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

Just as she said, Zhang Ruoxue didn't expect that so-called fate would jump out and cause trouble at this time.

The female cultivator's proud figure was reflected in her azure pupils. Zhang Ruoxue's eyebrows furrowed slightly: "You are... that person from Piaoxiang Pavilion back then..."

"My name is Ding Rong. I never expected to see you here."

Didn't expect that...?

Zhang Xiaohan narrowed its dark eyes; it didn't believe that the other party had really bumped into Zhang Ruoxue by coincidence.

Recalling his previous experience of being chased by the Ash Demon Alliance, Zhang Xiaohan did not hesitate and immediately put the crimson collar that he had previously torn off back on—although the dog's paws were not very dexterous, at least he was wearing it.

The demonic energy emanating from his body temporarily subsided, which was not a good feeling for Zhang Xiaohan, but for his own safety, it was better to endure it for now.

“Miss Ding Rong…” With Zhang Ruoxue’s intelligence, she knew that the other party probably had ill intentions. She stared warily at Ding Rong, who was grinning, “What brings you here?”

“I heard that there are traces of Devouring Demons here, so I wanted to come and take a look.” She smiled and twirled her longsword in a flourish. “You should also know that our Ash Demon Alliance is an organization dedicated to slaying demons and monsters.”

Slaying demons and monsters?

Zhang Ruoxue scoffed inwardly. They were clearly slaughtering demons and monsters indiscriminately... How could they utter such high-sounding words as "slaying demons and eliminating evil"?

Ding Rong stared at Zhang Ruoxue, who was all alone, and then asked, "Speaking of which, where is your friend who is so skilled at playing the zither? Isn't she here?"

"She's gone."

Aren't you going with her?

Zhang Ruoxue narrowed her eyes and took a slight step back: "Whether I go or not seems to have nothing to do with you, right?"

Ding Rong smiled and, carrying her sword, approached Zhang Ruoxue: "That's not how it works. That musician's skill is so superb, and the Netherworld is currently suffering from the Devouring Demon's invasion. If we were to be swallowed by the Devouring Demon, it would be a tremendous loss for us."

She approached Zhang Ruoxue, her sword gleaming with a subtle blue light, her unfathomable eyes fixed intently on Zhang Ruoxue: "You agree, don't you?"

This guy...

"Oh, right." Ding Rong seemed to have thought of something and asked with a smile, "I still don't know your name, Miss. It's fate that we meet. I don't know who you are..."

"My surname is Zhang, and my given name is Ruoxue."

"Ruoxue?" Ding Rong smiled brightly. "What a lovely name."

Zhang Ruoxue stared at her silently, her gaze growing increasingly cold.

She didn't have a high opinion of Ding Rong to begin with, and now the strange behavior of the other party made her even more uncomfortable. The sarcastic tone of her voice made Zhang Ruoxue gradually feel disgusted with her.

She turned around and took a step towards the direction of the pharmacy. "If Miss Ding has nothing else, then I'll be going now."

Before she could take that step, a hand pressed down on Zhang Ruoxue's shoulder.

"Hey, don't be in such a hurry~"

Ding Rong still wore that fake smile as she slowly turned her gaze to the little teddy bear on Zhang Ruoxue's head.

She grinned and said, "Speaking of which, Miss Zhang, you have quite a lot of demonic energy about you. Have you encountered any demons before?"

"We encountered one." Zhang Ruoxue subconsciously thought of the real demon above her head, and her expression suddenly became complicated: "What's wrong?"

As expected of a straightforward girl... her unstable mentality was practically written all over her face.

Looking at Zhang Ruoxue, who clearly understood what was being said, Ding Rong asked calmly, "Is that so? If it's a Devouring Demon, then there's no problem, but Miss Zhang's demonic energy is a bit too strong."

"I encountered a Devouring Demon in the Transformation God stage, so I ran away."

"Transcendental Stage?"

Ding Rong nodded knowingly, then looked at Zhang Xiaohan on Zhang Ruoxue's head with great interest, wanting to reach out and touch him.

Snapped!

Zhang Ruoxue ruthlessly slapped that snow-white hand down in mid-air.

Ding Rong was taken aback, noticing that Zhang Ruoxue's eyes were colder than ever before, and within that coldness, there was a hint of killing intent.

—My weakness has been hit.

Completely ignoring Zhang Ruoxue's icy gaze, Ding Rong continued to stare at Zhang Xiaohan, who was perched on Zhang Ruoxue's head with an equally unfriendly look, and said sarcastically, "Oh dear, but speaking of which, Miss Zhang's demonic energy can be attributed to being tainted by the Devouring Demon, but the demonic energy on your pet dog..."

"Tsk tsk tsk..." She clicked her tongue with a laugh, "Why is it even stronger than the demonic energy on you?"

……

Were you seen through?

Zhang Ruoxue was startled.

Wait... wasn't there that collar the old rogue gave me to suppress demonic energy? How come this guy can still tell...?

Zhang Ruoxue was completely unaware of this, but Zhang Xiaohan knew it very well.

