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

"Oh dear, my sister Cui Ying said it was no trouble at all, please get up."

Zhu Chaoyun stepped out from behind Cui Ying and helped the mother and daughter up.

At this moment, the middle-aged woman also stood up and began to rub her waist, quickly taking out a package from her storage pouch:

"Young friend, I was able to escape unscathed thanks to your timely intervention. This is a spiritual plant we just picked from a nearby mountain stream, along with some spirit stones. We hope you will accept them."

Cui Ying glanced at it and found it to be a fragrant calamus.

This plant has nine nodes on its root, leaves that resemble orchids, and it emits a unique fragrance at all times. It can be used to refine various elixirs that refresh the mind and invigorate the spirit.

Although this nine-jointed cattail could be exchanged for several dozen spirit stones at the Spirit Rhinoceros Pill Shop in Thundercloud City, Cui Ying only took a portion of the roots and pushed the rest back with a pile of loose spirit stones, saying:

"Although I saved you, I didn't use any magic. Now that I've received payment, you can take these things back."

"Oh dear, this won't do."

The middle-aged woman's face paled with anxiety, and she couldn't help but push the spirit stones towards Cui Ying again:

"Please accept it quickly, otherwise my daughter and I will feel guilty."

Seeing this, Cui Ying had no choice but to change the subject:

“Auntie, you must be cultivators from nearby villages, right? Judging from your unstable breathing, you must have suffered some serious internal injuries. It’s still early, so I think you should go home first, it would be safer.”

“Young friend is right, we are from Meiling Village nearby. My injury is not serious, I will recover with a little rest.”

"Meiling Village?"

Hearing Cui Ying's murmurs, the middle-aged woman looked her over with surprise:

"Young friend, you look unfamiliar to me. You must not be from our village, right?"

Cui Ying nodded and said:

“My eldest sister-in-law’s family is from Meiling Village. I visited there with my parents two years ago. I remember the red plum blossoms behind your village were particularly beautiful, especially their refreshing fragrance. I still remember it vividly.”

"Haha, the red plum grove behind our village is indeed beautiful. From what you're saying, young friend, is your sister-in-law the seventh daughter of Yang Lingchu's family in our village the year before last?"

The middle-aged woman seemed to remember something and sighed, "Then we are destined to meet. My home is not far from the Yang family. Your sister-in-law, Yang Qimei, is a few years older than my Ru'er. I watched her grow up. She is a good child."

Cui Ying smiled and nodded, saying, "It really is fate."

To meet in this vast Phoenix Mountain Range and to have my life saved—this is quite a coincidence.

"What a coincidence, haha~"

Cui Ying turned her head and saw Zhu Chaoyun staring intently at the girl named "Ru'er" and grinning foolishly.

She raised her eyebrows slightly, gave him a subtle push, and greeted him:

"Go, go and see that demonic bear."

After saying that, she took the lead and walked towards the demon bear's corpse not far away. This demon bear was several sizes smaller than the one at home, but it was still enormous, lying on the ground like a small yellow-brown hill.

Ta Xue, who was following beside him, stepped forward, circled the demon bear's corpse, and then let out a low roar. As black smoke billowed from his body, it transformed into several black chains that silently burrowed into the demon bear's seven orifices.

"Sister Cui Ying, what are you doing, Ta Xue?"

"Roar"

Zhu Chaoyun was astonished. He had just asked a question when a faint roar echoed from the void.

"What's that sound? The demon bear isn't dead?"

Not only Zhu Chaoyun heard this, but the mother and daughter behind her also heard it clearly, and their expressions changed drastically as they surrounded them.

As Cui Ying looked at the scene before her, her brow furrowed slightly, for she knew very well that the demonic bear was beyond dead.

Just then, Ta Xue roared again, and the black chains that had disappeared into the demon bear's corpse immediately rolled back, pulling a semi-transparent demon bear phantom closer and closer to Ta Xue.

"Treading Snow∽ is actually devouring the bear's soul."

Cui Ying murmured to herself. If she hadn't witnessed Ta Xue devouring the female ghost's soul to repair her body, she probably wouldn't have been able to accept this scene so easily.

