Ye Jian continued to gaze at the white blur the clouds produced for a few moments before turning to Meng Li.

"Well, that's all in the future. How about some training first?" Ye Jian joked and smiled.

"Sure. So, let's return to that mountain." Meng Li proposed. Ye Jian nodded, and Meng Li teleported them to the mountain they've previously occupied. It was still as beautiful as previously, but Meng Li didn't have time to appreciate the view.

"Alright. Let's both use that sealing technique and bring it to the peak of the Qi Gathering Realm." Meng Li nodded, but looked questioningly to Ye Jian. "The tenth layer." Ye Jian quickly added, and hurriedly executed the sealing technique. Meng Li didn't notice his awkwardness and started creating the seal too.

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It took them merely a few minutes. The seal wasn't hard, and was merely time-consuming. Meng Li executed it far faster than Ye Jian, but due to his cultivation base, he had far more seals to create. Thus, they took about the same amount of time to finish.

After finishing, they both looked at each other and slightly nodded. Even though Ye Jian didn't explain his idea, Meng Li already knew what he had in mind - simply going down the mountain and fighting. If they encountered something they couldn't beat, they would run. If they couldn't run, they would unseal their cultivation. What happened to the beast later didn't need any explanation.

The mountain was big, but it didn't pose them any threat, especially to Meng Li. Unknowingly, even after all those years, he still carried that small pendant he had summoned when he was still a Qi Sea Realm cultivator. It still wasn't enough to give him the ability to fly, but he could fall from much greater distances when he used it since it decreased his weight. Thus, he could simply jump down some cliffs which Ye Jian needed to slowly descend down. Ye Jian was a bit puzzled about the matter, but Meng Li simply showed him the pendant. Ye Jian understood practically instantly, and merely shrugged his shoulders in response to Meng Li's questioning look. It wouldn't be much help in a battle, but it could make Meng Li get used to something bad. Meng Li looked at the pendant with some hesitation before he finally took it off and placed it in his bag of holding. It was, after all, an 'unfair' advantage - he could become used to its' help and become unable to fight without it later on.

Ye Jian didn't do anything when he saw Meng Li's actions, but when Meng Li didn't see it, he revealed a small smile.

While descending, it didn't take them long until they encountered a beast. They restrained their aura to a bare minimum in order not to scare away any beasts, and it inevitably gave results.

The beast they encountered was a panther, although it had an uncanny resemblance to a tiger. It was primarily black, but it had some stripes on its' body, which were a deep blue in colour. As Meng Li confusedly stared at the beast, he got a communication from Ye Jian.

"I don't know the name of this beast, but it should be a lightning based panther monster."

Meng Li couldn't help but stare in confusion at Ye Jian. The only way he knew of to communicate in secret was by using Spiritual Sense, and that ability only came after a cultivator broke through to the Qi Foundation Realm. He knew for sure Ye Jian didn't possess it, and even if he did, the seal they used sealed it away - at least Meng Li sealed his Spiritual Sense away.

Ye Jian must've noticed Meng Li confusion since he quickly sent a communication to Meng Li.

"This is a simple technique. Create a barrier leading from your mouth to my ear." Ye Jian quickly explained the technique to Meng Li. It wasn't hard, but it was an unorthodox use of a natural ability that came with using Qi. Meng Li grasped it in no time and sent a reply.

"Is this a panther or a tiger?" He couldn't help but ponder. Ye Jian showed an expression of frustration on his face.

"No matter if it's a panther or a tiger! It's going to be fast, strong, and have some lightning-based abilities." Ye Jian replied with unmasked frustration. Meng Li felt like he was wronged, but he didn't reply. He could only sulk in silence.

"I will sneak past it and attack from the behind. You stay here and when I notify you, attack." Ye Jian sent commands to Meng Li and quickly rushed off. However, his footsteps strangely didn't produce any sound, and the way he used the terrain to his advantage made the panther or tiger unable to see him. While watching him, Meng Li finally decided on what to call the panther or tiger - big cat. Yes. Big cat - it had a nice ring to it, Meng Li silently mused.

The big cat had a cultivation at the peak of the Qi Gathering Realm, same as them. Thus, they made the decision to attack it.

It was currently sitting silently at the peak of a giant tree, probably waiting for some prey to make its' dinner. Meng Li didn't notice it at all, and only from Ye Jian's repeated pointing was he able to notice it. It simply blended too well with the dark shadows of the trees, and the stripes didn't make it stand out at all - strangely, they only made it blend it better, since they looked like the sky, which was also dark blue at this point in time. The sun had set a long time ago behind the tall mountains, and only by standing at the very peak of the giant mountain in the middle of the island one would be able to see the last rays of the sun.

