Qinhe’s next words confirmed Wei Jie’s suspicions: “Senior brother, how could you rashly appear before the four major sects? What if someone among them could recognize you – wouldn’t all our efforts be wasted?”

That white-haired man laughed sinisterly twice: “The four major sects? Nothing but fame-stealing frauds. Of those who saw me back then, which one survived? Hatefully, I fell for their schemes that year, carelessly suffering qi deviation and ending up with this head of white hair. If I, Wan Lian Shi, don’t avenge this hatred in my lifetime, I swear I’m not human!”

Just then, the sky suddenly began to drizzle with fine rain.

When raindrops fell on Xiaoxiao’s head, her heart tightened as she silently cursed!

Although the invisibility talisman could hide their forms and auras, wouldn’t this sudden light rain expose their whereabouts?

She could only pray that these two wouldn’t look up while talking, then perhaps they wouldn’t be discovered.

Unfortunately, bad luck struck rather than good.

Just as the rain gradually intensified, Wan Lian Shi squinted slightly and suddenly turned his head to glare at the large tree where Cui Xiaoxiao and Wei Jie were hiding.

Xiaoxiao silently cursed, looking down to see that her invisibility talisman, drawn with cinnabar, had been soaked by rainwater and had become blurred, while she and Wei Jie had also revealed their forms when the talisman lost its effect.

This white-haired man had detected their overflowing auras and immediately looked up to search.

The moment he raised his head and saw the master-disciple pair in the tree, two talismans suddenly appeared in his hands and flew out.

Unlike the Lingshan Talismonger Sect’s yellow paper talismans, this white-haired man used talismans made entirely of human skin or exotic beast hide.

Such talismans often carried attached living souls. The moment the talismans were flung over, Xiaoxiao’s nostrils filled with a bloody, foul smell, her entire being seemingly enveloped in a sea of blood.

Those two talismans seemed to work similarly to the Talismonger Sect’s water-summoning talismans.

When the talismans rose into the air, they began absorbing surrounding raindrops, gathering them into streams that gradually turned blood-red, transforming into two fierce blood dragons that lunged at them.

When the blood dragons attacked, they even brought sharp dragon roars and hisses that made one’s heart and courage shatter.

Xiaoxiao had no time to think carefully, naturally forming water into a shield to try to block the attack of those two blood-colored water dragons.

But the Talismonger Sect’s water shield that could usually withstand swords and blades was as fragile as a water curtain this time, instantly pierced through by those two roaring blood dragons.

Fortunately, Wei Jie timely erected a qi shield, barely blocking the two blood dragons’ attack and buying Xiaoxiao a little time.

As a master, Xiaoxiao had never really known her disciple’s cultivation progress. But just seeing him use a qi shield to withstand the Ghost Sect’s Wan Lian Shi showed that his recent cultivation improvement was more than just a little.

While Wei Jie was struggling against that white-haired man, Xiaoxiao quickly pulled out two more water-control talismans from her cloth pouch, silently reciting incantations, trying to control those two blood dragons and make them scatter back into raindrops.

The so-called talisman path – talisman characters were merely carriers for maximizing spiritual power.

Just like invisibility talismans, requiring the user’s spiritual power to concentrate for the talisman to take effect. If stuck on people like Tang Youshu or Yu Ling’er, who weren’t deeply versed in this path, they would be like waste paper.

The talismans used by that white-robed man had originally taken the evil path, using beast hide or human skin with tattooed talisman characters that could maximize spiritual power enhancement.

That man was an old hand who had immersed himself in the talisman path for many years. In controlling talisman characters, he was far beyond what Cui Xiaoxiao, who had only been learning for a few short months, could match!

Just as Xiaoxiao threw out the water-control talismans, trying to seize control of the blood dragons, she could feel that when the two yellow paper talismans were respectively attached to the two blood dragons, her spiritual power felt like being fiercely gripped by something. Her vision went white for a moment, her soul seemingly yanked out of her body, instantly losing consciousness.

This was the terrifying consequence of fighting against an unfathomably deep master in the talisman path.

If you wanted to control someone else’s talisman characters but lacked sufficient spiritual power, you would suffer instant backlash.

Master Tang Youshu was modest and gentle, walking the peaceful cultivation path his entire life. Aside from occasionally subduing small demons and monsters, he had never engaged in talisman battles with similar practitioners.

