My best friend asked me if I was still doing system tasks.

No one noticed Ruan Chayan's little scheme. Qi Huixian and Li Shuhe exchanged a glance. Jin Si had the cultivation of the mid-stage of the Void Refining Realm, so they dared not transmit their voices for fear that he would overhear them.

Qi Huixian spoke first: "Let's discuss this."

Jin Si crossed his legs and clicked his tongue in amazement: "Discuss? Now that I've escaped, without your two masters and their bunch of cronies, don't even think about sending me back."

"Little ones, you should be grateful that when Gu Liuzhi suppressed me, he left behind a jade slip in the formation that I couldn't finish reading in a thousand years. Otherwise, I would have slaughtered everyone as soon as I came out."

Ruan Chayan exclaimed "Wow!" and realized something: "Learning makes one progress!"

Jin Si was not ashamed but proud: "That's right. If I hadn't suffered from my lack of education, I wouldn't have been captured by a few mere cultivators."

So none of you should try to take advantage of me anymore. Once you're dead, I'll be free to roam the world!

Ruan Chayan put on a professional fake smile: "You're actually hoping I die young, huh? Well then, I'd better live a good life and I certainly won't let you go easily."

After exchanging a few jokes, the two took their leave and departed from Burong Mountain.

Ruan Chayan stared at the back of Jin Si, who was walking ahead and full of curiosity about everything. She couldn't see any future for herself and Jin Si.

"Now that everything has been explained, I don't know whether I've turned misfortune into a blessing or am plagued by bad luck."

Luo Hanying: [“What do you mean? Are you free to talk now?”]

"I've come down from Mount Buluo. Let me tell you slowly."

Ruan Chayan sighed and said, "Jin Si, I want to go back to my cave. Do you want to come back with me?"

"Your cave dwelling? I don't want to go there! It's probably small and dilapidated!"

Jin Si swaggered ahead, kicking the trees by the roadside every now and then, letting out a beastly roar as he lunged at the passing cultivators to scare them away.

Ruan Chayan felt uneasy as she was stared at by passing cultivators who looked at her like an alien, listening to their whispers that she couldn't understand.

"I've been imprisoned for 1,213 years. I've finally seen the light of day again. All I want to do now is go to the city and see the cute yet terrified little faces of the cultivators when they face a ferocious beast like me."

He laughed heartily, stroking the trembling crane's wings, and said with ill intent, "Baby, your feathers are so beautiful. I've been wanting to change into a new feathered coat. Would you be willing to help me out?"

Unable to bear it any longer, Ruan Chayan kicked Jin Si in the butt, and the crane immediately flapped its wings and fled in panic.

As expected, Jin Si easily dodged Ruan Chayan's attack and expressed his dissatisfaction: "Ruan Chayan, do you think you can covet my ass?"

Ruan Chayan gritted her teeth and said, "Only a ghost would covet your ass. Can't you be a little more upright?"

"You're over a thousand years old, why do you keep doing such shameful things?"

She doesn't like being the center of attention and doesn't want to be watched. Although Luo Hanying sometimes makes a scene in the street, her noise is cute and she's used to it. Jin Si, that show-off, is acting like he wants the world to revolve around him!

Jin Si didn't care at all: "Shameful? So what if I'm shameful? I'm a ferocious beast, not a human. What does shame have to do with me?"

Besides, I'm only considered an adult at a thousand years old. What do you know? For you cultivators, living for a hundred years is considered longevity, so it's normal that you can't understand."

Ruan Chayan suddenly found Huajiao, who couldn't speak human language, to be exceptionally cute. Her way of thinking and behavior were completely opposite to Jin Si's: "Listen to me, let's go back to my cave now. We should get to know each other better."

Why should I listen to you?

Jin Si turned around and made a face at Ruan Chayan, "I won't! The Shi Ren Sect is boring! I'm going to the city to eat people!"

Ruan Chayan was shocked upon hearing this and exclaimed, "You eat people?!"

Jin Si burst into laughter at Ruan Chayan's shocked expression.

Ruan Chayan observed Jin Si's behavior and realized that she had probably been tricked.

"Alright, stop making a scene. I said we should sit down and talk."

Ruan Chayan was somewhat embarrassed and angry. She forced herself to calm down, "I don't care whether you really want to go to the city or not, I won't let you go."

Disciples of the Shiren Sect must remain within the sect for a full year before they can apply for a mission to leave. I have no plans to take on any missions right now, so you'll just stay within the sect obediently!

Jin Si was about to speak when Ruan Chayan interrupted him: "Also, stop referring to yourself as 'I' (Laozi). It's very uncivilized and sounds awkward."

"Hey?! You little brat! You dare to boss me around?!"

Jin Si grumbled in dissatisfaction, "Even if we form a pact, I'm not someone you can order around like that!"

Ruan Chayan's face was extremely pale. She glanced at Jin Si, then took off on her sword: "If you don't want to come with me, fine. Who can stop you? Who told you to be a ferocious beast?"

Jin Si got angry after being insulted by those two sarcastic remarks, but Ruan Chayan flew out of his sight without hesitation, leaving him with nowhere to vent his anger.

Jin Si opened his mouth and exhaled wisps of smoke, then took a deep breath and swallowed the smoke back into his stomach. He finally decided to go find Ruan Chayan.

He could see the assertiveness in Ruan Chayan's personality; she liked to be in control, and she showed anxiety and unease about things that were not under her control.

Jin Si had not learned about the cultivation world for over a thousand years, and he didn't really know what he could do.

As soon as Ruan Chayan opened the barrier in front of the cave, a golden-red figure squeezed in first: "I told you your cave was small and dilapidated, is this a place for a human to live?"

Ruan Chayan didn't expect Jin Si to actually come along. Since he had compromised, she couldn't be too domineering, so she said, "This is how the disciples of the Shiren Sect live. Even the elders' living quarters aren't necessarily much better than the disciples'."

Cultivating oneself, refining one's mind—these are all external things, and there's no need to care too much about them.

Jin Si scoffed and said, "I think you're just saying this to comfort yourself because you can't live a good life."

If I gave you mountains of gold and silver, would you still be willing to live in this wretched little place?

Ruan Chayan didn't want to argue with him. She still had questions that Jin Si needed to explain: "Let's not talk about that for now. Anyway, I don't have a mountain of gold or a mountain of silver right now. This is just the way things are. Whether you accept it or not, there's nothing I can do."

I want to ask you, why do you want to form a pact with me? There are two hundred people in the secret realm; couldn't you just choose any of them?

Jin Si fiddled with the teapot on the table, rummaging through the tea leaves on the antique shelf, and said, "Those little kids don't know, but do you think I can't see it?"

The main cultivation method and technique you practice is the "Lianzhi Ningqi Jue," which faced extinction a thousand years ago.

It can change a cultivator's physique and aura, gaining favor with the beast race.

"My cultivation is high; I sensed your presence immediately within the secret realm, so naturally I'm curious about you."