Brother, how come you're a witch?

Shuiyue Peak.

Liu Baishuang sat on a swing by the pond in the garden behind the mountain, gazing blankly at the moon in the night sky.

She placed the spirit beast cage on another swing next to it. The little oriole had calmed down and was preening its feathers in the cage. The swing swayed slightly in the wind, making it feel quite comfortable.

"Hmm..."

Liu Baishuang's eyelashes drooped slightly, and she picked up the jade token for sending messages again.

The last message above was sent by her, but Su Yan has not replied.

She couldn't help but feel annoyed that her words had been too hasty. Why did she have to tell Su Yan to tell her immediately if he had any news?

This doesn't fit her usual tone over the past two months. Could it be that she's already seen through her act?

Liu Baishuang held the jade token, her cheeks puffing up and then deflated.

She was indeed too hasty. The investigation into Mo Yu of Spirit Beast Peak was difficult to continue, and although his death was somewhat strange, it might not be related to the person who saw her secret.

She had six days left on her deadline, and she couldn't afford to waste them. She also needed to spare some time to investigate the disciples of other Beast Taming Immortal Peaks.

If she could get timely updates on the investigation into Mo Yu from Su Yan, it would save her a lot of time.

"Ugh."

Liu Baishuang sighed softly.

"Shuang'er, what's wrong? You're not happy even though you've raised a spirit beast. I thought it was just a passing fancy, but I didn't expect you to actually bring one back."

Xu Qinglan's voice suddenly came from behind:

"Hmm, not bad. A golden oriole that carries the wind. Its song can soothe the spirit. It eats little and is easy to take care of. It won't affect your cultivation. It's perfect for you to raise."

"Master?"

Liu Baishuang suddenly turned around and saw Xu Qinglan, her fairy dress fluttering, standing behind her without her noticing.

The mad swordsman picked up the little oriole's cage, sat on the swing, placed the cage on his lap, and gently pushed off with his feet, swaying gracefully.

"Oh dear, I'm exhausted. That old guy Chen Yixing dragged me through more than a hundred sets of data."

Xu Qinglan stretched out her voluptuous figure and smiled at Liu Baishuang:

"But it is indeed interesting. That beast-taming spell can not only be circulated with true qi, but how much stronger the spirit beast becomes depends almost entirely on emotions, with spiritual power having a negligible influence."

"Master, you've worked hard~"

Liu Baishuang smiled sweetly at her master as usual.

"It's tough—the tough part is listening to Chen Yixing talk about that kid named Su Yan until my ears are calloused."

Xu Qinglan raised an eyebrow and lowered her voice:

"So, did you find out any weaknesses about Ye Jingqiu from that kid?"

"Master, there's no one else here."

Liu Baishuang stuck out her tongue:

"We discovered a slight flaw in Ye Jingqiu's swordsmanship footwork."

"Oh? He actually knows."

Xu Qinglan was slightly surprised. She thought that even if Su Yan knew something, it would be rather vague. She never expected that he could be so specific as to describe the steps.

"Master, Su Yan's swordsmanship is not bad, otherwise Ye Jingqiu would not always be with him."

Liu Baishuang's eyes flashed slightly as she began to lay the groundwork for recruiting Su Yan into Shuiyue Peak:

"Didn't you say that before reaching the Nascent Soul stage, cultivators don't have long lifespans, so they can't widen the gap in sword skills accumulated over time? A Qi Refining cultivator with a bit of talent might not be weaker than a Core Formation cultivator in terms of sword skills alone?"

"So, he's quite talented."

Xu Qinglan smiled, shook her head, and said:

"Unfortunately, his talent is not good enough, and he will eventually be limited by his lifespan, unable to go further in the way of the sword."

"There are precedents for people with five spiritual roots forming a Nascent Soul, aren't there?" Liu Baishuang tilted her head.

"One in a million."

Xu Qinglan waved his hand:

"Alright, let's not talk about this person anymore. Even if he has some talent in swordsmanship, as a disciple of my Xuanqing Sect, he is associating with people from the Sword Ruins. Clearly, his character is flawed and he is not worth befriending."

"oh."

Liu Baishuang stuck out her tongue slightly and gave a soft reply.

"Alright, that's enough. Don't stand here in the wind."

Xu Qinglan stood up, carrying the little oriole cage, and patted Liu Baishuang's head:

"When I returned, I went to the arena and got some pastries and fruits for us to eat."

"good!"

Liu Baishuang jumped up happily.

But then my nose suddenly stung.

I don't know how many more days I can endure like this.

She pursed her lips and tugged at Xu Qinglan's sleeve:

"Master... I heard about Senior Sister Mo Yu on Spirit Beast Peak."

"Mo Yu? Ah, that old man Chen Yixing's biggest worry."

Xu Qinglan was slightly taken aback, and sighed softly:

"She was a good girl. After she died, I was the one who went to the scene to investigate."

"Um?"

Liu Baishuang was taken aback.

She brought this up to express her premonition of sadness, wondering, "If I were no longer here, would you still think of me like this?"

But upon suddenly hearing that his master had been involved in this matter, he quickly turned and asked in a low voice:

"Master, why did you get involved in this?"

"It was both that old fellow Chen Yixing who asked me for help, and it was also my duty as an elder."

Xu Qinglan glanced at Liu Baishuang, and without thinking much of it, said:

"The place she went out to investigate was in Yanshan, which is still within the territory of Xuanqing Sect. Since a half-demon beast appeared there, it is natural to go and take a look."

"Huh?"

Liu Baishuang opened her eyes wide.

Is it inside the Xuanqing Sect?

When Ji Yi told her about this, she thought that Mo Yu must have gone to the demon territory adjacent to Xuanqing Sect. There were many demons there, and because of the chaotic space and lax management, weak demons would occasionally appear.

The beings of this world first discovered the existence of Heavenly Demons in the territory of the Demon Race.

But she never imagined that this would happen at Yanshan within the Xuanqing Sect.

"Master, but... but what did you find there?" Liu Baishuang swallowed hard.

"It's nothing. That half-demon beast was killed on the spot. I searched the surrounding area for miles and found a Foundation Establishment demon, which I killed casually."

Xu Qinglan tapped her chin with her fingers and thought for a moment:

"It seems that the Foundation Establishment demonic creature crossed over from the demonic territory and corrupted the demonic beast."

No, no, no, no, no.

Liu Baishuang shook her head vigorously in her heart.

At this point in time, although the beings of this world had fought several bloody battles with the Heavenly Demon and thus deeply hated it, their research on the Heavenly Demon was still relatively backward.

Most cultivators only know that the blood of the Heavenly Demon can corrupt demonic beasts and turn them into demons, but they are not aware of the limitations involved.

The blood of ordinary monsters does not have the ability to contaminate.

Even the weakest of the Heavenly Demons can corrupt demonic beasts.

Liu Baishuang knew all too well that half of her blood was that of a Heavenly Demon.

She was also certain that she had not polluted any demonic beasts near Yanshan a year ago.

She only had a few men, and not one of them was missing.

so......

There was likely a real demon on Yan Mountain a year ago, but Xu Qinglan did not discover it.

Could it be a coincidence?

Liu Baishuang's long eyelashes trembled slightly.

She recalled the fabricated messages she had sent to fool Su Yan.

Or... was it a self-fulfilling prophecy?