Starfall Heavenly Palace

"Senior is right. Almost no one else knows the truth of this matter."

"May I ask what instructions Senior has for me?"

Li Tianming asked respectfully.

His failure three years ago had been because he had no one to back him.

Cultivation required powerful patrons. Li Tianming was not arrogant enough to think that, just because he possessed the Primordial Chaos Giant Beast, he could swagger everywhere without restraint.

"I have no instructions. No one can help you reclaim what you lost yourself, especially when the other side is Thunder Lord Manor." The man's eyes carried a smile.

At that moment, he was looking at the Little Yellow Chick. Suddenly, his gaze sharpened, and he stared at it for a long time.

"It seems I underestimated you. I originally thought your return this time would all be in vain, but I never imagined that your new lifebound beast would actually be a sixth-rank lifebound beast!"

He must have seen the six star points in the Little Yellow Chick's eyes.

But he could never have imagined that Yinghuo was far more than merely a sixth-rank lifebound beast.

"A miracle. For the Blood God Contract to find a miracle of this caliber shows that you, child, actually have quite good fortune. You merely suffered from having no one to back you." The man continued.

"Mm."

"You intend to take the academy examination again?" the man asked.

"Yes."

"The academy examination is easy, but entering the Heavenly Court will be difficult at your current level. You can only cultivate at Yanhuang Academy for a few years first before you may have a chance to enter the Heavenly Court," the man said.

"How did Senior know that I wanted to enter the Heavenly Court?" Li Tianming suddenly asked.

"..."

"Did Senior eavesdrop on my conversation with Mother earlier?" Li Tianming asked again.

"..."

"Senior's eyes remind me of someone—Chen Yao of Chen Palace. May I ask if Senior is..."

"Stop talking, you clever little rascal." The man laughed helplessly.

He had only revealed one flaw, yet Li Tianming's three questions had immediately closed in on his identity.

"Fine. I'll just assume Senior is a friend of my mother's." Li Tianming nodded and stopped while he was ahead.

The other party had come masked, so he clearly did not wish to reveal his identity.

The moment he had entered, he had told Li Tianming not to disturb his mother. That made it obvious.

At the very least, Li Tianming did not believe he could attract someone like this through his own merit alone.

"Li Tianming, seeing your new lifebound beast has put me somewhat at ease. You should be able to take good care of your mother."

Since Li Tianming had guessed his identity, the man spoke more directly.

"She is great, but she has also been terribly unlucky. Naturally, I will give everything for her," Li Tianming said.

"I heard what you said during the day. You are a filial son," the man said approvingly.

He had no idea that Li Yanfeng cursed him as an unfilial son every day. Filial son or unfilial son—it depended on what kind of parents one had.

"Senior really did eavesdrop..."

"Ahem. Do not tell your mother that I came today. Do not say anything at all, understand? Otherwise, if you encounter trouble in the future, it will not be convenient for me to help you." The man gave a serious reminder.

"Rest assured, Senior. My mouth has already been sewn shut with needle and thread," Li Tianming hurriedly said.

This person wanted to help him because of his relationship with Mother. Only a fool would refuse.

"I sewed mine shut too," the Little Yellow Chick cut in.

"Interesting." The man nodded, took out a scarlet Heavenly Pattern Fire Jade, and placed it in Li Tianming's hand.

"You only give a scarlet Heavenly Pattern Fire Jade when we first meet, and only one at that? That is way too stingy." The Little Yellow Chick glared.

A scarlet Heavenly Pattern Fire Jade was the lowest-grade Spirit Ore.

"Haha." The man smiled. "This Fire Jade contains my power. If you encounter trouble you cannot resolve, crush this Fire Jade, and I will be able to find your location. However, it can only be used once."

Li Tianming knew it—how could he possibly be that miserly?

He hurriedly accepted the Fire Jade. This was a good thing. Once he returned to Flame Capital, there would surely be troubles he could not resolve.

