My ancestors were spiritual plant growers, so it's not surprising that I hunt demons every day,

"Third Sister, are you alright?"

Cui Zhengming's shouts rang out again from outside the dense forest, and Cui Ying immediately came to her senses. She took a closer look and found that the female ghost was now surrounded by several demonic wolves, tearing and roaring at her.

Ta Xue, who was jumping around beside her, was biting the female ghost's soul. Not only had her body been restored to its original state, but her aura was also subtly increasing.

Cui Ying breathed a sigh of relief and turned to Cui Zhengming, who had rushed over, asking, "Father, how did you get here?"

Cui Zhengming didn't even glance at her, but instead carried the green sickle and searched everywhere for traces of the female ghost.

"What about the female ghost?"

As soon as Cui Zhengming asked the question, he caught a glimpse of the female ghost on the ground, along with the demonic wolves and Ta Xue surrounding her.

Seeing that the female ghost's soul had mostly dissipated, Cui Zhengming's tense expression relaxed. He turned and glanced at Cui Ying, asking, "Third girl, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Dad."

After smiling and shaking her head, Cui Ying pointed to the corpse on the ground and asked, "Father, what happened in the village while I was away?"

"Don't even mention it. Ever since you sent that brat Chaoyun back to tell us that you were going into seclusion in the Phoenix Mountains, your mother and I haven't had a good night's sleep."

Cui Zhengming saw that Cui Ying had broken through to the fifth level of Qi Refining, and his face was full of gratified joy, but he quickly frowned and sighed, saying:

"This is a long story. This female ghost was actually a tragic figure. She was originally a rogue cultivator in our village. A beautiful young woman in her late teens, she was humiliated by those bastards from the Cheng and Zhao families. She thought that after suffering endless torment, she would be free after death. Who knew that these beasts would extract her soul and refine it into a ghost?"

"The female ghost killed people one after another in the village. At first, that beast Cheng Zhiheng refused to talk, but when he saw that he couldn't hide it anymore, he finally told the truth and used himself as bait to lure the female ghost out. Just half an hour ago, the female ghost was injured by the village chief and Master Xue and escaped by possessing Xu Dairong's body."

At this point, Cui Zhengming's face also showed some anger and reluctance: "Every wrong has its source and every debt its debtor. She shouldn't have recklessly harmed so many innocent rogue cultivators. As a result, she deserves it."

"But... Third Sister, did you kill this female ghost?"

Listening to her father's story, Cui Ying's expression was inscrutable, unsure how to respond. Because the moment she saw Xu Dairong's corpse before her, she knew that many things in this life had deviated from her understanding of her past life.

She paused for a moment, just as she was about to respond to Cui Zhengming, when a somewhat apprehensive shout suddenly rang out from outside the dense forest:

"Which fellow Daoist happened to pass by and killed this wicked female ghost for us?"

The father and daughter looked up and saw the village chief Xie Qing, along with Xue Siye, Chang Feng, Ke Zhongkai, and other independent cultivators from the village, walking in from outside the dense forest.

"Village Chief, Senior Xue, it is I, Cui Zhengming."

"Cui Zhifu?"

Following the sound, Xie Qing and the others, holding talisman brushes, approached Cui Ying and her father: "Cui Zhifu, young friend Cui, have you seen the cultivator who killed this female ghost?"

Cui Zhengming was slightly taken aback, and said, "When I arrived here, I only saw my daughter Cui Ying here, and I did not see any other cultivators."

Xie Qing was naturally aware of the rumors circulating in the village about Cui Ying. Hearing this, he glanced at the female ghost lying on the ground, her body now only half-dissipated, raised an eyebrow, and asked incredulously:

"Could it be that you, young friend Cui, killed this ghost?"

“It was my master. When he was taking me home, we happened to encounter a female ghost blocking the way, which angered him.”

