My best friend asked me if I was still doing system tasks.

Lu Xizhou leaped off the wooden kite, and the flying artifact, which appeared to be made of wood, shrank as he retrieved it and tossed it into his Qiankun bag.

Luo Hanying looked Ruan Chayan up and down as she fought the tiger-striped beast at close range: "Are you alright? Are you injured?"

Ruan Chayan withdrew her gaze from the sword cultivator who was dismembering the tiger-striped beast and said, "I'm fine. There's only a small difference in cultivation level between us, so what could possibly happen?"

how are you feeling?

Your face looks pale; would you like to meditate to recover?

Upon hearing Ruan Chayan's words, Lu Xizhou closed the folding fan he had taken out at some point, clapped his hands, and said, "Is the fairy unwell?"

"Oh, perfect timing! Third brother, hurry and check on the fairy's pulse to see how she is."

Ruan Chayan and Luo Hanying then noticed that there was another person following behind the male cultivator.

The male cultivator had an honest and simple face, and seemed like an easy-going and reliable person.

When the male cultivator saw that everyone's eyes were on him, he politely bowed and said, "Fellow Daoists, please forgive me. My name is Sheng Meixu, and I am a pill cultivator."

This fellow Daoist's aura is disordered; he should immediately enter meditation to regulate his spiritual energy.

The two had just bowed and hadn't even had a chance to introduce themselves when, in a flash, the dashing male cultivator had vanished.

A voice, seemingly mocking yet not quite, came from not far away: "You two are leaving already?"

"A man of such stature and integrity, requiring protection from two celestial maidens is one thing, but he's not even going to say thank you?"

Seeing the curiosity on the two girls' faces, Sheng Meixu introduced them: "That fellow Daoist is named Lu Xizhou, and he is a weapon cultivator."

The sword cultivator who was dissecting the demonic beast was our senior brother, named Lin Zhuzui.

Lu Xizhou kicked the two cultivators who had caused the trouble as he walked up to them.

The two cultivators bowed and scraped, expressing their gratitude repeatedly.

"Is saying thank you all you want? Aren't you going to offer some kind of gift as a token of your appreciation?"

Lu Xizhou pointed at Luo Hanying with his folding fan, "Did you see that fairy's cultivation level is one or two minor realms lower than yours? She can fight to the death with demonic beasts, how come you two are so useless?"

The two cultivators dared not speak out against Lu Xizhou, for with a high-level swordsman like Lin Zhuzui present, they dared not clash with him.

Urged on by Lu Xizhou, the two of them each took out a second-grade Xuan-level magic weapon and respectfully handed it to Ruan Chayan and Luo Hanying.

There are four grades of magical artifacts, elixirs, talismans, and array plates, including Heaven, Earth, Black, and Yellow, each grade is further divided into nine levels. These two magical artifacts are really not very good.

As the two cultivators left, Lin Zhuzui walked over with his sword in hand: "We should go and take a look at the Stone Crystal Cave."

Ruan Chayan frowned and said, "Wait, don't tell me where you're going yet. I want to ask you about that demon beast. Did you just take it all for yourself?"

Looking at these three people, Luo Hanying didn't think they were the kind of people who would kill and rob at the slightest disagreement.

Besides, since Ruan Chayan had already spoken, she followed up by saying, "We two also have a share of that monster!"

You can't just say that my sister and I fought for nothing, can you? Shouldn't we make it clear that we'll split it?"

Lin Zhuzui and Lu Xizhou exchanged a glance, and Lu Xizhou said with a smile, "Of course not. We have witnessed the efforts of the two fairies, and we are not the kind of people who would do such a thing."

How about this? We'll share the inner cores of the demonic beasts with you.

Ruan Chayan nodded in agreement: "Very well, fellow Daoists are so generous, we will naturally accept your offer with utmost respect."

