The surging Evil Qi in his body vanished in an instant.

His empty Dantian instantly threw him back to the time he was a little mortal beggar.

Boundless panic swept over him. Not to mention, he was currently at Song Wanning’s mercy, and the sudden loss of his Evil Qi was nearly fatal...

Qi Xiezi looked up at Song Wanning in terror. "You... you did something, didn’t you?"

"Hm?"

Song Wanning raised an eyebrow. "That’s not quite right. You ate the rabbit meat yourself, and you took the antidote yourself. How could you say I tampered with anything?"

"You’re the one who did this to yourself!"

Her eyes curved into crescents, her smile as innocent and radiant as could be, yet it sent a shiver down Qi Xiezi’s spine.

"You... When did you figure it out? What gave me away?"

He was completely baffled. From the moment he met her, he had been meticulously careful, staying in character even when she wasn’t around, terrified she might suddenly appear and see through his deception.

After leaving with Song Wanning, he never let his guard down. At times, he had almost lost himself in the role.

He thought all his preparations were perfect, but it turned out he had only shot himself in the foot.

Seeing the resentment filling Qi Xiezi’s eyes, the smile on Song Wanning’s lips deepened.

She suddenly asked, "Did the person who sent you not tell you my name?"

’If they’d known who I really was, they never would have tried such a foolish trick.’

The question stumped Qi Xiezi. He froze, his cheek pressed so hard against the ground that it had started to feel numb.

"Aren’t you called Meng Xiao?"

He still had a portrait in his Storage Bag. It was a picture of her, with the name "Meng Xiao" written right below it.

"Heh. I’m afraid I have some bad news for you. You’ve been had."

Song Wanning leisurely smoothed a strand of hair. "My name is Song Wanning, a Divinity Transformation cultivator from the Heavenly Inquiry Sect."

She no longer concealed her aura. The overwhelming pressure of the Divinity Transformation Stage crashed down on Qi Xiezi. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

In that instant, it felt as though something had seized his throat in a death grip, cutting off his breath.

His body trembled uncontrollably, and his bones groaned as if they might be crushed to dust at any second.

If the gap between Golden Core Peak and Early-stage Nascent Soul was like the difference between a river and the sea, then the gap between Nascent Soul Peak and Early-stage Divinity Transformation was the difference between heaven and earth.

The higher the Cultivation, the more difficult the chasm was to cross.

This was why the Heavenly Inquiry Sect, despite having numerous Nascent Soul Cultivators, had still fallen from its standing as a Major Sect.

There was simply no comparison between the Nascent Soul and Divinity Transformation stages!

"Ghh—"

Soon, Qi Xiezi began to foam at the mouth. His face contorted, turning a deathly shade of purple.

In that moment, he thought he saw his long-dead great-grandmother beckoning to him.

’Am I about to become the first Nascent Soul Cultivator in history to be suffocated to death?’ he wondered.

Just as despair consumed Qi Xiezi, the pressure suddenly receded like an ebbing tide.

"COUGH, COUGH, COUGH—"

He gasped for air and broke into a violent coughing fit, as if trying to hack up his own lungs.

But the foot on his head remained, pinning him firmly to the ground.

After a long fit of coughing, Qi Xiezi finally felt like he had been brought back from the brink of death.

He lay limp like a fish on dry land, without an ounce of strength left to move.

He stared blankly at the hem of her dress, the name "Song Wanning" echoing in his mind.

Who was Song Wanning?

She was the Alchemist who had reached the rank of Grandmaster while still in the Golden Core Stage!

Who in the world hadn’t heard of her legendary name?

’That bastard actually dared to lie to me?’

’Damn him to hell!!!!’

Qi Xiezi clenched his fists, his body roiling with killing intent.

If he ever got the chance, he would trap that person’s soul in his Soul Summoning Banner and make them suffer for eternity!

As he seethed with hatred, Song Wanning leaned down, bringing her flawless, breathtakingly beautiful face close to his.

The hairs on Qi Xiezi’s arms stood on end. He certainly didn’t believe she had taken a liking to him.

Her eyes, as brilliant as a galaxy, seemed to hold countless reverse-spinning whirlpools. He heard her ask in a soft voice, "Do you want to die alone, or would you rather drag the one who sent you down with you?"

Her voice was as soft as a feather, yet it carried an endless, bone-chilling frost.

He gave a bitter smile. "Can I... choose not to die?"

Song Wanning raised an eyebrow, a wicked grin spreading across her face.

"Nope."

That single word sealed Qi Xiezi’s fate.

Despair flooded Qi Xiezi’s heart, but he still tried to beg for his life.

"Senior, I was blind not to recognize your greatness! I beg you, please spare me this once!"

"This lowly one was forced into this! I had no choice!"

"If you let me go this one time, I will be at your beck and call from now on!"

"If that’s not enough, you can place a contract on me! Let me be your dog, how about it?"

After struggling for so many years in the Cultivation World, he had long since forgotten the meaning of dignity.

He would do anything, absolutely anything, just to survive.

His groveling, tail-wagging display didn’t move Song Wanning in the slightest.

In her past life, not only had he forced her into a perilous situation, but he had also massacred an entire village and framed her for it.

’When those villagers begged for their lives,’ she wondered, ’did he show them even a shred of compassion?’

’When he poisoned all those people in the past, did he ever hesitate?’

The answer was, of course, no.

’However...’

A slight smile touched Song Wanning’s lips as she slowly lifted her foot.

"Whether or not you can be my dog depends on whether you’re qualified."

Qi Xiezi understood instantly. He excitedly lifted his head and barked twice at Song Wanning. "WOOF! WOOF!"

Song Wanning was speechless. "..."

The corner of her mouth twitched. ’This Qi Xiezi is truly shameless!’

"I want you to lure the one who sent you here."

"If you can’t..." She raised a hand, and the Soul Summoning Banner flew into her grasp.

Her voice turned icy. "Then I will refine your Divine Soul into this Soul Summoning Banner!"

The Divine Souls trapped within a Soul Summoning Banner suffer the torments of purgatory every single day. The pain drives them mad, stripping them of their sanity until they are perpetually frenzied.

Only then is their resentment fierce enough to give the banner its devastating power.

This item was an exceedingly common Magical Treasure among Evil Cultivators; almost every one of them had one.

It was a thoroughly detestable tool.

Qi Xiezi knew this all too well, and her words sent a violent shiver through him.

Being trapped in a Soul Summoning Banner was a fate worse than death itself.

But the very fact that he was willing to become an Evil Cultivator just to live proved how terrified he was of dying.

So, without a moment’s hesitation, he immediately nodded in agreement.

"Sen— No, Master! Master, rest assured, I will definitely bring him to you!"

Qi Xiezi plastered a fawning smile on his face. "I only hope that when the time comes, Master, you’ll be merciful and spare this dog’s life."

"Heh heh."

His bootlicking expression was almost too pathetic to watch.

Song Wanning found it difficult to reconcile the man before her with the image of a Nascent Soul Cultivator.

"That will depend on your performance."

She gave him a sliver of hope.

Qi Xiezi’s smile grew even more obsequious. Even if it was a long shot, he had to try.

Besides, he now hated the man who set him up. If it weren’t for him, he wouldn’t be in this mess at all!

’Even if I die,’ he thought, ’I’m dragging that bastard down to hell with me!’