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

Behind a rock seven or eight zhang away, two burly men were laughing wildly at each other, planning which market they should go to next to pull off another heist.

Suddenly, the burly man in yellow on the right felt his hair stand on end and his face change drastically as he staggered back several steps.

When he regained his balance, his face was already a mix of red and blue, and he was coughing violently while clutching his chest.

Upon seeing this, the rogue cultivator who had just been called "Fellow Daoist Gu" was startled. He gripped his long sword tightly and stared intently at the pink-clad, veiled girl who slowly walked out in front of him.

"Why are you here?"

What do you think?

Cui Ying smiled slightly, and without saying a word, she raised her blue sickle and slashed diagonally at the yellow-clad man who recognized her.

"You little brat, you're asking for it."

"She dared to lay a hand on us two brothers, so kill her."

Although Cui Ying's cultivation level was slightly lower, her experience in killing and fighting in her previous life was several times stronger than the two of them, and she was not afraid at all when facing two rogue cultivators at the fourth level of Qi Refining.

Moreover, she wasn't fighting alone.

"Woof woof ∽ woof woof woof."

As Cui Ying made the first move, Ta Xue beside her also let out a series of low growls, and then transformed into a black shadow, rushing towards one of the people's arms with lightning speed.

"You beast, you're asking for death."

Already injured by Cui Ying, he cursed angrily and hurriedly clenched his fist and smashed it towards Taxue's head.

The fist emitted a faint golden light as it faced the wind, clearly indicating that it was some kind of powerful fist technique.

If it hits Ta Xue, she will surely die.

But at this moment, Cui Ying suddenly raised her hand and threw out an ice spike spell.

Caught off guard, the man had no choice but to smash the oncoming ice spike to pieces with a single punch.

Before he could catch his breath, the thick snow mist formed from the ice cone clung to his iron fist, which was as big as a sandbag, like maggots clinging to a bone.

Instantly, half of his arm was frostbitten, turning bluish-purple, and even the magic power within his body seemed to be frozen, creating a suffocating feeling.

"How can it be?!"

The man only had time to scream in alarm as his face changed drastically before he was tackled to the ground by Ta Xue, who pounced on him.

"what."

"Don't bite."

"Fellow Daoist Gu, please save me!"

Seeing his companion lying on the ground begging for help in no time, the cultivator surnamed Gu also looked somewhat flustered.

He hurriedly slashed the illusory sickle that was closing in on him with his sword, and rushed over, intending to kick Ta Xue away.

But Cui Ying wouldn't give him a chance. With a flick of her wrist, several scythe-like shadows, each several feet long, mercilessly slashed at his outstretched, stinky feet.

The cultivator surnamed Gu had been cultivating for over twenty years. With his ancestral Blood Fang Blade, he dared to fight even a master at the fifth level of Qi Refining.

Now, dealing with this young, blonde girl is proving to be a bit tricky.

He could no longer spare the yellow-clad giant. He brandished his knife, creating a circle of blood-red blade wind in front of him. Although he managed to deflect most of the scythe phantoms, he was still cut on the arm by the scythe phantoms flying from various tricky angles.

In an instant, blood flowed freely.

"court death."

The cultivator surnamed Gu's arm, which was holding the long sword, trembled slightly, but his face was filled with uncontrollable rage.

But just as he rushed over, an ice spike that flew out of nowhere from behind pierced his thigh.

In her previous life, Cui Ying had lived to the Golden Core stage, her hands stained with blood. Especially when facing those who wanted her dead, she would rather kill the innocent than let a single person live.

The cultivator surnamed Gu fell to the ground. Taking advantage of the two breaths when he was injured by the ice spike and the cold air entered his body, temporarily preventing him from circulating his magic power.

Cui Ying was ruthless and took advantage of his illness to kill him.

The two exchanged blows for only a short while before the menacing "Fellow Daoist Gu" collapsed to the ground, dying with his eyes wide open.

