Wei Wan kneeled on the ground, recounting the event of Zheng Shengmo being killed by the Red Flame Fox and the disciples besieging the Red Flame Fox.

The man continued to sit with his back to Wei Wan, waiting for her to finish, then snorted coldly:

"The Red Flame Fox is fake."

Wei Wan was stunned, looking at the man in disbelief: "Fake? But we all fought it; the Red Flame Fox’s Li Fire is just as formidable as the legends."

"The last Red Flame Fox in the world died twenty years ago."

The man sneered.

"The Red Flame Fox is extinct?" Wei Wan was taken aback and quickly asked:

"Who killed them?"

The man calmly replied: "Chun Hongtang of the Cyan Lotus Sect."

Wei Wan’s body trembled, her head bowed slightly, and she said no more.

Her father had mentioned Chun Hongtang more than once, especially in that valley where her own cultivation had failed to satisfy him.

Her father would always say how he wished his daughter were Chun Hongtang, not her, the useless one.

Somehow, Wei Wan suddenly recalled the nightmare she just had, the words Mo Sha said to her:

"Father only took to your talent, that’s why he made you his daughter."

Regardless of how her father or brother beat or scolded her, it never bothered her, but whenever they said she was unworthy of being their family, Wei Wan’s heart felt like it was being gouged out by a knife.

She had lived in a deserted valley for twenty years, terrified of loneliness and longing for family.

So every time she heard her father say he wished Chun Hongtang were his daughter, she felt pain and fear.

Even now, when hearing that name, she hesitated to face it.

The man seemed oblivious to Wei Wan’s emotions, or simply didn’t care, he casually said:

"Besides the Red Flame Fox, who else do you think can use Li Fire?"

Wei Wan abruptly raised her head: "Xia Qinglian?"

The man suddenly burst into laughter: "I’ve been searching for her, yet she’s come right to me, Ling, this time you must find her!"

"Yes."

Wei Wan prostrated on the ground giving an obedient response, then asked:

"Father, Elder Zheng’s incident will soon spread across the world, the reputation of the Zhenyang Sect..."

"The Zhenyang Sect is merely a tool, Ling, don’t worry about other things, just find Xia Qinglian, do you understand?"

"Yes."

Wei Wan slowly raised her head, hesitated for a moment, then finally said:

"Father, there’s something I want to ask you."

The man’s voice carried a hint of impatience, coldly he said: "Speak."

Wei Wan bit her lip, hair hanging coldly over her forehead, her voice trembled slightly:

"Father, my brother once said, I... I am not your daughter, you... killed my parents and took me away, is that true?"

"Mo Ling!!"

The man’s voice suddenly turned harsh, Wei Wan’s body trembled, she prostrated on the ground:

"I’m sorry, Father."

The man coldly said: "You have disappointed me too much, you know what to do."

"Yes."

Wei Wan quickly agreed, then took out a God-piercing Whip from the storage bag, presenting it with both hands.

The man in the light curtain did not turn, merely lifting a hand, the God-piercing Whip in Wei Wan’s hand astonishingly flew up by his control! 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

To control objects from thousands of miles away is a feat only achievable in the Divinity Transformation Realm.

Wei Wan seemed accustomed to it, without a hint of surprise, she silently turned around, back to the man in the light curtain, took off her upper garment, revealing her scarred back.

The suspended God-piercing Whip, as if held by a hand, swung down fiercely, harshly striking Wei Wan’s back!

Crack!

As the whip struck the skin, the sound of spikes piercing flesh followed, splattering drops of blood on the ground.

Wei Wan’s body trembled slightly, biting her lip, yet made no sound.

Crackling!

The God-piercing Whip, remotely controlled by the man thousands of miles away, transformed into fleeting shadows, in a short time, it had swung hundreds of times.

Wei Wan remained prostrated on the ground, her fair forehead full of sweat, her body straight as a rod, beneath her was pooled blood.

Her back was now torn and bloodied, not a single patch of intact skin found.

Finally, the man was satisfied, the God-piercing Whip fell to the ground with a crash, Wei Wan silently donned her clothes, turned around, kowtowed to the man:

"Father, please quell your anger, it’s the daughter’s fault."

