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

Bai Xiaobai was completely stunned by what had just happened.

She had never seen her master truly make a move, but when he did, he directly killed a powerful spirit beast at the peak of the fifth rank.

And it was an absolute crushing defeat.

She thought there would be a tough battle, but she never expected that her master would defeat the powerful and terrifying fifth-tier peak spirit beast so quickly.

How powerful must it be?

Seeing the enormous corpse of the Xuanhui vanish into nothingness, she didn't waste a moment and hurriedly came to Shen Ji's side.

Shen Ji, his face pale, handed Bai Xiaobai two shiny crystals, one green and one red, that he had obtained from the Xuan Hui's corpse.

"The green one is the Divine Tree Heart you're looking for, and the red one is the Xuanhui's Spirit Core. Keep them safe."

Bai Xiaobai did not take it, nor did she care why the Heart of the Divine Tree was in Xuan Hui's body. Instead, she looked at Shen Ji with a worried expression.

"Master, are you alright? Xuan Hui said you have old injuries. Did your battle with it aggravate them? Xiao Hong said that the Heart of the Divine Tree can heal injuries. You should use it to help you recover quickly."

Upon hearing this, Shen Ji simply raised his hand and stroked the top of her head.

"I am alright. Xuan Hui is dead. This secret realm was originally set up to trap it and will collapse soon. Let's hurry and find an exit to go back."

Bai Xiaobai naturally didn't believe Shen Ji's claim that nothing was wrong. "Master, don't be reckless. It's just Foundation Establishment. Even without the Divine Wood Heart and the Xuanhui's spiritual core, I can still achieve Foundation Establishment. Besides, you're injured, so it's only right and proper that you have the Divine Wood Heart."

Just as Bai Xiaobai finished speaking, Shen Ji's expression changed, and he leaped towards her.

She was completely stunned as her body was enveloped by the familiar scent of pine.

The next moment, accompanied by a sinister curse, she and Shen Ji were blasted away by the blast wave.

"Arrogant brat, even if my soul is scattered, I will not let you obtain my spiritual core. Let us die together."

Bai Xiaobai's mind went blank, and her body fell uncontrollably downwards.

When they finally realized what had happened, they guessed that it was a trace of Xuan Hui's remaining aura in the spirit core that had detonated it.

However, even the residual aura of a fifth-tier peak spirit beast's self-destruction should not be underestimated.

His master shielded him from most of the damage with his body, but he was already injured. How could he withstand the damage from the Xuanhui's self-destruction?

If I had accepted the spirit core earlier, would my master not have been injured?

Bai Xiaobai's mind was completely hazy, with many things flashing through her thoughts. Before she completely lost consciousness, she felt something wet and sticky on Shen Ji's back.

Master, is he injured?

......

"Master, wake up!"

"Little Red, is Master alright? A whole year has passed, why hasn't she woken up yet?"

"She's alright, she won't die. Didn't you see that the Heart of the Sacred Tree has completely healed her injuries?"

"Then why hasn't she woken up yet? And who is this red-haired man holding her hand? Why is he in the master's sea of ​​consciousness? His aura is terrifying. He's... a demonic cultivator. Is he from the Heavenly Demon Sect?"

"The Heavenly Demon Sect? Isn't that our divine beast clan's sworn enemy? Why is he with Master?"

"Little Red, what exactly happened while we were asleep? How come the demonic cultivators from the Heavenly Demon Sect were with Master?"

"He...he...never mind, you can ask this woman yourselves when she wakes up. I can't explain it clearly in a short time."

"Waaaaah, how come Master is with those bastards from the Heavenly Demon Sect? They're holding hands and can't be separated no matter what."

"But that scoundrel from the Heavenly Demon Sect is quite good-looking. Do you think our master might have fallen for him and brought back a handsome Daoist partner?"

"A Daoist partner? A villain from the Heavenly Demon Sect? If she dares to associate with villains from the Heavenly Demon Sect, this divine beast will definitely run away from home."

"..."

When Bai Xiaobai was woken up, she was furious.

"You're always arguing in my mind's space, don't you have any sense of boundaries?"

After being yelled at like that, Little Red and the others immediately shut up.

"Master, you...you're finally awake?"

Bai Xiaobai raised her hand to rub her temples, and just as she was about to stretch, she found that her right hand was being tightly gripped.

She was clearly taken aback, realizing that before she fell into a coma, it was because of the self-destruction of the Xuanhui Spirit Core that she remembered Shen Ji, who had used his body to shield her from most of the damage.

She hurriedly turned her head to look, but the next moment, a scream resounded throughout her sea of ​​consciousness.

"This...this...this...who is this red-haired brat? How...how did he get into my consciousness space? Little Red, come here! Who...who is this red-haired thief? Where is my master? He..."

Bai Xiaobai pinched her cheek to make sure she was fully awake.

"Why does this red-haired guy look exactly like my master? Where did my handsome white-haired man go? Little Red, Little Black, Little Green, Little Green, and Little Purple, have you seen my huge, handsome white-haired master?"

"Huh? What kind of looks are those? Where did my ethereal master go? Did you hide him away?"

"Red hair? Hmm? And a black crescent moon mark on his palm... Demon... Demon... Demon cultivator? Heavenly Demon Sect? Little Red, the Heavenly Demon Sect, the mortal enemy of you divine beasts? Why is he in my sea of ​​consciousness?"

"Why does he have a face exactly like my master's? Little Red, did you do this? Did you create a phantom of a demonic cultivator from the Heavenly Demon Sect to scare me? How could my master have red hair? How could he be a demon... a demonic cultivator? The Heavenly Demon Sect is far beyond the Heavenly Evolution Continent. My master is just the peak master of the Free and Unfettered Peak of the Azure Cloud Sect. He was the best to me. To protect me from being injured by the Xuanhui's self-destructing spiritual core, he shielded me from all harm. He is the best master. He takes us out to train, to track down the demonic cultivators, and to protect the cultivation world. How could he be a demonic cultivator? Absolutely impossible."

"Little Black, this is an illusion created by Little Red, right? It must be. How could Master be a demonic cultivator? It's impossible."

"..."

Looking at Bai Xiaobai talking to herself, Xiao Hong flapped her wings and sighed.

"You have no idea how terrified I was when she first brought this demonic cultivator in, but I dared not speak out. I finally managed to send them out, only to bring them back in less than a day. Sigh, having a demonic cultivator as my master, you know what..."

"Shut up! Don't you dare talk about my master like that. He's the best. So what if he's a demonic cultivator?"