Hammer in her left hand, sword in her right, the eldest sister is connected to both worlds.

The Xuanhuang Secret Realm opened two months later, and the Xuanhuang Sect remained outwardly calm during this period. Privately, Xue Lan, Xu Qizhou, and Yin Shishi, following the map given by Cui Wu, went to the opened secret realm at Jiyue Mountain.

The entry went relatively smoothly this time because Xue Lan had brought along Yan Chengxue from the War Puppet Mansion.

Yan Chengxue is the last disciple of Master Chen, the array master of the War Puppet Mansion, a junior brother with exceptional talent in array formation. He likes to wear all white and carry a fan. He is the epitome of a refined gentleman in the eyes of the female cultivators of Mingyangchuan. But only Xue Lan knows this.

Beneath this child's exterior of a genius in array formations lies a madman who loves creating puppets. His greatest ambition in life is to create a puppet capable of instantly killing a demon king. To this end, he is even researching a method to separate his own divine soul.

The moon was bright and the stars were few in the sky within the secret realm. The members of the Xuanhuang Sect were all dressed in black robes made of brocade. Hidden in the shadows of the trees, only their eyes were visible.

Yan Chengxue led the way, the young man wearing a jade ring on each finger of his left hand, with small hooks carved into the palm of his hand, each hooked with transparent moon silkworm silk, controlling a small puppet in front of him.

The little puppet, which looked no more than knee-high, sped forward through the dense grass, appearing remarkably agile.

"Something's not right in this secret realm." Xue Lan sensed something was amiss as soon as she entered. The aura of all the demonic beasts here was concentrated in one point.

The secret realm contains some demonic beasts. Although the demon race and immortals live in harmony, the law of the jungle prevails. Demons cannibalizing humans is a common occurrence, as are human cultivators hunting them. It's not just human cultivators; even powerful demons who have achieved significant cultivation often turn a blind eye.

After all, the demon race has no awareness of protecting the common people.

"All the other monsters in this secret realm have been eaten by one thing." Yan Chengxue retracted his little puppet. The little guy hopped and skipped onto his shoulder.

"There's a big one in here." Xue Lan took out his Chonglou Illusionary Treasure Map, on which an ancient scroll had appeared. It depicted a crimson spider demon beast.

“There is a record on the Demon Clan’s List of Suspended Beasts,” Yin Shishi said. “Twelve hundred years ago, a demon general in the desolate region was corrupted by demonic energy and turned into an evil creature. He fled to Jiyue Mountain and disappeared.”

“My master and I have carefully examined the poison on Junior Sister Cui’s body. Apart from the demonic energy that permeated it, it is very similar to that of the missing Crimson Jade Spider.”

"A demon general from 1,200 years ago, he's still alive. His cultivation must have reached the Demon King realm by now. How can we possibly compete with him?" Yan Chengxue interjected, and the surrounding area fell silent.

Yin Shishi spoke again at this moment: "The matters of the demon race are naturally handled by the demon race. The reason I invited you all to this secret realm is twofold: first, to confirm whether the Crimson Jade Spider is really here; and second, to ask you all to obtain the Crimson Jade Spider's venom for me."

A girl carrying a celestial sword on her back, perched in a tree ahead, spoke up upon hearing this: "Your Xuanhuang Sect still makes such ruthless demands. Compared to late-stage Nascent Soul demon beasts, are we even enough for them to devour one in a single bite?"

"Ayin!" the man beside her called out to stop the girl. But the girl clearly had no intention of listening to him, and jumped down from the tree to stand in front of Xue Lan.

"I recently acquired a high-grade Heavenly Essence Crystal, and I heard you're short of money. Make a scabbard for Du Ying, and I'll help you out." The immortal sword behind the girl flew up and circled around Xue Lan before finally hovering horizontally in front of her.

Xue Lan pushed the immortal sword away with her hand: "Stop fooling around, I know your size." Then she looked at the girl: "Junior sister, are you going to pay?"

Long Siyin hit her on the head: "When have I ever been shortchanged by you?"

"Yes, yes, after all, she is the young lady of the Longsword Sect. I agree."

"Now that we're all here, we're on your pirate ship. Fellow Daoists, let's discuss this here." The man who had stopped Long Siyin earlier said helplessly to Xue Lan.

"Thank you for understanding, Senior Brother Yue." Yin Shishi took out small jade bottles from her storage bag and distributed them to the people present.

"Just store the venom in the Four Seasons Bottle. Everyone, your safety is paramount."

Xue Lan looked at her empty hands.

"No, what about mine?" Xue Lan asked in confusion.

"You're just a fake Core Formation cultivator?" Yin Shishi looked Xue Lan up and down.

The system laughed wildly in the sea of ​​consciousness, saying something like, "Don't be fooled by the negative comments."

