He has a big idol image to maintain.

A short while later.

Blood Refining Peak.

Outside the house.

"Brother Qi, I'm not trying to scare you, but the trouble you've caused this time is far too great. Even my clan uncle wouldn't be able to protect you. You should hurry and run for your life."

"Also, I was just passing by earlier. You must never mention my name, or else even as a ghost, I won't let you off!"

After dropping those words, Situ Yun bolted away as if his life depended on it, vanishing in the blink of an eye.

Now that he knew the Golden Silk Cat's true identity, Qi Yuan's pupils constricted, and he was completely stunned by the shock.

Holy crap!!!

That blonde chick's true identity was actually one of the Four Great Beauties of the Demonic Sect, the only Personal Disciple and niece of the Sect Master of the Demonic Sect, and the most favored legitimate daughter of the Shen Clan's head... Any one of these titles alone would allow her to walk tall in the Demonic Sect, yet he had actually kidnapped her?

What was even more terrifying was that not only had he kidnapped her, but he had also interrogated her... Damn, this Demonic Sect really lived up to its name as a bizarre Sect; its style was truly abstract.

To think the Sect Master's beloved disciple would run to the Outer Sect to assassinate her own Outer Sect Elder—what kind of nonsense was this?

That aside, after this girl was captured by him, she even played the "death before dishonor" card. Would it have killed her to just take the initiative and reveal her identity?

Qi Yuan was utterly speechless, feeling as if he had been screwed over.

Since it had already happened, no amount of agonizing would help. It was better to find a way to make amends as quickly as possible.

Thus, Qi Yuan took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

The situation was urgent; any slight misstep would make it impossible for him to stay in the Demonic Sect. The most pressing matter was to stabilize Shen Xingxuan inside the room.

First of all, killing her to silence her was out of the question.

Setting aside the recently departed Situ Yun, there were at least eighty to a hundred Outer Sect Disciples who had seen him carrying Shen Xingxuan away. There was simply no time to clean them all up.

A soft approach wouldn't work either. With this Golden Silk Cat's ruthless Heart-Nature, even if he knelt and begged for mercy, it would be useless. At most, he might get a quick death.

Since the soft approach wouldn't work, he would use both the carrot and the stick!

At this thought, a flash of inspiration suddenly struck Qi Yuan's mind.

After a moment of contemplation, he composed himself and re-entered the room, acting as if nothing was wrong.

Seeing Qi Yuan, Shen Xingxuan subconsciously stopped struggling. She didn't scream or shout anymore, but instead fixed him with a gaze filled with Killing Intent:

"Since you already know my identity, there's no need for further words. You'd better kill me now. Otherwise, in the future, I will definitely tear you into ten thousand pieces and scatter your ashes myself!"

"Senior Sister Shen, is it?" A faint curve appeared at the corner of Qi Yuan's mouth as he said with a light chuckle, "Your status is noble, and I don't care who you want to kill, but you shouldn't have dragged me into this. You get to walk away scot-free afterward, while I'm left as the scapegoat."

Hearing this, Shen Xingxuan immediately furrowed her delicate brows and said with a look of contempt:

"You bastard, you were clearly the one who insisted on running to the place where I was killing someone. What does it have to do with me? You're just a low-status Outer Sect Disciple; what's there about you worth framing?"

"Oh?"

Qi Yuan raised an eyebrow and said with a smile:

"Just now, you were willing to die rather than reveal your identity. It must be because you didn't want others to know you were captured by a low-status Outer Sect Disciple, right?"

Seeing him bring this up, Shen Xingxuan's anger flared, and she retorted with a flushed Face:

"It's all because I underestimated the enemy for a moment and was injured by that Outer Sect Elder's final struggle. Otherwise, do you think someone like you could have caught me? You're dreaming!"

Upon hearing this, the smile on Qi Yuan's Face grew even wider, and he said leisurely:

"Regardless of the reason, you are now This person Qi's prisoner."

