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

After Chu Xianlan finished inspecting the last array eye stone, the uneasy feeling in her heart still lingered.

"Why are you so distracted?" Xiao Huandu stretched. "Where are we going next?"

"I want to go back to Zhao Jianren's place and take another look."

Zhao Jianren is an unreliable person who doesn't keep his mouth shut, and he always makes people feel uneasy.

Xiao Huandu was taken aback. "Huh?" He followed Chu Xianlan's gaze and looked westward. "Isn't that unnecessary? That guy may be annoying, but he's still an inner disciple. He shouldn't be so bad at something like this."

"It's better to be safe than sorry."

"Alright, alright."

Sure enough, as soon as the two approached the area of ​​the western eye stone, they heard a series of chaotic noises from a distance.

"Why is it so noisy? What kind of trouble is Zhao Jianren causing now?" Xiao Huandu frowned, and the drowsiness on his face disappeared.

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a deafening explosion suddenly erupted!

"Boom—!"

They were extremely close to the source of the explosion. The sudden, deafening sound assaulted their eardrums, giving them the illusion that their heads were buzzing, the world was spinning, and the shockwave was rolling in from afar.

There was an unsettling atmosphere in the air, like something was burning.

"Damn it..." Xiao Huandu muttered, "Could it be that you were right? You're such a jinx..."

"Oh no, something really has happened!" Chu Xianlan's eyes narrowed.

The two sped up and ran towards the sound.

The sight before him caused Xiao Huandu's pupils to shrink sharply. "What's going on?!"

Outside the array's eye stone, several disciples on duty lay on the ground, their faces pale, clearly seriously injured. Broken magical artifacts and charred traces of vegetation were scattered on the ground around them.

Looking further in, thick smoke billowed, almost obscuring the sky, making it impossible to see the specific situation.

Chu Xianlan's heart sank. She quickly stuffed pills into the mouths of the fallen disciples, then checked their breathing to confirm that they were only suffering from spiritual exhaustion and their pulses were still relatively steady. She then took out several talismans to restore spiritual energy from her sleeve and stuck them on their chests.

"Quickly send a message to the Discipline Hall, saying that the western array eye has been attacked and the situation is urgent, come immediately!" After doing this, he turned to Xiao Huandu and said.

Xiao Huandu snapped out of his daze and said, "Ah, okay, okay."

The atmosphere around them changed the next moment.

Amidst the thick smoke, a disheveled figure rushed towards them, his hurried footsteps accompanied by heavy breathing. Chu Xianlan looked closely and was utterly astonished.

Zhao Jianren was disheveled, crawling on all fours, his face flushed, his eyes bloodshot, and his expression dazed. He was running and crawling like a wild dog that had lost its mind.

The scene was so bizarre that it took the two of them a long time to recover from their shock.

They were fine when they parted, how did things turn out like this?

"Zhao Jianren? Is this your doing? What are you up to!" Xiao Huandu roared at him.

Upon hearing his voice, Zhao Jianren immediately learned to walk upright and charged towards the two of them in a frenzy, unleashing a fierce fire-based spiritual attack.

"Damn it!" Xiao Huandu had nothing to say and could only draw his weapon to fight.

Fire-type spiritual energy collided with the giant sword that appeared out of nowhere, and sparks flew everywhere in an instant!

Xiao Huandu slung the giant sword over his shoulder, turned his head to Chu Xianlan, and gestured with his chin. "Leave this to me. You go inside and check on the state of the array's core stone!"

Although the situation is unclear, the most important thing right now is the array eye stone.

The two had known each other for years and needed no further explanation. Chu Xianlan didn't waste any words, quickly adding, "He doesn't seem right, be careful!"

After saying that, he turned and rushed into the thick smoke.

Seeing that Zhao Jianren still wanted to give chase, Xiao Huandu directly cut off his retreat with a single slash, suddenly blocking his way.

As Xiao Huandu made his move, he couldn't help but wonder: What's wrong with this guy?

Although Zhao Jianren used to rely on his cultivation to bully others, he still had some semblance of humanity. Could it be that he has been cursed?

Suddenly, a sinister smile crept onto Zhao Jianren's face.

He said coldly, "Senior Brother Xiao, actually you and I are no different."

Being categorized as one of the same kind as such a lunatic is nothing to be happy about. Xiao Huandu curled his lip and sneered, "Don't flatter yourself, I'm much more handsome than you."

"Oh……"

Zhao Jianren swayed precariously, as if he might fall at any moment, yet his attack was extremely ruthless: "Xiao Huandu, don't pretend to be stupid."

