"Who exactly are you?"

The Great Elder asked this question.

Mei Sicheng naturally recognized Wang Qi's current face. After all, this face had been the center of attention countless times in Luochen Sword Palace.

The legendary genius Xia Li! The strongest Golden Core! Who wouldn't know!

However, if Mei Sicheng still believed that the character "Xia Li" really existed till now... then he would be foolish!

The Third Elder Ru Tianqi couldn't possess such a strange skill to immobilize someone like this, which means this skill definitely belongs to this mysterious person. Have you ever seen a Golden Core who could calmly immobilize a Divine Separation Stage Cultivator?

Moreover...

Mei Sicheng looked at the Sword Qi surrounding him, his eyelid twitched.

This mysterious person's control over the Tai Chu Sword God Array was even higher than his own. Not to mention, he easily grasped Mei Sicheng's greatest secret and trump card!

How could this possibly be achieved by a Golden Core Stage?

Could that guy Ru Tianqi possibly ally with a Golden Core Stage?

So he asked, "Who exactly are you? Could you be the 'demon' Ru Tianqi mentioned?"

"Indeed, from your perspective, you can certainly see it this way." Wang Qi sat down opposite Mei Sicheng, and then picked up a clean cup, pouring himself some wine. After taking a sip, Wang Qi couldn't help but spit it out: "What is this stuff… it certainly tastes like wine, and there's spiritual power coupled in the alcohol, but… the taste is just too weird!"

Mei Sicheng watched everything with indifference: "Spirit Phoenix Island lacks herbal medicine, and most of the spiritual wine recipes left by predecessors are unusable."

"Pah pah... where was I? Oh, from your perspective, I am indeed a demon. Moreover, I am different from the rubbish Demon Path that remains on your Spirit Phoenix Island... I don't extract bone and marrow, but instead, I squeeze out every bit of a person's value and seize their mind, transforming their very spirit..."

Mei Sicheng raised an eyebrow, and pointed upwards: "Heavenly Demon?"

This behavior indeed resembled the legendary Heavenly Demon that would come and go without a trace, infecting people's hearts.

Wang Qi shook his head: "My real name is Wang Qi."

"Wang Qi... Wang Qi!" Mei Sicheng's face showed unmistakable surprise. Unlike Ru Tianqi, who didn't care about continental politics, he had been keeping an eye on even the smallest intelligence from the continent.

Wang Qi, the most talented among the new generation of Wanfa Sect disciples, believed to have the potential to achieve Carefree Travel...

Most importantly, and what Mei Sicheng found hardest to accept...

According to the intelligence, Wang Qi was still a Golden Core... just a Golden Core...

A Golden Core!

The current heterodox, can actually let a Golden Core Stage easily subdue a Divine Separation Stage? How is this possible?

"No, it can't be..." Mei Sicheng, as if grasping at straws, exclaimed: "You can't be Wang Qi, that Wang Qi isn't like this, he..."

Mei Sicheng couldn't finish his sentence. Halfway through, he saw Wang Qi sip another small mouthful of wine, looking at him with a gaze as if caring for a fool. He chuckled bitterly: "Also, a heterodox genius of your level would certainly have to hide your identity coming to Spirit Phoenix Island... but..."

Mei Sicheng still couldn't accept the fact that he was actually being held hostage by a Golden Core Stage, and didn't dare to resist.

"Don't feel disheartened; when I was at Foundation Establishment Stage Great Perfection, I could already suppress Divine Separation Stage Cultivators." Wang Qi sneered: "Your Luochen Sword Palace's other elder Lian Yichen was so afraid to fight back against me at Foundation Establishment Stage Great Perfection."

Mei Sicheng trembled once more.

But soon, he adjusted his emotions, cutting off the trace of wavering in his heart: "What exactly do you want to do?"

"Smart." Wang Qi praised: "Exactly, I came to seek cooperation."

Mei Sicheng seemed to dislike being instructed in such a tone by a Golden Core Stage junior. But he quickly corrected his attitude. He said: "You could quietly subdue Ru Tianqi, I don't think you lack combat power. So, what exactly do you need me to do?"

"I'm not simply seeking to destroy you. Actually, my goal is complicated... it's hard to explain in a short time. But you only need to know one thing. For now, I need you Ancient Method Practitioners to stay alive as much as possible, and for all the 'higher-ups' to be under my control."

"Higher-ups..."

"Divine Separation Stage practitioners and above, I must have direct control over them," Wang Qi said calmly.

Mei Sicheng pondered his words, then asked, "Hmm, may I ask what exactly you intend to do?"

"I'm going to perform a spell—don't worry, this spell won't harm anyone's life. However, high-level cultivators will detect the presence of this spell, and if they find out that there are disturbances in the Sword Palace, it won't be good if it spreads,"

"Spread"? So there are things he's still wary of… is it the Holy Emperor Venerable?

