The deflated cultivator refused to give up and vowed to turn the tables.

When Ou Ruo saw Zhang Chanan reach out and touch Su Zinong's crown, as if to absorb his true energy, she knew that Su Zinong had once had the same experience. After his energy was absorbed, he lost all his cultivation and became a cripple, and he was in great pain.

"Haha, the little girl feels sorry for me. The more sorry she feels, the happier I am! I love seeing your pitiful eyes. It fuels my desire to conquer you..." As she spoke, she channeled her inner energy and drew it into Su Zinong's head.

Su Zinong's body trembled suddenly as his true energy was drained, and he felt extremely uncomfortable.

But after only a few breaths, Zhang Chanan's face turned ashen, and he collapsed to the ground with a thud.

Su Zinong casually tapped five major acupoints on his body, then held the Thunder Sword to his neck with a backhand motion.

"Seeing the darkness on your face, I knew you were doomed," Su Zinong murmured.

The reversal came so suddenly that Europe, unaware of what had happened, hurried over.

Su Zinong released the pressure points from Ou Lu's acupoints and then reached into Zhang Chanan's pocket and pulled out four golden spirit stones.

“You do it!” Su Zinong said to Ou Ruo.

"Hmm." Ou Ruo nodded, drew her sword, and thrust it into Zhang Chanan's throat.

"He got off easy." Su Zinong thought she would torture this big bad guy severely first, but he didn't expect Ou Ruo to give him a quick death.

“I can’t be bothered with him,” Ou Ruo said, then kicked Zhang Chanan into the abyss.

"Two pieces each." Su Zinong placed two golden spirit stones into Ou Ruo's left pocket and patted it gently.

They exchanged a smile, realizing they had truly escaped death, and embraced each other tightly.

"Why did he fall down?" Ou Ruo asked curiously.

"Because I was poisoned by the Cold Poison Soft Stone Powder," Su Zinong said calmly. "He inhaled my cold poison, which suddenly entered his body, and he collapsed."

"Oh, are you alright?" Ou Ruo asked worriedly.

"It's alright. I had anticipated this day and specifically kept this to prevent the absorption of my true energy. I've been suffering from this cold poison for several months now, but it has never harmed my body. Even when I went to the far north and the shores of the Ink Sea, it didn't flare up. So you don't need to worry. By the way, would you like to wear a mask? Your angelic beauty is indeed likely to attract enemies," Su Zinong suggested with a smile.

“I don’t want to,” Aurora said. “We are about to part ways, and I don’t want you to remember me in the future as someone else wearing a mask.”

“How could that be? Once I’ve seen your real face, I can’t remember any other face,” Su Zinong said. “By the way, that person said that the Heavenly Demon Sect is searching for you everywhere. We might need to speed things up.”

“All you ever think about is getting rid of me,” Ou Ruo said, puffing out her cheeks.

"No, you're wronging me. Didn't you hear what that scoundrel said?" Su Zinong felt aggrieved.

"Let them look for me if they want. I left a letter before I left, saying I would be back after a few months away from home with friends. They don't believe me, and they're making such a big fuss about looking for me. It's infuriating!" Ou Ruo said angrily.

“Distrust is indeed bad, and it is indeed infuriating, but ultimately they act this way because they are too worried about you and care about you. You should understand,” Su Zinong reminded him.

"You seem to know my father quite well," Ou Ruo said with a smile. "Would you be interested in becoming the son-in-law of the Heavenly Demon Sect?"

"You're not going to force me to take responsibility now, are you? You forced me to do it, I had no power to resist, and I haven't even made you take responsibility yet!" Su Zinong didn't know how to describe the feeling of being forced to do something he didn't particularly dislike.

"Sigh, never mind, it was my own choice, what responsibility do I have? I just want you to remember me, don't mention anything else." Ou Ruo smiled gently.

The north is entirely within the sphere of influence of the Heavenly Demon Sect, and there are liaison points for the Heavenly Demon Sect in major cities.

Five days later, Su Zinong and Ou Ruo returned to Stone City. Ou Ruo went to the Heavenly Demon Sect's liaison point to report that she was safe and sound.

"Holy Maiden, it's good to see you back. The Master has been searching everywhere for you." The liaison officer was overjoyed to see Ou Ruo, bowing and scraping. He immediately sent a message to the main altar to report the news, and it seemed that a reward or even a promotion was just around the corner.

“I know. Brother, just tell him I’ll be back in Devil City within a month,” Ou Ruo said, then took out a thousand-tael silver note and handed it to him as a tip.

"You're quite good at handling people," Su Zinong praised.

“It’s really tough with these followers. They both respect and fear me. Shouldn’t I treat them better?” Aurora said.

“You’re right, we should be considerate of others,” Su Zinong nodded.

You don't know until you get to know her. After spending time with her, I realized that Ou Ruo wasn't a difficult person to get along with. Qin Xiangxue's initial prediction was indeed correct.

Thinking of Qin Xiangxue, Su Zinong felt another pang of pain in his heart. He had grown accustomed to the swirling snow in the far north over the past few months, and occasionally he would think of her. But the frequency of these thoughts gradually decreased, largely thanks to Ou Ruo's gentle care.

Thinking of this, Su Zinong couldn't help but take Ou Ruo's soft, boneless, fair hand, and the two walked slowly together.

"How about we go explore Goddess Mountain again? It's said to be a sacred place for cultivating the Kidney Water Scripture," Ou Ruo suggested.

"Let's not cause any more trouble. Although Liu Qianyu is gone, there are still Seven-Star Elders and Eight-Star Elders there." Su Zinong knew that Ou Ruo was reluctant to part with him.

Even so, although they didn't go to Goddess Mountain, Ou Ruo dragged Su Zinong to various mountains to hunt and play, and it took them a full half month to return to Devil City.

Ou Ruo took out the only two black spirit stones she had and handed them to Su Zinong as a parting gift.

Su Zinong accepted it and said, "I received it, thank you. I don't have anything good to give you."

“No need,” Ou Ruo said. “Does my Heavenly Demon Sect lack treasures? All you need is a hug.” Ou Ruo murmured.

Su Zinong gently embraced her, holding her for a full fifteen minutes before letting go and waving goodbye. After Ou Ruo entered the Devil City, Su Zinong left on his own.

Su Zinong headed south, having almost used up all the spirit stones he had carried over the past few months. He was looking for Huang Chenghe to redeem two yellow spirit stones.

Sometimes during cultivation, I would take out two golden spirit stones and discover that they were treasures for cultivating the Hand Taiyin Lung Meridian, which made cultivation much faster.

Moreover, he had previously served a White Lotus Pill, so he already had a good foundation.

I've even started practicing my "divine sense of smell." Lately, my nose has been sniffing around like a puppy, memorizing all sorts of subtle scents.

They practiced their skills as they walked slowly, and it took them ten days to reach the vicinity of the Yellow River Villa.

When we arrived at the Tengchong River, we found that the river channel had already been dredged, and construction had begun both upstream and downstream of the bridge.

Although it is a laborious and demanding project, it will not only benefit the Yellow River Villa, but also alleviate the flooding situation after the river channel is dredged, which will be of great benefit to the people on both sides of the river.

"Very good," Su Zinong nodded, quite satisfied. "Huang Chenghe is quite capable and trustworthy."

However, upon arriving at the Yellow River Villa, they received shocking news: Huang Chenghe had disappeared...