"If this matter gets out, people won't care about the reasons. They will only think you lack skill—that as a Nascent Soul Cultivator, you were captured alive by a Foundation Establishment Stage Outer Sect Disciple."

"When that time comes, I'm afraid not only will your reputation suffer greatly, Senior Sister Shen, but even the Sect Master's Face will be tarnished. Don't you agree?"

He had already seen through her. This little blonde demoness was the tsundere type, and women of this type often cared immensely about their reputation.

In other words, her idol burden was very heavy. She would rather suffer than lose Face in front of others.

This also explained why she had been so slow to reveal her true identity; she clearly didn't want her embarrassing predicament to be known by others.

For someone like this, she was actually very easy to handle. He just needed to start from this weakness.

Sure enough, upon hearing Qi Yuan's words, Shen Xingxuan's expression changed drastically, and her Aura visibly withered. She asked in a heavy voice:

"Qi Da, what exactly do you want?"

Usually, she enjoyed the fawning and pursuit of those around her like a star surrounded by moons, and she would simply kill anyone she found unpleasant. Now, faced with such a blatant threat, she was momentarily at a loss.

"Simple."

Qi Yuan didn't waste words and said directly:

"As long as you can act as if nothing happened and swear a Heavenly Dao Oath promising not to seek revenge against me afterward, I can step forward and put on a show with you to save your Face as much as possible."

"After all, you wouldn't want others to know that the dignified Personal Disciple of the Sect Master was kidnapped by an Outer Sect Disciple as lowly as an ant, right?"

As soon as he said this, Shen Xingxuan's delicate body trembled, and her eyes flickered, clearly weighing the pros and cons.

As the saying goes, a tall tree catches the wind. As the only Personal Disciple of the Sect Master of the Holy Sect, her every move was under scrutiny.

If today's scandal were to spread, not only would she be unable to hold her head up in the Sect, but even her Revered Master's prestige would be affected.

If she could truly cover up this matter, she wouldn't mind enduring for a while and letting this kid live for a few more days.

As for the so-called Heavenly Dao Oath, although it was a serious constraint for Cultivators, Shen Xingxuan didn't take it to heart.

With her status in the Sect, she didn't need to act personally to seek revenge. With just a slight hint, countless people would scramble to do it for her.

Seeing Shen Xingxuan's uncertain expression, Qi Yuan could immediately tell that this girl was planning to turn hostile after the fact.

As an old hand in the Jianghu, he naturally wouldn't make such an obvious mistake. Since he was going to release the tiger back to the mountain, he had to leave enough countermeasures.

Shen Xingxuan's status was special. If he forced her to surrender a sliver of her Divine Soul, not only was it doubtful she would agree, but even if she did, the Demonic Sect would soon discover that the Sect Master's Personal Disciple had a deficient Divine Soul, which would immediately cause a huge uproar.

As for a master-servant contract, it was even more unrealistic. If he actually proposed it, this fiery Little Chili would probably blow up her Nascent Soul on the spot.

Not all people are the same.

Although Shao Xuanji, the Sect Leader of Linglong Holy Land, had a high cultivation and a firm Dao Heart, as the leader of a Holy Land, she carried heavy responsibilities and was much more rational than ordinary Cultivators. She wouldn't easily resort to mutual destruction.

But Shen Xingxuan was from the Demonic Sect and was naturally wild and untamable. If he tried to make her sign a master-servant contract, she would truly dare to take him down with her.

Just as Qi Yuan's thoughts were racing, Shen Xingxuan made her decision and nodded, saying:

"Fine, I promise you."

Qi Yuan smiled:

"Excellent. Then it's settled. However..."

"However what?"

For some reason, seeing that sneaky smile on his Face, Shen Xingxuan's heart skipped a beat, and an ominous premonition arose.

Qi Yuan then slowly took out a High Grade shadow recording talisman from his sleeve and said solemnly:

"To ensure you don't go back on your word afterward, you must record something for me. Don't worry, it's just striking a few poses. It'll be quick..."