However, the true reason hidden in his heart, Lu Wuming had no intention of revealing to Liu Buli. His master rarely found him clever, which made him quite happy. As for the reasons for his cleverness, he knew them himself and didn't need to voice them, lest he be relegated back to the ranks of the foolish.
From this perspective, Lu Wuming felt he had indeed become a little smarter.
For now, he had learned to hide his foolishness, a truly valuable skill!
The more Lu Wuming thought about his immense progress, coupled with Liu Buli's praise, the more effective his techniques seemed to be against the monsters.
This was good for Liu Buli. The monsters were cleared before they could even get close, giving him ample time to identify the herbs without being distracted as before.
After all, when it came to killing, he had great faith in his big dog.
Once the herbs in the surrounding area were thoroughly checked, the four of them regrouped. Comparing the materials they had found, although their haul was significantly larger than expected, it didn't necessarily mean they had succeeded.
You Siqi's intuition had indeed been a great help, as evidenced by the fact that he found twice as many usable herbs as Liu Buli and the others.
Yet, even so, there were still a few they hadn't found. The four exchanged glances, and all attention eventually returned to You Siqi. Even without a word, You Siqi could guess what they were thinking from their expressions.
He tugged at the corner of his mouth awkwardly and mumbled, "Intuition isn't meant to be used like this, is it? Aren't you worried that if I overuse it, the Heavenly Dao will deem my actions inappropriate and eliminate me prematurely?"
"If it eliminates you, then it's committing patricide," Liu Buli said with a smile. "Besides, I think your Heavenly Dao is a very filial child. Fly forward boldly; it definitely won't stop you."
You Siqi blinked.
Honestly, looking at the current situation, in the time he had spent in this world, apart from no progress in spiritual energy, everything else had gone smoothly without any obstacles.
He had successfully found love and friendship. So, setting aside the spiritual energy issue, perhaps Liu Buli was right; his Heavenly Dao was indeed a filial child?
While his mind wandered with messy thoughts, his gaze remained steadily scanning left and right. You Siqi couldn't quite explain it, but purely based on intuition, he patted the large cat he was riding and randomly pointed in a direction. Shen Muzhi obediently moved that way.
However, this time it was different from what they expected.
After passing the hill ahead, they found a deep pit behind it. Because there was no light, no one could tell how deep the pit was.
Moreover, when faced with the deep pit, it wasn't just them who hesitated. Even the monsters that had been following them closely, waiting for an opportunity to attack, instinctively took a few steps back upon seeing the pit, reacting as if to retreat a hundred paces.
This made Liu Buli and the others a little uneasy. He glanced back at You Siqi, who also wore a troubled expression. Shen Muzhi took the initiative to ask, "Siqi, you're not going to tell us to jump into this pit, are you?"
You Siqi did not answer his question immediately.
He simply frowned, observing the deep pit intently, and after a moment of deliberation, he asked instead, "Do you have a way to send some spiritual energy or a fireball in, to light it up and see how deep the bottom is?"
His idea was perfectly normal.
But appearing at this moment, it seemed rather naive.
Liu Buli let out a scoff, shook his head, and said, "If it could be detected this way, the monsters wouldn't be reacting like this."
Liu Buli was right.
However, even so, since You Siqi had suggested it, he obediently formed a hand seal and released a stream of spiritual energy, transforming it into the shape of a fire phoenix. It then charged fiercely into the abyss ahead.
Even if Liu Buli wasn't as overtly powerful as Lu Wuming usually displayed, everyone around knew that his strength was considerable.
Therefore, if this were a normal cave, with Liu Buli's abilities, the fire phoenix should have been able to fly directly to the end.
But as Liu Buli had said, the cave was filled with strangeness. The fire phoenix hadn't flown far before the dense darkness enveloped it. And before Liu Buli could recall it, the phoenix was swallowed by the darkness. The overwhelming malevolence even rebounded, causing Liu Buli's eyes to widen, and he almost spat out a mouthful of blood.
He instinctively took a step back and shook his head vigorously.
Signaling to Lu Wuming and the others not to attempt any further probes, he remained silent for a moment, then took two deep breaths, suppressing the surging spiritual energy in his heart that had been affected by the backlash. He then spoke slowly, "There's likely a barrier below. If we attack rashly, the barrier will reflect the attack technique back."
And any attempt at probing would inevitably involve an attack. To put it more plainly, their current situation did not permit any investigative actions.
Upon reaching this conclusion, everyone became even more hesitant.
You Siqi, however, stared intently at the large pit for a while, then blinked and said, "Do you guys remember the cliff where we first saw Yun Xiang? I think this place is similar. Try jumping down with the mindset of jumping off a cliff; perhaps you'll reach another space."
He spoke with sincerity.
But this time, no one moved.
You Siqi scratched his head and suggested, "How about... I give you a demonstration?"