...
Thousands of miles away---
A flying sword carrying a dark evil energy hovered in the snow, and the sound of cold blades resounded for a hundred miles.
In the eyes of the ***Ghost Spirit*** Sect disciple who was riding a flying sword, there was a black-haired woman who shuttled between his fellow disciples like a ghost.
The woman wore a blue robe and wielded the spirit sword that she had snatched from one of his senior brothers.*Swoosh---*
In the cold snow, the ice-blue sword light turned into turbulence flying in all directions.
Countless human body parts with streams of blood trailing swirled around the woman as if she were a dancer with her companions.
However, that woman was like a lotus flower growing amid blooming spider lilies. She was exceptionally eye-catching, and her dress did not even have a speck of red on it.
"..."
She was clearly just an early-stage *Core Formation* cultivator!
But more than twenty disciples of the ***Ghost Spirit*** Sect who were in the *Core Formation* stage were like meat on the chopping board under her sword, and they couldn't even cut her clothes.He watched as his senior brothers, one after another, were turned into broken body parts by the woman's sword.
He watched the swords of his fellow disciples being snatched away by the woman and then used to chop into pieces other senior brothers and sisters.
Standing on the flying sword, the ***Ghost Spirit*** Sect disciple watched all this in a daze as his right hand holding the sword trembled constantly.
In the end, he was so overwhelmed by the scene in front of him that he screamed almost crazily. "What is this!!!"
However, the moment his voice reached the woman's ears, she instantly turned her gaze toward him.
Her amber eyes revealed the killing intent of a hungry wolf.
And then--
The woman stepped on the back of a ***Ghost Spirit*** Sect disciple who had just been cut in half and then turned into a stream of light--
*Swish---*
In the blink of an eye, he felt as if the world in his eyes had turned upside down. Then, it was covered by a wave of red before gradually turning into a black curtain.
Pei Lianxue landed on top of a desert dune, glanced behind her, and then threw upward the sword she had snatched from a demonic cultivator, kicking the hilt.
*Swish---*
A demonic cultivator cut by half who was wriggling among various limbs was directly nailed into the sand by the sword she kicked.
"Ah--!"
Pei Lianxue slowly walked over and pulled out the sword from his back. In one move, she swept the sword across his neck and inserted it in front of her, then let out a long sigh.
"Phew... It's done."
With a wave, she took out her small notebook from the storage bag. After flipping through seven or eight pages, she stopped at a page with the title *"Things to be careful of when dealing with ***Ghost Spirit*** Sect disciples."*
"So... first, use the spiritual water-based techniques to expel their ghost spirits, and then use the fire-based techniques to burn them, so as to prevent any fish from slipping through the net..."
Murmuring the information, she took a deep breath, raised her right foot, and condensed her spiritual energy in her meridians.
*Crackle--!*
The sound of a footstep breaking ice could be heard.
Ice-blue spiritual energy grew wildly, starting from her foot until the sandy ground of nearly two hundred feet around her was covered with a layer of frost.
Pei Lianxue cautiously scanned the surroundings and took out several stacks of fire element talismans that Ye Anping had prepared for her. With a wave of her hand, they scattered so that every broken limb of the demonic cultivators on the ground was evenly subjected to the baptism of fire.
After watching the twenty or so *Core Formation* stage demonic cultivators turn into ashes, she heaved a sigh of relief. She waved her hand at the Sword Sect disciples standing in a line to the east, indicating that it was all done.
"Sister Yun!! It's done!"
Yun Xi sat in a wheelchair, looking like her jaw had been dislocated. Only when she heard Pei Lianxue's voice did she regain her senses. She used her hand to push her jaw back and gulped.
Standing next to her, Zhang Yihe, his eyes full of admiration, rubbed the back of his head and laughed. "Ahahaha... Sister Pei is really amazing. She took care of all these demonic cultivators by herself and didn't even let you be buried in the sand."
"Amazing?"
"Ah? Third Miss, you don't think it's amazing?"
"..."
Yun Xi just felt that the word "amazing" alone could not describe Pei Lianxue's actions just now.
One person, in one incense stick's time worth, more than twenty *Core Formation* stage demonic cultivators---all turned into ashes.
She swallowed reflexively and felt that her leg, which had been broken by a demonic beast that had suddenly rushed into her bedroom the day before yesterday, didn't even hurt that much anymore.
Since they had to bring tens of thousands of *Qi Refining* stage cultivators with them, their speed was rather slow.
Moreover, things happened exactly as when they came.
They had encountered a wave of beasts, a sandstorm, and now this wave of demonic cultivators chasing them.
However, Pei Lianxue had dealt with them all by herself. There was no involvement from the Sword Sect disciples and those *Qi Refining* cultivators. A few days ago, Yun Xi had even witnessed Pei Lianxue using her spiritual energy to split apart the sandstorm...