His rambling secret manual lacked this one crucial warning about not casually fighting others with talismans.

Now, Xiaoxiao was using her blood and tears to fill this experiential gap in the Talismonger Sect.

In that moment when her vision went blank, she felt all her pores were like being pricked by needles. As her consciousness separated, some evil qi seemed to be seizing control of her body…

The moment Xiaoxiao lost consciousness, she only said “Oh no…” in a low voice before becoming motionless like a statue.

However, that invader hadn’t expected that Xiaoxiao’s body housed a tenant who didn’t pay rent.

The moment Xiaoxiao’s soul was stripped away, the long-sleeping Demon Pearl, freed from Xiaoxiao’s spiritual power suppression, instantly awakened…

When Wei Jie felt the qi shield was about to be broken through, he desperately turned around, wanting to tell Xiaoxiao to leave first.

But when Wei Jie turned back, he saw the girl behind him standing rigidly, those two confused big eyes… filled with blood-red!

“Xiaoxiao!” In his urgency, he didn’t even call her master, directly calling her name.

But Cui Xiaoxiao seemed to turn a deaf ear, still staring straight ahead at the white-haired Wan Lian Shi.

Wan Lian Shi easily resolved Xiaoxiao’s earlier attempt to seize his talismans, and those yellow paper talismans that had been stuck to the blood dragons were also soaked and blurred by the bloody water, falling into his hands.

When Wan Lian Shi saw the talismans Xiaoxiao had drawn, he couldn’t help but burst into laughter, his body shaking violently: “There’s still someone so reckless as to imitate my Ghost Sect’s talisman characters? Unfortunately, this crude imitation only learned some superficial skills. Little girl! You still wanted to snatch my blood dragons – seeking death! Perfect, I’m still lacking a set of talismans. Your tender skin and flesh are just right for making talismans!”

Saying this, his hands moved like controlling marionettes, waving forcefully to control the soul-lost Xiaoxiao to walk toward him.

Xiaoxiao’s legs also moved woodenly forward following the white-robed man’s gestures…

Seeing this situation, Wei Jie could only desperately call Xiaoxiao’s name again.

He wanted to pull Xiaoxiao back, but his qi shield was barely holding off those two blood dragons’ repeated attacks.

Once he went to pull Xiaoxiao, he would lose the qi shield’s protection, and those two blood dragons might pierce their bodies like sieves!

Just as Xiaoxiao was about to be pulled over, Wei Jie steeled his heart and, in an instant, attached the qi shield to his own back.

He turned and lunged toward Xiaoxiao, using his body to stop her advance while using his qi shield-protected back to withstand the fierce attacks of those two blood dragons wrapped in spiritual power.

Those two blood dragons, wrapped in yin qi and seemingly crazed, attacked like heavy punches. Through the thin qi shield, they struck Wei Jie’s back, shaking him until bloody sweetness rose in his throat and he spat out a mouthful of hot blood.

This blood happened to spray on Xiaoxiao’s face.

If it were someone else’s fresh blood, it might have been fine, but Wei Jie was the original host of the Demon Pearl in Xiaoxiao’s body!

Once Wei Jie’s blood entered her mouth, the Demon Pearl in Xiaoxiao’s body seemed to have drunk sweet dew and spiritual spring, its demonic nature instantly surging.

The clear-featured girl slowly extended her small tongue, licking the bright red blood drops. After tasting them, her eyes became even more blood-red.

In the pouring rain, Cui Xiaoxiao’s originally tightly bound hair suddenly loosened, emitting a strange light. Her originally waist-length hair instantly grew several times longer, like countless demon tails floating in the air.

Wei Jie called in a low voice again: “Cui Xiaoxiao! You must control yourself, don’t let the demon…”

Before he could finish, the demonized girl let out a sharp, long shriek, forcefully pushing away Wei Jie, who was holding her, violently bouncing him against a nearby tree.

Her entire body flew into the air, her palm-sized face wearing a cruel and bewitching smile as she stared directly at the white-haired Ghost Sect master who had tried to control her!

Both Qinhe and Wan Lian Shi were stunned by this girl’s sudden transformation.

Wan Lian Shi stared wide-eyed at the girl in mid-air, muttering in shock: “How… how can there be such a strong demonic nature?”

