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[Meh!]

Just as Yino was lost in thought, a certain deer who had been lazily sleeping in his consciousness sea suddenly awoke and cursed.

Yino inwardly clicked his tongue, thinking how the Nine-Colored Deer had developed PTSD.

Usually, no matter what Yino pondered in his mind, she slept soundly without reaction. But whenever Yino thought anything slightly negative about Wangxue, this little deer would immediately startle awake and start cursing in his ear.

"Do you see? This is Azure Forest's guardian spirit..."

"So, what about Azure Forest's depleting spiritual energy?"

"Wuji Sect's answer was to set up a special formation that could collect souls, then utilize the guardian spirit's natural purification properties. They kept her penned in this experimental base beneath the thousand-year tree, using the guardian spirit as a spiritual energy conversion purifier, relying on her power alone to continuously nourish Azure Forest's revival."

Liuli spoke coldly while continuing deeper into the ancient palace.

As the intruders entered, the beast statues standing on both sides of the palace gradually opened their demonic eyes.

However, Liuli paid no attention to the statues' movement. She opened her emerald left eye, usually wrapped in bandages, gazing tenderly and regretfully at the tree spirit maiden suspended in the palace depths.

An emerald left eye, just like in the game...

Having heard the story to this point, Yino observed Liuli, pondering what connection she might have with Azure Forest.

However, as the aura of the two beast statues became powerful, Yino followed Liuli while cautiously watching the reviving statues at their sides.

Though Yino didn't want to interrupt Liuli's storytelling, one lion-tiger-like statue had already bared its fangs, forcing him to quietly warn:

"Um, the statues..."

BOOM BOOM BOOM!!

Before he could finish speaking, the lion-tiger statue suddenly lunged forward in an attacking posture, pouncing to bite.

Simultaneously, Liuli stopped walking.

She protected Yino behind her and extended her palm toward the statue.

Yino expected blood-colored vines to shoot from Liuli's palm to attack the statue, but strangely, as Liuli raised her hand to stop it, the lion-tiger statue actually halted a second before its bite would have connected.

"Woo..."

The lion-tiger statue released a low, mournful cry, then slowly lowered its head, its body trembling as it prostrated itself beside Liuli.

The snake-headed heron statue on the other side did the same.

When they sensed Liuli's life force, both statues uniformly retracted their claws and fangs, showing submission to her. Yino was dumbfounded by this scene.

No wonder in the game, when righteous cultivators entered the ancient palace, these two statues weren't destroyed - they simply didn't attack Liuli when she came!

"Holy Maiden, these two statues are...?"

Yino spoke curiously, trying to seek answers from Liuli.

But just as he was most confused, the tree spirit maiden suspended by chains in the distance slowly opened a pair of beautiful emerald eyes at the sound of their footsteps-

"Sister..."

"Today... why did you come to see me..."

As her words fell.

Yino widened his eyes, looking at the red-dressed maiden beside him with unprecedented astonishment.

….

"Damn it!"

"Damn it! Damn it!"

At another end of Azure Forest, Xumo had just escaped from a man-eating flower's stomach.

He was now covered in foul-smelling slime, and his body bore horrifying scars as if corroded.

However, compared to these physical sufferings that would eventually heal, what made Xumo more desperate and furious now was how he had been mere inches away from reaching his destained one!

If his cultivation had been just a bit higher, if he had known the evil cult woman's techniques beforehand, perhaps he could have saved Ruoning from that demoness's hands, sparing her from the cult's corruption.

"Too late..."

"Everything is too late..."

Xumo fell to his knees with a thud, hands pressed against the earth, as if the only beautiful childhood memories in this world had been completely destroyed.

But just as Xumo was pounding the ground with his fists, the ring on his left finger suddenly emitted white light:

[What are you crying for, you only know how to cry when facing difficulties!]

[Back then when your master told you to leave, you didn't listen. It's all because of your stubbornness that you're in such a mess now!]

At some point, the white foxgirl's figure appeared in the forest, berating the youth covered in foul-smelling slime with utter disgust.

