After transmigrating, I made a name for myself through my culinary skills.

The next morning arrived in the blink of an eye, and the orange-red sun jumped over the mountain, illuminating the entire Cloud Cave with its dawn light.

This time, all the disciples of the Green Mountain Sect who were going to enter the secret realm were at least at the Nascent Soul stage. In order to help Nangong Yue, who was at the Golden Core stage, catch up, Su Bo took the initiative to go to Nangong Yue's side and suggested that Nangong Yue go with him.

Nangong Yue didn't hesitate and jumped onto Su Bo's sword without any hesitation. As the group set off on their swords, the figures of those seeing them off below grew smaller and smaller.

The morning was foggy, and everyone formed defensive barriers on their swords to shield themselves from the wind and mist. Su Bo was no exception. Nangong Yue was quiet behind him, and he moved his lips, seemingly trying to find a topic to talk about.

After hesitating for a long time, Su Bo finally spoke, "Miss Nangong, after entering the secret realm, you will stay by my side, and I will definitely protect your safety."

Nangong Yue was taken aback, wondering why he suddenly brought this up.

Seeing that she didn't respond, Su Bo became a little anxious: "Don't disbelieve me, I, Su Bo, am always a man of my word."

"Then Yue'er thanks Brother Su in advance." This time, Nangong Yue smiled and agreed, but didn't really take the words to heart.

Too many people had spoken to her about "protection," but without exception, they were all scared away by the Medicine Sect. Some even went so far as to provide her information to the Medicine Clan leader in exchange for elixirs. It was only because the Medicine Clan leader had threatened to capture her alive that she was able to escape.

Thinking of that old geezer, the sect leader of the Medicine Clan, Nangong Yue felt a wave of nausea. He was already halfway to the grave, yet he still wanted a young woman to be his vessel for dual cultivation to prolong his life. You should know that his grandson was older than her mother.

Fortunately, she escaped; otherwise, after he had used her, she would have been close to death. Even if that old man hadn't killed her, the Medicine Sect Master wouldn't have allowed her to remain a stain on the sect. After all, he was the kind of person who could keep his daughter from ever showing her face outside the Medicine Clan simply because her spiritual root was weak.

She approached the Green Mountain Sect this time hoping to take a gamble, betting that this number one sect in the Southern Continent truly had a clean and upright reputation and would not succumb to the tyranny of the Medicine Sect. Since the Green Mountain Sect needed her help, she would repay their kindness by asking them to ensure her safety for a year. Judging from the current situation, it seems she made the right bet.

Su Bo was unaware of the complexities in her heart; he only thought that her calling him "Brother Su" sounded exceptionally pleasant, so much so that the tips of his ears inexplicably turned red.

After traveling for a whole day, they finally reached the edge of the secret realm. The barrier of the secret realm was like a large protective shield, protecting that pure land. But now there was a large gap in it, and the group passed through without any obstacles.

The group passed through the barrier and landed on the ground. Looking at the familiar spot, Ye Lan felt a mix of emotions.

"Someone."

The moment they entered the barrier, Xiaobai gave them a warning. Ye Lan turned to look at Jiang Ning, who nodded slightly. He had also noticed that someone was lying in ambush, and their cultivation was below his.

The others stayed where they were, while Jiang Ning went alone. Even a single level difference in cultivation could be enough to kill someone; two minutes later, Jiang Ning knocked out the two cultivators who had been lying in ambush.

The others took out reins and tied the two men together. Only after they were tied up did Jiang Ning have someone wake them up.

"Let me go! We are disciples of the Medicine Sect. Your Green Mountain Sect is going too far!" The two men, upon waking, found themselves bound and struggled violently.

"Senior Brother Lin, Senior Brother Yin, it's been a long time." Just now, when Jiang Ning threw the person out, Nangong Yue noticed that the clothes looked familiar.

Unexpectedly, it turned out to be an acquaintance.

"Heh, don't think you'll always be safe just because you have the Green Mountain Sect protecting you." The senior brother Lin that Nangong Yue mentioned sneered, his eyes contemptuous, just like before, not taking her seriously.

Those two were disciples of the Medicine Sect. One was Nangong Yue's former senior brother, surnamed Lin, which was the original surname of the Medicine Clan. The other was a disciple from another clan. The Medicine Sect would also recruit some talented disciples from other clans to protect the sect's safety.

"Young Master Jiang, our Medicine Sect has no grudge against you. If you know what's good for you, you'll release us. Otherwise, if the Medicine Sect finds out, they will never let the Green Mountain Sect off the hook." The two men were tied together, but they weren't intimidated at all.

Su Bo wanted to speak, but Jiang Nan stopped him, shaking his head at Su Bo, saying that Jiang Ning should handle this matter.

