Brother, how come you're a witch?

How is that possible?

Liu Baishuang's eyes narrowed, and she hesitated for a moment while holding her sword, not rushing to her demon's side to help.

The figure confronting Da Ya was enveloped in a chilling black aura that she recognized all too well; it was a unique power born from the blood of the Heavenly Demon.

Is it a demon?!

Liu Baishuang's hand holding the sword trembled slightly.

Although she had half the blood of the Heavenly Demon flowing through her veins, she had not had much contact with the Heavenly Demon.

Powerful, brutal, evil... She had only learned about this race from her master or from the Xuanqing Sect's teachings.

Even though she knew that she would lead the Heavenly Demons to conquer the cultivation world in the future, she didn't really feel it.

If it's a celestial demon, why is it attacking my demon?

Is this ethnic group so brutal that they even fight their own people?

While Liu Baishuang was still in a daze, Da Ya had already pounced on her again.

"roar!"

Seemingly sensing the arrival of its leader, it grew bolder and let out a deafening roar.

But it was no use. The black figure simply raised its foot and stomped hard on Big Tooth's head, stopping its forward momentum, and then slid in to knock it into a tree.

"boom."

The tree collapsed under the weight of the monster's body, and Big Tooth lay on its side among the broken branches, looking at Liu Baishuang with a dazed expression.

Boss, why are you just watching?

The same thing happened last time; they issued such strange orders.

Did you really betray me?

"Don't make a sound, I'm thinking."

Liu Baishuang bit her lip, suppressing the questions that kept welling up in her veins, and let out a soft breath.

She knew it was time for her to go in.

"Zzzzt—"

With her longsword held horizontally and spiritual energy surging forth, Liu Baishuang moved like a snowflake, drifting towards the dark figure.

Her movements were slow and gentle, yet incredibly fast, leaving a long, snow-white sword mark as she pierced the enemy with chilling force.

The dark figure still raised his foot and kicked at the incoming sword light.

The two contrasting colors, white and black, were clearly distinct. As the two forces clashed, a sharp buzzing sound erupted, causing the surrounding tree shadows to tilt and sway, startling a flock of birds into flight.

"roar!"

The short-tailed creature suddenly darted out of the forest, charging towards the dark figure despite the aftershocks of the explosion.

It only possessed peak Qi Refining strength and would normally have been unable to participate in the battle, but in the moment when Liu Baishuang was locked in a stalemate with the enemy, it had an opportunity to attack.

"A single strike and you're out!"

Liu Baishuang gave a light shout, issuing an order to the short-tailed man.

The latter followed the leader's orders, leaped up and slapped the black figure across the face, then turned and ran.

That night, it was one of those who fanned the leaves and startled the autumn wind. This time, it was naturally skilled and even gained a strange sense of pleasure from fanning an enemy stronger than itself.

The black figure was knocked off balance by the blow. It was already standing on one leg and had put all its strength into resisting Liu Baishuang. After being hit by the attack from the side, it could no longer stand steadily.

It tilted to the side, revealing an even bigger flaw.

Liu Baishuang's eyes sharpened; she naturally wouldn't let it go. She thrust her longsword at the bright moon, then slashed down along with the moonlight, heavily cutting the black figure to the ground.

The sword struck squarely, but no blood was drawn. The black aura, like armor, firmly embedded itself in Liu Baishuang's sword.

"snort."

Liu Baishuang snorted softly, stepped onto the chest of the dark figure, flipped her longsword and thrust it down fiercely.

But this still failed to break through the shadow's defenses. Instead, the black energy, like tentacles emerging from the mud, spread up to the sword tip and tightly enveloped it.

"This is such a hassle."

Liu Baishuang frowned. She could also use black energy, but only as an opponent would one know how annoying this ability was.

She could sense that the black figure's cultivation level was not as high as hers, probably only at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, which was why it could hold its own against her for a short time, relying entirely on the dense black energy.

What a weak Heavenly Demon.