"Little friend."

"Young friend, spare my life! Young friend, spare my life!"

Seeing his companion beheaded in an instant, the burly man in yellow was terrified.

Cui Ying paused, looked at the burly man who was also covered in blood, and said, "Ta Xue, let go."

Ta Xue looked up and slowly released its grip, but its claws did not leave the big man's chest. It let out a chilling growl and stared intently at its prey beneath it, scaring the man so much that it dared not resist any longer.

"Tell me, how should this matter be resolved amicably?"

The burly man in yellow, clutching his bloodied arm, said with some difficulty, "I...I will return all the spirit stones to you, young friend. Please spare my life."

"Hehe, the spirit stone was originally mine, so it's a return to its rightful owner. Where are the iron crystal, red crystal sugar, and wildflower honey I asked for?"

The burly man in yellow hesitated for a moment, but his gaze fell on the still convulsing corpse, and he could only resign himself to his fate and say:

"Give."

"Give them all to my young friend."

"I only beg you, young friend, to show mercy and spare my life."

Hearing a satisfactory answer, Cui Ying's depressed mood finally calmed down a bit.

She slowly squatted down and took out not only her own spirit stones from the satchel at his waist, but also dozens of extra spirit stones.

After thinking for a moment, she turned around and picked up the long knife that had fallen to the ground. Then, with a look of disgust, she searched the corpse of the ancient Daoist and found a bag of spirit stones and a bunch of other odds and ends.

Without hesitation, she stuffed the useful items into her storage bag, then fired a fireball to incinerate the corpse, before saying:

"Get up, go and get mine back."

The burly man in yellow glanced at the slowly stiffening corpse, shuddered, and hurriedly nodded in agreement.

Before long, Cui Ying followed the man in yellow through another inconspicuous path into Songlin Market.

At the same time, Cui Ying couldn't help but think that these two were so bold, and it didn't seem like they were doing this for the first time. They must have a backup plan.

She glanced around at her surroundings and felt a little more at ease.

There were many independent cultivators coming and going around her, so even if there was an ambush, she was confident she could escape.

Just as Cui Ying was staring thoughtfully at the limping figure of the man in yellow, a voice filled with extreme grievance rang out from ahead:

"Sixth Brother, help!"

Cui Ying looked in response and saw a group of guards wearing rattan armor walking around the corner ahead.

The leader had a deep and imposing aura, clearly not as easy to deal with as these two good-for-nothings.

With a glance, she swiftly raised her hand and slashed the blue sickle at the yellow-clad man who thought he had escaped. Only after hearing a scream did she turn around with satisfaction and activate her lightness technique to its maximum.

"Let's go, snow."

"Stop! Don't run!"

"Grab her—don't let her get away."

"∽"

After a chaotic scene, Cui Ying had already run to the busiest street in Songlinfang.

The group of people we just saw were wearing rattan armor; they were clearly guards patrolling the Gongsun family.

It seems these people are playing the "thief crying 'stop thief'" trick.

Fortunately, she had prepared in advance. With a layer of gauze between them and so far away, those people shouldn't be able to find her head.

"call."

Cui Ying removed her face mask and changed into an inconspicuous plain orchid pleated skirt, then strolled along the long street.

"Cuckoo."

Hearing the rumbling in her stomach, Cui Ying looked up at the sky and realized it was almost noon.

After all that fuss, not only had I used up most of my magic power, but my stomach was also completely empty.

She remembered that there was a famous cyclamen restaurant in Songlin Market, whose spiritual food was known for its delicious aroma.

I'll use these free spirit stones to indulge myself and soothe my frightened soul.

Having made up her mind, Cui Ying headed towards the cyclamen. Suddenly, a familiar voice sounded behind her:

“Sister Aying.”

"Brother Shi Yin?"

Cui Ying turned her head and saw Gu Shiyin, dressed in a deep blue brocade robe, carrying a long sword on his back, walking towards her from the crowd.

