Li Kun's expression was stern, his eyes icy as he grabbed Nangong Zhenyuan by the collar and demanded,
"What exactly happened back then!"
Nangong Zhenyuan looked at Li Kun, then at Bai Yun, a mocking smile on his face. "Didn't I make myself clear? Nangong Yu once clung to my leg, begging me not to kill you. Otherwise, do you think your few brothers could have escaped the encirclement of my Nangong clan and the Great Zhou imperial family?"
The entire hall fell silent.
Bai Yun stood by, her expression frigid.
Back then, the Western clan of Great Zhou had set a trap in Tiangu Mountain. Li Kun and seven other top martial experts had fought to the death, carving out a path of survival for her.
The Nangong clan had not been involved in that ambush.
"The reason?"
Bai Yun was silent for a moment, then asked calmly,
"What was his reason for doing this?"
Nangong Zhenyuan's eyes were filled with mockery as he pointed at Bai Yun and shouted, "Because he liked you!"
"Even with Xi Lengxue, he still liked you, even kneeling before Xi Lengxue. He begged me with his life to let you live, otherwise, you would have died long ago. Did you really think you could escape the Nangong family's pursuit? That was all thanks to Nangong Yu!"
"Impossible!"
Bai Yun's expression turned icy, her Three Thousand Ruthless Silks erupting, instantly chilling the surrounding air into wind blades of winter.
"Nangong Yu, that hypocrite, never liked me. He betrayed Li Kun and married Xi Lengxue. How could he have pleaded for us? You're lying!"
Nangong Zhenyuan chuckled mockingly.
"Believe it or not, he did it once."
Bai Yun's eyes were cold. "This is all a story you've fabricated to make me show mercy, but you underestimate me, Bai Yun!"
"The hardships and suffering I've endured all these years were for this day, to destroy your Nangong family!"
Bai Yun's voice boomed, her aura exploding outwards, startling the others on the mountaintop who quickly took up defensive positions around Nangong Zhenyuan.
Just then, two more groups of people slowly flew in from the sides of the horizon: the allied forces of the Eastern clan and the Cheng clan's domain lords. Their numbers were roughly the same as Bai Yun's group, surrounding the Nangong contingent.
"Patriarch Bai, why waste words? Just kill him," said Dongfang Jing, the head of the Eastern clan, indifferently.
His Dongfang clan was also a super clan. Although they had paid a heavy price attacking the sect, even losing over half their domain lords, it would all be worth it if they could finally annex the Nangong clan.
Leading the Dongfang clan to rank among the top three hundred clans, even challenging the Xuanyuan, and leaving his name in history, Dongfang Jing could not wait any longer!
"Yes, Patriarch Bai Yun, delays breed trouble. The Nangong family is already a lamb to the slaughter. Let's not drag this out any further," said Cheng Lu, the head of the Cheng clan.
The Cheng family was far from those super clans. Cheng Lu didn't aspire to surpass the Xuanyuan clan, but he knew there was a massive prize before him. If they could successfully devour this prize, the Cheng family would finally solidify their position among the hundred clans.
To obtain this prize, they had traveled arduous journeys and paid an extremely heavy price. Now, only one step remained, and he too was impatient.
If it weren't for the fact that they knew Bai Yun's hatred for the Nangong clan, Cheng Lu and Dongfang Jing would have already attacked and wouldn't be wasting time here.
Bai Yun glanced at the two and said faintly,
"What, are you afraid I'll suddenly change my mind?"
Dongfang Jing cupped his hands and smiled, "Never."
Cheng Lu echoed, "Delays breed trouble."
Bai Yun looked at the two without speaking, then suddenly thrust a palm backward. The Three Thousand Ruthless Silks transformed into invisible killing intent, surging towards Nangong Zhenyuan.
"Defend! Protect the old Patriarch and retreat to the ancestral shrine!"
Nangong Mao Guan roared, leading the remaining members of the Nangong clan to form a defense, attempting to block Bai Yun's palm strike together.
But Bai Yun was not the only one attacking; there were also the cultivators from the three great clans and other clans, outnumbering the Nangong forces by a factor of three.
"Bai Yun, wait a moment. The truth is not yet clear, and Nangong Zhenyuan cannot be killed!"
