When I woke up, the entire cultivation world was talking about my master.

"...Of course I know," Chu Xianlan said slowly. "I will do my best, because I don't want to make things difficult for Master, nor do I want to... annoy Master."

Yi Chen felt as if something had gently tugged at his heart, leaving him inexplicably feeling stifled.

He spoke, his voice strained: "Is it really impossible to let go?"

Put aside these inappropriate thoughts and those inappropriate ideas, and get back on the right track.

But Chu Xianlan shook her head seriously.

"cannot."

A clear light gradually gathered in his eyes, and he repeated with a certain force and stubbornness, "Master, this is the one thing I will never give up on."

"..."

"Ah—my head hurts so much!" Suddenly, Chu Xianlan frowned and shook her head frantically.

Yi Chen snapped out of his daze and felt a pang of guilt seeing his distress. He placed his palm on the back of his head and soothed him gently, "Don't be afraid, you've just been poisoned by a Gu. You'll be fine once the poison is removed."

It felt nice to have someone pat her head, but her body was also uncomfortable. Chu Xianlan took the opportunity to bury her head in Yi Chen's shoulder and rub against him like a spoiled puppy.

"Hmm... bewitched? What is that?" His mind was in a daze for a moment before he understood what Yi Chen was saying.

Clearly, he had no recollection of his earlier, rather dramatic, confession.

After a long while, a sigh was heard in the air.

Well then, why worry too much about this matter? After all...

Who in this world would truly accept a half-demon?

Even if Chu Xianlan is now so infatuated, the one he admires is probably only the unattainable and flawless Immortal Lord Jixue in his heart.

Rather than "Yi Chen," who hides beneath this celestial skin and possesses half-demon blood.

A cold wind swept across the bottom of the cliff, bringing a bone-chilling cold.

Yi Chen suppressed the turmoil in his heart and didn't give Chu Xianlan another chance to talk nonsense. Just as he was about to leave with his people, his arm was grabbed forcefully!

Immediately afterwards, a suppressed groan of pain came from her arms.

"Ugh—!"

Looking down, the boy's face, which had been relatively normal just moments before, had lost all color. He was breathing heavily, and fine beads of cold sweat were visible on his skin. Veins were bulging on his forehead, his body was twitching slightly, and his arms were gradually losing strength.

Yi Chen's expression hardened slightly. He immediately helped the person up, placed his palm on the person's back, and probed the person's condition along the meridians.

As the peaceful spiritual energy slowly flowed in, a thin black shadow vaguely appeared on Chu Xianlan's neck, moving slowly.

It's a Gu worm!

Yi Chen's eyes flashed, and he urged his spiritual power to try to suppress the Gu worm temporarily. However, as soon as his spiritual power approached, the Gu worm seemed to sense a fatal threat and instantly gave up its slow crawling. Instead, it rushed towards the heart meridian like a madman!

Chu Xianlan trembled all over and finally couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of red and black blood, which splattered onto Yi Chen's white robes, looking glaringly conspicuous.

"Master...Master..." Chu Xianlan stammered repeatedly, awkwardly covering her mouth with the back of her hand.

Yi Chen quickly wiped the blood from his disciple's lips and chin with his sleeve, and said in a deep voice, "Bear with it, don't be afraid, your master is here."

He wasn't a medical practitioner and didn't have a deep understanding of Gu techniques. Even so, he deduced that the Gu afflicting Chu Xianlan was extremely insidious. Rashly forcing it out with spiritual power or forcibly suppressing it would only provoke it to go berserk and accelerate the damage to its host. However, if left unattended, it would burrow into the heart meridian within a short time, at which point even extraordinary abilities would be insufficient to save it.

But Chu Xianlan's condition was deteriorating rapidly.

Can't delay any longer.

A thought flashed through Yi Chen's mind: Gu is inherently evil, greedy, and unable to resist a more powerful host.

His cultivation had reached the Nascent Soul stage, and he possessed half-demon blood. Both his physical body and spiritual power surpassed those of ordinary people. It would be better to transfer the Gu worm to himself first, and then find an opportunity to exorcise it later.

