Faced with the fierce onslaught of the Thousand-Bird City’s inner sect disciples, Lin Nan naturally couldn’t just sit and wait for doom.  
She made an immediate decision: run—get as far away from the Spider Cave as possible.

Fortunately, she was born with an innate lightness skill. Once activated, it consumed only a minimal amount of stamina to sustain, and judging by her long stamina bar, it could last for at least an hour.  
Without hesitation, Lin Nan switched into full escape mode. Only an idiot would stubbornly fight head-on against righteous sect disciples.  
She wasn’t some dumb NPC who, after slaughtering a wave of players, would just stand still waiting for the next group to arrive.

With her second skill, “Flowing Wind,” enhancing her movement, she became as agile as a swallow, striding forward with speed and grace. Even the lightest touch of her toe on a leaf or branch sent her soaring far ahead.  
In just a blink of an eye, Lin Nan had already escaped the Spider Cave area of Wuyun Mountain.

But at the mountain’s foot, she found herself staring at three paths diverging in different directions—and froze in confusion.  
What kind of garbage system was this? It kept randomly popping up notifications but didn’t even provide a basic map! Whenever she tried calling it, the system just played dead and refused to respond.

Realizing she couldn’t rely on the system, Lin Nan chose the middle path and hurried down the mountain.

Meanwhile, a colossal immortal crane landed right at the entrance of the Spider Cave.  
Tang Tong, looking utterly miserable, stumbled off its giant wing along with the inner sect disciples. His legs trembled uncontrollably, and his stomach churned violently—he suffered not only from acrophobia but also from motion sickness. Correction—not motion sickness; crane-sickness.

Before he’d even caught his breath, Luo Xiu strode over and glared at him with obvious disdain. “Hey, was it here that you ran into that female demon?”

Swallowing a mouthful of bitter bile, Tang Tong managed to force out an answer: “N-no… it was halfway down the slope, outside the Spider Cave.”

“Good. Got it.”

Inside the cave, the spiders had already respawned—but the Spider Sect NPCs Tang Tong’s group had killed never reappeared. This was consistent with the game’s mechanics: once human NPCs died, they never came back, no matter their allegiance.

To the inner sect disciples, those venom-spitting spiders that had given Tang Tong’s team so much trouble were nothing more than harmless insects.  
Without even making deliberate moves, every spider that approached them exploded on contact. The burst of greenish bodily fluid splattered outward—only to vanish as if hitting an invisible barrier, leaving the disciples’ robes completely unstained. What a stark contrast to Tang Tong’s group, who’d emerged from the cave reeking of spider guts.

The live-stream audience was utterly stunned.

To be honest, it had been over a month since the game launched, yet they’d rarely seen high-level NPCs in action.  
The hidden female boss’s one-hit kill of Tang Tong’s entire squad had already been jaw-dropping—but now, watching the Thousand-Bird City disciples effortlessly massacre spider monsters truly highlighted just how vast the gap was between ordinary players and these elite cultivators.

The contrast was stark: Tang Tong’s group had fought tooth and nail, losing nearly twenty members just to pass the trial, while these inner sect disciples hadn’t even gotten a speck of filth on their clothes. It was clear just how enormous the chasm between inner and outer sects truly was.

Naturally, viewers were now eagerly anticipating the upcoming clash between these disciples and the mysterious hidden boss.

“Hey, what do you guys think—when these Thousand-Bird City elites fight the hidden boss, who’ll win?”

“Hard to say. They’ve got the numbers advantage. If it were one-on-one, I’d bet everything on the boss.”

“Same. That hidden boss uses teleportation—she’s clearly OP. The disciples might stand a chance if they gang up and use some overpowered sword formation, but solo? No contest.”

“Honestly, ‘hidden boss’ is such a clunky name. Shouldn’t we give her a proper nickname?”

“Haha, I was thinking the same! Her signature move summons black snow—how about ‘Black Snow Immortal’?”

“…”

“…”

“That sounds awful! Pick something else.”

“Also, she’s an evil NPC—calling her an ‘immortal’ totally misses the point!”

“Alright, let me think again. Her aura is as cold as moonlight, as frigid as ice—how about ‘Cold Moon Witch’?”

“‘Cold Moon Witch’? That actually sounds really cool. I like it!”

“Yeah, ‘Cold Moon Witch’ it is!”

“Agreed!”

Quickly, the viewers in Tang Tong’s live stream reached a consensus on the hidden boss’s nickname.

After all, when the Cold Moon Witch first appeared, the system never revealed her official title. Even when Tang Tong tried checking her profile, all he got was a screen full of question marks.

Videos of the Spider Cave hidden boss quickly spread across the game’s forums, drawing countless players who’d missed the live stream to rewatch them obsessively. Comments flooded in: “Hidden boss is OP!” and “I’m officially a fan of this female boss!”

Once “Cold Moon Witch” went viral, the top forum post even updated its title to: “Shocking! Exclusive Footage: Cold Moon Witch Annihilates Thousand-Bird City Disciples in One Move!”

Indeed, the name “Cold Moon Witch” carried undeniable allure.  
Both male and female players found themselves drawn to click and see what all the fuss was about.

In particular, her final move—“Phantom Sea”—where she summoned countless zombies from beneath the earth to ensnare the Thousand-Bird City disciples, cemented her identity as a fearsome demonic cultivator and sparked intense curiosity about her true origins.

As a result, Tang Tong’s stream surged in popularity once again.

Ordinary players noted that even the lofty inner sect had sent ten disciples specifically to hunt down the Cold Moon Witch—proof that she was no ordinary foe.

Everyone was now excitedly awaiting the showdown between the inner sect and the Cold Moon Witch.

To players, the whole “righteous vs. demonic” narrative was just game lore—nothing to take too seriously—but this drama? Absolutely must-watch. After all, major in-game events weren’t like single-player CG cutscenes that played once and vanished. Thanks to Tang Tong’s live coverage, they now had a front-row seat to witness the game’s first true clash between good and evil since launch.

Just thinking about it sent shivers of excitement down their spines.  
They were literally becoming witnesses to the history of “The Righteous Path”!

But their enthusiasm was soon doused like a bucket of cold water dumped over their heads.

Because by the time the Thousand-Bird City disciples swiftly cleared the Spider Cave and reached the spot where Tang Tong’s team had been wiped out, the hidden boss was already long gone.

In fact, barely half an hour had passed since Tang Tong’s annihilation.  
They’d arrived as quickly as possible—yet the demonic cultivator had already fled the Spider Cave, unlike typical bosses who lingered in their lairs.

Gong Sun Ding refused to return empty-handed. He focused his senses, feeling a faint, lingering fragrance in the air.  
Could it be some bewitching trick left behind by that demoness?

“Senior Brother,” Luo Xiu asked, “what do we do now?”

“If we accomplish nothing, we won’t be able to face the Sect Master,” Gong Sun Ding replied. “Here’s the plan: we’ll split up immediately—ten of us will search separately for any trace of the demoness. If anyone finds her, fire a signal flare at once. I’ll stay mounted on the immortal beast, ready to respond from the center.”

“Yes!” the disciples chorused in unison.