Watch out! Something's wrong with this guard.

Lu Yunshi wiped his sweat and then looked at Lin Min and the other three who were slowly walking towards him.

"Such an unexpected incident on the first mission, is this considered special treatment for newcomers?"

Hearing this, Lin Min and the other three, who had been somewhat serious, couldn't help but laugh. Their tension eased considerably. Then, Lin Min shook her head and spoke.

"We're also very surprised that we would encounter an alien spirit here."

"Could it be that the boss's doing?" Tang Busan guessed.

"Whether he's behind this or not isn't important now. What's important is how we get out of here," Li Hu sighed.

At this moment, Lin Min looked at Lu Yunshi and Lu Yunxi. "You weren't injured by the alien spirits, were you? Or were you affected by their aura?"

Lu Yunshi and Lu Yunxi exchanged a glance, then shook their heads together.

"No, although that alien spirit's strength and speed are comparable to ordinary late-stage Body Tempering cultivators, I am at least at the peak of Body Tempering. As for its aura? Are you referring to the breath they exhaled?"

Lin Min was stunned for a while by Lu Yunshi's strange description, and then smiled helplessly.

"That's right, that's the breath they were exhaling."

"Although I dodged them all, I still want to know what would happen if I were injured by the alien spirits or if their aura entered my body?" Lu Yunshi asked curiously.

Hearing this, Lin Min, Li Hu, and the other two exchanged glances and then sighed.

"If it's not dealt with in time, we'll be swallowed by their aura and become one of them. We cultivators are alright; we can suppress them for a while with our own strength, then swallow pills to remove their aura or wait for someone to come and save us. But if mortals are injured by the alien spirits and tainted by their aura, there's really no way to save them. They don't have pills, and they don't have time to wait for someone to come and save them."

Li Hu then chimed in, “These are the strange things that are called alien spirits. We were quite surprised when we first encountered them. Putting aside their strength and speed, the key is their intractable vitality and their insensitivity to pain. Even the lowest-level inferior alien spirits are difficult to suppress if they are injured by them, even for cultivators who have absorbed spiritual energy. So, although cultivators who have tempered their bodies are capable of dealing with the lowest-level inferior alien spirits, the academy has always advocated that we absorb spiritual energy before making contact with them.”

"In short, we hope to always maintain a gap of one major realm above the alien spirits we come into contact with. This is the safest approach. Otherwise, given the alien spirits' strange assimilation ability, even if we win in a contest between spirits of the same realm, we will still be unable to escape the fate of becoming an alien spirit ourselves."

"Inferior alien spirits?" Lu Yunshi thought for a moment, then asked, "Are there higher levels?"

“Otherwise what? Do you really think that a mere inferior alien spirit can become the culprit that wreaks havoc on the continent? Above inferior alien spirits are superior alien spirits.” Lin Min replied. “The strength of inferior alien spirits is roughly between the early stage of Body Tempering and the early stage of Spirit Gathering, while the strength of superior alien spirits is between the early and late stages of Spirit Gathering.”

"The highest strength of inferior alien spirits and the lowest strength of superior alien spirits are both at the early stage of Spirit Gathering?" Lu Yunxi frowned slightly, somewhat puzzled.

"According to the teacher, the difference between inferior and superior spirits is more like a difference between different levels. Their most fundamental difference lies in intelligence. Inferior spirits are like mindless beasts, while superior spirits possess intelligence. If they are not detected by special means or exposed on their own, they look no different from ordinary people."

"And what about the higher ones?" Lu Yunshi asked again.

Lin Min shook her head slightly. "There's a lot to learn about the supernatural beings; you'll have plenty of time to understand. But for now, let's focus on finding a way out."

After she finished speaking, she looked around. "I don't know if there are any other spirits here. Everyone be careful. Let's split into three groups and look around the village."

Needless to say, Lu Yunxi was paired with Lu Yunshi.

This Li Family Village isn't particularly large, but it's not small either. It has about a hundred households, and almost every house is covered with some strange red substance.

Upon closer inspection, the thing was slowly wriggling, as if it were alive.

Lu Yunshi then remembered that the strange spirits from earlier seemed to have come from these odd things, but now there was no sign of them appearing.

However, Lu Yunshi did not act rashly to try to destroy these things. He did not know enough about them, and if he took action and failed to achieve his desired goal, it would lead to even worse consequences, which would be a loss.

In short, it's best not to touch things you don't understand, unless there's no other way.

They opened the doors of the house one by one and went inside to observe. They didn't find anything special, except that the houses had been abandoned for a long time.

"Young Miss, you've never been in contact with supernatural beings either?" Lu Yunshi asked, glancing at the silent Lu Yunxi.

Lu Yunxi paused for two seconds after hearing this, and then replied, "No, my teacher told me that it would be best to reach the Mountain Moving Realm before contacting the Otherworldly Spirits."

"That's a very prudent idea." Lu Yunshi nodded slightly. It seemed that Lu Yunxi's teacher was also a very responsible person. However, plans can't keep up with changes, and Lu Yunxi still encountered it in the end.

After searching a house, the two found nothing and turned to leave. However, as soon as they stepped out the door, Lu Yunshi felt a cold wind blow towards him. Just as he was about to turn around, Lu Yunxi stepped forward and pushed him away.

Lu Yunxi summoned her longsword and slashed horizontally, seemingly forcing something back, making a "ga, ga, ga" sound.

Lu Yunshi frowned and looked up at the sky following the sound, only to find that it was a crow making the noise.

"Crows? There are crows in this place."

Lu Yunshi squinted, trying to observe if there was anything special about this crow, but after looking at it carefully for a while, he couldn't see any difference from ordinary crows.

At this moment, Lu Yunxi frowned and said something.

"This crow... is very likely stronger than me."

"Ah? A crow from the Mountain Moving Realm?" Lu Yunshi exclaimed in surprise.

Lu Yunxi turned around and glared at Lu Yunshi. "Not many are strong, probably only at the late stage of the Nascent Soul realm."

Upon hearing this, Lu Yunshi looked at the cawing crow again, no longer daring to show the slightest contempt in his eyes.

The two men and the crow faced off for a moment. Suddenly, the crow flew a distance in a certain direction and then kept looking at Lu Yunshi and the other man.

"Where does it want to take us?" Lu Yunxi asked Lu Yunshi, seemingly understanding the crow's meaning.

Seeing the question in Lu Yunxi's eyes, Lu Yunshi smiled. "Miss, you make the decision. In any case, I will follow your will."

Upon hearing this, Lu Yunxi paused for a moment, then blushed slightly and turned her head away awkwardly.

"Shut up! If you won't listen to me, do you think I should listen to a piece of trash like you? I'm the master, get out of here!"

Looking at the other person's slightly hurried steps, Lu Yunshi found it inexplicably funny.

“Young Miss, before following this strange crow, I think we should go find Senior Sister Lin and the others first? You know, if the two of us go alone now, something bad might happen.”

Lu Yunxi paused upon hearing this. "Shut up! Just listen to me."

Despite saying that, Lu Yunxi changed direction quite naturally, and Lu Yunshi followed without a care in the world.