The rich spiritual energy erupted instantly. Bai Ran stared intently at Xuan Qinghong. The next moment, Xuan Qinghong vanished into the bamboo forest.
"Bang—!" A heavy blow landed on the back of Bai Ran's neck.
In just one strike, stars appeared before her eyes. The difference in strength was too vast...
She clenched her fists and spun around fiercely, but Xuan Qinghong had once again disappeared.
Bai Ran bit her tongue, forcing her nerves to concentrate. If not for her divine-demonic physique, she might have already collapsed and been unable to stand.
"Your reaction is quick, but I feel your strength should not stop here," a resonant voice echoed from the bamboo forest. The sound bounced from all directions, making it impossible to pinpoint his location.
Bai Ran scanned the vast bamboo forest warily. The fluctuations of spiritual energy, the flow of the wind—Xuan Qinghong concealed himself perfectly, beyond even her mental probe.
"Tell me, what is your ambition? What is your limit? To what heights do you aspire?"
Bai Ran's brows furrowed. "I will stand at the peak, even if it costs me everything."
Mother, the Divine Emperor, Lord Baili... so many missions and hatreds awaited Bai Ran. Her heart craved power at this moment.
Hearing this, Xuan Qinghong appeared before her in the blink of an eye.
"Slap—!" The resounding smack echoed for a long time. Bai Ran's face was slapped to the side, her cheek swelling high.
She had been hit... Bai Ran took a long time to recover.
Xuan Qinghong glared at her, slowly lowering his hand. "Even if it costs you everything?"
"Hmph," he scoffed. "With such a misguided resolve, you will never advance!"
Misguided? Bai Ran stared at him blankly, her mind suddenly as blank as a sheet of paper.
"Perhaps the heavy responsibilities, expectations, and pressures that were never meant for your shoulders are causing you to desperately seek to improve your strength."
Xuan Qinghong gazed at her directly. "If you cannot control your heart, you will never be able to progress!"
He looked at Bai Ran with disappointment, then turned and walked towards the small courtyard at the end of the crossroads. "In my eyes, I only see a frantic malevolence."
The wind howled, and the bamboo rustled. Though the sunlight was strong and dazzling, it cast mottled shadows on the ground as it filtered through the bamboo forest...
On the empty pebble path, Bai Ran stood alone, her head bowed, appearing lonely and desolate.
In the distance, Jiang Ye watched Bai Ran in such a state, his hands clasped into fists behind his back.
...
The next day, Xuan Qinghong opened his door and saw Bai Ran on the pebble path.
She stood there, looking extremely haggard, clearly having not slept all night.
"Master," Bai Ran slowly turned to face him. "Please guide me."
Unyielding, her eyes were filled with a desire for strength and ambition, but the one difference was that the fierce, almost scorching malevolence and killing intent had completely vanished.
Why her master had struck her was a question she had pondered the entire night.
Seeing Bai Ran's transformation, Xuan Qinghong broke into a smile of satisfaction. "Come!"
"Bang—!" Moving faster than yesterday, Bai Ran instantly appeared before Xuan Qinghong and threw a punch!
Xuan Qinghong frowned slightly, the same move as yesterday.
As expected, he extended his right hand and easily blocked Bai Ran's punch. But the next moment, Bai Ran delivered a horizontal kick, landing squarely on his right abdomen!
Xuan Qinghong immediately released her. What a clever stratagem! He used his right hand to defend, leaving his left hand unable to defend the right side.
This child had calculated the opening he would leave!
After her hand was released, Bai Ran did not retract it but instead slammed it towards him with full force.
In just one night, this child was like a different person... Xuan Qinghong watched Bai Ran attacking him, and he couldn't help but smile.
He must have... picked up a monster...
Despite being quickly suppressed in the back and forth, this was solely due to the difference in strength.
Yesterday, her eyes were clouded by hatred, and she was pushed forward by the burdens on her shoulders. Her heart was like a drifting duckweed, battered by hardships, rising and falling.
The consequence of such a state was the inevitable birth of inner demons, and even being possessed by them, turning into a demonic being.
It was Xuan Qinghong's resounding slap, his disappointed gaze, that finally pulled Bai Ran out of the abyss.
Xuan Qinghong saw infinite possibilities in Bai Ran, infinite light, and thus did not wish for her to be filled with malevolence and walk down the wrong path.
His methods might have been extreme, his personality perhaps stern, but it was precisely because of this that Bai Ran was able to sober up so quickly and maintain her true self.
Half an hour later, Bai Ran stood up with difficulty, propping herself up with her arms.
Her arms, which had blocked Xuan Qinghong's attacks, were covered in large patches of bruising and contusions. Her body also bore various injuries.
"That's enough for today," Xuan Qinghong said with a sigh, looking at her. "Improving strength is not something that happens overnight. You don't need to be so anxious."
"Disciple can continue..." She swallowed the metallic taste in her mouth and clenched her fists.
Parents, this word was too distant for Bai Ran. After so many reincarnations, she had never received care or love from parents.
When she heard others mention their mother, Bai Ran felt only a sense of strangeness.
But when she broke the second seal and saw with her own eyes that gentle hand stroking her head, telling her she was not a jinx.
When she saw that familiar face, cradling her corpse and weeping.
When she saw that frail figure storming into the Divine Realm alone, simply to avenge her.
Bai Ran's heart pounded. The emotion of that moment, the ineffable breakdown, only she knew.
She was not an unwanted child; she had also grown up being loved...
But such a loving mother was betrayed by that man, killed by his own hand under a cold sword...
How could she not be anxious? She desperately wanted to increase her strength, to chop off that man's head!
Then, carrying his head, she would go to her mother's tombstone and say, "Mother... I have avenged you..."
Bai Ran gritted her teeth tightly, her eyes reddening.
Xuan Qinghong looked at her and unconsciously reached out, but he paused in mid-air and then lowered his hand.
"Starting tomorrow, I will increase the intensity of your training."
Bai Ran bit her lower lip and nodded. "Disciple will do her best."
...
Days passed. During the day, she sparred with her master, training until her body was covered in wounds and she could no longer stand.
At night, she would retreat to her room, digesting the knowledge and insights gained during the day.
Under such high-intensity training, Bai Ran's strength surged. She rapidly ascended from the first stage of the Void Refining stage to the peak of the ninth stage.
By the time she reached the peak of the ninth stage of the Void Refining stage, half a year had passed.
Wen Yan and Jiang Ye watched her transformation, becoming more shocked with each passing day, until eventually, they grew numb and resigned themselves to it.
Why bother watching her? Wouldn't it just be frustrating?
Meanwhile, the atmosphere throughout the Demonic Realm was extremely oppressive, as the Demon Lord had been unconscious for half a year...
Jingyun contacted Jingfeng. Upon learning of his Lord's condition, Jingfeng was burning with anxiety. However, he could not abandon Miss Bai and return to the Demonic Realm alone...
Therefore, Tang Yi volunteered, offering to protect Madam in place of Jingfeng.
Jingfeng readily agreed. At that moment, his entire heart was focused on his Lord's safety, and he didn't think much beyond that.
Now, Tang Yi stood coldly outside the barrier, awaiting the appearance of that woman.
Simultaneously, in the Nine Stars Divine Palace of the Divine Realm, Wusi looked at the empty hall, his face showing an unconcealable desolation and loss.