Along the way, Uncle Chen also told Jun Jiuli about recent events. This monster had only entered their village three days ago. According to Uncle Chen, it was a long-tongued monster.
The day it entered the village, a man resisted and was instantly devoured by its tongue. Since then, the villagers had not dared to act rashly. Every household slept uneasily, fearing they would be eaten without even a chance to scream.
It resided in a cave on the mountain behind the village and demanded that the villagers send a young adult male every three days. Tomorrow was the day for sending someone.
After learning the specific location of the cave, Jun Jiuli went up the mountain alone.
As she reached the cave entrance, a long pink tongue whipped towards her. Jun Jiuli skillfully dodged the attack and swung her long sword, slashing at the tongue that had not yet retracted.
To her surprise, the tongue instantly froze, deflecting her sword. It seemed the demon beast was of the ice attribute.
It remained cowering in the cave, likely injured and afraid of revealing a weakness. Jun Jiuli shot lightning needles into the four directions of the cave. In an instant, all the lightning coalesced into a large net.
With a bang, a colossal creature glowing with purple light leaped out of the cave. Its black, viscous skin was covered with several conspicuous blisters.
Only then did Jun Jiuli see its true appearance: it was a green-headed frog, with a small pink flower on its head. Jun Jiuli held her sword, ready for battle. Unexpectedly, the large green frog opened its mouth and croaked.
Jun Jiuli immediately realized that this sound was a illusionary attack. However, it was so unpleasant, causing noise pollution.
The illusion was filled with scientific achievements, stacks of experimental data, and luxurious laboratories. This frog was too careless; such things could never tempt her.
Jun Jiuli, who had already seen through the illusion and regained her senses, pretended to be engrossed in it, lowering her head and remaining motionless.
When its tongue attacked again, Jun Jiuli pierced it with her sword, pinning it to the ground. Its attacks all originated from its mouth. Now, without its tongue, it could no longer croak.
She unleashed another lightning spell, directly severing the frog's head.
With the death of the green-headed frog, the barrier outside the village automatically dissolved. Within the cave was a spirit mine. This frog had been healing itself here using life energy and the spirit mine. It had also set up a barrier to prevent news from spreading and attracting immortal cultivators.
Jun Jiuli entered and investigated. After confirming there were no issues, she sent a message to her master using a paper crane, instructing him to send Shushan disciples to mine the area. However, she stipulated that the villagers below the mountain should also receive some benefits.
Upon receiving this news at Shushan, Wuji beamed with joy. She was truly his worthy disciple, always thinking of the sect in good times. He felt his teachings were effective.
Meanwhile, Jun Jiuli had also captured a small mouse, which would be a fortuitous encounter for the female protagonist. Although weak, it was a treasure-hunting mouse capable of finding valuable items.
"Let me go, you vile woman. I will never form a contract with you. My master is not you, and I will wait for his arrival here."
"Oh, it seems someone has already imprinted on the heroine. Your early arrival is useless," 007 said mockingly.
"If early arrival is useless, then it might as well be made useless."
With that, she ended the treasure-hunting mouse with a single strike. This treasure-hunting mouse had a twisted moral compass, always seeking out treasures that already had owners, stirring up trouble, but ultimately benefiting the heroine and harming many others.
It had also instigated Shui Bingqing to steal family heirlooms. The time the heroine's golden core was crippled was due to her attempt to steal the Cui family's immortal artifact, the Ten Quan Sword. It was said that all demons and evil spirits struck by this sword would be sealed.
When she went to steal it, she was discovered by the Cui family patriarch's youngest grandson. To avoid exposing herself, she directly killed the child.
Unexpectedly, the Cui family possessed another divine artifact, the Mirror of Retrogression. Upon knowing the true culprit, the Cui family ancestor directly emerged from seclusion to reclaim the Ten Quan Sword. With a decisive strike meant to kill Shui Bingqing, her "old grandpa" within her body emerged at the last moment to block the blow, giving her time to escape into her personal space.
However, her golden core was also shattered in the process. The Cui family ancestor waited for a long time, but when she did not appear, he returned to his seclusion.
This time, by killing the treasure-hunting mouse beforehand, the adorable Cui family grandson should not perish at such a young age.
Before long, Senior Brother Qingyun from the Law Enforcement Hall arrived. The mining matters were handed over to him. Jun Jiuli also had to rush to the original owner's next fortuitous encounter.
This time, she had to go to the center of the Death Forest, where demonic beasts were numerous. The original owner's destiny was a Purple Sun Divine Wood, an excellent material for forging swords, which also possessed lightning attributes, making it highly compatible with the original owner.
Back then, the original owner fought her way from the outskirts of the Death Forest to its center. While being pursued by a Fiery Red Bird, she stumbled into a cave in a panic. She had just discovered the divine wood and, after passing the cave owner's inheritance and trials, was about to take the divine wood when she encountered the heroine and her group.
The heroine repeatedly claimed that whoever saw it had a share, even though the wood was only enough to forge one sword.
The original owner ignored her, not wishing to reveal disharmony within their sect in front of others, and prepared to turn and leave.
However, she was surrounded by those sycophants, who accused her of bullying Shui Bingqing in front of so many of them. They claimed she must have bullied her often and that they needed to seek justice for Shui Bingqing.
Shenyang also testified, saying how arrogant and self-righteous his junior sister was within the sect.
Shui Bingqing stood nearby, weakly trying to mediate, but her efforts only inflamed their anger.
The original owner was also injured and could not possibly be a match for the five of them. In the end, she was severely wounded, with a long scar carved on her face by Xue Ruo of the Hua Shan Sect. The Purple Sun Divine Wood was also snatched away by them, forged into a divine sword, and presented to the Boundless Immortal Venerable.
Now, one of the sycophant group had perished, leaving only four. It remained to be seen if they would meet again in the Death Forest this time.