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

Qiao Yu quickly stepped back several paces, flicked her fingertips, and sprinkled out a handful of black powder.

Chu Xianlan gave a slight twitch at the corner of her mouth.

What a joke! I was tricked once already, so the same trick won't work on him a second time.

Suddenly, a strange aura approached. Qiao Yu looked up abruptly and saw Chu Xianlan coming through the black mist, her face now covered with a mask.

The mask was extremely distorted, revealing a gaping maw, and looked as ferocious as a demon.

"...?" Qiao Yu was startled by the ugly thing up close.

What the hell?

Strange gases are easily generated during the refining process, so most weapon crafters take precautions and prepare magical artifacts that can block the odor.

There are many styles of these masks, but Chu Xianlan's is particularly ugly.

The two exchanged a few blows in the blink of an eye. Chu Xianlan's gaze swept across Qiao Yu's face, and the more she looked, the more familiar it seemed... Wait, isn't this the same healer who chatted with Qu Ling before the banquet began?!

"It's you? You're Qu Ling's friend?" he asked suspiciously. "What would a medical cultivator like you do by stealing the Thousand-Frozen Cold Iron?"

"Don't get in my way!" Qiao Yu gritted her teeth.

She hadn't expected the other party to be so difficult.

Before Chu Xianlan could react, a row of silver needles flew towards her, their silvery-white light flashing before her eyes!

Chu Xianlan's forward momentum naturally stopped, and a golden light flashed from her fingertips, causing a giant shield to appear out of thin air—

"Ding ding ding!"

Several silver needles pierced the shield, while the rest were deeply embedded at the feet.

Thin plumes of black smoke rose from the small crater in the ground, and the surrounding plants withered instantly.

Chu Xianlan was startled. Without even thinking, she knew that the needle tip contained deadly poison; touching it would be fatal.

His expression gradually became serious. In fact, he did not intend to seriously injure his opponent at first, but Qiao Yu's moves were extremely ruthless and her movements were very skillful, which was not like that of a medical cultivator who was inexperienced in the world.

Who exactly is she?

No matter who you are, arrest them first.

Qiao Yu's expression was uncertain. She knew that this weapon cultivator had many strange methods, and ordinary moves could not stop him at all. Without hesitation, she ripped off the hair ribbon with her backhand.

Seaweed-like black hair cascaded down the girl's back. Chu Xianlan was stunned, and goosebumps rose uncontrollably all over her body.

Because he saw countless poisonous insects crawling out of Qiao Yu's hair.

Densely packed with ants of various colors, ranging from tiny ants the size of a grain of rice to centipedes as thick as a thumb, they snaked and crawled along the girl's hair. These were all Gu worms she had carefully cultivated, extremely poisonous, and would cause immediate harm upon contact.

There are already many visible to the naked eye, and who knows how many more insects are buried in the hair.

Qiao Yu lovingly touched one of the scorpions with her fingertips, and the scorpion crawled onto the back of her hand.

Chu Xianlan thought to herself, "What the hell?"

He admitted that he was disgusted.

This is a psychological attack.

In the blink of an eye, a multitude of poisonous insects swarmed towards them, their stench mixed with the strong smell of herbs, nearly suffocating them.

Just as she was about to be overwhelmed by the swarm of insects, Chu Xianlan snorted coldly, swiftly swiped her hand across her storage bag, and pulled out a bamboo tube as thick as an arm, which she then weighed in her hand.

The next second, the bamboo tube was aimed at the swarm of poisonous insects rushing towards them.

Chu Xianlan blew hard, and blazing flames shot out from the bamboo tube, forming a wall of fire in front of him and sweeping towards the swarm of insects.

"Sizzle—!"

The poisonous insects melted upon contact with the fire, instantly turning into a pool of blackened slime that smeared the ground.

"My Gu worm!" Qiao Yu exclaimed in shock, her eyes turning incredibly venomous as she looked at Chu Xianlan. "How dare you harm my precious worm!"

Chu Xianlan said with a forced smile, "If it's a treasure, hide it well. Don't take it out and scare people, okay?"

