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

Upon hearing this, the red-clad sword spirit smiled.

"You talk as if you know me very well, but if I were to truly lose control of my murderous aura and completely go out of control, the first thing I would do is kill my master. You're cowardly and afraid of death, and there are still many things you want to do that you haven't done. If this time I were to ask you to risk your life, would you really be willing to go with me? This is a matter of life and death, aren't you afraid...?"

Before Chang Ling could finish speaking, Bai Xiaobai had already stood up.

"What are you afraid of? No matter how big the problem is, my master will take care of it. As long as my master is here, you, Changling, will never lose control, and I, Bai Xiaobai, will not die."

Considering Shen Ji's unknown strength, based on observations over the past few days, he truly doesn't care whether a sword goes out of control, but he absolutely cares about the life of Bai Xiaobai, the youngest disciple of Xiaoyao Peak.

The red-clad sword spirit had upturned eyes and a faint blood-red hue in its pupils, standing shoulder to shoulder with Bai Xiaobai.

"In that case, I have nothing to fear. I'll brave mountains of knives and seas of fire with you."

"Alright, then let's prove to Master that I, Bai Xiaobai, can also use my own strength to find out what extraordinary existence is hidden in this strange mountain."

"Wait a minute, what do you mean 'you'll accompany me through fire and water'? Shouldn't it be 'I'll accompany you to fight monsters and level up'?"

"Uh, what's the difference? Your strength equals my strength, and my strength naturally equals your strength. We're all in the same boat, why bother making such a distinction?"

Why are you mimicking my speech?

"Oh......"

After confirming several times that her master was meditating with his eyes closed, Bai Xiaobai tiptoed away.

It was already late at night, and the entire village was deathly silent; there wasn't even a crowing of a rooster or a barking of a dog.

Alone with a sword, under the cover of night, he stealthily slipped out of the dilapidated courtyard.

However, a gust of cold wind blew from outside, and the person who had just been spouting nonsense about finding the strange creature in the mountains on his own became rooted to the spot and didn't move an inch.

"Sister Changling, why don't we go back? If Master finds out I sneaked away, he might punish me again."

Faced with Bai Xiaobai's retreat, the red-clad sword spirit hovered menacingly in front of her.

"Little brat, you deliberately tricked me into releasing your spiritual power seal, didn't you? Although it was only 30% released, the bit of strength I gained from absorbing the Extreme Yin Body was all used to release that 30% of your spiritual power. Now you're saying you won't go? Are you kidding me?"

Bai Xiaobai chuckled and waved awkwardly.

"How could I dare? It's just that the weather isn't very good tonight. Look, there's no moon, and it's pitch black in the mountains. I'm just worried that the roads will be difficult to travel."

As soon as she finished speaking, she saw the bright full moon that had just hidden behind the clouds peek out.

Seeing this, her smile became even more forced.

"What's wrong with the moon? It keeps appearing and disappearing. But even though the moon is there, Sister Changling, can you feel that the smell of blood in the mountains is even stronger than when we came during the day? Maybe we should go again tomorrow."

The red-clad sword spirit crossed her arms and smiled at Bai Xiaobai, who clearly wanted to back down.

"Alright, then I'll shout it out right here and tell your master that you've already released 30% of your sealed spiritual power, and then tell him you're going into the mountains. Do you think that the 30% of spiritual power you finally managed to release will be sealed again? And then you'll be bossed around by your master day and night, boiling water and cooking."

Seeing that Changling was about to shout in the direction of his master's thatched hut, Bai Xiaobai hurriedly jumped onto the sword and urged him to leave quickly.

"My dear sister, I was wrong, I was really wrong. Don't shout, let's go quickly."

Upon hearing this, the red-clad sword spirit's lips curled up slightly, and in the blink of an eye, the person and the sword disappeared without a trace.

Inside the thatched hut, Shen Ji, who had been meditating with his eyes closed, slowly opened them.

Xiao Qi, who was also meditating nearby, had a look of worry on her face.

"Master, should I follow them? Xiaobai is only at the Qi Refining stage now. Even with the help of a powerful spirit, the things in the mountains are not simple. If they discover her demon identity, she might be in danger."

He remained silent, his face still somewhat pale.

After a moment, he spoke softly.

"Alright, let her suffer a bit this time. You focus on your breakthrough. Ling Tian and the others will handle things in the mountains, so there shouldn't be any major danger for now."

Xiao Qi nodded, but seeing Shen Ji's long, dark red hair gradually turning from white to red, she still felt worried.

"Master, the ancient restrictions we found earlier can no longer suppress the demonic power within you. If you continue to forcibly suppress it like this, your body won't be able to withstand it. Perhaps I should go to the Spirit Realm again to find the Spirit Lord and ask him to think of another solution."

Upon hearing this, Shen Ji shook his head.

"No need. If the troublemakers here are indeed demons from the Spirit Realm, it means something might be wrong in the Spirit Realm. Focus on your breakthrough during this time; you don't need to worry about anything else."

Seeing this, Xiaoqi had no choice but to agree.

"Okay, Xiaoqi understands."

......

Concealing their presence with their swords, Changling's sword trembled more and more violently as they drew closer to the mountains behind the village.

"Can you please stop shaking? If you keep shaking, I'm really going back."

The red-clad sword spirit licked its lips, struggling to suppress the desire deep within its soul.

"Although the vengeful spirits in these mountains are not as powerful as those in the bone whip, there are many of them. If this sword can devour all of them, it will definitely be able to recover 50% of its previous strength. Little guy, your brain is shining. Besides the large number of vengeful spirits in these mountains, there is also a rather powerful being. These vengeful spirits must have been killed by this powerful being in their previous lives."

Hearing this, Bai Xiaobai felt her legs go weak.

Her voice trembled as she swallowed hard in fear.

"Quite powerful? Then... just how powerful? Late Nascent Soul stage... or Great Perfection stage? It can't be... it can't be at the Deity Transformation stage, can it?"

Changling snorted coldly, and its flying speed increased instead of decreasing.

"You're still not convinced when I say you're cowardly and afraid of trouble. If you were at the Nascent Soul stage, your master wouldn't have sent all your senior brothers and sisters out. As for whether they've reached the Deity Transformation stage, that's hard to say. But it seems a bit too late to regret it now, because that being has probably already sensed our presence, and a large number of vengeful spirits are rushing towards us."

"Ah... don't scare me. Sister Changling, let's go back. Didn't you say your blood is special? I'll give it to you when we get back. I'm only at the twelfth level of Qi Refining, and my spiritual power has been sealed. I can only use 30% of it now. How can I fight against this powerful being you mentioned? A wise man doesn't fight a losing battle. I'll find you a vengeful spirit later."

"It's too late, even if we run, it's too late."

"Holy shit..."