Lord Holy Sword is unreliable again.

"what!"

Wang Hong winced in pain, his breathing becoming uncontrollably labored. His eyes widened in fury as he glared resentfully at Lu Qingyuan, who held the knife in one hand, and roared, "Why are you hitting him like that?!"

"So it's all bark and no bite, all show and no substance!" Lu Qingyuan stood proudly, gently shaking her head, a subtle smile playing on her lips.

The moonlight streamed in through the window, illuminating her jade-like profile and making her eyes sparkle.

She sheathed her sword, giving Wang Hong a half-smile, but her eyes were fixed on the holy sword between Wang Hong's brows. "Also, stop making such a fuss. If I hadn't blocked out all the sounds and smells in this place, a large group of people would have already blocked the door."

"What were you doing, touching my bride's hand just now?!"

Wang Hong felt extremely guilty, but pointed at Number 18 with a puzzled look: "I was disguised as Shi Nutian, and I needed to make physical contact with Shi Nutian. Did I just touch her hand? I don't quite remember..."

"This guy is definitely doing this on purpose!" Lu Qingyuan thought to himself, annoyed. He sneered, "You, Lord Wang, were terrified of this place, but now you're suddenly not leaving and have even transformed into Shi Nutian. I wonder what brilliant tricks you have up your sleeve, Lord Wang?"

Wang Hong said calmly, "It's very simple. I'll pretend to be Shi Nutian, and you'll pretend to be my bed warmer. The two of us will go with Qingxiang to check out the situation outside and look for clues for you."

Lu Qingyuan laughed in anger: "You, a mere mortal, want to find clues for me? Do you even know what clues you're looking for?" Her voice held a hint of rage as she questioned, "Do you know how weak you are? Qingxiang can easily manipulate you!"

"Cultivation level is only one part of strength. Since you have a way to take me away, how about we give it our all before we leave?"

"Haven't you always wanted to uncover my secrets? This is a good opportunity. And if I'm in a good mood, I might even tell you some secrets," Wang Hong said meaningfully.

"What secret?"

"Your bride isn't some kind of magic weapon at all. It's called Tianxuan No. 18!" Wang Hong's calm voice carried a hint of smugness. Seeing that Lu Qingyuan was about to speak, he put on a lazy demeanor. "You'll need to exchange something for the rest of the information."

Lu Qingyuan's eyes flashed with a sharp light: "What do you want?"

"I haven't decided yet, so you'd better make me happy right now. You don't want to lose the chance to activate Number 18 because of this, do you?"

Upon hearing the word "activate," Lu Qingyuan knew that Wang Hong must know its secret!

She harbored a deep resentment towards Wang Hong, yet she was also puzzled by his true intentions. She didn't believe that this guy really wanted to help her investigate the Lu family's secrets!

After considering all the possible consequences, Lu Qingyuan finally made up her mind. She looked at Qingxiang, her gaze calm yet sharp: "Qingxiang, we've known each other for six years now, and I trust my judgment. Look at this."

Before she finished speaking, a black and gold token flew from her palm and landed steadily in Qingxiang's hand.

Qingxiang was horrified; the scent emanating from it...

"This was found on Wang Dutou, who had close ties with your father." Lu Qingyuan stared into her eyes, his tone calm yet carrying a subtle sense of pressure. "This aura... I probably don't need to elaborate. And you must have already sensed that something's fishy going on behind the scenes, right?"

She paused slightly, her voice softening: "Let's work together to investigate the secrets behind this. If things don't work out, I'll make sure you both get out of here safely."

"So you knew all along? My father..." Qingxiang looked at Lu Qingyuan with a complicated expression. Yes, she was a Heavenly Fox!

"I'll go with you!"

Hearing this, Lu Qingyuan felt somewhat relieved. It seemed that Qingxiang, that silly girl, wasn't so foolish after all. She waved her hand towards Wang Hongyu, then suddenly paused. Giving him this? It didn't seem appropriate...

After hesitating for a moment, Lu Qingyuan took out a green, ancient jade slip from his bosom: "This ancient slip was bestowed by an elder of the clan. It can withstand threats from the Golden Core stage. If you encounter danger, crush it, and it will generate a protective aura to save your life."

Threat of the Golden Core stage...

Wang Hong felt the faint warmth emanating from the ancient jade slip, his heart filled with unreadable emotions. Alone and isolated, he had finally felt a glimmer of warmth in this cold and indifferent world.

Even if this warmth is because of Lu Huaiyuan...

Wang Hong excitedly grasped Lu Qingyuan's hand: "Qingyuan, you're so kind."

[In-depth analysis: Lu Qingyuan]

[Race: Spirit Fox Clan. Divine Beast Bloodline Detected: Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox, one of the most powerful and ancient bloodlines among Spirit Foxes. ******]

Bloodline purity: 21%

[Cultivation Level: Peak Foundation Establishment, Spiritual Energy Attribute: Water]

[Cultivation Technique: Nine-Tailed Sacred Fox Manual, incomplete. Grade Assessment: Earth Rank]

Local goods?

Although Wang Hong was puzzled, the Holy Sword did not offer any further explanation.

