Why did you provoke me?

Yu Meng's words startled Hua Shulang, while Niannian smiled and said, "There's no need to ask. Uncle Wu will definitely take her in with a wave of his hand. She's a kid we know well."

Hua Shulang hadn't quite grasped why what he was saying was so simple.

He tentatively asked, "Can I learn their skills?"

Niannian's eyes darted around. "Do you want to become stronger quickly, or just let things take their course?"

"I already know I can become stronger, and you still tell me to leave it to fate? This is a disguised way of ripping me off." His signature roguish smile was on his face as he pulled a small bag from his backpack. "I found it in the quicksand, but I don't recognize it. Teacher, could you take a look?"

Niannian took it and casually handed it to Yu Meng, saying, "Fourth Sister, you know a lot, take a look."

Then she looked at Hua Shulang again, "Uncle Wu will only welcome you into the sect and will never refuse you. What I mean is, since we're all family now, I have a way to quickly become stronger. I wonder if you'd like to hear it?"

Seeing the mischievous glint in Nian Nian's eyes, Hua Shulang knew he had no choice, so he smiled and nodded in agreement.

"Is this some good news? Of course I want to hear it."

Niannian looked around, then leaned forward and whispered to Hua Shulang, "Go find Third Brother and ask him to teach you."

"That's it?" Hua Shulang looked at Niannian with some doubt.

"Of course, this requires Fourth Sister's approval before Third Brother will teach you," Niannian said earnestly.

Yu Meng glanced at Niannian, realizing there was nothing she could do with her; Hua Shulang was bound to fall into this trap no matter what.

"It's fine to have him teach you, but Jing San is very strict when he teaches, and there's no chance to back out halfway through. Are you sure you still need him to teach you?" Yu Meng asked again, suppressing a laugh.

Hua Shulang had already realized there was a problem here, but he couldn't let himself be tricked and fail to learn any real skills.

So he confirmed it again, "As long as Third Brother teaches me real skills, a little hardship is nothing."

"I knew you were clever. If Fourth Sister asked Third Brother to teach you something, you couldn't help but learn it." Niannian wrinkled her little nose. "Third Brother doesn't teach just anyone."

Hua Shulang touched his nose and chuckled awkwardly, "Then do I need to become an apprentice?"

"Become my apprentice?" Niannian looked him up and down. "If you become my apprentice, I'll be your senior uncle. Are you willing?"

Hua Shulang became serious. "Now that I've become your apprentice, you have to teach me your best skills."

Yu Meng watched Hua Shulang and Niannian haggling. They really did seem to be doing it.

But neither of them could make that decision!

Without Yu Meng, Jing San would never have taught Hua Shulang.

Jing San sat to one side, his brows furrowed so deeply they could trap a fly. His lines showed no signs of absorbing energy.

But Nian Nian just said that it can be absorbed, but the speed is slow.

It's okay to go slower now, but he didn't even realize how slow it was.

Yu Meng guessed the reason for his furrowed brows. "The level of the alien lines is too low, and this energy is high-level, so it's normal that it can't be absorbed."

Upon hearing Yu Meng's words, Jing San sighed and opened her eyes.

Yu Meng didn't comfort him; there were many things she couldn't do. If she tried to comfort him for everything, it would never end. But she did offer some pointers, "Adhering the lines to the surface of those stones will also benefit them."

Hua Shulang looked at the lines in his hand, and he also wanted to try and see if he could get the benefit that Yu Meng had mentioned.

It was so obvious on her face that it was hard not to notice.

Niannian covered her mouth and laughed, "You can't even control the lines, yet you want to eat energy? How could you be so greedy!"

Hua Shulang ignored her and turned to look at Yu Meng.

Without wasting words, Yu Meng directly pointed Hua Shulang to Jing San. "He just got the lines. When you have some free time, teach him a bit, starting from the basics."

Jing San was taken aback. "Me, teach him?" She pointed to herself, her tone full of doubt.

Yu Meng nodded.

Hua Shulang stood up, bowed to Jing San, and said, "I'll be troubling you from now on, Third Brother."

"Sure, but if you're going to learn from me, you have to follow my rules."

Hua Shulang said with a smile, "That's for sure."

Niannian covered her mouth and chuckled secretly.

At the edge of the dense forest, several people were standing. Even in broad daylight, their faces were covered with black veils.

"Did those two people you were talking about really go in?"

"They really went in. There was a small team following behind them, and I know the captain of that team, his surname is Hua."

"I've been keeping an eye on those two for many days. They've practically explored the entire battlefield. Now that they've stopped here, they must have found something good."

"Boss, should we go in and take a look?"

Several people were talking in hushed tones.

"Take a look?" a voice repeated in a low voice. "Our mission this time is to find her, how can simply taking a look be enough?"

"But there are too many people inside right now, so it's not easy for us to make a move."

"Who told you to just go and grab it? You idiot!"

"Boss, what do you suggest we do? We'll do whatever you say we do."

The leader casually pointed to someone beside him and said, "Go in and tell them that our leader wants to see them. Tell them to come with us now."

"Boss, I heard they have some tricks up their sleeves. What if they don't agree?"

The leader kicked him directly. "Is your head just for show? She doesn't agree, can't you figure something out?"

The person who was kicked didn't dare to make a sound and went straight into the dense forest.

He didn't hide himself, so Hua Shulang's team members quickly spotted him.

"Halt! The Chinese team is on official business here. Unauthorized personnel please make way."

The man in black bowed in Yu Meng's direction. "I am here on the orders of my leader to invite the two teachers to the appointment."

Hua Shulang glanced at Yu Meng and walked over.

He asked, "Who is your leader?"

The man in black sized up Hua Shulang. "Captain Hua, this doesn't seem to have anything to do with you."

Hua Shulang laughed, "Three days ago, it had nothing to do with me. But now it does."

The man in black asked, bewildered, "What's the relationship?"

"No comment," Hua Shulang replied with a grin.

The man in black was clearly angered by those words, but he managed to control his temper.

"My master has a deal he wants to make with the two teachers. He sent us to invite you." The black man bowed respectfully and then stated his purpose.

Niannian also came over. "Are you here to cause trouble?"

"No, no, that's not it." The black man hurriedly waved his hands. "Our leader really has something he wants to talk to the two teachers about."

Niannian suddenly had a string of beads in her hand. "You should know Fourth Sister's temper; lying will do you no good at all."

"No, I'm not lying." The man in black's legs were trembling slightly. Yu Meng and Niannian's achievements had already spread throughout the Fourth Battlefield some time ago, so who would dare to mess with them?

Those fifty-odd people, all neatly arranged, were hoisted onto the large trees lining both sides of the road. The scene was as spectacular as it could possibly be.

They didn't kill anyone, nor did they steal any supplies. They were simply sending a message to everyone: if you bother them again, this is what will happen.

The sole purpose is to intimidate these people.

Later, some people actually didn't believe in superstition and followed them.

Yu Meng directly sprinkled poison powder and declared, "If you want to live, trade your resources for it." And let me tell you, they made a lot of money from that.

Therefore, if it weren't for the fact that Hua Shulang would have a hard time getting along here in the future, Niannian would actually hope that someone would come and cause trouble for them.