Having cultivated myself into an immortal, all I want to do is raise female disciples.

No, that's definitely not a snake.

The beast, crouching on the ground, has three sharp, blood-red fangs protruding from its lips. Its head is shaped like a hybrid of a leopard and a jackal. Its body is incredibly thin, with clearly visible blood vessels constantly transporting blood. It has four limbs, but the two limbs on its hindquarters have more muscles. Its long, upturned tail subconsciously reminds one of a scorpion.

Monster?

Zhang Ruoxue swore that she had never seen a monster in such a form before.

However, it's absolutely impossible to say that the other party doesn't belong to the demon race, because Zhang Ruoxue clearly smelled demonic energy belonging to the demon race on the demon in front of her, and the concentration was quite high.

"Woof! (This guy is also a demon... but he's a bit strange... I've never seen such a bizarre demon before.)"

Zhang Xiaohan let out a wary roar and moved its short legs back a little—it didn't have any fighting ability right now, and besides, this fellow clansman in front of it didn't seem to have any goodwill towards it.

The visitor is not good.

Zhang Ruoxue knew this well. She stared at the monster in front of her, lowered her center of gravity, and moved her left leg slightly backward, while focusing her gaze on her right ankle.

From a barely noticeable, shallow wound, a liquid called blood was slowly flowing down...

Sure enough, she was scratched by the sharp thorns at the base of the tumbleweed when she wasn't paying attention. The pain from this minor injury didn't even register, but the smell of blood seemed to excite this strange monster of unknown species...

This is troublesome.

Zhang Ruoxue's mind raced as she tried to think of a solution...

That's a joke.

"Alright, since we're going to fight..."

—They didn't even think about how to deal with it!

Zhang Ruoxue is not Ye Yuchan. This girl's thought process is incomparable to that of a certain silver-haired girl with a complicated and unpredictable way of thinking. In her mind, if an enemy appears, then you either run or fight!

Running away is absolutely out of the question; she still needs to find the Blood Blue Root.

That leaves only one option.

The oppressive force generated by Zhang Ruoxue's cultivation level at the minor completion stage of the Transformation Peak instantly swept across the entire area. With the blessing of the full moon's power, the spiritual energy within Zhang Ruoxue's body rapidly increased, reaching the level of a Transformation Peak cultivator in both purity and quantity.

"Woof?! (This silly older sister... got stronger?!)"

Completely different from her cultivation level in Jingyuan Village, Zhang Ruoxue's sudden burst of powerful strength made Zhang Xiaohan's heart tremble.

Keep in mind that its cultivation level hasn't recovered much yet. Although Zhang Ruoxue is still not as strong as it was in its prime, her growth rate still surprised it.

The arm armor was activated by spiritual energy, and in an instant, a blue light flashed.

Accompanied by scorching flames, the white bandages Zhang Ruoxue used to wrap around Hanbing's right arm were instantly burned to ashes, and the bright red arm armor on that crystal-clear Hanbing arm spewed out a scorching and azure light.

Yes, those are blue flames.

"Hiss hiss hiss—"

The unknown monster narrowed its snake-like eyes. It seemed completely unconcerned about the oppressive force emanating from Zhang Ruoxue. As it lay prone on the ground, the muscles in its hind legs tensed instantly.

next moment.

Zhang Ruoxue only felt a gust of wind, and the black shadow was even faster than when it first attacked, almost as fast as a cultivator at the peak of the Transformation Realm.

The sound of metal clashing echoed throughout—

The sharp claws collided with the arm armor, and a powerful force struck. Zhang Ruoxue groaned and was almost knocked to the ground by the claw.

However, she quickly reacted. Her icy right hand instantly formed a palm, grabbing the monster's forelimbs with her backhand. She stepped forward, twisted her body, and with the force of thunder, slammed the monster heavily onto the ground.

Then, at the perfect moment, he released his grip, and the immense recoil sent the unsuspecting monster flying back into the air.

Almost as if it were muscle memory at work, Zhang Ruoxue leaned forward, her right foot stepping forward while her center of gravity shifted, her left hand gripping the monster's hind limbs again, and her right hand forming a fist.

An extremely short distance, a fleeting burst of energy—

Flames erupted across the sky, and a fiery iron fist with absolute destructive power slammed heavily into the monster's ugly face.

Although the fist only moved less than ten centimeters, the burst of azure flame annihilated all the white mist within a cone-shaped area dozens of meters in front of Zhang Ruoxue, including the annoying rolling grass and dead wood, all of which were burned to ashes.

thump--

The headless monster lay limply on the ground, beyond dead.

This scene was truly frightening to Zhang Xiaohan.

Looking at his fellow demons lying motionless on the ground, Zhang Xiaohan swallowed hard, staring in horror at Zhang Ruoxue who was slowly withdrawing her spiritual energy.

"Wang..."

A short dog language phrase, roughly meaning—

My older sister... seems pretty strong...

50. I didn't expect the title...

"Speaking of which, I've never seen this kind of monster before..."

Despite the fact that most people would avoid a monster, Zhang Ruoxue showed no fear or aversion. She casually squatted down next to the monster's corpse, whose head had been burned to ashes and only a twisted body remained, and curiously poked the monster's back.