But in the blink of an eye, Wan Lian Shi’s eyes showed wild, fevered joy.

Ghost Sect people all had collecting habits, enjoying gathering various extraordinary people and beasts’ hides to make talismans. The more powerful the extraordinary person or beast, the stronger the talisman made.

The deeper one’s cultivation, the better the material for talisman-making. Back then, the great powers of the four major sects who had schemed against him all fell to his ambush before ascending, becoming his good talisman-making materials.

But he had never encountered a girl with such a powerful demonic nature. Thinking of this, he wished he could immediately kill her to use for talisman-making.

He continued trying to control Cui Xiaoxiao, attempting to restrict her movements.

When Wan Lian Shi slowly raised his hands, the girl floating in mid-air also slowly raised both hands, completely looking like a puppet doll.

Just as Wan Lian Shi showed a confident smile…

Cui Xiaoxiao’s slender fingers had instantly grown long black nails, her entire being radiating bewitching qi, then suddenly flew like lightning toward the white-haired Ghost Sect master.

“Not good! This woman broke free of my control!” – When the white-haired Ghost Sect master realized this, he no longer had time to control the blood dragons to attack Wei Jie.

He quickly took out three more skin talismans, silently reciting incantations before waving them toward the two blood dragons.

In that instant, the two blood dragons merged into one, becoming even more ferocious as they charged directly at Cui Xiaoxiao.

Unfortunately, this time he wasn’t facing a fledgling Talismonger Sect girl, but a demon who had fallen deeply into demonic possession.

She let out a sharp, long cry, instantly shattering that blood dragon. The originally menacing dragon turned into torrential blood rain, crashing to the ground the moment she waved her palm.

The demonized Xiaoxiao’s claws were about to reach Wan Lian Shi’s throat in the next moment!

Fortunately, Qinhe timely summoned a qi sword, thrusting fiercely at Xiaoxiao, allowing his senior brother to escape a life-and-death crisis.

Thus, the senior and junior brothers fought with Cui Xiaoxiao!

Most terrifyingly, when the brothers who had cultivated for many years joined forces, they discovered that their years of cultivation could barely withstand this demonized girl’s fierce hand-blade attacks.

Wan Lian Shi’s earlier attempt to control her had greatly enraged her, so every one of Cui Xiaoxiao’s offensive moves aimed directly at Wan Lian Shi.

Being so targeted, Wan Lian Shi was also quite angry.

He knew that if this dragged on, he probably couldn’t hold out. Although paths like the Ghost Sect and Talismonger Sect had profound techniques that could reach divine transformations, compared to quick-striking sects like sword sects, they were somewhat disadvantaged.

Without opportunities to cast spells, they could only be beaten down.

Thinking of this, Wan Lian Shi gritted his teeth and decided to sacrifice his fellow for his survival, suddenly pushing hard toward his junior brother Qinhe.

Qinhe was involuntarily blocked in front of his senior brother. Unable to withstand Xiaoxiao’s fierce attacks, his collarbone was suddenly grasped by her, the pitch-black long nails piercing his shoulder like a beast’s claws, causing Qinhe to let out sharp wails of pain.

The white-haired senior brother sacrificed his junior brother to restrain this demon woman and prepare another surprise attack!

At this time, he had already taken out a blood-red talisman, preparing to stick it to Cui Xiaoxiao’s forehead.

This small red talisman was refined from the heart blood of three great fierce beasts that Wei Di had privately released years ago. No matter if you were a god or a demon, once stuck with it, your spiritual platform’s divine power would immediately be sealed.

Although it only had a momentary effect, it was already enough!

Junior brother, I can only let you suffer some pain first to hold back this demon woman!

Unfortunately, just as he was about to stick the red talisman on, the demon woman seemed to be pulled by something, falling from mid-air and crashing back down.

It turned out that while the three were fighting, Wei Jie had stopped vomiting blood, frowning tightly as he looked at the increasingly frenzied girl.

As a descendant of the demon-hunting family, he could naturally recognize that Xiaoxiao had become demonized.

Although those colluding Ghost Sect brothers deserved to die.

But if Xiaoxiao continued fighting, opening the killing precept and tasting the flavor of slaughter, then his clear and lovely master would never return!