Although the big cat was currently sitting still to ambush an unsuspecting animal, there wasn't any guarantee it wouldn't suddenly decide to change location. Thus, they needed to act quick - Ye Jian had snuck behind the cat, and prepared to attack it from behind after Meng Li alerted it with an attack.

"I'm ready." Ye Jian sent a message to Meng Li after a few minutes of tense silence. Meng Li didn't act instantly - he first took a few seconds to calm himself down. He had taken out his sword a long time ago, and it was currently in Meng Li's hand, prepared to strike at a moment's notice. Meng Li steadied his breath, until it was completely calm. Then, he slowly stood up, taking care not to alert the cat. When he stood straight, he took a few moments to adjust his mind with his eyes closed.

Then, his eyes suddenly blew open, and the sword in his hand shot forward like a snake. His Qi rushed forward through his hand and his sword, before emerging from the tip of his sword in a thrusting motion as a blur of sword Qi.

Meng Li wasn't at all a large distance away from the big cat - it was less than a hundred metres. Thus, the sword Qi, which emphasised 'speed', arrived at the cat's location in a split second. Unfortunately, due to the cat's instincts, or simply due to luck, the sword Qi had missed the cat's eye, and merely cut deeply in between the cat's eye and ear. Ultimately, the right ear of the cat was completely shredded by the sword Qi, bringing along a flap of skin, revealing the pink flesh beneath. The cat's eyes revealed endless fury and pointed directly at Meng Li's location.

Being locked on by the big cat's gaze was like the ice bucket challenge from earth to Meng Li, except worse - on top of the cold feeling, his mind was also suddenly full of pictures of him dying to the cat, being torn apart by its' claws, tore in half and swallowed, decapitated, flayed... Meng Li managed to calm himself down and purge his mind from the images only after a few seconds. To his horror, this time had been enough for the cat to practically leap the entire distance between the big tree it was sitting on and where he was hidden. By the time he regained his bearing, it was merely a few dozen metres from him.

Panicking, Meng Li quickly jumped backwards. Although his rate of retreat was quite fast, it was nowhere near enough to escape from the cat. In fact, the smarter thing to do in this situation would be for him to retreat to the side, or even advance forward and try to attack the cat's belly while it was in the air. Unfortunately, due to Meng Li's insufficient experience, he chose the worst move.

Fortunately for Meng Li and unfortunately for the big cat, Ye Jian's attack came right on time. It was aimed at one of the most vulnerable spots - the back of the neck. Ye Jian actually jumped in pursuit behind the cat, and somehow managed to catch up, delivering a strike akin to lightning to the back of the cat's neck. The cat could only cry miserably in response, and struggled to land. Ye Jian used the cat's back as a foothold, and kicked off of it to land safely. The cat's body wasn't extremely big, and his kick propelled it even further, while slowing Ye Jian.

Ye Jian quickly landed, and instead of quickly finishing the cat off, he hurried to Meng Li's side. He forcefully grabbed him by the shoulder and practically threw him off to the side, before jumping closely after. Merely a split second later, the cat's pounce hit the ground where Meng Li was, creating a crater in there. Although the cat's paws were soft, they could emit an astonishing amount of power when the cat wished to.

The cat sent a venomous stare at their direction before quickly jumping in pursuit. Although it was wounded, it was still able to fight. Ye Jian's strike, either by choice or due to insufficient strength, didn't manage to gravely injure the cat.

In the short time they had, Ye Jian shouted loudly at Meng Li, not even bothering to use the transmission technique.

"Wake up! Fight, or you'll die!" he shouted. It actually was enough to startle Meng Li awake from his chaotic thoughts, and he couldn't help but feel cold sweat streaming down his back. This... Truly was a life or death situation. If not for Ye Jian, he would've undoubtedly died in this fight. Even with the advantage he had due to ambushing the cat, from the good techniques he had, the experience from the spars... It was nearly useless. Or rather, it wasn't useless, but Meng Li didn't have one extremely important thing - experience. This was what he was here for - to gain experience. If he didn't fight, wouldn't every fight be like this for him? Only able to shiver due to a single glance from an opponent?! No! Meng Li didn't want that kind of life!

Meng Li felt a fighting spirit awaken within him, from the embarrassment and the unwillingness to die. He looked at the cat provocatively. It was currently rushing at them quickly, but it seemed to notice the look from Meng Li and snarled in response. Meng Li looked at it once again and smiled. He nodded at Ye Jian and quickly stood up. This time, he would be more careful.