An Chen thought for a moment and decided to go meet up with Ye Xinning first.
Ye Xinning was less than three kilometers away from him, so it wouldn't take long to meet her.
An Chen activated Qingyun Step and hurried on his way.
...
In the forest, two people walked side by side; one held a sword, clearing the path ahead, while the other walked behind, observing the surroundings.
They seemed to have some coordination, but not much, looking like a newly formed team.
As they walked, if they encountered any spiritual plants, they would bend down to collect them and then distribute them equally.
This part they were skilled at, and there were never any disputes.
After a while, the person walking behind suddenly turned around, looking in a direction to his side and slightly behind him, and called out to the person in front to stop.
"What's wrong?"
"Something's coming."
Both drew their weapons and looked in that direction with heightened vigilance.
One was a Qi Refining Eighth Stage and the other a Qi Refining Seventh Level; neither was particularly strong, and both were Loose Cultivators, so they were especially careful and cautious.
Soon after, they saw a wall of wind approaching.
In fact, it wasn't a wall of wind, but a sky full of leaves stirred up by the wind, which, constantly pushed by the airflow, formed a moving wall that advanced towards them.
They quickly saw a figure beneath the wall of wind.
Upon realizing it was just a Cultivator, and one who was only at the Refining Qi Sixth Level, both breathed a sigh of relief.
It was good that it wasn't a high-Rank Yao Beast.
"Fellow Daoist! Are you interested in joining us! There's strength in numbers! It's safer to travel together!"
The person walking in front shouted loudly.
After Sect disciples enter a Secret Realm, they will find a place to gather and form organized teams, while Loose Cultivators will also spontaneously form teams to explore in the Secret Realm.
This way, if they encounter any danger or other teams, they can support each other.
However, that person didn't stop at all, and the wall of wind got closer and closer.
"Fellow Daoist... Fellow Daoist?"
Thinking his voice was too low and the other party hadn't heard him, the person raised his voice and shouted a few more times, but the other party still didn't react.
He suddenly noticed that the person's mouth was opening and closing, as if saying something, but the sound was a bit too low for him to hear.
The two discussed it and then jogged towards the approaching person, wanting to see what was going on.
As the person ran closer and closer, they were finally able to hear what he was saying when he was only a few tens of meters away.
"Fellow Daoist, run! There's a Yao Beast behind me!"
By the time the two reacted, the wall of wind had already crashed into them head-on, leaves plastered to their faces, and that person continued to sprint past them, showing no intention of stopping.
"What kind of weirdo is this..."
The other person brushed away the leaves plastered to his face and muttered, but then suddenly saw a group of large, thick-legged Yao Beasts charging directly at them.
They looked somewhat like wild boars but had long tusks.
These were all Qi Refining First Stage Yao Beasts; although their Realm Rank was not high, they were numerous.
The sight of over thirty Yao Beasts charging together made both of them shiver.
"Damn it, this kid set us up!"
"What are you thinking, run!"
One turned and ran immediately, while the other released a few fireballs before turning to sprint.
Those few fireballs struck the first few Yao Beasts, and although they didn't kill them, they did cause these Yao Beasts to fall to the ground, disrupting the pace of the group.
The two ran as fast as they could, joining the escape.
However, to their astonishment, they found that the guy who had conjured a wall of wind and was running away was actually faster than both of them.
One should know that that person's Realm was not as high as theirs!
"This kid... he runs really fast!"
That person was, of course, An Chen.
An Chen was originally happily picking spiritual plants and hurrying along when he discovered a large patch of seven star grass leaves, almost to the point of being rampant.
An Chen couldn't resist and started picking, almost stripping an entire area bare, but he still hadn't finished picking that patch of seven star grass.
As he was picking, he saw several more valuable spiritual plants, as well as a small patch of qingxin grass.
An Chen became even happier and went over to pick them.
But he didn't expect that a large den of Yao Beasts lived there.
As he was picking the Qingxin Grass Leaf, a wild boar-like Yao Beast suddenly darted out from behind him.
Fortunately, he reacted quickly, not only dodging but also drawing his sword and counter-killing it.
However, the scent of the Yao Beast's blood attracted its parents, grandparents, and siblings, and these Yao Beasts suddenly attacked while An Chen was extracting the demonic core, surrounding An Chen from all directions.
Luckily, An Chen was fast and, after cutting a bloody path, he took off running.
Thus, the scene of that large group of Yao Beasts chasing An Chen to bite him appeared.
It must be said that these Yao Beasts were formidable; although they couldn't catch An Chen, whenever An Chen stopped to rest, he found that the group of Yao Beasts had caught up again, so he could only keep running without stopping.
Fortunately, he encountered two big patsies.
An Chen ran for a while longer and, finding that the Yao Beasts behind him were gone, he quickly took out a Spirit Stone and seized the opportunity to absorb it, replenishing some Qi.
After waiting for a while, there was no more movement from behind.
"Good, good."
Recalling the two Loose Cultivators who had approached him, An Chen couldn't help but sigh with emotion.
"Good people!"
Even though he had warned them that there were Yao Beasts behind him and it was dangerous, these two still resolutely walked in the opposite direction from him, covering his retreat.
He hadn't expected that in a place like Kyushu, where the weak are prey to the strong and the strong are respected, there would be such kind-hearted people who would sacrifice themselves for others, and two of them at that!
However, he hadn't considered the possibility that, due to his use of Qingyun Step, his voice was carried away by the wind around him and simply didn't reach the two people's ears.
An Chen took out his positioning stone again and saw that Ye Xinning was already very close, within 500 meters, and Su Xiaojiu was also much closer, with only less than five kilometers between them.
As he moved towards Su Xiaojiu's direction, Su Xiaojiu was also hurrying towards him.
An Chen made a slight adjustment and continued to absorb Spirit Stones, replenishing his Qi to about seventy or eighty percent.
This way, even if he encountered any danger again, he would have enough Spirit Stones to deal with it.
He quickly heard rustling sounds in the forest and immediately became alert, placing his right hand on the hilt of his sword and standing up at the same time.
At this moment, a figure emerged from the forest.
She stared at An Chen and tentatively asked, "An Chen?"
Looking at his Chinese teacher's face, which was so familiar it couldn't be more familiar, An Chen was speechless for a moment.
After a long hesitation, An Chen finally asked, "You... you are Ye Xinning?"
"It really is you!"
Ye Xinning smiled and ran over.
An Chen was dumbfounded.
Who on earth taught Ye Xinning to use this face?!