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

The giant snake in front of Qi Yaoyao hissed hoarsely as it slowly approached Cui Wu. Cui Wu poured all his spiritual power into a single sword strike, aiming it at the snake.

"Senior sister is really something, she won't shed a tear until she sees the coffin." Qi Yaoyao's eyes turned cold as she hid behind the giant snake and watched Cui Wu's death throes.

Cui Wu glanced at Qi Yaoyao, who was hiding, and sneered inwardly.

Even if he is favored by his master and provided with rare and precious treasures, he is still nothing but a good-for-nothing.

Cui Wu's sword stance changed, and the dazzling sword light resembled a crescent moon that bypassed the giant snake in front of Qi Yaoyao and struck Qi Yaoyao behind it.

Qi Yaoyao screamed and flew backward. Cui Wu was bitten on the shoulder by the giant snake in front of him and crashed against the stone wall not far away.

Cui Wu coughed up blood; in that instant, her internal organs seemed to shift. But she still gripped the longsword tightly in her hand.

Qi Yaoyao possessed a protective magical artifact, which Cui Wu had known when she was sent flying backward. The giant snake slowly approached Cui Wu, its head bulging, and a human face gradually appeared.

The snake's head slowly reached towards Cui Wu, its blood-red tongue flicking out.

"Beasts!"

Cui Wu struggled to raise the sword in his hand, but when the giant snake swept its tail, Cui Wu's wrist went numb, and the sword flew out of his hand and stuck in a crevice in the rocks not far away.

It's really come to this.

Qi Yaoyao hasn't come up to mock me yet, so she's probably already run away. Leaving this beast behind to torment me.

The girl drew spiritual energy from the surroundings and channeled it into her golden core, emitting a faint blue light in the night.

"You beast, take this!" A sharp shout came from nowhere. Cui Wu suddenly opened his eyes. He saw a golden light fly towards him, piercing straight into the seven-inch mark of the giant snake in front of him, pinning the beast to the ground before it could even roar and turn into a wisp of black smoke.

The black smoke writhed and flew away in the distance like a living thing in front of Cui Wu, but it hadn't flown far before it was engulfed by the sword energy of a flying immortal sword and turned into ashes.

On the nearby mountain, Ji Jinjin was the first to fly out, landing in front of Cui Wu. The spear that had been stuck in the ground flew back into Ji Jinjin's hand. The girl glanced at Cui Wu, then looked at Xue Lan, who was slowly flying towards her from behind.

"She really is Junior Sister Cui, a disciple of the Immortal Venerable Caijun."

Xue Lan and Xu Qizhou walked up from behind.

"I told you I wouldn't mistake someone for someone else." The girl had a faint smile on her face.

"All the demonic beasts should have been kept outside of Luoxia Mountain by the Longsword Sect. I'm still a bit surprised to see this disgusting thing here."

Cui Wu looked at the girl who was speaking. She was dressed in black and had almond-shaped eyes as round as Qi Yaoyao's.

Cui Wu felt that she looked familiar, but he couldn't remember her name for a moment.

"You are……"

Zhu He, standing to the side, looked at Xue Lan and said, "They don't know you."

"We shouldn't stay here any longer. Let's take this junior sister with us first," Xu Qizhou said, unable to bear it any longer.

Ji Jinjin stepped forward and helped Cui Wu up. The group then transformed into dim streaks of light and flew away into the distance.

[Host, we've found out. Cui Wu is one of the female protagonists in Lu Feng's book.]

“One of them?” Xue Lan drew out the last syllable: “There are others.”

"Yes, there are more than one," the system said somewhat helplessly.

The group arrived at a cave deep within Mount Jiyue. Cui Wu was put down by Ji Jinjin. The young girl stared intently at Xue Lan before cautiously speaking, "Junior Sister Lan?"

Xu Qizhou poked Xue Lan with the hilt of his sword.

"Let me explain, Junior Sister Lan."

The people around her immediately perked up their ears. Xue Lan awkwardly covered her eyes.

"Let's get down to business. We didn't come here to chat, right?" Xue Lan chuckled, glossing over the matter. Xu Qizhou rolled his eyes at her. Then he turned to look at Cui Wu.

