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

A jet-black light exploded beneath Xue Lan's feet. Lei Chuxi's cultivation had reached the peak of the Golden Core stage, and his attack was ruthless.

Killing is forbidden in the Wan Gong Fang secret realm, and Lei Chuxi's attack was intended to knock Xue Lan off the Wan Gong Ladder.

The girl was chased by the dark lightning. She dodged around rapidly while using her Void Step technique. Several times she looked like she was about to be knocked down, but in the end she managed to escape danger.

Unbeknownst to Xue Lan, she had switched places with Lei Chuxi, and the girl's golden eyes looked particularly eerie.

Another bolt of dark lightning struck, and this time Xue Lan did not dodge; the lightning struck her directly.

However, when the lightning struck Xue Lan, it was absorbed by her robe as if it were a mud ox sinking into the sea, leaving a layer of golden patterns flowing across it.

"Your treasure is truly resilient in every way!" Xue Tong remarked.

"I, Xue, don't have time to play with Fellow Daoist Lei here!" The girl's voice was gentle, but her hands moved swiftly. Dozens of black Rasengan were thrown at Lei Chuxi, forcing the young man to withdraw the lightning before him.

When she looked up, Xue Lan had already flown far away using the Void Stepping technique, and was about to touch the hem of Xue Chongyu's clothes.

The pitch-black lightning struck again, wrapping around Xue Lan's ankle.

"Soft gold weave!"

A very thin golden thread flew out from Xue Lan's sleeve and instantly severed the lightning that was binding Xue Lan's ankle.

"Iron from beyond the borders!" Xue Chongyu said softly.

Xue Lan hid behind her and said with a grin, "It's rare that someone still recognizes this. This is the Iron from Beyond the Realm."

The soft gold fabric was intricately distributed in front of Lei Chuxi, like a giant net.

The "Iron from Beyond the Realm" is not actually iron, but rather the horn from the heads of high-ranking demons, incredibly tough and extremely difficult to obtain. Ling Yuanzi had to beg and plead with the six sects and twelve factions to acquire Xue Lan's Soft Gold Fabric.

Xue Lan exclaimed again: "My master truly loves me! My master is the best!"

If it weren't for Ling Yuanzi's constant support, Xue Lan would have been reduced to begging in Ruoshui City long ago.

In a small county town thousands of miles away, a young man dressed in white is drinking tea with a masked swordsman dressed in black.

The black-clad swordsman watched as the white-clad youth took a piece of pastry from his sleeve, raised it to his mouth, and took a bite.

"You've had these pastries out for quite a while, haven't you?"

"I bought it in Fuxun City some time ago. But I had no choice, I'm really poor!" the young man said with a gentle smile.

The black-clad swordsman sneered, "You still have a fine piece of Qian Yuan Jade, a top-grade Origin Crystal, and..."

"Stop, stop, stop! I'm scared of you, your perception is terrible!" The young man opposite him hurriedly interrupted the black-clad swordsman. Then he said helplessly, "That's a gift for my disciple! That girl got another one for me, looks like I'll have to prepare another one!"

As the young man spoke, a kind and gentle look, beyond his years, shone in his beautiful eyes.

The black-clad swordsman, without changing his expression, asked, "Can you still go back?"

The young man's expression froze, and he shook his head with a wry smile: "Who knows, who knows!"

Seeing his helpless expression, the black-clad swordsman said, "Realize that the past cannot be changed, but the future can be shaped. Xie Linghuan, it's time for you to let go!"

"If I were you, I would go back to the Xuanhuang Sect right now."

The young man in white shook his head, a smile in his eyes: "How do you know that my actions aren't forward-looking?"

The black-clad swordsman fell silent, instead looking at the rising sandstorm outside the city, a hazy yellow hue covering the entire sky.

"No one blamed you for what Xie Linghuan did back then!"

"How do you know they don't blame me?" The young man looked at the swordsman in front of him, asked this question, and then slowly stood up, picked up the umbrella that was propped up on the table, and slung the bundle that was placed on the table over his shoulder.

"So you're going to go down to the underworld to ask?" The black-clad swordsman slammed his hand on the table.

The young man in white spoke softly, "Yes!"

The young man carried his bundle out of the city and disappeared into the swirling sand.