The two men were right. Nangong Yue's matter was indeed their Medicine Sect's own affair. The Green Mountain Sect only said they would protect Nangong Yue's safety. Since these two disciples of the Medicine Sect did not attack anyone from their Green Mountain Sect, they had no right to kill them now.

“You jest, cultivator. I only thought someone was trying to ambush you, which is why I took action to arrest you. Since it was all a misunderstanding, I will naturally release you.” Jiang Ning smiled, acting as if he had mistakenly arrested someone.

He glanced at the two of them and continued, "However, Miss Nangong has done a favor for the Green Mountain Sect. Since the Green Mountain Sect promised to protect Miss Nangong's safety in the Cloud Cave, they must keep their word. I hope you will tell the other disciples of the Medicine Sect not to cause trouble for Miss Nangong during this time, otherwise it would be bad if she were accidentally injured."

With that, he cast a spell, and the reins binding them instantly returned to Jiang Ning's hands. Without waiting for their reaction, he said to the other disciples, "Let's go."

Jiang Ning had the confidence that the Medicine Sect wouldn't dare to pursue them, since their current strength wouldn't be at a disadvantage against the Heavenly Sword Sect. He simply didn't want to put his father in a difficult position as the alliance leader.

Nangong Yue watched Jiang Ning flying ahead quietly. She couldn't remember the last time someone had protected her like this. It seemed like she had been all alone ever since her mother passed away.

Ye Lan led the way, with Jiang Ning walking beside him. They planned to first check out Xiao Bai's cave, and if no one had disturbed it, they could stay there temporarily.

They finally arrived at the waterfall before sunset. The road ahead was lined with familiar trees and plants, but in less than half a year, everything had changed. Little White stood on his shoulder, her eyes filled with hatred.

The trees were still in the same position, and he held onto a sliver of hope that the cave might not have been discovered. But once he went inside, that hope was dashed.

Little White jumped to the ground and looked around. All the silver crystals in the cave had been dug up, and even the bowls and chopsticks that Ye Lan hadn't had time to clean up before leaving were smashed on the ground. The cave was a mess. The hatred in its eyes turned into helplessness. Its home and its mother were really gone.

Ye Lan cast a cleansing spell, and all the fragments disappeared, restoring the cave to its former tranquility. He picked up Little White, stroked its fur, and planned to catch some fish for it to grill later. Tomorrow at dawn, he would catch its favorite Spirit-Seeking Rabbit.

"It was probably some unknown rogue cultivators who came by. They didn't take away any of the rare spiritual herbs outside." This was also why Ye Lan had been so optimistic earlier.

This auspicious place contains more than just these crystals; even more precious are the rare spiritual herbs growing around it. Previously, the Demon-Devouring Lion guarded this place, and no spirit beast dared to approach and pick them. Therefore, the spiritual herbs have been growing for quite some time, and any one of them could be exchanged for a lot of money outside.

Ye Lan had left in such a hurry that he hadn't had time to dig, which he had regretted for a while. He never expected that he would have the opportunity to come back today.

Jiang Ning glanced around at the now cleaned-up surroundings. The cave looked spacious and comfortable, and there wouldn't be any problem for the twelve of them to live here together.

"We'll stay here for now. As I just said, no one should be coming to cause us any trouble in the near future. The spiritual energy in this secret realm is twice that of the outside world, so everyone should make the most of this time to cultivate." Jiang Ning began assigning tasks to everyone. "The monsters in the secret realm are ferocious, so we need to send two people to keep watch at the cave entrance every night. Tonight, I'll go with Ye Lan, and from now on, everyone will take turns."

This first night is especially important and requires two highly skilled individuals to guard it together.

"Okay." Everyone agreed. Anyway, it was all about meditation. Whether you sat at the cave entrance or inside the cave, there wasn't much difference. It was all hard ground. You just had to pay more attention to the sounds.

"Su Bo, go outside and cut down some trees tomorrow to make a barrier for Miss Nangong. She lives in the innermost part of the cave." Among their group, Nangong Yue is the only female cultivator. Even though she usually meditates and doesn't sleep, it's still not good for her to live with a group of men.

"Yes." Su Bo accepted the task.

"Then let's all rest for now." Jiang Ning said as he walked towards the cave entrance. Ye Lan, carrying Xiao Bai, followed him out.

As darkness fell completely, a fire was lit in front of Ye Lan. The fire burned brightly, occasionally sputtering sparks. Two cleaned fish were grilling on the fire. These fish were caught for him by Jiang Ning when he went downstream from the waterfall.

As time passed, the fish meat emitted a fragrant aroma. Little White sat in his lap, poking its head out to stare at the two fish. Its initial sadness had passed.

