotten? I'm like this because of Bai Ying! If it weren't for her, how could I have lost my spiritual roots and become a cripple? But what about you? Not only do you not hate her, but you protect her at every turn! What's wrong with you?"

Upon hearing this, Bai Ying's face broke into a smile that was more like a grimace. How ironic! Just a short while ago, he, like Zhou Ying, had placed all the blame on Bai Ying.

"Zhou Ying," his voice suddenly became eerily calm, "you lost your spiritual root because you cheated in the competition, trying to harm your own daughter. This is your own fault. Does Bai Ying have to obediently submit to your will for it to be right?"

Zhou Ying froze on the spot as if struck by lightning. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out.

Without another word, Bai Ying grabbed her wrist and dragged her outside: "Go! Take me to Bai Di and the others! We have to stop this madman's plan!"

"It's too late..." Zhou Ying suddenly collapsed to the ground, her voice as soft as a wisp of smoke, "It's...too late..."

White Eagle's hand froze in mid-air, a chill running from the soles of his feet to the top of his head: "What...do you mean?"

"Xiao Di contacted... three Void Refinement stage experts and over forty Nascent Soul stage cultivators..." Zhou Ying's tears fell in large drops to the ground, "They laid a trap... Bai Ying... has absolutely no chance of survival..."

These words struck White Eagle like a heavy hammer.

The scenes from his previous hallucination resurfaced in his mind.

That little one longed to see other children loved by their parents.

She would even have him play the role of his father, pretending that he also had a loving family.

White Eagle knew that the scene was not real, but rather something he was seeing in his own hallucination.

But at this moment, he felt an indescribable discomfort.

Because reality might be even crueler than that.

If he had persisted in his search back then, perhaps he could have found Bai Ying...

They gave up on finding Bai Ying themselves, and now that Bai Ying has finally found herself again, they treat her like this.

Now Bai Di and Bai Yanfeng actually want to kill her!

"No...no..." White Eagle shook his head, his voice hoarse and unlike his own, "I have to find her...I have to see her alive or dead..."

His words trailed off abruptly, and he suddenly turned and rushed towards the door. Zhou Ying pounced on him, grabbing his leg: "Don't go! Those Nascent Soul cultivators kill without blinking an eye; you'll just be throwing your life away!"

"Let her go!" A crazed fire burned in White Eagle's eyes. "Even if I can only bring back a corpse, I want her...to go home..."

—

But they had no idea that Bai Ying at this moment did not look like someone who had been murdered.

She tilted her head slightly, a chilling smile playing on her lips. Her voice was soft yet like the call of hell: "Who... will be next?"

Limbs and severed bodies were scattered all around, and broken magical artifacts and blood-stained Taoist robes rustled in the wind.

Those once arrogant cultivators were now ashen-faced, their legs trembling uncontrollably, their eyes filled with terror and despair.

"You...you can't kill me!" A Nascent Soul cultivator staggered backward, slipping on the pool of blood, his voice trembling and out of tune.

"The person behind me is the Sect Master of the Xuanming Sect in the Northern Region! If you kill me, you will surely suffer annihilation!" His eyes gleamed with the last glimmer of hope, as if bringing out his powerful backer would allow him to escape this calamity.

Bai Ying chuckled softly. She slowly raised her hand, purple lightning crackling around the tips of her jet-black nails, the crackling of electricity in the air growing more intense: "Oh? Is that so?" Her voice trailed off, carrying a hint of amusement and disdain, "Too bad, I don't care."

Before the words were finished, "BOOM—!!" A bolt of purplish-black lightning suddenly struck down, as if the sky had been torn open with a hideous wound, and it hit the man's head precisely!

Lightning exploded, blood and flesh splattered, and the violent lightning force, like a venomous snake, burrowed into his meridians, instantly tearing his body into pieces. Before he could even scream, he was reduced to a pool of foul-smelling minced meat.

Bai Ying's eyes grew even colder. With a light tap of her fingertips, thunderclouds surged across the sky, and countless bolts of lightning roared down like angry dragons!

She was enveloped in a blood-red mist, like a ruler from the underworld, controlling this realm of death.

"Since you've set a trap to kill me, then be prepared to be slaughtered by me!"

Her voice seemed to come from the heavens and earth, shaking the surrounding mountains.

"Aaaaaah—!"

The screams of agony rose and fell as the cultivators fled in a frantic panic, but no matter where they ran, the Thunder Prison above them followed them relentlessly.

Some people unleashed their defensive magic weapons, only to be instantly reduced to dust in the lightning; others used escape techniques, only to be pulled back from the void by blood-red chains.

Black mist churned, and crimson chains emerged from the void, coiling around the neck of a Void Refinement stage expert like venomous snakes.

His eyes were wide open, and he made a choking "hoarse" sound in his throat. His hands, with bulging veins, desperately tried to break free, but he could only watch helplessly as his flesh was slowly devoured by the chains.

The light in his eyes gradually dimmed, and his struggles grew weaker and weaker: "No...no...forgive me..." Before he could finish speaking, his whole body exploded into a cloud of blood mist with a "bang," staining half of the sky red.

Bai Ying stood amidst the lightning and blood rain, her long hair whipping wildly like burning flames. The killing intent surrounding her solidified, forming black vortexes in the air. "None of you will escape. Now, it's time to end this."