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

Cui Wu looked into Xue Lan's exceptionally charming almond-shaped eyes and nodded solemnly.

"it is good."

"Even if I die under the torture of Jiyue Mountain, I will never forget your kindness in saving me." A small ball of light appeared in Cui Wu's hand. Xue Lan took it and saw that it was a map with a location marked on it.

"Thank you, Junior Sister." Xue Lan smiled slightly, her almond-shaped eyes crinkling, appearing innocent and harmless. Privately, however, she was already communicating telepathically with the Xuanhuang Sect disciples present.

“Auntie, Ahe. After you take her there, send a telepathic message to Master Shensuan, asking him to use her as an opportunity to cast a divination. Senior Brother Xu and I will go find Junior Sister Zhang and the others.”

Xue Lan looked at Cui Wu: "Junior Sister, this matter is of great importance. I will send two junior brothers and sisters to escort you to the mountain gate. Senior Brother Xu and I will go to the Xuanhuang Sect to find someone."

"I wish my junior sister will get justice."

Ji Jinjin and the other two transformed into streaks of light and flew towards the gate of Jiyue Mountain, while Xue Lan and Xu Qizhou remained where they were, watching the streaks of light disappear on the other side of the mountain.

Xue Lan reached out to Xu Qizhou. The immortal sword behind Xu Qizhou flew to the two of them, a thin wisp of black smoke emerging from its hilt. Xue Lan subtly channeled her spiritual power, and the wisp of black smoke was caught in her hand.

"How presumptuous of them to set their sights on the disciples of Suandao Peak." A scroll appeared in Xue Lan's right hand, depicting five peach trees. Xue Lan slightly shook the scroll, and the peach trees seemed to come alive. Peach petals fluttered down.

This was given to Xue Lan by the Calculating Master Shen Suan. Since entering the Dao, the Calculating Master Shen Suan had devoted himself to the study of divination, and his five disciples all had a deep connection with him. The Calculating Master Shen Suan had captured the essence of the peaches and recorded it in this "Five Peach Trees Picture." These five peach trees represent his five disciples.

Five peach trees continuously shed their blossoms. The largest peach tree had lost all its blossoms, and the pink petals flew out of the painting and mingled with the black smoke in Xue Lan's hand before flying towards a spot on the northern slope of Jiyue Mountain.

"It seems that Senior Sister Zhang and the others are over there." Xue Lan put away the scroll and looked at Xu Qizhou to the side.

“Disciples who betray the sect from Jiyue Mountain are usually subjected to thirty blows of the Soul Refining Whip. It should be around the afternoon of the day after tomorrow.” The floating immortal sword returned to Xu Qizhou’s back, and the young man looked at Xue Lan with amusement and said, “Junior sister who took on a disciple on behalf of her master, aren’t you worried that this person will be beaten to death by Jiyue Mountain?”

“If she were so easy to kill, she wouldn’t deserve to be my junior sister. I just observed the demonic magic on her. It might be corrupting her soul. The Soul Refining Whip can save her.”

Xu Qizhou nodded and remained silent. The new disciples of the Xuanhuang Sect in recent years didn't understand Xue Lan. They thought she was just a senior sister who liked to seclude herself. But these top disciples from each peak all knew that hidden beneath Xue Lan's playful facade was a calculating mind that seemed indifferent to everything.

Few people could catch her eye.

If Cui Wu can survive this ordeal, Xue Lan will never abandon her.

The two quickly headed in the direction indicated by the peach petals.

Mount Jiyue spans a vast area of ​​thousands of miles, with the main ancestral temple located on its southern slope, facing the sun. The northern slope behind the mountain appears exceptionally gloomy at night. Even in the depths of winter, a thick fog has inexplicably descended, swallowing the entire northern slope and resembling the maw of a colossal beast from afar. Peach petals drifted to a cave on the northern slope before scattering, all falling into the clouds below.

"It seems this is the place. Such heavy resentment." Xu Qizhou, carrying the immortal sword on his back, spoke with barely suppressed anger. The immortal sword circled around him a few times before finally landing in his hand.

"There's a formation here." Xue Lan glanced at the cave entrance. A formation plate appeared in her hand.

"You know formations?" Xu Qizhou asked, somewhat surprised.

"No, it's terrible," Xue Lan replied with a forced smile.

"The array plate was made by Yan Chengxue. It contains an array that this array genius claims can break through a hundred with one."

After speaking, Xue Lan activated the array plate, and five-colored array flags flew out on their own, setting up a large array around the cave entrance to isolate the aura. The runes at the center of the array plate kept changing, beginning to break the array.

Xu Qizhou said with a hint of bitterness, "Yan Chengxue is really good to you."

"If you didn't always try to fight him and test your swordsmanship every time you saw him, he would treat you better," Xue Lan said sarcastically, just as a sharp shout came from the foot of Jiyue Mountain:

"Rebel!"

