You've only been cultivating for a few years, and you're already talking about cultivating

After meeting the Holy Maiden, Zhu Yixin realized that the boy she had met in Tianlan City was far more eccentric than she had imagined.

It all started with the Holy Maiden's true purpose in Tianlan City back then.

She secluded herself in that small courtyard not to hide from anything, but to forge a magical artifact.

Heart-piercing stab.

This magical artifact was created by Ying Wanning by combining the secret techniques of the Shadow God Sect with the fragments of the Blood God Sect's secret techniques that she obtained. It is insidious and vicious, yet also incredibly powerful.

During the refining process, the blood of ten adult men born at a specific time and ten children born at a specific time must be extracted, and combined with flesh and bones, and then refined in the Blood Transformation Pool for eighty-one days.

The blood and resentment of the dead intertwined in the pool of blood, eventually coalescing into a blood-red spike.

If the thorn pierces the human body, it will travel along the blood vessels, reach the heart, and cause death.

Ying Wanning has lived in Tianlan City for many years in order to collect these "consumables".

On the day I left the city, the "Heart-Piercing Blood Thorn" in the Blood Transformation Pool was almost finished.

Only the final step of nurturing is needed.

Ying Wanning left in a hurry and didn't have time to deal with the remaining "materials". She casually dissolved them, leaving only a dying boy aside, which she then ignored.

In her opinion, the boy wouldn't live more than half a day.

But now, Zhu Yixin tells her that the boy is not only alive, but has also developed great skills by relying on the scroll of "Shadow God Technique" that she left behind.

How is that possible?

The Shadow God Technique is the fundamental law of the Shadow God Cult, which has been passed down for thousands of years.

Which of the leaders and saintesses throughout history was not exceptionally talented and had extraordinary comprehension?

Even so, very few people can truly master it. Most spend their entire lives trying to understand it, yet they never even grasp the basics and die in despair.

How could a boy who should have died after having his heart's blood drained by her cultivate the Shadow God Technique to such a level in just three or four years?

This is illogical.

Could that young man be a banished immortal?

No, that's not right.

If he were a banished immortal reincarnated, how could he have fallen into such a state?

That leaves only one explanation.

That boy might be a pawn planted by some cultivator to deal with the Shadow God Cult!

Considering that Linjiagou has recently turned into a jujube forest inexplicably, this speculation becomes even more plausible.

Someone is targeting their Shadow God Cult.

Zhu Yixin looked at the stunningly beautiful Ying Wanning before him, remained silent for a moment, and then said, "That young man... is a bit strange."

Ying Wanning was slightly taken aback upon hearing this, then laughed.

A smile bloomed on her face, like a flower in the spring breeze, with a hint of mischief and a touch of playfulness.

"Yixin," she tilted her head to look at him, her eyes sparkling, "you're jealous."

Zhu Yixin frowned slightly, about to speak, but was stopped by her raising her hand.

"You know me," Ying Wanning said with a smile, "I've never been able to resist those handsome young men."

She paused, a hint of languid satisfaction in her voice: "It's hard to control emotions. Isn't life all about finding simple pleasures?"

She never shies away from her preferences.

When she was in the Shadow God Cult, she kept a group of handsome young men as her male concubines.

Among those people, some called her "Master," some called her "Saintess," and others... called her "Mother."

But so what?

she likes.

Do what you love; love is everything.

This is her philosophy of life, and no one can change it.

During the internal strife within the Shadow God Cult, she left with a strange man, saying she wanted to marry and have children. Zhu Yixin was in Tianlan City at the time, and upon seeing Qi Fei, she naturally regarded the young man as her own flesh and blood.

Zhu Yixin shook her head.

"It's not jealousy," he said. "That boy... looks a lot like the boys in Tianlan City."

He spoke subtly, but his meaning was clear.

The so-called "very similar" is probably true.

Life doesn't offer that many coincidences.

Ying Wanning's smile froze for a moment.

"Huh?" Her eyes widened, a rare look of surprise on her face. "How come... I didn't recognize you?"

Those boys all came and went through her hands.

She remembered some, and had long forgotten others. But someone like Qi Fei, if she had met him, she would never forget.

Zhu Yixin looked at her with a serious expression: "Since he's here, the people behind him must be here too. We need to be careful."

Ying Wanning's expression gradually became serious.

"If he really is him..." she murmured, then suddenly laughed, a laugh tinged with self-mockery, "What a clever honey trap. I walked right into it."

The enemy actually used a handsome man to target her, which shows they had studied her very well.

She seemed to sense a large net being cast upon them, and she walked right into it.

"Could he be from the 'Heavenly Court'? For someone from the Heavenly Court to first recruit the Shadow God into their ranks is truly..."

A cold smile appeared on Ying Wanning's lips. "Then let's have a good fight with him. I've never been afraid of anyone!"

"As for this valley in front of us..." She paused, then looked up at Nanshan Town in the distance.

"A lot of people have come to town recently, a mixed bag. I've asked around, and there are all sorts of rumors."

"Some say that this Sword Immortal's Mansion was left behind by a great cultivator a hundred years ago. That cultivator possessed boundless magical power during his lifetime, and after his death, the mansion sank into the mountainside, waiting for a destined person to open it."

"Some people say that this Sword Immortal's Mansion is not only a hundred years old, but a remnant of the earth-shattering battle between cultivators a thousand years ago."

"Some people say it goes back even further, thousands of years, and that this Sword Immortal's Mansion is said to be a remnant from ancient times."

She gently shook her head and said, "There are many different opinions, and none of them are accurate. But there's one thing everyone agrees on."

"Over the past decade, sword energy has frequently soared into the sky from Nanshan, its intensity fluctuating. Yet, none of those who have entered have truly received the inheritance."

She looked at Zhu Yixin.

"It's clear that this Sword Immortal's residence is far more complex than we imagined."

Zhu Yixin nodded in agreement: "So, we might as well let people know about what's going on in this valley."

"Let them out?" Ying Wanning smiled slightly.

"Yes." Zhu Yixin's lips curled up slightly, revealing a cold smile. "Spread the word that the valley might lead to the heart of Nanshan Mountain, and is a secret passage into the mansion. Send those people to explore it."

"We'll watch from behind. It'll be clear at a glance who went in, who came out, and who died inside."

"The Sword Immortal's residence is so mysterious, so many people haven't entered Nanshan. Those who went in first must be scouts!"

"This is called..." he paused, "luring the snake out of its hole."

After listening, Ying Wanning's eyes gradually brightened.

She looked at Zhu Yixin with a smile that held a hint of admiration: "Yixin, your brain is still as sharp as ever."

Zhu Yixin didn't speak, but simply nodded slightly.

The two went their separate ways, each with their own channels of communication.

Within a day, the news, though seemingly unrelated, began to circulate throughout Nanshan Town.

There is a road that leads to the Sword Immortal's Mansion!