At this moment, Pei Lianxue slowly walked up to Yun Xi. Seeing her staring blankly at her, she shrank away and asked, "Sister Yun, what's wrong?"
"Ah... Nothing!!"
Yun Xi almost wanted to kneel down and kowtow to her at this moment, and she exclaimed. "Sister Pei, you are my big sister!!! From now on, I will do everything for you!"
Pei Lianxue did not understand and stood rooted to the spot. She looked at Zhang Yihe questioningly, waiting for him to translate.
Zhang Yihe paused, then smiled. "Third Miss is probably saying that Miss Pei looks older than her."
Pei Lianxue frowned as if she took it seriously. "Huh?"
Yun Xi's eyes widened and she wanted to kick Zhang Yihe in the balls, but her foot was still in a cast. "Zhang Yihe, you scoundrel..."
"Ahaha..." Zhang Yihe smiled and cupped his hands. "Miss Pei, I was kidding. Third Miss really admires you. And, Third Miss, you should smile more! A smile makes you look ten years younger. You've been frowning all the time during this trip to the Eastern Wall, which has brought all the bad luck. I just wanted to make you laugh..."
"You call this making me laugh?!"
Zhang Yihe narrowed his eyes as he pointed at Pei Lianxue. "Hey~ Isn't Miss Pei smiling?"
Yun Xi turned her head to look.
Pei Lianxue's cheeks turned red as if she were a little embarrassed by the praise.
Seeing her looking over, Pei Lianxue shook her head. "It's all because my brother taught me well. Before we set off, he told me that Sister Yun must have committed unforgivable crimes in her previous life, that's why her luck is quite bad. He prepared more than twenty treasure bags for me, and I almost used them all."
?
---What do you mean by 'used almost all of them'? Shouldn't treasure bags only be used at critical times?
---Have I gone through more than twenty critical moments without realizing it?
"I..."
Yun Xi wanted to say something but hesitated. She opened and closed her lips for a long time, and seemed to have become spiritless. Her eyes lost their luster, and she sneered. "Heh... Hehe..."
Zhang Yihe didn't notice that and looked at the sand dunes that Pei Lianxue had frozen into snow not far away. He grabbed Yun Xi's wheelchair and said, "Miss Pei, you should go back to the divine boat to rest. I'll let the Sword Sect disciples look around. Perhaps there are demonic cultivators waiting to ambush us..."
Before he could finish...
*Boom--!!!*
About three hundred miles away, on a towering sand dune, a thunder spell that seemed to be able to separate day and night came crashing down.
The thunder came first, and a gale followed.
*Whoosh---!*
"Ah-- Ouch!"
Yun Xi, who was sitting in the wheelchair, was blown backward before tumbling to the ground. Even Pei Lianxue and Zhang Yihe took a step forward and barely managed to stabilize their stance.
Pei Lianxue raised her eyebrows, pointed her index and middle fingers at her eyebrows, and cast a *Distant Vision* spell, looking up at the hill.
Nearly a thousand immortal cultivators were hiding in the clouds above. Below them was a group of about two hundred demonic cultivators. After that earth-shaking lightning spell, only a few of those demonic cultivators were left standing.
In the next moment, an old cultivator sitting cross-legged on a red-crowned crane in the sky gently waved the horsetail whisk in his hand. Countless fireballs rose out of thin air and rushed toward the remaining demonic cultivators.
*Boom boom---*
The ground shook and dust billowed.
Pei Lianxue was still a little confused, but when she saw the old cultivator in a pink coat on the back of a red-crowned crane, her tightly knitted brows relaxed. She immediately summoned her flying sword, ready to fly over.
"Ah?! Miss Pei!!"
Zhang Yihe didn't know what had happened and reached out to stop her. However, when he turned around and saw that his Third Miss's head was stuck in the sand, he took a deep breath, ignored Pei Lianxue, and went to pull Yun Xi out.
"Eh? Third Miss, why are you..."
"Zhang Yihe!! Shut up, damn it!"
"Oh..."
...
Thunder rolled in front of the clouds as nearly a thousand immortal cultivators on their flying swords looked with ruthless eyes at the demonic cultivators who had turned into ashes below.
The old man sitting on the back of the red-crowned crane glanced at the man on the flying sword beside him and raised his eyebrows.
"Brother Liang, why are you so angry? Be careful of the spiritual energy backlash... hehe."
Liang Zhu took a deep breath and scattered the remaining electric sparks on his body. Then, he exhaled. "It's nothing..."
"It doesn't look like it's nothing. I remember you were quite happy when you just formed your core. But then you went to Elder Tong and came back with a murderous look in your eyes, hmm?"
"It's really nothing."
Liang Zhu naturally didn't try to form a *Heavenly Dao Golden Core* as Ye Anping did. He chose the most stable option and went into seclusion at the back mountain of the ***Hundred Lotus*** Sect for a year, transcending a second-grade *Golden Core* tribulation.