"Wait a little longer, it will be cooked in a while."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Ning added another piece of firewood to the fire, guessing that Xiao Bai was hungry.

He sat on a cushion given to him by Ye Lan. There was another large cushion next to Ye Lan, but Xiao Bai refused to sit on it. Ever since Ye Lan picked it up, it hadn't gotten down.

"It smells so good." Jiang Nan also came out from inside and wanted to sit down on the empty cushion, but Ye Lan pulled it out, so he stayed in a half-squatting position.

"Sit here." Before he could react, Ye Lan took out another smaller cushion from her space and placed it under his bottom. "Little White doesn't like people sitting on its cushions."

"That's really thoughtful." Jiang Nan sat down on the new cushion. "I wonder how much you'll spoil your child in the future?" He genuinely felt that Ye Lan might not be as attentive as she was to Xiao Bai when raising her own child.

Ye Lan smiled but didn't reply. He would never have children in his life. The original owner of this body didn't know, but he himself was certain that he wouldn't. Given his sexual orientation, he would never harm innocent women.

"Why did you come out?" Jiang Ning asked him. Everyone else was inside meditating and cultivating, but he was the only one who came out.

"I don't know why, but I can't calm down and cultivate." Jiang Nan also picked up a thin stick and poked the fire from time to time. He was too embarrassed to say that the fish smelled too good and disturbed his mind. After all, these two fish were prepared for Xiaobai.

"You're too hungry to concentrate, aren't you?" Jiang Ning saw through his unspoken words.

"If you're a brother, give me some face."

Ye Lan chuckled softly to himself. For some reason, he thought of the famous line, "If you're a brother, then cut me once."

Unbeknownst to him, three years had passed since he arrived in this world. Three years inside the Cloud Cave meant only one year outside. If the time spent inside the Cloud Cave was included, then he had been in this world for five years.

Time flies! They only have less than a year left before they have to leave Cloud Cave.

"Ye Lan, is it cooked?" Jiang Nan didn't get any of the fish, but that didn't stop him from worrying that it would burn.

"Wait a little longer, until the meat inside is fully cooked."

After the fish was cooked, Ye Lan still shared one with the two of them. Jiang Nan initially pretended to refuse, but Jiang Ning teased him by saying, "Then forget it," and he quickly accepted the half-portion of fish.

"It smells so good." Jiang Nan even licked her fingers after she had picked up the fish.

"Go cultivate as soon as you're done eating." Jiang Ning sometimes felt he couldn't bear to look at his cousin.

"Okay~", Jiang Nan said, drawing out her words. "Ye Lan, I'll catch a few more fish tomorrow. Can you teach me how to grill them so well?"

"Okay, but I'm going to catch a Spirit Rabbit tomorrow. Do you want to come with me?" Ye Lan said without looking up, still holding the fish meat she was feeding Xiao Bai.

Is the Spirit-Seeking Rabbit an edible spirit beast?

"Hmm, it's a very delicious spirit beast."

"Then I'll go with you tomorrow. After catching the Spirit Rabbit, I'll go catch fish. It's settled then." As if afraid of being scolded by Jiang Ning, Jiang Nan slipped into the cave after saying these words.

He thought to himself with a smug smile how lucky he was to get another free meal today, something even Gu Yu hadn't managed to do.

Only two people remained at the cave entrance.

"Why didn't you keep some for yourself?" Ye Lan didn't get to eat any of the fish earlier, and Jiang Ning wanted to share with him, but he refused.

"I used to eat this fish all the time. I've already stopped fasting, so it doesn't matter if I skip a meal." While wiping Xiaobai's mouth, Ye Lan didn't forget to reply.

Jiang Ning added some more firewood to the fire. "Go and rest for a bit. I'll keep watch for the first half of the night, and I'll wake you up for the second half."

"Okay, I'll take a nap. Wake me up when it's time." He still held Xiaobai in his arms, placing Xiaobai's mat by his feet so it would be easier for it to sleep when it wanted to. Ye Lan didn't dare take out her own large mat to sleep on, afraid that she would fall into a deep sleep and forget to let Jiang Ning rest.

Ye Lan was exhausted after a long day, so he did not refuse Jiang Ning's suggestion and took a cushion to rest against the wall at the entrance of the cave.

But he dozed off and it was dawn.

When Ye Lan woke up, he found himself wearing Jiang Ning's outer robe. Xiao Bai was no longer in his arms, and Jiang Ning was nowhere to be found. The fire next to him had turned to ashes.

After confirming that there was no danger in the vicinity, he moved his stiff body and got up to go find Jiang Ning.

We hadn't gone far when we saw a man and a lion, both thrashing about in the water.