Li Qingyun leaned against a large tree and said to Gan Cuicui, "Miss Gan, I'll escort you back to the outer perimeter tomorrow."
Gan Cuicui's hands trembled, a flicker of disappointment in her eyes.
But she didn't refuse, instead nodding and saying, "I understand."
Gan Cuicui had long known this day would come. A genius of Li Qingyun's caliber, taking her along for five days was already more than he needed to do.
Her combat power was nowhere near Li Qingyun's level.
For the past few days, she had been acting as a tool, but often, Li Qingyun could handle things on his own.
In short, as the demon beasts encountered grew stronger, Gan Cuicui's liability grew.
So she knew she couldn't stay by Li Qingyun's side.
Her greatest strength was her clear understanding of her own position. When she was Xue Qianwei's secretary and Chu Yang was brought to the apartment, she had voluntarily moved out.
Just then, a voice came from outside the treehouse: "Li Qingyun? Are you there?"
Li Qingyun opened his eyes, and the branches enclosing him parted to reveal a doorway.
Two familiar figures appeared before him, Luo Xiaowei and Qin Xiaoxiao.
Meng Zibin and Chen Xiaohan had not come along, as their relationship with Li Qingyun was too delicate.
Luo Xiaowei looked at the small house woven from branches before him and exclaimed, "As expected of you!"
Qin Xiaoxiao also squeezed in and bowed politely to Li Qingyun, "Then... Li Qingyun, can you... heal him? He's injured."
Li Qingyun quickly put the limping Luo Xiaowei down and frowned at the hideous wound, "How did you get hurt like this?"
Qin Xiaoxiao stammered through an explanation of what had happened that day.
"...Can you save him?"
Li Qingyun's hand emitted a gentle life force as he touched Luo Xiaowei's wound.
As he was healing him, he said, "It's not just your leg, don't you know your ribs are broken?"
Luo Xiaowei managed a weak smile and said awkwardly, "Heh heh... Broken? I just thought my chest felt tight!"
"Your back also has unhealed impact wounds."
"You... you must have seen wrong?"
"There are still remnants of demon beast bites on your right arm, which can easily get infected."
"..."
Li Qingyun wasn't just skilled at healing trees; healing people was also effortless.
Although the Qingmu Jue was a lower-tier technique with weaker offensive power, the life energy it generated was incredibly potent for healing.
As someone in the middle stage of Foundation Establishment, healing someone in the late stage of Qi Refining was more than enough.
However, Li Qingyun's words greatly angered Qin Xiaoxiao.
It turned out that Luo Xiaowei had been hiding his numerous injuries for the past two days and had been relentlessly seeking out powerful demon beasts to fight!
Qin Xiaoxiao's eyes reddened as she said, "You hid so many injuries from me! You deserve to die!"
Luo Xiaowei shot a resentful glance at Li Qingyun, who was treating him, then coughed dryly and explained with forced bravure, "This is really nothing serious, I didn't feel that injured! Most doctors like to exaggerate to scare patients, right, Brother Qingyun?"
Li Qingyun looked up, three question marks slowly forming above his head: "???"
He saw Luo Xiaowei winking at him.
But Li Qingyun, adhering to the principle of not deceiving patients, said solemnly, "Don't take your life lightly. Your injuries are indeed very serious. You're still fighting intensely without recovering, why bother?"
Luo Xiaowei paused, then asked in a low voice, "How many demon cores do you have?"
Li Qingyun paused, then stated a number that made Luo Xiaowei's jaw drop: "Eleven Tier 3, thirty Tier 2, forty-three Tier 1. Miss Gan, is that correct?"
Gan Cuicui nodded, "That's right, that's the quantity."
Upon hearing this, Luo Xiaowei felt completely deflated.
Eleven Tier 3 demon cores, let alone the other two numbers, how monstrous was that? How astonishing?
Luo Xiaowei sighed heavily and said, "Too strong, Brother Qingyun, I am truly far behind. I'm not like you guys. I started cultivating not too long after you did, but the gap in talent is too great. I'm only of average talent."
Li Qingyun comforted him, "Brother Xian said that talent is not the only standard for judging a person's achievements."
"That's why I have to put in more effort than you guys. If I don't fight for it, am I supposed to wait to be slaughtered like dogs by the evil race in three years? Even if I can't catch up to you, I at least want to see the taillights!"
Everyone fell silent. Li Qingyun patted Luo Xiaowei's thigh and stretched it out.
He calmly said to Li Qingyun, "You're right. With this kind of will, you won't be inferior to any of us in the future. Brother Xian never criticized you for your talent."
"Heh heh, Brother Qingyun, I like hearing you say that!"
"Alright, your injuries are mostly healed. Why don't you rest here tonight?"
"No, no, I'm really sorry to disturb you this late at night. Your kindness is immense. When we get to the Time Secret Realm, I'll find an opportunity to repay you!"
As he saw them out, Li Qingyun thought of something and asked doubtfully, "Oh right, how did you know I was here?"
"Uh... I ran into Meng Zibin earlier, and he gave me the information."
"Meng Zibin?" Li Qingyun pondered for a moment, then said, "I understand. But I advise you not to get injured again, because you might not be able to find me next time."
On the way back, Qin Xiaoxiao's brows were tightly furrowed.
She tugged on Luo Xiaowei's sleeve and asked, "What did he mean by that last sentence?"
Luo Xiaowei sighed weakly and said, "What else could he mean? He's going to hunt deeper, of course! We're not on the same level as him."
"Holy crap! If he goes deeper, he'll encounter Tier 4 demon beasts, right?"
"Who knows? He doesn't seem like someone who would rush to his death. He probably has his own considerations."
Hearing the words "rush to his death," Qin Xiaoxiao immediately got angry and kicked Luo Xiaowei hard, "How dare you say that about him? You big liar! If Li Qingyun wasn't here, would you have worked yourself to death? Are demon cores more important than your life?"
Luo Xiaowei's face fell, and he guiltily changed the subject, "Ahem! Hey? Meng Zibin and the others are just ahead. Let's go meet up with them and discuss tomorrow's combat plan!"
"Wait! Don't you dare change the subject, we're not done talking about you bringing me to fight demon beasts while you were seriously injured! Damn it, you're covering your ears!"