Thinking of this, Wei Jie made a decisive decision, immediately pulling off the silver whip wound around his waist, lashing it toward Xiaoxiao’s ankle and pulling her back.

At this time seemed that no longer recognized. Because Wei Jie had restricted her movements, she redirected her anger at him, sharp claws immediately swinging over.

Wei Jie couldn’t dodge in time, his handsome face scratched by her nails, spattering drops of fresh blood.

Even so, Wei Jie didn’t loosen the whip in his hands.

This whip was wrapped with the Wei family’s demon-subduing silver implements, having restraining and weakening effects on demons and monsters. But after the demonized Xiaoxiao was entangled, she seemed completely unaffected.

She only turned to look at Wei Jie with sinister yin qi, those sharp, thin black claws beginning to gather power, wanting to immediately tear apart the person who dared restrict her freedom.

Just then, Wan Lian Shi took advantage of Wei Jie restraining Xiaoxiao’s ankle to attack again, drawing two flood dragon bone knives from his waist and striking toward Xiaoxiao’s back.

These flood dragons were underworld decay dragons. Once broken skin was contaminated by weapons made from their bones, even great immortals would have festering wounds that could spread throughout the body.

Wei Jie was facing Xiaoxiao and naturally saw the white-haired Ghost Sect master’s movements behind her.

If he avoided Xiaoxiao’s attack, he would have to let her be stabbed by those flying knives. Thinking of this, Wei Jie made a decisive choice, again erecting a qi shield behind Xiaoxiao.

He then allowed Xiaoxiao to fiercely pounce and grasp his throat…

Speaking of that, Wan Lian Shi, seeing Wei Jie disregard his own life and death to erect a qi shield protecting Xiaoxiao, he couldn’t help but laugh coldly.

This boy had somehow learned Wumu Peak’s Qi Sect’s qi shield technique and used it quite well.

Unfortunately, even if the four major sects’ techniques were cultivated to the extreme, that was about it – difficult to develop further.

As for this boy, not dodging and about to be strangled to death by his own master…

He didn’t need to do anything, just wait for Wei Jie to be strangled by Cui Xiaoxiao, then the qi shield would break without attack.

But just then, Wei Jie suddenly leaned over, thin lips touching Xiaoxiao’s lips, allowing her to strangle his neck while fiercely kissing her…

For a moment, the rain threads in the forest beat against scattered leaves, seeming somewhat chaotic, not knowing where to fall…

Next came a series of noisy footsteps and the sound of clothes brushing closer and closer.

It turned out Qinhe’s screams earlier were too loud, immediately drawing the Lingyun Pavilion disciples outside the forest.

They stared dumbfounded at a girl with wildly dancing hair, thoroughly bewitching and slender, being embraced in mid-air by a handsome man, wrapped in his arms and kissed.

Following closely behind these disciples was the returning Qin Lingxiao, and behind Qinhe were Tang Youshu and Yu Ling’er…

First, speaking of Qin Lingxiao, after bidding farewell to his father, he had originally prepared to return to Lingyun Pavilion. But unexpectedly, he happened to meet Tang Youshu and Yu Ling’er, who had been searching all the way.

It turned out Tang Youshu was worried about his master and grandmaster, so he searched all the way. Yu Ling’er could only follow him, but unexpectedly encountered Qin Lingxiao.

Seeing Qin Lingxiao, the little fox immediately transformed into a dog, circling Young Pavilion Master Qin.

When Qin Lingxiao asked why they were here, Tang Youshu couldn’t stop Yu Ling’er’s mouth in time, and she revealed that Cui Xiaoxiao and Wei Jie were tracking his father.

Qin Lingxiao was shocked and immediately turned back to find his father.

He naturally didn’t believe Yu Ling’er’s nonsense about his father colluding with that Lord Can. However, with things changing so rapidly, Qin Lingxiao only now realized that besides guarding against Wei Jie, he had to be wary of Lord Can, this hidden figure from his previous life. Worried his father might suffer, he hurriedly rushed over.

After Yu Ling’er finished speaking, she realized she had been thoughtless and seemed to have said things she shouldn’t have.

Tang Youshu anxiously knocked her head, and she didn’t dare dodge, only able to quickly chase with Tang Youshu to avoid ruining Cui Xiaoxiao’s important matters.

