"This demon nest has been sown with mature demon seeds and could give birth at any moment!"

As if sensing the presence of the three, the giant cocoon shook.

Seeing this, the Demon Sister waved her jade hand lightly, and a flash of crimson light passed, leading the two and the demon out of the nest.

"Is there a despair-level demon inside?" Li Sheng asked in a deep voice.

"That's right. Under sufficient resources, it takes at least half a month to cultivate a despair-level demon. But they have simultaneously sown so many demon seeds; it seems the mastermind has been well-prepared!" The sister's brow was furrowed with anxiety.

"There are over twenty demon nests within a thousand miles, and the entire Lingchuan Prefecture spans more than ten thousand miles. There must be at least two or three hundred nests..." Li Sheng felt a chill run down his spine.

"These are manageable, but I fear that the barrier space has already concealed itself..."

"What do you mean?" Seeing the sister's grave expression, Li Sheng felt a sense of foreboding.

"These demons have clearly been arranged for a purpose: to delay and buy time for the remaining nests to complete their sacrifices and open interdimensional passages. With the presence of the rift serpent, the barrier space has likely already concealed itself, and the situation is becoming uncontrollable."

"Is there no other way?" Li Sheng was reluctant to accept this.

"Unless several first-class martial artists are born in this realm, there is little hope. If not for the rift serpent being suppressed and unable to enter, this demon alone could rival ten grandmasters working together."

"Well then, I should take my leave. I hope the next time we meet, you're still alive; otherwise, that foolish woman will be heartbroken..." The Demon Sister cast him a glance, and with a flash of crimson light, both she and the demon disappeared from sight.

Watching them leave, Li Sheng didn't try to stop them. The sect's help had been minimal; it was better to let her cultivate alone. The Abyss rift was looming ahead, and once it opened, this realm would be destroyed. Only by stepping into first-class before the rift could he hope to survive; everything else could be set aside.

Thoughts whirled through his mind, and shaking his head, Li Sheng held the summoning mark in hand. He could sense the sect's location, which was over three thousand miles away.

Due to his doppelgänger, Li Sheng had no choice but to fly back to the sect while carrying it.

...

Back at Qing Ling Sect, Li Sheng sent his doppelgänger to refine pills and simulate techniques while he headed towards the spiritual vein.

"Wah wah wah..."

At this moment, Tuan Tuan appeared, circling around him and constantly reporting grievances.

"Stop with the wah wah wah! What sort of behavior is that?" Li Sheng reprimanded with dissatisfaction.

"Chirp chirp chirp..."

"Red Ying told you to till the fields, plant seedlings, and draw water from the spirit pond to irrigate the land?"

Li Sheng chuckled at the absurdity, realizing that the tasks assigned to Hong Ying had ended up with Tuan Tuan.

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"Chirp!"

"Chirp chirp chirp!!!"

"Just now, she had you weeding, chopping trees, and clearing wasteland? And you say it was my order?"

Li Sheng was somewhat speechless; that girl hadn't done a thing and left everything to Tuan Tuan.

"That girl lied to you; I never said that..."

"Chirp?!!!"

A flash of white light appeared, and Tuan Tuan vanished from sight.

Outside the sect, under a large tree, Liu Hongying lay sprawled out, with a roasted chicken in her left hand and grapes in her right, her white legs swinging lazily, clearly enjoying herself.

Beside her, Wang Hu held a jug of fruit wine, looking troubled.

"Senior sister, if the Sect Master or the Grand Elder finds out we're being so lazy, we might get scolded. We should return to the sect to cultivate!"

"Don't speak carelessly!" Liu Hongying retorted fiercely. "This is a task assigned to me by the Sect Master; it's not laziness. Right now, high-grade pills are prioritized for other disciples. Without the assistance of those pills, cultivating spirit-form martial arts is too slow. If you want to cultivate, go ahead; I'm not going!"

"Then I'll go... The Sect Master treats us so well; I always feel guilty when I slack off."

