It turns out, they were the main characters.

Is this a reward from the Sword Palace for passing the first test... or a trap? Mu Zhian was a little unsure.

Although somewhat tempted, Mu Zhian did not approach rashly. Instead, after getting close to the cave entrance, he used his spiritual sense to scan the vicinity of the entrance to check for the presence of any formations.

After a brief confirmation with his spiritual senses, Mu Zhian finally felt relieved.

"There's no formation... Let's go take a look."

Wei Mengrou followed behind Mu Zhian and soon arrived at the entrance of the cave, which was filled with all sorts of strange rocks.

All around were spirit mines like this. Mu Zhian touched one of the spirit mines and quickly felt the special spiritual energy contained in the stone.

Clearly, there is a special spiritual stone hidden inside this stone!

Mu Zhian checked the other strange rocks nearby again and found that each of them carried the same wisp of spiritual energy.

“If we cut all these stones open and take out the special spirit stones inside, it might allow you to advance one or two ranks directly.” Wei Mengrou said with some surprise.

"To test me with so much abundant spirit ore, who can withstand this..." Mu Zhian couldn't help but sigh softly.

Those born with a spiritual body have an excellent affinity for the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. This is not only beneficial for alchemy, but also for absorbing spiritual energy in battle and even for things like cutting stones.

Under normal circumstances, ordinary people cannot use their spiritual sense to determine whether there are good or bad things in a spirit mine, but those with innate spiritual bodies can roughly distinguish them.

If Ye Lingxuan, the original owner of this innate spiritual body, were to come, she could probably pick out the best piece of spiritual ore from these hundreds of minerals.

It's a pity that Lingxuan is still receiving the inheritance... Mu Zhian couldn't help but feel a little regretful, and then he was about to reach out and touch one of the spirit mines.

However, just as his fingers touched the surface of the spirit ore, he suddenly sensed a fierce aura approaching from the horizon.

Wei Mengrou reacted almost immediately and became alert.

Mu Zhian looked up and saw a stunningly beautiful white figure crashing into the ground like a meteorite.

boom!

A slight tremor sounded, and Mu Zhian reacted quickly, taking several steps back before the figure hit the ground.

He then glanced down at the girl who had just crashed to the ground.

"Holy crap, a female lead suddenly appeared out of nowhere?!"

Of course, this was just Mu Zhian's吐槽 (tu cao, a Chinese internet slang term for sarcastic or critical comments). Although the woman who appeared in his field of vision was indeed a great beauty, she was obviously fleeing from some kind of pursuit, which was why she was in such a hurry to escape.

The protective layer around her, shimmering with a faint white halo, quietly dissipated, revealing a somewhat unfamiliar young girl. She wore a pinkish-white ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress) with a cinched waist, and one of her small embroidered shoes had been lost during her escape. Her leg was slightly tilted to one side, and a trace of blood oozed from her pale lips.

The girl was clearly seriously injured; her chest was stained with large patches of blood, her hair was disheveled, and bloodstains and sweat were sliding down her forehead.

When Mu Zhian saw her, one person immediately came to mind: Regina.

Although there is probably no connection between the two, the girl's temperament is similar to that of Regina, both of them having a somewhat sickly appearance.

I remember that the daughter of the Xuan Yin Palace Master possessed the rare Xuan Yin Body, which is why she was born weak... Could it be her?

As Mu Zhian was speculating about this, the girl slowly raised her head, leaning on her sword. Her dark eyes held a hint of wariness as she softly asked, "Who are you?"

As she spoke, she unconsciously gripped the hilt of her sword, her wary gaze revealing more weariness and regret than anything else.

If she had known how dangerous the outside world was, she would never have left the Xuan Yin Palace and gone to the Sword Palace alone...

No, the danger isn't external things, but people's hearts.

In the past, Lin Keyu would never have imagined that the older brother next door who treated her like a brother would be so ruthless and decisive this time.

