I imitate others' cultivation, and I will never reason with you.

Chapter 163 Haggard Face
"Its emotions are very complicated." The expression on the Demon Lord's face was somewhat puzzling, "It's even somewhat contradictory. I can't explain it, but I only sensed it for a moment before it was discovered."

After saying that, the Demon Lord sighed, looking a little regretful.

"But why do you insist on exploring the secrets of the National Master's Palace?" Ruan Xing was puzzled.

"Ah? I do whatever I want. Do I need a reason?" The Demon Lord seemed to hear an incredible question and couldn't help laughing. "Besides, don't you want to know the secret?"

Ruan Xing remained silent.

He tilted his head and tapped his head with his index finger, "Don't forget, my technique consumes the five elements. I can see that you have hidden evil thoughts towards the National Master Palace and even the sect behind him."

This is really... Fairies can sense good and evil, and the Demon King can identify the five elements and miscellaneous thoughts.

The two of them complement each other very well. It would be difficult to lie in front of them.

The Demon Lord was not wrong. Ever since she knew that the World Tree had placed a restriction in her mind that prevented her from saying anything related, she had not had a good impression of them.

No one likes to be threatened and controlled by others, right?

But Ruan Xing didn't have the strength at that time, so he could only bear it temporarily.

However, Ruan Xing was still a little annoyed. "Do you think what you have discovered can be of any help to me?"

"Well... I haven't discovered it yet." The Demon Lord pondered for a moment and said honestly.

In fact, it is still of some help, but Ruan Xing doesn't want to encourage the Demon Lord to act on his own and cause trouble to others.

At least, Ruan Xing knew that there was some communication between the inside and outside of the barrier.

"What are your plans next?" The fairy who had been listening quietly on the side interrupted.

She looked through the trees that covered the entrance to the cave, and saw the disciples huddled together in a mess inside, feeling a little reluctant.

At least she did give them a lesson. Although many of the disciples followed the Demon Lord to practice magic, under her watch, these disciples had low cultivation levels and did not do anything bad.

Naturally, she didn't want all these people to die here.

Ruan Xing shook his head and said, "Let's take it one step at a time."

She hasn't made up her mind yet, because Ruan Xing doesn't know how many Jindan and Yuanying cultivators there are in Liuyang Study. She has a hunch that the number will definitely not be as small as announced to the public.

The people in the cave heard the noise outside. A figure poked his head out and said in surprise, "Xing'er!"

Ruan Xing looked over when she heard the voice and moved her lips, "Sister."

Thirteen-year-old Ruan Tao has grown into a graceful young girl, but the past two days of life in the cave has made her look a little haggard.

Ruan Tao came out of the cave, came over to hug Ruan Xing, and whispered, "I'm sorry to have you come back again. We've caused you trouble."

"It's okay, it's nothing, I can handle it." Ruan Xing comforted her.

The establishment of the Fengling Yueying Sect was not forced upon her by others; she had also given it careful consideration at the time.

There are many reasons for this. She needs a force or organization to help her collect a large amount of money for simulation, but because her own cultivation speed is too fast, this sect has not yet entered the world of immortal cultivation to be of use.

In addition, this sect is a mixture of immortals and demons. This is to prevent the demon cultivators from sweeping across Nanzhou in fourteen years. By then, this sect can use the demon cultivators as a cover.

This is all to prevent future events, which is why this sect exists. But now that it has been established, we can’t just ignore it when we encounter a little risk.

Ruan Tao's face showed worry and embarrassment. She bit her lip and said, "But... I can no longer suppress my cultivation."

Upon hearing this, Ruan Xing quickly used his spiritual sense to check and found that Ruan Tao's body was full of spiritual energy, almost to the point of dissipating.

She had already completed her foundation building, but she was still practicing. She only started to suppress her cultivation when she was about to pass the tribulation. Now, if she dared to loosen her control over the spiritual power in her body, tribulation clouds would immediately float down from the sky.

However, because both the Demon Lord and the Fairy were puppets, they were filled with negative energy and were most afraid of things like heavenly thunder, so they were unable to protect Ruan Tao.

Ruan Tao could only wait for her to come back.

"It was my negligence. I have never accepted any disciples. When I was practicing on my own, I didn't encounter any difficulties. Master helped me solve them all." Although the fairy's voice was cold, there was a hint of awkward apology in it.

Now, not only is the Imperial Master Palace searching everywhere within the barrier, I'm afraid Yunyang City and several nearby villages and towns are not spared either.

Although they had never entered Yunyang City, they had sent several immortal disciples out to investigate and knew the general situation outside.

If a cultivator who does not belong to Liuyang Study were to undergo tribulation in this area, there is a 90% chance that Liuyang Study would think that this person is someone who is trying to spy on their secrets.

