When I woke up, the entire cultivation world was talking about my master.

Upon entering the forbidden area, one can feel the chill spreading through the darkness. The gloomy and lifeless forest, devoid of sunlight and moonlight, is so dark that one cannot see their own hand in front of their face, a stark contrast to the warm and beautiful scene outside the Peach Blossom Spring of the past.

This place is full of formations, including an anti-air formation, so you can only get there on foot.

Chu Xianlan glanced around. The second group of people entering the forbidden area was not many, only six or seven including them. However, their cultivation level was at least mid-stage Golden Core. There were both men and women, and their overall strength was not bad.

Chu Xianlan had an impression of two of the half-demon men.

That was on the very first day he and his master arrived in Peach Blossom Spring. They had jumped out to confront the half-demon male duo who had "brought outsiders into the village without permission." Now, the two of them were on high alert, wary of the few despicable outsiders.

The Taiyi Sect members and others didn't care about this inexplicable hostility. After all, everyone had their own stance, and it was normal for them not to trust outsiders.

As soon as Chu Xianlan looked up, her gaze met that of the two half-demon men in front of her.

His eyes were unfriendly.

However, in the past few days, Chu Xianlan discovered that the half-demon in Peach Blossom Spring are actually quite simple-minded. To put it bluntly, they can be divided into two types: those like Xiao Shengsheng who are carefree, and these two who are careless.

Sure enough, the half-demon man on the left gave a menacing warning: "Don't try anything funny!"

The one on the right also scoffed, "You'd better watch yourself!"

Hua Ling burst out laughing, "What are these two doing, acting like bodyguards?"

As soon as they finished speaking, Chu Xianlan threw a long magical artifact at them. They thought it was some kind of strange attack and instinctively turned their heads to dodge it.

The magical artifact did not fire any open or covert attacks; it simply hovered steadily in front of him, emitting a soft, warm light in the darkness that instantly illuminated the surrounding dark area for several feet.

"What are you doing! What is this?!"

When they realized it wasn't a hidden weapon, they felt embarrassed and gritted their teeth, staring intently with wide eyes.

Chu Xianlan casually said, "The Floating Spirit Light Cylinder. If you touch it, it will automatically follow you and fly."

His improved light tube is hand-held, making it more convenient to use; you can fly it to wherever it's not lit.

The Left Protector's expression was complicated. "We...we don't need your stuff!"

The right protector, hands on hips and chin raised, exclaimed, "Exactly!"

"—Silence!"

The elderly man leading the group at the front suddenly turned around and whispered.

The jungle trembled, and from deep within the treetops came the rustling sound of countless wings flapping simultaneously.

The team leader, the only one present with experience venturing into the forbidden area, listened intently and declared in a resounding voice:

"Soul-Eating Insects!"

These insects are only the size of ants. They are invisible when alive, undetectable to the naked eye and even by spiritual sense. They only reveal their form after death. Their most terrifying feature is their ability to parasitize.

Once the Soul-Eating Worm burrows into the body, it will silently lay eggs in the cultivator's meridians. The larvae will then absorb spiritual energy and devour the soul. By the time the host notices the abnormality, it is often too late to save them.

This kind of insect is rarely seen even in the cultivation world; it's considered extremely rare.

Wei Jin's expression was subtle: "Peach Blossom Spring deliberately raises such sinister creatures just to keep their own people at bay?"

That's really clever. They can create difficulties even when none exist.

The enemy was in the dark while we were in the light. The terrifying buzzing grew closer and closer, as if we were surrounded by a swarm of insects from all sides, yet we couldn't pinpoint their exact location.

"Bugs! Ugh, so many bugs, it's disgusting!" Hua Linghua turned pale and immediately hid in Chu Xianlan's collar.

Yan Ling tossed her sparkling hair and mercilessly mocked Hua Ling: "Heh, you coward."

"The Soul-Eating Worms are attracted to light!" the team leader shouted urgently. "Quickly turn off all the light sources! Let's gather together and work together to create a barrier to resist the Soul-Eating Worms!"

