direction

Ren Xiangxiang, who originally planned to return to Qiling Mountain, finally changed her mind. Firstly, with her current strength, she wouldn't be able to fight the demonic Gu even if she returned to Qiling Mountain. Secondly, she received a message from He Wenwen, which briefly explained their current location and her mother.

"My father... just as I suspected..."

Given He Wenwen's notoriously sharp tongue, although she didn't mention Ren Fenghong at all, Ren Xiangxiang wasn't stupid.

"Xiangxiang..."

As Mo You stayed by Ren Xiangxiang's side, the image of Mo Huan's death involuntarily surfaced in her mind, filling her with regret, pain, and helplessness.

"Actually..." Ren Xiangxiang interrupted his thoughts, "Actually, the one who is most heartbroken is my mother..."

Ren Xiangxiang lowered her head. She couldn't imagine how much grief She Liuying was enduring. This despair and helplessness was something that even if she were by his side, it would probably be of no use.

"Mother loves Father very much, very much..."

But she kept this affection deep in her heart, and even when Ren Fenghong came to see her many times later, she avoided him.

Now that they are separated by death, Ren Xiangxiang can hardly imagine how much pain her mother must be in.

Demonic Gu...

With a thought, Ren Xiangxiang and Mo You arrived at their master's alchemy room. This place was always locked, and occasionally their master would open the door and come in, but he would leave quickly.

In her memory, Shu Huixin rarely used her demon-refining furnace.

The Demon Refining Furnace is different from other alchemy furnaces. The size of the furnace body is related to the cultivation level of the Demon Refining Elder. Some are large and some are small, and some have ordinary appearances while others have strange appearances.

Just like He Wenwen's demon-refining furnace, which looks like a ferocious beast with a blue face and fangs, it is not a gentleman at all and has extremely poor interpersonal relationships.

In contrast, his master, Xu Jinnian, had a very well-proportioned demon-refining furnace, shaped like a pagoda. He was also very famous when he was young, and the girls who pursued him could line up from the foot of Qiling Mountain to Yang Palace.

She had seen both of these demon-refining furnaces before, but the square cauldron-shaped demon-refining furnace in front of her made her fall into deep thought.

This thing doesn't look like a demon-refining furnace at all!

"Xiangxiang, are you going to use the Demon Refining Furnace?" Mo You looked at Ren Xiangxiang, who had a worried expression, and then at the square furnace.

“I don’t have my own demon-refining furnace.” Ren Xiangxiang sighed. “Because of the demon blood, I can’t create a demon-refining furnace, but I can try using my master’s, because I must first refine my own Gu-slaying needle.”

"Then... what can I do?" Mo You looked at the demon refining furnace with a solemn expression. He didn't really like demon masters, except for Xiang Xiang.

Ren Xiangxiang looked at Mo You, recalling the contents of the notebook, and took out the demon bone she had robbed from Shui Buyun. She said, "Try it and see if you can infuse your demon power into it. I also asked Uncle Shui for some demon power. Your two powers should not conflict."

Water and wind don't seem to conflict much.

Mo You did as instructed, and the demon bone appeared unchanged, but Ren Xiangxiang sensed two forces intertwined within it.

"Alright, let me be alone for a while!"

"Tsk tsk tsk... I don't know what your master is thinking. Relying on you is not as good as relying on me!" Shui Buyun appeared at the door without anyone noticing. "Tell me where that thing is, and I'll go kill it."

Ren Xiangxiang didn't want to talk to him.

"What kind of attitude is this!" Shui Buyun shouted, and was dragged out by Mo You.

"You little brat, you want to fight?" Shui Buyun bristled.

"I'd be happy to oblige!" Mo You replied without the slightest hesitation.

The door closed, and she could vaguely hear the sounds of fierce fighting outside. Anyway, with her master there, those two wouldn't be able to destroy the house.

Ren Xiangxiang composed herself and circled the square furnace, but found nothing unusual.

Suddenly, her hand seemed to touch a protrusion on the corner of the stove. Almost simultaneously, a blurry figure flashed before her eyes, and she was thrown back by a force.

"Start the furnace! Open it!"

With a soft shout, a crackling sound was heard, the square furnace trembled slightly, and flames suddenly burst forth from within.

The scorching flames forced Ren Xiangxiang to retreat quickly after she had just regained her footing.

But nothing happened; it was as if only the fire had been lit.

But that was definitely Master's voice just now...

Ren Xiangxiang looked around to make sure she was alone before turning her attention back to the burning square furnace.

She clenched her fist and swallowed hard.

The Gu-Extermination Needle...

Well, I guess I have no choice but to take a gamble.

Outside, Mo You and Shui Buyun fought from dawn till dusk. Shui Buyun finally got fed up, unable to kill them or damage the yard, and the fight only made him angrier.

“Let’s go somewhere else,” Mo You suddenly said.

Shui immediately sneered, "That suits me perfectly, let's go!"

Watching the two leave, Shu Hui sighed silently.

In the Liuwu Forest lives a mute mantis, half-human and half-mantis. It has very low intelligence and cannot understand anything too complicated, but it is very strong. Years ago, it was injured and had nowhere to go, so it was picked up by Shu Huixin and has been loyally guarding the forest ever since.

Shui Buyun and Ren Xiangxiang once called him the Silly Mantis, but he didn't get angry. At this moment, the Silly Mantis hid far behind the tree, watching the two fighting more and more fiercely. Water light turned into blades, and sword light was like a shuttle, causing birds and beasts in the entire Liuwu Forest to fly away in fright, leaving the scene in a mess.

The mute mantis didn't know what was happening, but he could tell he couldn't get involved, so he just watched from afar.

