Just a moment ago, Liu Yunqing was pleased that her acting skills had fooled the person, but the next instant, she felt a chill run down her spine as the person stared at her with even more curiosity.

From an angle where the other person couldn't see, Liu Yunqing couldn't help but squeeze her eyes shut tightly.

She finally realized that she had gotten herself into trouble with a nasty bastard.

"What do you mean by that, senior?"

Seeing Liu Yunqing's cautious questioning, the man felt a release from the frustration of not being able to learn the secret of the dream, and his carefree demeanor returned to normal.

"What's the meaning?"

"It means that since I have nothing better to do anyway, I plan to travel with you in order to find out the secrets you hold."

The man naturally knew that although he had no intention of killing Liu Yunqing, he also had no good intentions towards her. He also knew that Liu Yunqing understood this principle as well.

After all, it was clear from the promise she had just asked him for that the little girl didn't want to see him or have him follow her.

Thinking about it this way, the man was extremely satisfied with what he had just said.

Not only can it satisfy my curiosity, but one day I will find a way to find out what kind of dream this little girl is having. At the same time, if I hang around her every day, wouldn't she be living in fear and never have a good day?

If a cultivator's mind is not clear, that can be fatal.

It wasn't that he was deliberately malicious and wanted to ruin a little girl, but rather that he felt that since there was no good ending anyway, any ending would be the same.

Moreover, it's better for a genius to be dragged down to mediocrity and then die than to live a brilliant life and only realize the end of one's life when all hope is lost.

If that's the case, then I really am a great philanthropist!

The man's expression grew increasingly satisfied, and he nodded smugly at Liu Yunqing.

Unfortunately, none of the emotions he had guessed—anger, fear, frustration, and dissatisfaction—were seen in Liu Yunqing.

Instead, those eyes, which were usually cold but bright, were now filled with joy, and the little girl's smile left the man somewhat puzzled.

"In that case, I'll have to trouble you, senior."

After Liu Yunqing finished laughing, he respectfully bowed to the man and spoke in his still hoarse voice, as if making a request.

The man frowned in confusion, and was about to ask Liu Yunqing what she meant when Liu Yunqing straightened up and spoke to him again:

"Since we are traveling together, I wonder how I should address you, senior?"

"I am Zhenru, a rogue cultivator, and this is Wuchen from Fanyin Temple."

As Liu Yunqing introduced herself, she introduced Wuchen to the man as if she had no reservations.

The man was about to retort, but seeing the little girl's serious and sincere expression, he automatically changed the subject of his offhand joke.

"Si Qing".

"Senior Si Qing, I will be grateful for your help from now on."

A look of surprise flashed in Liu Yunqing's eyes, but she quickly lowered her gaze, bowed, and greeted him respectfully.

Liu Yunqing never expected that such an old monster with white hair and beard, who had lived for countless years, would have such a refreshing name.

However, Si Qing?

Liu Yunqing didn't know if she knew too little, but she was unaware of the powerful ancestor named Si Qing.

But that didn't matter. Now that she knew the title, she immediately sent a message to her friends and asked them, the disciples of the major sects, to investigate.

Liu Yunqing adapted very well to having someone following her—completely ignoring Si Qing's existence.

Of course, it wasn't that Si Qing didn't exist from the beginning.

On the contrary, at the beginning, Liu Yunqing's respect and enthusiasm for Si Qing almost reached the point of being annoying.

Si Qing was bored and came out looking for fun. This little girl piqued his curiosity, so he followed her, but not to become a glaring Buddha or a hands-on wet nurse.

"Senior, can we go this way?"

"Senior, may I stroll around this market?"

"Senior, may I buy this?"

"Senior, please try this, it tastes delicious."

"Senior, I've heard that drinking the spring water here can grant you special abilities. Would you like some?"

"Senior, you said..."

"senior……"

"..."

"...Shut up! Mind your own business!"

Only three or five days later, Si Qing finally couldn't stand the constant disturbance and noise anymore, and shouted at Liu Yunqing in exasperation.

At that moment, Liu Yunqing was holding a Fire Spirit Fruit that was bigger than her head, munching on it with relish, and trying to pass one to Si Qing.

"Gulp... Oh."

Liu Yunqing blinked at Si Qing, whose forehead veins were throbbing, and gave a brief and decisive reply.

Then she let herself go.

It was as if she had forgotten that Si Qing was following behind her—well, if Si Qing didn't say anything, even if she hadn't forgotten, she wouldn't have noticed.

The only uncomfortable thing was that Liu Yunqing didn't dare to enter the space, nor did she dare to talk to Wuchen about the Earth's core or the Mother Tree.

Seeing the somewhat worried look in Shang Wuchen's eyes, Liu Yunqing smiled gently to comfort him and simply changed the subject to the cultivation competition.

"They said it would be a three-year training period, but it turned out that it never happened even once."

Speaking of the cultivation competition, Liu Yunqing thought of the agreement he had made with his friends to go on a collective training trip every three years.

As a result, not only did he not go even once, but Wuchen even advanced directly to the Nascent Soul stage, and even lost the qualification to participate in the cultivation competition.

Upon hearing Liu Yunqing mention this, Wuchen showed some apology on his face.

"After we parted ways in Red Moon City, not only were you busy, but the others were also very busy, so we didn't actually have time to participate in the training."

"Putting aside the experience, my unexpected advancement has reduced our numbers by one."

Liu Yunqing shook his head, paused for a moment, and then said:

"Never mind, that's how cultivation is. Plans can't keep up with changes, and there aren't that many rules and regulations to constrain it."

"Even if it has to be a five-person team battle in the end, I'll find someone else for us."

Leaving that topic aside, Liu Yunqing remembered to send a message to Zhuo Ying and Ruan Qing, asking about their recent situation.

Zhuo Ying was at the Golden Core stage right after Liu Yunqing, and is now close to entering the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm. Her cultivation progress is quite impressive.

Ruan Qing gave Liu Yunqing a truly big surprise.

At that time, Ruan Qing's cultivation level was the lowest among the five. It was actually unlikely that she could catch up with the others in a short period of time, since none of the five were ordinary disciples.

Now, several years have passed, and he has somehow gotten lucky, his cultivation level has actually jumped to the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm, which is truly astonishing.

Ruan Qing didn't go into details in the communication talisman, only saying that she had been in seclusion to consolidate her cultivation. Liu Yunqing could roughly guess that the opportunity had come too suddenly, causing her cultivation to advance too quickly, and she needed a lot of time to stabilize it.

The remaining message came from Feng Piaopiao, who was as talkative as ever.

In addition, there was another message talisman from the Tai Xuan Sect, belonging to Si Youfeng.

Liu Yunqing glanced around at himself out of the corner of his eye, a quick smile playing on his lips, before turning away and deciding to visit a friend at the Tai Xuan Sect.