After succeeding in forming his core and coming out of seclusion, he was quite happy in his heart. Thinking that he could finally meet his precious Ating and give her a hug after a year, he hurried back to the ***Hundred Lotus*** Sect.
However, although he met Ating as he wished, the Ating he saw was in a painting.
In that painting, his sixth brother and Ating were depicted as such: His sixth brother had his arm around Ating's shoulder, and Ating made two scissors gestures...
And next to it was a sentence --- *'I will take good care of Ting'*.
When Tong Zilan showed the painting to Liang Zhu, he almost died of anger...
Although he later asked Hongyu and found out that this was the gift from his sixth brother for his *Core Formation*, he still needed a place to vent his anger. The *Foundation Building* demonic cultivators who had just been hiding here became his punching bag.
Ye Ao, who was sitting on the back of the red-crowned crane, glanced at the corpses of the demonic cultivators below and sighed. "I haven't met a demonic cultivator in hundreds of years. Are these people disciples of the ***Ghost Spirit*** Sect? The Eastern Great Wall was really destroyed by the ***Ghost Spirit*** Sect just as Anping said..."
Liang Zhu responded indifferently. "He never got it wrong."
"Alas... I don't know if trouble follows him wherever he goes, or wherever there is trouble, he will go?"
Ye Ao was a little helpless. He felt proud of Ye Anping but also felt a little worried. Then, he stroked his white beard that he had specially stuck to his chin.
"Brother Liang, which direction should we go next?"
Liang Zhu waved his hand and took out a map from his storage bag.
This map was given to Hongyu by Ye Anping who asked Hongyu to ask Tong Zilan to give it to him. It recorded the accurate route of the four groups.
"Young Master Ye asked us to pick up Miss Pei. Looking at the location, it should be nearby. I think Miss Pei's party should have encountered some unforeseen circumstances on the way, or they went in the wrong direction..."
"It's not difficult to find someone in the desert. I'll ask my disciples to scout nearby..."
Just as Ye Ao said this, a voice suddenly came from the west, interrupting his words.
---"Patriarch Ye!!!"
Liang Zhu and Ye Ao turned their heads and saw Pei Lianxue wearing an ice-blue dress, flying toward them on a sword.
The two looked at each other, and Ye Ao raised his eyebrows with a smile. "Heh... look, Little Pei, Little Pei is here."
He patted the red-crowned crane's butt lightly. After the crane threw a white bomb over the demonic cultivators' corpses, it spread its wings and turned toward Pei Lianxue.
Liang Zhu followed closely behind.
The three of them met in mid-air. Pei Lianxue, riding her flying sword, arrived in front of the red-crowned crane, cupped her hands, and greeted loudly. "Hello, Brother Liang! Greetings, Patriarch Ye!"
Ye Ao looked her up and down, showing a fatherly smile, and asked cheerfully, "Did you encounter any big trouble on the way?"
"No! Before I parted ways with my brother, he gave me more than twenty treasure bags. He told me what to do in any situation, hehe---"
"...More than twenty treasure bags?"
"Yes!"
Pei Lianxue responded very energetically, took out one, and handed it to Ye Ao.
Ye Ao was silent for a while, then opened it and saw a cheap jade slip inside, which said:
*"If you encounter a large sandstorm, don't panic. The sandstorm in the **Central Region** is not naturally generated, but a kind of demonic spirit without a physical body. Just use your spiritual sense to find its core and cut it open with your spiritual water energy. You should be able to do it. If you can't find the spirit's core with your spiritual sense, lead the group to take a detour immediately."*
Ye Ao was stunned for a moment. He frowned and asked, "The sandstorm is a demonic spirit? Where did this kid hear that? Brother Liang, have you heard about it?"
"I heard about this rumor when I was in the *Justice Division*, but there is no evidence, and no one has ever cut through a sandstorm. At least ordinary Sword cultivators can't do it..."
Ye Ao exhaled earnestly. "Hmm..."
Pei Lianxue looked at Ye Ao and recalled her brother's plan. She tilted her head and asked, "Patriarch, did Brother ask you to come here and meet me?"
"Hmm?" Ye Ao froze, then laughed awkwardly. "Ahahaha... what? If you guys are in trouble, can't I come to help?"
" No... I just haven't heard Brother mention it. He only said that Brother Liang would come to pick me up..."
Ye Ao couldn't exactly tell that, in fact, Kong Yulan wanted to give Ye Anping a younger brother or sister and he couldn't take it anymore. After hearing Liang Zhu talk about the Eastern Wall, he used the excuse of *"I have to protect my son"* to escape from Kong Yulan.
"After all, I'm a *Core Formation* cultivator. I can't help you guys with this big thing, but I can help you with small things. I heard from Brother Liang that the Yun family's Third Miss is following you. No matter what, I should at least greet her, so take me to her."
"Alright!"