Although the demonic bear soul struggled incessantly, it had ultimately become a lifeless object without a physical body.

Pulled by several black chains, no matter how much it struggled, it was dragged to Ta Xue's front.

Half an hour later, after Ta Xue had swallowed the entire demon bear soul, the black smoke around her dissipated, and her movements became languid.

He then walked back to Cui Ying's feet, closed his eyes, and lay down on the ground to sleep.

It seems that Ta Xue has awakened some kind of bloodline talent, which allows her to devour souls and thus achieve advancement.

With this in mind, Cui Ying summoned the Golden Scorpion, maximized its size, and carried the unconscious Ta Xue on its back. Then, she called to Zhu Chaoyun, who was already dumbfounded, to carry the demon bear's corpse, and together with the mother and daughter who were equally stunned and speechless, they left the place.

When the group appeared on a hillside not far from Chiyang Valley, Changsun Yi was quickly tying the peeled Tongxin Grass into a bundle.

Suddenly hearing a noise behind him, he quickly stood up, intending to conjure up a golden light spell to fight the enemy.

"Sister Cui Ying, you're finally back! Oh, it's another demon bear."

But when she saw who it was, she rushed over with a face full of joy, looked up and shouted with great delight, and then saw the demon bear corpse and a scorpion and a dog carried on the cloud:

"What are they?"

"They are my spirit pets, don't be afraid."

Cui Ying saw Changsun Yi's busy figure from afar, and upon hearing this, she slowly revealed a smile:

"Come on, I'll come and take you home."

"it is good."

After the group of five walked out of Chiyang Valley and returned to the mountain path outside Phoenix Mountain Range, Cui Ying turned around and said, "Fellow Daoist Zhao, you should also take Ru'er home quickly. We'll take our leave now."

Through conversations on the way, Cui Ying learned that the middle-aged beauty was named Zhao Lan, and her daughter's surname was Lin and given name was Jinru.

"Young friend Cui, please wait."

Zhao Lan, holding her daughter Lin Jinru's hand, first glanced at Cui Ying with a look of fear, but then said firmly:

“Young friend Cui, you saved my daughter and me. We have no way to repay you. We will visit you again another day to express our gratitude for your help.”

Cui Ying smiled indifferently, waved her hand, and urged the cloud to fly straight home.

When they arrived home, Wang Rong had already prepared a hot meal, just waiting for them to come back and eat.

"Oh dear, another huge demon bear. I'll be busy for half a day again. What's wrong with Ta Xue? She went out full of energy, but came back asleep? Is she injured?"

When Wang Rong saw the demon bear corpse that Cui Ying had placed in the courtyard, she first clicked her tongue in amazement, and then anxiously approached to touch Taxue.

"Mother, Ta Xue is not injured. He just ate too much and fell asleep."

Cui Ying stopped her mother's hand, first instructing Little Golden Scorpion to take Taxue back to her room before explaining.

"It's good that you're alright. Mother loves seeing you go out happily and return home safely."

After Wang Rong finished speaking, she called to Zhu Chaoyun and Changsun Yi, "You've come back just in time. Chaoyun, go and fetch your sister for dinner. And Changsun, go and call your mother and sister to come too."

“Okay, Aunt, I’ll go and fetch Wanqiu right away.”

Zhu Chaoyun nodded with a grin, then turned and ran out.

Changsun Yi stood in the courtyard, somewhat dazed, and said apologetically, "Aunt Wang, I'd better go back to eat. I'm not eating today..."

"What do you mean by today or tomorrow? Didn't you see that your brother Chaoyun has already run back to pick up his sister? We're not short of a couple more bites of monster meat. Listen to me, go and call your mother and sister~ Oh dear, look at my memory, we're still missing a chopstick."

Watching Wang Rong's rambling figure turn and leave, Changsun Yi's eyes reddened. Only after Wang Rong reappeared from the kitchen did she glare at her and scold:

"You little brat, you're even more stubborn than my old ox! I told you to go back and call someone, why are you still standing here?"

Upon hearing this, Changsun Yi subconsciously lifted her foot, but she still looked at Cui Ying and said:

"Sister Cui Ying, I'll go back to pick up my mother and sister now."

"Go."