"Brother, where are you taking me?"
At that moment, Ning Rongrong's gentle voice abruptly interrupted Su Cheng's thoughts.
He snapped out of it and chuckled, "What? Are you afraid I'll sell you off?"
"Of course not." Ning Rongrong rolled her eyes, "I'm trying to have a serious conversation with you."
"Do you remember the thing I mentioned to you a few months ago? I made a deal with Dugu Bo; he has something extremely suitable for you, and today I'm bringing you this opportunity."
Ning Rongrong certainly didn't forget about it, but she hadn't expected their visit to the Sunset Forest to be about this.
"Why come here? Couldn't he just bring it to the academy when he returns?"
"That thing might cause quite a stir when ingested. It wouldn't be convenient in the academy," Su Cheng casually replied.
"Since your cultivation has increased by two levels since you enrolled, you can come here under the pretext of training, and it won't raise suspicion. And when you take the herbs later, there will be a Title Douluo by your side to protect you, so there's no need to worry about any accidents."
Ning Rongrong was momentarily stunned.
She didn't mind coming out for whatever reason, but she hadn't expected to specifically come outside the academy to take the herbs.
Ning Rongrong was insightful, instantly grasping the key point in Su Cheng's words.
Regardless of whether it was the potion to increase soul power that she initially took or the later herbal baths to enhance her physique, the other party had never been this serious about it before.
She couldn't help but feel a bit excited, and she couldn't help but ask, "What do you mean by causing quite a stir?"
"No need to rush; you'll find out soon," Su Cheng smiled, not elaborating further.
From the original timeline, this girl had a somewhat arrogant yet naïve personality.
Whenever someone had greatly helped her, she would wholeheartedly repay them and had even done something to swindle her own sect out of a large sum of money for Tang San.
After observing her for this period, he was certain that Ning Rongrong's character hadn't changed much.
That's why he was confident that he could manipulate this opportunity to influence the outcome of the Crown Prince dispute by involving the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
As for choosing the Beautiful Silk Tulip, the reason was simple: since he had the correct answer, there was no need for further attempts.
Other immortal herbs might have similar effects, but powerful immortal treasures generally had the ability to purify bloodlines or even upgrade them.
As long as the attributes were compatible, there would definitely be enhancements, but compatibility was hard to determine.
Immortal herbs were too potent for ordinary bodies to fully digest. Consuming too much was akin to taking poison, so there was only one chance.
As they chatted casually, they quickly moved forward.
Before long, they had traveled nearly ten miles away from the outermost area of the Sunset Forest.
At this point, Su Cheng's expression suddenly changed.
He reached out and grabbed Ning Rongrong's wrist, whispering, "Conceal your aura as much as possible."
Seeing his serious expression, Ning Rongrong smartly didn't ask further and promptly followed his instructions.
Although their auras were faint at this moment, without deliberate probing, it would be difficult for others to detect them.
However, Su Cheng wasn't optimistic.
Two powerful auras were rapidly approaching from not far away, their trajectory clear.
There was a high probability that they had detected them and were coming straight towards them.
The most crucial point was that both of those individuals were much stronger than him, with one even reaching the level of a Title Douluo.
After a while, in Su Cheng's perception, two figures stopped nearby in the forest.
Su Cheng's heart sank, his thoughts racing.
He came from a humble background, his background was very clear, and he had no other forces entangled with him apart from Chen Xin and Dugu Bo, let alone any dealings with other Title Douluo-level existences.
This meant that the other party was most likely here for Ning Rongrong.
But the positioning of those two individuals was somewhat strange, as if the one with lower strength was leading.
"Come out, you two, stop hiding," a slightly old voice rang out.
It was the Title Douluo who spoke.
"Let me catch you; the scene might not look too good."
Ning Rongrong slightly widened her eyes upon hearing this and looked at Su Cheng beside her.
Then she gently struggled against Su Cheng's grip on her wrist.
She also thought along the same lines as Su Cheng, feeling that the other party probably came for her.
Her actions were trying to get Su Cheng to let go of her, so she could leave on her own.
However, Su Cheng didn't pay attention to her movements.
It was meaningless to separate at this moment. Even if his cultivation was low, the other party wouldn't ignore him.
If these two had ill intentions, it would be even more dangerous for him to leave Ning Rongrong alone. At least, with Ning Rongrong's status, whoever the other party was, they should consider the consequences before acting.
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect rarely made enemies, and if the other party had some requests, it would be even better.
"I can only try to delay the time for now," Su Cheng thought to himself, hoping that Dugu Bo would quickly discover the situation here and come over.
Thinking of this, he and Ning Rongrong walked out from behind the hiding tree together.
But to his surprise, the people who came were actually Qian Renxue, disguised as Xue Qinghe!
He saw her walking slowly from not far away, revealing his Spirit Emperor-level cultivation without restraint.
Beside him was a middle-aged man of average build, neither fat nor thin, seemingly ordinary. But judging from his cultivation, he was a Title Douluo-level powerhouse!
Qian Renxue wore a strange smile on his face as he looked at Su Cheng.
He sighed lightly, "Su Cheng, little brother, long time no see. I didn't expect to meet you here of all places."
Seeing the other party revealing his Spirit Emperor-level cultivation directly, Su Cheng felt something was amiss, his face full of surprise and suspicion as he blurted out, "Xue... Brother?"
"Brother Qinghe?"
Qian Renxue gave him a strange look, "Your way of addressing me is quite interesting."
Then his gaze shifted to Su Cheng's right hand, which was tightly holding Ning Rongrong's wrist.
"It seems like you're not satisfied with just being a disciple of the Sword Douluo; you also want to become Ning Fengzhi's son-in-law?"
"You... You're talking nonsense!" Ning Rongrong retorted, her face flushing red.
She also sensed that something was off about the Xue Qinghe in front of her.
He wasn't as polite and gentle as when they last met in the academy, nor was he as cold and fierce as rumored.
Instead, there was a sense of dominance, as if everything was under his control, mixed with some subtle emotions of ease after letting go of burdens.
But at the same time, the girl's keen intuition told her that this person in front of her harbored great malice towards her, as if he was about to tear her apart in the next moment.
Su Cheng, on the other hand, remained silent, not paying attention to the other party's strange remarks.
In fact, he had no time to care about these trivial matters now.
He had a premonition that there might be a big problem this time!
He seemed to have played it too far.