It Was All Too Late

She had seen all sorts of ways to die, and had witnessed countless people's ugly, desperate cries in front of her.

She had always believed that she had seen through life and death and would no longer feel fear towards anything.

But until today, until she faced this man.

She finally understood what true, soul-deep trembling meant.

His power was completely beyond her comprehension.

Her poison, her Formation, her prized Illusionary Technique —all were like child's toys in front of this man, laughable and utterly vulnerable.

"I... I..."

Xue Ji's lips trembled, as if she wanted to say something.

Is it begging for mercy? Is it cursing? Or... using one's last remaining value to buy a sliver of hope?

Her mind was in complete chaos.

"I... I know... all the secrets of the Black Demon Sect..."

Driven by her survival instinct, she mustered her last ounce of strength to utter those words.

"Sect Master... Sect Master's plan... the Sealing Formation of the Demon God... and... and the High Antiquity treasures... I... I can tell you everything!"

She was like a drowning person grasping at a last straw.

She tried to use this information to pique the other party's interest and prove that she still had value to them.

"As long as... as long as you spare my life... I'm willing... I'm willing to serve you as my master and be your most loyal... dog..."

She begged humbly, trampling all her dignity underfoot.

The female Demon Envoy was once high and mighty, looking down on all living beings as ants, is now truly willing to wag her tail and beg for mercy like a dog.

However, Su Zhan simply listened quietly.

His face remained expressionless.

Those deep eyes were as still as a deep well, without a ripple of emotion.

It was as if the secrets Xue Ji spoke of, secrets that could drive the entire cultivation world mad, sounded to him no different from the hawking cries of a roadside vendor.

When Xue Ji, panting heavily, finished listing all the bargaining chips she could think of that she could use in exchange, that's when...

Su Zhan finally spoke slowly.

"Are you done talking?"

His voice remained as calm as ever.

Xue Ji was taken aback, then nodded blankly.

"Oh."

Su Zhan responded.

Then, under Xue Ji's gaze, which was filled with doubt and unease.

He gently tapped her forehead with the finger that had been resting there.

"Now that you've finished speaking..."

"Then I'll get it myself."

"!"

Xue Ji's pupils suddenly shrank to the size of pinpoints!

Soul Search!

He wants to... search his own Soul Search!

No!

Endless fear and despair instantly engulfed her!

She wanted to scream, to rebel, to explode her soul and perish together with this devil!

But it was all too late.

Su Zhan's fingers had already touched her brow.

There was none of the violent, soul-tearing pain I had imagined.

Xue Ji felt a gentle yet irresistible, vast Mental Power, like a starry sea, gently enveloping her entire Sea of Consciousness from between her brows.

That wasn't an intrusion.

That's more like... "reading".

Like an administrator with the highest privileges, calmly browsing through all the files on a computer.

Her memories, her emotions, her Cultivation Method, all her secrets...

From her birth, to joining the Black Demon Sect, to cultivating poison arts, to becoming Demon Envoy, and now to this mission...

Every fragment and detail of her Life Element unfolded slowly and clearly before this vast Mental Power, like a series of paintings.

She had no ability to resist.

She couldn't even muster the thought of "resistance".

Her will, her soul, was as fragile and vulnerable as ice and snow under the sun before this absolute, overwhelming Mental Power.