Dual cultivation makes you stronger, everyone else is a prodigy, and I'm the only one slacking

Yu Luoning didn't dare to breathe, her heart pounding. She stood frozen in place.

She was afraid that if she moved, the white silk would move along with her, making it even more obvious.

And so, he could only watch helplessly as the white silk ribbon drew ever closer to him.

The Immortal Binding Rope tied to her wrist seemed to sense something.

Yu Luoning immediately realized that this was a mutual resonance between spiritual artifacts of the same origin.

She copied the white silk ribbon and upgraded it into the Immortal Binding Rope.

So the white silk ribbon naturally recognized its elder brother.

It’s over.

Is this white silk ribbon meant to sell her?

No sooner said than done.

Just three inches from her eyes, a hand suddenly came across and grabbed it.

Mo Fei, clutching the white silk ribbon, frowned, rolled his eyes, and turned to Li Yunyu, letting out a sneer:

"You blind fool, your eyes are like a zombie's, they're terrifying to look at. You didn't even notice the white silk ribbon fell off, hurry up and put it back on."

As he spoke, he casually tossed the white silk ribbon into the air.

Mo Yuntian coughed lightly from the side, "Don't be rude."

Mo Fei pursed his lips and stopped talking.

Yu Luoning quietly breathed a sigh of relief; a thin layer of sweat had already formed on her back.

She lowered her head and quietly moved behind Mo Fei.

The other person's tall shadow immediately covered most of her face.

Her gaze shifted from Li Yunyu to Feng Qiguang, and then swept over the faces she already remembered in the crowd.

A battlefield of carnage.

This is a small-scale battleground.

Just now, three pages of her "Handsome Men's Portraits" were lit up.

Yu Luoning suddenly felt a little fortunate that she had been disfigured.

If he were recognized, given Feng Qiguang's personality, he might just burst into tears on the spot.

She took another half step deeper into the crowd, hiding herself even more thoroughly.

You cannot show your face. Absolutely not.

There are many people and eyes around here; there might even be a few fish in the pond in the future.

I can't ruin their first impression of me.

Li Yunyu stretched out his hand slightly, and the white silk ribbon floated back.

The crowd was growing impatient, and the urging voices from within were growing louder.

"Young Master Li, please make a move."

"Yeah, we've been trapped here for so long, and it's so damn frustrating not being able to use our spiritual power."

Li Yunyu stood still, seemingly oblivious to the surrounding noise, his gaze merely sweeping across the crowd.

Those grey eyes paused for a fleeting moment in a corner of the crowd.

Then he lowered his eyes, his lips curling up almost imperceptibly, as if nothing had happened.

He glanced at the crowd and said slowly, "If you want me to open the palace gates, fine. But I need someone to assist me."

There was a moment of silence.

Li Yunyu then said, "I need to choose one person from among you. Any objections?"

Upon hearing that Li Yunyu was willing to cooperate, everyone immediately chimed in with enthusiastic responses.

"As long as Young Master Li opens this underground palace, we are willing to cooperate."

"Yes, yes, we are all willing to cooperate."

Li Yunyu chuckled softly, his gaze slowly moving through the crowd, neither hurried nor slow.

Finally, it stopped.

This is the direction Yu Luoning and the others are heading.

Standing in front of Yu Luoning, Mo Fei stared at Li Yunyu with displeasure, his tone very sharp:

"You blind fool, you're really dragging your feet. Tell me, how do you want me to help you?"

Li Yunyu raised an eyebrow slightly, a hint of disdain flashing in his eyes.

Mo Fei clenched his fists instantly, and the anger in his heart rose again.

He hated Li Yunyu's demeanor the most. He rarely spoke a word, his expression was cold and distant, and every move he made exuded arrogance, as if he, Mo Fei, was nothing but a piece of trash and not worthy of his attention.

Mo Fei retorted angrily, "If you want my help, can't you at least be a little nicer?"

Li Yunyu ignored him and said, "You, come out."

The air fell silent again. Everyone could see that he wasn't saying that to Mo Fei at all.

Mo Fei made a fool of himself, his face slightly embarrassed. He subconsciously took a step to the left and looked back.

Wasn't that the fellow Daoist who saved him and his grandfather?

At the same time, Yu Luoning's heart skipped a beat.

A murmur rippled through the crowd.

Yu Luoning didn't move; she raised her head and asked, feigning confusion, "Did you call me?"

Li Yunyu: "Mm."

"On what grounds?"

Li Yunyu didn't explain at all. He just looked at her quietly, his gray eyes unreadable.