"But remember, I cannot help you openly," the man reminded him.

"Rest assured, Senior. I understand."

"Very well. I wish you success in the academy examination. I will leave first." The man was very satisfied with Li Tianming.

With his cultivation, he would likely vanish from Li Tianming's sight the moment he turned around.

"Senior, please wait!" Li Tianming hurriedly called out. He shouted a little too loudly and nearly woke Wei Jing.

"Lower your voice!" The man became somewhat nervous and hurriedly glared at him.

"My mistake," Li Tianming said.

"What else is it?"

"Senior, lend me some money."

"..."

The man looked at Li Tianming strangely, then could not help laughing. "Your personality is quite like your mother's when she was young. Truly free and easy, decisive, and not the least bit roundabout."

"Thank you for the compliment. However, once I become wealthy, I will definitely repay Senior tenfold. Not a single coin less. Let us set the term at one year," Li Tianming said sincerely.

To take the academy examination, he needed more capital. To take first place in the academy examination, he needed even more capital.

But he was currently poor and destitute, so he truly needed money badly!

Now that someone willing to help had finally appeared, Li Tianming would not let such an opportunity slip away.

As for pride and such, only men with no prospects cared about that sort of thing.

"Are you sure you can repay me tenfold in one year? What if you cannot repay it?" The man looked at him with an ambiguous smile.

"Then... I will give you this chicken as compensation. It is like my own blood brother, and it would be hard to sever our bond. Losing it would be like losing half my life." Li Tianming spoke with a straight face.

"Fuck..." The Little Yellow Chick nearly spat blood.

"Then it is a deal." The man laughed. "A sixth-rank lifebound beast would be quite nourishing in a stew. Since you want to repay tenfold, I will consider lending you a bit more. How much can you handle at most?"

"Senior need not hold back. Lend me as much as you can," Li Tianming said.

"You have guts. Then take it well. I will come collect the debt in one year. Let me see how much you can repay, brat."

The man rummaged through his robes and tossed out a money pouch. The heavy pouch struck the floor with a loud smack.

"Holy shit!" Two people and one chicken jumped in fright.

The man had been too busy talking and had not expected the Jade to make such a loud sound when placed on the ground.

The next moment, the three of them stared at one another with wide eyes, silent as cicadas in winter. Only after confirming that Wei Jing had not awakened did the two people and one chicken finally breathe a sigh of relief.

"Li Tianming, remember—tenfold." The man left behind one final sentence before turning and flying out through the window.

Li Tianming and the Little Yellow Chick were left staring at each other.

"Quick!"

The Little Yellow Chick jumped down first and burrowed into the money. Then it came back out, looked at Li Tianming with pity, and said, "Grandson, you are finished."

"How much is there?" Li Tianming hurriedly asked.

"See for yourself!"

Li Tianming quickly picked it up and opened it. A surging wave of spiritual energy rushed straight at his face.

He casually took out a Fire Jade. It blazed with extremely high heat, and upon it was a single yellow Heavenly Pattern!

Scarlet, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, violet—the yellow Heavenly Pattern was the third grade.

One yellow Heavenly Pattern Fire Jade was equivalent to ten orange Heavenly Pattern Fire Jades.

Only those in the Spirit Source Realm could afford wealth marked with yellow Heavenly Patterns!

"Judging by the quantity, there are a full thousand yellow Heavenly Pattern Fire Jades. That means that one year from now, you must repay ten thousand yellow Heavenly Pattern Fire Jades!"

"You are finished, Li Tianming. You absolutely cannot repay it."

The Little Yellow Chick looked at him with gloating delight.

"Yinghuo, think carefully. If I cannot repay it, should not the one who is finished be you?" Li Tianming smiled.

"Gah?" The Little Yellow Chick shuddered all over. Only then did it remember that if the debt could not be repaid, it was the one that would be given to that Senior from earlier and stewed into soup!

