In short, no matter what was behind this strange tree, since it was in his hands, Jiang Li had to obtain it.

However, it was a pity that his clone did not have a storage artifact. Jiang Li scratched his head and felt a headache coming on.

It was impossible for the clone to carry the tree around.

The speed at which his body rode the Dragon Imprisoning Lock was far inferior to the flying sword. It would probably take him at least half a month to retrieve it personally.

If the clone left, would the tree immediately open its eyes and flee?

After all, the mouth on this statue was not a decoration. What if the legs could also move?

There were all kinds of strange things in the cultivation world. This kind of possibility was indeed likely.

After thinking about it, Jiang Li formed hand seals and controlled the flying sword to quickly dance on the top of the cave, carving out lines.

From time to time, he would produce a spirit talisman and paste it around the area. Soon, using the talismans as the array core, he carved out a simple fire attribute trapping array on the ceiling.

Three more spirit stones were placed as the energy source as the entire array formation immediately emitted a faint red light.

To be safe, his clone did not leave. Instead, he sat down cross-legged and began cultivating.

...

Looking at the temporary hideout of the Scripture Storage Valley's Demon Vanquishing Hall a thousand miles away,

Jiang Li's main body woke up from his cultivation. Because he and Senior Sister Liu Mulan were usually on night shift, the day was when he cultivated Qi Refinement.

He let out a long sigh. Not long ago, his Ghost Wood Art had already broken through to the sixth level.

Under the endless flow of spiritual qi, he almost did not feel any bottleneck, so he naturally crossed it.

As for the next level of the Ghost Wood Art, he would be at the late-stage Qi Refinement realm after reaching it.

Jiang Li scratched his head. He realized that his previous calculations were wrong.

Previously, using the speed at which he refined the spiritual qi in the fourth level of the Ghost Wood Art, he estimated that he would need about two years to reach the peak of the Qi Refinement realm and break through to the Foundation Establishment realm.

However, the problem was, could the refinement speed of the fourth level of the Qi Refinement realm be the same as the refinement speed of the sixth level?

Obviously not.

The higher his cultivation level, the stronger his cultivation method was. Although the difficulty of cultivating continued to increase, the speed at which he absorbed and refined spiritual qi would only become faster and faster.

"My good master, I am happy for you. What a genius disciple you have taken in!" Jiang Li muttered to himself while the smile on his face was impossible to conceal.

Of course, he was purely happy for the sake of his master.

However, what excuse should he use to ask Senior Sister if he wanted to take leave?

He scratched his head, looking troubled again.

...

"What? You're saying you want to go out alone to train?!" A roar sounded from Senior Liu's room.

Their master usually spoke so slowly and leisurely. Who knew where this Senior Sister Liu had learned how to roar?

"Senior Sister Mulan, listen to me. I did this because I listened to Master's arrangements."

Jiang Li said a few words that Elder He used to scare him when he was bragging earlier.

Without saying a word, he took off his shirt, revealing his strong muscles and the blood tattoo on his back that had begun to dim.

"How… How long have you been out of the sect for? Is this blood tattoo going to be exhausted already?"

Senior Sister Liu Mulan was not shy. After all, she was also a body cultivator and had often seen her fellow disciples revealing their muscles. She did not have much of a reaction to this scene.

She came forward to touch the blood tattoo on Jiang Li's body, feeling extremely surprised.

The other disciples under Elder He, including her, would need at least five months to consume a beast blood tattoo during the Qi Refinement realm.

However, this Jiang Li… it had only been half a month and the blood tattoo was about to disappear again. This speed was really exaggerated.

Although the consumption of the blood tattoo was related to the intensity of his usual combat strength cultivation, but… Alright, the combat strength of this junior brother of hers was indeed ridiculous and was not inferior to that of a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Now, he even started to spar with her from time to time.

This kind of usage speed was considered normal. However… in comparison, it was demoralizing.

Senior Sister Liu Mulan felt depressed.

"That won't do either. Although Master does have this rule, that depends on the situation."

"How long have you been in the sect? Your cultivation is only at the mid-stage. You don't have any experience surviving alone in the outside world."

"You need to know that in the wild, there won't be any demon beasts that will fight you fairly. You might even be bitten to death by any poisonous insect on the way."

"Do you know how far away this place is from the sect? There are countless demon beasts and dangers along the way. If you go out, you're courting death!"

Senior Sister Liu Mulan naturally would not deny Jiang Li's strength and talent.

But geniuses needed more protection, right?

There were so many mediocre people. Who would care about their lives?

With Jiang Li's cultivation speed, wouldn't it be good for him to stay in a safe place and cultivate until he reached the Core Formation realm?

The rule that he mentioned was indeed set by Elder He.

The first three materials for the Beast Blood Diagram were personally selected for them by Elder He.

He captured the demon beasts back to the sect and made them engage in one-on-one combat while being watched over. This was undoubtedly much safer than suddenly fighting an enemy that appeared in the wild at any time.

But sooner or later, the young bird would have to flap its wings and fly into the sky. Elder He could not shield them forever.

Therefore, there was this rule. From the fourth beast blood tattoo, Elder He would no longer provide demon beasts.

Disciples had to head to the wilderness forest on their own to find and defeat their targets to obtain the beast blood materials to become stronger in the future.

This rule was very reasonable and diligent. It could be seen that Elder He held great expectations for them.

However, other disciples would use up three beast blood tattoos usually after cultivating a year or two. At that time, they would be experienced and prepared.

But in Jiang Li's case… how long had it been?

"Senior Sister, don't worry. I'll be fine. Don't you know how powerful I am?" Jiang Li tried to coax her, but his senior sister was unmoved.

"How strong are you? Are you stronger than me?"

"I'm not even completely confident that I can return to the sect by myself, so don't even think about it."

Liu Mulan's senior sister's tone was firm at first, but when she saw Jiang Li's expression, she seemed to have thought of something and suddenly added, "Unless… you can defeat me."

Senior Sister Liu Mulan actually proposed such a condition to Jiang Li.

Jiang Li was stunned.

As fellow body cultivators, everyone's combat methods were similar. At most, they focused on different points, but in essence, they relied on their basic attributes.

However, Senior Sister Liu Mulan was not weak in the Foundation Establishment realm. Her cultivation level was much higher than Jiang Li's, and her attributes were firmly above his in all aspects.

If they fought, he would feel terrible and his chances of winning would be slim.

Right now, he had an urge to sacrifice his body and make his senior sister change her mind!

Jiang Li scratched his head and pondered bitterly for a long time before he suddenly thought of something. After weighing the pros and cons for a moment, he decided.

"Senior Sister, if I want to live outside, I actually don't have to defeat all the demon beasts, right? If I can run fast, I can escape, isn't that right?"

"Let's have a competition. We'll compete in speed, if you can capture me, Senior Sister, I'll cultivate obediently and wait for the next flying ship."

"But if I win and you can't capture me, how about you let me gain some experience? I promise I won't go too far and I'll come back immediately if there's any danger."