Xie Linyuan's previously unfocused gaze sharpened slightly. Upon hearing "not good to his senior sister at all" and "not a respectable person," a barely perceptible hint of approval flickered in his eyes, and he even nodded almost imperceptibly.

Seeing that he had a chance, Murong Xiao became even more enthusiastic: "You should make good use of your good looks! Don't always have such a cold face. I know my senior sister Zhao Zhao too well. She responds better to gentleness than force, and she can't stand seeing others make sacrifices for her!"

"Your Excellency, didn't you say my senior sister went to Yuntai Immortal Market? I have a plan..."

Xie Linyuan maintained an indifferent demeanor, as if saying, "I don't want to hear these boring remarks," and even turned his face away slightly. However, his quietly slowed breathing hinted that he should continue.

On the other side.

Liuyunchuan.

The harrowing events of last night seemed to have had no impact on the prosperity of this place; Liuyunchuan was still bustling with people, though there was a hint of tension and discussion in the air.

As Shen Zhaozhao walked among them, she could hear the hushed conversations of various cultivators.

"Have you heard? Last night, Qingyin Pavilion was only spared from being disturbed by the demonic sounds thanks to the Qingxin Pendant that was found in the secret box!"

"Not only that, but several of our fellow disciples were also saved from being approached by the Shadow Demon just in time thanks to the timely ringing of the Evil-Repelling Bell!"

"Sigh, you guys are lucky, you were quick and managed to snatch it. Our sect wasn't so lucky, we lost several members, but thankfully we didn't suffer any casualties..."

As the discussion reached this point, the group inevitably turned their attention to the party that suffered the most severe losses the previous night.

"The strange thing is the Heavenly Evolution Sect... I heard they lost several inner disciples this time?"

"Yes, this is really strange. Given the foundation of the Tianyan Sect, even without those magical artifacts specifically designed to suppress demonic energy, this shouldn't have happened... Could it be that they were just incredibly unlucky and ran right into the main force of the demons?"

"Who knows? But they're lucky in a bad way. You know Yun Wan'er, right? She's Lingxiao Zhenren's newly accepted personal disciple. I heard she broke through in the battle last night, soaring directly from the second level of Foundation Establishment to the seventh level!"

"From Foundation Establishment Level 2 to Level 7?! Breaking through five realms in one night?! What kind of monstrous talent is this?"

Shen Zhaozhao did not stop walking, but her lowered eyelashes concealed the cold light that flashed in her eyes.

As she pondered, a trembling, tiny voice, as faint as a mosquito's buzz, tentatively sounded deep within her consciousness: "Host... your senior sister... has she left? She shouldn't suddenly return, right?"

It's that system that's been hiding in a dark room and isolating itself for a long time.

Shen Zhaozhao: "..." Behave yourself.

"They're gone."

【call--】

The system breathed a sigh of relief, patted its non-existent chest as if it had escaped a disaster, and immediately switched to a fawning and eager-to-sing tone: "Host, settlement complete!"

[Ding!]

[Host detected to have completed the unscrupulous capitalist's blind box frenzy, achieving a morally reprehensible blow! Morality points gained: 7500!]

[The host has successfully verbally abused the Crimson Nightmare, causing immense damage to the fragile mind of a demon general, achieving a morally reprehensible critical strike! Morality points gained: 2500!]

[Current level of immorality: points!]

The system was rapidly entering demerit points, casually asking, "[Host, with so many points in your inventory, would you like to spend 5000 points to boost your cultivation?]"

Shen Zhaozhao pressed her temples, remained silent for a moment, and then suddenly asked softly, "Chief."

System: [Huh?]

Shen Zhaozhao: "Do you have any colleagues here?"

The system's electronic voice suddenly paused, [Host...why are you suddenly asking this? Our systems all operate independently! There is absolutely no collusion, kickbacks, or cliques involved!]

This reaction...

A knowing glint flashed in Shen Zhaozhao's eyes.

After all, according to the original plot, Yun Wan'er needed the original owner's immortal bones and Xiao Huang's demon core to break through the Qi Refining bottleneck.

This means that there must be some stagnation in the flow of spiritual energy within her body, requiring a powerful external force to forcefully break through it.

But she didn't receive such external help during her first time in the Riftwind Valley Secret Realm, so... how did she break through?

Furthermore, although the demon invasion was sudden, Tianyan Sect, as a top sect in Lingzhou, should have more ways to protect its inner disciples than smaller sects, no matter how incompetent they may be. Why is it that they are the ones who suffered losses of disciples?

Moreover, Yun Wan'er's cultivation level suddenly and rapidly increased at this time.

One time might be a coincidence.

What about the other two times?

How come every time someone else suffers misfortune, it becomes a stepping stone for her cultivation to soar?

Coupled with the system's attempt to cover up its true intentions, it's likely that Yun Wan'er, the female protagonist in the book, possesses "skills" that are not simply her charm that makes her irresistible.

However, since the system didn't want to talk about it, Shen Zhaozhao didn't press the matter further. After all, the dog system was bound to her, and they were bound together by fate. When the time was right, she wasn't afraid of not being able to pry the dog system's mouth open.

Thinking of this, Shen Zhaozhao curled her lips and decided to change the subject: "Your systems can even take kickbacks from each other, right? You priced me at 5000 points to raise my Golden Core cultivation by one level, aren't you overcharging me?"

"You want to swindle moral points from me and then trade them for things with other systems?"

system:【……】

The system was silent for a moment, then, as if it had unlocked a new world: [Host! My version has been updated. Starting today, all high-quality items in the shop will be 10% more expensive. What do you think?]

Shen Zhaozhao: "???"

Shen Zhaozhao: "Do you believe I'll file a complaint against you?!"

The system reluctantly scoffed, "[So stingy.]"

Already too lazy to complain about her own dog system, Shen Zhaozhao collected her thoughts. She hadn't forgotten the important matter that brought her to Liuyunchuan—the Nine Revolutions Devouring Spirit Technique.

As long as she can successfully seize this opportunity and reach the maximum level, with that 256 times spiritual energy absorption speed, how could she not improve her cultivation?

Instead of wasting her 5000 points of moral failings on cultivation, she should think about how to improve her newly formed blood-bound natal spirit sword, Zixiao.

Last night, Xie Linyuan, that lunatic, came too suddenly. She was so busy dealing with her sugar daddy's unexpected script that after the blood pact was successful, she didn't even have time to carefully sense any changes in Zixiao.

The importance of one's natal spirit sword to a sword cultivator is self-evident.

In addition to nurturing it with one's own spiritual power and communicating with it through the mind, one must also seek out suitable natural treasures to refine and enhance its essence.

If the opportunity is right, the spirit sword may develop its own intelligence and become a sword spirit, which would be an even greater blessing, as the mind and will of the person and the sword would be in harmony, and the power would be multiplied.

However, Zixiao didn't react during the blood pact last night. Shen Zhaozhao guessed that she would probably have to use the traditional method of nurturing it slowly and wait for it to develop its own spirituality.

However, just as Shen Zhaozhao was pondering which place with frequent thunderstorms she should find and take Zixiao to get struck by lightning... Zixiao, the sword sheath on her back, suddenly made a "humming" sound without warning.