Gu Qingli swiftly withdrew her smile and pressed her small hand against the black hemispherical orb.
In that instant, the Phoenix Flame Art stirred within her, sending an invisible surge of internal energy crashing into the sphere.
Not a single soul in the grand hall detected the surge.
Suddenly, the black orb trembled, followed by faint, brittle cracking sounds.
Under the bewildered and disbelieving gazes of the crowd, spiderweb-like fissures slowly crept along the two-meter-tall glass tube above it.
"Li'er!" Gu Zhan cried out, his figure flashing forward as he scooped his seemingly dazed daughter into his arms.
Boom!
A thunderous shatter erupted as the entire glass column exploded, shards flying in all directions. Even the adjacent apparatus was struck, and in a blink, both testing instruments lay in ruins. The onlookers stood frozen, dumbstruck.
"Heavens! She destroyed the testing device!"
Someone gasped, and chaos instantly erupted within the hall.
Gu Qingli covertly glanced at the clan patriarch, who had shot to his feet. His square-jawed face was livid, trembling with fury. She wrapped her arms tightly around her father's neck in feigned terror, though inwardly she wore a cold, mocking smile.
Ouyang Qian had turned ghostly pale, her body swaying as if on the verge of collapse—her daughter had just committed a catastrophe.
Curses and scoldings surged in from all directions. The rarity and value of the testing apparatus were well known—this one had taken the Gu family over a century to complete and was guarded like a treasured heirloom.
No one could have imagined it would be so utterly destroyed by Gu Qingli. How could the clan not be furious?
Gu Qingli pressed her lips together, somewhat surprised at the magnitude of the outrage her actions had provoked.
"Father, I didn't mean to…" she murmured.
Gu Zhan rushed to explain, "Li'er didn't do it on purpose!"
"Guards! Expel this mother and daughter from the Gu family at once!"
The patriarch's thunderous roar shook the room. His face was ashen with rage, and murderous intent blazed in his eyes.
Gu Qingli had no doubt the old man wished to strangle her on the spot. Her mood darkened—she hadn't anticipated the incident would escalate so drastically, nor that her mother would be dragged into the consequences.
Her teeth gently bit her lip. After all, she was still his granddaughter by blood—how could he be so heartless?
"Father!" Gu Zhan cried out, staring in horror at the patriarch while clutching Gu Qingli protectively, refusing to let her go. Ouyang Qian, stunned and bloodless, stood motionless beside them.
"Gu Zhan, are you defying me?!" the patriarch thundered, fury spilling from him like a torrent.
"She is my wife, and Li'er is my daughter—I will never abandon them!" Gu Zhan declared without hesitation, tightening his arms around the little girl in his embrace.
Gu Qingli looked up at her father, deeply moved, guilt creeping into her heart. Her rashness had brought calamity upon her parents—but it was already too late for regret.
"Fine! Go with them, then! Or have them leave this place at once! The Gu family has no room for such useless, disgraceful wretches!" the patriarch bellowed, the muscles on his face twitching with venomous fury.
All around, spectators watched with thinly veiled schadenfreude, none more gleeful than Han Jiao, whose eyes sparkled with the urge to burst into laughter.
Gu Zhan's eyes reddened as he locked gazes with his father.
Then, with a cold, contemptuous laugh, he took his weeping wife by the hand, cradled Gu Qingli tightly, and turned his back on them all.
A family without warmth or love—such a home was not worth keeping.
News of the incident spread rapidly through Loulan City. Gu Zhan was reviled as a rebellious, unfilial son; Ouyang Qian, branded a seductive curse and jinx; and Gu Qingli, scorned as a good-for-nothing disgrace—an untalented, spoiled wretch.