Mo Su and Mo Yi had long since passed their own Divine Soul tribulations and were now waiting nearby for Mo Yue to appear. Yet all they saw was her silhouette tearing through space and vanishing with ease.
"What just happened?"
Mo Yi, whose cultivation hadn't even stabilized yet, had rushed over to spectate Mo Yue's tribulation, only to see her leave like it was nothing.
"Someone tampered with her tribulation array, tried to make her take the lightning on someone else's behalf. You think Mo Yue would swallow that insult?"
"Why didn't you say so earlier? Of course she's going to settle the score. Come on, we have to go help at least!"
Mo Yi dragged Mo Su with him, and together they tore through the void at the same place Jian Dan had vanished.
Meanwhile, Jian Dan had already emerged from the spatial rift. The silver-armored mother bug that had always protected her dantian twitched its antennae, pointing her in the right direction.
Suspended in midair, Jian Dan let her pitch-black Manjushahua robes stir around her. She spread out her Unity-stage divine sense, locking onto Ma Wen in an instant.
"Ma Wen, you shameless old rat. Seizing the body of your junior and then using a substitution array to force me, Mo Yue, to take your Divine Soul tribulation for you? You're asking for death!"
Even before her words had finished, the Mó Yuè Zhǎn hovering behind Jian Dan transformed into its half-true form and cleaved toward one of the mountain peaks within the Ma clan's territory.
Ma Wen had just devoured the younger cultivator's divine soul and was relishing the boost to his own spiritual sense.
Just then, Mo Yue's voice struck his ears like a demonic wail. His expression changed instantly. He pulled out a long-range teleportation talisman and tried to activate it.
Too late.
Mó Yuè Zhǎn split half the mountain in two. Its crescent edge slashed upward from below, bisecting Ma Wen cleanly down the middle.
Even his soul was severed in two, frozen in an expression of shock and fear.
Xiao Yinjia, the little silver-armored bug hiding nearby, promptly swallowed Ma Wen's storage ring and darted into a mountain crevice to rendezvous with its mother.
With the culprit dead, Jian Dan's anger dissipated. She turned and tore open the void once more, heading back the way she came.
A massive hand reached toward her from behind, only to be effortlessly neutralized by another hand.
"Mo Yan, your Heavenly Demon Palace is getting way too arrogant."
The speaker was a Mahayana-stage Zhēnzūn from the Ma family.
"What? It's fine for your Ma clan to plot against my disciple, but not okay for her to strike back? You're doing a terrible job as head of your clan."
"You—"
"Instead of yelling at me, maybe look into what your precious juniors have been up to. If you stay locked in seclusion any longer, the Ma clan might fully fall to demonic arts."
Jian Dan sensed the hand behind her, but she wasn't concerned. With her current cultivation and strength, the Heavenly Demon Palace would protect her. Besides, she hadn't done anything wrong.
So she simply turned and stepped back into the void.
Mó Yuè Zhǎn seemed eager to clash with the giant hand, but when Mo Yan's hand appeared, it knew there was no chance. It quickly whisked Xiao Yinjia into the void with it.
Inside the void, Jian Dan ran straight into Mo Su and Mo Yi.
"Back already? Did you get your revenge?" Mo Su asked as the three of them merged their paths and returned together.
"Ma Wen is dead. I leveled half a mountain while I was at it."
"Hahaha, I knew you wouldn't let it slide. The Ma clan's Zhēnzūn didn't stop you?"
"Master Ancestor stepped in. No fight broke out."
Mo Su nodded. Jian Dan did too.
"Alright, let's go back. The show's over."
"It's not over yet. I still need to sweep my own peak again. Too many little pests crept in. They even dared to scheme against me."
"Come on, relax. You got your revenge, and you even got a bonus. You advanced through the Void Refinement tribulation."
"Don't get smug. Try going through it yourself if you're so bold."
"No thanks. I'm not that capable."
Still exchanging barbs, the three returned to the Heavenly Demon Palace. As soon as they stepped out of the void, cultivators of the palace lined up to offer their congratulations.
The three returned the formalities midair before each heading back to their respective peaks.
Jian Dan disappeared into the sky and reappeared inside the main hall of Mo Ying Peak.
Inside, the managers who had been anxiously waiting finally let out a breath of relief.
"Greetings, Mo Yue Zhūnzhǔ. Congratulations, Peak Master, on your successful breakthrough."
Jian Dan walked to her seat in the hall and sat down, glancing coldly at the gathered managers below.
"That Void Refinement tribulation wasn't easy. Can anyone explain why my defensive formation was so fragile? When exactly was it replaced?"
Ying Luo, the head manager, stepped forward and knelt.
"Zhūnzhǔ, as the chief steward, I failed in my duty and nearly caused a disaster. Please punish me."
"Oh, I'll punish you. But first, explain who you're protecting. Who was it?"
"I—"
"Father, it was all my fault. Please punish me alone. Don't make things hard for my father."
A female cultivator in the Golden Core stage rushed in and knelt beside Ying Luo.
"What is this? Some father-daughter melodrama now?"
"Your subordinate dares not presume."
"Oh, but you do. Didn't your daughter already act?"
"She was deceived, manipulated by someone with ulterior motives. Please show mercy, Zhūnzhǔ."
Jian Dan looked at the pale-faced young woman beside Ying Luo.
"Who was it for?"
The girl looked up at Jian Dan seated above. Her guts twisted with regret. She had been used like a blade.
"I—"
"Enough. Don't waste time. Just give me the name. I bet he's already abandoned you and run away."
The woman clenched her teeth and said, "His name is Lei Li."
"So, that little pest. He actually had some skills."
Jian Dan snapped her fingers.
Lei Li, just stepping out of the teleportation array, suddenly felt his sea of consciousness contract. A split second later, it exploded. He collapsed to the floor, dead before he could react.
At that moment, Du Yanran happened to step into the teleportation hall. She had changed her appearance and was on her way to the Chengli Secret Realm.
She stared in shock at the corpse. That was the same man who had gifted her a phoenix-blood spiritual beast. In her past life, he had been one of her many admirers.
Now he was dead.
But she quickly remembered. In her past life, Lei Li had ambushed her for her cultivation art. Jian Dan would never have let someone like that live.
Du Yanran gritted her teeth and, like the others watching, turned and left.
To her, Lei Li was nothing more than a dead man with no remaining value.
Jian Dan waved her hand and erased Lei Li without hesitation. Such a scheming insect was better dealt with early. She had only kept him alive before to bait Du Yanran. Clearly, that was no longer necessary.
Of course, the girl kneeling in the hall had no idea her so-called beloved was already gone.
"Ying Luo."
At Jian Dan's call, the man looked up, and she immediately drew him into a dream.
Half an hour later, Ying Luo woke up drenched in sweat. Looking at his tearful daughter, he felt an unfamiliar chill.
"Ying Luo, did you see clearly what your precious daughter has done?"
"I did."
"How should she be punished?"
"Let the Discipline Hall handle it. I failed as a father. I will accept my punishment."
"Father!"