The next morning, Lu Zhaozhao went to the top of the cliff to look for her senior brother, Ying Che.

To be fair, although this senior brother did a series of stupid things in the book, such as defying his master and betraying his sect for the sake of the female lead, Lu Zhaozhao genuinely felt that this senior brother was quite kind-hearted before the female lead even appeared.

For example, right now, Lu Zhaozhao had just mentioned wanting to go to Mushan Nunnery, which had been experiencing strange phenomena recently, when he was so frightened that he began to earnestly persuade her: "Junior sister, you have just recovered from a serious illness, it is better for you to rest quietly in the sect. As for Mushan Nunnery, the elders of the sect have already sent people to investigate. If you go there rashly and something happens, Master will definitely reprimand me when he returns."

Lu Zhaozhao thought to herself: What will happen when he comes back? Once the female lead appears, none of you will care whether I live or die.

So she immediately shook Ying Che's arm and started to whine, "Senior brother, I've recovered completely. Besides, I heard that the restrictions at Mushan Nunnery only allow those below the Nascent Soul stage to enter. I'm currently at the Golden Core stage, below the Nascent Soul stage, so I'll be fine. Oh, senior brother, please let me go—"

Ying Che couldn't stand his junior sister's attitude the most, and he nodded half-heartedly.

Afterwards, he showed the care and concern of his senior brother.

"This is a garment woven from ice cicada silk, capable of withstanding water, fire, and ordinary weapons; this is a Soul-Returning Pill, taken when life is hanging by a thread, is equivalent to having an extra life; this is the Yuanxu Mirror, made from the shell of the Xuanwu that Elder Cangjiong severed, capable of drawing blood and sealing a throat, and can also withstand a full-force attack from a Nascent Soul expert, and there is also..."

Upon arriving in this world, Lu Zhaozhao watched with anticipation as Ying Che took out one valuable item after another, which was clearly priceless at first glance. He then put them all into his Qiankun bag, carefully hung it around her waist, and tied it in a tight knot.

Lu Zhaozhao curiously rummaged through the Qiankun bag, then gave Ying Che a big smile, suddenly threw herself into his arms, and shouted, "Thank you, Senior Brother! You're really my dear Senior Brother!"

Ying Che was caught off guard and was suddenly embraced. He was stunned. By the time he came to his senses, Lu Zhaozhao had already waved goodbye to him, leaving him standing there.

Disciples came to the cliff top to cultivate in an endless stream. Ying Che greeted them with a normal expression, but in a corner where no one paid attention, the blush on his ears had not faded.

However, Lu Zhaozhao was completely unaware of all this; she was excitedly experiencing flying on her magical artifact.

She didn't use her natal sword, Reversing Karma, since it was no ordinary sword and would be too ostentatious. Instead, she took out the Yuanxu Mirror she had just received from her senior brother. Although it was also a valuable item, it wasn't impossible to buy it with a large sum of money, and her wealthy background would save her a lot of trouble.

Lu Zhaozhao made a hand seal, her hands forming a mudra, and the mirror instantly enlarged. Once she stood still, she could move at will.

Lu Zhaozhao peeked out and saw that the Qinghui Sect was a major sect, established near Qinghui Mountain. After a thousand years of development, it had become a large sect. From the top, she could see that the martial arts training ground on the cliff was in the middle of morning classes, with tens of thousands of disciples holding swords and wielding them in perfect unison, a truly impressive sight.

After a long flight, they arrived at the thousand-meter-long cableway bridge, which was the connection between Qinghui and the outside world. The sect had set up a protective array, and anyone who was not from Qinghui and tried to force their way in would be struck by the heavens.

After leaving Qinghui and passing through another sea of ​​clouds, we arrived at Pingyang.

Pingyang is an ordinary town with a superior location, a pleasant climate, and is close to Emperor Huizong of the Qing Dynasty. The streets of the town are bustling with people. With more people, there are more caravans, so Pingyang can be described as prosperous.