The oppressive aura of a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator swept over Cui Wu, who was instantly forced to the ground on the steps of Jiyue Mountain's gate. Fine blood foam spilled from his mouth. The young girl, enduring the oppressive aura, stood up and looked at the enraged man above her.

The Immortal Venerable Cai Jun, dressed in white, exuded a chilling killing intent.

"I used to think you were just dull-witted and unambitious. But today I realize you are of inferior character and stubbornly obstinate."

"You betrayed your sect and severely injured your junior sister who came after you. Now you're falsely accusing her in front of the sect gate."

"I said I would clean house today."

The incoming sword light was gently blocked by the old man beside him, and Master Shen Suan stroked his beard and spoke.

"Immortal Venerable Caijun has quite a temper. He attacked before the disciple could even finish speaking; that's not very elegant."

"Is your Xuanhuang Sect trying to interfere in the private affairs of my Jiyue Mountain?"

Cui Wu clutched the wound on her shoulder, her vision blurring. She looked up at Qi Yaoyao standing behind Gu Yue.

She was born in Lianyue City at the foot of Jiyue Mountain. An only child, she was deeply loved. But no matter how much a mortal woman is loved throughout her life, in the end, she can only find a good family to marry into, a marriage of equal social standing, to be a good wife and mother for the rest of her life.

Before my mother married my father, she was the young lady of a security escort agency. She had accompanied my maternal grandfather on countless escort missions and had seen the sunset over Luoxia Mountain and the moon over Jiangnan.

When she was seven years old, her father asked her if she wanted to get married. Cui Wu said she didn't want to; she wanted to go with her maternal grandfather to work as a镖师 (bodyguard/escort).

Go see the sunset over Luoxia Mountain, and the moon over Jiangnan.

So her father spent all his wealth to secure her a spot in the Ascension Ceremony. When she was eight years old, she was taken in as a disciple by the Immortal Master Caijun. Her father looked at Cui Wu and said...

"If my son doesn't want to get married, then he should become a fairy. Mortals dare not speak of fairies. May my son's path to immortality be smooth and carefree."

"My dad is so good to me!"

"Father sees your mother as the moon, and my son is also a little crescent moon, shining brightly in the sky. But my son, now that you have begun your spiritual practice, you cannot only think of yourself."

Cui Wu chuckled softly twice, then looked up and stared directly at Immortal Venerable Cai Jun: "I became your disciple when I was eight years old, Master. Do you remember what you said?"

The girl was covered in blood, but she resolutely continued walking up the steps. A bloody footprint was left on the steps.

"You said that the Longsword Sect of the Southern Region has been residing on Mount Luoxia since its establishment to resist demons. There are more than ten thousand broken swords in the Sword Tomb that have no owner. We cultivators should uphold justice and eliminate demons to protect the righteous path."

The expression on Caijun Immortal Venerable's face was somewhat unpleasant. But Cui Wu continued speaking.

"When I was eleven years old, the demonic tide broke out in the Southern Region. The Long Sword Sect suffered heavy casualties. My master's good friend, the Sword Immortal Linxuan, sacrificed his nascent soul to resist the demonic tide. My master was heartbroken and offered wine under the moon."

"Shut up, you traitor!" With a wave of his sleeve, Immortal Venerable Caijun sent Cui Wu flying, rolling down the steps for a long time before finally stopping. Blood gushed from Cui Wu's mouth, blooming like red plum blossoms on the white jade steps.

The girl propped herself up and got up again, then bowed deeply to the Immortal Venerable Caijun.

"Disciple is grateful to Master. Master guided me onto the path of immortality, allowing me to embark on cultivation and pursue the Great Dao..."

“But…” Cui Wu glanced at Qi Yaoyao, the girl hiding behind Cai Jun Immortal Venerable, her big, watery eyes wide open, looking quite pitiful.

"This disciple has accused Qi Yaoyao of colluding with the demon race to research evil arts in the back mountains of Jiyue Mountain, persecuting disciples and the people living below the mountain. Master has not even investigated and has already spoken out in defense of her."

"Only then did I realize that the earnest teachings I received when I first entered the sect were merely a facade, and the person who offered libations under the moon to mourn his friend who died at the hands of the demons was also a hypocrite!"

Before the Immortal Venerable Caijun could speak, Cui Wu bowed to the Sect Leader of Jiyue Mountain above the mountain gate.

"Cui Wu, an inner disciple of Jiyue Mountain, requests to withdraw from Jiyue Mountain in exchange for the Soul Refining Whip."

The disciples of Jiyue Mountain above the mountain gate were in an uproar, like a drop of water falling into a pot of hot oil.

