"Master He never said that such a thing would happen in the ancient forest!"

Outside the black mirror, a man in a white robe stood up angrily: "Now that such a commotion has occurred, I'm afraid that 40% of people will die there!"

Someone sighed and said: "What's more, the Xiaochongshan Secret Realm only allows Jindan stage cultivators to enter. We can't interfere at all. We can only wait for the secret realm to close by itself in two days and send the disciples out. It's so dangerous, what should we do?"

He Xiaochen frowned, no longer as calm as before. She stared at the extremely bizarre scene in the ancient woods in the mysterious mirror: "Xiaochong Mountain has been opened many times, but this situation has never occurred. The ten thousand year old dragon blood tree does not seem to be a spirit, but rather... possessed by a demon."

The scene was deadlocked for a while. In the silence, a woman's leisurely and gentle laughter suddenly sounded: "The elders have too little confidence in their own disciples, right? Although the changes in the ancient woods are dangerous, the ones sent into the secret realm are all young talents with outstanding strength in various sects. If even this matter cannot be resolved, how can they find a foothold after leaving the sect and going down the mountain in the future?"

The speaker was Qu Feiqing from Neon Island.

Her voice was lazy, and her right hand, as white as cream, played with her long hair, and there was no panic in her expression.

The female cultivator smiled and said, "The trapped disciples are not in danger of life at the moment. We might as well calm down and see how others will respond. I have met several interesting children and I really want to know how they will respond next."

The world of cultivation is full of strangeness and unpredictability. Opportunities and dangers often go hand in hand. Everyone will inevitably encounter life-threatening dangers during the process of cultivation. How to deal with and escape from them depends entirely on one's luck.

The changes in the ancient forest are also part of it.

As soon as these words came out, everyone's faces showed a slightly hesitant look.

"But, Ning Ning just heard the news of the little junior brother's death, and she went into the forest without caring about her safety."

Qu Feiqing put a grape into her mouth, leaned lazily on the back of the chair, and glanced at Tian Xianzi: "The little disciples under Elder Tian Xian have a really good relationship."

Tian Xianzi smiled, and also looked expectant: "Ning Ning, you can't expect her to play by the rules."

The female cultivator thought so and said "hmm" in a low voice.

=====

In the ancient forest, blood is overflowing.

The thick crimson blood mist floats like smoke, lingering in the quiet air. The vegetation that originally emitted a pale blue or light green light seemed to be soaked in blood. Although it still emitted a dim light, it became a suppressed dark red.

Ning Ning was still trying to query the system in her mind, but the latter seemed to be blocked and did not respond at all.

The further she went in, the more bizarre and terrifying the scene became.

The vines flew up and down, and several branches as thick as children's arms reflected the crazy shadows of a group of demons dancing wildly, like the ferocious knuckles of a demon, constantly whipping the land.

Not only the vines, but also the flowers and plants seemed to have self-awareness. The petals opened and closed wantonly, and under the reflection of the scarlet light, they reminded people of red eyes peeking and blinking quietly in the dark.

After the great war between immortals and demons, the demon clan was severely damaged and there has been no news for a long time. As a place where spiritual energy gathers, the ancient forest sea now produces an endless supply of demonic energy... The reason is really thought-provoking.

Ningning swung the sword again and cut off a vine that attacked from behind.

From time to time, she could see disciples from various sects fleeing in a hurry, but she was the only one walking against the crowd. The girl's figure was slender but firm, like a sharp sword, breaking a completely different path in the red mist.

——No.

Walking in with her, there was another female cultivator.

She was a girl wearing the uniform of the Wanjian Sect. She looked elegant and cold as ice. Under her cold eyebrows and eyes, her thin lips were pursed into a straight arc, and it was impossible to tell whether she was happy or angry.

She obviously noticed Ning Ning as well, and turned her head expressionlessly: "Wanjian Sect, Su Qinghan."

This was the first time they met, and this introduction came unexpectedly, but thinking of Su Qinghan's character setting, Ning Ning didn't feel that surprised.

As the daughter of an elder of the Wanjian Sect, this young lady was destined to be a proud child since birth, and naturally developed a proud and arrogant temperament.

She was a very typical sword cultivator, cold and taciturn, and would draw her sword when she disagreed with someone, and she loved to challenge people one-on-one.

They were even more straightforward when dealing with people. They would not even look at anyone they disliked. On the contrary, if they wanted to get to know someone, they would naturally strike up a conversation without hesitation.

Now that everyone else was fleeing, only the two of them dared to go against the crowd. Just based on this point, no matter how good the other person's swordsmanship was, Su Qinghan was willing to make friends with them.