With that thought in mind, he no longer hesitated. He expressionlessly sliced ​​open the inside of his wrist, and a bead of crimson blood seeped out, instantly emitting a spiritual power far more powerful and alluring than that of Chu Xianlan.

Immediately afterwards, he lifted the disciple's limp hand and used his spiritual power to pierce a small wound on the wrist.

The master and disciple interlocked their fingers, faced each other, and pressed their wrists together, their spiritual energy merging.

Chu Xianlan's fingertips flinched, as if he wanted to pull his hand back, but Yi Chen's strength was steady as he gripped his wrist. "Xianlan, don't move."

The Gu worms in the meridians seemed to have smelled an unparalleled delicacy, and they wriggled restlessly for a few moments before turning around.

At the same time, Chu Xianlan let out a muffled groan, her rapid breathing becoming somewhat calmer.

Seeing that the method was effective, Yi Chen felt a little more at ease. He closed his eyes, concentrated, and guided the Gu worms away from Chu Xianlan's body and into his own.

Just then, something unexpected happened!

—The thin black shadow stopped moving at the wound, and at the critical moment, it broke off its body and split in two.

Half of it turned into a blur, swiftly burrowing into Yi Chen's wrist, while the other half instantly shrank back into Chu Xianlan's body and disappeared!

What exactly happened?

The incident happened so suddenly that before Yi Chen could think of a solution, Chu Xianlan let out a soft hum, her body went limp, and she fell completely into his arms.

Yi Chen's heart tightened, thinking that something else had happened, but the boy's brows relaxed and the pain on his face had faded considerably.

Not only did its color return at a visible speed, but the dark purple veins that had bulged due to the movement of the Gu worms also gradually subsided, and the spiritual energy fluctuations around its body became stable.

He turned his palm over and focused his inner vision, but could not sense the presence of the Gu worm at all.

Therefore, after the half of the Gu worm broke off strangely, it not only did not continue to cause trouble, but it seemed to have completely disappeared, and no abnormal activity could be detected anymore.

Upon further investigation, it was found that Chu Xianlan's situation was the same.

Yi Chen looked down at the person in his arms. The other person's lips were slightly pursed, and long eyelashes were quietly lowered. If you ignored those hidden thoughts and just looked at their appearance at this moment... they were indeed obedient.

"Huff... huff..."

Is she asleep?

Yi Chen raised his hand to check his disciple's breathing; it was long and even, indicating that he was indeed sleeping soundly.

Ugh.

The night wind dispersed the stench of blood in the air, and a white figure pierced through layers of clouds and mist, riding the clear moonlight away from the bottom of the cliff.

-

Chu Xianlan didn't know how long she had slept before she woke up feeling dizzy and disoriented.

Finding himself lying in a familiar room, he blinked and stared blankly for a long time before suddenly throwing off the covers.

There are no missing arms or legs.

Fragmented memories pieced together, the last memory lingering on the edge of the Cliff of Contemplation... He was grabbing Qiao Yu when suddenly the girl burst into a maniacal laugh, transforming into a monster. He was caught in the aftershock and fell off the Cliff of Contemplation. In his last moments before losing consciousness, he used all his strength to hook the Immortal Binding Rope onto a thick ancient tree on the cliff face.

After that, I don't remember anything.

...And half-demons!

Yes, Qiao Yu is a half-demon hiding within the Taiyi Sect!

Chu Xianlan instantly came to her senses. Without thinking too much, she just wanted to find someone to find out what happened next.

As soon as I stepped out of the room, I was greeted by a refreshing, crisp scent.

"Well!"

The boy groaned in pain, and their gazes met simultaneously. A pair of calm, deep gray eyes were staring at them.

Seeing him rush out recklessly and without regard for anything else, Yi Chen frowned almost imperceptibly, a hint of displeasure rising within him.

The injury hasn't healed yet, so why are you being so restless right after waking up?