The atmosphere in the library suddenly turned oppressive.
Ye Ling's aura bore down entirely on the Nine-Tailed Fox, leaving her breathless, her very soul under immense pressure!
"Spare, spare my life..."
The Nine-Tailed Fox simply couldn't withstand Ye Ling's pressure and weakly begged for mercy, her eyes filled with terror.
Ye Ling chuckled, "It's simple for me to let you go. You just need to tell me what you are guarding here."
The moment he grabbed the Nine-Tailed Fox, Ye Ling had already quickly searched her soul with his divine sense and discovered a seal memory imprint within her soul.
Ye Ling had seen many such imprints on Earth. Each imprint was linked to the life of the sealed individual; if the imprint was forcibly broken, the sealed person would die along with their memories vanishing.
Ye Ling's attempts to probe such individuals' memories through soul-searching were futile unless he knew the method to break the seal beforehand.
Now, Ye Ling could only hope that this Nine-Tailed Fox wasn't like Ye Feng, whose own memories were sealed, leaving him in a daze.
However, this Nine-Tailed Fox was the guardian here. If she didn't know what she was supposed to be guarding, she wouldn't have been able to stay here for a million years.
This Nine-Tailed Fox likely knew the secret hidden here.
"Speaking of which... can a mere ninth-grade demonic beast truly live for a million years?"
A flicker of doubt crossed Ye Ling's mind, but it passed quickly, and he didn't dwell on it.
"My lord... I... I really cannot say."
The Nine-Tailed Fox pleaded with Ye Ling, "I was ordered to guard this place. Let alone revealing secrets to you, my life could be forfeit if even a single ancient text here were damaged!"
"Oh?" Ye Ling raised an eyebrow slightly, "Hearing you say that, I'm even more curious as to who has such great power to kill you right under my nose."
"If you tell me everything you know today, you might have a chance to live. But if you hide anything from me, you won't need anyone behind you to act; I can scatter your soul to the winds!"
Hearing Ye Ling's words, the terror in the Nine-Tailed Fox's eyes intensified. She quickly begged Ye Ling, "My lord, spare me! I really cannot say! Truly..."
"It seems you won't shed tears until you see the coffin!"
Ye Ling's gaze turned cold. Dark demonic energy clung to the Nine-Tailed Fox, slowly invading her body and ravaging her already damaged meridians.
"Spare, spare my life..."
Tears welled up in the Nine-Tailed Fox's eyes as she weakly pleaded with Ye Ling, despair gradually appearing in her gaze.
'Is this fox so stubborn?'
Seeing that he had gone this far, yet the Nine-Tailed Fox still wouldn't budge, Ye Ling's brow furrowed slightly, and he began to hesitate.
He had put on this fierce act precisely to scare the Nine-Tailed Fox into breaking her psychological defenses.
But now, even with a deathly pallor on her face, she remained resolute. This strange situation puzzled Ye Ling immensely.
Ye Ling could feel the Nine-Tailed Fox's fear; she was clearly afraid of dying...
Could there be some hidden reason behind this?
"Your Majesty, forcing her is useless. The lives of the fox clan of Qingqiu are in Xuanxiao's hands. If she speaks, not only will she die, but all the foxes in Qingqiu will perish," Wang Die said respectfully to Ye Ling as she landed steadily, having absorbed all the knowledge from the library and put away her array formations.
"It seems you know the inside story here."
Ye Ling released the Nine-Tailed Fox and looked at Wang Die behind him, asking, "Actually, compared to the secret hidden here, I'm more interested in what your purpose for coming here is."
"Initially, you asked me to bring you to this ancient ruin of the Tongtian clan. You must have known that you would be randomly teleported after entering the ruins, yet you never mentioned it, clearly intending to shake me off and accomplish something on your own."
"Now that your objective has been achieved, can you tell me?"
"As expected, nothing escapes Your Majesty's notice."
Wang Die smiled and shook her head, flattering Ye Ling. Then she continued, "Your Majesty, although you have been monitoring the Hongchen Pavilion, in reality, you intended for the Hongchen Pavilion to complete the Tongtian Tower ritual from the beginning, didn't you?"
Ye Ling stared at Wang Die, remaining silent, which was an implicit confirmation.
Ever since his last communication with Zhang Xiaoling, the First Sovereign of the Hongchen Pavilion, Ye Ling had been contemplating Zhang Xiaoling's words.
Zhang Xiaoling had asked him not to act against the Hongchen Pavilion or prevent them from completing the Tongtian Tower ritual before it was finished. Ye Ling had been hesitant about this matter.
Seeing Ye Ling's silence, Wang Die continued, "Your Majesty, you must know that with the number of Tongtian Towers the Hongchen Pavilion has set up around the world, once the sacrifice ritual is opened, more than half of the people on Earth will disappear, right?"
Ye Ling replied, "Of course, I know, and I will not let that happen."
"But Your Majesty has remained indifferent to what the Hongchen Pavilion is doing," Wang Die stated, looking at Ye Ling. "If Your Majesty truly wanted to stop the Hongchen Pavilion, then the one here now should be just a clone, not your true form."
"Although Your Majesty took the spiritual energy core from the Hongchen Pavilion in Shanghai, the Hongchen Pavilion has entered ancient ruins more than once in recent years, and they may not be without a second spiritual energy core."
"You must have realized this when you learned that Ye Feng of the Hongchen Pavilion did not enter the ancient ruins, yet Your Majesty chose to ignore it."
"This way, when the Hongchen Pavilion's ritual is performed and half of humanity is sacrificed, Your Majesty can stand by with a clear conscience."
Upon hearing Wang Die's words, Feng Ke's pupils contracted sharply. She stared at Ye Ling with disbelief, her expression incredibly complex, "Ye Ling..."
She couldn't believe that Ye Ling would actually do such a thing!
However, Ye Ling did not refute her at this moment. He simply looked at Wang Die calmly and said meaningfully, "Do you know that for what you just said to me, I could completely crush your soul as punishment for your great disrespect?"
Wang Die smiled, "To die at the hands of the Eastern Profound Supreme, I naturally feel honored."
"But before I die, as long as I can prevent the Hongchen Pavilion from performing this ritual that endangers all of humanity, it will be enough."
"Doesn't Your Majesty want to know what secret is hidden here? I will show it to Your Majesty now."
"I only hope that even if Your Majesty truly intends to disregard the life and death of all humanity, you will not stop me from saving this tragedy."
As her voice fell, Wang Die conjured a dagger in her hand.
Then, in front of Ye Ling and Feng Ke, Wang Die unhesitatingly plunged the dagger into her own heart.
Seeing this, Feng Ke's expression changed drastically!
"Wang Die!!!"