"Cui Wu, do you know the consequences of the Soul Refining Whip?" Sect Leader Wen of Jiyue Mountain asked, looking at the girl below the steps. He felt a pang of pity seeing her covered in blood.

"Get up first. Your sect will give you justice in this matter."

"Thank you for your kindness, Sect Leader, but Cui Wu's mind is made up."

In fact, Cui Wu also wanted to ask, what if Immortal Venerable Caijun protected Qi Yaoyao to the death? What if her sect couldn't give her the justice she wanted?

Why make things difficult for the sect leader?

Sect Leader Wen sighed and looked at the Enforcement Elder beside him: "Elder Zhong, please use the Soul Refining Whip, ten lashes."

The Soul Refining Whip was lashed out, making a crisp "snap" sound in front of the mountain gate.

At the northern foot of Jiyue Mountain, the array in front of her slowly opened a gap, and Xue Lan heard the crack of a whip. Her ears were filled with the system's incessant chatter.

[Sect Leader Wen is a good person; he had the Soul Refining Whip reduced to ten lashes. But you all have even less time left.]

Xue Lan looked at Xu Qizhou to the side: "Alright, let's go in."

The two ventured deeper into the cave, Xu Qizhou leading the way, with Xue Lan following behind. The cave was extremely deep, filled with the roots and stems of unknown plants, some of which were writhing. Intimidated by Xu Qizhou's sword aura, they dared not advance.

After walking for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the surrounding resentment grew increasingly heavy. The two of them also looked increasingly grim. A cave appeared not far away. Xue Lan lit the way forward and saw that the cave was full of cages. Inside were some monsters that were neither human nor demon. The moment they saw the light, they all screamed, emitting piercing and unpleasant roars.

"These are...humans turned into monsters." Xu Qizhou was furious as he looked at the monsters in front of him.

"Not only that, I suspect that the snake Auntie killed before was also a human transformed. Under the influence of demonic energy..." Xue Lan's voice was extremely cold. She then looked towards the corner of the cages. There were still some people there who hadn't had time to transform. She saw Zhang Mingqiu among them.

Zhang Mingqiu's arm had been corrupted by demonic energy, turning into a hideous beast's claw. A veil covered his eyeballs.

"Is it... Senior Sister Xue?" The once gentle and aloof female cultivator had changed into this, her voice hoarse and unpleasant.

"It's me, and Senior Brother Xu too."

“I knew someone would come, after all, it’s Master’s ‘Five Peaches Painting’.” Zhang Mingqiu smiled faintly.

“Mingqiu…” Xue Lan looked at Zhang Mingqiu’s arm: “I’ll take you out.”

“It’s too late!” Zhang Mingqiu shook his head, raising his normal arm to point at the cages in front of him.

"That's Yiyi." It was a crazed monster.

"Xiao Lin." The girl Zhang Mingqiu pointed to had a human upper body, but her lower body had long since turned into terrifying tentacles.

"Xiao Qi couldn't hold on and passed away first. Now I'm all alone."

"Brother Yuan!"

Zhang Mingqiu struggled to her feet and pulled a hairpin from her hair: "I had calculated before that there was no fate between us, but I didn't believe it."

"This bizarre and evil technique will corrupt a person's golden core. Those below the Nascent Soul stage cannot avoid it." While speaking with Xue Lan, dark lines had already crept up Zhang Mingqiu's slender white neck.

"I hope Senior Sister Xue will inform Master about this matter. Furthermore, the Old Ancestor of Jiyue Mountain is involved in this affair. I hope our sect will not act rashly."

"Find Brother Yuan and give him the hairpin."

“Come out with me, I have a plan. We’ll find Junior Sister Yin, there’s always a way!” Xu Qizhou stepped forward and grabbed Zhang Mingqiu’s sleeve.

"Why did you give the hairpin to Xue Lan? Go find Gong Yuan yourself."

"It's too late!" Xue Lan grabbed Xu Qizhou. Her consciousness was still that of the old monster from her previous life. At this moment, she sensed an extremely dangerous aura approaching the cave.

"He's here!" Zhang Mingqiu suddenly became frightened. She shook off Xu Qizhou.

"Hurry up, get out of here! Only by getting out can we avenge ourselves!" Zhang Mingqiu waved his hand, and flames erupted on the ground, separating the two groups.

On one side are Xue Lan and Xu Qizhou, and on the other side are their former fellow disciples, who have been turned into monsters, and ordinary people.

Xu Qizhou's eyes were red, but in the end he turned around and said, "Let's go."

Xue Lan turned around for one last look. Zhang Mingqiu stood behind the flames, still looking as gentle and aloof as ever.

Not long after the two repaired the formation at the cave entrance and left, a snow-white sword light landed at the cave entrance. It was an avatar, looking like a lovely little girl.

The little girl circled the cave entrance once, seemingly finding nothing amiss, and then vanished.