77: Crimson Flame Monkey

"I have to say, Xiao Weiqing, you caused quite a stir last night," Li Fangnan remarked.

Xiao Weiqing asked, "What stir?"

"The 18th place on the Heavenly Ladder, of course."

"That's right, Brother Qing. You have no idea, the Lower Academy exploded this morning. Everyone is talking about you. Even our instructors can't go three sentences without mentioning the Upper Academy or five sentences without mentioning you," Li Hu added with a wry smile.

"Keep working hard, you guys can do it too."

Li Fangnan tilted his head and said, "Am I really that easy to fool? Don't I know my own strength?"

"I relied on my family to take out a loan of several thousand points to buy a Rank 4 Qi Absorption Method. After practicing for a week, I realized that just because I have a high-level Qi Absorption Method, it doesn't mean I can catch up to you guys."

Li Fangnan's tone was a bit dejected, lacking the high spirits he had when he first enrolled.

Xiao Weiqing patted Li Fangnan. "This is just the beginning. Cultivation requires perseverance. It hasn't even been a month since everyone's Awakening; it's too early to say things like that."

"That's true." Li Fangnan nodded, regaining his confidence.

"Mm, keep it up. In a month, you'll find that the gap between us has grown even larger. It won't be too late to get discouraged then."

Li Fangnan: "?"

Li Hu was also a bit confused.

"Screw you, Xiao Weiqing! If I ever surpass you in strength, I'll definitely beat you until you're looking for your teeth all over the floor!" Li Fangnan cursed angrily.

"Fine, I'll wait for you. Just don't make me wait too long."

Xiao Weiqing waved his hand and turned to leave.

"Li Fangnan, Brother Qing's personality seems different from what I imagined."

Li Fangnan said, "Imagined how? A sunny, big boy?"

"Then you thought too much. Xiao Weiqing's mouth is sometimes unusually vicious; he's a classic case of a sharp tongue but an axe-like heart."

Li Hu nodded.

"Hm?"

"A sharp tongue but an axe-like heart?"

Li Fangnan nodded. "What else did you think?"

Back on the zhi yong ship, Xiao Weiqing had almost killed Ye Lingyun in one move. If Ye Hanmei hadn't saved him, Ye Lingyun would have been dead or severely injured. Li Fangnan still remembered that scene vividly.

He was usually stinging with his words. It was a pity that such a handsome face was attached to such a mouth.

"Let's go, let's go back in and soak in the Evil Qi bath, so I can beat up Xiao Weiqing in the future."

The two entered the Body Tempering Chamber again.

On the other side.

Xiao Weiqing arrived at the place he agreed to meet Teacher Yan.

A unique building.

"Cloud Building? What a strange name."

He entered the building and went to the seventh floor, an Alchemy shop. It had such a casual name, just like the weapon shop.

"Xiao Weiqing?"

A voice called out from behind. Xiao Weiqing turned his head to look, and it was indeed Ye Pingping.

"Ye Pingping?"

"What a coincidence. I didn't expect to run into you here. Are you here to buy Medicinal Pills?" Ye Pingping asked.

Xiao Weiqing shook his head and replied, "No, I'm here to find Teacher Yan."

"Looking for Teacher Yan, I see."

"Speaking of which, why are you here?"

Xiao Weiqing was a bit curious. He had run into Ye Pingping several times recently, and in different places too.

"I'm here to earn points. These Alchemy Trainees are our key customer group, second only to Body Cultivators."

Xiao Weiqing understood immediately. Those who practiced Alchemy often drained themselves of Spiritual Qi or suffered severe depletion of Mental Energy. It would be much better if there were healing-type people nearby.

At this moment.

Yan Xin walked out from somewhere.

"Little girl Ye, poaching my customers again? Our shop's business has been much worse lately because of you."

Ye Pingping smiled sweetly. "Teacher Yan, don't try to scare me. How many customers could I possibly poach?"

"Teacher Yan," Xiao Weiqing called out.

"Mm, you're here. Come with me."

