“Master, allow this disciple to descend to the lower realm and eliminate the villain causing this chaos,” Star Servant cupped her hands and volunteered.

The Purple-Robed Immortal Lord took a long time to regain his composure. Staring at the chaotic star disc, he shook his head: “Then I would be taking the inferior path.”

Years ago, when the Mountain-Sea Clan and the Heavenly Race were at war, the number one battle general of the Heavenly Realm invited Qi Yin of the Mountain-Sea Clan to a sword contest at Mount Langsang.

Qi Yin readily accepted the challenge.

Unexpectedly, that person secretly turned Qi Yin’s beloved disciple against him, delivering a heavy blow to Qi Yin first, thus claiming victory.

They say that in warfare, the way is deception, but such a victory, in his view, was utterly meaningless.

“Brother Changli’s move is excellent, breaking my formation. But this new situation before us, I could not have anticipated, and I believe, he could not have prepared for it in advance either.”

“Let chaos remain chaos. Continue.”

Xiang Haikui flew low and ran extremely fast. She had heard her master say that in terms of speed in the world, only phoenixes surpassed dragons.

A flood dragon counted as half a dragon.

She had deliberately taken a detour; those two high officials from the Underworld surely couldn’t catch up.

Just as she was about to reach the Buddha Cave, her fuel was nearly depleted.

She fell from midair, rolled once on the sandy ground, and transformed back from a flood dragon into a human.

During her first fusion, she couldn’t control the technique properly and had no time to put on clothes.

Tian Kuang, the sword case, the gauze robe, the snake jar, the storage ring, including the small black ball—all tumbled out together.

In that instant, she felt exactly like a dungeon boss who, after being defeated by players, dropped equipment all over the ground.

Fortunately, no one was nearby.

She quickly put on her red gauze robe, then went to pick up her equipment.

The small black ball had already shrunk from the size of a soccer ball to that of a tennis ball. It hadn’t tried to escape but instead rolled over to the snake jar and began spinning circles around it.

“Little one, you’re quite loyal to your master.”

Xiang Haikui praised it, picking up Tian Kuang last and forcefully throwing it into the case with a “clang” to vent her dissatisfaction.

She returned to the Buddha Cave and went to Dao Chen’s room.

Since the boss and Little Bai wouldn’t return for a while, she first occupied the nest, sitting cross-legged on the boss’s meditation mat to level up Tian Kuang to the third level.

After upgrading, she noticed that the progress bar for the third level was twice as long as the second level.

This meant she would need to accumulate even more wild intent to reach the fourth level.

However, one aspect of this trash sword’s design was quite considerate—after using accumulated wild intent, the previous progress remained.

If it had been designed so that after consuming wild intent, the progress regressed, who knows how long it would take to cultivate to completion?

After everything was settled, it was already the next morning.

She put Tian Kuang back into the sword case, and just as she was about to close it, her eyeballs rolled, and she ran to the room next door.

Lu Xiqiao was unconscious inside.

Xiang Haikui pulled off his boots, took off his smelly socks, and threw them into the sword case!

Tian Kuang, who had been lying like a salted fish, instantly jumped up and frantically crashed against the sword case!

Xiang Haikui pressed down firmly on the sword case and sternly shouted: “Try playing tricks on me again! I am a person of my word—when I say it’s mutual love and mutual destruction, there’s no chance of mutual affection and harmony with you!”

Tian Kuang hummed, actually generating some wild intent.

Xiang Haikui’s eyes lit up: “So this is how to deal with you—it increases wild intent?”

Tian Kuang immediately went still.

“Oh my…”

Lu Xiqiao heard the commotion and sat up, holding his head with both hands: “Sister Kui? What happened to me?”

Xiang Haikui strapped the sword case to her back and comforted him: “Someone used soul-snatching on you. Your body couldn’t withstand it, so you’ve been unconscious for several days. It’s nothing serious.”

Lu Xiqiao was startled. He knew about soul-snatching techniques and anxiously asked: “Who did it? I didn’t reveal any of the dishonorable things my family has done, did I?”

Xiang Haikui: …

Brother, you don’t say much even without soul-snatching?

Lu Xiqiao had only been nervous for a brief moment. He immediately became excited again: “Sister Kui, do you know? While I was asleep, I saw a fairy!”

Xiang Haikui made an “ah” sound. Could it be Luo Yunxiu?

Lu Xiqiao’s face was animated: “I was in a daze, and there was a blurry figure before me, shining with golden light…”

A girl shining with golden light—what else could she be but a fairy?