Xiao Huandu's eyes changed slightly as he once again blocked Zhao Jianren's longsword.

"Who doesn't know you're Chu Xianlan's follower? Wherever he is, who will notice you? He's highly talented and backed by Immortal Lord Jixue. He's the center of attention wherever he goes. And you? Xiao Huandu?" Zhao Jianren's expression twisted.

His voice carried a seductive undertone, "Are you really content to always be overshadowed by him? You're just as good as him, a direct disciple in your own right. Yet everyone only sees you as a foil to Chu Xianlan. Are you really willing to live in his shadow for the rest of your life?!"

The last sentence was shouted out, and its echo reverberated through the empty surroundings.

"...That's it?" Xiao Huandu casually ruffled his hair, looking at Zhao Jianren with amusement. "I thought you were going to make some earth-shattering statement, is that all?"

"Do you think I'm stupid? I've done nothing wrong, I'm standing here by my own abilities. When my brother is successful, I'm happy for him; when my brother is down on his luck, I'll be there for him. The bond between us is something a petty person like you wouldn't understand!"

Perhaps there are some people in this world who can't stand seeing their friends being better than themselves, but Xiao Huandu never had such thoughts. To him, such low-level provocations were no different from farting.

But... why is Zhao Jianren so strange? He doesn't even hide his dark thoughts. Why did he suddenly start playing the truth game?

Before Xiao Huandu could figure it out, Zhao Jianren's expression turned extremely ugly:

"You're lying! You're lying!"

"Nobody wants to be a supporting character! You're just too afraid to admit it!!"

Xiao Huandu was almost deafened by his shouting.

He has a bad attitude and a loud voice.

A mad dog is a mad dog; there's no point in saying more. The best course of action is to subdue it quickly, and maybe we can find out who's behind this.

-

Chu Xianlan rushed into the mist, following the spiritual energy fluctuations of the array eye stone deeper and deeper.

The sound of the treasure-hunting bell in his hand grew weaker and weaker. Looking ahead, the array eye stone, which had been radiating spiritual light, had been blasted into a hideous hole. The upper part was completely broken off, and the spiritual energy leaking out from it was flowing back and forth and dissipating into the air at an extremely fast speed.

Before long, the sect's grand formation will be affected.

The person behind this was indeed aiming to destroy the barrier!

Now that they had obtained the Thousand Cold Iron, they naturally wanted to tear open a gap in the barrier and escape from the Taiyi Sect!

It wasn't Ji Cheng'an, it wasn't Wei Yi, and it certainly couldn't be Zhao Jianren...

Who could it be?

Suddenly, a suspicious dark figure flashed past her side. Chu Xianlan turned around alertly and immediately gave chase!

The sound of hurried footsteps rustling through the woods rose and fell, and the fragrance of herbs lingered for a long time.

Chu Xianlan gave chase, but the dark figure always kept a distance, and from behind, she could only see a blurry back view, unable to recognize who it was.

The other party was clearly familiar with this sect territory, deliberately choosing tricky routes to escape and wear down the pursuers' patience. Chu Xianlan simply stopped, her fingertips gathering golden spirit into a longbow, just as she was about to nock a spirit arrow, when she paused.

--wrong.

He raised his hand to hide the longbow, touched the tip of his nose thoughtfully, and looked back intently.

On the other side, a girl with braided pigtails was hurrying towards the next array eye stone.

Qiao Yu looked at the small crack in the sky with some irritation.

She misjudged the situation and underestimated the stability of the Taiyi Sect's grand formation.

Unexpectedly, destroying one of the array's key stones only created a small crack in the array, far from enough for her to escape safely. She had to destroy another one.

The closest eye stone to her is... near the Cliff of Contemplation.

Qiao Yu clicked her tongue and quickened her pace. If she didn't hurry, the troublesome guy would catch up.

She had sprinkled hallucinogenic powder into the smoke earlier. Once inhaled, one would be led by the nose by hallucinations, at least delaying the process for a while.

Fortunately, that idiot Zhao Jianren can still be of some use; he can keep the other guy occupied, so he's not entirely without value.

Just then, a surge of spiritual energy emanated from the surrounding area.

Qiao Yu's expression changed immediately, and she stopped in her tracks.

Behind a tree ahead, a tall and slender figure blocked her way.

Qiao Yu's pupils contracted. The person in front of her was none other than Chu Xianlan, whom she thought had been lured away by the illusion!

The young man leaned against a tree trunk, moonlight bathing him, and spoke in a calm and unhurried voice: "Junior sister, with such a beautiful moon tonight, where are you in such a hurry to go?"