She pressed her palms together, terror filling her eyes. Nothing mattered more than staying alive. Back then, she had abandoned even her own elder brother to save herself—how much less was her pride worth now?
As she begged for her life, Liu Yiyi frantically tried to activate the realm token, hoping to be instantly transported away. But something unseen weighed down on her. The moment she moved, her Primordial Soul felt as if it were burning, agony searing her to the core.
Seeing that Song Wanníng's face remained unreadable, and realizing she could not escape, Liu Yiyi collapsed to her knees with a humiliated thud.
She knelt straight-backed on the ground, pleading again. "Wanníng, just give me one more chance, please? I know I've done terrible things, but I never meant for it to be like this. I only wanted to survive… I swear, I'll never do it again!
Just believe me one last time, I beg you!"
She kept bowing, her forehead nearly striking the floor with each motion, fear twisting every movement.
In Song Wanníng's eyes, that pitiful display only deepened her contempt.
"Liu Yiyi, this is the fate you brought upon yourself. To beg now… it's too late."
A flash of cold steel, and Song Wanníng did not hesitate. Her sword swung down.
Two lifetimes of enmity ended here.
"No—!"
Panic warped Liu Yiyi's face. She fumbled for the realm token again, but the suppression locked her in place. Her Primordial Soul could not move.
All she could do was watch, eyes wide, as the sword's glow rushed toward her.
It's over!
Despair and unwillingness flared in her gaze before the sword-light swallowed her whole.
"Ah—!"
The chamber rang with a single sharp scream, echoing again and again before fading into silence. When the glow dispersed, a bisected corpse lay on the floor. The wide, glassy eyes stared at the ceiling, frozen in fear and unwilling defeat. Her Yuányīng had not even managed to escape before being cut apart, dissolving into nothing.
A Nascent Soul cultivator could not withstand even one strike before Song Wanníng.
That was the gap between their strengths.
Song Wanníng's expression wavered for a moment as she looked down at the corpse.
Once, Liu Yiyi had been formidable. Now she seemed so fragile.
Song Wanníng's heart pounded. The light in her eyes grew fierce.
Power.
This was what it felt like to have power.
No need for long explanations. No need to justify herself. Just swing the sword and it was done.
Ambition surged wildly in her chest. If a Divine Transformation cultivator was already this overwhelming, then what would the Spirit Realm be like? And beyond that, the Immortal Realm?
Forcing down the thrill, she couldn't help but think how foolish her past self had been—throwing herself at a scoundrel and a pack of ingrates, neglecting the only thing that truly mattered: strength.
She lowered her head and took the storage ring from Liu Yiyi's body, along with the realm token in her palm.
This was what Liu Yiyi had relied on to enter and leave the Trial Tower at will, even opening it to the outside.
A treasure, without a doubt.
If she could claim the Trial Tower as her own…
The bold thought lit up her mind. She even imagined taking the tower back to the Song family. Without hesitation, she held the realm token and began probing for a way to claim ownership.
Liu Yiyi had possessed it for so long without binding it, which meant ordinary methods would not work.
She tried every technique she knew. The token remained utterly still.
The little golden sword spirit grew anxious. "This wretched thing is stubborn as a mule! Not a drop of oil, not a grain of salt—it won't take anything!"
It zipped around, inspecting the token, muttering nonstop.
Song Wanníng, who had been growing irritated, suddenly laughed at its grumbling.
"Enough. If I can't bind it, I'll just hold onto it. As long as I can come and go freely, that's enough for now."
Still, she knew that after this activation, people would be watching the place closely. Bringing Song family disciples here for training would draw too much attention.
She could only store the token away for the moment.
But as she rose to her feet, the realm token suddenly darted straight into her sea of consciousness, slipping past even the golden sword's woven defenses and plunging into the depths.
Startled, Song Wanníng instantly erected barriers in her mind. The golden sword panicked as well, rushing after the token.
Fortunately, the token only released a faint, hazy light and settled quietly in her consciousness, making no hostile move.
Both master and sword let out a breath. The aura it had given off just now was extraordinary—this was no common artifact.
Even so, Song Wanníng still couldn't figure out how to bind it. She could only give up for now.
There were too many other matters to handle.
With a sweep of her gaze, she activated the realm token, closing the Trial Tower.
The cultivators still inside were all thrown out at once, blinking in confusion.
Song Wanníng put on a look of astonishment, flying through the air in slow circles as if searching for the vanished tower.
Soon, voices rose in frustration. To see such a treasure vanish before their eyes—no one could accept it. They fanned out to search the surroundings. Song Wanníng played along for a while before feigning anger and leaving.
Some cultivators still refused to give up, combing the area again and again.
…
In Wangshan Sect, Liu Yiyi's soul lamp went dark.
The news spread quickly. Even the sect's Ancestor heard, but his reaction was cold. He had no intention of pursuing the matter.
The day she had let her own elder brother die before her eyes, his heart toward her had already turned to ice. Her end had been foreseen long ago. He could even guess it had likely been Song Wanníng's doing.
The Ancestor would not interfere, nor would the new sect master. Though he spoke of investigating, he merely sent a few Golden Core cultivators to handle it.
The elders voiced no objection. They had long since seen through Liu Yiyi's nature. If not for the lack of proof back then, she would have been expelled long ago.
Among the disciples, the news was met with open satisfaction. They still held a grudge over how she had cost the sect vital resources—resources that affected every one of them.
So, after more than a century of life and all her effort to reach Nascent Soul, Liu Yiyi's death was swept away without ceremony.
No one cared.
…
Spirit Realm, Guhan Sect.
Sect Master Luo Hantian's closed eyes snapped open, surprise flashing within.
The Trial Tower sealed away in the Lower Realm had stirred. He raised his left hand, and a palm-sized pagoda appeared there—the Trial Tower of the Spirit Realm, the Nine Domains.
Long ago, when the world split in two, their sect had ended up in the Spirit Realm, blessed with abundant spiritual qi. The Trial Tower had been split into a mother and child tower. The child tower had been taken away by an ancestor and lost in the collapse of the Lower Realm.
Countless years had passed. Now, the child tower had awakened.
Luo Hantian's brow furrowed. In the next instant, his consciousness plunged into the tower.