Why did you provoke me?

"You're lying," the man who asked the question hissed.

Yu Meng's smiling mask glowed eerily in the night. "Didn't you ask for a reason? Didn't I give you one too?"

Yu Meng gently raised her hand, the magic bead hanging on her finger. "Do you recognize this thing? It's magical. Generally, you'll answer any question I ask."

All four of them subconsciously looked at the string of beads in her hand.

"And what's this?" The woman's voice had barely faded when Yu Meng's voice rang out, "What benefits did the person who brought you here promise?"

"You'll give me another fairy pet," the woman replied quickly.

He said that once my pet absorbs this energy, it will start to split.

"I'm just here to make up the numbers, hoping to broaden my horizons."

"On the surface, this is an experiment, but in reality, it's to hunt down someone." The last person desperately covered his mouth with his hand, but his words still clearly reached Yu Meng's ears.

Yu Meng didn't stop him, seeing his expression, and continued asking her questions. "I'm very interested in that person. Could you tell me about him?"

"He's amazing. If it weren't for him giving me a magical pet, I wouldn't have been able to advance to the Bone Painter level."

"He is a tolerant elder."

"He promised me that if this matter succeeds, he will take me as his personal disciple."

Yu Meng asked another question, "Have all of you become his disciples? Does he have many disciples?"

"No, we are not very bright, so he wouldn't accept us."

"Is she a woman?"

All four shook their heads in unison. "We've never seen him before."

Yu Meng took another step closer and then asked in a low voice, "Feng County, where is your base?"

"The entire An Sheng area is populated by believers."

"Where is the person you're talking about?" Yu Meng asked slowly.

"I have no idea."

"I know he's not in Feng County."

"He has disciples in Feng County."

"On the front lines."

Yu Meng put away the Illusion Pearl, and the invisible wave from her right foot silently rushed towards the calves of the four people.

"Alright, our game is over. Good luck!"

The four people watched in bewilderment as Yu Meng disappeared into the night. The first to regain his senses was the man who had asked the first question.

"What do we do now? Send a signal?"

"Idiot, nobody else has sent one, why are you sending one?"

"Shall we wait a bit?"

"Wait, wait until dawn."

The four people sat together in silence.

Clinging to a sliver of hope, Yu Meng circled back to the last group of people. As expected, they were nowhere to be found.

Yu Meng didn't go looking for them; with the lines gone, they were basically useless.

Yu Meng thought about it and decided not to meet with Niannian and the others. But she still told Niannian about the Gu worms in the lines and warned her never to touch them.

……

As dawn broke, Niannian and her team still had a lot of lines left. It wasn't that they weren't working hard, but rather that the capacity of a line is limited. To forge a line, one must go through many processes of charging and releasing energy, and this process is not perfect.

Zhang Zhen didn't join Niannian and the others; he was still waiting for Yu Meng.

"How did it go? What did you find out?" Yu Meng's voice rang out beside Zhang Zhen.

"Teacher Yu, look, I've written it all down, it's just a bit messy." Zhang Zhen lowered his head slightly.

Yu Meng took it without even looking at it, and stuffed it directly into her small backpack. Then she took out a small jar about the thickness of an arm from the small backpack and handed it to Zhang Zhen. "Niannian should have left you some lines. Put them here. When you can absorb them, open this jar."

Zhang Zhen's eyes instantly lit up. Saying anything was meaningless; giving him the resources to become stronger was the real solution.

"Thank you, Teacher Yu." Zhang Zhen straightened up.

"You guys continue to Feng County. It's similar to Fucheng. Bring back all the good stuff. If there's anything left over, leave some for Xiao Wen and the others. You can decide what to do then."

Zhang Zhen nodded to indicate that he had remembered, then looked at Yu Meng and asked, "Teacher Yu, aren't you coming with us?"

"No, with me here, you'll all be more reserved. Things are settled here. I'll head back now; you should go and meet up with them!"

Watching Zhang Zhen turn and leave, Yu Meng went back to meet up with Jing Er and the others.

"Teacher Yu." Jing Er saw Yu Meng walking over and quickly stood up.

"How is it? How much have you absorbed?" Yu Meng asked with concern.

"Sigh, we're so ashamed. The good stuff is right here, but we can't absorb it."

"Show me your lines."

Jing Er hurriedly released his lines, the black and shiny lines floating in the air, giving people a very domineering feeling.

"Huh, when did two more fuse together?"

"My brothers all worked very hard, and I couldn't just take the title of senior brother for nothing, so I tried to merge with them, and to my surprise, it actually worked." Jing Er didn't mention the dangers of the fusion process.

Yu Meng nodded. In order to become stronger, some risks are necessary.

"Teacher Yu, could you give me some guidance?" Jing Er asked cautiously.

"Hmm," Yu Meng released her lines and quickly wove them into two footpads. Yu Meng stood on them and then slowly rose into the air.

Yu Meng stopped when she was about a foot above the ground.

"To fly, first, your lines must be strong enough to lift you up. Second, there must be an energy in your brain that can control the direction of your lines."

"Teacher Yu, do I also have that kind of energy in my head?" Jing Er asked doubtfully.

"Of course, the energy you use to collect the lines is that kind of energy, but you've never kept it in mind, let alone trained it."

"Can I learn it?" Jing Er asked somewhat nervously.

"Why not? I'm telling you this so you can learn it, isn't it?"

"Thank you, Teacher Yu!" the group of people who had been eavesdropping nearby immediately shouted.

Jing Er placed one of her feet on his line and tried to lift it upwards. She tried it once, but it didn't move. She tried it again, but the result was the same.

Yu Meng looked at him and wanted to laugh. "You can use something else to replace it first, such as a stone. It's small in size but heavy in weight, so it's the best choice."

Jing Er actually used lines to lift a stone; it worked fine for the small ones, but not for the larger ones.

"We'll stay here for a day, and you'll use up all the energy in your lines, then absorb it again, use it all up, and absorb it again. You have to practice this process repeatedly, even if it's tedious. When the energy in your lines is completely used up, you'll never want to experience that feeling again." As Yu Meng said this, she couldn't help but think of the past. She immediately shook her head, "I can't think about it, I can't think about it."

Yu Meng snapped out of her daze and looked at Jing Er. She emphasized, "If you can get through this process, then congratulations, you're not far from success."

Yu Er also joined in, "Teacher Yu, can I practice like this too?"

"Of course, this practice method is suitable for everyone. You can all practice it." Yu Meng looked at those eager eyes and nodded affirmatively.