37: Li Yi's praise, a agonizing night

*Gulp!*

Jiang Yan swallowed hard, his steps slowly retreating.

Outer Sect Disciples of the Qingyun Sect might rarely see such a large Spirit Beast, but Jiang Yan had encountered this fellow many times.

"Hello, have you eaten today?"

Jiang Yan tossed out a sentence, turned around, and took off running at full speed.

"Roar!"

A massive roar instantly rang out, followed by the sound of the ground vibrating.

"What kind of ghost place is this? How did a Thunder Cloud Tiger even show up!"

At this moment, his scalp felt numb, and he didn't even have the courage to look back.

The Thunder Cloud Tiger was a large Spirit Beast of the third or fourth realm. It had a massive appetite and wasn't picky at all; it would eat anything edible.

Even a poisonous snake like the Spotted Flower Spirit Snake could be eaten by this Thunder Cloud Tiger like a spicy snack strip.

Large swathes of the bamboo forest collapsed, but even so, the Thunder Cloud Tiger refused to give up its pursuit of Jiang Yan.

"Big brother Black Wolves, help! Your snack is right here!" Jiang Yan shouted as he ran.

His only hope now was that the pack of Black Wolves hadn't left yet.

As long as he pitted these two types of Spirit Beasts against each other, he didn't believe they wouldn't start a fight.

Jiang Yan's shouting did take effect, but to his surprise, after seeing the Thunder Cloud Tiger behind Jiang Yan, the pack of Fire-Fearing Black Wolves ran even faster than he did.

"Holy shit!" Jiang Yan cursed angrily. "You bunch of bastards, why the hell are you running? Turn around and fight it!"

The Fire-Fearing Black Wolves didn't care about Jiang Yan's cursing at all; their main focus right now was running for their lives.

Jiang Yan gritted his teeth, approached a Fire-Fearing Black Wolf, and a ruthless smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

"Off you go!"

Jiang Yan slapped the Fire-Fearing Black Wolf on the head, instantly knocking it to the ground.

As the saying goes, "It doesn't matter if you can't outrun the tiger, as long as you can outrun the other guy."

As if to validate his thought, the pursuing Thunder Cloud Tiger opened its massive maw and bit the Fire-Fearing Black Wolf to death.

Seeing a moment to breathe, Jiang Yan didn't dare stop, as the Thunder Cloud Tiger was the type of creature that could eat while running.

The pack of Fire-Fearing Black Wolves around him didn't stop either; as predators of this jungle, they understood the situation even better than Jiang Yan.

"Off you go!"

Jiang Yan approached another Fire-Fearing Black Wolf, once again employing his bait-throwing tactic.

As he and the wolf pack drew closer to the dense forest below the waterfall, the Fire-Fearing Black Wolves instantly changed course and sprinted downstream.

Given the wolf pack's nature of seeking benefit and avoiding harm, Jiang Yan made a decisive judgment: he would charge into the dense forest to find a big guy capable of contending with the Thunder Cloud Tiger!

Seeing that there were no more food deliveries, the Thunder Cloud Tiger decisively followed the pack of Fire-Fearing Black Wolves instead.

This left Jiang Yan, who had just rushed into the dense forest, dumbfounded. What was the situation? Shouldn't it have followed him bravely into the forest?

Watching the Thunder Cloud Tiger fade into the distance, Jiang Yan immediately lost his strength and leaned straight against a large tree.

'What the hell is going on with all this.'

Jiang Yan complained internally, but his eyes were scanning his surroundings.

This time, the insects and birds were chirping happily, which clearly meant no large creatures were nearby.

'I finally escaped a disaster. Next, I need to find a safe place to survive for three days.'

Looking at the pitch-black forest around him, he thought living in a tree wouldn't be bad, since he had some food in his Storage Pouch.

But as he scanned the area, his peripheral vision seemed to catch a familiar-looking scene.

Beneath the pitch-black trees, there were black marks.

Jiang Yan stood up and cautiously approached. One sniff was all it took; a wave of rot and stench almost made him vomit.

Immediately after, a familiar image flashed through his mind.

'Cangyun Valley!'

Instantly, his hair stood on end, and he slowly began to back away.

Now he finally understood why that Thunder Cloud Tiger didn't chase him and instead went after those Fire-Fearing Black Wolves.

'This motherfucker... this is a trap!'

He didn't dare stay there; he walked out of the dense forest and followed its edge back toward the waterfall.

Inside the Mirror Realm Courtyard.

Li Yi sat respectfully before Lan Ruoyu.

To be honest, he dared to talk back to the Sect Master, but he didn't dare to talk back to the old woman in front of him.