Xie Qing also sensed this implication in Cui Ying's words, and immediately narrowed his eyes, asking quickly:

"You mean you haven't returned from the Phoenix Mountains these past few days because you were with your master?"

Cui Ying smiled upon hearing this and pointed to the Yao Guang sword in her hand:

“That’s right. My master was passing by and wanted to take me to the nearby mountains for some training. Fortunately, I didn’t disappoint him.”

At this moment, Xie Qing and the other cultivators also noticed that Cui Ying's cultivation level had increased significantly, and she had already reached the fifth level of Qi Refining.

Immediately, the independent cultivators who were on good terms with the Cui family came out to offer their congratulations: "Congratulations, young friend Cui! Congratulations on your great progress in cultivation!"

Upon seeing this, Xue Changye's smile appeared forced.

He originally thought that Cui Ying was quite capable, and with his recent gestures of goodwill towards her, he would be able to defeat that good-for-nothing Gu Shiyin, win Cui Ying's heart, and take her as his concubine.

But now it seems that Cui Ying's cultivation has caught up with his own, and it is probably a pipe dream to subdue this woman.

Thinking of this, and listening to the constant flattery around him, he felt a surge of anger with nowhere to vent it.

Congratulations, Sister Cui Ying.

Helpless, he could only grit his teeth and offer his congratulations to Cui Ying with clasped hands.

Although Cui Zhengming already knew about Cui Ying's significant improvement in cultivation, he still felt proud and stood tall as he looked at the arrogant rogue cultivators with their fawning expressions.

"Congratulations, Brother Cui and Niece Cui Ying."

From the crowd, a middle-aged man in a blue robe stepped forward, always smiling and greeting the Cui father and daughter with a cupped-hand salute, and looking at Cui Ying with a kind smile.

The story of the Cheng and Zhao families keeping ghosts has caused a great stir in the village, and has even claimed the lives of many cultivators. Tonight, it's his turn to represent the Gu family on night patrol.

He followed Xie Qing and the others all the way to Phoenix Mountain Range, where they lost track of the ghost. They originally planned to split into two groups and pursue it in another direction. However, they had not gone far when they saw the overwhelming ghostly aura and the soaring sword light.

When they arrived at the place one after another with the anxious Cui Zhengming, they were surprised to find that Cui Ying was indeed there, and that in just a few days, her cultivation level was almost catching up with theirs.

Thinking that this capable girl would become the wife of his beloved second son, Gu Qinghong couldn't help but nod slightly in satisfaction, his eyes full of affection as he looked at Cui Ying.

Cui Ying was taken aback, then turned to look at Gu Qinghong and said, "Uncle Gu, what brings you here too?"

“Sister Cui Ying, do you practice swordsmanship? How about we sisters have a friendly spar another day?”

Before Gu Qinghong could speak, a beautiful female cultivator dressed in a purple-red silk dress walked up to her.

This person's eyebrows and eyes were six-tenths similar to his; she was Gu Qinghong's eldest daughter and Gu Shiyin's elder sister: Gu Shiyao.

Gu Shiyao had long ago become a disciple of a Ningyuan Elder from a nearby sect. Apart from occasionally returning to the village when doing missions, he rarely appeared in public.

This was also the first time Cui Ying had seen Gu Shiyao since her rebirth.

Upon hearing this, she smiled and said to Gu Shiyao, "Greetings, Sister Gu. If you don't mind my humble skills, I'm always ready to play along."

"Great job! No wonder my third brother keeps praising you to me."

Gu Shiyao raised an eyebrow, his smile growing even stronger.

"Good good."

Seeing that Cui Ying had gained Gu Shiyao's approval, Gu Qinghong couldn't stop smiling, and he had already decided in his heart that Cui Ying and Gu Shiyin should get married.

Meanwhile, in the crowd, Zhu Chaoyun, who knew the truth, grinned foolishly, which made Cui Ying, who was in the crowd, glare at him fiercely.