Because he hadn't had time to retract the demonic energy he had released earlier... the collar could only conceal the demonic energy emanating from his body, while the demonic energy that had already been released could not be hidden...

This is trouble, this is a huge problem.

Zhang Ruoxue took a deep breath and glared at Ding Rong with a hint of annoyance: "What exactly are you trying to say?!"

Ding Rong chuckled, and several cultivators from the Jin Yao Dao Alliance gathered around her.

She took out a crystal-clear platinum token from her bosom, and a gleaming golden character "烬" appeared on it.

It was that same annoying smile, that same nauseating tone—

"I now suspect that your pet dog is a demon that our Jin Yao Dao Alliance has been hunting for a long time. If possible, we hope that Miss Zhang and your pet dog will come to our Jin Yao Dao Alliance."

Zhang Ruoxue gritted her teeth, glaring defiantly at Ding Rong:

What if I say no?

The silver sword gleamed—

"Then we'll have no choice but to resort to... [coercive measures]."

Coercive measures, perhaps?

Zhang Ruoxue's spiritual energy erupted instantly as she glared at Ding Rong.

"Then I have no choice but to resort to my coercive measures."

Ding Rong frowned slightly, not yet reacting, when a wall of fire composed of azure flames suddenly appeared in front of her!

A slight chill ran down her cheeks as Ding Rong swung her sword horizontally, and a fierce hurricane instantly split the fragile wall of fire in two. The boundless spiritual energy then tore the azure flames to shreds.

"A mere peak period..."

Before she could finish speaking, she saw Zhang Ruoxue's figure rapidly moving away from her, running wildly into the distance.

They ran away?!

I initially thought they were using some kind of coercive measure, but they just ran away without saying a word...

In response, Zhang Ruoxue said... this was something she learned from Yu Chan: when faced with an opponent she couldn't beat, or when the opposing team outnumbered her, she didn't need to think about anything else—

Just run!

Ding Rong glared angrily at Zhang Ruoxue's departing figure, gritting her teeth as she said:

"I won't make you pay the price, but the debt that made me lose face at Piaoxiang Pavilion, your friend will have to pay it!"

"Chase after them!"

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

My internet was down yesterday, but it was just fixed today.

I'm sorry.

53. Senior Sister Xu

The shady woods weren't very large.

In fact, given Zhang Ruoxue's speed, it wouldn't take her more than a few minutes to run back to Lao Liu's Pharmacy from the center of the Yin Forest.

Even so, she still underestimated the cultivation level of Ding Rong and the others.

Without the aid of elemental physiques like the Lesser Heavenly Thunder Body, Zhang Ruoxue, being merely a mortal, was far inferior to Ding Rong and the others in both speed and strength. As core cultivators of the Ash Demon Alliance, most of them were at the peak of the Transformation stage, while Ding Rong had already reached the Lesser Completion of the God Transformation stage at a young age.

There's a huge difference in realms, and the opponents aren't some mindless creature like the Devouring Demon. It would be a miracle if Zhang Ruoxue could escape unscathed from them.

The distance... is getting closer.

Ding Rong, sword in hand, moved swiftly through the dark forest. Spiritual energy gathered beneath her feet, and she swept towards Zhang Ruoxue like a gust of yin wind. The distance between them was rapidly closing in front of the naked eye.

Zhang Ruoxue wasn't an idiot; she could feel the oppressive force rushing towards her from behind. But she had no choice. She was no match for Ding Rong in a head-on confrontation. Right now, she could only try her best to escape.

"Woof... (What a nuisance...)"

Zhang Xiaohan raised her weak little head, her dark eyes filled with despair.

It originally wanted to rest for a while, since releasing demonic energy was too much for it right now, but for Zhang Ruoxue... no, for itself, it had to do it.

Now he's been targeted by those mad Taoists from the Ash Demon Alliance, it seems he'll have to...

The dog's paws rested listlessly on the crimson collar around its neck, while the light in Zhang Xiaohan's eyes grew even sharper.

It still had some spiritual energy left in its body. Although it couldn't directly send Ding Rong and her companions to the underworld, it could temporarily knock them unconscious and stop them from continuing the pursuit...

It should still be achievable.

"Woof...woof! (Trouble, I really don't know what use my older sister is besides causing me trouble.)"

After subtly mocking Zhang Ruoxue, who was running wildly, in dog language, Zhang Xiaohan stared at Ding Rong, who was already close at hand, holding a spirit sword, and a hint of coldness appeared on his face.

To be honest, it had long disliked these crazy Taoist priests.

Just as Zhang Xiaohan was about to pull off the scarlet collar around her neck, the dog exerted a slight force with its paw—

A flash of silver light streaked past.

Hey~

The sound of metal clashing.

As the immense force struck, Ding Rong felt as if the sword was about to shatter. The terrifying force sent her and her sword flying several meters away, and she slid along the ground covered with rolling grass for several more meters before finally coming to a stop.

Fortunately, they had already protected themselves with spiritual energy, so they would not be scratched by the rolling grass and attract monsters.

Ding Rong slowly steadied herself and looked at the silver light that had suddenly appeared from the side earlier—