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

Disciples of the Xuanhuang Sect rushed to reinforce the Luoxia Mountain defense line like shooting stars, with Xu Qizhou and his group leading the charge. They arrived at Luoxia Mountain in just three days.

It was evening when they arrived, a small wave of demonic energy had just passed, and Long Siyin stood atop the city wall. She wore a brown robe, the hem of which was stained with still-wet black blood. The immortal sword Duying, floating behind her, emitted a crisp sword cry the instant it sensed Xue Lan's presence.

It then flew towards Xue Lan.

Xue Lan took out a scabbard from her storage bag at her waist. Du Yingxiang was like a child who had received a new toy, and immediately sheathed the sword.

Then, carrying the sword sheath, he flew towards Long Siyin.

"Shouldn't you be in the camp at Jiangyun Valley? What's a weapon refiner doing getting involved on the front lines?" Long Siyin caught the flying immortal sword. Her eyes were filled with amazement when she saw the scabbard. The murderous aura between her brows, born from the recent battles, faded somewhat.

"Staying in the camp is boring. I'll help you slay a demon king for fun." Xue Lan took a few steps forward and looked down at the battlefield from the city wall. Under the afterglow of the setting sun, the entire Luoxia Mountain was shrouded in a desolate red. The scorched earth was littered with the corpses of low-level magical beasts.

The setting sun was like blood, and in the distance, a dark mass of demonic beasts lurked on the horizon. The Thunder Kui Formation unfurled a transparent barrier, crackling with deep blue lightning.

"I think you're having another episode." Long Siyin toyed with the scabbard in her hand.

"The sword cultivators ahead haven't all died yet, so it's not your turn to become a weapon cultivator."

Xue Lan crossed her arms with a smug look on her face: "I'm not just an ordinary weapon cultivator, I'm a genius."

Before Long Siyin could retort to Xue Lan, she heard a familiar voice coming from behind them.

"Xiaoxiao?"

Xue Lan turned around stiffly and saw Min Chang, who had just landed on the city wall. She was wearing a brocade dress, followed by two sword cultivators from the Longsword Sect.

"Junior Sister Long." Min Chang walked over and first greeted Long Siyin. Then she looked at Xue Lan.

“Xiaoxiao?” Long Siyin looked at Xue Lan to the side.

Xue Lan knew that Miss Long was someone who often caused trouble for others.

"Senior Sister Min, let me introduce you. This is Xue Lan, the eldest disciple of True Person Lingyuan of the Xuanhuang Sect. A master of weapon crafting and a genius in the art of weapon crafting."

The young prodigy of weapon crafting, Xue Lan, just wanted to disappear into the ground.

Fortunately, Senior Sister Min was broad-minded. Besides, Xue Lan wasn't a demon spy. The female cultivator looked at Xue Lan with a smile.

"So, does that mean I'll have to call her Senior Sister Xue from now on?"

Xue Lan waved her hands repeatedly: "Just call me Xiaoxiao, just call me Xiaoxiao."

"Then Senior Sister will continue to call you Xiaoxiao. How did you, a mere Pseudo-Core Formation Realm cultivator, end up on the front lines?"

Xue Lan announced that she hates it when people talk about her spiritual level.

"It will break through..."

Just as Xue Lan was speaking, Min Chang's eyes suddenly sharpened. She raised her hand, forming a sword-like finger, and pointed down at the city. A demonic beast with its head protruding from the edge of the barrier in the distance had its head fall to the ground.

A faint, light blue light flew back into Min Chang's hand; it was a light blue water sword.

Senior Sister Min put away her magic weapon, and the icy coldness in her eyes vanished instantly.

"Xiaoxiao, please continue."

Xue Lan remained silent.

The system inside Xue Lan's mind was practically bursting with laughter: 【Why aren't you saying anything? Don't you want to?】

"Yes, I don't want to, so please shut up!"

"Then I'll tell you, I've been targeted by the demons."

Min Chang spoke these words casually, but everyone present changed their expression.

"When was it discovered?" Xu Qizhou asked.

"I've been feeling anxious and uneasy for the past three days."

Even cultivators who have reached the Golden Core realm may experience restlessness due to inner troubles and worries, but unexplained panic is not a good sign.

"It's most likely that a powerful demon king has his eye on you." Xue Lan turned her head to look down from the city wall.

The demon race likes to target the most talented humans as their prey, and is essentially like the wolf race, enjoying toying with their prey.