"Water Color!" Shui Buyun waved his hand back, and his powerful demonic energy condensed into countless water lights, like cow hairs, blocking Mo You's retreat from all directions. But Mo You paused slightly, and the moment his long sword was drawn, he suddenly disappeared without a trace.

A gust of wind swept past his ear, and Shui Buyun reacted almost simultaneously, the water color suddenly disappearing and then instantly condensing again.

Ding-dong!

Shui Buyong thrust his sword in one direction, and Mo You suddenly appeared, blocking with his sword. The two demonic energies collided fiercely, and Mo You's vision blurred as he quickly withdrew and retreated.

The mute mantis, hiding not far away, watched intently, even more nervous than the two people present.

Boom!

As another towering tree fell in the Liuwu Forest, stirring up billowing dust and falling leaves, Shui Buyun caught his breath and saw Mo You kneeling on one knee not far away.

Mo You smiled bitterly and sheathed his sword. He had a feeling that if they continued fighting, it wouldn't be long before the owner of this place would ruthlessly kick them both out.

Clearly, Shui Buyun realized this as well and stopped attacking.

“You’re quite skilled, especially with this sword of yours. It’s like it’s alive, and the demonic power it contains seems to be different from your own demonic power. It’s incredibly domineering.” Shui Buyun stared thoughtfully at the long sword on Mo You’s body.

This sword is called Ice Nightmare. It has been with Koma-kun for a long time. Koma-kun once said that what he lacked was profound demonic power, so he gave him this sword in the hope that it could protect him.

Koma-kun was both his teacher and father to him, and the person he respected most in his life. Looking at the Ice Nightmare, Mo You smiled silently and said, "Uncle Shui has a good eye. This sword does have some history. It was given to me by my master."

"Your master is..." Shui Buyun asked subconsciously, but before Mo You could answer, he suddenly exclaimed, "That's right, I know him. His name is Yan Kora, and he was once the disciple of Fox Elder, the number one person in Fox Mountain."

Mo You nodded, sighing inwardly. Being the disciple of the number one person in Fox Mountain was just a facade. He was actually the junior brother of the legendary Phoenix Emperor who unified the seven great demon mountains back then, and he mainly cultivated the Heavenly Spirit Earth Technique.

Unfortunately, Koma-kun said he was not suitable for cultivation, so he only taught him the ninth level of the Heavenly Spirit and told him to mainly cultivate the Five Ink Techniques of the Ink Fox Clan.

"That guy is unfathomable. Even I can only hide when I see him. I'm afraid no one in the entire Qiling Mountain is his match..."

Shui Buyun couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

Not only Qiling Mountain, but no one in Fox Mountain can touch him either. Otherwise, why would that troublemaker Mie Chenhuan ask about the whereabouts of Koma-jun as soon as he sees him, hoping that he will come and wipe out the demons and monsters of Qiling Mountain?

"Where is he? Could he still be at Fox Mountain?" Shui Buyun asked with great interest.

Mo You shook his head with a wry smile, "He's not in Fox Mountain, and I don't know exactly where he went."

“Ah…this…” Shui Buyun suddenly felt regretful.

“I don’t think he would get involved in the affairs of Qiling Mountain even if he were in Fox Mountain. He didn’t get involved in the chaos in Fox Mountain back then,” Mo You explained.

"Never mind, sigh..." Shui Buyun suddenly became preoccupied.

Mo You knew what he was worried about, and after a pause, she comforted him, "I believe in Xiangxiang. Back in Fox Mountain, she did many things that we couldn't do. Xiangxiang made a great contribution to quelling the internal strife in Fox Mountain, so I believe she can do it again this time."

“It’s not that I don’t believe her,” Shui Buyun denied outright. “It’s just… sigh… I have a bad feeling… and… never mind, can you tell me if you’ve ever seen that thing? I mean the Gu King.”

Mo You shook her head. "No, we've only seen the Gu Woman, the Gu Man, and the Gu Master. We haven't seen the Gu King yet."

“So… he hasn’t fully recovered yet…” Shui Buyun murmured to himself.

Since the Gu King hasn't fully recovered, can we understand that we still have a chance?

Inside Yanshi Ridge, the Gu woman who had been meditating with her eyes closed suddenly opened them. She stared incredulously at the beating heart above her head and asked in a low voice, "Why do we have to go to that place? Isn't that Qiling Mountain? Or is someone threatening us?"

My heart skipped a beat, and the next moment, two figures, one tall and one short, emerged from the darkness.

The Gu woman narrowed her eyes, and the hunched-over old woman with a face full of wrinkles gave a sinister smile. "The Gu King has given the order. Just do as he says."

"And who are you?" The Gu woman made no attempt to conceal her murderous intent.

The old woman smiled, and a chilling, sinister aura spread rapidly with her smile. The Gu woman subconsciously took a half step back. "Want to have a contest?"

"No, you're more powerful than this old woman." The old woman admitted defeat too quickly, and instantly withdrew her evil power. "You can call me Old Woman Gu Ao."

As she spoke, the Gu woman turned her gaze to another woman, dressed in white with her eyes closed and a veil covering her face, obscuring her features. She remained silent, as if sensing that this woman was the most difficult to deal with. Instead of making things difficult for her, the Gu woman asked the old woman, "If I leave, what will happen to Yanshi Ridge? Those demon masters are full of schemes and tricks; can you handle them?"

The old woman shook her head. The next second, the Gu woman suddenly felt a chill run down her spine and her hair stood on end. She turned around abruptly, and the masked woman was already behind her. Before she could make a move, she felt a chill on her neck, and a hemp rope as thick as a thumb was wrapped around her neck without her noticing.

"You—" The Gu woman immediately fell silent, cold sweat pouring down her back.

The old woman chuckled and said, "Look at her strength, isn't she strong enough to protect the Gu King?"