Li Kun intervened, joining the Nangong clan's formation to resist Bai Yun. However, her strength was too immense. The moment their attacks collided, he was sent flying backward, shattering countless boulders.
"—Pfft!"
Bai Yun was forced back several steps by the cold jade. She said in a deep voice,
"All of this is the old man's lie."
"If Nangong Yu had truly helped us, why didn't he say so? If he truly loved me, why did he marry Xi Lengxue!?"
Seeing Bai Yun charging forward again, her power immense, the Three Thousand Ruthless Silks growing like sky-reaching vines, breaking through all defenses as if entering an empty realm, she reached Nangong Zhenyuan once more and threw a punch.
"Old dog, die!"
Nangong Zhenyuan gritted his teeth and raised his withered, branch-like arm to meet the punch, its power equally terrifying.
Although his talent was not as good as Nangong Yu's, and his cultivation was only at the peak of the Domain Lord realm, he had still awakened the True Phoenix bloodline.
Even though his blood had dried up, he was severely injured, and he was nearly two hundred years old, he was still strong.
But not as strong as Bai Yun.
With a single punch, Nangong Zhenyuan was ruthlessly sent flying again. The terrifying Ruthless Great Dao seeped into his body along his arm, dissolving his flesh and bones and joints like peeling layers of silk.
The piercing pain made Nangong Zhenyuan break out in a cold sweat, but he did not cry out.
"Protect the Ancestor!"
Seeing Bai Yun injure Nangong Zhenyuan, Nangong Mao Guan and Li Kun could no longer hold back. They instantly moved to block Bai Yun, both unleashing a palm strike.
"Boom!"
The three hands collided. The cold and hot dao laws clashed, finally exploding outwards. The shockwaves caused the ground of the entire mountaintop to collapse, and all three were pushed back.
This exchange was a draw.
Nangong Mao Guan and Li Kun, combined, fought Bai Yun to a stalemate.
The Nangong clansmen who witnessed this felt a sense of despair, as injuries seemed to have no impact on Bai Yun's combat power, instead making her even stronger.
In fact, trading injuries for injuries and being reborn was the specialty of the Nangong clan. It was thanks to their True Phoenix bloodline that they could defend their sect for so many days despite such a significant disparity in numbers.
But even the strongest bloodline eventually tires. They were not true divine phoenixes.
Li Kun looked at Nangong Zhenyuan, noting his extremely poor condition, seemingly on the verge of death. He couldn't help but speak again,
"Bai Yun, tell your people to stop."
"I have a premonition that there might be hidden circumstances surrounding what happened back then. Perhaps Nangong Yu was forced. We cannot wrongly accuse him!"
Upon hearing this, Dongfang Jing and Cheng Lu began to feel inexplicably nervous.
If Bai Yun were to stop, it would be difficult for their two families alone to defeat the remaining members of the Nangong clan.
But fortunately, Bai Yun did not change her mind.
Bai Yun looked at Li Kun, her eyes trembling slightly, but then her expression turned icy. She said coldly,
"All Nangong clan members are to be killed without mercy."
"There is no other conclusion to what happened back then. They all deserve to die!"
Bai Yun said, leading her people forward again. One by one, the domain lords who stood in their way fell. The combat strength was completely uneven. Countless terrifying overlords bled and died with regret, and at the same time, countless geniuses with great potential and bright futures also fell.
The frontal battlefield showed a one-sided trend.
Dongfang Jing and Cheng Lu exchanged glances and smiled.
Ultimately, they didn't care about the truth of what happened back then. As long as Bai Yun remained resolute, the Nangong clan would be destroyed.
Elsewhere, Xu Mu, hiding in a corner, watched it all silently. He couldn't figure out how he could help.
Bai Yun's refusal to heed Li Kun's advice and Nangong Zhenyuan's explanation was within his expectations.
Because she had suffered too much, and her sole wish in life was revenge. If she were told at this moment that Nangong Yu hadn't betrayed her, that he had actually loved her, no one could accept it.
In other words, it wasn't that Bai Yun didn't want to know the truth.
It was that she had to make the truth she knew *be* the truth.
But Nangong Zhenyuan was alive, and he was beginning to deny that truth.
Therefore, Bai Yun had to kill him.
...