Starting My Cultivation With Time Management

Chapter 721: 55th Chapter: How did Ah Jing become jealous?
 

Regarding the retreat order from Long Long, no one naturally opposed it.

Or rather, following behind an immortal from a hostile camp always brings pressure—especially after the initial effects of the mental suggestion began to wane, a deep sense of fear emerged in everyone’s hearts.

When Long Long mentioned that he finally found evidence, everyone immediately became eager to leave at once.

Although there were no signs in the cave to distinguish north, south, east, or west, with Long Long’s all-powerful scanning ability, there was not a trace of getting lost.

In everyone’s eyes, this naturally became the best proof of his powerful memory, which bolstered the team’s confidence even further.

Leaving the giant cavern, the group re-entered the narrow passages when suddenly Long Long stopped and said,

“There are people ahead! They’re moving in this direction!”

“What should we do?” Long Hu asked anxiously.

Looking at Qin Zhou and Qin Ye, the siblings, they also seemed to have given up thinking for themselves, only waiting to do whatever Long Long said.

Long Long also mentally cursed himself for a strategic error, preoccupied by scanning for Lü Ya and Lv Yan’s locations, he had forgotten to check if their retreat was being blocked.

Now, turning the scanner back toward the path they had taken, he found that it had already been heavily blockaded by Cultivators of the Mao Clan, leaving no chance for free entry or exit!

Ah Jing, your scanning ability is lacking! Can’t it be made into a 360-degree radar effect that automatically scans all around me, front and back, left and right, above and below, and automatically alerts me if suspicious individuals appear?

“The essence of scanning is Art Calculation,” Kunlun Mirror said helplessly, “You don’t even know what to ask, yet you expect Art Calculation to give you answers. Do you think that’s possible?”

“Why wouldn’t it be possible?” Long Long said assertively, “My Liuli doesn’t need to be asked questions; whenever there is a tough problem, it will automatically calculate the answer and even take care of it for me. I don’t even perceive the existence of the problem!”

Kunlun Mirror was silent for a moment before saying,

“Then you should have Shi Liuli as your Ah Jing.”

Long Long: ?

Wait, is Ah Jing…jealous?

“Ah Jing, are you jealous?” Long Long asked in astonishment.

“I’m not jealous,” Kunlun Mirror said, trying to remain calm, “I’m just reminding you not to praise one and disparage another constantly, even I would get angry.”

Ah Jing even learned the phrase ‘praise one and disparage another’… Long Long could only honestly say,

“Sorry, Ah Jing, I took the joke too far.”

“No worries,” Kunlun Mirror replied coolly, “Also, I’ve scanned again and discovered that at the base of the snake skin shed earlier, there’s an entrance leading deep underground.”

Without another word, Long Long immediately led everyone to turn back, returning to the giant cavern, and before Lü Ya and Lv Yan could emerge from the corridor in the wall, they quickly found the entrance at the base of the snake skin shed.

This entrance was located at the center of the coiled snake skin shed, from the outside it looked like a small, raised hill, but a scan revealed it to be hollow below.

Upon further consideration, if this place truly were a subterranean military stronghold, it naturally couldn’t have just one path leading to the outside world, otherwise, if the enemy sealed the only entrance, it would be akin to catching turtles in a jar, with those inside doomed to wait for their demise.

Following the underground passage downward, then level, and then slowly upward again, when the group resurfaced, they found the exit was actually a hollow in an old tree within a jungle.

“What do we do now?” Qin Ye asked anxiously.

Long Long’s gaze swept the surroundings, scanning to confirm the absence of Horned Clan cultivators, before he slowly said:

“Since we entered the riverbed’s entry point, I have been calculating our horizontal distance traveled. We have roughly moved south-southeast for about twenty-three miles.”

Twenty-three miles was neither particularly long nor short. At the very least, the Horned Clan cultivators who ambushed the Dragon Clan’s team wouldn’t have been able to extend their encirclement this far.

However, if their tracks were exposed, with the Horned Clan’s swift travel techniques, they could arrive in less than a quarter of an hour.

“Next, we need to try to rendezvous with the Great Elder as much as possible,” said Long Long decisively. “Since neither we nor the Great Elder can confirm each other’s positions, the best rendezvous point would be the encampment where we stayed overnight before we entered the Two Rivers Plain.”

“That is to say, we need to leave the Two Rivers Plain as soon as possible, rather than searching for the Great Elder’s trace here… Otherwise, the chances of encountering Horned Clan cultivators are likely bigger.”

His analysis was reasonable and well-founded. The Qin siblings nodded repeatedly, and Long Hu even raised both hands and a tail in agreement.

Long Long continued, “Traveling west from here for one hundred and twenty miles will bring us to the Qu Maiden River.”

“This river is the largest on the southern Yán Fú continent, with even its narrowest point spanning more than two hundred and fifty miles. The Horned Clan definitely can’t block it, so traveling along the Qu Maiden River is the safest.”

“The downside is that the Qu Maiden River isn’t winding. It runs almost in a straight line from north to south, traversing the entire Two Rivers Plain.”

“If we follow the Qu Maiden River to leave the Two Rivers Plain, and then detour to the northeast to return to our original camp, both our path and time will be significantly extended.”

“In contrast, by traveling south from here, we will reach the Lian River in forty-seven miles.”

“The Lian River is the seventh tributary of the Qu Maiden River, winding eastwardly, and it’s only a little over a hundred miles from where we set up our camp, so it’s the shortest route.”

“But the problem lies in the Lian River’s meager flow, with even its shallowest point having wooden bridges crossing it. If there are Horned Clan cultivators stationed at any of these points, we won’t be able to pass without alerting the enemy.”

As Long Long eloquently detailed the various geographical data, the Qin siblings couldn’t help but admire him.

After pondering for a moment, Qin Zhou spoke up:

“If you ask me, safety comes first. Even if it takes a bit more time, as long as we can safely leave the Two Rivers Plain, all other regions are under the control of the Feathered Clan. As allies, they won’t make things difficult for us.”

“The only issue is, the longer we drag things out here, the later the intelligence will arrive at our clan,” Qin Ye added another layer of thought. “Even if it’s just by five or six days, who knows what the Horned Clan will do with these fortresses in that time.”

“Exactly because it’s uncertain, it’s not worth the risk,” Qin Zhou retorted his sister, “If this intelligence is indeed crucial, we could take the risk for it.”

“But now, who knows how many ancient subterranean fortresses the Horned Clan has taken control of? Or how much intelligence material they have already scavenged?”

“Even if we get the intelligence back to the clan a few days earlier, given the cautious nature of our forefather and father, it might take the clan days to discuss it!”

“How can brother speak so of our elders?” Qin Ye frowned in dissatisfaction, “Whether the intelligence is valuable or not is for the clan to decide, not for us to presume recklessly.”

“If we opt to take a detour for our own safety, and it turns out to have delayed a critical opportunity in battle, how does brother think father will regard us?”

“Even if father is displeased, it’s better than dying on the battlefield,” Qin Zhou said.

Before Long Long could even start his own analysis, the siblings had already begun arguing vehemently.