Ruan Tao cannot survive the tribulation here.

Ruan Xing immediately said, "I will take my sister out to overcome the calamity first, and find out the specific information about Liuyang Study. You guys stay here for the time being and don't let anyone find out."

"Tsk—" the demon king said lazily, "Why not ask the natives?"

Hmm? Aboriginal?
Confused, Ruan Xing suddenly realized the presence of monsters around the cave...

"That monster is not dead yet?" Ruan Xing was surprised.

"How can you beat them to death? There are so many delicious low-level cultivators, plus the smell of monsters' blood, how many monsters will be attracted? How can you hide?" The Demon Lord said with contempt.

This mountain pass is filled with many monster beasts with foundation-building elixirs. They divide their hunting ranges according to their habits and strengths, leaving their own unique scent in their territories for deterrence. If other monster beasts dare to step into their range, it will be regarded as a provocation to the lord.

The place they had seized was the habitat of a Jindan-stage demon python. The dark and humid underground cave was its home. But now, the Demon Lord and the Fairy had teamed up to drive it out and beat it up, but they didn't kill it or eat it.

It was scared and wanted to leave, giving this territory to these humans, but they wouldn't let it go.

With the help of the deterrent it left behind, it deceived the surrounding monsters that everything was normal here.

You can only stay near the cave shivering, unable to walk or enter the cave.

The Demon Lord angrily pointed his mouth in the direction of the demon python, and Ruan Xing saw a demon python thicker than her body, coiled under a tree. Its dark green scales were covered by layers of fallen leaves, with only yellow vertical pupils remaining in the gaps. For some reason, Ruan Xing felt that she could see a hint of grievance and accusation in those cold vertical pupils.

The Demon Lord said: "This demon python has been cultivating in this mountain pass for more than 700 years. It has long been enlightened. Why not ask it?"

Ruan Xing was embarrassed, "But I don't know how to make a monster contract."

Monsters cannot speak until they reach the transformation stage, so the only way to communicate with them is through mind links, which requires a master-servant contract to be signed with the monsters.

She had never considered how expensive it was to raise monsters.

Qin Taihe should know, since he has the White Wolf, but she never asked.

"That's not difficult, I can do it." The Demon King smiled and said, "Give me a drop of your blood."

Ruan Xing's heart suddenly skipped a beat.

What does the Demon Lord want her blood for?
She believed that there was an 80% chance that the Demon Lord really needed this drop of blood to complete the contract, but there was also a 20% chance that she thought the Demon Lord wanted to cause trouble. It was not her fault that she was on guard, it was really that the Demon Lord had too many wild ideas, was out of control, and did things without considering the consequences.

"Why don't you teach me? I'm smart and can learn it right away." Ruan Xing said.

The Demon Lord looked at her deeply, and suddenly smiled, "It's not that difficult."

He did not refuse, but instead carefully explained to Ruan Xing the essentials of the contract technique.

Instead, Ruan Xing felt a little guilty, and he couldn't help but start to reflect on whether he was too wary of the Demon Lord.

Soon, Ruan Xing mastered the art of contract and used a drop of blood to make a master-servant contract with the subdued python.

The demon python looked listless and didn't resist at all.

However, in the mind link, there was an additional sound of a small snake's tender voice, which sounded indistinguishable between male and female.

"That's my home, that's my home, that's my home..."

"Kick you all out, kick you all out, kick you all out!"

"I am not clean anymore. I am not clean anymore. I am not clean anymore..."

The resentful mumbling made Ruan Xing feel a little dizzy. She frowned and used the power of the Nascent Soul stage to suppress the demon python.

The python suddenly shut its mouth, and its entire body shrank into a mosquito coil, with even its head hidden inside.

It's kind of funny what's going on.

The python looked aggrieved, and Ruan Xing couldn't help but throw a Qingshui Pill to it. Its yellow vertical pupils suddenly lit up, and it swallowed the pill in one gulp. Then it swam over and rubbed Ruan Xing's toes in a flattering manner.

However, its body was a little too big, and the short Ruan Xing was caught off guard and staggered. After patting the python's head, Ruan Xing sat directly on it.

Qingshui Dan can be considered a snack for monsters. Not only can it suppress the monsters' violent anger, it also tastes good and contains some digestible spiritual energy.

The demon python that grew up in the jungle was conquered when it ate this kind of elixir for the first time. There were very few people in this mountain pass, and it had never eaten humans, so there was very little blood and murderous aura on its body.

It was grateful for the favor, so it stopped whining in the mind link, and now Ruan Xing could ask the question properly.

After thinking for a while, Ruan Xing asked some questions that the demon python could understand.