“Junior Sister Cui, I should repay your life-saving grace. I have a request to make.”

[He's such a straight man!] The system silently muttered.

Cui Wu was extending her wrist so that Ji Jinjin could channel spiritual energy into her to regulate her breathing when she heard Xu Qizhou's words. She paused for a moment, then calmly said, "You must be Senior Brother Xu from the Xuanhuang Sect. You must be here because of the senior brothers and sisters who were exorcising demonic beasts at Jiyue Mountain."

"Junior Sister Cui doesn't seem surprised at all."

Cui Wu's expression stiffened slightly: "Senior Brother Xu is a role model for us, and... your sect's actions are quite unconventional."

Everyone around fell silent.

"One month ago, your sect's senior brother, senior sister Zhang, and three other senior brothers came to Jiyue Mountain. Their purpose was to clear the demonic beasts from a secret realm within Jiyue Mountain. That secret realm has always been used for the sect's disciples' trials. Since three months ago, disciples have been frequently going missing. Some disciples who escaped said that there were demonic creatures inside. However, due to restrictions, the sect's Nascent Soul masters cannot enter. Therefore, they issued a mission to seek help from other sects."

"At that time, I was ordered by my master to lead several senior brothers and sisters and junior sister Qi Yaoyao into the secret realm. Inside, we encountered demonic beasts. Senior Brother Gong fought off the demonic beasts alone to cover our escape."

Zhu He couldn't bear to listen any longer and interrupted Cui Wu, "Why didn't Jiyue Mountain explain this to the Xuanhuang Sect? Where did the other Xuanhuang Sect disciples go?"

Cui Wu bit her lip and looked at Xue Lan. She struggled to tear off one of her sleeves. The girl had fair skin, and her slender arm was covered with hideous black lines.

"This is how they all end up," Cui Wu said. "My junior sister, Qi Yaoyao, colluded with the demonic path to develop evil arts and harm the disciples of our sect."

“You need to understand, without solid evidence, you can’t bring her down,” Xue Lan said, looking into Cui Wu’s eyes.

“I know.” Cui Wu smiled bitterly: “Disciples of immortal sects like me are not valued by their masters.”

Xue Lan looked at Cui Wu, a look of despair spreading across the young girl's face, her voice hoarse.

"But I entered Jiyue Mountain at the age of seven and became a disciple at the age of eight. My master made a great vow before me: to uphold justice, eliminate demons and protect the righteous path... even if it means my death and the dissipation of my cultivation, I will seek justice for myself and for my fellow disciples who have been treated like ants!"

[Look, look, that's it. In the original story, this girl went to seek justice, but her blind master destroyed her spiritual roots, causing her to become completely corrupted.]

This is also a point that needs to be addressed. That's all I can do for you. Figure out the rest.

"If you go to seek justice now, you'll be verbally attacked by your blind master and senior brothers. And then you'll end up being expelled from the sect. Is it worth it?" Xue Lan said with a smile.

“It’s worth it.” Cui Wu gave a wry smile: “For us cultivators, defying the heavens and pursuing the Great Dao is our lifelong wish.”

"Either die pursuing the Great Dao, or die resisting evil."

"Anyway, it's not like I'm being schemed against and dying in despair."

Cui Wu was proud and arrogant, as Xue Lan could tell from her words.

"You will then come with us to see the sect elders." Xue Lan's voice was gentle: "I am Xue Lan, the eldest disciple of Lingyuan Zhenren of Jiyuan Peak in the Xuanhuang Sect. You will go to the Jiyue Mountain gate to file a complaint against Qi Yaoyao."

"If you survive being expelled from the sect, I, Xue Lan, will take you as a disciple on behalf of my master. I will accept you into my Jiyuan Peak."

The girl's voice wasn't loud, but it was deafening to Cui Wu.

"Why...?" Cui Wu asked, his voice trembling.

“My master, True Man Lingyuan, usually likes to pick up children from outside.”

Xue Lan smiled and slipped a pill into Cui Wu's palm.

"What a coincidence, I like it too."