The texture was somewhat stiff, like poking a piece of frozen meat.

Although there are countless monsters in this world, and Zhang Ruoxue's knowledge is probably limited, it's impossible for her to know the types of every single one. However, the monster in front of her looks like a mixture of various creatures, which is rather strange.

especially……

"Devourer?"

Almost subconsciously, Zhang Ruoxue thought of the strange demon that Xu Yanliu had mentioned in Piaoxiang Pavilion.

It is said to be a demon that merges the bloodline of the creatures it devours with its own. If the demon in front of us is the Devouring Demon that Xu Yanliu mentioned, then its tail, which is raised high like a scorpion, and its head, which is a mixture of a jackal and a leopard, can probably be explained.

But why would a devouring demon appear in this dark forest?

Can't figure it out.

At least with Zhang Ruoxue's brain, she couldn't figure out such a profound question for the time being.

"Well, never mind that for now~"

Zhang Ruoxue couldn't be bothered to think about such a question.

She first took out a snow-white bandage that she had been storing for a long time from her storage ring—this thing had always been used to bind Hanbing's right arm to cover up the limb that was so different from that of ordinary people.

But now we can finally put the bandages to good use.

After temporarily bandaging the wound on her ankle, Zhang Ruoxue's gaze shifted slightly upwards, and something that had not appeared before seemed to have come into view.

Directly ahead lay the soil, burned to a deep blue by the flames and reduced to a grayish-black, along with the remains of rolling grass. Before the remaining flickering flames, there was a slightly raised, rather noticeable, black rock.

"Woof! (There seems to be something here...)"

Zhang Xiaohan also noticed the raised black rock.

The reason why the two of them, a human and a dog, had never seen the stone before was because the surrounding dead trees, rolling grass, and annoying white smoke had obscured their vision. However, under the power of Zhang Ruoxue's punch, not only was the head of the unknown monster blown off, but the smoke and debris within dozens of meters were also burned to ashes.

It was a cave.

To be precise, it is the upper part of a cave.

Zhang Ruoxue didn't remember the uncle mentioning a cave in the dark forest.

In this situation, if a place suddenly appears that was not mentioned in the intelligence, one should normally proceed with caution.

Furthermore, the appearance of a monster resembling a Devourer has made things even more complicated...

"Let's go in and take a look!"

Ruoxue had absolutely no idea how to write the word "danger".

Zhang Xiaohan was startled by Zhang Ruoxue's sudden interest and quickly called out a few times.

"Woof woof woof (Isn't it a bit much to just barge in like this?!)"

Although she still couldn't understand dog language, Zhang Ruoxue could roughly guess that Zhang Xiaohan seemed to be worried about her, so she said with considerable confidence, "Don't worry, look, doesn't that Blood Blue Root like dark and damp places? Maybe there's a hundred-year-old Blood Blue Root in this cave!"

"Woof... (That's not entirely unreasonable...)"

Before Zhang Xiaohan could even prepare herself, Zhang Ruoxue had already started walking towards the cave.

—Seriously, this reckless, idiotic older sister…

Zhang Xiaohan sighed helplessly and, dragging her teddy bear's short legs, quickly followed.

As it turns out, the cave is indeed quite eerie.

First of all, the location of this cave is somewhat unusual. Apart from the tiny exposed entrance, the rest of the cave is completely buried underground. The tiny entrance appears to be only large enough for one person to enter. Furthermore, because the cave is exposed at an angle, what Zhang Ruoxue and Zhang Xiaohan see is an extremely steep slope.

Zhang Xiaohan first stuck her little head into the cave, sniffed the sensitive dog nose, and then unconsciously frowned.

The smell inside the cave disgusted Zhang Xiaohan, even making him feel slightly nauseous, as if something was rotting.

"What's wrong? Xiaohan, what did you find out?"

Zhang Ruoxue squatted down next to Zhang Xiaohan and patted his dog head.

Completely different from her reaction when Xu Yanliu patted her head, Zhang Xiaohan not only didn't bite Zhang Ruoxue's hand, but instead let out a slightly gentle cry.

"Woof! (There's a strange smell...)"

Hmm, it's dog language that Zhang Ruoxue doesn't understand again.

"In any case, let's go down and take a look first."

"Woof?! (You're really going?!)"

While Zhang Xiaohan was still in shock, Zhang Ruoxue carefully picked him up, used her spiritual energy to envelop him, and then placed him on her head.

She smiled slightly and said with concern, "Xiao Han, hold on tight, we're about to jump."

"Woof?! (Are you serious?!)"

Before Zhang Xiaohan could react, Zhang Ruoxue, who had acted recklessly without a word, leaped vertically into the cave. In an instant, boundless darkness invaded her vision.

……

In the dark forest.

A figure slowly squatted down, gazing at the demonic corpse with charred marks on the edge of its neck, which had lost all secrecy.

Her expression turned slightly cold, and she couldn't help but let out a disdainful snort. Then, her gaze swept around and finally settled on the cave that was only partially exposed.