"Lu Ran?"

Jiang Ruyi lacked the ability to see in the dark and could only call out in the direction where Lu Ran had vanished.

It was no wonder she was so nervous; the scene where Lu Ran was carried off by the Yan Zhi on the rainy night of the fifteenth was still vivid in her memory.

However, the pitch-black wilderness remained dead silent, with no reply whatsoever.

"Brother Lu?" Deng Yutang also realized something was wrong and immediately shouted out loud.

"I'm... I'm here."

Finally, Lu Ran's response came from afar.

Jiang Ruyi immediately gave the order, "Yutang, go back him up."

"Got it." Deng Yutang, following the sound, charged over with his gun in hand.

Jiang Ruyi also started moving, her fingertips lightly outlining something.

"Whoa?" Suddenly, an excited voice from Deng Yutang came out of the darkness.

Jiang Ruyi asked, "What happened?"

Deng Yutang exclaimed, "Brother Lu is advancing to Fog Realm·Fourth Rank!"

"Oh?" Jiang Ruyi was both shocked and delighted. Was Lu Ran about to advance to the Fog Realm·Fourth Rank?

Such a terrifying speed of advancement was truly befitting someone with an extraordinary talent!

"Is Sister Ruyi advancing too?" Tian Tian, unable to hide the admiration in her eyes, looked up at Jiang Ruyi with her grimy little face, "Are you going to advance as well?"

Jiang Ruyi sensed for a moment and replied, "I need a few more days."

"Hmm, Sister Ruyi, you should use the Divine Power Pearl to absorb the canine corpses and consume more Divine Power," Tian Tian whispered.

"Hehe." Jiang Ruyi chuckled and gently tapped on Tian Tian's head with her finger.

Are you taking care of me now?

This trip to Evil Dog Village saw everyone focused on their cultivation, not slacking off at all, and in fact, they were even advancing faster than usual.

After all, the energy inside the Demon Cave was relatively abundant.

While the group was reluctant to absorb Demon Crystals, the Divine Power Pearls could completely drain the canine corpses, turning them into nutrients for their growth.

"Squad leader." A voice called out.

The two women looked over and saw Deng Yutang supporting a shivering Lu Ran, walking back towards the path lit by torches.

"You two deal with the Evil Dog corpses," Jiang Ruyi said softly. "I'll watch over him."

"Okay."

"Alright." Deng Yutang helped Lu Ran sit down, then immediately went to collect the bodies.

As the beliefs of the believers continued to enhance, each breakthrough took longer and longer.

Jiang Ruyi walked forward slowly, quietly standing beside Lu Ran and watched the two teammates at work.

Suddenly, Lu Ran's body tilted slightly, and his shoulder came to rest gently on the beautiful Jiang Ruyi's leg.

Jiang Ruyi's expression froze for a moment, then she looked down at him.

But she saw Lu Ran still had his eyes closed, seemingly concentrating on advancing?

"You rascal."

Jiang Ruyi hesitated, but after a brief moment of indecision, she still didn't kick him away.

After all... well, after all, Lu Ran was advancing.

It was better not to disturb him.

Jiang Ruyi thought to herself, not knowing why a faint blush quietly bloomed on her pretty face illuminated by the firelight.

Lu Ran was completely relaxed!

The sensation of advancing was intoxicating, and now he had the beautiful Jiang Ruyi's long legs for a chair back?

Being a believer was indeed a good life!

In my next life, I will still be—

"Flap flap flap~"

A black crow slowly flew down and landed in front of them.

Seeing Instructor Dou arrive, Jiang Ruyi looked somewhat awkward, turning her head to the side.

"Just reminding you, today is the 5th day of the seventh lunar month," the black crow spoke with human language. "You are located outside the southern No. 2 Stone City.

I suggest you make your way back now and leave the Demon Cave before the 10th day of the lunar calendar."

Jiang Ruyi replied, "Understood, Instructor. Let's let Lu Ran concentrate on his advancement, and we can discuss this shortly."

Dou Zhiqiang said, "..."

Fine, I said too much.

Suddenly, a strange noise rose nearby as if something heavy was being dragged.

Jiang Ruyi turned her head and the sight before her brought a mix of laughter and tears.

Tian Tian, the girl who was always so gentle, even timid, was now dragging the body of an Evil Dog?

Her dirty little hands held the dog's tail, and with each step forward, a long bloody trail was marked on the ground.

The scene was both bloody and horrifying!

"Just use your Divine Power Pearl to absorb it," Jiang Ruyi said.

Tian Tian stopped in her tracks, opened her mouth but seemed too frightened to object, which made her silent.

Jiang Ruyi gently said, "Listen to me."

"Okay." Only then did Tian Tian let go of the dog's tail and crouched down next to the corpse.

Tough training indeed led to growth.

At first, even Lu Ran couldn't help but feel nauseous when facing the corpses of Evil Dogs.

Now, the weakest member of the team dared to face the bloody corpses of Evil Demons without flinching.

Jiang Ruyi watched over Tian Tian's petite figure, a touch of tenderness flashing in her eyes.

