Watch out! Something's wrong with this guard.

Half an hour later, Lu Yunshi met up with Lu Yunxi and the other two as planned, left the Holy Academy City, and headed towards Tiger's Mouth Abyss.

Lu Yunshi turned his gaze away from Zhang Quan, who was fawning over Lu Yunxi, and looked at Senior Sister Li.

"Senior sisters, did you take on this task to prepare for the upcoming assessment?"

Seemingly surprised that Lu Yunshi would ask her, Senior Sister Li paused for a moment, but quickly answered.

“That’s right, the upcoming assessment will be very difficult. Yunxi and I are not bad, but we still need to work harder if we want to shine in the assessment.”

"I've heard that the top ten students in each grade will receive a reward from the college after the assessment. Who wouldn't want to give it a shot?"

"I see." Lu Yunshi nodded slightly. He had heard about this before, but he hadn't expected Lu Yunxi to go to such lengths.

It seems that the past few years have brought about many changes in the young lady. According to her previous personality, she probably wouldn't have cared about these things.

"The top ten in the assessment get a reward, that's something even for beginners. And if I remember correctly, the beginner assessment isn't far off. It's just a pity that with Junior Brother Lu's abilities, I'm afraid even passing the assessment will be difficult." Zhang Quan turned around and smiled sarcastically, his contempt obvious.

But Lu Yunshi still ignored the other party as before, and stopped walking, looking past Zhang Quan and ahead.

"That must be Tiger's Mouth Abyss."

Upon hearing this, everyone looked ahead and saw a dark forest several hundred meters in front of them, with even the sky above that area being dim.

Upon closer inspection, the entire dark forest resembles a tiger's head, with the entrance naturally forming the tiger's mouth.

"Tsk, no wonder it's been called an ominous place for so long. Just looking at it makes people uncomfortable. Luckily, we don't need to go deep inside," Senior Sister Li said, wiping the cold sweat from her temples.

"No matter what dangers there are, as long as I'm here, I will definitely not let you get hurt. Don't worry, the Zhang family of Lingbei is not just a name without substance."

Like Lu Yunxi, Lu Yunshi remained silent, only glancing at the entrance where several figures swiftly passed and entered Tiger's Mouth Abyss.

"Are there any other people besides us?"

"Of course, judging from their appearance, they should be mercenaries. Although Tiger's Mouth Abyss is dangerous, it also has many spiritual herbs and demonic beasts, so it is very popular among mercenaries. On the other hand, if we run into mercenaries, it will probably be quite troublesome. I just hope that our goals are different from theirs."

Senior Sister Li shook her head, her tone filled with apprehension towards the mercenaries. Ninety-nine percent of mercenaries were people who lived on the edge and had no morals to speak of. Even though they were all at the Nascent Soul Realm, the mercenaries' combat experience far surpassed that of the academy's students. If they were to face them, they would not have a good ending.

Having spotted the mercenaries, the four did not immediately enter Tiger's Mouth Abyss. Instead, they found a place to rest first, as they did not want to run into the mercenaries as soon as they entered.

For these desperate criminals, apart from their own strength, the academy's background offers them no advantage whatsoever.

After glancing at Zhang Quan and Senior Sister Li, who had finally separated from Lu Yunxi due to meditation, Lu Yunshi then approached Lu Yunxi.

"Miss."

As Lu Yunshi's soft voice rang out, Lu Yunxi opened her eyes.

"What? You want me to go back?"

"No! Since Miss has already made up her mind, what's the point of me stopping her?" Lu Yunshi smiled wryly. He didn't think he could change Lu Yunxi's mind.

"It's good that you know your place, so you don't suffer any physical pain." Lu Yunxi's attitude remained indifferent. She was like this to most people, at least in Lu Yunshi's memory.

He has a cold and aloof personality, no friends, and is always alone.

But just as the old blacksmith said, Lu Yunshi always felt that the other party was particularly...strict with him, and would always vent his greatest displeasure on him.

Lu Yunshi felt very helpless about this, but there was nothing he could do.

"Young Miss, please take this with you." Lu Yunshi took out a yellow talisman and handed it over.

Lu Yunxi's eyes flickered slightly when she saw the talisman. "Is this the kind of talisman you used when you fought me?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Yunshi was startled, immediately realizing that his previous use of talismans to resist injury had already been exposed.

"Lu Yunshi, do you think you're so smart that you can manipulate others?" Lu Yunxi's tone turned icy cold, and her eyes gradually filled with rage as she looked at Lu Yunshi.

"Or do you think you're important to me, that I should listen to your ideas and follow your rules, just like your little dog's real owner, my father?"

Lu Yunshi blinked. "You flatter me, Miss. I had no such intention. Everything I did was to protect your safety as much as possible. Secondly, I was simply following your orders and fulfilling your wishes."

"Hmph, with your mid-stage Body Tempering strength?" Lu Yunxi sneered.

“Because I have the responsibility to do this,” Lu Yunshi replied.

Upon hearing this, a hint of disappointment flashed across Lu Yunxi's eyes. "You really are a good dog."

As soon as she finished speaking, Lu Yunxi seemed to lose the desire to continue talking to Lu Yunshi. She immediately got up, not even glancing at the talisman that Lu Yunshi was still holding in his hand, and gently called out to wake the two who were still meditating.

Lu Yunshi put the talisman away and sighed inwardly.

This was, in fact, the longest conversation the two had had since their identities were severed after entering the academy, but the outcome was clearly not amicable.

Lu Yunshi still couldn't figure out where Lu Yunxi's malice towards him came from; he only knew that the disgust was still strong, and had even intensified after their brief conversation.

Fine, if you don't want the talisman, then don't. I just wanted to add an extra layer of insurance anyway.

However, Lu Yunshi never expected that his use of talismans to help him when he was being beaten would be exposed so early on. After all, Lu Yunxi didn't seem like someone who liked to use his brain, and he thought he had hidden it very well.

Looking at the three people ahead who left without paying any attention to him, Lu Yunshi felt helpless.

The baby is definitely much more troublesome than before; it seemed like before...

"Fool!!!"

Suddenly, a clear and childlike voice appeared in Lu Yunshi's mind. The voice was both familiar and unfamiliar, yet it was filled with a strong sob.

Lu Yunshi, who was about to take a step, suddenly stopped. He looked around but found that there was no one around. Was that voice... a hallucination?