I don't want to be trained by my senior sister!

Ning Qian's figure flashed through the forest.

The fleeing malevolent energy was extremely fast.

Seemingly formless and intangible, it moves like a ghost, specifically targeting dark corners and dense forests.

Within a few breaths, Ning Qian had intercepted it deep in the bamboo forest behind the mountain.

The dark, malevolent aura had shrunk considerably after being injured by her sword intent, but its ferocity remained undiminished.

With fingers joined like a sword, a cold glint gathers at the fingertips.

"Destroy".

The malevolent aura completely dissipated into the air, leaving only a faint, chilling scent.

Ning Qian stood up with her fingers retracted, but her expression changed slightly.

It was just a fragment of a broken soul...

Luring the tiger away from the mountain...

She was a little careless.

Although my junior brother is quite strong, he seems to be a little afraid of these evil spirits and lacks experience.

......

Valley entrance.

The once tranquil valley is now completely shrouded in a blood-red aura.

A malevolent aura surged forth, obscuring the sky and the sun.

The moonlight was completely blocked out, forming a huge dark red barrier.

Fang Xuan stood in the formation.

He activated his cultivation technique, releasing a vast amount of spiritual energy to block the churning and surging malevolent energy around him.

Fortunately, he was steady and had his younger brother with him.

However, this level of evil spirit...

This is truly a great opportunity for my senior sister; it's a lifesaver!

He sensed that the evil entity controlling this barrier was at least at the Nascent Soul stage, or perhaps even stronger.

Moreover, they are quite intelligent and know how to use tactics and the environment.

A malevolent spirit, formed from pure resentment, shrieked and pounced, its sharp claws aimed straight for Fang Xuan's face.

"cut."

The vast spiritual power within his body flowed into his second brother, who unleashed a simple horizontal slash without any fancy moves.

"boom--!!!"

The immense spiritual energy, combined with the black sword's own fierce sword aura, transformed into a black crescent-shaped sword energy that swept out horizontally.

Wherever the sword energy passed, the blood-red malevolent aura was rapidly annihilated.

The evil spirit that pounced was the first to be hit and was shredded to pieces by the sword energy.

The aftershocks continued, clearing away a large portion of the dense malevolent energy in the courtyard in front of Fang Xuan, revealing the chaotic ground below.

The power of this sword strike clearly injured the barrier master.

"roar--!!!"

An angry roar came from the depths of the barrier.

The entire crimson barrier trembled violently, and more evil spirits surged from all directions, rushing towards Fang Xuan like a tidal wave.

Fang Xuan exhaled a breath of cold air and instead took the initiative to meet him.

When the cultivation technique is pushed to its limit, the spiritual energy within the body surges endlessly like a vast ocean.

The black sword in his hand transformed into heavy shadows, each diagonal slash carrying immense power.

The wailing of evil spirits was incessant.

Fang Xuan discovered that these evil spirits seemed to have a high resistance to his spiritual attacks.

But he was extremely afraid of the black sword in his hand.

Often, a single sword strike is enough to completely disintegrate an evil spirit, while simply suppressing it with spiritual energy is not very effective.

It seems his second brother is indeed incredibly brave and invincible.

In just a few dozen breaths, he had already killed no less than twenty evil spirits of various shapes, and his aura became increasingly fierce.

Perhaps intimidated by Fang Xuan, the evil spirits suddenly slowed their attacks.

Immediately afterwards, the ground suddenly cracked open.

A ghostly hand, formed from malevolent energy and as large as half a courtyard, burst forth from the ground beneath Fang Xuan's feet.

Her five fingers, like hooks, lashed out at him fiercely.

This attack covered a huge area, almost completely blocking Fang Xuan's escape route.

Fang Xuan's eyes narrowed, and he no longer conserved his spiritual energy, pouring all of it into the black sword.

The sword emitted a low hum as it cleaved the enormous ghostly hand that had grabbed at it.

"Pfft—!"

The black sword slashed into the ghost hand's palm without any resistance, cutting through it in two with unstoppable momentum.

Immediately afterwards, Fang Xuan flicked his wrist, and a surge of powerful spiritual energy erupted from the sword.

"BOOM!!"

The enormous ghostly hand split open from the inside, turning into countless fragments and scattered malevolent energy.

But just as the malevolent aura from the shattered ghost hand obscured his vision, Fang Xuan sensed that the chilling aura that had been hidden deep within the barrier had suddenly vanished.

Fang Xuan stood with his sword in hand, warily surveying the swirling blood mist around him.

The battle seemed to have temporarily ceased, but the barrier remained, and the unsettling sense of oppression did not diminish.

He frowned, trying to probe with his spiritual power first...

.......

Ning Qian has returned to the Bamboo Courtyard.

Even standing outside the barrier, she could feel the overwhelming resentment and ferocity contained within it.

It wasn't just the kind of force that erupted inside the room just now; this power far exceeded her expectations.

He condensed the sword energy in his hand again, attempting to forcefully break through an opening.

"laugh--!"

The sword energy collided with the blood-red aura, causing the barrier to fluctuate violently, but it did not break.

We couldn't wait any longer; we had no choice but to force our way in.

Most of the malevolent energy was shredded by the sword intent, but two or three stray slivers still managed to slip through, grazing her arms and shoulders.

The fabric was instantly torn open, revealing the fair skin underneath, and several bloodstains that quickly appeared.

Ning Qian let out a muffled groan, but her movements did not stop at all.

The only option is to use a powerful, energy-consuming secret technique to force your way into the barrier.

But the consequences are equally significant.

.......

Inside the barrier.

The scene was completely different from what the outside world saw.

The area was filled with swirling, dark red mist, severely obstructing visibility; one could only see a few feet around them.

Faintly, one could hear countless mournful wails, resentful curses, and... the sounds of clashing spiritual energy.

Ning Qian's heart tightened, and she immediately looked in the direction from which the sound came.

However, the fog severely impaired her senses, and she could only barely discern directions.

We must find my junior brother as soon as possible.

Faced with an attack by evil spirits of this level, which were clearly organized and intelligent, even if Fang Xuan was strong enough...

But lack of experience coupled with fear of ghosts probably won't last long.

"call out!"

Suddenly, the blood mist in front of her side churned violently, and a pitch-black ghost claw tore through the mist, lunging towards Ning Qian's vital back.

When Ning Qian realized it, the ghost claw was already within reach.

A sharp, cold wind stung her back.

He forcibly twisted his body, his sword instinctively meeting the ghost claw.

The hastily gathered sword intent clashed fiercely with the ghost claw.

Ning Qian felt a tremendous force mixed with a chilling aura travel up her arm, causing her blood and qi to churn.

Ultimately, we were a step too slow and failed to completely avoid it.

The sharp tips of the ghost claw grazed her left shoulder, leaving a hideous bloodstain.

Ning Qian staggered back a few steps, barely managing to regain her balance.

The malevolent energy emanating from the wound on her left shoulder made her face turn slightly pale, and a few beads of cold sweat appeared on her forehead.

She raised her eyes, her icy gaze piercing through the crimson mist, locking onto the direction from which the ghostly claws were attacking.

The mist there dissipated slightly, revealing a deeper, darker shadow.

The true form of the evil spirit... or at least one of its powerful avatars, is right here.

The sounds of battle seemed to be coming from that direction, becoming even clearer.

Ning Qian clenched her fingers. She had to deal with the immediate threat as soon as possible before breaking through...