Lu Zhaozhao settled in Pingyang. Firstly, there were many people coming and going in Pingyang, and she wanted to try to find out some useful information. Secondly, Lu Zhaozhao remembered that she had read a brief mention in a book that "Venus appeared in Pingyang City." However, since it was not related to the main plot of the male and female protagonists, it was not elaborated on. It was only said that a young man in the city obtained this opportunity and established his foundation in one step.

For an ordinary person to achieve Foundation Establishment in one step, Lu Zhaozhao knew without a doubt that it must be an extremely rare opportunity.

Although she embarked on her cultivation journey due to a mission, it is never wrong to become stronger as soon as possible. In the original book, Lu Zhaozhao became obsessed with fighting and instigating in the later stages and had no interest in cultivation, which led to her cultivation stagnating. This is why she was annihilated by her master Yun Xian with a single palm strike.

Thinking of this, Lu Zhaozhao couldn't help but shudder, silently thinking: This is just the Lu Zhaozhao in the book, not me.

Just as she was walking and cursing the author for giving the second female lead such a name, a commotion suddenly broke out ahead, and the surrounding crowd immediately began to walk in the opposite direction.

"Uncle, what happened up ahead?" Lu Zhaozhao asked an elderly man who was hurrying back.

The old man's eyes darted around, as if he were afraid of something. After glancing around, he lowered his voice and said, "Young lady, you've just arrived in Pingyang, haven't you? A strange thing happened in the suburbs a few days ago."

"Strange thing?"

"Yes, someone saw a pile of bones there, and the soil around the bones was still seeping blood! It is said that some brave people went to see it, but they never came back."

"Then why is everyone running back?" Lu Zhaozhao pressed.

The old man seemed frightened and hurriedly said, "That thing has started eating people! Young lady, you'd better leave! No one can stay here!"

After saying that, the old man hurriedly left.

In no time, the once crowded street became deserted and desolate.

Lu Zhaozhao looked in the direction the old man had mentioned where the strange thing had happened. From a distance, it was just a dense forest with nothing unusual about it, but if one could ignore the increasingly loud wolf howls...

She made a spell and attached it to a stone, and the stone instantly came to life with a nose and eyes.

Lu Zhaozhao spurred the stone golem toward the dense forest. After a moment, she tried to recall the stone golem, but felt a resistance, as if someone was pulling on the other side of the rope.

"Heh." Lu Zhaozhao snorted coldly, added another incantation, and forcibly pulled the stone figure back.

The stone figure shattered as soon as it landed, its surface still faintly speckled with red dots.

Upon seeing this, Lu Zhaozhao's expression turned slightly cold as she squinted and stared in the direction the stone man had returned.

There was clearly nothing there, yet I could feel hundreds of gazes fixed on me.

Suddenly, ripples appeared on the flat ground, a gust of wind rustled the leaves, and a blinding white light flashed in the distant sky. The white light passed overhead at an extremely fast speed, piercing the sky and crashing into the distance.

"Venus traversing the sky?" Lu Zhaozhao murmured to herself.

After the white light, the sky darkened instantly, the wind gradually subsided, and the streets returned to normal.

However, something seems amiss.

"brush--"

"clang--"

Two voices rang out almost simultaneously.

Lu Zhaozhao's hand holding the Yuanxu Mirror trembled slightly. Just now, she had sensed a killing intent and subconsciously summoned the Yuanxu Mirror. Seeing the power of the attack, she was extremely glad that she had reacted subconsciously.

Once the surrounding atmosphere had calmed down, Lu Zhaozhao squatted down to examine the sneak arrow that had attacked her earlier. When she saw that it was a stone figure that looked exactly like her, her expression turned completely cold.

As dusk fell, the sound of friction could be heard from time to time in the woods.

Lu Zhaozhao stood up, hid the Yuanxu Mirror in her sleeve, and stepped into the dense forest.