Chapter 402 - 408: Late-stage Void Refining, Abnormal Fire Upgrade

With that, Song Wanning laughed even more maniacally, as if the people before her were already marked for death.

"What did you say?"

"You killed Senior Sister Song?"

"And you killed more than ten disciples from the Canglan Sect?"

"Li Meng, have you gone insane?"

The disciples were shocked by these claims. They knew Li Meng’s strength perfectly well—how could he possibly be a match for Senior Sister Song?

Not to mention there were more than ten other people there.

"Li Meng, you must be delusional! With that paltry strength of yours, you’re not even fit to carry Senior Sister Song’s shoes. And you fantasize about killing her?"

"This is hysterical. I think Li Meng has really lost his mind."

Once they processed it, they all looked at Li Meng with utter disdain.

Their initial anger was long gone, replaced only by mockery and derision at the absurdity of it all.

Suddenly, someone noticed something was off.

"Wait, you’re not Li Meng at all!"

"I don’t remember Li Meng’s voice sounding like this!"

Although they weren’t close with Li Meng, they had interacted with him before.

The more they listened, the more unnatural the voice sounded. It was obviously a forced imitation.

"Who the hell are you?"

Their expressions instantly turned grim, and killing intent radiated from them.

"Hiss... To think you’ve actually found me out. You’re certainly smarter than Song Lan Tian!"

Song Wanning sneered, wasted no more words, and resumed her fight with the group.

However, to avoid revealing her identity, she didn’t want to use too many of her abilities. She suddenly feigned a flare-up of an internal injury, put on a panicked expression for a moment, and then flew off in escape.

The group gave chase for a bit but couldn’t catch her, leaving them horrified.

But with the thought of the vast amounts of Spiritual Marrow behind them, they couldn’t bear to abandon it and had no choice but to go back.

Only after they finished collecting all the Spiritual Marrow did they send a message to Song Lan Tian via the Sect’s Communication Jade Scroll.

But they waited and waited, yet their message vanished without a trace, like a stone dropped into the ocean.

The group couldn’t help but exchange horrified glances.

’Could it be that everything that person said was true?’

...

"Sister, why didn’t you reveal Xiao Heyun’s face to them? What if they don’t connect this to Xiao Heyun?"

The Dragon Spirit furrowed its brow, its chubby little face filled with confusion.

’If the plan fails, wouldn’t all your efforts be wasted?’

Hearing this, Song Wanning reached out to pat its head, then gave it a good ruffle before explaining with a smile, "If I make it too obvious, it’ll just arouse suspicion."

"It’s the ambiguous red herrings that are more likely to make people draw their own conclusions."

"Everyone knows by now that Xiao Heyun has snuck into the Secret Realm. With this incident on top of that, the Canglan Sect will definitely investigate."

"Then, they’ll naturally discover that their own disciple died long ago, and that Xiao Heyun took his place. At that point, the deaths of Song Lan Tian and the ten-plus others will all be blamed on him."

"This time, the Canglan Sect has not only lost disciples but also suffered the great humiliation of letting him sneak into the Secret Realm. They will surely hunt him down with everything they’ve got!"

"More importantly..."

Song Wanning’s smile suddenly turned rather wicked.

"Jiang Cen’s own father will also hold Xiao Heyun accountable, and when that time comes..."

’When two invaders clash, it’s sure to be interesting.’

"Tsk, that sounds like fun. Scheming against them is even more satisfying than just beating them up!"

’These actions will slowly chip away at their fortune. In the end, they’ll suffer the same fate as Ye Chuxue.’

The mere thought of it made the Dragon Spirit giddy. This was going to be fun, so much fun!

"Alright, the Secret Realm is about to close. Once Little Fire successfully advances, we’ll go look around some more."

She glanced down at her own rosy palm.

All around her was the dust left from the Flame Stones, nearly piled into a small mound.

This time, she had absorbed all the Flame Stones in the Flame Mountain, and her cultivation had naturally advanced to the Late-stage Void Refining realm.

She had advanced twice in quick succession, with very little time in between, but Song Wanning felt no discomfort whatsoever.

If circumstances permitted, she would have wanted to stay and cultivate in the Flame Mountain indefinitely. The training speed there was much faster than in the outside world.

Unfortunately...

She smiled. ’It’s best not to be too greedy.’

Haste makes waste. She needed to focus on Alchemy for a while to both consolidate her cultivation and improve her alchemy skills.

Ever since obtaining the legacy of the Alchemy Dao, she seemed to be busy every single day.

As for her clone, she would just let it search for treasures outside for now. When the Secret Realm was about to close, they would merge back into one.

...

Time slowly passed. The Divine Nether Profound Fire suddenly rose from the bottom, the heat of its flames nearly gone.

Although it was an Abnormal Fire, the Divine Nether Profound Fire’s rank wasn’t considered high, making it seem rather useless against some High-level Cultivators.

Now that it had absorbed the Fire Spirit, its aura changed abruptly, becoming more and more unfathomable.

More importantly, the Divine Nether Profound Fire could finally speak.

"Sister!!!"

It excitedly threw itself into Song Wanning’s arms, nuzzling against her affectionately again and again.

It used to be so envious watching its brothers speak. Now, it could finally speak in a human voice and communicate directly with its sister.

"Little Fire!"

Song Wanning looked at it in pleasant surprise, a hint of satisfaction flashing in her eyes.

"Well done! I knew you could do it!"

She lavished the Divine Nether Profound Fire with praise, and soon Little Fire blushed, blinking its luminous eyes, its heart brimming with joy.

The Dragon Spirit also came closer and exclaimed dramatically.

"Sister, you’re incredible! From now on, you and Big Brother have to protect me!"

’My combat power is the weakest. Of course I need my big brother and sister to protect me!’

"Okay, I will definitely protect you."

The Divine Nether Profound Fire nodded gently, its face growing even redder.

Song Wanning interrupted them with a smile, "Alright, since you’re ready, let’s go!"

She led them back the way they had come, returning to the original cave.

Zhang Shuning had woken up some days earlier. Song Wanning had fed her an Elixir Pill, and she was currently waiting in the cave.

Seeing Song Wanning come up, her eyes lit up, and a faint blush appeared on her cheeks.

"Junior Sister Song, you’ve advanced?"

Song Wanning had previously told her that she needed to cultivate in the Rock Fire Pool, so she hadn’t been in a hurry to leave.

One reason was to recuperate, and the other was to act as a protector for Song Wanning, to prevent any outsiders from disturbing her.

Whenever she thought of how Song Wanning had rescued her, Zhang Shuning’s heart filled with gratitude.

Song Wanning had been so incredibly awe-inspiring at that moment.

She had filled her with such a sense of security that she had actually fainted.

Fortunately, Song Wanning wasn’t a bad person and had even waited for her to wake up.

And that kind of security was something she had only ever felt from her own Master.

So, although she called her Junior Sister Song, her eyes were filled with respect and gratitude.

"Yes, there were a lot of Flame Stones in here, so I happened to advance."

Song Wanning smiled and turned to look into the Flame Pool.

Jiang Cen, who had been inside, had disappeared a long time ago.

Even though the Golden Small Sword had been keeping watch here the entire time, she still managed to vanish.

’It seems her luck is as good as ever.’

’But once she’s out, she won’t be so lucky.’

The corner of Song Wanning’s lips curled up as she led Zhang Shuning away.