Within the great mountains, along the border, various factions were fighting a desperate battle, holding back the horde of demon beasts charging the line.

And on the section of the border held by the Song Family, the situation was dire.

The Divinity Transformation Demon was toying with Song Qingyun and the others, effortlessly shattering their coordinated assault.

A mocking sneer played on his lips as if to ridicule humanity for overestimating its own strength.

"I was curious to see who had the guts to use Beast Attracting Powder to provoke the horde."

"You lot... are truly a disappointment."

Song Qingyun suppressed his rage. "This was the work of a traitor in my clan! It has nothing to do with us!"

The Great Demon’s eyes shifted at his words. "Oh?"

"But so what?"

"Since you’ve entered my Qingyun Mountain, you all must die!"

As he spoke, the Great Demon’s expression twisted, his once-beautiful face instantly transforming into the furry visage of a leopard.

So it was a Leopard Spirit!

Song Qingyun knew this wouldn’t end peacefully. He roared at the others behind him, "Run! I’ll cover your retreat!"

His body swelled rapidly like a balloon as he prepared to self-detonate to stop the Great Demon.

"Clan Leader!"

Tears welled in the eyes of the elders and disciples, who desperately wanted to rush out and fight the Great Demon to the death.

"Hahaha— Trying to run?"

The Great Demon laughed arrogantly.

"Not a single one of you will escape!"

He raised his claw and struck at Song Qingyun, who was preparing to self-detonate.

Song Qingyun knew his end had come. His only prayer was that Song Wanning would not, under any circumstances, appear.

He closed his eyes, his body continuing to swell...

Suddenly, an astonishing pressure descended from the heavens.

Everyone snapped their heads up to look.

"A Heavenly Tribulation?!"

"Someone’s undergoing a tribulation?!"

The Cultivators along the border were stunned.

The sky, which had been bright with a blazing sun just a moment ago, was instantly covered in dark clouds.

The tribulation clouds continued to gather, and the oppressive aura unique to the Heavenly Dao forced both humans and demon beasts to a halt.

"Who would dare to undergo a tribulation at a time like this?"

"Is it one of your Human Clan’s Cultivators?"

"That’s deep in the mountains. It’s probably one of your Demon Race undergoing a tribulation..."

Everyone’s hearts were filled with confusion as they stared fearfully at the sky.

Meanwhile, the Divinity Transformation Demon pulled back his hand and looked to the sky, his face alight with excitement.

’The aura of this Heavenly Tribulation is so familiar. Is someone ascending to the Divinity Transformation realm?’

’Heh.’

’I’ve been in these mountains for centuries, yet I never knew such a being existed within them...’

"Interesting!"

He murmured, then simply abandoned the Song Family and flew off toward the heart of the mountains.

Song Qingyun had already prepared to die, but who would have thought his opponent would suddenly run off?

He quickly suppressed the energy he had gathered, and his body returned to normal.

"Let’s go! Back to the camp, now!"

He didn’t dare linger at the border to watch the show. They should be able to see the tribulation from the camp anyway.

They had to get back to the camp immediately and activate the protective Array. If that temperamental Great Demon decided to return, they would be in for a catastrophe.

The Song Family members, still shaken, scrambled back toward their camp.

All the factions on the ground were captivated by the tribulation clouds in the sky.

Bai Yang had been hiding in a cave. Seeing the demon beasts trembling in fear because of the Heavenly Tribulation, he knew this was the perfect chance to escape. He immediately set off, running toward the Human Clan Territory.

Halfway there, he suddenly saw a familiar figure and froze for a moment.

"Bai Yang, you’re here!"

Ye Chuxue had been searching for a very long time. Finally seeing Bai Yang, she was overjoyed and threw herself at him, pulling him into a tight embrace.

"This is wonderful! I thought something had happened to you!"

She held Bai Yang tightly, her eyes growing warm.

’It’s such a relief that Bai Yang is safe!’

Bai Yang stiffened slightly, then followed his heart and hugged Ye Chuxue back.

’Seeing Ye Chuxue here is a surprise, but a pleasant one.’

Only after a long moment did the two reluctantly part.

Both secretly blushed.

"When I heard you were in trouble, I immediately dropped my Alchemy and came to find you!"

Ye Chuxue was a little shy, but she chose to speak her heart.

’I’ve thought things through these past few days. Since I like Bai Yang, I should clear up the ill feelings between us and talk things out openly. If he likes me too, then we should be brave and get together. If he doesn’t have feelings for me, then we’ll go our separate ways and not bother each other again.’

She gazed at him with her large, glistening eyes, and Bai Yang’s heart melted.

’Junior Sister Ye braved the great mountains all by herself for me.’

He was incredibly moved.

But he soon thought of someone else and asked, "Junior Sister Ye, have you seen my Master?"

’I went missing; Master must be worried, right? She’s probably looking for me everywhere right now.’

Ye Chuxue’s expression stiffened slightly at his words.

’If I didn’t know what Bai Yang was thinking, I would have assumed he had improper feelings for Song Wanning.’

She took a deep breath, telling herself not to mind it too much.

But the words that came out of her mouth were the opposite of the truth.

"Uncle Song is still at the camp practicing Alchemy... Perhaps she feels that Alchemy is more important. The Sect needs her, after all."

The moment the ambiguous answer left her lips, Ye Chuxue felt a pang of regret.

But she still didn’t explain.

’Everyone is greedy. I want to be selfish, just this once. Bai Yang is always torn between me and Song Wanning. Wouldn’t it be great if those two had a complete falling out?’ she thought darkly.

"What did you say?"

The smile on Bai Yang’s face vanished instantly, and the light in his eyes went out.

He couldn’t accept this news.

’My life is on the line, yet Master is indifferent, focused only on Alchemy? Am I less important than a Demon Beast Inner Core?’

"Don’t blame Uncle Song. The entire Sect is depending on her right now..."

Ye Chuxue changed the subject, pointing at the sky. "Look, I can’t imagine how powerful this Heavenly Tribulation will be. It’s been brewing for so long!" 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

"If you didn’t know better, you’d think it was a Heavenly Punishment!"

She gave a casual smile, not wanting to get stuck on the topic of Song Wanning with Bai Yang any longer.

’I’m not good at lying, and I don’t want to lie.’

Bai Yang looked up at the sky, his expression dark.

He didn’t care in the slightest who was undergoing the tribulation.

’I just want to know: has Master really given up on me? Does she really not care about me at all?’

"We should hurry back to the border. I’m afraid we’ll get caught up in this Heavenly Tribulation!"

The more Ye Chuxue looked at the Heavenly Tribulation, the more frightened she became. Now that she had found Bai Yang, there was no need to risk staying here any longer.

Bai Yang nodded silently, all of his initial joy gone.

The two of them rushed toward the border with all their might.

In less than half a quarter-hour, the Heavenly Tribulation had completely enveloped the entire mountain range.

The once-ferocious demon beasts were now like terrified mice, scurrying back to their lairs in the mountains without a backward glance.

The Human Clan blocked the way forward, a line they couldn’t break through in one go. Retreating to their lairs might just allow them to escape this disaster.

The swarming demon beasts vanished in the blink of an eye, leaving the humans dumbfounded.

This—

Their life-and-death struggle now seemed somewhat ridiculous...

As they stood there speechless, a figure suddenly shot up into the sky.