At this moment, a faint thread overflowed from the depths of Lu Qingyuan's dantian, entered Wang Hong's brow, and merged with the Holy Sword. It also seemed that energy was being transmitted from the Holy Sword back to Lu Qingyuan's body through the thread.

[High-level magic treasure detected: Nine Lotus Lantern. Rank: ****]

[Nine Lotus Lantern: A natal magic weapon of the Nine-Tailed Fox from ten thousand years ago. Due to [unclear] and the influence of the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, its [unclear] is in a dormant state.]

"Wang Hong! What are you doing!" Lu Qingyuan was shocked and angry. She felt a faint fluctuation coming from Wang Hong's brow. The blood in her body was stimulated by this sudden energy and began to tremble violently. A slight soreness came from her meridians, as if something was about to break free of its restraints.

She instinctively tried to pull her hand away, but Wang Hong seemed deaf and didn't hear her, holding on tightly.

The Nine Lotus Lantern was created by an ancient sage of the Spirit Fox Clan, who painstakingly refined nine naturally occurring and rare materials into nine lotus flowers, and then transformed the essence of a wondrous fire from heaven and earth into the wick. Only by fusing the two could this treasure be formed.

At this moment, the fine lines between the Holy Sword and the Nine Lotus Lantern became increasingly dense, and Lu Qingyuan was also attracted by the scene before her, and couldn't help but grasp Wang Hong's hand in return.

The threads eventually intertwined into a dense spiritual net, tightly binding the two people's hands. The Holy Sword and the Nine Lotus Lantern resonated wildly along this spiritual net.

At the same time, a shimmering white aura appeared in the void behind her, and the phantom of a nine-tailed celestial fox slowly materialized.

Its silver-gray fur shimmered faintly, with only two tails that were slightly solidified, their tips adorned with a few wisps of very faint watery light; the other seven were ethereal shadows, lingering on both sides of the fox's body, making it difficult to discern the fur's texture.

The energy torrents that converged from those fine lines intertwined and gathered, like ocean waves, surging but not fierce, surging but not stagnant, following the meridian lines, slowly flowing over Lu Qingyuan's limbs and bones, converging towards the nine lotus flowers in her dantian.

"Mmm~" Lu Qingyuan closed her eyes lightly and let out a soft moan.

The essence of the nine tails hidden within her body slowly peeled away from the depths of her bloodline, transforming into wisps of pale golden blood light. Like a stream flowing through the mountains, these wisps followed the trajectory of a torrent, gurgling together towards the center of her dantian.

The few drops of Nine-Tailed Fox essence blood that were originally so scarce now shimmered like a small lake.

Nine crystal-clear lotus flowers tightly wrapped around the lake, their aura growing ever more lingering and profound.

Within his dantian, the spiritual energy became pure and abundant, and even the barrier of the peak Foundation Establishment stage began to show signs of loosening.

As the bloodline continued to condense, the phantom of the nine-tailed celestial fox gradually became clearer and more three-dimensional, its fur slowly transforming from silver-gray to a mix of gold and white, and its three fox tails becoming almost tangible.

Its fox-like eyes were clear and bright, surrounded by a faint halo, exuding an aura of holiness.

Lu Qingyuan sensed that his cultivation technique, the Nine-Tailed Sacred Fox Technique, had advanced further, and its operation was now smoother and more fluid.

The third bloodline supernatural power has finally awakened—Sacred Fox Burning Heaven.

The holy sword in Wang Hong's sea of ​​consciousness trembled and slowly fell silent, while the threads became dim and gradually disappeared.

The Holy Sword currently has a low spiritual energy reserve of 10, making it unable to awaken the Nine Lotus Lantern.

Wang Hong roared in fury, "Holy Sword! What are you doing?!"

This spendthrift! I worked so hard, selling my blood and flesh to earn this seventh-grade pill, and you just wasted it like this?

Why did you wake it up? Wouldn't it be better to keep it for yourself?

Wang Hong was furious. Although he didn't know what the nano-energy source of the Holy Sword could do, no matter what, this energy belonged to the sword wielder. Now the sword had actually taken over the sword wielder's property and given away this energy without permission!

And it's all just to wake it up!

It failed!

Wang Hong was exasperated. "You idiot Holy Sword, you can't even get a thank you!"

"Thank you, Wang Hong." Lu Qingyuan released Wang Hong's hand, bit her lip lightly, looked up at Wang Hong, her eyes sparkling with admiration, "You're so kind."

The nine lotus flowers within his body radiated an unprecedented brilliance, and the bloodline of the nine tails was truly activated. He could now freely mobilize the power of the nine tails' essence blood.

Wang Hong's regretful, angry, and resentful expression was deeply etched into Lu Qingyuan's mind.

He must have paid a heavy price.

This guy may seem annoying, but he's actually a good person at heart.

Feeling the pure and powerful Nine-Tailed Bloodline within his body, and the power that was about to break through the Foundation Establishment barrier, Lu Qingyuan's heart was filled with excitement, and a surge of pride welled up from the bottom of his heart.

The two beams of light that materialized in her eyes almost blinded Wang Hong. With her unparalleled talent, becoming an immortal was not just a goal for her, but an inevitability!