"Li Tianming, you are not human!" The Little Yellow Chick flew into a towering rage.

Jokes aside, Li Tianming truly had not expected the other party to give him so much wealth.

These thousand yellow Heavenly Pattern Fire Jades were absolutely an enormous windfall, enough to help Li Tianming resolve many problems.

However, he had his own principles. Now that he had taken someone else's money, he would absolutely repay it one year later.

When he said he would return it tenfold, he was absolutely not joking.

These thousand yellow Heavenly Pattern Fire Jades were truly coal delivered amid snow!

Li Tianming was deeply grateful to that man, even though he had guessed the man's identity and could not say it aloud.

He especially could not tell Mother, or Wei Jing would absolutely refuse to accept this Senior's money.

"A kindness received today will be repaid someday."

The grace of a single drop of water, especially when one was down and out today, must someday be repaid with a gushing spring. That was his principle!

Once the Little Yellow Chick, this Eternal Purgatory Phoenix, had enough Fire Jades to support it, their cultivation speed would become terrifying.

Moreover, such a sum of money was enough for Li Tianming to choose some excellent battle arts.

He knew very well that if he wanted to attain a higher ranking in the academy examination, his original battle arts would no longer be enough to handle stronger opponents.

The academy examination was divided into two parts: "clearing the trial" and "ranking."

Once one passed the trial-clearing portion, one would officially become a disciple of Yanhuang Academy.

From then on, one would receive guidance in cultivation and enjoy Yanhuang Academy's cultivation resources.

The ranking portion was built upon passing the trial. Only disciples who had cleared the trial could participate.

This was the first ranking battle, which determined the standings of all disciples who had cleared the trial.

The person ranked first could directly advance to cultivate in the Heavenly Court. Even if one could not take first place, the higher one ranked, the more cultivation resources one would enjoy.

Four years ago, Li Tianming had barely cleared the trial and ranked near the bottom in the ranking battle, leaving him with little standing in Yanhuang Academy.

Meanwhile, Lin Xiaoting had taken first place in the ranking battle and become a genius disciple directly promoted to the Heavenly Court.

With Li Tianming's current strength, clearing the trial would be easy, but ranking highly would be difficult.

"First, I will go to Flame Capital's largest Starfall Heavenly Palace. They sell the finest battle arts there."

"The trial-clearing portion of the academy examination begins in three days. I need better battle arts to bring out my strength." Li Tianming immediately made his decision.

Starfall Heavenly Palace was the commercial center established in Flame Capital by the Starfall Chamber of Commerce. It was also the largest trading ground in the entire country.

It covered an area equivalent to a small city, one-third the size of Lihuo City, and was the most prosperous place in the entire Vermilion Bird Kingdom.

The term Heavenly Palace described how it had everything one could possibly need. As long as he had money, Li Tianming could buy battle arts good enough for him.

Since it was already late, he and the Little Yellow Chick first devoured Fire Jades and cultivated.

Even that Senior from earlier likely could not have understood that they possessed such a monstrous method of cultivation.

The Little Yellow Chick had been hungry for a long time. Their cultivation that night was like splitting bamboo, charging toward the eighth level of the Beast Pulse Realm.

Li Tianming had a feeling that within these three days, he could completely rely on these Fire Jades to enter the eighth level of the Beast Pulse Realm!

After cultivating for a night, he was radiant with vitality.

Cultivation required resources. He did not think borrowing money this time was taking a shortcut, and repaying the debt would also become motivation for his future.

Early the next morning, he prepared breakfast for Mother before setting off for Starfall Heavenly Palace to select suitable battle arts.

"I originally thought this Thunderfire Chain would be useless and wanted to sell it, but if I find suitable battle arts to pair with this third-rank Beast Weapon, its power will definitely surpass the Bloodfire Dagger by far."

He moved quickly alone. In the blink of an eye, Starfall Heavenly Palace had arrived!