"Just stay here obediently." Everyone else flew away, and Xu Qizhou patted Xue Lan on the shoulder before leaving.

"Are you being isolated?" the system asked.

Xue Lan shook her head with a hint of pride: "They just care about me."

"I am safest here."

Yin Shishi and her group continued forward. They were so bold because they all possessed protective treasures given to them by their masters, though Xue Lan was certainly not without one. However, those at the Pseudo-Core Realm couldn't unleash the full power of these treasures, and even with Xue Lan's ghostly abilities, she would still be in danger.

Plus.

"At least I didn't let her catch up. I got scared the moment I saw her dressed in all black. I felt like it couldn't be anything good," Yan Chengxue said, fanning herself.

Perhaps this is the real reason they abandoned Xue Lan; Xue Lan was unlucky, especially while exploring the secret realm.

Xue Lan, who was spying on this side with the help of the system, turned green with rage.

Do you know you're unlucky? Hahahaha... hiccup hahahaha...

Xue Lan suppressed the urge to tear the system apart and smiled as she said, "Come with me for a walk around."

Luck is a very mysterious thing. Xue Lan thought to herself, looking at the two little spiders in front of her.

These are two small, crimson spiders, about the size of a hand. They hatched in front of Xue Lan a quarter of an hour ago.

It had short limbs and big eyes. Upon seeing Xue Lan, it rushed over and tugged at her clothes.

A loud system announcement echoed in his mind: "Aaaaaaah! Get them out of here!"

"So that's what you're afraid of." Xue Lan squatted down to tease the two little spiders. The Crimson Jade Spiders, true to their name, looked like they were carved from jade. Their eyes were like obsidian, and when they were little, they were really... kind of cute.

[What are you doing if you're not running?] The system practically wanted to crawl out of Xue Lan's head and beat her up.

The mother spider must be nearby.

"I'll tell Shishi and the others." Xue Lan took out a talisman and explained the situation to Yin Shishi.

"Can we run now?" the system asked.

Xue Lan had already heard the sound of something moving quickly.

A giant scarlet jade spider rushed out from behind Xue Lan, its front half raised high, and where its chelicerae should have been, half a woman's body grew instead.

Yes, a woman with half long hair.

"She should have given me a Four Seasons Bottle." Xue Lan looked at the spiders in front of her, then used her footwork to escape. The two small spiders clung to Xue Lan's clothes, refusing to let go. Being dragged along by Xue Lan,

The mother spider went berserk the moment she saw Xue Lan run away with her children. But fearing she might harm the baby spiders, she simply chased after Xue Lan.

Why are they like this? They see one and think it's their mother?

"You think Silver Moon Wolves are everywhere? Low-level demonic beasts can't distinguish them when they're first born," Xue Lan retorted, intending to abandon the two little ones near the exit of the secret realm. But unexpectedly, the mother spider behind her leaped dozens of meters up, blocking Xue Lan's path.

"She's a type of jumping spider, isn't she?" the system asked quietly, having already accepted the fact that its host had brought about its own demise. It was now planning to find a new host.

"I don't know!" Xue Lan looked at the mother spider in front of her.

"Put them down..." the mother spider murmured in a low, hoarse voice.

To everyone's surprise, Xue Lan not only did not do as instructed, but also wrapped the two little ones in her skirt.

"What are you doing?" Even though the system was somewhat numb, it was still startled by Xue Lan.

"You can't get out now. Are you going to let them grow old and die in this little secret realm, never breaking through to the next level?"

The inability to undergo tribulation within the secret realm means that one cannot increase their lifespan or break through to a higher realm.

The mother spider was shrouded in demonic energy, her long hair obscuring her eyes. One of her eyes, which was visible, looked behind Xue Lan.

A phantom of a white wolf appeared behind Xue Lan, lying quietly behind her, seemingly visible only to the mother spider.

Before the mother spider could speak, a sharp red demonic light slashed through the entrance to the secret realm, cleaving off half of her body. Xue Lan hastily retracted her demonic soul avatar.

A stunningly beautiful woman dressed in red cleaved through the barrier of this secret realm with a single stroke and entered. Behind her, eight fluffy white tails resembled a fluffy fan.

Is this the person Yin Shishi mentioned who was sent by the demon race to deal with things? The Eight-Tailed White Fox Ancestor.

Xue Lan felt like she was really doomed.

The woman paid no attention to Xue Lan and looked at the mother spider in front of Xue Lan, saying, "Hongyu, I have come to find you on Jun Die's instructions."

The mother spider was only half a body left, but her eyes were fixed on the two baby spiders that Xue Lan was holding in her arms.

Xue Lan wrapped the little spider up more tightly and used magic to conceal the presence of the two little spiders.

"Hongyu, prepare to die."