The python looked at Ruan Xing's hand, expecting to be given another snack, and answered obediently.

There is only one Jindan cultivator who takes turns on duty at the National Master Palace every thirteen days, and he always rides on a Black Hawk when he comes and goes.

As for some other cultivators, they simply entered the barrier in a low-key manner when they came, but the demon python did not pay attention to how those cultivators entered and exited, so it was impossible to conclude whether there was any regularity or periodicity in the way those cultivators entered.

As for why the monks on duty always know...

There was a hint of fear in the python's eyes.

The Black Hawk can carry dozens of people on its back at a time. Its size is much larger than that of the Demon Python, and the Demon Python is on its diet.

Sometimes when the Black Hawk is returning from picking up people with an empty car, it will come to the mountain pass to look for food and eat spicy strips. At this time, the Demon Python can only tremble and hide in the underground cave to avoid being caught by the Black Hawk.

This fear was deeply engraved in its mind, so much so that even now, at the Jindan stage, it would hurriedly hide in a cave when a black hawk flew over the mountain pass.

However, the demon python had never seen a cultivator in the Nascent Soul stage.

In fact, no Nascent Soul stage monsters have appeared in this mountain pass for thousands of years.

This is a bit strange.

After releasing the poor demon python, Ruan Xing said to it, "I don't need you by my side, so you will be the guardian spirit beast of the Fengling Yueying Sect from now on. If you are obedient, I have a lot of Qingshui Pills."

The demon python nodded repeatedly in a very human manner.

How could it not understand human nature? It couldn't communicate with people. After being beaten eight times in two days, it finally understood the intentions of the two people. It could only stay in a corner and lick its wounds silently, shedding tears of humiliation.

After arranging the demon python to stand by near the cave, Ruan Xing called Ruan Tao to leave, asked Jian Lai to lead Ruan Tao into the hidden passage, and she herself flew on the sword.

The two of them stopped after more than an hour and landed in a small town dozens of kilometers away from Yunyang City.

Ruan Xing had been attacked in this place before. The entire center of the town was torn apart by the duel between several Jindan-stage cultivators. Those low-level cultivators and mortals who did not have time to escape were crushed under the collapsed houses.

Now, everything has been rebuilt and there is no trace of its former dilapidated state.

"Are we going to survive the tribulation nearby?" Ruan Tao asked.

"Don't worry." Ruan Xing waved her hand and replied, "I still need to confirm something. I will help you overcome the tribulation tomorrow. Can you hold on?"

Ruan Tao nodded and said, "One day, no problem."

Ruan Xing took out the communication talisman that was almost covered in dust from his storage bag and sent a message to Master Cai, asking him if he could come out for a chat.

Within half an hour, he received a reply from Mr. Cai, and he agreed.

Ruan Xing found a restaurant, asked for a private room, lowered the curtains and screens to block the view from outside, and let Cai Jiao out of the storage bag.

Wait for Master Cai to come over, let the two of them get together first and feel the changes in Cai Jiao. I believe that Master Cai's loyalty and trust in her will be even greater.

Sure enough, when seeing Cai Jiao's current appearance, Master Cai burst into tears.

Although he could not hear Cai Jiao calling grandpa, he knew that this was his daughter, his daughter was back!

Silently watching the two grandparents hugging each other, Ruan Xing waited for a moment until Cai Xueshi was less excited, and then he began to ask: "What have you gained in all this time?"

Master Cai is very motivated and his cultivation has reached the middle stage of foundation building.

Scholar Cai wiped the tears from his face and resumed his serious and old-fashioned look, saying, "I have lived up to the trust of the gang leader. Among this batch of new inner disciples, my progress can be said to be the fastest. Since sending my daughter away, the teacher I followed has been much nicer to me. You asked me to participate more in the affairs of the sect, and I have actively participated. This is about what I know for now. Please see if it is of any use."

Scholar Cai took out a stack of papers from his arms, which recorded some of what he saw and heard in Liuyang Study.

This is a habit he continued from when he was an official.

Ruan Xing flipped through it quickly. Mr. Cai didn't know much, but it could be verified with previous information.

In Liuyang Study, there are not just one but three people in the Nascent Soul stage, not just the study owner. The owner and a group of Jindan elders are usually in charge of the sect's affairs. The other two Nascent Soul True Lords practice alone most of the time, keep a low profile, and rarely show up, so they are unknown to the outside world.

If Master Cai had not thought more and paid more attention when helping his teacher in order to follow Ruan Xing's instructions, he would not have discovered that there were two such big guys hiding in the small Liuyang Study.

I almost fell asleep when I finished writing yesterday. When I woke up today, I was confused. Did I really write this? I have no impression of it at all. qaq
So the last paragraph was modified

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(End of this chapter)