Having learned enough of his moves, he was too lazy to waste any more time with this medical cultivator. Without giving the other party a chance to regret his "treasure," he suddenly swung out a Binding Immortal Rope, which precisely wrapped around Qiao Yu's wrist and tightened instantly!

One pull, one tug.

Qiao Yu was shocked: "Let me go!"

The two wrestled on the edge of the Cliff of Repentance, a place where disciples repented for their mistakes. The feng shui was not good, and at this moment, the wind howled fiercely, like a giant beast roaring in their ears.

"Get away! Let me go!" Qiao Yu roared, struggling and twisting frantically, trying to crawl towards the array's eye stone in the distance. "Don't touch me with your filthy hands!"

Chu Xianlan bound her tightly, making her look like a dumpling, and ruthlessly pressed her to the ground, tying a knot in the rope with one foot. "Excuse me, Junior Sister Qiao. If you have something to say, go to the Discipline Hall."

Just as he was about to lift her up, he suddenly felt Qiao Yu beneath him trembling violently.

Chu Xianlan slowly lowered her head.

...Could it be that the Binding Immortal Rope was too strong? Did it really hurt someone?

That can't be right.

The trembling only lasted for two moments before stopping. Qiao Yu remained motionless, as if she had stopped breathing.

The next second, "Giggle giggle..."

A chilling laugh escaped from the girl's throat.

Just then, a strange wind rose from the Cliff of Contemplation, carrying with it the eerie laughter of a young girl, sending a chill down one's spine.

Qiao Yu's laughter grew sharper and sharper, the sound coming from her throat hoarse and mocking. She was no longer the reserved young girl she had been before; she seemed like a completely different person.

After laughing, Qiao Yu said in an unusually gentle tone, "Senior brother is right... The moonlight tonight is truly beautiful."

As she spoke, a continuous stream of demonic energy seeped out from around her.

Chu Xianlan was startled. "...You're a demon?"

There was no one else here except the two of them, so the source of the demonic aura was self-evident.

But Qiao Yu ignored his questioning. A glint flashed in her eyes as she stared intently at the moon, which was shrouded in clouds in the night sky, and muttered to herself.

Almost there... it'll be here soon...

Immediately afterwards, a strong wind arose, violently blowing away the clouds that had been obscuring the moon on the horizon, revealing a pale, round moon.

Chu Xianlan still had doubts, but then... he could no longer care about anything else.

Because, mixed within the dense demonic aura was another terrifying presence.

More sinister, more turbid, and more filthy than demonic energy!

It sent chills down my spine.

—This is the malevolent aura of a half-demon!

Overwhelmed by shock, Qiao Yu wasn't a demon, but... a half-demon!?

All sorts of terrifying rumors about half-demons flashed through Chu Xianlan's mind. She had only heard that half-demons were infamous in the cultivation world, bloodthirsty and cruel, and were beings that everyone hated and were not allowed to exist in the world. She had never encountered this race so closely before.

"you--"

Before she could finish speaking, the girl's originally slender body suddenly swelled up violently!

The light green robe belonging to the Baicaotang medical practitioner was instantly torn apart, and fragments of fabric mixed with sticky, foul-smelling liquid splashed everywhere.

Chu Xianlan opened her eyes wide, feeling something disgusting on her face, and felt completely awful.

"Bang!!"

Before he could react, the Binding Immortal Rope snapped, and Qiao Yu's body exploded right before his eyes!

Caught off guard, Chu Xianlan was suddenly struck by a dizzying, swirling sensation before her eyes. Her feet were suspended in mid-air as a tremendous force sent her flying.

and many more!

This is the Cliff of Repentance! And right next to it is a sheer drop of ten thousand feet!

He could only curse as he summoned a flying artifact by channeling his spiritual power in mid-air. However, at almost the same moment, a massive, suffocating emerald green shadow suddenly appeared from the blood mist.

Chu Xianlan didn't even get a clear look at what kind of monster it was before a sharp pain shot through the back of her neck!

A violent wave of dizziness rushed to my brain, and my body went out of control, plummeting towards the bottom of the cliff.