Since that's the case, then I'll use this power too!

Blackness rose in Liu Baishuang's eyes, and the long-dormant blood of the Heavenly Demon gradually boiled.

Blackness spilled from her fingertips, covering the sword blade, which then curved and drooped down like a venomous snake.

The two streams of black energy clashed at the middle of the longsword.

The black aura released by the black figure trembled suddenly, and then, as if it had encountered something terrifying, it quickly shrank back.

"Um?"

Liu Baishuang was taken aback.

As they continued to try to push the black energy forward, the blackness on the person beneath their feet kept retreating and disappeared in the blink of an eye, revealing the true form of the 'Heavenly Demon' within.

"this?"

Liu Baishuang raised an eyebrow, then narrowed her eyes.

Is this thing a demon?

No, that's definitely not it.

The person beneath his feet was a long-haired, snow-white girl, much shorter than Ye Jingqiu, but the rise and fall of her chest was equivalent to three Ye Jingqius.

She was dressed in an old Xuanqing Sect inner disciple's robe, but the aura emanating from her was not that of a human, but rather that of a demon beast.

The girl's crimson pupils still had some black mist around the edges, but her gaze was very clear as she stared at Liu Baishuang, who was trembling.

"Guh, no, don't kill me."

She trembled and begged for mercy, her voice soft and fearful. Her brows twitched with spiritual energy, as if she were casting some kind of spell, but it failed.

"..."

Liu Baishuang paused for a moment, then raised her sword and placed it against the man's fair neck:

"I ask, you answer."

"Hey!"

"name."

"Ning, Ning Jiu."

"A Heavenly Demon, a human, or a demon beast?"

"A demonic beast..."

"You, a mid-Foundation Establishment stage demon beast, can transform into human form?" Liu Baishuang raised an eyebrow.

"I...I don't know either! Something black grabbed me and started pouring black gas into my mouth. My stomach was so full that I suddenly became intelligent!"

Ning Jiu lay on the ground, her hands trembling as she held them beside her head and said:

"And then, I found myself becoming like this."

"What's this?"

Liu Baishuang frowned. It sounded like it was contaminated by a demon, but it wasn't blood that was used.

Polluting living beings with black gas alone will be very slow. What is the deeper meaning behind doing this?

Moreover, how could pollution cause demonic beasts to transform prematurely? She had no idea that the blood of the Heavenly Demon had such an ability.

One mystery after another emerged. Liu Baishuang lowered her grip on the sword slightly and continued to ask:

"Where's the guy who polluted you?"

"I don't know... Guh! No, I, I'm not lying to you, I'm a rabbit, I can teleport."

Ning Jiu felt the sword getting closer and closer to her neck. She swallowed fearfully, then raised two fingers on each side of her head, mimicking the curling of rabbit ears.

"As soon as I gained my powers of intelligence, I was so scared that I ran away, and I haven't seen that guy since!"

"A racial talent? So, the flash between your eyebrows just now, were you preparing to teleport away?"

"Waaah... I didn't run away this time either."

Ning Jiu's eyes darted around, not daring to look at Liu Baishuang.

"snort."

Liu Baishuang snorted coldly:

"So, were you the one who saw me with the monster that night?"

"It's me..."

"No wonder you seemed to disappear suddenly. If you ran away, why did you come back? And why are you fighting my monsters?"

"It's been three days already, I had to come back soon, I was already losing consciousness..."

Ning Jiu shrank his neck, and before he could finish speaking, a wolf howl suddenly came from the forest not far away.

Immediately afterwards, howls rose one after another and quickly approached.

"A pack of wolves?"

Liu Baishuang looked up in the direction from which the howling sound came, her face showing confusion.

It's not surprising that there are wolf-like monsters in Guanyu Valley, but such a large-scale sudden action is quite unusual.

"These, they, they might be here to save me."

Ning Jiu, with the sword pressed against the ground, scratched his head with a slightly happy expression:

"I live with them, and we're... pretty familiar with each other."