For no other reason than the fact that she was the first to step forward and block that palm strike for him; this old woman deserved his respect.

Furthermore, to block that palm strike, she had burned five hundred years of her Lifespan.

In his memories, this Junior Martial Uncle was a great beauty, but now she had become like this.

"Starting to blame yourself again?" Lan Ruoyu asked with a smile.

"Answering Junior Martial Uncle, it is this Disciple's fault," Li Yi said respectfully.

"The fault is not yours, it's those old fellows who can't see reason," Lan Ruoyu smiled and waved her hand. "Without you, this Qingyun Sect would have long been unable to hold on, let alone those three Grand Elders. They all owe you."

"But that matter was indeed due to my recklessness. If it weren't for me, those three Sects wouldn't have been driven to desperation," Li Yi stated.

"The cultivation world is simply like this. If you hadn't been so brilliantly talented back then, those two old fellows probably wouldn't have lasted until now," Lan Ruoyu comforted Li Yi.

Li Yi understood, but he still cupped his hands in a salute: "Please rest assured, Junior Martial Uncle. I will definitely find the spiritual materials to restore your youth."

Lan Ruoyu smiled and waved her hand, no longer mentioning such a heavy topic, and turned to ask: "How is that Disciple of yours?"

"He has the talent of an immortal, stronger than me, his Revered Master," Li Yi said truthfully.

If Jiang Yan were present, he would definitely be shocked, because his Cheap Master had never praised him, even making him suspect at one point if his Revered Master had a mental problem.

Hearing this, Lan Ruoyu nodded: "That's good then. Do you plan to let him go to the Secret Realm in two years?"

"Yes." Li Yi admitted, but then changed his tone and said directly, "It's just that before that, I'm sending him to the Blood Cloud Sect for experience. If he doesn't appear in two years, then I can only act alone."

"You want that child to avoid walking your path?" Lan Ruoyu asked.

Li Yi nodded and said self-deprecatingly: "My path was wrong, so I cannot let him walk it. However, I have also gained many Opportunities from him. It's more accurate to say that he has made me who I am."

"Oh? Based on what you're saying, that child truly has something unique about him." Lan Ruoyu was somewhat surprised; she hadn't seen it herself.

"There are many special things. Whether it's his aptitude or Heart-Nature, they are all much stronger than mine used to be. If he and I were from the same era, perhaps I truly wouldn't be as good as him."

Hearing Li Yi's praise of Jiang Yan, Lan Ruoyu was still somewhat shocked.

In her view, Li Yi was absolutely a Genius among Geniuses. Not only had he patched several Qi Cultivation Methods, but he also loved researching, to the point that many Magic Treasures in the Sect were created by him.

For such a person to appear in the Qingyun Sect was the Sect's luck and its Opportunity.

"By the way, I heard from your Revered Master that you are about to recover your cultivation?" Lan Ruoyu asked curiously.

"It's not quite that exaggerated, but it will be soon. This is also thanks to my Disciple," Li Yi said, seemingly with a hint of pride.

Hearing Li Yi mention Jiang Yan again, Lan Ruoyu became more and more curious about him.

Because the Li Yi she knew was a very conceited person, someone who rarely praised others.

Inside the Secret Realm, the night sky was dotted with stars.

Jiang Yan huddled in a cave, his eyes staring fixedly at the red mist in the distance.

Originally, he hadn't paid it much mind, but after seeing a Spotted Civet Cat jump into the red mist and turn into white bones, he started to feel a bit afraid.

Fortunately, that red mist only moved within the dense forest. If it were to drift out, he would definitely bolt.

'This ghost place is never safe for a single moment.'

Angry, he took a fierce bite of a steamed bun, but he didn't dare look away for a second.

'Sigh, my poor three days, I can't even sleep peacefully.'

While he was complaining internally and gnawing on his bun, a green light quickly darted into the red mist, and then flew back out.

'Whoa, what is that thing? Why isn't it afraid of this red mist?'

But before he could guess what the green light was, it darted back into the red mist again.

This scene completely dumbfounded him.

You have to know, he had just seen with his own eyes that Spotted Civet Cat turn into white bones, so how was this green light fine?

As the green light went in and out, Jiang Yan gradually became fatigued.

'Damn it, I'll wait until tomorrow morning. I have to see what kind of thing you are.'

And this night passed quite slowly.

Because he couldn't sleep all night, he could only watch the red mist and the green light.

Of course, he also had to be on guard against other dangerous existences.

As the early morning sun rose, Jiang Yan quickly walked out of the cave and gave chase in the direction where the green light had disappeared.