If it weren't for the fragments of the ancestral artifact left on her by her father, she would probably be dead by now.

Ultimately, if it weren't for this fragment of the ancestral artifact, they wouldn't have been chasing him.

Lin Keyu couldn't help but let out a self-deprecating smile, imagining that after her death, the other party would pretend that she had encountered an accident in the Sword Palace, and even hypocritically comfort her grieving father...

Just thinking about this ignited a burning hatred in the girl's heart.

...You can't die yet!

At the very least, Dad should know that person's true colors!

Just as she was thinking this, the girl heard a casual voice asking, "That's what I should be asking you. Who are you? Judging from the looks of it, you seem to be being chased...?"

The girl raised her already blurry vision, biting her lower lip hard as if to maintain her last shred of consciousness, and said succinctly:

“Fellow Daoist, if you leave the Sword Palace this time, please report to the Hall Master of the Xuan Yin Hall that the young master of the Qian Yuan Pavilion stole my ancestral artifact fragment and faked that I encountered an accident in the Sword Palace… After you inform him of this, my father will definitely reward you handsomely.”

Yes, her spiritual energy is almost depleted right now, so escaping the Sword Palace is not a realistic possibility... However, she can ask someone to convey her message to the Xuan Yin Palace.

Once Father knows about this, he will no longer be deceived by the people of Qianyuan Pavilion.

"Your father?"

Mu Zhian seemed intrigued and asked, "Are you Lin Keyu, the daughter of the Xuan Yin Palace Master?"

As he spoke, a talisman in his hand quietly burned, and at the same time, Mu Zhian's eyes turned into a beautiful pale gold.

The art of observing qi.

Using this aura-observation talisman, he could tell whether the girl in front of him was lying.

"You know me...?" Lin Keyu, struggling to stay conscious, bit her lower lip and stared intently at Mu Zhian.

Despite her disheveled appearance, it's still easy to see that she's a pampered young lady, as evidenced by her delicate demeanor, flawless fair face, and moist, gentle eyes.

"I've heard of it," Mu Zhian said with a smile.

A hint of joy flashed in Lin Keyu's eyes. She endured the pain and said, "What do you think of the suggestion I just made, fellow Daoist? If you can tell my father about this, he will definitely reward you handsomely."

She no longer intended to survive, but as long as she could expose the hypocritical masks of those people, even death would be worthwhile!

"I don't think it's very good." Mu Zhian smiled.

Before Lin Keyu could show any disappointment, Mu Zhian took out a pill and handed it to her.

"Eat it, then go back and tell your father yourself."

He didn't want to get involved in the power struggles between these major forces, but he couldn't just leave the girl alone right now.

As for the reason... it wasn't simply because of some kind of kindness. It's just that Young Master Mu is a good man who knows how to cherish women, and since there are high-quality fish fry available right now, saving them wouldn't hurt.

After all, there would be no loss for him in helping out, so why not?

Lin Keyu gave a helpless smile and said, "My cauldron has been shattered. Even if I can heal myself with ordinary pills, I will eventually die from exhaustion of spiritual energy. If you don't want to agree, that's fine, but it's best not to waste these pills..."

As she said this, she glanced at the pills in Mu Zhian's hand, paused slightly, and subconsciously looked at the young man in front of her again.

"The Rejuvenation Pill...?"

The Rejuvenation Pill is a special elixir that can slowly repair the cauldron of a severely injured person and provide them with spiritual energy. One of its ingredients is only found within the Liangyi Sect...

Lin Keyu's eyes flickered slightly, and she reached out with difficulty to feed the Rejuvenation Pill into her mouth.

Then, she raised her hopeful eyes and looked at Mu Zhian, saying, "Are you a disciple of the Liangyi Sect?"

Mu Zhian simply responded with a gentle smile and said, "You are seriously injured and unable to speak right now, so you should focus on recovering."