Just like Xue Lan did to Qi Yaoyao last time, that guy is also using his powerful divine sense to intimidate Min Shang.

Long Siyin felt numb.

"You're so lucky."

"There's no other way now. The incident involving the demon spies from Jiyue Mountain has terrified the six sects and twelve factions. Luoxia Mountain is heavily guarded now. If we want to catch this big fish, we'll probably have to go even further."

“This is not something that can be done overnight.” Long Siyin looked at everyone present: “Hunting demons is not something that can be done in a day or two. Now that you have arrived, fellow Daoists, don’t just sit around. Find something to do.”

The group parted ways. Xu Qizhou, Long Siyin, Ji Jinjin, and the others remained to guard the area, wary of a demonic night attack. Xue Lan and Min Shang went to the Jiangyun Valley camp, where they obtained their disciple jade tokens and settled in.

Two days later, Zhu He and the others arrived at the Jiangyun Valley camp and found Xue Lan.

Xue Lan came to the front lines primarily because she didn't want Xu Qizhou and the others to die there. After all, according to her little system, the current demonic tide was far less severe than the one that would come later.

The second reason is Zhuhe.

After Zhu He put on the Spirit Shard Ring a few years ago, he began to cultivate diligently, often practicing swordsmanship in the back mountains late at night. As a result, his cultivation advanced too quickly. He has now suppressed his cultivation at the mid-Golden Core stage for two years.

Xue Lan had originally planned to let him suppress his cultivation for now, aiming for a late-blooming breakthrough. However, given the current tense situation, having Zhu He continue to pretend he wasn't cultivating and remain hidden in the background might damage his mental state. She was hoping her cheap master, Ling Yuanzi, would promise her the top-grade source crystal, but since the demons began their attack, Ling Yuanzi hadn't given her a single word.

Xue Lan knew that the matter was most likely to fall through.

Forced into a corner, the eldest disciple decided to try a different approach. Demons possess demon cores, much like the demon pills of monsters. Xue Lan planned to use the opportunity of everyone luring and killing demons to obtain a demon core from a demon in the early Nascent Soul stage.

Its quality is naturally inferior to that of top-grade source crystals, but it's usable to the extent that it's acceptable.

"Furthermore, I started planning to forge a natal spirit treasure for Jinjin several years ago. Thunder belongs to the Heavenly Gang, which is extremely strong and Yang. Jinjin is an orphan that my master picked up from the front line of Luoxia Mountain and raised by my side since childhood. She was influenced by the killing aura of the battlefield when she was young, and her personality is decisive and ruthless. I want to use the soul of the demon race to imbue Jinjin's spirit treasure with spirit, and to forge a fierce weapon suitable for her to conquer the battlefield."

In other words, you'll get 80% of the benefits from this demon all by yourself.

Xue Lan: I've told you before that sometimes I don't really like it when people tell the truth.

[You and your master kept Zhu He's cultivation a secret from the entire cultivation world. What will you do now that it's been exposed?]

"This was my fault," Xue Lan replied decisively. Because when she was crafting the Spirit Shard Ring for Zhu He, she truly hadn't considered the concerns of others.

The demon lord from the upper realm possessed a body with the powerful demon soul from his previous life, and the hidden spiritual root, which was almost unsolvable in the lower realm, was not insurmountable for Xue Lan. So he boldly did it.

"I was arrogant and self-righteous at the time, and I thought that everyone in the world except myself was an ant."

Even though he had gone from being a powerful demon in the upper realm to a ragged and destitute beggar in the lower realm, Xue Lan still had absolute confidence in himself.

"I am actually very grateful to my master."

"Why?" the system asked, somewhat puzzled.

Xue Lan clearly disliked Ling Yuanzi.

"He's very good to me," Xue Lan said, only these five words. Then, very seriously, she asked the system, "You've been having me assist the so-called protagonist, so what kind of person do you hope I will be in their lives?"

The system was stumped. Its data chains jittered erratically. It couldn't provide an answer for a long time. A layer of mist rose from Xue Lan's entire sea of ​​consciousness.

"Is this the cannon fodder, the tool you mentioned?" Xue Lan asked.

"Of course not. I hope you can be their mentor and guide," the system said firmly.

Xue Lan watched as the faint soul power slowly emerged from its body.

"Then be a good teacher and helpful friend, a guide."