Ning Ning smiled at her: "Hello, Ning Ning from the Xuanxu Sword Sect."

Su Qinghan nodded indifferently: "So you are Junior Sister Ning Ning from the disciple of Elder Tianxian. I wonder why you came into the forest this time?"

"I heard that a junior brother was trapped by the thousand-year-old dragon blood tree, and I wanted to rescue him."

She touched the tip of her nose embarrassedly: "I am motivated by personal feelings, there is nothing to say. Senior Sister Su must be doing this to eliminate demons, right?"

Su Qinghan shook his head: "Junior Sister Ning Ning, there is no need to belittle yourself. I am willing to take risks for my fellow disciples, which is not something that ordinary people can do."

This girl spoke in a very literary way, and didn't look like a sword cultivator at all.

"Now the ancient forest has suddenly changed and the evil spirit is overflowing. I heard that the first to hurt people was the dragon blood tree. This change is likely related to it."

Su Qinghan said again: "You are saving people, and I am exorcising evil spirits. I think we have the same goal, which is to go to the dragon blood tree."

Ning Ning nodded and said "yes".

The forest became darker and the evil spirit became thicker.

When the two could see the lush branches of the dragon blood tree, the oppressive feeling brought by the evil spirit was so thick that it was like a physical object, like a heavy boulder pressing on the heart, making it difficult for people to breathe. Compared

with the scene of the forest before, this place has become a miserable and inhumane purgatory.

The wriggling branches of the trees were like extremely sturdy snakes, some lurking quietly underground, and some dignifiedly suspended in the air. The blood-red mist gathered into pieces, making Ning Ning feel as if she was in a scarlet sea.

Several monks were wrapped in layers of vines, forming an airtight cocoon. Su Qinghan whispered to her that it was the way the demons absorbed spiritual power, and the imprisoned people would not die, but become an endless supply of nutrients.

As for the dragon blood tree in the center -

Ning Ning had never seen such a big tree.

The towering canopy that blocks out the sun is emerald green, with a mysterious deep red oozing from the top of the leaves, as if it was injured and bleeding. The lush leaves are airtight, and not a trace of moonlight can get in. Under the cracked trunk are the thick roots of the ancient tree, which slowly open like huge claws and grab the scarlet soil under the tree.

The concentration of the demonic energy is beyond her imagination.

Ning Ning frowned secretly. With the cultivation level of this tree, even if she and Su Qinghan join forces, they may not be its opponent.

- After all, it is more than 10,000 years old, so it must be capable.

She held her breath and concentrated, and her heart skipped a beat when she saw a scene not far from the dragon blood tree.

The young man in black was not completely surrounded by the vines, but was gritting his teeth in resistance, covered in blood.

That was really Pei Ji.

Pei Ji's current situation was not good at all, and he was almost forced into a desperate situation.

The vines became more and more courageous, attacking him continuously like a wave. Although most of them were cut by the long sword, a few still cruelly cut his skin, leaving a string of deep blood marks that could see the bones.

His eyebrows and eyes were not clear in the blood mist. Ning Ning could only see his dark shadow and the blood that splashed out when his body was broken, which was darker than the blood color spreading in the forest.

Pei Ji should have been exhausted, and his spiritual power was almost gone. But even so, he still fought back desperately, sword lights flying, back always straight, reminding people of thin but tall pine trees.

Several snake-like vines attacked from all directions, but Pei Ji's spiritual power was not enough to split the sword lights.

His arms, calves and neck were tightly entangled by vines, and the sharp thorns on the branches pierced his skin. He gritted his teeth without making a sound, still holding the sword tightly in his hand, bloodshot in his eyes.

He was almost surrounded by vines.

"Senior Sister Su."

Ning Ning pondered for a moment, and then whispered: "We need to think long and hard about how to deal with the Dragon Blood Tree. Before that, can you help me?"

She thought for a while and said: "Senior Sister, these naturally formed monsters are not very smart, right?"

=====

The Dragon Blood Tree took care of its new prey leisurely.

The winding branches pierced into the flesh, and more vines continued to surge up, like vicious dogs that had not eaten for a long time, scrambling to pounce on the food.

The wounded boy almost became a bloody man, and the long sword in his hand made a low buzzing sound, but he no longer had the strength to resist.

Seeing that the vines were getting more and more and were about to devour Pei Ji, suddenly a white sword light flashed not far away, piercing the blood mist that covered the sky. The

swirling branches were stunned for a moment, and then collectively changed direction.

The dragon blood tree has a life span of ten thousand years, and it needs a lot of spiritual energy, so not many trees grow next to it to avoid being robbed of nutrients. In the light green grass around it, stood a young girl.