“I saw her face. She was extremely beautiful.” He added another sentence, “But of course, Sister Kui still outshines her.”

These words were not merely flattery.

The fairy’s beauty made his heart itch unbearably, and he had immediately fantasized about her in his dreams.

Xiang Haikui was different—she was a woman he didn’t dare fantasize about at all.

Hearing the words “shining with golden light,” Xiang Haikui understood. The fairy he saw was Xiang Tianqing.

At that time, Xiang Tianqing was healing him, and the power of the Underworld’s soul-snatching technique lingered in his sea of consciousness. He had inadvertently glimpsed Xiang Tianqing’s true soul.

“Don’t tell anyone about this,” she reminded him.

“What?” Lu Xiqiao didn’t understand.

“About seeing the fairy.”

“Why?”

“Just trust that I won’t harm you.”

Lu Xiqiao had been saved by her twice, so he naturally trusted her: “Alright, I’ll remember.”

“But, where are my socks?” He stared at his bare feet.

Haikui coughed once, pretending not to know, to save Tian Kuang some face.

“Strange, where did my socks go?”

While Lu Xiqiao was looking for his socks, a little monk’s voice came from the corridor of the Buddha Cave: “Good morning, senior brother.”

The boss had returned. Xiang Haikui first asked Lu Xiqiao to release the seal on the snake jar.

Leaving the room, she ran straight into Yin Changli.

Yin Changli and Bai Xingxian were still wearing cloaks, though they had lowered their hoods, revealing their entire faces.

Their eyes met, and Xiang Haikui felt afraid.

Yin Changli could sense that she seemed somewhat fearful of him. He curved his lips and narrowed his eyes into a smiling expression.

He even released a bit of Tianren’s radiance.

In short, he tried to appear as gentle as possible.

He didn’t know that this made Xiang Haikui even more afraid.

There were other little monks in the corridor. After entering the room, Xiang Haikui asked: “How is the situation outside?”

She was asking Bai Xingxian.

“Little Sister Kui, after you ran away, they continued fighting for a long time before dispersing,” Bai Xingxian answered concisely.

This was as good as saying nothing at all. Since everyone had returned safely, Xiang Haikui didn’t ask further. She first placed the snake jar on the writing desk: “Senior.”

Yin Changli sat down behind the writing desk and saw the small black snake curled into a ball inside the jar, its body covered in a layer of ice. Through the ice, one could see a “silken belt” around its waist.

As he reached out to cover it, Xiang Haikui felt extremely nervous.

After a quarter of an hour, Yin Changli opened his eyes: “I still cannot perceive any memory, but I can sense that it is self-repairing. When the ice layer dissolves, it should mean the repair is complete, and I can return to my original body.”

Bai Xingxian asked: “Uncle, how long will that take?”

Yin Changli shook his head: “I don’t know.”

Seeing his low spirits, Xiang Haikui quickly cupped the small black ball in her palm and presented it like a treasure: “Senior, returning what belongs to its rightful owner.”

Yin Changli raised his eyes to look at this small black ball. Though he couldn’t recall the past, what surfaced was her effort yesterday to seize this object.

Miss Xiang was not only warm and kind but also brave, with astonishing courage.

Oh yes, and how clever to first drive the demon lizards—truly intelligent.

With countless virtues combined in one person, she was simply perfect.

Xiang Haikui exploded.

Yes.

When she saw the boss’s gaze slowly move up from the small black ball and fix on her face, all the hair on her body stood on end.

A drop of sweat flowed from her temple along her sideburns and down her neck.

Not just her—Bai Xingxian was also sweating profusely.

Was Uncle about to kill someone?

Fortunately, in this eerie atmosphere, the small black ball in her palm suddenly opened its mouth, baring its saw-like teeth at Yin Changli, seemingly very displeased with his approach.

Yin Changli’s thoughts were pulled back. He extended a finger to touch it.

The small black ball gnashed its teeth with clickety-clack sounds.

“It seems it only recognizes my original body,” Yin Changli withdrew his hand.

His tone was light and casual, with little disappointment.

When he first possessed this body and woke up facing an unknown world, he was extremely panicked.

The only comfort was the warmth brought by that cluster of seaweed.

Now that vibrant cluster of seaweed was by his side, and his entire being, from heart to body, was filled with warmth.

Whether he could return to his original body or remember the past seemed to matter little now.

This was his new life.

A new beginning.

“Then what do we do? Does this mean we can’t open the palace gates?” Bai Xingxian also reached out to touch it.

The small black ball didn’t bare its teeth, indicating it remembered him.

Yet it still wouldn’t open the palace doors.

