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

Fang Xuan spent a long time churning the terrifying script of "reborn and blackened female protagonist" in his mind, but in the end he forcibly suppressed it.

He secretly glanced at Ning Qian beside him.

She was still in the same position as when she reached out to wipe the blood from his wounds, her fingertips still stained with a little crimson.

Her profile remained aloof, with long, delicate eyelashes.

She looks like an ethereal, otherworldly girl who is occasionally shy.

Fang Xuan thought about it more and more and it made more sense, but it seemed like he wanted to confirm it again.

He then reached out and gently poked Ning Qian's face with his finger.

Hmm... soft... feels great.

"Hmm~?" Ning Qian was startled by the sudden touch and subconsciously turned her head, making a slightly questioning nasal sound.

He looked...dazed and a little confused, which instantly put Fang Xuan at ease.

Look, that puzzled little expression—pure, natural, and pollution-free.

Could this be a reborn, ruthless, and cunning female protagonist who has turned evil?

Fang Xuan withdrew his hand without changing his expression, and casually made up an excuse, "Ahem, there's... dust."

Ning Qian blinked. Although she found her junior brother's behavior a bit strange, she didn't delve into it.

He simply raised his hand and touched the spot where he had been poked, then continued to look warily into the depths of the hall.

"Let's go, we shouldn't stay here any longer," she whispered, instinctively trying to pull Fang Xuan behind her again.

The two continued walking deeper into the main hall, possibly towards a side hall or the rear hall.

Along the way, apart from the increasingly strong stench of blood and the occasional mutilated corpse, they encountered no other living people.

After passing through a tall archway, a relatively narrow corridor appears ahead, connecting several side halls.

With a deafening roar, the entire wall of the side hall in front was shattered by a violent surge of spiritual energy.

A figure flew backward, landing squarely on the ground less than ten feet in front of Fang Xuan and Ning Qian, raising a cloud of dust.

Fang Xuan looked closely.

An old acquaintance.

It was none other than Lu Mingxuan, the charming and debonair senior brother who had invited them to travel together.

However, at this moment, Senior Brother Lu looked rather disheveled.

His signature moon-white robe was torn in several places, covered in dust, and his hair ornament was askew; there were also several scratches on his face.

He got up from the ground, shook his head, and seemed a little dazed from the shock.

"Ahem... Junior Brother Fang?"

Before he could finish speaking, a blood-soaked figure suddenly leaped out from the dust and ruins of the side hall, wielding a long sword and charging at the three of them once again.

The spiritual energy emanating from his body had reached the late stage of the Void Core realm, but it was still unstable and unsteady.

"clang!"

A long, jet-black sword stood alone before the murderous-looking spirit sword.

The immense force of the recoil sent the late-stage Void Core cultivator flying.

Fang Xuan's wrist, which was gripping the black sword, also felt a slight numbness. The late-stage Void Core cultivator that had been plundered was indeed incredibly powerful.

"Junior Brother Fang, be careful..."

Lu Mingxuan had just started to speak when he abruptly stopped.

After Fang Xuan repelled the madman, he simply stepped forward and delivered a simple diagonal slash.

fast!

The dark blade cast a long afterimage in the dim light.

The seemingly crazed late-stage Core Formation cultivator collapsed to the ground with a "plop," blood gushing out.

Fang Xuan sheathed his sword and flicked off the blood droplets on it.

He could feel a faint spiritual energy flowing through the sword and merging into his body.

The spiritual energy within his dantian swelled slightly, and the barrier loosened a little more, bringing him closer to the late stage of the nascent core realm.

Just as the trial rules stated, killing... can level you up.

Lu Mingxuan looked at his fellow disciple who had died instantly on the ground, opened his mouth, but ultimately let out a heavy sigh.

"Junior Brother Fang...you know that rule too, right? But I don't believe it! I don't believe this evil trial really only leads to death!"

"Fellow disciples should help each other; there will always be another way to leave this place! Junior Brother Fang, if we join forces, we will surely find a way to survive!"

He spoke with such sincerity, coupled with his disheveled yet still trying-to-maintain composure.

But Fang Xuan ignored him.

You don't believe it? He does.

Since this is a fictional world, the author has the final say. If they say they'll raise Gu, then they'll raise Gu; if they say only one can live, then most likely only one will actually live.

and......

On the surface, Senior Brother Lu's aura was still at the early stage of the Void Core realm, and he even seemed somewhat unstable due to his earlier disheveled state.

However, he had a large number of spiritual treasures for exploration, and he could see that the blood-fiend spiritual power that was almost overflowing from Lu Mingxuan's body was emitting black smoke.

Moreover, the total number far exceeds the early stage of the Void Core realm, and even approaches the threshold of the Golden Core realm. How many of them must have been cut down?

.....

"Can we find the remaining few?" Fang Xuan ignored Lu Mingxuan's suggestion of joining forces and instead asked directly, his tone calm.

Lu Mingxuan spoke up: "I have a way to track down the locations of the other disciples' jade tokens... But Junior Brother Fang, we should be clear-headed. Fellow disciples should work together to get out of here."

Fang Xuan didn't bother to expose him, and simply nodded: "Let's find the person first."

Now he understands the situation much better.

Lu Mingxuan has the incomplete map given to him by his father, so he should know the tricks of the Xuanli Palace, and may even have known the trial rules for a long time.

He brought that group of "food" in, probably with the intention of devouring his fellow disciples, quickly improving himself, and then seizing the inheritance.

After all, not everyone has a magic artifact like the disciple tracking jade token; it could only be given to them by Lu Qingsong.

As for himself... Fang Xuan guessed that he might not have originally been on Lu Mingxuan's "menu," since he was a variable that suddenly appeared.

But Lu Mingxuan was greedy. Seeing that he was talented and strong, he thought he was a "fat piece of meat" and took the initiative to invite him in, wanting to bring him in and devour him as well.

......

"Okay... alright." Lu Mingxuan seemed to have made a great decision. He took out a compass-shaped magic artifact from his pocket and channeled his spiritual power into it.

The compass needle spun rapidly, eventually pointing towards a direction deeper within the main hall.

"Over there... it seems there are only two spiritual energy reactions left."

Fang Xuan looked in the direction he pointed, which led to the back of the main hall, possibly to the sleeping quarters.

Are there only two left?

In other words, apart from the three of them, almost all the young elites of the Qingyun Sect who entered the Xuanli Palace were dead.

If the higher-ups of the Qingyun Sect knew about this casualty rate, they'd probably be spitting blood.

Fang Xuan took the lead and walked in that direction, with Ning Qian silently following behind, still remaining vigilant...