Before they could reach the forest, they heard Qinhe’s painful roars from afar.

When they swarmed into the forest, they saw this incredible scene.

Seeing the man and woman embracing and kissing in mid-air, Qin Lingxiao’s first reaction was: Could he have entered another phantom city? Were these two fake bodies taking liberties with each other?

Tang Youshu and Yu Ling’er’s mouths could each fit two eggs, vaguely feeling their sect had truly changed to Hehuan Sect…

They didn’t know that Wei Jie’s behavior was also a helpless measure. He deeply knew that Xiaoxiao’s demonic nature erupting was due to the Demon Pearl in her body acting up.

This Demon Pearl’s outbreak was related to Xiaoxiao’s failed battle with Wan Lian Shi.

So in this crisis, Wei Jie made a bold decision – he sacrificed the already-formed inner core from his dantian, using mouth-to-mouth contact to push the inner core into Xiaoxiao’s body.

In this life, Wei Jie had never become demonized, relying on Fox Mountain’s spiritual spring to condense an inner core with masculine righteous qi.

With his exceptional talent, his core formation speed far exceeded Cui Xiaoxiao’s.

When Wei Jie’s inner core entered Xiaoxiao’s mouth, with abundant yang qi, it immediately replaced Xiaoxiao’s primordial spirit and began suppressing the violent demonic nature in her body.

The moment the inner core entered her stomach, Xiaoxiao felt a stream of sweet spring surge from her spiritual aperture, her entire being seemingly pulled from a pitch-black quagmire, finally recovering a trace of consciousness.

Only the scorching heat at her lips made her somewhat dazed, thinking she was dreaming.

After all, facing such an outrageously handsome face every day, sometimes dreaming of him lazily and charmingly smiling at people was quite normal.

Several times, she had even dreamed of Wei Jie’s long lashes fluttering, leaning close to her, smiling while asking: “Don’t I look good, disciple? Why won’t master look at me?”

That situation was just like that moonlit rooftop midnight snack, when the two looked into each other’s eyes and were very close… If Yu Ling’er hadn’t poked up with a pole then, who knows what absurd situation might have developed?

But if it was in a dream, acting wildly wouldn’t matter – at worst, she’d wake up and shamefully rub her face against the pillow.

Xiaoxiao was momentarily confused, truly thinking she was in a dream. She instinctively felt that what was against her lips was so soft, also carrying his usual mellow wine fragrance…

She lost herself for a moment and naturally wrapped her arms around the back of his head…

Just then, she saw the man close to her being unromantic, suddenly widening his eyes.

In the dream, it was him forcefully kissing her, yet he still made such a shocked expression? What kind of behavior was this!

But just then, a low, angry roar came from beside them: “You… what are you doing!”

Only then did Xiaoxiao wake up as if from a dream, turning to look at Qin Lingxiao on the ground with round eyes, and Tang Youshu and Yu Ling’er, whose mouths were open wide enough to hold eggs.

How had they also entered the dream? This situation had never happened before…

When raindrops from the sky fell on her face, Xiaoxiao suddenly fully awakened. Looking back at Qinhe lying on the ground covered in blood, and that white-haired Wan Lian Shi…

Xiaoxiao completely woke up, forcefully pushing away Wei Jie beside her.

Wei Jie’s inner core had already been transferred to Xiaoxiao. Suddenly losing his inner core, his spiritual platform became unstable. With her push, he heavily crashed to the ground.

His qi shield also disappeared, and Wan Lian Shi’s two decay dragon knives struck toward Xiaoxiao’s back.

When killing intent approached, Wei Jie’s inner core drove Xiaoxiao’s body to automatically react.

She swung her long hair, stretched her slender arms, again projecting a qi shield to block those two flying knives, while simultaneously summoning “Yu Tiandou” with a wave of her hand, attacking Wan Lian Shi.

If Xiaoxiao were to fight with talismans, she definitely couldn’t match Ghost Sect’s Wan Lian Shi.

This was like a wet-behind-the-ears child trying to challenge the grandmaster, somewhat not knowing the limits of heaven and earth!

But now her body contained Wei Jie’s masculine righteous qi inner core, which complemented the heavenly punishment power of this demon-subduing sword, “Yu Tiandou.”

The sword seemed to have returned to its true master’s hands, its displayed power instantly increasing several times.