Ning Ning raised her chin and smiled coldly: "I thought it was a big monster, but it turned out to be just a tree. If I kill you, will the mutation end?"

Little brat!

The branches and vines crawling on the ground suddenly stood up when they heard the words, and all of them flew into the air to make an attacking posture. Ning Ning became the target of everyone's attack, but she was not afraid at all. Instead, she drew her sword calmly.

The fight with Pei Ji consumed most of its patience. This time, the vines did not attack one by one, but gathered into a huge net and rushed straight towards her.

When it was about to touch her, Ning Ning smiled unexpectedly, and her crisp voice fell to the ground: "Senior Sister Su, now!"

- It's a lie!

The movement of the vines suddenly stopped, and without thinking, it threw her existence aside and turned around in a hurry.

Sure enough, another female sword cultivator holding a long sword ran quickly towards somewhere. Looking at the direction she was heading...

it was the prey it had just captured!

This trick of luring the tiger away from the mountain will not work on it!

Dozens of long vines were like sharp blades coming out of their sheaths, attacking the sword cultivator who appeared later. Su Qinghan's expression remained unchanged, and she silently recited the sword technique in her heart. In an instant, the energy rose up, and the sword light split into six light blue phantoms, surrounding her in the center.

A cold wind appeared, and the sword light rose.

The sword energy surged like a river. Wherever the sword wind reached, there was a faint shimmering light on the water, which was quite like a dragon raising its head in the water. However, in a blink of an eye, most of the vines were cut off.

The dragon blood tree was completely enraged, and the blood-red color on the leaves became more obvious.

However, just when it was about to use all its strength to teach this ignorant little swordsman a lesson, it suddenly felt another sharp sword wound on its body without any preparation.

It was in the direction of its new prey.

The branches suddenly cut through the air, turned to look at the source of the pain, and let out a sharp roar similar to a roar.

—— Ning Ning came to Pei Ji at some point, with the Star Mark Sword in her hand shining brightly.

The Dragon Blood Tree finally understood.

When it was satisfied that it had cracked the plan to lure the tiger away from the mountain and concentrated all its energy on dealing with the swordsman who showed up later, the bait that was abandoned actually...

actually broke through the layers of restrictions on Pei Ji.

This was Ning Ning's plan, which took advantage of everyone's inertial thinking.

There was also a little bit of the IQ deficiency of a natural spirit.

Judging from the overwhelming demonic energy around it, the power of the dragon blood tree was unfathomable. These vines must be just a simple appetizer. If it were to have a head-on conflict with it, I'm afraid the plot would have to be renamed

"No Survivors: Ancient Forest Sea".

So she first acted as the bait in the tiger-leaving-mountain plan, and when the time was right, she deliberately shouted to divert the dragon blood tree's attention to Su Qinghan.

The dragon blood tree thought it had figured out the plot, and it would subconsciously treat her as bait without any threat, thus relaxing its vigilance on Ning Ning and treating Su Qinghan as its primary hunting target.

But it would never have thought that the first person who rushed out as bait was actually the one who really wanted to rescue Pei Ji.

Let it taste the sweetness first and think that it is in control of the situation. In this way, the dragon blood tree will firmly believe in this scam.

Unfortunately, the dragon blood tree has never played electronic games, so it will never know that the scientific name of this wave is "You hold on, I'll steal the home."

=====

Pei Ji bit the tip of his tongue hard, and his scattered consciousness finally became clearer.

The vines have covered both eyes, and the field of vision is completely dark. There are long, piercing roars in the ears, and nothing can be heard clearly.

The places scratched by the vines are in unbearable pain, and every breath brings out a heart-wrenching pain. The boy's dark pupils are as deep as a deep pool, and there is a trace of ruthlessness in them.

Pei Ji is never merciful to his enemies, and he can be ruthless to himself without hesitation.

The current situation is desperate. If he wants to break free, he can only fight to the death, gather all the remaining strength into a shape, and pierce the vines in one move.

But his body is now unable to bear the burden. Once that method is used, his internal organs will inevitably suffer severe damage, and his life or death will be left to fate.

The rusty smell in his mouth became stronger and stronger, and Pei Ji sneered at himself.

He had no other choice.

Without family and friends, and without opportunities or secret methods to rely on, he had long been accustomed to struggling between life and death alone, barely holding on to this rotten life full of holes.

Like when he was a child, he encountered a pack of wolves in the mountains, was locked up in a dark room by his mother without food or water for three days and three nights, and encountered a monster on the way to Xuanxu Sword Sect to become a disciple, and could only fight for his life with an iron sword.

