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

Ruan Chayan immediately changed her expression, bowing with exaggerated joy and saying, "We have long admired the name of the Shiren Sect! We never expected to meet our senior brothers in this secret realm today. It is truly an honor for us sisters!"

"Oh dear, tell me, this is truly a case of the flood washing away the Dragon King's temple; family members don't even recognize each other."

Ruan Chayan quickly took out the inner core of the tiger-striped beast and stuffed it into Lin Zhuzui's hand: "Since we are family, how can I keep the inner core of this beast?"

I must thank Senior Brother Lin for saving my life…

Lin Zhuzui remained unmoved, taking a step back expressionlessly.

Ruan Chayan: You little brat, you're making me feel awkward, aren't you?

Lu Xizhou burst into laughter, and Sheng Meixu couldn't help but chuckle as well.

"Alright, alright, Junior Sister Yan, you can take this inner core back. Your Senior Brother Lin has no use for it."

Lu Xizhou said with a smile, "If you can really join our Shiren Sect, I, your senior brother Lu, will give you a Grade-Earth magic weapon to make up for my rudeness today."

Ruan Chayan could tell that the other person really didn't care, so she readily stuffed the inner core into Huajiao's arms.

Huajiao squeaked with delight and nuzzled against Ruan Chayan's leg, acting all cute.

Sheng Meixu asked with concern, "Your spirit pet needs to absorb the inner core, aren't you going to put it back into your spirit beast pouch?"

Ruan Chayan said embarrassedly, "I don't have a spirit beast pouch." She was poor, yet she was perfectly justified in it!

Upon hearing this, Lu Xizhou took out a second-grade earth-level spirit beast bag from his Qiankun bag and handed it to Ruan Chayan: "That's perfect, I have one, consider it a gift for my junior sister."

Ruan Chayan: "That's so embarrassing."

She spoke politely, but quickly took the item, imprinted it with her divine sense, and immediately put the peppercorns inside.

Lu Xizhou: Even if I don't care, look at you, do you look embarrassed?

When Luo Hanying came back to her senses from her meditation, she saw Ruan Chayan chatting happily with the three of them. She was completely baffled and didn't know what she had missed.

Ruan Chayan inquired about the entry requirements of the Shiren Sect. Lu Xizhou simply said that if the two of them could help them investigate the case of the sect's missing disciples, he would personally introduce them to the sect.

Lu Xizhou's original words were: "I lack everything, but I don't lack cultivation resources."

Giving you some spirit stones to let you in is a piece of cake, isn't it?

"As long as you two can help us find clues, we'll gladly provide you with ten years' worth of cultivation resources, let alone let you join the Shiren Sect."

Lu Xizhou was the eldest son of the Lu family, a family of cultivators. He had one older brother and two older sisters, and he was the youngest child. Naturally, the Lu family doted on him, which made him seem somewhat spoiled.

With Lu Xizhou's words, regardless of whether the other party was just being polite, he was still a disciple of the Shiren Sect, and besides, he had accepted the other party's gift. He was indebted to them, so he naturally had to help if he could.

Moreover, Ruan Chayan and Luo Hanying possessed an intuition honed from years of reading novels—

The three of them might be key NPCs, and what they're looking for might be related to their quest.

Through the combined efforts of Lu Xizhou and Sheng Meixu, Ruan Chayan and Luo Hanying learned the whole story.

Over the course of twenty years, a total of thirty-two outer disciples and eleven inner disciples of the Shiren Sect lost contact with each other without explanation, and died one after another over a period of six months.

This matter did not initially attract the attention of the Shiren Sect. After all, cultivation is a game against the heavens, and it is not unusual for a cultivator to die or perish during this period, no matter what the cause.

Those who are lucky enough to be struck dead by lightning when breaking through to a higher realm, and those who are unlucky enough to fall into the tombs of ancestors while exploring secret realms, are not uncommon.

Moreover, countless murders and robberies occur daily in the cultivation world.

The number of soul lamps extinguished and life tablets broken each month is twice that number, so naturally it won't be taken seriously.

Disciples of a sect can light a soul lamp or hang a life tablet. The state of the soul lamp and the life tablet corresponds to the cultivator's state. For example, if the flame of the soul lamp flickers and dims, it means that the cultivator is seriously injured.

When a cultivator dies, their soul lamp will go out and their life tablet will shatter.

Soul lamps are usually lit only by close disciples who are close to their master; even if others light them, no one checks on them regularly.

It was the soul lamp of Elder Tang Wenyuan's disciple from the Dao Asking Peak that alerted the Shi Ren Sect to the suspicious matter—

The disciple's soul lamp grew dimmer and dimmer over the course of six months, its bright red outer flame turning gray, with only the golden flame core struggling to stay afloat.

Elder Tang Wenyuan tried to contact his disciple several times, but could not get a response. The paper cranes he sent out seemed to sink without a trace, and the results of several divinations were also very bad.

Tang Wenyuan repeatedly consulted the oracle to inquire about the whereabouts of his disciple, but never received a result. He himself suffered a backlash for this behavior and went into seclusion to recuperate.

The sudden extinguishing of the soul lamp caused Tang Wenyuan, whose aura was disordered, to kneel before the sect leader, Hua Shiqing.

According to him, the images that came before the soul lamp went out were pitch black, interspersed with blood, and his disciples kept screaming in agony. This was definitely not an ordinary case of killing to steal treasure or falling into a trap in a secret realm. It was probably a case of demonic cultivators or evil cultivators practicing evil arts.

Hua Shiqing ordered his disciples to thoroughly investigate within the sect to see if such a situation existed. Only then did they discover that so many disciples had died mysteriously.

Lu Xizhou and his group had received a mission from their sect to come to the Yaoxiang Secret Realm to search for traces of their two disciples' lives.

One of them lost contact in Tree Radiance Valley, and the other lost contact in Stone Crystal Cave.

"The three of us originally went to the demon territory to attend the demon race's celebration, but we never expected to hear that some of the demon race's nobles had also gone missing."

Sheng Meixu looked worried. "The celebration did proceed as planned, but we can't feel happy at all."

After the news of the opening of the Incense-Inviting Secret Realm reached the sect, the sect elders contacted us, who were closest to the secret realm, to come here.

I heard that the sect leader contacted several major sects with whom we have a fairly good relationship, and that some of their disciples have also experienced similar situations.

I really don't know what's wrong with this world.

"So our next destination is the Crystal Cave?"

Luo Hanying was somewhat worried, "This secret realm will only be open for thirty days in total."

Not only has a lot of time passed, but these two places are in the Northeast and Southwest respectively. Isn't it too rushed to travel between them?

Luo Hanying was mainly worried that their affairs were unrelated to their side quests, which would be a waste of her life.

Besides, what if you go to a place and can't see anything?

Lin Zhuzui calmly said, "The sect has already sent disciples here; we are merely the vanguard."

However, you have a point, so my idea is to split the team into two.

Ruan Chayan thought to herself, "No wonder you guys are so enthusiastic. So you were waiting for us here."