Wang Hu said, putting down his fruit wine platter, and with a few jumps, disappeared into the dense forest.

"Ha~"

Liu Hongying sat up angrily, "Silly Hu, dumb Hu, foolish Hu, how is cultivating more fun than slacking off!"

As she spoke, her bright eyes turned, and she muttered softly, "I'll go find silly Tuan Tuan to play. I wonder how the spiritual fields are being irrigated..."

Just as she was about to jump down from the tree, a sudden flash of white light caused Liu Hongying to exclaim as she was knocked away.

"Wah wah wah!!!"

"Wah wah wah..."

Hearing Tuan Tuan's words, Liu Hongying's heart skipped a beat. Did her secret get exposed?

Quickly stabilizing her posture, she covered her head with her arms and ran wildly, shouting, "Stop hitting! Stop hitting! Hong Ying knows she was wrong!"

"Wah wah wah!"

"Still hitting? If Tuan Tuan keeps this up, I'll turn hostile..."

"Wah wah!"

"Ah! You're still hitting... I was wrong, I was wrong!"

"Wah!"

"Don't hit my face! Ah ah ah, I'm angry now! Silly Tuan Tuan, I'm not playing with you anymore!"

In an instant, the dense forest erupted into chaos, filled with the sounds of flapping wings and pleas for mercy, creating quite a ruckus.

Down the hillside, the villagers of Qing Ling Village looked on as if it were a common sight, with a few women gathering together to tease each other.

Near the large tree where Liu Hongying had been earlier, a crimson pattern suddenly appeared, revealing the figure of Liu Hongfeng, who watched the chaos in the forest with a smile, whispering, "This little girl is becoming wilder and wilder; Junior Brother really isn't afraid of spoiling her..."

As she finished speaking, a voice resonated from within her, "The foolish woman sees what she wants to see; we should leave. The few people marked with void liquid have moved!"

Liu Hongfeng turned to glance at the sect, a captivating smile gracing her beautiful face.

With a soft hum, a flash of crimson light appeared, and she vanished from sight.

In front of the spiritual vein, Li Sheng frowned, feeling as if he was being watched. He then focused his consciousness, taking in the entire Qing Ling Sect.

After a thorough inspection, he found nothing unusual; rather, it was Liu Hongying being chased by Tuan Tuan, running around the mountain and shouting.

Li Sheng shook his head, wondering if he was being overly suspicious.

"Senior Brother?!"

A gentle exclamation pulled him from his thoughts. Recalling his consciousness, he saw his junior sister standing at the gathering spirit room, her face full of surprise as she waved at him and quickly approached.

"Where have you been these past two days? I left a message for you using mysterious stones, but you didn't respond!"

Bai Ye's delicate face was filled with worry as she grabbed his arm and spun around, glancing around.

"I'm fine," Li Sheng replied with a helpless smile, recounting everything he had encountered over the past two days.

"Over twenty demon nests approaching grandmaster level?!"

"Is the senior sister herself nearing grandmaster level? And she captured a despair-level demon? Senior sister is becoming more and more formidable..."

As Li Sheng recounted his experiences, Bai Ye gasped in astonishment, her cherry lips slightly parted, appearing exceptionally cute.

While speaking, Li Sheng also checked the realms of his disciples. Compared to two days ago, two more had reached the fourth realm, and seven had reached the fifth.

Seeing this, Li Sheng felt quite satisfied. The high-grade spiritual vein combined with the gathering spirit room and the ancient path of enlightenment was making the disciples' realms improve rapidly.

Moments later, his doppelgänger arrived with the pills. Li Sheng had already mentioned its existence, so he was not too surprised this time.

Bai Ye curiously observed the doppelgänger, a strange feeling rising in her heart, thinking, "They look completely identical... Senior brother has a laid-back aura, like a big brother from a wealthy family, while the doppelgänger has a wild aura that is more aggressive."