Seems to have figured it out

The two traveled until the sun had set, and darkness had fallen all around them.

Li Tianlan surveyed the surroundings, touched the large tree before him, then turned to Dugu Yan, who had remained silent the whole way. "It's dark. Let's rest here for now. The Soul Beast Forest at night isn't something the two of us can handle."

Dugu Yan, who had been listless and silent all along, seemed startled by Li Tianlan's words. "Ah, o-okay... Let's rest first. At our speed, we should reach my grandfather tomorrow."

Li Tianlan looked at Dugu Yan's state and shook his head. I hope she can come to terms with it.

With a leap, Li Tianlan found a somewhat more comfortable spot in the tree and lay down, his bright eyes fixed on the starry sky.

Dugu Yan, who had been spacing out, followed Li Tianlan up into the tree. She found a broad branch nearby and lay down on it with a hint of distaste on her face.

The two lay there quietly, neither speaking for a long time.

Then Dugu Yan asked Li Tianlan, "How did you cultivate before?"

"How did I cultivate?"

"Yeah. I feel like I'm even a little older than you, but you're so much stronger than me. Your Soul Power also feels more condensed and substantial than mine."

Li Tianlan patiently explained, "Not long after awakening my martial soul, I entered Sunset Forest. I obtained my first Soul Ring here through my own efforts."

"After that, I kept tempering myself here, improving my actual combat skills and compressing my Soul Power as much as possible to make it more solid and dense. That will be greatly beneficial for future breakthroughs and cultivation."

After hearing Li Tianlan's explanation, Dugu Yan's beautiful eyes filled with shock.

She thought of how, when she had just awakened her martial soul, her grandfather had personally arranged everything for her first Soul Ring.

When she had killed that soul beast, she had been so frightened that she cried. She had not dared to strike the killing blow. In the end, she had closed her eyes and forced herself to endure the fear and nausea before bringing down her blade.

Even the sight of the spurting blood had made her want to vomit. Because of that, she had even sulked with her grandfather for a long time.

At that moment, Dugu Yan felt that she could not compare at all to the young man before her, who was even younger than she was.

At Heaven Dou Academy, she had originally ranked highly and was considered one of heaven's favored daughters. Yet before him, she seemed utterly dimmed.

Dugu Yan did not ask anything else and fell silent. Li Tianlan, meanwhile, kept his gaze fixed on the moon overhead, his thoughts swirling.

Xiao Wu, what are you doing right now?

But what Li Tianlan did not know was that Xiao Wu was currently lying on the table by the window at Luodi Academy, her gaze fixed on the moon as well, missing the person in her heart.

"Tianlan, when are you coming back? Xiao Wu misses you so much."

As she thought of him, tears welled up in her pink eyes...

At the same time, in the square not far away, a young man stood staring intently in the direction of Xiao Wu's dormitory.

"Why did Xiao Wu refuse my invitation to go shopping together? Does she think I'm too poor? She can apply to the academy for a private dormitory, so her family must be fairly well-off, right?"

"I have to keep working hard!"

All of this was seen clearly by a middle-aged man standing nearby. He shook his head at the sight, but did not reveal himself or say anything.

By then, Li Tianlan, his mind full of thoughts, had already fallen into a deep sleep.

However, Xiao Yan in his Sea of Consciousness remained vigilant at all times, prepared for any unforeseen danger and ready to warn Li Tianlan.

Dugu Yan, on the other hand, did not have it so easy. Leaning against the cold, hard tree, she felt as though her back was about to break.

Dugu Yan glanced at the sleeping Li Tianlan and immediately said viciously, "Hmph, you snapped at me and can still sleep so soundly. This place is so hard—how did you even fall asleep?"

Seeing that Li Tianlan was asleep and ignoring her, Dugu Yan pouted and lay back on the branch without saying anything more. "Still, what you said did make some sense."

When Xiao Yan in Li Tianlan's Sea of Consciousness heard Dugu Yan's words, he smiled faintly.

"Seems this little girl isn't entirely beyond teaching."

Nearby, Dugu Yan forced herself to close her eyes, hoping she could get at least a little sleep.

The night passed without incident.

The next morning, Li Tianlan woke up at Xiao Yan's reminder. "This tree isn't bad. It's much better than the one I slept in last time."

Then a voice came from beside him. "What's so good about this place? This lady couldn't sleep at all."

Li Tianlan immediately turned his head. What met his eyes was no longer the slightly seductive Dugu Yan from before, but someone with messy hair and severe dark circles beneath her eyes. He was startled.

"Damn, what happened to you? Did a ghost get to you?"

"A ghost? What is that?"

Li Tianlan realized she would not understand what he meant, so he asked, "You didn't sleep at all last night?"

"What else would it be? This bed was so hard—how could I sleep? And I had to stay alert in case soul beasts attacked us."

Looking at the miserable Dugu Yan, Li Tianlan could barely hold back his laughter. Still, afraid that Dugu Ye would get angry, he quickly said, "Let's get moving. Once you reach your grandfather, you can finally get a good night's sleep."

"True."

Dugu Yan immediately perked up, jumped down from the tree, and urged Li Tianlan to get moving.

Li Tianlan smiled faintly and headed forward with her. But to his surprise, Lonely Goose turned back to look at the spot on the tree where they had slept the night before and quietly said, "I'll get used to it after sleeping there a few more times."

Xiao Yan then said from within his Sea of Consciousness, "Tianlan, when you fell asleep yesterday, this little girl seemed to have understood what you said. It looks like she has come to terms with it."

Li Tianlan looked at the somewhat delighted Dugu Yan ahead of him and silently thought, It's best if she has. Otherwise, if she gets angry and has her grandfather deal with me, I won't be able to take it.

And Xiao Yan, within the Sea of Consciousness, quietly said at that moment, "Kid, have you ever considered joining a faction or establishing one of your own?"

After hearing Xiao Yan's words, Li Tianlan fell silent for a moment as thoughts raced through his mind.

As for establishing a faction, Li Tianlan had indeed considered it before.

However, there was one prerequisite: only with sufficient strength and foundation would he be qualified to establish a corresponding faction.

Once he had a faction of his own, it would naturally be much more convenient for him to develop on Douluo Continent, and this would be especially important when it came to helping Xiao Yan return to Doupo Continent...