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

Xue Lan accepted Master Chen's invitation, then casually asked, "What does this have to do with me not being allowed to hunt Xuan Shuo?"

"I'm afraid you'll fail before you even take the assessment. It would be difficult for me to explain if I leave a position vacant."

"Oh!" Xue Lan responded with a long sigh, her large eyes fixed on Master Chen. Her gaze eventually made Master Chen feel a little uneasy.

"Ahem!" Master Chen coughed twice, trying to cover up his blunder, and prepared to run away. Then he heard the girl's voice behind him.

"Please trouble Master Chen to tell my master that I will take care of my junior brothers and sisters. However, Xue Lan is fickle. He might abandon them one day to roam the world freely. Tell him to come back and visit when he has time."

Master Chen nodded, acknowledging his agreement. He then rode away on a cloud, presumably to guard the core of the Thunder Kui Formation once more.

In the midst of battle, the main formation must not be lost.

"A demon in the late stage of the Nascent Soul realm. You've really gotten bold. You even dare to covet his demon core?" The system spoke up at this moment. Xue Lan responded with a slight smile.

Use your brain.

"To fish in a deep pool, you throw in bait. Who expects the bait to kill the fish? We are only responsible for luring him out and trapping him. Others will take care of him later."

The girl looked around at the busy immortal disciples and mortal soldiers. They were disposing of the demonic beast corpses on the battlefield. Sticky demonic blood flowed all over the ground.

A few mortal soldiers nearby were watching Xue Lan and whispering among themselves. Xue Lan saw them, but didn't use her divine sense to investigate; she simply waited for them to come to her.

Let's see if ordinary people have the guts.

But the soldiers whispered among themselves for a while before dispersing, and Xue Lan left somewhat uninterested. Shortly after she left, a general appeared where she had been, carrying a jewel-encrusted wooden box.

"Oh dear, I missed the immortal." The middle-aged man slapped his thigh in regret.

But Xue Lan knew nothing of this. She went straight back to the camp in Jiangyun Valley. Lian Chuan was practicing his sword in front of her tent, with Cui Wu instructing him. When the young girl saw Xue Lan return, her eyes lit up. She looked Xue Lan up and down several times. Finally, she smiled and congratulated her: "Congratulations on breaking through, Senior Sister."

Upon hearing Cui Wu's words, Lian Chuan also dropped his sword and came over. The young man was full of vigor and respectfully bowed to Xue Lan: "Congratulations on breaking through to the next realm, Senior Sister."

Xue Lan looked at the young man in front of her: "It's been a few months, and your manners have improved a lot. Did your second senior brother teach you that?"

"I taught him." A gentle voice came from behind. Xue Lan turned around and saw a figure holding a whisk floating over. The whisk lightly landed on Xue Lan's shoulder.

Xue Lan was slightly startled, then quickly bowed and said, "Disciple greets Grandmaster."

The newcomer landed gently, a whisk draped over his arm, his features gentle yet aloof.

"Just returned from the battlefield, covered in bad luck. I heard you triggered black lightning inside the Thunder Kui Formation."

Xue Lan timidly replied, "Yes."

"You're so imposing on the battlefield, but you cower and cower before me. Just like Ling Yuanzi." Qingyin Daojun smiled and tapped Xue Lan's forehead with his finger.

"When your master took you in, he couldn't foresee your fate. It seems that you have a destiny that is not favored by the Heavenly Dao. Your first tribulation was met with black heavenly lightning."

"Others need to prepare for a tribulation for decades or even centuries, but you can casually trigger it on the battlefield. You're not afraid of making a mistake."

Xue Lan was truly terrified of this grandmaster, and continued to lower her head meekly, looking like a little quail.

"She didn't come to see you." The system's voice trembled slightly.

When Qingyin Daojun first came up, his whisk was ostensibly to cleanse Xue Lan of the bad luck that had tainted her, but in reality, it was an opportunity to probe Xue Lan's soul and ensure that she hadn't been possessed by something.

"She's always like this, I'm terrified!" Xue Lan thought to herself. Among the current Nascent Soul stage elders of the Xuanhuang Sect, she feared Qingyin Daojun the most.

When Xue Lan first became acquainted with Ling Yuanzi, he was quite unruly.

She drifted alone through the river of time for a thousand years. After being taken in by Ling Yuanzi and brought back to Jiyuan Peak, she began to court death. The venerable old man with an air of otherworldly grace turned into a vexatious old geezer.

Xue Lan seemed to have suddenly returned to her childhood self as a wolf cub, taking advantage of Ling Yuanzi's reluctance to discipline her to act out and throw tantrums. She thought that even in death, she wouldn't suffer the torment of drifting in the river of time for a thousand years.

It wasn't until Ling Yuanzi sent her to Qingyin Daojun, where she received a thorough "training," that she never forgot it for many years.

"How did she scold you?" the system asked curiously.

"I was punished by copying books in the library. Do you know which little room I live in? That's the one she made me copy books for."

Why don't you just not plagiarize?

No, Xue Lan felt a chill run down her spine. If she didn't copy, Qingyin Daojun would control her arm and make her copy it herself. Xue Lan's senses were sharp, and the feeling of being controlled almost drove her mad. In the end, she had no choice but to start copying the book herself.

"A total of 600,000 miscellaneous books, and I still haven't finished copying them all." Xue Lan sighed inwardly, feeling that her life was only so long.

