Their thoughts were exposed, but they weren't embarrassed. One of the male cultivators from the Hehuan Sect even laughed heartily: "It's allowed by the rules to snatch demon cores from each other in the secret realm. Since Junior Brother Liu has already set the precedent, we can't forbid us from following suit, can we?"
"Oh?" Liu Jinghong raised an eyebrow with interest, snapped his folding fan shut and slapped it against his palm, saying, "How about this, I'll give you a chance now."
As he spoke, Liu Jinghong gently tugged at the pile of scoring pouches in front of him with the toe of his precious shoe. "Come on, as long as you can take it back."
Upon hearing this, the three disciples of Tianji Pavilion quickly grabbed a handful of talismans and placed them in front of Liu Jinghong.
"Go away! Kids, stop causing trouble." Liu Jinghong used her fan to slap her three junior brothers away, then turned to the others: "Save time, let's all attack together."
Then swords, spears, halberds, and all sorts of deadly attacks came rushing at us.
A cold smile curved Liu Jinghong's lips as he spoke, each word distinct: "Ten Miles, Instant Kill Formation!"
Before the words were even finished, a sudden gust of wind arose! It was as sharp as a knife!
The men felt their hair stand on end and quickly retreated!
However, the fierce spiritual blades rained down from the sky! There was no way to avoid them!
The sounds of jade tablets exploding echoed one after another, and in the blink of an eye, the area was deserted. The demonic beasts that had filled the area were torn to pieces, their flesh and blood flying everywhere. In the blink of an eye, they had been sliced into countless pieces, leaving only a pile of wreckage!
Outside the secret realm, a dozen or so people lay sprawled on the ground, groaning in pain, their bodies covered in wounds inflicted by the spirit blade in that instant.
But the elders outside have no time to pay attention to them.
"What's going on!"
"Where did this instant-kill formation come from?!"
"Although I have not studied array formations in great detail, I have read extensively, yet I have never seen this array before. Could it be an array created by Young Master Liu himself?"
Lezheng Chang'an pondered for a moment, then hesitated slightly before saying, "Could it be a formation within a formation? But..."
Chu Hongluan sighed, "I say, old men, you guys are so unprofessional! Haven't you ever seen Spirit-Chasing Grass? It's everywhere in that forest."
A sudden enlightenment.
Le Zheng Chang'an's eyes lit up. "That's right! The Spirit-Chasing Grass grows by attracting spiritual energy, so Young Master Liu stepped on the spirit stones into the mud to guide the vines of the Spirit-Chasing Grass to grow along the direction of the spirit stones. Spirit stones can form arrays, so why can't spirit herbs? Using the original Demon-Subduing Array as the base, and combining it with the trajectory of the Spirit-Chasing Grass vines to draw new array patterns, the art of arrays is inherently profound. A single change to the Spirit-Gathering Array turns it into a Spirit-Absorbing Array, with completely different effects. Extending a few strokes from the Demon-Subduing Array, a new Ten-Mile Instant Kill Array is created! Brilliant! Brilliant! Young Master Liu's mastery of arrays has probably reached the pinnacle!"
While he was giving his impassioned speech, Chu Hongluan had already walked up to the Grand Elder of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion. Her back injury, which showed no signs of healing, was concealed by her illusion magic, and the bloodstains on her clothes were wiped away by a cleansing spell.
"Old man, isn't that your family's young master? How come you don't know anything about him?"
The First Elder's heart skipped a beat, but he didn't show it on his face. He simply said, "Elder Chu, what makes you say that? The Young Master has had his own ideas since he was a child, and it's not something an elder like me can interfere with."
Chu Hongluan rummaged through her mustard seed bag, pulled out a chair, and sat down in front of the spirit mirror of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion without any psychological pressure: "That's right, it's a good thing you can't interfere, otherwise wouldn't you have turned Liu Jinghong into a good-for-nothing like your son?"
"You!" The Grand Elder valued his precious son highly, and he almost lost his dignity as the Grand Elder. He gritted his teeth and suppressed the urge to curse, saying, "Elder Chu, don't be so impetuous when you're young!"
"Hmph." Chu Hongluan snorted coldly, not even wanting to give him another glance. The little beast's father was an old beast, and he was annoyed just looking at him. "I've troubled the Grand Elder to lead the team for me. Now that I'm back, why don't you go back and rest? You're getting on in years, you should enjoy your retirement. These kinds of energy-consuming tasks should naturally be done by us young people."
The Grand Elder wanted to curse. The most energy-consuming thing for the team leader was to gather spiritual energy to open the gate to the secret realm.
You've used up all your spiritual energy and opened all the doors, now you know how to be considerate of the elderly?
The First Elder didn't want to argue with Chu Hongluan in front of so many people, but he also didn't want to back down and leave. "Elder Chu is leading a team for the first time, and I'm afraid she lacks experience. It would be better if I stayed to keep an eye on things."
Chu Hongluan snorted coldly and ignored him.
The other sect leaders exchanged bewildered glances. From the very beginning, they had wanted to know: who exactly was this seemingly young girl with unfathomable cultivation? And what was her relationship with Young Master Liu?
After Young Master Liu went in, she went straight to a tree and leaned against it, showing no intention of paying any attention to them. Although they were curious, they didn't want to be ignored, so they gave up their plan to ask.
But now it seems this girl is an elder of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion? I've never seen her before.
Who is this?
It was Yue Zheng Chang'an who was asking the Grand Elder.
Although the Grand Elder was reluctant to introduce Chu Hongluan, he couldn't refuse Lezheng Chang'an's request, so he had no choice but to explain in detail.
Originally, the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion had six elders, but now with the addition of Chu Hongluan, there are seven.
"So it's Elder Chu, my apologies for not recognizing you." Le Zheng Chang'an smiled gently and cupped his hands in greeting to Chu Hongluan.
Seeing this, the other elders also greeted them.
The Sword Pavilion elder disagreed, saying, "Your Pavilion Master's wife is really acting on emotion. How can someone so young be an elder?"
Of course, Chu Hongluan wouldn't reveal how many years she had lived, since there was no day and night cycle in the secret realm, so her age couldn't be counted at all.
Don't ask, the answer is always seventeen.
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