Yan Ling touched her glowing head, her smile fading.

Oh no, it looks like a swarm of bugs is coming for him.

The Left Protector was so anxious he almost ground his teeth to powder. Pointing at Chu Xianlan's levitating spirit tube, he shouted, "I'm talking to you! It's that lousy magic artifact that attracted the Soul-Eating Worms! Turn it off right now..."

Before he could finish speaking, Chu Xianlan went even further, unleashing dozens of floating spiritual light tubes that illuminated the surroundings as if it were daytime.

The swarm of insects rapidly converged, causing the half-demons' pupils to dilate in shock.

"Are you trying to kill us?! Or do you not understand human language?!" Seeing the swarm of insects approaching, the half-demons were furious, their nerves stretched to the limit, wishing they could pounce on Chu Xianlan and tear her to pieces.

I knew those outsiders had no good intentions; they're all idiots!

If this keeps up, we'll all be dying! Everyone's dying!

In the midst of the chaos, several half-demons couldn't help but glance at the white figure wielding a sword in the group. They couldn't let someone with such cultivation level also be fooling around!

Yi Chen remained calm and stood beside the boy, unmoved by any disturbance.

Just as the insect swarm roared and the situation became critical, Chu Xianlan flipped her left hand, and all the magical artifacts were drawn together by spiritual power and suspended in mid-air in an array.

As he raised his hand and waved his sleeve, the magic tube shone brightly and flew away into the distance of the jungle.

The swarm of insects drawn by the light immediately followed, and the buzzing gradually faded away.

The scene was truly magical. The half-demons stared in disbelief in the direction where the swarm of insects had disappeared, and fell silent for a moment.

"Young people have sharper minds," Wei Jin's laughter broke the silence. He clapped his hands and urged, "What are you standing there for? Let's go!"

The half-demons looked at each other, glanced at Chu Xianlan a couple more times, and then continued on their way.

In that situation just now, if the timing had been slightly off, it could have backfired.

They were stubborn and wouldn't praise her, but that didn't mean Hua Ling's mouth would stay shut. She said with a grin, "Oh my, our Xianlan is just that clever, quick-witted, and outstanding. Don't be afraid to get proud~"

She looked just like a motherly fan.

Chu Xianlan dared to do this because she was confident. The mindset of a weapon cultivator is to prioritize the optimal solution in everything. After all, she didn't know how many more enemies she would have to face, so saving as much spiritual energy as possible was always a good thing.

But the thought of those magical artifacts being gone forever makes me feel a little heartbroken.

The group wandered left and right, encountering all sorts of bizarre monsters, insects, evil spirits, and miasma, and couldn't help but marvel at the miraculous methods used to protect the forbidden area of ​​Peach Blossom Spring. It took them a full three hours to finally emerge from the jungle, venturing safely into the heart of the forbidden area, and arriving at a slightly more spacious area.

Good news: Xiao Huandu's body was not found on the way.

The bad news is that the inside of the forbidden area is even more dangerous than the outside; the corpses might be inside.

The forbidden area was covered with sand and stones, and huge bronze pillars of various kinds were stuck in the desert, emitting a faint blue light in the dark night.

The sand was deep, with high, unevenly distributed stone platforms rising from it, some suspended in mid-air, winding forward to barely form a path suspended in mid-air.

At the end of the stone platform, a massive, rusted altar soars into the clouds.

Ancient magical artifacts are stored inside.

The team leader raised his hand to signal a halt, indicating that everyone had sustained injuries from the fighting and needed to rest for half an hour to recover and replenish their spiritual energy.

Chu Xianlan felt that she was not injured at all. She found a place to sit down next to Yi Chen and put away her storage bag. Her head was down when her chin was suddenly lifted up.

"Huh?" He looked up, bewildered.

Yi Chen lowered his eyes, casting the boy in his shadow. He placed his thumb on the boy's cheek and gently wiped away the bloodstain that had appeared out of nowhere with a cleansing spell.

There was no wound beneath the bloodstains. That wasn't Chu Xianlan's blood.