Stop pretending, the seemingly useless junior sister is the real boss.

Completely sealed of his spiritual power, Bai Xiaobai huffed and puffed as he started a fire, boiled water, and cleaned, all the while grumbling and complaining about Shen Ji's injustice.

"Why did you agree to let the senior brothers go out to train on their own? Why should I have to serve you with my spiritual power sealed? You're so stingy, it's not fair! What do you mean by the most favored junior sister of Xiaoyao Peak? Where is she favored? I've already reached the twelfth level of Qi Refining, and I also have Changling in my hands. I can also go out to cultivate on my own."

Shen Ji lay comfortably in the rocking chair, sipping the Spirit-Gathering Fruit Tea that Xiao Qi had taken out from her sea of ​​consciousness, while directing Bai Xiaobai to do her work.

"When you break through to the Golden Core stage, I will naturally let you go out and train on your own. But you are only at the twelfth level of Qi Refining now, so please clear the weeds in the yard and tidy up the room. Also, don't make the water too hot, hurry up, the fire is about to go out."

Bai Xiaobai shook her sore arms and saw Shen Ji looking comfortable and relaxed, which made her anger rise.

"They said they were bringing us out to train and find demonic cultivators. In the end, they brought us to this remote village. What kind of training is there in this village? Are those poor villagers demonic cultivators or something? And why did you send Xiao Qi to the village chief's house?"

Hearing these accusations, Shen Ji gently rocked his chair, his gaze falling on the girl who was lying in front of the fire, her face covered in soot.

The spirit world, the demon race, the human world, the village—so what exactly happened?

Why would the demons from the spirit realm come to this remote Yunli Kingdom?

-

Half an hour ago, Shen Ji sent Bai Xiaobai away and summoned Ling Tian and the others.

"Have you noticed anything unusual in this village?"

Before he could finish speaking, Qin Yuan spoke first.

"The smell of blood is very strong. Even if you live by hunting, there shouldn't be such a strong smell of blood."

After Qin Yuan finished speaking, Mu Wan followed closely behind.

"The village chief should be in his prime, but his physical condition is more like that of a man in his fifties. Moreover, he carries an aura of death about him, and he probably won't live much longer. But he's not sick; it's more like his life force has been drained away."

After Mu Wan finished speaking, Ling Tian nodded in agreement.

"It's not just the village chief, but also those children. They have the same problem. When we entered the village, we only saw the village chief and the children, but we didn't find anyone else in the village. I investigated, and there is indeed no one else in the village. The village chief said they all went hunting in the mountains, but in the mortal world, it's usually the men who go hunting, and all the women go with them. This is not normal."

Fengling pointed to the mountain behind the village, her face somewhat grave. "The entire village is almost devoid of life, but this mountain behind the village has a strange quality to it. Although the mountain reeks of blood, it also exudes a vibrant life force unlike anything else. Along the way, we've encountered similar problems in other villages, but this village is the most severely affected. I think something might be wrong with that mountain."

"I just investigated the village, and apart from the village chief and those few children, there are no living creatures in the village. So, Master, that mountain might be related to the fact that the village's life force was drained. Why don't I go and take a look with my senior brothers and sisters?"

After Yuanbao finished speaking, Shen Ji frowned and pondered.

After a moment, he spoke.

"There is indeed something in the mountains, but the aura is too mixed. However, what we can confirm is that there is also the aura of the demon race from the spirit realm in these mountains. So, you five will go and take a look, but remember to be careful in everything you do, do not reveal your identities, investigate first, and do not cause any conflict. The five of you will handle this matter. In order to avoid alerting the enemy, I will temporarily seal your junior sister's spiritual power. Moreover, with your junior sister's current cultivation level, she will only be a hindrance to you if she goes."

After Shen Ji finished speaking, Ling Tian and the others were still somewhat puzzled.

Could it be that my master meant that the matter of draining the village's life force was related to the spirit world?

They didn't ask any more questions, exchanged a glance, and nodded.

"Master, we know what to do."

......

To avoid alerting the enemy, Ling Tian and his team split into two groups.

Qin Yuan, Yuan Bao, and Mu Wan's clan, along with Ling Tian and Feng Ling, all concealed their auras and disguised themselves as ordinary hunters.

Once inside the mountains, the smell of blood became even stronger, as did the vitality of life.

Strangely, there were no birds or animals in the entire forest. Apart from the towering trees, there was only deathly silence.

Ling Tian and Feng Ling cautiously surveyed their surroundings, but after walking for a full half hour, they did not see a single living creature.

To avoid alerting the enemy, they dared not release their divine senses and could only continue to explore deeper into the forest.

However, as time went by, nothing was gained.

Fengling frowned and looked up into the depths of the dense forest.

"Senior brother, something's wrong. Where have all the living creatures gone? We haven't seen a single bird, but the village chief said the hunters in the village bring back game every day. So where did the game come from?"

Ling Tian was also a little unsure, but without using spiritual power, they had no way of seeing what was happening in the forest.

Even though we know this forest is eerie, using our spiritual power would only alert the enemy.

Just as they were in a dilemma, they suddenly heard faint voices and footsteps.

There were quite a few people listening.

Could it be that we've run into hunters returning from hunting in the village?

After exchanging a glance, the two quietly hid in the shadows.

As the footsteps and voices grew closer, Ling Tian and Mu Wan were able to hear what was being said.

"The goddess was right. As long as we make offerings to her devoutly every day, we will have a steady stream of prey."

"Yes, in the past, we often got injured or even died while hunting, but ever since the goddess came, we only need to pray to her to get our prey."

"The goddess must be a celestial being. She saw the hardships of us mortals and that's why she came to protect us."

"That's right. The prey in the mountains all obey the goddess's commands. If she weren't a goddess, how could she make the prey obey her?"

"The village chief works tirelessly day and night for our village. The goddess was found by him to protect us, so we must take even better care of the village chief in the future."

"Yes, his health is poor, all because of his hard work for the village. Now that we have the protection of the goddess, we no longer have to worry about not having enough to eat. The village chief's kindness is greater than heaven."

"The children and the village chief must be hungry. Let's hurry on our way back and cook for them."

"..."

As the sounds and footsteps faded into the distance, Ling Tian and Feng Ling came out.

"Goddess? She can even make her prey obey her commands? This seems like the style of a beast tamer."

"There is indeed a resemblance. Could this goddess be from the spirit realm's beast-taming sect?"