Song Qingyun was a bit dizzy, finding it all simply unbelievable.

Song Wanning smiled and pressed down on his shoulders, making him sit.

"Don’t be so surprised. I’ve deliberately suppressed my cultivation. Right now, no one but you knows that I’m the Great Demon!"

Song Qingyun glared at her. "You little rascal, are you making fun of your own father now? Didn’t you see you nearly scared me to death!"

Wan Ning’s cultivation had always been relatively smooth, and her talent was exceptional, but progressing this quickly was simply unnatural.

Now that she could even command Demonic Qi, he was worried his daughter had strayed onto a demonic path.

Song Wanning knew exactly what he was worried about and reached out to smooth his furrowed brow.

"Don’t worry. I won’t draw unnecessary attention to myself. I won’t display my Demonic Qi carelessly, and I’ll make sure no one finds out."

She placed the inner core in Song Qingyun’s hand. "Dad, you take this. Try to break through to the Divinity Transformation realm as soon as possible."

"But... once you break through, you must find a way to conceal it. That way, we can give the person pulling the strings a little surprise."

The one pulling the strings wouldn’t give up after a single failure; they would surely try something else.

’In this life, I haven’t become a demon, so they can’t use that as an excuse to attack the Song Family. But there’s no telling what other wicked schemes they might devise.’

’That’s why some trump cards must be kept hidden.’

"Also, don’t be stingy with resources like Spirit Stones and Elixir Pills. Cultivate our disciples with all your might so we’ll have the strength to resist in the future."

Song Wanning was thinking far ahead. Song Qingyun shot her a smiling glare.

"I thought of that long ago. Did you really think I needed you to tell me?"

Ever since they acquired the Spirit Stone Mine, the benefits for the Song Family’s disciples had improved dramatically.

But they were all tight-lipped about it. Besides the disciples involved in the mining operation, the rest of the disciples were kept in the dark.

"Still, this inner core wasn’t easy to come by. You should keep it for yourself."

’His daughter had risked her life for this. How could he bear to take it?’

But Song Wanning insisted. "I’m advancing too quickly. If I use another inner core now, I’m afraid my foundation will become unstable."

"If it just sits around, the inner core will go to waste."

After a great deal of persuasion, Song Qingyun finally accepted the inner core.

He secretly vowed to ruin the plans of the mastermind and protect the Song Family.

...

「At the Heavenly Inquiry Sect, Song Wanning returned to Yunxiao Peak.」

She was in high spirits throughout the journey back, especially since seeing that Ye Chuxue and Gu Qingyuan seemed to be giving each other the cold shoulder over the search for Bai Yang. She found it utterly laughable.

’Those two deserved each other. They should be shackled together and nailed to a pillar of shame.’

"Master, you’re finally back!"

Li Rao was overjoyed to see her Master and immediately ran over.

Song Wanning smiled as she picked her up, then quizzed her on the lessons she had been assigned.

Li Rao had completed everything well, and her cultivation had risen slightly.

It was just that her aptitude was average, and her luck was ordinary as well, so her progress was bound to be slower.

She didn’t mind. She played with her young disciple for a while before sending her on her way.

’She didn’t care whether Li Rao could help her or the Song Family.’

’Song Wanning was simply repaying a debt of gratitude, wanting to provide her with an opportunity to cultivate in peace.’

’At first, she’d considered sending Li Rao to the Song Family, but their fate was still uncertain. To avoid entangling Li Rao in their affairs, she ultimately chose to keep her by her side.’

’As long as she cultivated diligently, she would be able to make a life for herself at the Heavenly Inquiry Sect, even if something happened to Wanning.’

A thoughtful glint appeared in Song Wanning’s eyes. Standing in the doorway and looking down, she saw Bai Yang and Lu Nanfeng tidying up the courtyard.

Lu Nanfeng had thought presenting the Elixir Pills would give him an opportunity, but who could have expected Ye Chuxue to get back in touch with Bai Yang? His bitterness was easy to imagine.

Her lips curved slightly. ’Even heroes fall for a beautiful face. Getting Lu Nanfeng to "become a demon" for love should be easy enough,’ she thought.

’I just need to plot it out carefully. One step at a time.’

...

After returning to the Heavenly Inquiry Sect, Bai Yang had been unable to cultivate with a peaceful mind.

After thinking it over and over, he decided he had to find Song Wanning for a proper talk and sincerely apologize for his past mistakes.

He hesitated for a moment, then found he had already arrived at the entrance of the main hall.

"Master, I have something I need to speak to you about."

He raised his head, looking toward the main hall with anticipation.

He had expected his Master to ignore him as usual, but to his surprise, the great doors swung open on their own.

Night was falling, and the stars hanging high above illuminated his gleaming eyes.

His eyes widened in pleasant surprise.

In a flash of movement, Song Wanning appeared in the doorway, holding a jar of wine. "Let’s go," she said to him. "We can talk on the back mountain."

"Alright!" 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Bai Yang was overjoyed, and for a moment, his eyes shimmered with unshed tears.

He felt wronged, yet also happy. The jumble of emotions left him feeling confused.

But he still followed her, filled with anticipation.

When they reached the back mountain, Song Wanning casually chose a spacious spot and told Bai Yang to gather some dry firewood.

The bonfire was soon lit, its bright flames making their faces glow.

Gazing at his Master through the flickering flames, Bai Yang’s thoughts drifted to the past.

When he was young, his Master often brought him to this back mountain. She would hunt a demon beast, and they would roast and eat it together.

When the two of them were together, they always had endless things to talk about.

He would chatter on and on about his day, or complain about someone who had bullied him.

His Master would always listen attentively and then help him analyze the situation and decide what to do.

But whenever an enemy was too powerful and bullied him, his Master would personally step in to settle the score for him.

Because of this, his Master had offended many people.

’In the past, he hadn’t thought about it that deeply, having grown accustomed to his Master’s favoritism.’

’But only when he truly lost it did he begin to cherish it, even growing panicked at its absence.’

’Thinking about it now, I was a monster. Master treated me so well. How could I have treated her like that?’

"Master, I’m sorry... I was wrong before!"

Bai Yang looked up, his reddened eyes fixed intently on Song Wanning.

"I never should have said those things to you because of an outsider, Master. And I especially shouldn’t have stolen the Elixir Pills, letting you down so badly."

"I shouldn’t have betrayed your kindness to me. I was truly wrong! I’ll never do it again!"

"I hope you can forgive me, Master! Please give me a chance to make amends!"

At that moment, he was utterly sincere.

’Romance might be important, but the bonds of kinship are even more so.’

’My master had accompanied me and cared for me for decades. Ye Chuxue can’t compare to that at all!’

Bai Yang watched Song Wanning cautiously, awaiting her response.

Feeling his fervent gaze, a cold glint flashed in the depths of Song Wanning’s eyes. ’How laughable,’ she thought.

’If an apology could erase everything, then no one in this world would ever have regrets!’

On the surface, however, she pretended to be moved, yet was too proud to agree immediately.

She merely remained silent. Then, she took an egg from her Storage Ring and placed it in Bai Yang’s hand.

The moment the egg was in his hand, a deeply unpleasant sensation suddenly bloomed in Bai Yang’s heart.