This thought flashed through Mei Sicheng's mind, but he only heard Wang Qi say, "You shouldn't think of telling the Holy Emperor Venerable. To tell you the truth, the mysterious person who fought with the Holy Emperor Venerable several months ago was me. In fact, I'm not too afraid of the Holy Emperor Venerable. However, the valuable and precious empirical life, I'd like to slowly 'use' it last… if he runs away, it would be my loss!"

Mei Sicheng trembled slightly, then laughed awkwardly, uncertain if he believed him or not. He chuckled, "I see, now I understand. Originally, I was already dissatisfied with the Holy Emperor Venerable, so cooperating with you is no problem. However…"

After this "however," Mei Sicheng's voice suddenly turned harsh: "I, Mei Sicheng, have never wanted to be under someone else's control. Someone like you who holds my life as a hostage, I cannot trust."

Wang Qi grinned, "Talking in such roundabout ways is tiring, so don't say things like 'untrustworthy' or 'not to be coerced.' I have an expert in the Ancient Method, who has observed your Sword Intent and analyzed your disposition. Your Sword Intent is open and honest, straightforward, strong-willed under the feminine exterior. So, you are different from Ru Tianqi; you cannot be coerced by force. Otherwise, you would rather choose mutual destruction with your enemy… am I right? Just speak directly, your request is to undo the spell on you, correct?"

Mei Sicheng nodded, "Indeed, that's so. I cannot accept cooperation under these circumstances…"

"Oh, I see," Wang Qi nodded, "then I'll tell you something else. My task this time is to eradicate all Ancient Method Practitioners. All Divine Separation Stage, Unification, and Mahayana must die. But, my heart is quite soft, so outside the core layer of the Emperor's Extreme Split Sky Dao, I actually don't want to kill anyone. So, after thinking it over, I've come up with a way to save your lives."

Mei Sicheng's face darkened, and he asked in a low voice, "What way?"

"As long as you are not 'Old Method Divine Separation' or 'Old Method Unification.' As Wang Qi spoke with a tone that seemed relaxed as if discussing dinner, "as long as you accept my spell, I can slowly explore and change your cultivation method, which is an act of Great Compassion to save your lives—a Great Goodness, of course, whether you believe it or not is up to you."

Mei Sicheng asked tentatively, "What if I don't believe you…"

"Then I can only kill you and have Ru Tianqi and Zhao Xiangshen pretend that you are still alive," Wang Qi shrugged, "For someone like you at the Divine Separation Stage, losing one would be a real shame, and I really don't want that. So please think thrice before acting rashly!"

Mei Sicheng faced a dilemma.

Release the spell and face death now.

Maintain the spell and have life and death in someone else's hands.

Mei Sicheng was dismayed to find that the experience he had accumulated over the past thousands of years seemed completely useless here.

As the saying goes, "A great wall standing tall with no desires is strong," as long as one desires something, one can counteract the other party's intentions. But…

This madman's plot is simply unheard of. He simply couldn't grasp what Wang Qi really wanted to do!

Or rather, Wang Qi's thinking was not on the same line as his. He really couldn't think of any solution to this predicament.

No matter how he thought about it or what he did, it was just an ant shaking a mighty tree.

Wang Qi's strength might be slightly weaker than the Holy Emperor Venerable, but his background was far beyond Mei Sicheng's imagination. Even if he managed to counterattack and kill Wang Qi, the ultimate outcome would just be being utterly exterminated under the Modern Immortal Path's blow.

In the end, Mei Sicheng just lowered his head and remained silent.

Wang Qi stood up and said, "I'll leave you with one final piece of advice. If Great Elder, you can listen, then listen, if not, we can have a falling out right here—since you've already decided to resist the Holy Emperor Venerable, why not take a risk and change your cultivation method? Following me, at least, would be safer than provoking the Holy Emperor Venerable alone."

Mei Sicheng smiled a bit, looking at Wang Qi, his eyes flickering with inexplicable light.

"Your embodiment residing in that tree indicates this point, doesn't it? For you, the Holy Emperor Venerable is also unreliable…"

"Yes…" Mei Sicheng smiled bitterly, "My initial thought was to 'sell myself and the Sword Palace for a good price'… please don't blame me…"

"Understand, understandable, it's human nature!" Wang Qi nodded. Mei Sicheng's attitude said it all.

Wang Qi didn't force him with violence to do something. He merely used force to shut off some of Mei Sicheng's options and then pointed out a path for him. "

Wang Qi looked at Mei Sicheng and asked, "When did it start? I mean, when did you start having second thoughts?"

Mei Sicheng sighed, "About three hundred years ago, I roughly noticed that the Holy Emperor Venerable was probably controlling the emergence patterns of high-level cultivators on Spirit Phoenix Island…"

With Mei Sicheng's narrative, Wang Qi discovered that indeed, many strange things were happening on Spirit Phoenix Island.