She always believed that with enough respect and encouragement, the girl could certainly develop confidence.

She could become a well-rounded Sword Lotus believer and a loyal and powerful teammate.

In this team, Lu Ran might be the strongest one.

But Tian Tian had made the most progress, having overcome far more than anyone else.

"Instructor Dou." Deng Yutang, holding two blood-stained Demon Crystals, returned with large strides and noticed the black crow on the ground.

This training session saw Deng Yutang's reemergence.

The Divine Technique·Red Cloth Soul reinvented him from his past gloom and made him the buoyant wealthy young master once again.

The Red Cloth Ancestor was exceptional!

The only flaw of this Divine Technique was that it consumed too much Divine Power and physical strength.

Even someone as vigorous as Deng Yutang couldn't always invoke the Ancestor, or else he might end up weak as a shrimp...

The black crow didn't respond, and Deng Yutang didn't continue further. He faced north and stayed alert.

After about seven or eight minutes, the energy fluctuations around Lu Ran grew more intense.

He let out an extremely satisfied noise through his nose:

"Mmm~"

Jiang Ruyi was still too shy and moved to the side.

The Instructor was still watching!

Withstanding not moving away was already being considerate enough for Lu Ran, but now...

What was that noise?

"Hey?" Lu Ran propped himself up on his hands, peering through the mist at the beautiful Jiang Ruyi.

My backrest... how did it grow legs and run away?

"Congratulations," Jiang Ruyi said without looking at Lu Ran but instinctively accepted the Demon Crystal Tian Tian handed her.

"Congratulations, Brother Lu!" Deng Yutang smiled and came over to pull Lu Ran to his feet.

"Luck, just luck~"

Lu Ran, who was just pulled up, squatted back down, looking at the black crow: "Instructor Dou, did you say we should return now?"

The black crow replied, "After the 10th, the Demon Cave will be sealed, and you won't be able to leave."

"Understood." Lu Ran turned to look at Jiang Ruyi. "We're almost done with our task, right?"

Jiang Ruyi reported, "Including this loot, we now have 133 Stream Realm Demon Crystals and 326 Fog Realm Demon Crystals."

I had no idea until you told me—our small team had already dealt with so many detailed dogs...

12 days ago, Tian Tian and Deng Yutang completed their advancements one after another. Since then, the team had been heading straight to southern No. 2 Stone City, focusing solely on battling the Stream Realm·Evil Dogs.

The process of obtaining these 133 Stream Realm Demon Crystals was not a mean average daily gain, but rather an increasing stepwise achievement.

As time went on, the team's slaying of the Stream Realm·Evil Dogs became significantly more effortless, and their harvest increased!

With so many Demon Crystals, the team certainly wouldn't carry them around. Every time they rested in No. 2 Stone City, they handed over their gains.

"Let me calculate," Lu Ran said, fiddling with his fingers. "This should be enough to exchange for a River Grade·Divine Power Pearl. If we want to upgrade the weapons, we're still short..."

Jiang Ruyi interjected, "34 Stream Realm Demon Crystals, 4 Fog Realm Demon Crystals."

The school's summer homework didn't need to be counted; it could be included in the equipment upgrading task.

"Only a top student, huh!" Lu Ran smacked his forehead. "We've been killing night and day for over half a month, and you still remember addition and subtraction."

Jiang Ruyi replied, "..."

The black crow took flight, and from afar came a phrase, "Don't forget to deduct the costs for food and lodging of these days."

Lu Ran looked at the top student and joked, "I told you, anyone who kills night and day for half a month would get their brain muddled."

But Jiang Ruyi just watched the black crow fly into the distance, until the Instructor disappeared into the dark, before she quietly said, "It's already been deducted.

Food and lodging for two people per room, 5 Fog Realm Demon Crystals per day."

Upon hearing this, Lu Ran didn't even have time to feel embarrassed because the pain in his heart was too sharp!

Even though the food and lodging fees were at student rates, the four of them could actually share one stone room.

Unfortunately, with boys and girls needing separate accommodations for sleeping and bathing, they had to reluctantly pay the price.

Speaking of which, just the "bathing" itself was worth five Fog Realm Demon Crystals.

Otherwise, the smell of blood on everyone's body might scare even themselves...

"We have 5 days left." Deng Yutang confidently said, "Slaughtering thirty-four or thirty-five Stream Realm Evil Dogs, we can certainly do it if we try hard!"

"Hmm." Jiang Ruyi's hand touched her neck, her fingertips gently twirling the Divine Power Pearl.

Once exchanged for a River Grade·Divine Power Pearl, there'd be no need to worry about the shortage of Divine Power for a long time to come.

And weapons...

Jiang Ruyi looked down at the greenish stone sword in her hand.

Even though she often cast spells from afar and rarely engaged in close combat, the battlefield fluctuated constantly, and close quarters combat was inevitable.

The greenish stone could be upgraded to two relatively rare and uncommon materials from the Demon Cave.

One was the Rainbow Stone, and the other was the Colorful Silk Stone.

Which one should I choose?

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