Even if this life died, no one would care. There was no salvation or miracle in the world, and he could only rely on himself.

The bloodshot at the bottom of his eyes became thicker and thicker, like spider silk clinging to the entire pupil. Pei Ji had a cold expression, silently reciting spells in his heart, feeling the spiritual energy gradually surging up, passing through the damaged meridians and skin.

His whole body was burning, and he was almost unconscious from the pain.

His sea of ​​consciousness was shaking, and the young man with a cold look in his eyes moved his fingertips slightly, and was about to activate his spiritual power, when he suddenly saw a flash of white light in front of him.

It was actually a ray of sword light.

- The snow-white sword light was like a stream of silver falling from the sky, and the stars connected into a line were as bright as pearls. With one move, it broke the vines that bound him tightly, and also cut through the silent darkness that shrouded Pei Ji.

The sword wind was strong, and the crushed branches rose up one after another. The wind, blood, and stars shone together. In the blurred vision, he saw the girl's black hair blown by the wind.

And her eyes were brighter than the moonlight.

Pei Ji's heart, which had been silent for a long time, suddenly jumped.

"Ah, little junior brother."

Ning Ning looked up at him, secretly relieved in her heart. On the surface, she still insisted on the character setting of a vicious female supporting role, and raised a smile from the corner of her mouth: "There is still one breath left, you are not dead, right?"

"Yes, it's Ning Ning, ah wuwuwu!"

The Chengying Sword in his heart was almost excited to tears: "She actually came to save you, Pei Ji! She she she actually!"

She -

Pei Ji had a splitting headache, why did she come here?

It was clear that when the abnormality happened before, he did not see the figure of this fellow sister nearby.

Before this thought faded away, the young man's eyes suddenly widened unexpectedly -

Ningning pressed his back and pulled him into her arms.

Although it was a routine action without any charm, Pei Ji still held his breath reflexively.

The hideous blood stains on the wounds were all on her chest, but Ningning did not show any disgust. Instead, she said to him carelessly: "Hey, I didn't come here to save you on purpose. I just happened to see a poor guy who looked familiar, so I planned to help him - understand?"

She had a gardenia scent that was incompatible with the smell of blood.

When she spoke, her light and warm breath fell on his ear, like a faint electric current, spreading from the earlobe to the heart.

Pei Ji lowered his eyelashes and said "hmm" softly.

The Dragon Blood Tree noticed Ning Ning's actions and knew that it had been deceived, and was furious.

For a moment, the wind blew violently in the forest, and blood-red resin seeped out of the trunk of the tree through the air, as if it was crying blood, which was extremely weird.

Hundreds of vines rose into the air, no longer aiming at Su Qinghan, vowing to kill the swordsman who had played her around.

But she would never stay there obediently and wait to be beaten.

After realizing that its home had been robbed, the Dragon Blood Tree would definitely give up Su Qinghan and attack her again.

Ning Ning had thought of this a long time ago, so she asked Su Qinghan to run as far as possible when attracting monsters, to buy time for her and Pei Ji to escape.

This is the bad thing about trees becoming spirits, wooden heads, and they are never very smart.

"It may be a bit bumpy, you have to hold on carefully."

Ning Ning exchanged a glance with Su Qinghan in the distance, put her hands on Pei Ji's back, and said in a brisk and loud voice: "Let's go."

As soon as the voice fell, white light suddenly appeared under her feet.

Fortunately, there was little vegetation around the dragon blood tree, so it was easy to fly with the sword.

The sound of the wind and the girl's voice filled his eardrums. Pei Ji heard her speak seriously: "Don't be so self-indulgent as to think that I am good to you. I will charge you for saving people. You can decide how much spiritual stones you want."

Ning Ning was still trying her best to establish her character, and another sword light appeared silently beside her. Standing on the sword was Su Qinghan who escaped easily. The

young swordsman took a quick look at her and Pei Ji, and showed a look of understanding: "Is this the junior brother you insisted on saving even at the risk of your life?"

The Xinghen Sword shook violently.

However, the straight-laced senior sister of the Wanjian Sect did not notice that Ning Ning's expression was not right at all, and continued with

a bit of envy: "Before, I was wondering why Junior Sister Ning Ning would go to such lengths to save him. Now it seems that the two of you have a very good relationship. Unlike my junior brother, he is very naughty all day long and makes people worry——" At this point, she suddenly raised her voice in confusion: "Strange, why is Junior Sister's face so red? Did she get poisoned?"

Ning Ning tried to force an awkward but polite smile.

She just wanted to wave goodbye to this beautiful world.

Senior Sister Su, do you know?

In fact, you, this annoying little goblin, are the most poisonous.