Jiang Quan glanced at Ling as he approached, then ignored him completely.

He couldn't sense any spiritual energy fluctuations, and Ling was so handsome. Moreover, it was the girl who had spoken just now. In his eyes, Ling was just an ordinary follower.

He had thought he was a hidden guard who was so silent and reserved in order to protect the girl next to him.

Hmph, he's just a pretty boy.

Jiang Quan had completely categorized Ling as a gigolo who relied on the powerful and wanted to live off women, and had lost interest in him.

But this girl...

He glanced at the girl who was smiling at him, and couldn't help but look at her a few more times.

The girl exuded a slight fluctuation of spiritual energy; though subtle, he could tell she possessed considerable strength. As for Zero, who showed no signs of spiritual energy, he completely ignored him.

After all, he was very confident in his abilities.

Generally speaking, there are only two types of people whose strength he can't discern and whose spiritual energy fluctuations he can't sense—

One type is an ordinary person with no spiritual power, and the other is a powerful person whose strength surpasses his and whom he cannot detect!

For the latter, he didn't even need to think about it before ruling out zero.

He would never believe that the aloof teenager in front of him was stronger than him.

If it weren't for the usefulness of the girl next to him, he would have definitely killed this pretty boy!

After all, adults don't accept ordinary people!

Thinking of that important person, Jiang Quan's body trembled involuntarily, as if he had imagined something particularly terrifying...

Just as he was about to continue thinking, he was interrupted by the girl next to him.

"Um...can we set off now?"

Jiang Quan's thoughts were interrupted, and he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

If I continue thinking about it, I might slip up and give others away, which would be a huge loss.

He looked at Zi You with a "kind" expression, and asked again, seemingly casually:

"May I ask why you two young friends have come here?"

For some reason, seeing the girl's smile made him feel uneasy, as if he were being watched by something.

However, upon closer inspection, one could see that the smile remained constant on that smooth, jade-like face, as if it had always been gentle and tender. He couldn't help but shake his head.

Hopefully he's overthinking it...

Upon hearing the question, Zi You's smile finally changed, turning somewhat melancholy and aggrieved, truly resembling a young lady from a wealthy family who had gotten lost while traveling alone:

"Sigh... It's my fault for being so playful. Seeing that my elders weren't home, I decided to take the opportunity to descend to the mortal realm for a stroll. To avoid being discovered, I didn't bring any guards, just him—"

She pointed to zero and continued:

“He was an adopted son of my clan. He had no talent for cultivation, but his family treated him very well and never mistreated him. Therefore, considering that he hadn’t seen any of the myriad worlds, I took him with me to the mortal realm…”

"But who would have thought, perhaps due to our lack of skill, the teleportation failed, and we ended up in this desolate place. Just now, we thought we'd give it a shot and keep walking forward, hoping there would be a way out, so we kept walking here. And then we met you..."

Zi You recounted his origins and experiences flawlessly, and no matter how hard Jiang Quan searched, he couldn't find anything unreasonable.

Furthermore, having witnessed them appear out of thin air on this land, and considering what Zi You said, he was now completely convinced of their existence.

However, he still had one concern—

The reason why the other party told him so much was because they knew almost everything.

Was it simply naiveté, or was it merely a ploy to gain his trust?

He scanned the two of them up and down several times, including Zero, and examined them thoroughly.

Faced with their composure, Jiang Quan became increasingly confused about their thoughts.

Zero, who was being scrutinized, was somewhat nervous, but despite his nervousness, his expression remained calm and he showed no signs of panic, allowing Jiang Quan to examine him.

Although he concealed his presence using spatial manipulation, no one could say for sure whether the other party would have the means to see through his disguise...

Although Tu Ling had told him that the opponent was much weaker than him, Zero was still a little uneasy.

Although he had considerable strength, he had not truly learned any skills related to spiritual power... This was like a martial arts master who possessed extremely high internal strength but had no martial arts techniques to rely on. In the end, he was just a person with great strength but could not use it!

This is also a drawback of zero!

Perhaps sensing Zero's change in mood, Zi You stepped forward, blocking Jiang Quan's investigation. She smiled and said:

"I wonder why this elder brother keeps staring at my brother? Although my brother is handsome, he's not someone you can just stare at so casually. Or perhaps... you've taken a fancy to my brother?"

The last sentence was meant to be a joke, but for some reason, Jiang Quan felt his hands and feet turn ice cold.

Reason told him that this girl was no ordinary person!

But it is precisely this complexity that excites him even more!

If this girl were brought to the adult's side, and the adult were pleased, perhaps he wouldn't have to be so ashamed to face anyone anymore...

The thought of himself now reduced to such a shameful, unspeakable state filled Jiang Quan with both anger and fear. However, despite his anger, he dared not resist, for he had already experienced firsthand the methods of that powerful figure…

He dared not speculate on that person's purpose; if he were discovered, even his current opportunity to continue living under the guise of capturing spiritual cultivators would vanish...

In an instant, countless thoughts flashed through Jiang Quan's mind. Hearing Zi You's words, he paused for a moment, and finally let go of his probing of Zero.

Indeed, why would he be so wary of someone without spiritual power? The girl just said that this boy has no talent for cultivation, so why is he being so cautious?

With a self-deprecating laugh, Jiang Quan looked at Zi You and thought for a moment before saying:

"This young lady is overthinking things. When I first saw this young man, I felt that he looked familiar and thought he was the son of an old friend, so I looked him over for a while. Please forgive me."

Ziyou and Ling naturally didn't believe these words, but they didn't break them, since they couldn't alert the snake if they wanted to lure it out.

"Is that so? Then hurry up and take us away. If you can get us out of here, I will definitely reward you handsomely when I return to my family!"

Zi You nodded, indicating that she believed Jiang Quan's words, and her words carried the air of a high-and-mighty young lady.

"Alright, alright, let's set off now."

Jiang Quan chuckled, inwardly looking down on Zi You—

I initially thought she was a formidable person and was going to be extra careful on the road, but now it seems she's just a spoiled young lady from a wealthy family, nothing special.

They stopped paying much attention to them and just told them to stay close to the group.

Zi You and Ling were more than happy that Jiang Quan wouldn't pay attention to them; the saying "keeping a low profile makes things easier" probably perfectly described them...