The man seemed to have vented enough, his voice finally mellowed:

"Ling, I know you resent me for leaving you alone in the valley then, but had I not done so, how could you focus on cultivation, how could you have today’s cultivation level and accomplishments?"

"Mo Sha already disappointed me once, I don’t want you to follow his path, do you understand?"

"You are my daughter, everything I do is for you, don’t you believe your father’s words?"

Wei Wan’s forehead pressed against the cold ground soaked in her own blood, respectfully answered:

"Father, the daughter was wrong, the daughter will definitely heed your words!"

The man nodded, very satisfied saying: "That’s good, since Xia Qinglian dared to masquerade as the Red Flame Fox, she certainly harbors intentions, she should still be with you, find a way to uncover her."

"Yes."

Seeing Wei Wan return to her obedient demeanor, the man continued:

"Another thing, the Feixian Competition in half a year, you must secure the qualification to enter the Immortal Flying Pavilion and retrieve a treasure for me."

The Feixian Competition is a major event throughout the cultivation realm, held once every twenty years, all young cultivators of the Hongzhou Continent can participate.

The top three cultivators can enter the Immortal Flying Pavilion for half a day, freely viewing the scripture techniques inside, and are allowed to choose a treasure.

Wei Wan respectfully asked: "Father, what treasure do you desire?"

"Soul Supplement Seal."

Wei Wan raised her head in surprise at the man’s words.

"Soul Supplement Seal?"

This treasure she had heard of, it’s not a magical artifact for aiding cultivation or magical combat, its sole purpose is to complete fractured souls.

But rarely are souls incomplete, hence the Soul Supplement Seal is of little use to most.

"You must retrieve this treasure for me, understand?"

"Yes, Father."

The light curtain vanished, the bead fell, Wei Wan hurriedly reached to catch it, tears suddenly fell on her previously expressionless face during the whipping.

She collapsed on the ground, her hair and body stained red by the blood below, delicate hands cradling the bead upon her chest.

"Father, why do you deceive me, why..."

...

The following day.

Zhenlian City walls.

The guards suddenly shouted loudly:

"The demonic beasts from Qilian Mountain have returned! They’ve recovered!"

"The Beast Tide has receded!"

"The Beast Tide has receded!"

The end of the Beast Tide is signaled by the disappearance of high-grade demonic beasts, the controlled low-grade demonic beasts revert to normal, returning to their former habitats.

At this moment, the guards observed countless low-grade demonic beasts returning to Qilian Mountain, resuming their prior docility.

By noon that day, Xu Jiangxing and Jian Yue received transmission messages from various places.

Eastern Cultivator, South Demon, West Imperial, Northern Wilderness Four Domains, high-grade demonic beasts vanished, low-grade demonic beasts restored to normal.

This also signifies that this Beast Tide has entirely ended.

Then, Jian Yue, Su Xin, Chun Ningzhi, Wei Wan and others also received commands from the Zhenyang Sect for all disciples protesting the Beast Tide to return to Zhenyang Mountain to report within three days.

That night, Xu Jiangxing hosted a banquet to bid farewell to the Immortal Masters of the Zhenyang Sect.

At the farewell banquet, He Zhiqiu, an outer sect disciple from Divinity Transformation Peak, replaced Zheng Shengmo, becoming the most revered Zhenyang Sect disciple.

Together with He Zhiqiu’s heroics in single-handedly repelling the Red Flame Fox, rumors about Zheng Shengmo’s scandal, which involved violating young female disciples and the downfall of countless disciples, spread worldwide simultaneously.

The next day, Jian Yue led a crowd of Zhenyang Sect disciples out of Zhenlian City, embarking on the journey back to Zhenyang Mountain.

With cultivators traveling swiftly, by nightfall they were less than two thousand miles from Zhenyang City.

The group rested in a mountain forest.

Late at night.

Ruo Mei emerged from her resting tent, walked to a forest away from the camp, suddenly turned back.

"Senior Sister Wei, you’ve been secretly watching me these past two days, what exactly do you want?"