Chapter 649 - 656: Gong Ye’s Demise

The Immortal Furnace wasn’t needed, but the Heavenly Punishment arrived right on cue, striking the flood dragon and sending it flying.

The wrathful Heavenly Punishment completely enveloped Gong Ye. A powerful current struck him, tearing his flesh asunder and leaving him dizzy, dazed, and in excruciating pain.

He was shocked and bewildered. The immense pain was nothing compared to the shock he felt.

Dazed, he let the heavenly lightning crash down on him.

Even after the Heavenly Punishment dissipated, he still couldn’t quite come to his senses.

"Impossible..."

Gong Ye’s voice was filled with disbelief.

Even now, he was unwilling to believe it.

"This must be a coincidence. A coincidence!"

"I know you can summon lightning. You did this on purpose, didn’t you?"

Gong Ye raised his bloodshot eyes and stared daggers at Song Wanning.

He didn’t believe it!!!

"Sigh."

Song Wanning let out a soft sigh.

"You still haven’t accepted reality, have you?"

"In that case, let’s do it again. You should know in your heart whether I’m the one summoning the lightning."

’Since he’s still unwilling to believe, I’ll do it again and crush his hopes for good.’

Gong Ye’s claws began to tremble. He wanted to test it again, yet he was terrified of confirming the dreadful truth.

But in the end, he chose to test it one more time.

He forced his body up and charged at Song Wanning again.

"BOOM—"

The Heavenly Punishment descended once more, striking Gong Ye again.

He plummeted to the ground, the last glimmer of light in his eyes completely extinguished.

"You were never destined to kill me."

"From the very beginning, our ending was preordained."

Song Wanning’s voice drifted over from a distance.

Gong Ye closed his eyes in despair as a tear escaped from the corner of his eye.

"Heh, heh, heh..."

He began to laugh softly, tears streaming down his face in an endless flow.

Only now did he finally accept reality.

No matter what he did, he could never kill Song Wanning. What was the difference between this and simply waiting for death?

This battle was destined to end with his defeat.

He was the intruder Song Wanning spoke of—an intruder doomed to be annihilated.

Then what did all his suffering over the years amount to?

What did all his years of effort count for?

How ironic!

How utterly ironic!!

"Hahahaha—"

Gong Ye roared with laughter, his Dao heart shattering completely.

Song Wanning stared at him, her eyes devoid of any pity.

An intruder was destined to become a puppet of the Wood Sculpture Realm, endangering the entire Cultivation World.

Not to mention, he had planned to rear those monsters and control the entire world.

For any of these reasons, Gong Ye could not be allowed to live.

"Now, do you believe me?"

Song Wanning walked slowly toward Gong Ye, watching the light in his eyes extinguish bit by bit.

If, at the beginning, Gong Ye’s heart had been filled with indignation and resentment, now, it was completely dead.

He stared blankly at Song Wanning, a smile forming on his lips.

"They say a woman’s heart is the most venomous. Today, I’ve finally come to understand that!"

He had realized that everything today was a deliberate plot by Song Wanning.

But even if he knew, so what?

The outcome was already set. No matter how he struggled, he was doomed to die!

Even if he managed to escape today, he would still fall to Song Wanning’s hands sooner or later.

Because Song Wanning had the ultimate backing—an unshakable one.

"Song Wanning, you’re nothing but a lapdog of the Heavenly Dao."

"Once your usefulness is spent, do you really think the Heavenly Dao will let you live?"

"These secrets should be buried deep. Only the dead can keep them, don’t you think?"

Gong Ye’s face was filled with scorn. Though he had lost the will to live, he still deluded himself into thinking he could shatter Song Wanning’s Dao heart.

He was trying to drive a wedge between her and the Heavenly Dao.

But did Song Wanning care?

No.

She looked down on Gong Ye and said, word by word, "Even if I am abandoned by the Heavenly Dao, I will still have the courage to fight back."

"You and I are not the same!"

’It was just like in the Lower World. She had thought the Heavenly Dao was targeting her then, yet she withstood the pressure, held fast to her Dao heart, and rose up to fight back.’

At her words, Gong Ye was stunned for a moment before bursting into laughter once more.

Only then did he realize the true difference between himself and Song Wanning.

The resentment in his heart burgeoned in that instant.

"Song Wanning, I don’t consider it a loss to have been defeated by you!"

"But you must remember, you won’t be victorious every time."

"An intruder will eventually surpass you and kill you!"

His gaze was firm but held a hint of darkness, making it unclear whether he was threatening Song Wanning or trying to console himself.

Then, he rapidly self-destructed.

It happened so fast that he exploded in the blink of an eye.

But Song Wanning was already prepared. The instant Gong Ye began to self-destruct, she leaped behind him and slammed her palm down hard on the top of his skull.

At the same time, the Immortal Furnace appeared before her, shielding her completely.

"BOOM—"

His skull shattered and his body self-destructed at almost the same instant.

A terrifying wave of power swept out in all directions.

Countless trees, plants, and rocks were sent flying, and even the topsoil itself was ripped from the ground.

The Array was shattered by the impact and instantly dispersed.

The force of the blast continued to surge outward.

This was the self-destruction of a Mahayana cultivator!

A giant mushroom cloud rose into the sky, instantly engulfing everything within a ten-li radius.

The mountain beneath them began to crumble, with signs of collapse all around.

Song Wanning bore the brunt of the blast. Fortunately, the Immortal Furnace protected her, allowing her to evade the worst of the impact.

Her robes whipped about wildly, but her expression remained resolute. Even as the shockwave struck her, causing intense pain, she did not let go.

The look of indignation and hatred in Gong Ye’s eyes before his death seemed to flash before her.

With complicated feelings, Song Wanning had finally managed to extract Gong Ye’s memories at the very moment he self-destructed.

Having gotten what she wanted, she retreated, riding the force of the blast high into the air.

Looking down, she saw that Gong Ye’s body had been turned to ash, with nothing left behind.

Even in accepting death, he had tried to drag Song Wanning down with him in the end.

In the end, he was simply unable to accept his fate.

Who knows what Gong Ye must have felt upon seeing Song Wanning emerge unscathed.

But that no longer mattered.

’Gong Ye should have died long ago!’

...

The shockwave from the self-destruction finally dissipated, leaving the surroundings in complete ruins.

A hundred-li radius had suffered damage to varying degrees, but the area around the cave was hit the worst.

Nearly the entire mountain had collapsed, leaving the landscape completely unrecognizable.

Li Qingya’s body was also destroyed in the explosion, leaving not a single trace behind.

Song Wanning spread out her Divine Sense and spotted several figures standing in the far distance, not daring to come closer.

She paid them no mind, took one last look at the spot where Gong Ye had self-destructed, and turned to leave.

The last intruder in the Spirit Realm had been dealt with, and a great weight was lifted from her heart.

But...

Song Wanning’s brow furrowed. She couldn’t shake a lingering feeling of unease in her heart.

She looked up at the sky. ’I’m following the Heavenly Dao’s guidance with every step. The next task should be to figure out how to restore the two realms.’