Bai Ying's figure suddenly appeared like a ghost in front of the Tianxing Sect's mountain gate.
He was surrounded by a chilling killing intent, and with each step he took, the bluestone beneath his feet silently turned to dust.
"Enemy attack!"
The mountain-protecting formation was activated instantly, and a piercing alarm bell rang throughout the sky.
Dozens of streaks of light shot down from the various peaks. The sect leader of the Heavenly Star Sect, along with the seven elders, stood in mid-air, with the sect's protective formation shimmering behind them.
"Who dares to trespass on my Heavenly Star Sect!" The leading elder's beard bristled with rage, his late-stage Nascent Soul realm aura pressing down like a mountain. Seeing that the newcomer was merely a young female cultivator, he immediately sneered, "Ignorant child, this is the territory of my Heavenly Star Sect! How dare you run wild here?"
Before he finished speaking, a crimson chain suddenly shot out from the elder's sleeve, the chain wrapped with ghostly blue flames, and he actually made a killing move!
A cold glint flashed in Bai Ying's eyes. Without even summoning the dragon scales, she simply raised her palm and waved it casually.
"roll."
A single, simple word, yet it resounded like a thunderclap from the heavens. With a gust of wind, the crimson chain shattered inch by inch. The Grand Elder didn't even have time to be astonished before his entire body was shattered like glass! Before his flesh even hit the ground, it was torn into a bloody mist by the fierce palm wind.
"Elder!"
The Tianxing Sect members were horrified. Only now did they truly feel the terrifying pressure contained in that palm strike.
Several disciples with weaker cultivation levels immediately knelt on the ground, blood seeping from their seven orifices.
"A Void Refinement stage cultivator... How could there be such a young Void Refinement stage cultivator?"
The Second Elder's face was ashen, and his voice trembled.
The Heavenly Star Sect Master's face was ashen, and large beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.
His hand gestures changed like lightning, and the nine layers of light curtain of the sect's protective array suddenly shone brightly, with the spiritual power accumulated over a thousand years surging like a tide within the array patterns.
However, this sect-protecting formation, which was said to be able to withstand the full force of a Void Refinement expert, was shattered by Bai Ying's palm strike!
"boom!"
Amidst a deafening explosion, the nine-layered light barrier shattered like fragile glass. The backlash of spiritual energy transformed into a raging hurricane, tearing the clouds within a hundred miles to shreds. Several nearby elders immediately coughed up blood, while the weaker disciples were directly knocked unconscious.
Bai Ying raised her delicate hand lightly, about to finish off this group of usurpers.
"Senior, please wait!" The Heavenly Star Sect Master suddenly prostrated himself, his forehead slamming heavily against the bluestone slab. This usually aloof sect leader's voice trembled uncontrollably: "This junior was blind to your greatness! How could I have offended you, senior? If you would only ask, my sect's treasured Nine-Turn Rejuvenation Pill, the Taiyi Refined Gold Sword, the Ten-Thousand-Year Jade Marrow... even the core treasure of this mountain-protecting formation, this junior is willing to offer it all!"
Bai Ying continued walking forward without stopping.
"Bai Ying, a disciple of the Lingyin Sect." Her voice was as cold as ice. "Tell me, what am I here for?"
Upon hearing this, the Sect Master of Tianxing Sect was struck dumb, his legs went weak, and he almost knelt down.
Only then did he notice the jade pendant faintly visible at Bai Ying's waist, which was clearly a token possessed only by core disciples of the Lingyin Sect!
"Senior, please understand!" he hurriedly explained, "We have absolutely no connection with Patriarch Huayang; we simply noticed that the Lingyin Sect's mountain gate is empty..."
Before he could finish speaking, Bai Ying suddenly raised her hand and grabbed him. The Tianxing Sect Master felt the space around him suddenly freeze, and he was lifted into the air like a puppet on strings! A slender, jade-like hand gently held his crown, and icy divine sense surged into his sea of consciousness like a tide.
At this moment, the Heavenly Star Sect Master felt as if he were about to die here. Countless fragments of memories were roughly examined, and the sect's secrets, the elders' schemes, and even his private past from his youth were all laid bare before this terrifying divine sense.
"Get lost."
Bai Ying casually tossed her hand, and the Heavenly Star Sect Master crashed into the distant mountain wall like a rag doll. A hint of disappointment flashed in her eyes. These people were indeed unrelated to Patriarch Huayang; they were nothing more than opportunistic rats taking advantage of the chaos.
"If I see another disciple of the Heavenly Star Sect within half a quarter of an hour..." She flicked her finger, and a distant mountain collapsed with a deafening roar. "This is the consequence."
The members of the Tianxing Sect were terrified and dared not delay any longer. Thousands of disciples fled in panic like stray dogs, not even bothering to pack up their treasured books and magical artifacts.
The protective array's light barrier shattered inch by inch, and the entire sect's foundation crumbled.
Bai Ying stood alone atop the mountain, her pure white robes fluttering in the wind. Fragments of spiritual light from the shattered protective array swirled like snowflakes, each drop landing on her shoulder, making her feel as if she had been transported back to the past.
"Master, fellow disciples..." Her voice was so soft it was almost inaudible, the last syllable fading into the wind, "I'm back."
The mountain wind howled through the ruins, swirling up a few withered yellow leaves.
There were no familiar greetings, no warm embraces, only the devastated ruins silently watching her.
Those senior brothers and sisters who would call her "Junior Sister" with a smile, Elder Qi who always praised her with a chuckle, and all those people she was closest to in the Lingxiao Sect—her fellow disciples, her master, and the sect leader... they were all gone...
Bai Ying slowly knelt down. She thought she had already cultivated a heart of ruthlessness, burying all emotions and desires with her departure from Huayang Sect. But at this moment, scalding tears uncontrollably welled up in her eyes, splashing into tiny water droplets on the bluestone slab.
"Didn't they say... that cultivating the Path of Ruthlessness... would make you immune to pain...?"
She trembled as she clutched the front of her dress, her knuckles turning white. The excruciating pain in her chest was more intense than any other injury, as if a thousand sharp blades were twisting and turning inside her.
Bai Ying suddenly bit her lip hard, and blood dripped down her chin.
She finally understood that the Path of Ruthlessness did not sever emotions and love, but rather buried all pain and hatred deep in her heart, transforming them into an inextinguishable flame of revenge.
"I will make Ancestor Huayang..." She pressed the red silk close to her heart, her voice hoarse and barely audible, "pay for his blood debt."
A mountain wind suddenly rose, swirling upwards with fragments of light as white as pear blossoms, as if countless transparent spirits were bidding her farewell.
When Bai Ying wiped away her tears and stood up, there was no longer a trace of tears in her eyes, only a resolute determination colder than ice.
However, just as Bai Ying was preparing to go to Huayang Sect to kill Huayang Patriarch, she suddenly heard a rustling sound.
Bai Ying thought that the people from the Tianxing Sect hadn't all left. A cold glint flashed in her eyes, and she grabbed at the air with her slender hand. Her spiritual power transformed into an invisible giant hand, forcibly pulling the sneaky figure out of the ruins.
"Ah!" A gasp rang out.
Upon seeing the person's face clearly, Bai Ying's pupils suddenly contracted.
She was surprised to see a familiar face.
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