Xiang Haikui handed the small black ball to Bai Xingxian for him to keep, then said to Yin Changli: “Senior, you can try again when you’re free. As for your original body, I don’t know if those two high officials from the Underworld are still around, so I’ll keep it with me for now.”

Yin Changli readily agreed: “Good.”

Watching Xiang Haikui seal the jar and hang it at her waist, he suddenly remembered: “By the way, Miss Xiang, I asked Little Bai, but he didn’t tell me—what exactly did you mean when you called me ‘hamfat’ earlier?”

Xiang Haikui’s hand trembled slightly. After wavering between lying and admitting for a long time, “Senior, in our hometown, that’s considered half an insult.”

Yin Changli had already guessed this since learning about Tian Kuang Sword’s cultivation method: “Why only half?”

At this moment, a little monk came running: “Senior Brother, Benefactor Meng and Benefactor Xiang from Silver Sand City are here.”

“They’re probably looking for me.” Xiang Haikui feared the boss would ask her to explain exactly what the term meant, so she fled like she was escaping danger.

Yin Changli opened his mouth but finally turned to Bai Xingxian, resting his face on his hand with great melancholy: “Miss Xiang has great courage, remaining calm even in the face of danger on the battlefield. Why is she so afraid of me specifically?”

Bai Xingxian trembled.

Uncle, can’t you see that I’m also very afraid of you?

…

Xiang Haikui walked outside.

The siblings didn’t return to Silver Sand but came to the Buddha Cave first. Meng Xilou might have guessed that the black flood dragon was her.

Since “Master Dao Chen” had helped, it must have been pre-arranged.

She would escape to the Buddha Cave, so they came specifically to “catch” her.

Indeed, that was the case.

Meng Xilou knew of Tian Kuang’s fame but didn’t know that the wielder of Tian Kuang Sword could transform.

At that time, his mind was focused on the treasure, and he hadn’t given it much thought.

Only after the black flood dragon stole the treasure did he guess it might be Xiang Haikui.

Just one step away, his sister could have secured the treasure. Meng Xilou was so furious that he wanted to chop her into meat paste!

“Sister, was that flood dragon you?” Xiang Tianqing had just asked the little monk when Xiang Haikui had returned to the Buddha Cave, and found it unbelievable.

“Yes, it was me.” After coming out, Xiang Haikui patted her chest and candidly admitted, “To quell the conflict, I had no choice but to take a risky move.”

Meng Xilou maintained a stern face: “Junior Sister…”

Xiang Haikui cut him off, waving her hand at him: “Senior Brother doesn’t need to thank me. As the second young lady of Silver Sand City, this was my duty.”

What an insufferable wretch.

Meng Xilou suppressed his agitated mood, his face still as calm as water: “Then, where is the treasure now?”

Xiang Haikui gave him a “what a ridiculous question” look: “Of course I’ve already secured it.”

Xiang Tianqing had taken a knife wound for nothing. Though somewhat disappointed, she didn’t particularly care about treasures: “As long as the matter is resolved. If we had let them continue causing trouble in our territory, it would have been a slap to Father’s face.”

Meng Xilou was about to lose control.

The elder in his sea of consciousness said, “Young Master, it doesn’t matter if she secured it. When you capture her, the treasure will eventually be yours.”

Meng Xilou said sternly: “Even now, you still think she’s a woman who can be easily captured?”

In the three-way battle, even crawling on four short legs, she still managed to steal the treasure.

Could this be an ordinary woman?

The elder: …

Didn’t you say she was a simple girl whose emotions were all written on her face?

Truly hard to please.

The elder: “So do you plan to give up?”

Meng Xilou coldly smiled: “Give up? When has the word ‘give up’ ever existed in my life? I now find this woman increasingly interesting. However, I don’t need your rotten ideas anymore…”

He shouldn’t have followed the script.

With his charm, why would he need to act?

The elder resigned: “Young Master, based on your personality, I made what I thought was the best plan…”

Meng Xilou: “Shut up!”

…

The three returned to Silver Sand City together.

Shortly after entering the city, they suddenly heard consecutive exclamations from ahead.

Sensing the spiritual energy, it was Wu Mian’s fire fist aura.

Meng Xilou’s face darkened: “Causing trouble in the city again.”

Xiang Tianqing also looked very troubled.

Unexpectedly, Wu Mian wasn’t fighting with anyone. He came running, his fists burning with scorching fire, his eyes even more crimson than the flames on his fists.

Killing intent stirred the air currents, overturning shops on both sides of the street.