Within the secret realm of Wan Gong Fang, pitch-black lightning struck the soft gold fabric in front of them, but accidentally hit something inside that was wrapped in the soft gold fabric.

Instantly, Lei Chuxi was thrown a considerable distance by the blast wave. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Xue Lan ascended further, leaving Xue Chongyu far behind and reaching Lin Buyu's side.

At this moment, beads of sweat had already formed on the girl's forehead.

Xue Lan's heart raced. The pressure from the Ten Thousand Crafts Ladder was increasing, and her body was only at the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm.

An arrow carrying the flames of the Vermilion Bird shot towards Xue Lan. Xue Lan was restrained by the oppressive aura, and a long gash appeared on the side of his face.

Xue Lan smiled and looked at Zhu Lingzhi standing next to Lei Chuxi: "Fellow Daoist Zhu, you've already turned hostile?"

"Your face is ripe, isn't it? It's ripe, isn't it? Doesn't it hurt?" Xue Tong screamed.

Xue Lan looked at the bow and arrow in Zhu Lingzhi's hand and secretly said to Xue Tong, "I didn't feel any pain. Maybe I'm just thick-skinned."

Xue Tong: Fair and to the point.

Zhu Lingzhi looked at Xue Lan and smiled brightly: "Of course not. I have a deep friendship with Daoist Xue. Why don't you come down and catch up with me?"

After she finished speaking, another fiery red arrow appeared on the girl's bow and arrow, and she aimed at Xue Lan once again.

The golden runes on Xue Lan's body suddenly lit up, and actually spread upwards from her collar, growing all the way to her face.

The golden runes eventually spread to below Xue Lan's eyes, looking like inscriptions on the face of some kind of puppet.

Zhu Lingzhi did not hesitate and drew his bow to shoot an arrow.

A loud phoenix cry echoed from the high heavens, and a fiery red Vermilion Bird flew towards Xue Lan. A cold glint appeared in Xue Lan's golden eyes.

The girl stood still, seemingly intending to take the blow head-on.

Xue Lan's lips curled slightly: "It's just the Vermilion Bird..."

No matter how strong Zhu Ling's bloodline of the Vermilion Bird is, he is not a true Vermilion Bird.

However, Xue Lan possesses genuine Golden Crow power.

The fiery Vermilion Bird collided directly with Xue Lan, exploding into a golden flower in everyone's eyes.

Wu Jin took off his bamboo hat and held it in front of his face, looking both nonchalant and helpless. With a few light leaps, he arrived beside Xue Chongyu.

Xue Chongyu glanced at the young man beside him.

"Aren't you going up there?" Wu Jin asked Xue Chongyu.

The girl looked at him: "I have another mission to take me down to the mortal realm this time!"

The young man smiled slightly: "I'll help you, but you have to let me meet your father. I have something to ask him!"

"Changjun is currently cultivating at Danmo Mountain, and I can't get in myself." Xue Chongyu said this and headed up.

"How about we discuss this again, Miss Chongyu?"

The golden flower in the middle of the group slowly disappeared. Xue Lan, standing in the middle, clutched her chest and overheard the conversation between the two.

“Danmo Mountain…” Xue Lan pondered in her heart.

That was a painting she created in her past life, for...

It was to give Ember a place to live.

"Do you have some suspicions?" Xue Tong asked anxiously.

Xue Lan stood up; she had been shot in the shoulder, and blood was flowing down her back.

As the girl looked down at Zhu Lingzhi, part of the golden inscription on her face faded, and her right eye returned to its original color.

[No, Xue Lan, say something! Are you injured?] Xue Tong was getting anxious, genuinely afraid that Xue Lan would do something stupid.

Xue Lan covered her own wound and comforted Xue Tong, "I'm fine, I was just pretending."

Xue Tong wanted to hit her.

“I have an idea. The light ink mountain that Xue Chongyu just mentioned is a painting I painted in my previous life.”

【Then what? 】

“It belongs to my sword from my past life—Emberlight.”

The upper realm is the northern region of the river, and the mountains are light ink-colored.

The white-haired woman, who was taking a break amidst the flowing water and small bridges, suddenly opened her eyes, the same phrase still lingering in her mind.

"Emberlight..."

The woman looked at the ink paintings and landscapes around her: "It was just a dream..."