Behind him followed a young woman with an unpleasant expression.

"Little sister Ying, what are you doing here?"

"I'm out shopping, what about you, Shi Yin-ge?"

"What a coincidence, Sister Ying, it's me too."

Cui Ying gave a sweet smile and looked at the girl in purple behind him.

Gu Shiyin took two steps forward, leaned down and whispered in Cui Ying's ear, "My mother asked me to come to the market to buy things, and I ran into her not far from where I left."

After hearing what Gu Shiyin said, Cui Ying immediately understood what was going on.

It's estimated that she was the wife who married Shi Yin in her previous life, the Miss Wu who had a father in the late stage of Qi Refining and a mother in the middle stage of Qi Refining.

She nodded, ignoring the young lady, her large, almond-shaped eyes filled with the handsome young man's face. She asked softly:

"Brother Shiyin, what did Aunt Gu ask you to buy? Is there anything Ah Ying can help with?"

"Sister Ying, it's me..."

"Cuckoo."

"whee."

Cui Ying smiled sheepishly, patted her stomach, and said, "Sorry, Brother Shi Yin, I'm here early today and I'm hungry."

Gu Shiyin smiled gently and said, "I brought some spirit stones. Since Sister Ying is hungry, I'll go to the shop and buy her some food."

"Need not."

Cui Ying grabbed Gu Shiyin's arm and took his warm hand, saying, "Come on! Brother Shiyin, let's go to Xiankelai for something good to eat."

Cyclamen?

Gu Shiyin was startled, somewhat taken aback.

"No, Sister Ying. I'm not hungry, don't spend money on me."

"You're not hungry, but I am. It's rare for us to run into each other, so let's go, Shi Yin, just keep me company this once."

After saying that, Cui Ying suddenly tiptoed, tilted her head up to the boy's fair and rosy cheeks, and said playfully, "Don't worry, Brother Shi Yin, I have spirit stones."

Following behind, Wu Mingzhu watched the two of them being affectionate, but her face turned very ugly.

Seeing the two becoming increasingly intimate, she touched the long whip at her waist several times, but then angrily lowered her hands.

Gritting her teeth, she called out in the same sweet voice:

"Brother Shi Yin—no, Brother Gu, let me treat you to a meal. I brought more spirit stones than you."

Wu Mingzhu shook the storage bag at her waist, a hint of smugness flashing across her beautiful face.

She had originally planned to spend the whole day with Gu Shiyin, so she brought not only a protective magic weapon but also a lot of spirit stones to cover the expenses of this date.

She had planned to go to Xiankelai in Songlin Market with Gu Shiyin to enjoy the delicacies, but who knew that such a country girl would suddenly appear.

Cui Ying glanced at Wu Mingzhu without saying anything, but looked at Taxue at her feet and said, "Brother Shiyin, look, our Taxue is hungry too."

"Oh, Sister Ying, is this your spirit pet?"

Gu Shiyin looked down and his phoenix eyes immediately lit up with a smile.

"Ta Xue is very well-behaved, Brother Shi Yin, do you want to pet her?"

"Can I?"

When Gu Shiyin was a child, he raised a civet cat, which his father, Gu Qinghong, bought for him as a seventh birthday gift for spending two spirit stones.

Unfortunately, the cub was wild and untamed, and it would scratch him until he was bloodied every time he was fed, so his father wouldn't let him keep it anymore.

"Ta Xue, this is Brother Shi Yin, don't scare him."

Seeing Cui Ying squat down and rub Ta Xue's fluffy head, Gu Shiyin also curiously reached out and touched it. Seeing that it was particularly docile, he couldn't help but stroke Ta Xue's broad back.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuu"

Before long, Ta Xue began to make comfortable gurgling sounds.

"Let's go to Cyclamen."

"Ah."

After Ta Xue interrupted, Gu Shiyin did not refuse again. He nodded and walked towards the cyclamen with Cui Ying.