Xiang Haikui instantly drew her sword, retreating several steps, slightly turning her body, holding her sword parallel to her eyebrows, ready to block.

Wu Mian was coming for her.

And she dared not attack, only defend.

If she attacked, after the two forces collided, the explosive power would certainly destroy all the surrounding houses and harm innocents.

Xiang Tianqing let out a surprised cry: “Third Senior Brother…”

Meng Xilou moved forward quickly, one hand behind his back, the other raised, with a golden vortex of spiritual energy forming in his palm.

The vortex spun more and more violently. When Wu Mian approached, his fist was caught by the vortex.

Meng Xilou shouted harshly: “What madness is this!”

Wu Mian couldn’t break free. His eyes almost dripped blood as he roared: “Senior Brother, Second Senior Brother is dead!”

At these words, Meng Xilou froze.

Xiang Tianqing widened her eyes, then quickly covered her cherry lips with both hands.

The nearby city residents, who had been complaining about Wu Mian, were all shocked.

Meng Xilou often went out to clear demonic beasts, and Wu Mian did nothing but pick fights everywhere.

It was always Ye Qianzhi who stayed in the city, planning the residents’ lives.

Among the Great City Lord’s three disciples, the city residents were most familiar with Ye Qianzhi.

Xiang Haikui’s sword fell from her brow. She was also momentarily confused.

Ye Qianzhi was dead.

Wu Mian rushed out to kill her.

Had she become a murderer?

Yesterday morning, Ye Qianzhi had used dream evil magic, attempting to perish with her.

After she broke his spell, he suffered backlash.

Could he have died from the backlash?

That shouldn’t be the case.

“Yesterday morning, you went to Second Senior Brother’s room with your sword, didn’t you!” Wu Mian stared at her fixedly, questioning thunderously.

“I’ll go see.”

Xiang Haikui sheathed her sword and rushed back to the City Lord’s mansion.

At this time, half the mansion was in alarm, half in mournful gloom, with weeping that wouldn’t stop.

As soon as Xiang Haikui arrived at the courtyard where Ye Qianzhi lived, over forty spirit bows pointed at her face.

“Put them down!” Meng Xilou and Xiang Tianqing closely followed.

After entering the room, Xiang Haikui saw Ye Qianzhi’s corpse, which had already been placed on the bed.

The blood marks she had cut on his face showed no signs of healing.

Yesterday, shortly after she left the room, Ye Qianzhi had died.

The terrifying thing was that flowing through his body was entirely her Tian Kuang sword qi.

Yet she had only cut his cheek.

Someone had collected her sword qi and forcibly poured it into his body, shredding his internal organs.

Ye Qianzhi’s cultivation wasn’t low. For him to have no ability to resist, the opponent’s cultivation level was somewhat frightening.

Xiang Haikui noticed his hair bun, loose and askew, as if someone had grabbed and twisted it.

Others might not think much of it, but Xiang Haikui instantly thought of the pervert in her dream who had grabbed her hair bun and pushed her into bathwater, drowning her alive!

She even visualized the scene of that person grabbing Ye Qianzhi’s hair bun, kicking the back of his knees, forcing him to kneel on the ground, and pouring sword qi into him to shred him.

It was that dead pervert, without a doubt!

Was Ye Qianzhi killed because he exposed knowledge about the “Upper Realm”?

Or purely because the murderer wanted to use him to frame her?

Xiang Tianqing rushed over, pushed her away, and lay on the corpse, crying tears like pear blossoms in rain: “Second Senior Brother, Second Senior Brother…”

Xiang Haikui stepped back, coldly looking at Meng Xilou behind her.

Tomorrow would be the day her father removed the demonic poison and completed a full cycle of true qi circulation.

These pieces of trash had begun to act.

Meng Xilou was so angry that he changed from keeping his hands behind his back to placing them on his hips, angrily berating the elder in his consciousness: “Who defied my orders? Is this forcing me to take action?”

“Xiang Haikui, why did you kill Second Senior Brother?” Wu Mian stood at the door, his fists almost crushed.

He and Ye Qianzhi were closest, and he was unwilling to come in again to see his corpse.

“Yes, why would I kill Second Senior Brother?” With Tian Kuang supporting her, Xiang Haikui folded her hands over the sword hilt, “And make it so obvious that you all would know it was me. I don’t know if the murderer is stupid, or if you all are stupid…”

Or perhaps, they thought she was stupid?

She had originally just wanted to survive until her father emerged from seclusion, to help him escape this calamity.

Her goal had always been survival, never counterattack.

But these people from the Upper Realm were truly quite arrogant!