Having cultivated myself into an immortal, all I want to do is raise female disciples.

What do you mean?

Why is he suddenly asking me if I've ever had any real combat experience? Does he want to fight me right here?

It's obvious that it's impossible. No matter how free Yunping is, he won't make a move against me. The justice of Heaven is still there.

When she signed the admission notice, she glanced at it and saw a clause that said teachers and students must never harm each other.

Unless Yunping is so desperate that he wants to be struck down by the heavens, he would never lay a hand on her.

Thinking about it this way, Ye Yuchan felt relieved and took it as Yunping asking casually.

In fact, Yunping wasn't just asking casually.

"Hey, Little Cicada, the road ahead might be a little difficult. You'd better stay close and it's best to use your spiritual energy."

"Huh?" Ye Yuchan looked at Yun Ping, who suddenly looked tense, and felt a little guilty. "No... how could it be like this all of a sudden..."

"Alright, enough talk, follow me."

Yunping abandoned his previous casual and frivolous demeanor, his steps suddenly becoming ethereal, and with a turn of his body, he darted into the dense thicket of thorns ahead like a swimming dragon.

Ye Yuchan was stunned for a moment, then immediately remembered what Yun Ping had mentioned about the gray mist. She immediately circulated her spiritual root, unleashing all her spiritual energy, and even activated the "Thousand Blades" technique.

He barely managed to keep up with Yunping's movements.

However, what shocked Ye Yuchan even more was yet to come, because she discovered that as she went deeper, the surrounding thorny forest was actually moving.

Instead of slowly moving around, they rushed towards her from all directions as if they possessed the intelligence of living beings.

"Holy crap, what are these things?!"

Yunping casually knocked away the thorns blocking his way, and in the process, pulled Ye Yuchan, who was almost swallowed by the thorns, along with him.

"These are the roots of the Seven Dreams Tree. We are now in the heart of the Seven Dreams Tree."

"...So, according to you, the Seven Dream Tree really exists?!"

Ye Yuchan glanced with lingering fear at the withering thorns at her feet and swallowed hard.

"Isn't that obvious? I already said that the Seven Dream Tree is not a lie."

"That……"

"Stop with all that and hurry up. We need to get to that open space ahead before the Seven Dream Trees completely surround us."

"Ah... Oh oh."

Ye Yuchan agreed somewhat blankly, and then quickly rushed forward. At the same time, the surrounding thorns began to stir again.

She could clearly sense the hostility of these thorns and the life energy contained within them, which was far beyond what ordinary spiritual energy could compare to.

Although I still couldn't be sure, the facts were increasingly pointing towards seven.

The existence of the Dream Tree has been a real development in the past.

Could the Seven Dream Tree really be...?

— (rustling sounds)

More and more chaotic sounds came from behind her. Ye Yuchan didn't dare to turn around and look at the surging thorns. She knew that if she stopped, she would definitely be doomed.

She could only run for her life, desperately trying to circulate her spiritual roots to escape the pursuit of the thorny tide, while also desperately grabbing onto Yunping's clothes.

However, Yunping's speed increased so much that he could barely see clearly, only a white shadow guiding him in the distance.

The hand that was holding Yunping's sleeve quietly let go without him realizing it.

"Wait...wait..."

She opened her chapped lips, trying to call back the white figure.

Unfortunately, she was a step too slow; in a split second, the white figure in front of her vanished.

Just as the girl was falling into despair, a few faint lights suddenly appeared before her eyes.

Hurry up! Hurry up!

She rushed forward almost frantically, breaking free from the thorns that were about to climb up her trouser legs, and ran towards the light.

Faster! Faster! Faster!

finally--

"Huff...huff huff...I'm alive, I'm alive."

Ye Yuchan collapsed to the ground, panting heavily. Looking at the empty land around her, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Since the thorns behind her were no longer rushing towards her, it meant that she no longer needed to be hunted down.

The rest is about settling scores with that bastard who almost made me run myself to death.

"I'm telling you, you idiot, why are you running so fast? You can't even..."

A look of disbelief appeared on Ye Yuchan's face.

She swallowed the rest of her words in confusion and fear, looking around blankly at the vast open space.

—There was no trace of Yunping.

Where...where is he? Where is that idiot?

She asked tentatively.

No one answered.

*gulp*—swallowing saliva.

Ye Yuchan tried her best to keep her voice calm, "Huh? No... this is too strange, isn't it? There shouldn't be... such a thing, right?"

"Hello? Hello? Um... Teacher? Teacher Yun? Respected Teacher Yun? Teacher Yun Ping, the best teacher of the year? You... are you there? Don't mess with me!"