"Wait a moment, don't resist. I will let you enter my cave temporarily, and then I will send you away from this place."

After Mu Zhian finished speaking, he raised his hand and waved it, and a scroll appeared out of thin air, directly sucking the heavily injured girl into the scroll.

The Dream Map of the Eight Desolations!

The effects of the Rejuvenation Pill took hold almost silently. As she was being absorbed into the Eight Desolate Dream Map, the girl's tense body gradually relaxed. Just as she was about to faint, she took one last look at Mu Zhi'an.

When her father arranged a marriage for her without her consent, the girl, who harbored romantic fantasies, resolutely refused, saying she wanted to "encounter" her Daoist partner on her own. This time, when she ran away from home without permission and was targeted, and was ambushed and chased by people from Qianyuan Pavilion in the Sword Palace, she felt quite regretful.

But now it seems it wasn't all bad... at least in the end we did meet some good people.

"I forgot to ask him his name..." Lin Keyu's eyelids grew heavier and heavier until finally, she slowly closed her eyes, immersing herself in the Eight Desolations Dream Map created by Mu Zhian.

"This Eight Desolations Dream Map is really useful; it can be used as a portable miniature world." Mu Zhi'an looked up at the scroll that disappeared into mid-air and sighed sincerely.

"Aren't you the one who hates trouble the most? Why did you save her?" Wei Mengrou suddenly asked.

Mu Zhian sighed softly: "I can't just sit idly by and watch people in trouble."

"Heh." Wei Mengrou immediately gave her a disdainful look.

Knowing about Mu Zhian's past actions, how could she possibly believe what he said now?

It's obvious that Mu Zhian was probably a little tempted by the girl's good looks... Wei Mengrou curled her lips in disdain.

Mu Zhian had no idea what the maid was thinking at that moment. He had quickly composed himself and focused his attention on the spirit mines in front of him.

After scanning the area with his spiritual sense and carefully selecting for a while, Mu Zhian finally chose a spiritual mine that he believed had the densest spiritual energy.

Mu Zhian wrapped his sword around spiritual energy and slowly sliced ​​it open.

The spirit ore, which was the size of a human head, was cut open and revealed only small, translucent green gems, each about the size of a fingernail, totaling seven.

"If I remember correctly, these seem to be Emerald Leaf Stones, each worth around 30,000 spirit stones?" Mu Zhian turned to Wei Mengrou behind him and asked.

Wei Mengrou glanced at it and nodded slightly: "It is indeed a Jade Leaf Stone."

She didn't ask about the daughter of the Xuan Yin Palace Master, because she knew that her young master had his own plans for every action.

"Two hundred and one thousand spirit stones... not bad."

After pondering for a moment, Mu Zhian decided to choose another stone to cut open.

However, this time, the moment her fingers touched the spirit ore, they were separated by an invisible layer.

Mu Zhian didn't believe in superstitions and tried two or three more spirit ores, but he couldn't touch them anymore.

"It seems that everyone can only choose one piece of spirit ore to take away?" Mu Zhian muttered to himself, but he breathed a sigh of relief.

If he could take all these spirit ores with him, it would actually make him feel uneasy.

After all, suddenly finding a large number of spirit stones for free would feel a bit strange to anyone.

Wei Mengrou's eyes flickered slightly; the maid was quite interested in this "lottery"-like feeling.

She reached out and tried to touch the spirit ore, but was not stopped like Mu Zhian had just done.

Seeing this, Mu Zhian's gaze couldn't help but fall on Wei Mengrou.

He was quite curious about what kind of spirit stones Wei Mengrou could cut out.

Under Mu Zhian's gaze, Wei Mengrou smashed the spirit ore she had chosen, and what came into view was... an empty spirit ore, with nothing inside.

Hmm... After all, she's Sister Mengrou, so it's quite normal.

Mu Zhian understood perfectly, but tried her best to maintain a calm expression and avoid laughing out loud.