Ultimately, no matter how hard the two of them tried, they couldn't really do anything to the tiger-striped beast. If these people hadn't appeared, they might have deserted. So naturally, they couldn't ask for an exorbitant price.

Lin Zhuzui remained expressionless, revealing neither joy nor anger. However, judging from his polite gesture of handing over the inner core, he seemed to have a rather indifferent attitude.

Lu Xizhou couldn't help but chuckle: "Fellow Daoist, you're so cute, why are you so serious?"

"These inner cores have been distributed to you. May I ask how you two fellow Daoists should be addressed?"

Ruan Chayan took it and put it away. The two then gave each other their pseudonyms.

Luo Hanying was feeling unwell. Seeing that Ruan Chayan was managing on her own, she took a Qi-nourishing pill and began meditating to regulate her breathing.

Seeing that its master had received such a good thing, Huajiao scurried to Ruan Chayan's feet, tugging at her skirt and making ingratiating squeaking noises.

"Wow! What kind of spirit pet is this?" Lu Xizhou stared at the peppercorn with curiosity.

Sichuan pepper shuddered at the cultivator's gaze and burrowed under Ruan Chayan's skirt.

Unable to bear the disturbance any longer, Ruan Chayan hugged the shrunken Huajiao into her arms: "It's the Jingyao Shrew."

Such a large inner core, can you swallow it? Hmm?

Ruan Chayan was furious at its lack of ambition. Why couldn't it wait until everyone had left before coming out? Who knows if this rare hybrid spirit beast would attract unwanted attention?

Upon hearing this, Lin Zhuzui retorted to Ruan Chayan with a serious expression: "This is not a Jingyao shrew. A Jingyao shrew looks like a rat, with sparse tail fur, and makes a cooing sound."

Sichuan peppercorns sound like squirrels, chirping and squeaking.

Ruan Chayan felt a slight, inexplicable embarrassment: "Ours is just a hybrid, so it doesn't really look like one, hahaha."

She gave a few dry laughs.

Sheng Meixu asked in surprise, "So you came from Tree Radiance Valley in the south? Did you find anything unusual in Tree Radiance Valley?"

Tree Valley is the habitat of the Shredder.

Ruan Chayan keenly sensed that the three of them seemed somewhat nervous, and she said calmly, "My sister and I have never been to Tree Radiance Valley. We found this spirit beast in the sparse forest in the southeast."

Lu Xizhou and his companions looked somewhat disappointed.

Sheng Meixu bowed and said, "In that case, I was presumptuous."

"I don't know what you mean by 'discovering'?" Ruan Chayan thought of her mission and the secrets of Zhou Shuxiang and the others, and decided to ask them. Maybe they were some kind of key NPC?

Instead of answering, Lu Xizhou asked, "May I ask which sect you two fairies belong to?"

If you can't explain it, you should probably be on your guard.

Before Ruan Chayan could speak, Lin Zhuzui suddenly said, "His swordsmanship is completely unorthodox; he's a rogue cultivator."

She agreed: "Fellow Daoist Lin is right. Han Xue and I are indeed independent cultivators, and we are planning to go to the Shiren Sect to learn from them after leaving the secret realm."

Upon hearing this, Lu Xizhou raised an eyebrow: "You're going to the Shiren Sect?"

What a coincidence!

Ruan Chayan: "...What do you mean? Could it be that you are disciples of the Shiren Sect?"

Don't be ridiculous, how could it be such a coincidence?

Unexpectedly, these three people felt that Ruan Chayan and Luo Hanying posed no threat, and took out their sect tokens to introduce themselves.

“Lin Zhuzui, disciple of Elder Zhao Bochen of the Blade-Slaying Sect, Blade-Slaying Peak.”

"I am Lu Xizhou, a disciple of Elder Songquan of Xunqi Peak in the Shiren Sect."

"I am Sheng Meixu, a disciple of Elder Chen Meiru of Xinglin Peak of Shiren Sect."

Ruan Chayan: OO, well, they're all disciples of the elders.