Yu Luoning felt uneasy under his gaze.

Someone in the crowd got anxious and rushed forward, bowing to Li Yunyu.

"Young lady, everyone is trapped here right now, please do us a favor."

Yu Luoning ignored him.

Who knows if there are any traps when this palace gate is opened?

She's not that noble, willing to sacrifice herself for others.

At this moment, someone nearby couldn't wait any longer: "My dear lady, this is extremely urgent! Everyone's spiritual energy is completely depleted; we can't just sit here in this underground palace forever, can we?"

"Yeah, damn it, I don't even have any spiritual energy. It's so frustrating. I'm only at the half-step Foundation Establishment stage, and I'm being chased and beaten up by some red-haired zombie monster. If I told anyone, people would laugh their heads off."

Yu Luoning remained unmoved.

She thought to herself, "What does it matter to me whether you feel aggrieved or not? In this secret realm, the higher one's cultivation level, the more intense the suppression. I'm just a Qi Refining Level 2 cultivator; aside from not being able to use spiritual power, everything else is normal. I can eat and drink as usual."

Seeing his unwilling expression, Lu Wanying stepped forward and volunteered, "Young Master Li, if you need help, I'm willing to do it myself."

Li Yunyu glanced at him sideways but said nothing.

With just that one glance, Lu Wanying swallowed the words that were on the tip of her tongue. She took half a step back and lowered her head.

Her heart is fragile and sensitive.

She could only sense that Li Yunyu's eyes were filled with disdain, clearly looking down on her cultivation level.

The determination to become stronger has grown even stronger.

The surroundings fell silent again.

Yu Luoning took in this scene, but several thoughts flashed through her mind.

Since none of them have spiritual power now, they are still willing to reason with her.

When the power gap is too large, who would be willing to reason with them? There will always be ways to force her to agree.

Yu Luoning slowly asked, "Is there any danger in opening this palace gate?"

No one answered.

Yu Luoning snorted, "See? You can't even guarantee anything. You think you can get me in like this?"

"Besides, it's your problem if you can't get out. Why should I risk my life and work for your benefit?"

As soon as these words were spoken, some people in the crowd immediately showed their dissatisfaction and stood up to lecture Yu Luoning, telling her to think about the bigger picture.

"Fellow Daoist, you can't put it that way. How is it for our benefit? If we can't get out, do you think you can? This is also for your own sake."

Yu Luoning slowly turned her head, rolled her eyes at him, and said, "Oh my, for my own sake? Well, I should thank you guys for worrying about me. By the way, who's out there? Everyone seems so eager to get out."

The man's face flushed red. "Don't you want to recover your spiritual power as soon as possible?"

"I want to. But I'm not in a hurry." Yu Luoning crossed her arms, looking completely nonchalant.

"My spiritual power is gone, so I can just be a mortal for a few days. There's nothing wrong with being a mortal. Anyway, with so many of you with me, I'm not lonely, and I'm not in a hurry."

Seeing that she remained unmoved, the others turned to Li Yunyu and said, "Young Master Li, why don't you find someone else? Among our many cultivators, there must be someone more suitable."

Li Yunyu shook his head, "It has to be her."

The people around her started whispering again, looking at Yu Luoning and wondering what her background was.

Some even wanted to use force to make Yu Luoning submit.

Before they could even get close, Li Yunyu instantly killed them.

Now, no one dared to make any rash moves.

From the crowd, someone shouted at Yu Luoning, "I'm impressed! Just tell me, what will it take for you to agree?"

Yu Luoning smiled slightly, "It's very simple. I'll make a price: if Young Master Li and I open the palace gates safely, everyone who steps through the palace gates today will have to give me a high-grade spirit stone."

The crowd immediately erupted in uproar.

You should know that a high-grade spirit stone is extremely precious.

To get them into this grotto, they had to pay a high-grade spirit stone.

Another charge?

"Why should I? You're asking for way too much!"

Yu Luoning waited quietly for them to finish their commotion, her expression remaining unchanged.

"If you don't want to, then let Young Master Li choose someone else."

"Or we could all reconsider and just wait here. Anyway, I still have plenty of fasting pills, and the food in my storage bag is enough to last me for a few years. As for you guys... hehe, I'm not in a hurry."

The crowd fell silent.

After a moment, someone gritted their teeth and said, "One piece it is. We can't just stay here and waste time."

"We've come all this way to the secret realm, we can't just go back empty-handed."

Once the first one is established, the second and third will naturally follow.

The crowd grumbled and cursed, but they had no choice but to swallow their pride and accept it.