Bai Ying's voice was very soft, yet it was exceptionally clear in this deathly silent space.

Bai Ying quickly surveyed her surroundings. She slowly lowered her head and saw the crimson patterns gradually appearing beneath her feet—those intricate, dizzying lines radiating ancient and obscure fluctuations. Each pattern seemed to writhe like a living thing, perfectly blending with its surroundings, even the spiritual energy drifting in the air serving as its best cover.

"This is impossible..." Bai Ying's fingertips trembled slightly. "This is actually an ancient formation!"

With her expertise in formations, how could she have unknowingly stepped into such a trap!

At that moment, even her scalp tingled!

She trusted the binding power of the soul blood too much, trusting them without reservation! And she even led everyone in the Lingxiao Sect into such a dangerous situation!

Upon hearing Bai Ying's voice, a sudden burst of applause erupted, sounding particularly jarring in the silent space.

"Surprised?" A hoarse voice came from the edge of the formation.

Bai Ying suddenly looked up and saw an old man with white hair and beard slowly walking out. He was dressed in a simple gray robe and looked like an ordinary old man next door. Only his eyes, which were cloudy but gleaming with a sharp light, revealed his unfathomable cultivation.

And behind the old man—

Bai Ying's pupils suddenly contracted.

Ruan Xinrou wore a plain white dress, a familiar mocking smile playing on her lips; Yan Chiling stood expressionless beside her, but his eyes flashed with deep-seated hatred.

It was them!

They're from the Huayang Sect!

So......

Bai Ying looked at the old man at the head of the group.

"The Void Refinement stage cultivator of the Huayang Sect, the Huayang Ancestor..." Bai Ying's voice was almost squeezed out from between her teeth.

Despite her best efforts to guard against the danger and her desire to strike first, she cultivated with extra diligence, but she never expected to fall into the trap of this Void Refinement stage monster.

The old man stroked his long beard that reached his chest, his cloudy eyes narrowing into slits:

This is a 'Soul-Severing Array' from ancient times.

He lightly stomped his foot on the ground, and the crimson array patterns immediately shone brightly.

"It's specially designed to isolate the connection between soul and blood. Miss Bai Ying, you didn't expect this, did you? It was prepared especially for you."

Welcome to my... prison!

Time seemed to freeze at that moment.

Bai Ying could clearly feel the killing intent of the seventeen Nascent Soul cultivators surging like a tide, and the fluctuations emanating from the ancient formation beneath her feet made her internal organs tremble.

"I've gone to great lengths to persuade Miss Bai to come."

The old patriarch Huayang spoke slowly and deliberately, his withered fingers tracing bloody lines in the air, "First, have Qingming deliver news of the 'Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain Range,' then have them bring you here..."

Bai Ying's fingernails dug deeply into her palm.

It turns out that from beginning to end, I was the one being manipulated by the other party.

Those Nascent Soul cultivators who submitted, and the Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain Range—it was all a carefully orchestrated scheme!

Ruan Xinrou suddenly covered her mouth and chuckled, a laugh as chilling as a venomous snake's hiss: "You think you can rest easy just because you control the soul blood of those cultivators?" Her slender fingers lightly stroked her newly formed spiritual root, a morbid gleam in her eyes. "The Ancestor saw through your little tricks long ago! Bai Ying, where's your arrogance when you destroyed my spiritual root? Today, I'll make you suffer a thousand times, ten thousand times more than me!"

With each word she spoke, crimson vines burst forth from the earth beneath her feet, their barbs dripping corrosive venom. Her once gentle and charming face was now twisted like a demon, yet her voice was sickeningly sweet: "I will personally crush your spiritual root inch by inch, and then turn you into my most beautiful puppet."

Yan Chiling suddenly stepped forward, the red and blue flames rising from his palm scorching and distorting the surrounding air: "Bai Ying! You killed my master, this is an irreconcilable hatred!" The intense heat of the flames made the young man's handsome face look like a deadly demon.

When Yan Chiling said this, his eyes were filled with intense hatred. After being taken away by Qin Hua Zhenren, he was once again manipulated. Under the methods of this Hua Yang Patriarch, who was in the Void Refinement stage, he completely forgot Bai Ying.

Hua Yang Patriarch looked at Yan Chiling with some approval. He had not yet come out of the secluded cultivation area and had limited space to move around.

It was Yan Chiling, a young man with extremely high mastery of formations, who helped him find this place. He also told him the secret of the White Firefly Killing Formation.

When he heard that Bai Ying had subdued eighteen Nascent Soul stage cultivators, Patriarch Huayang knew that his opportunity had come.

Bai Ying's growth rate was too fast; even Qin Hua Zhenren died at his hands.

Such a monstrous creature truly kept her up at night.

If she cannot become an asset to their Huayang Sect, then she should die!

As for soul blood manipulation?

He never believed in these things; there was nothing that couldn't be broken. Just like now. Bai Ying possessed the soul blood of those Nascent Soul stage cultivators, yet she was still betrayed by them, wasn't she?

As for Ruan Xinrou, Huayang Patriarch discovered her secret long ago; she seemed to have the ability to absorb Bai Ying's luck.

He also acknowledged Qin Hua Zhenren's prediction about Ruan Xinrou, believing that she would definitely become a cultivator in the Void Refinement stage in the future.

Therefore, after Ruan Xinrou's spiritual root was destroyed by Bai Ying, he gave her Qin Hua Zhenren's spiritual root and cultivation.

Now, as long as I help Ruan Xinrou destroy Bai Ying, Ruan Xinrou's strength will increase by leaps and bounds!

"Bai Ying, surrender now!"

Bai Ying bit her lower lip hard until she tasted blood.

For the first time since her rebirth, she felt a bone-chilling cold creep up her spine from the soles of her feet.

It wasn't fear of death, but rather the hatred of having led the people he cherished most into a deadly predicament. The runes of the ancient formation beneath their feet grew brighter and brighter, the magical treasures of the eighteen Nascent Soul cultivators were poised to be unleashed, and Patriarch Huayang was also eager to make his move.

What should she do?