After spending a year by Qingyin Daojun's side, Xue Lan emerged looking exactly like she does now. She spends her days either refining weapons or copying books.

He is emotionally stable, does things slowly and deliberately, and no longer goes crazy.

Ling Yuanzi once suspected that his disciple had been switched. He even went to cause trouble for his senior master, but ended up getting a beating himself.

"Chen Ruifang told you about the Ten Thousand Crafts Workshop, right?" Daoist Qingyin finally got to the point. She began to explain in detail: "Sixty years ago, the Ten Thousand Crafts Workshop opened. Demons infiltrated it, causing damage to the entrance formation. Since then, it can only be opened twice."

Xue Lan nodded slightly: "Disciple understands."

With only two chances to open it, it means that if no one can obtain the Wan Gong Fang inheritance after the two attempts, Wan Gong Fang will become a secluded paradise forever, inaccessible to everyone.

Xue Lan recalled the little thunder roc she had encountered when all the sects of the Xuanhuang Sect gathered together last time.

Perhaps it was all for this opportunity.

"This disciple will certainly live up to Master's expectations." Xue Lan bowed solemnly.

"Don't make any boasts yet. You need to win against the other participants first. Only if you come out on top will you be qualified to do this," said Daoist Qingyin with a hint of helplessness.

"My master and all the seniors chose me because they think highly of me, so why should I belittle myself?"

Qingyin Daojun smiled with satisfaction upon hearing this. This was what she liked about Xue Lan. This child was tactful in his dealings, but never underestimated himself, and had absolute confidence in his ability to forge weapons.

This confidence, mixed with the girl's youthful righteousness, truly captivated these old guys.

Recalling Xu Qizhou and Ji Jinjin, the younger generation, Qingyin Daojun's smile deepened.

They are all young people capable of shouldering great responsibilities for the human race. They are diligent in their studies, upright, and hate evil.

The future of humanity rests on these young people.

“Jinjin has a Heavenly Grade Thunder Spirit Root. The sect is discussing sending her back to the sect to choose her path after this battle. Your Grandmaster Xuanji said he wanted to ask for your opinion first.”

Upon hearing this, the girl said, "Then let us choose a path. But I hope that all the teachers will promise Xue Lan that as long as the path chosen by Auntie does not harm any living beings in the world, no one will be able to interfere with her cultivation."

Xue Lan's words were spoken with absolute certainty, yet they coincided with the thoughts of several elders of the sect. Qingyin Daojun suddenly became curious about the child's choice of path, and thus asked, "Of course. Now that you have broken through to the Golden Core stage, have you thought about choosing your own path?"

Xue Lan fell silent. After Yuanming's disciples descended to the mortal realm and formed their core, they chose their own path, and each sect had its own place for this choice.

The Xuanhuang Sect is located below the waterfall on the back mountain of Xuanling Peak, where there is a divine tree that has grown for thousands of years and is named Linghuang.

The location of the Spirit Radiance Tree can bring clarity of mind and make it easier to comprehend the laws of heaven and earth. Therefore, disciples of the Xuanhuang Sect choose their path there.

In her spare time, Xue Lan would also visit Xuanling Peak, and she would feel at peace when passing in front of the Linghuang Tree.

But she had no desires, no wants. She remained completely unaware of her own path.

Meanwhile, the disciples of the same generation have all chosen their paths: Xu Qizhou pursues the ultimate swordsmanship, Yin Shishi practices medicine throughout the world, and Gong Yuan seeks only to unravel the secrets of heaven...

This made Xue Lan feel inferior to others.

The girl replied perfunctorily, "Disciple's only wish is for the demons to be driven away and for peace to last for eternity."

Daoist Qingyin shook his head: "That's a very perfunctory statement."

The disciple lowered his head and pondered for a while, then finally rolled his eyes and remained silent.

Seeing her like this, Daoist Qingyin didn't press her for more information. After giving her a few more instructions, he left Xue Lan's tent. Only then did Cui Wu dare to step forward and check on Xue Lan.

"Senior sister!"

Xue Lan asked Cui Wu, "Does Xiao Wu have a path he wishes to pursue?"

The girl frowned and thought for a while before her voice became clear and firm: "I want to guard Mount Luoxia so that the demons will not dare to invade even a step."

"His heart is as firm as a rock, unyielding." Xue Lan commented, "He's a qualified sword cultivator."

"Senior sister, don't you have your own goals?" Lian Chuan asked, putting down his sword.

"Yes, but none of them are the Way. You should practice your swordsmanship diligently!"

Xue Lan has many goals:

Obtain the demon core to suppress Zhu He's hidden root. Follow the system's instructions to correct the plot, enter the Myriad Crafts Workshop, and become its master...

Each and every task is a goal, but once they're done, it feels like that's it. It's not something I'll pursue my whole life.

Unable to get the answer she wanted, Xue Lan felt as if her mind was burning up. So she stopped thinking about it, gave Cui Wu a few instructions, and sat down on the stool to stare blankly.

"Host, are you in a bad mood?" the system asked.

"I'm in a great mood right now. Xiaotong, keep an eye on Xu Qizhou and his group. Once they start luring and killing Xuan Shuo, I'm going to get involved."

"But host, aren't you really afraid of dying?" the system asked, still shaken.

"I think I'm pretty tough," Xue Lan tilted her head and gave a sweet smile. "Besides, you wouldn't let me die, would you?"

system:!!