There had to be a reason for everything Pei Ling had just done. What surprised Qiao Ranran was that he had attacked Wen Ziheng without taking his life. She had already braced herself and started thinking about how to handle the aftermath, but then...
"Explain what?" Pei Ling asked with a smile, gazing at the living person before him.
"What did you do to Wen Ziheng? He does have symptoms of Cultivation Deviation, but they aren't severe. I didn't examine his pulse, but I can tell his Divine Soul took a tremendous blow. Even if someone nearly used Body Snatching on him before, it shouldn't be in this state. So?"
"I used Soul Search on him," Pei Ling said calmly.
Qiao Ranran: "..." Was she supposed to be surprised?
Pei Ling had spoken of something as grave as Soul Search as though it were perfectly ordinary. She no longer knew whether to be surprised. If Wen Ziheng had undergone Soul Search, the state of his Divine Soul was comparatively mild.
"You held back?" Qiao Ranran tilted her head toward Pei Ling. "Or do you have something else planned?"
Pei Ling rubbed his fingers together. "No other plan. I wouldn't say I held back, either. It just felt pointless."
Wen Ziheng was no longer a threat. Even if Pei Ling did nothing, he did not have much time left. Damage to the Divine Soul was irreversible, and with Wen Ziheng's current Fortune, there was no chance he could wait for a Heaven-and-Earth Spirit Treasure to repair it.
What Qiao Ranran had done over the years had sharply limited Fortune's influence over Wen Ziheng. Unless the Heavenly Dao cast aside all dignity and forcibly meddled with mortal fates, pouring other people's Fortune into him, Wen Ziheng would never rise again.
Unfortunately, Pei