At this point, there seemed to be some affair between Liuli and Yino, and since Xumo had already offended Liuli, if Qiu Yuebai wanted to kill Yino, it seemed she would have to face them both alone.

Qiu Yuebai had originally planned to go along with events, waiting until Xumo drove Liuli away in defeat before directing Xumo to kill Yino alone...

But what puzzled Qiu Yuebai most now was that although Yino had killed Full Moon Cult members and stolen their Sword Dao Holy Body, not only did Liuli not show hostility toward Yino! Why did she even take Yino along when she fled?

Now everyone had fled, making all their efforts worthless.

As the Celestial Master's pawn walking among mortals for so many years, this was the first time Qiu Yuebai had encountered a situation that even the Celestial Master couldn't predict!

However, fortunately, Qiu Yuebai's cultivation was high enough, and Xumo's hidden talent was also sufficiently powerful!

They had just successfully taken one of Liuli's lives.

This also meant that if Qiu Yuebai used her full power, she could help Xumo confront Liuli head-on and kill Yino!

No wonder the Celestial Master didn't send Jinyue, but called me from thousands of miles away...

Among pawns who could hide in rings to infiltrate Azure Forest while maintaining high enough cultivation, I, Qiu Yuebai, was probably the most reliable!

What use would that small fry three-tailed fox Jinyue be against Liuli?

"Master... stop scolding me... I'm already feeling terrible..."

Xumo knelt on the ground, still crying from frustration.

But just as he was at his most desperate, the nine-tailed white fox beside him narrowed her eyes and suddenly spoke:

"What's the hurry? Ruoning can still be saved!"

"If you don't want Ruoning to be corrupted by demons, from now on you must follow your master's commands completely!"

"Listen well, stop concerning yourself with that evil cult demoness, find a way to kill that boy called Yino first!"

"Yino is the true mastermind behind everything. Kill him, and then Ruoning can naturally be saved!"

At these words, Xumo, who had been wallowing in despair on the ground, suddenly widened his eyes.

He stood up, trembling as he walked toward the white fox maiden--

"Master, is this true? Can she really still be saved?"

"Get away! You're covered in man-eating flower slime, it stinks!"

Qiu Yuebai raised an eyebrow, her mood already irritated by Xumo's chaos showing even more disgust. Xumo was startled and hurriedly backed away, maintaining distance from his master.

"Sorry, sorry master, can Lady Ruoning really still be saved..."

"Of course she can be saved, but if you keep acting recklessly without listening, even your master will be helpless."

"Don't worry! Don't worry master, your disciple will definitely listen well from now on!"

Xumo's face lit up with joy as he nodded repeatedly. Discover hidden tales at empire

…

"I can feel it, these spirit beasts are in pain, they're calling for help, they're wailing, and now this agitation is just their way of venting their pain..."

"The closer we get to Azure Forest's depths, the more obvious this unpredictable rage becomes in the spirit beasts."

"I can vaguely sense a kind of negative emotion, like a song of sorrow, constantly spreading from deep in the forest..."

Walking on a small path in Azure Forest's depths, Yunjin pressed her hands together before her chest, her beautiful face gradually growing pained with the emotional fluctuations of nature resonance. She suddenly opened her eyes, feeling an impulsive urge, with small beads of sweat appearing on her forehead.

Beside her, Ruoning hurriedly supported.

"Are you alright..."

"Mm... I'm fine..."

"No wonder I encountered a strange herd of cattle in the forest earlier, they were charging around indiscriminately like bulldozers..."

Ruoning spoke with conviction.

She had originally looked down on these two girl, but now after conversing with Jinyue and Yunjin, Ruoning realized that Yino's companions were each more extraordinary than the last.

"Speaking of which, Yunjin, if we find the source of this painful wailing, could you use your resonance talent to soothe that suffering soul?" Walking ahead of the two, Jinyue suddenly asked curiously.

Yunjin blinked, and though she didn't fully understand what Jinyue meant, she still nodded firmly: "I don't know if I can do it, but if someone is suffering, I will definitely find a way to help!"