The surroundings were empty.

There was nothing but thorns swaying in the dark shadows.

"This is...this is really strange. Haha, usually I just need to be a little cute for this kind of joke, but what's wrong with you today? Are you upset that I didn't give you a certificate...or that I didn't give you a little red flower?"

"Hey... you're there, right? Stop hiding, I know you..."

—Awoo~

Quite a sharp, piercing howl.

Ye Yuchan's movements and expression instantly froze. She looked around and discovered something that made her shudder.

This gray fog forest... is shrouded in fog.

37. Gyarados...Wolf?

A chilling sensation seeped into the girl's skirt, like an icy hand gently stroking her delicate back.

As time passed, specks of gray spread across the entire open space, obscuring the thorny branches that darted and surged in the shadows, leaving only a hazy gray expanse. Even the muddy, brownish-yellow soil beneath our feet was tinged with gray-white.

[A gray fog might blow up on the way back; if you get separated, even a miracle won't save you.]

Yunping's words were pounding wildly in her mind, making the girl's mind go blank, and she looked around nervously.

The phrase "even a god couldn't save him" is not just a casual remark. Although Yunping makes all sorts of nonsensical jokes all day long, he always maintains an unusual level of confidence. For him to say that "even a god couldn't save him" is definitely a terrifyingly dangerous situation!

Unfortunately, Ye Yuchan was among them.

What kind of scene could make someone like Yun Ping feel dangerous? It couldn't be an apocalyptic event, could it? Or would Godzilla come out and breathe fire to burn down the forest? Or... would a Big Bad Wolf wearing Little Red Riding Hood appear?

No, no, no—let's skip the last one.

Ye Yuchan felt increasingly uncertain as she thought about it. She held her breath and forced herself to calm down for the time being. At the same time, she circulated the spiritual energy in her body to keep her spiritual root in a high-speed state in order to guard against the occurrence of some special situation.

The next step was to think of countermeasures.

Going back the way she came—that would be incredibly stupid. Not only had the gray fog already disoriented Ye Yuchan, but she was now just like a virgin, unable to find the right turn. And even if she did find it, she would have to face that strange, twisted thorny thicket.

To sit and wait for death—well, this phrase itself contains a word related to death, so the outcome is self-evident.

So... what should we do?

Ye Yuchan fell into deep thought.

Of course, the time for contemplation was not too long, because her body's alarm bells for danger forced her to make the most appropriate response in the next instant.

Swiftly—

The swift black shadow transformed into lightning, its sharp claws slashing down from above, the whooshing sound of it cutting through the air like the cry of death, warning the girl below.

"Waaaaah—"

Although Ye Yuchan wasn't exactly a veteran of countless battles, her own strength was still quite considerable. She immediately detected the attack trajectory of the dark figure. Before her brain could fully process the information, her body involuntarily took a few steps back.

Fortunately, Ye Yuchan's subconscious reaction prevented her from falling to the ground. Instead, she swayed for a while before regaining her balance. The shadowy figure did not pursue her after failing to land a hit.

Hachihachi...

Instead, it slowly revealed its exaggerated, bizarre, and terrifying form within the gray fog.

It was a massive creature over three meters tall, with a pair of sharp claws surrounded by gray mist on its black arms. Without a doubt, these claws were its most powerful weapons; if you were scratched by them, you would be half-dead, if not killed.

Add to that his explosively muscular physique and the incredibly thick body hair covering his skin, and there's no mistaking it—

Ye Yuchan recalled the werewolf's bloodthirsty eyes and its sharp teeth that could easily crush metal. She slowly raised her head, looking directly at the monster's head, staring into those...

Uh... tiny black pupils.

And its bright red, flat, round head, and its mouth so big it could fit a light bulb—it had absolutely no teeth.

And those two golden whiskers around his mouth...

"This, this is..." Ye Yuchan stood there dumbfounded, and after a long while she managed to stammer out, "A Magikarp that failed to evolve?!"

Now, not only Ye Yuchan, but even Yun Ping, who had been observing from the shadows, couldn't stand it anymore.

He was squatting on the edge of the gray fog, looking completely undignified, holding a small sapling in his hand, his face as red as if he had an upset stomach. "Wait, what... what is this thing? Why is there a carp's head on such a burly body?"

"How the hell would I know? It was just a random draw."

Yunping shook the sapling in his hand twice, making a rather neutral sound.

Yunping immediately punched the sapling in his hand, causing one or two leaves to fall off. "Can you be a little more reliable, old man? I came here to ask you to help test our disciple and, by the way, help her enter a dream and develop a special physique. Why did you give me a Magikarp that evolved incorrectly?"