Yan Xin turned and walked inside.

"I'm heading off first." Xiao Weiqing waved and turned to follow Yan Xin.

"Mm."

Xiao Weiqing followed Yan Xin through a corridor to a laboratory.

Several Trainees were buried in their work. The laboratory didn't have many items, just a few furnaces as tall as a person, similar to the Pill Furnace in movies and dramas; it was clearly used for Alchemy.

Yan Xin brought Xiao Weiqing to the innermost room, which was surprisingly not much smaller than the outside.

All around were many temperature and humidity-controlled cabinets. Through the glass, one could see various strange flowers, herbs, fruits, medicinal materials, as well as demon cores and unknown bones.

In the center was a Bagua furnace, which was currently burning something. There was an exhaust vent at the top, and a large amount of blue smoke was being vented out.

"Come, Xiao Weiqing, have a try."

Xiao Weiqing said, "Teacher Yan, what do I need to do?"

Yan Xin said, "Release your Supreme Yang Fire into the furnace. You don't need to use too much, I'll take a look first."

Xiao Weiqing nodded.

Just as he was about to act.

Clack!

The door was pushed open.

A monkey walked in. This monkey was nearly two meters tall, with a sturdy build, wearing a long robe. Its exposed body was covered in crimson fur, and its face resembled a human's. In its hand, it held a long wooden box.

The sudden change startled Xiao Weiqing.

Subconsciously, he drew his Red Dragon.

"Yao Beast!"

But the monkey only glanced at Xiao Weiqing, which instantly made Xiao Weiqing's heart tighten and his whole body stiffen.

Pressured, Xiao Weiqing's Spiritual Qi erupted.

Boom!

He was bathed in flames.

"Oh? Not bad. Old Ghost Yan, is this your new apprentice?"

The monkey spoke human language, which shocked Xiao Weiqing.

"Great Yao?"

Yao Beasts generally only speak human language when they reach the Fifth Realm as a Great Yao.

The monkey clearly didn't like Xiao Weiqing's term. Its brows furrowed slightly. "Kid, don't talk nonsense. Don't lump me in with those beasts."

Yan Xin laughed. "Xiao Weiqing, this is a crimson flame spirit monkey, a Spirit Beast."

"His name is Yan Zhao. He shares my surname. I also formed a contract with him by pure Opportunity."

"Yan Zhao, this is the Trainee I mentioned last night who possesses the Supreme Yang Fire."

Xiao Weiqing suddenly realized. The Spirit Beast clan—among Spirit Cultivators, there is a Beast Taming profession. After opening the Dantian, one can communicate with other worlds and summon a Spirit Beast.

In their Upper Academy, there was a girl with a Beast Taming talent, a Rank 5 Spirit Cultivator named Huang Yitong.

"Senior Yan, my apologies."

Xiao Weiqing put away the Red Dragon and apologized. Then, he began to size up this Spirit Beast with his peripheral vision. It would be a lie to say he wasn't curious, as it was his first time seeing a Spirit Beast.

"Mm, you possess the Supreme Yang Fire?"

Xiao Weiqing nodded slightly. If you say it's Supreme Yang Fire, then it's Supreme Yang Fire.

Yan Zhao nodded, then took out the medicinal materials from the wooden box and placed them into the furnace through the hole in the lid.

"Good. Help me refine the Third-Turn Essence Pill. Once it's done, I'll give you three crimson flame hairs."

"crimson flame hairs?"

Xiao Weiqing was confused. He had never heard of it, so he looked at Yan Xin.

Yan Xin was slightly surprised, as if he didn't expect Yan Zhao to be so generous.

"Kid, why aren't you agreeing yet? One crimson flame hair is worth at least 3,000 points. Three crimson flame hairs—if you give them to Xing Tong, you can upgrade the Red Dragon to a Rank 4 Spiritual Qi weapon."

Xiao Weiqing was overjoyed upon hearing this. 3,000 points? Wouldn't three be 9,000? Rounding up, that's 10,000!