Qian Renxue's spirit was on the verge of collapse. As the noble young master of the Spirit Hall, she had never suffered such humiliation.
During these days of captivity, she had not only lost her freedom but was also tightly bound in a massive spiderweb, unable to even scratch an itch.
What was even harder to accept was that the ones delivering food and water to her were actually spiders.
After much hesitation, she spoke to Fang Chang again, this time with a softer tone, even carrying a hint of pleading. "What do you want to let me go? The Spirit Hall will do its best to meet your demands."
Fang Chang's gaze swept over Qian Renxue's body unabashedly, sending chills down her spine. "What benefit would I gain from letting you go?"
"You!" Qian Renxue suppressed her anger and continued, "If you wanted to kill me, you would have done so long ago. Since you've kept me alive, you must have a purpose. Just say it—keeping me imprisoned like this won't get you anything."
Fang Chang looked at her with amusement. "What if I'm just bored and want someone to talk to?"
Qian Renxue frowned, her chest heaving with anger and frustration.
Others might not do such a thing, but a monster like the Spider God's Envoy absolutely would.
What kind of sane person would live with a group of spider soul beasts?!
Seeing that her psychological defenses were crumbling, Fang Chang rejoiced inwardly. To brainwash someone, the best time was when they were at their most broken and helpless.
"So, you really don't plan to let me go?" Qian Renxue's eyes were red, but she still maintained a facade of arrogance.
"I will let you go," Fang Chang said, luring her in. "It just depends on whether you're willing to cooperate."
Qian Renxue relaxed slightly. As long as he had demands, there was still a chance. The humiliation she suffered today would be repaid a hundredfold in the future!
"Tell me, what do you want me to do for you?"
"Help me destroy the Spirit Hall." Fang Chang's tone was casual, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"What?" Qian Renxue jerked upright, but with her body still bound by the spiderweb, she had no leverage and soon fell back heavily. "Do you really think I would agree to that?"
"Then you can stay locked up here." Fang Chang took out a tea set from somewhere, brewed a pot with his Flame Palm technique, and leisurely sipped his tea.
His demeanor made it clear—he wasn't in a hurry. He could wait.
After a long silence, Qian Renxue finally asked, "How do you want me to... help you destroy the Spirit Hall?"
She had already made up her mind. For now, she would play along. Once she escaped and regained her strength, she would be the one calling the shots.
"It's simple. You just need to return, inherit the Angel God's legacy, and convince Bibi Dong to join the Spider God Church with you."
Qian Renxue nearly choked. Convince her elder sister to join the Spider God Church? Was this man insane?
But then she froze. How did he know about the Angel God's legacy?
At this point, she still didn't know Bibi Dong was her birth mother, nor was she fully prepared to inherit the Angel God's legacy—it was something her grandfather had only briefly mentioned.
This was one of the Spirit Hall's highest secrets, something even Bibi Dong might not know. How had the Spider God's Envoy found out? Countless questions flashed through her mind.
Fang Chang, meanwhile, had already seen through everything. If Qian Renxue were to inherit the Angel God's legacy, Qian Daoliu would have to sacrifice himself in the final step.
And if he could also recruit Bibi Dong, the Spirit Hall would be completely crippled. Of course, he knew these two women wouldn't be easy to deal with.
After some thought, Qian Renxue nodded. "I agree. But whether my elder sister will listen to me, I can't guarantee. Our relationship isn't exactly great."
Under the circumstances, she could only pretend to agree. But in her heart, she was already planning to bring her grandfather back to annihilate this nest once she escaped.
Fang Chang wasn't fooled. "Don't treat me like a three-year-old. Did you really think I'd believe you'd just go along with it, then return with reinforcements?"
"Then what do you want?" Qian Renxue's voice turned cold. "Don't you think your demands are ridiculous? Why should I betray the Spirit Hall that raised me? Why should I join your so-called Spider God Church?"
"Evil?" Fang Chang countered. "Then tell me, what is evil? And what is good?"
"Does having wings on your back make you good? Does infiltrating another country for years and poisoning its emperor make you good? Or does uniting countless soul masters to dominate the continent make you good?"
His barrage of questions left Qian Renxue speechless. She had always believed herself to be the embodiment of justice and goodness—the Angel Martial Soul was the very symbol of righteousness.
But... even she couldn't confidently say whether her actions were good or evil.
"Compared to the Spirit Hall, the Spider God Church is the truly righteous side. What we seek is world peace!" Fang Chang continued preaching.
"The Spirit Hall's path has been wrong from the start. You only think about protecting soul masters and creating more of them, but you don't realize the disasters this has brought to the continent."
"Soul masters are the root of all chaos. It's because of their numbers that a privileged class exists, making life miserable for ordinary people."
"It's because of soul masters that conflicts over interests constantly erupt, harming countless innocents."
"And what about soul beasts? A single soul master requires multiple soul rings. Especially powerhouses like Titled Douluo—they need to hunt down multiple ten-thousand-year or even hundred-thousand-year soul beasts."
"But how long does it take for those soul beasts to grow? And how many new soul masters are born each year? How long can the Star Dou Forest's ten-thousand-year soul beasts last at this rate?"
"They're just soul beasts," Qian Renxue retorted stubbornly.
Fang Chang snorted. "You should know that once soul beasts pass the ten-thousand-year mark, they develop intelligence. They have emotions, friends, and families, just like humans. Why should humans be allowed to destroy that?"
Qian Renxue fell silent again.
"For ordinary humans, martial souls are tools for production, treasures to improve their lives."
"But for soul masters like you? Martial souls are power, status, and weapons for killing!"
"The Spider God Church's mission is to control the number of human soul masters and restore the world to its original state!"
"I hope that one day, swords will be used to plow fields instead of wage war. I hope that one day, all human factions can coexist peacefully. I hope that one day, humans and soul beasts can live together as equals!"
By the time he finished, Qian Renxue was completely dazed. Though she knew these were just brainwashing lies... she couldn't actually find any flaws in his arguments.
Unknowingly, some of her deepest beliefs had begun to waver.