A Sow on a Tree

When Li Tianming was dominating the younger generation of Lihuo City, Li Xuejiao was still just a child.

Her progress over the past three years had been decent—at only fifteen, she had already cultivated to the fifth level of the Beast Pulse Realm. She truly lived up to being Li Yanfeng's daughter; a tiger father does not beget a dog daughter.

Her contracted beast was a fourth-tier beast—the Fire Plume Bird, a "flame-type avian" contracted beast.

The moment Li Tianming showed signs of provocation, Li Xuejiao had already summoned the Fire Plume Bird from the contracted space. A contracted beast's space was the best place for it to rest and recuperate.

At this moment, circling above Li Xuejiao's head was a fiery red bird. Flames flickered across its feathers as if they were burning, its pupils were vertical slits, and its most striking feature was its claws—claws wreathed in crimson fire, razor-sharp like venomous daggers.

"Brother Tianming, since you don't have a contracted beast, I won't make a move myself. Let 'Fire Spirit' give you a taste of the joy of being roasted alive?" Li Xuejiao said with a giggle.

"Who says I don't have a contracted beast?" Li Tianming turned back. Little Yellow Chick was still sound asleep; it was time to drag him out.

"Is pretending really that fun? Everyone knows your Golden Feather had its feathers plucked and died without a trace." Li Xuejiao curled her lip.

Li Tianming didn't reply. He opened the door and grabbed Little Yellow Chick, who was still fast asleep on the bed.

"Li Tianming, you son of a bitch! I was in the middle of favoring my harem of three thousand hens, and you wake me up!" The Eternal Purgatory Phoenix was dangling by its leg, looking extremely displeased.

The moment Li Xuejiao saw Little Yellow Chick, she doubled over laughing, nearly cramping up.

"Brother Tianming, you're such a joker. With this sense of humor, you could actually make a living out of it. Is this chicken from the Blood God Contract? Did you bring it out to be breakfast for my Fire Spirit?" Li Xuejiao laughed so hard she could barely breathe.

"Hey, beauty, who are you calling a chicken?" Little Yellow Chick's feathers bristled. It hopped onto Li Tianming's head, putting on a fierce expression. But it was just too cute—no matter how fierce its glare, it only looked ridiculous.

"Don't talk." Li Tianming's head ached. Other contracted beasts could only communicate telepathically with their masters, but this one just blurted things out loud. Luckily, parrots could also talk, so there was a precedent; otherwise, it would draw even more unwanted attention.

"Mind your own business." Little Yellow Chick was furious. It stared at Li Xuejiao, then at the Fire Plume Bird circling above her, and suddenly started drooling.

"Beauty, you believe me? I'll knock up that bird of yours." Little Yellow Chick's eyes blazed with fire.

"You use a chicken as your contracted beast, and it's just as shameless and perverted as you." Li Xuejiao was at a loss for words. How pathetic did a person have to be to end up in such a state?

"Eat it." Li Xuejiao said casually to the Fire Plume Bird.

Sss!

The Fire Plume Bird turned into a streak of fiery red phantom and lunged at Little Yellow Chick.

"Love comes too fast, just like a tornado." Little Yellow Chick was in high spirits. It flapped its tiny wings and charged at the Fire Plume Bird, which was several times its size.

"Take it easy, you two. Your sizes don't match. Don't make a fool of yourselves." Li Tianming's head throbbed. This Little Yellow Chick was truly bold when it came to lust, but honestly, Li Tianming wasn't worried about its combat ability. He knew that this Eternal Purgatory Phoenix shared the same beast origin and cultivation level as him, and he was well aware of his own strength now!

His Eternal Purgatory Beast Origin at the third level of the Beast Pulse Realm was definitely comparable to an ordinary fifth-level Beast Pulse Realm cultivator! And on top of that, he still had the combat experience and techniques of a ninth-level Beast Pulse Realm cultivator!

"It's been a while since I stretched my limbs. You, meat target, you'd better be sturdy enough." He locked onto Li Xuejiao, loosening his joints. He was born for battle, and now that he had found himself again, his blood was already boiling before the fight even began.

"Freak." Li Xuejiao couldn't understand the look in his eyes. She almost wanted to laugh. "Still think you're the genius of Lihuo City?"

She didn't bother to say more and made her move directly, charging at Li Tianming with overwhelming force.

Her attack was swift. Judging by the starting stance, it should be the "Blazing Seal." It was ironic—this battle art was something Li Tianming had once guided her in cultivating, and now she was using it against him.

With a single battle art unleashed, her hands formed a seal and thrust forward with explosive speed. The palm wind burned and crackled through the air. Driven by her Crimson Fire Beast Origin, it ignited flames in midair!

This Blazing Seal was fierce and domineering, aimed straight at Li Tianming's chest. Anyone struck would feel as if they were being burned alive, their chest cavity shattered.

Bang!

What she never expected was that Li Tianming didn't dodge at all. He took the blow directly on his chest! The Blazing Seal landed solidly on his body!

She could only imagine that his internal organs were probably charred to a crisp by now!

That dull thud could almost have signaled a person's death.

"You're using my hand to kill yourself! How fragile is your heart?" Li Xuejiao finally understood. So that was why he had provoked her—he was mentally broken and wanted to die.

Li Xuejiao hastily withdrew her hand. She knew she had killed someone. After all, the corpse before her was still blood-related to her, and panic set in because her father would surely punish her.

"Xuejiao, did you skip breakfast?" Just as Li Xuejiao was panicking, the boy who should have been dead lifted his head, a calm smile on his face...

Li Xuejiao was completely stunned. She saw Li Tianming's chest completely unharmed, her mind a blank. This was impossible.

The truth was simple: Li Tianming was immune to fire!

This was a bloodline power inherited from the Eternal Purgatory Phoenix. His Eternal Purgatory Beast Origin was the hottest magma, and his body, like Little Yellow Chick's, was completely immune to fire. The flames of the Blazing Seal couldn't burn him at all. Only the impact force of the Crimson Fire Beast Origin had jolted his internal organs, but his powerful bloodline and physical strength had absorbed it.

Just think about it—the Eternal Purgatory Phoenix ate suns like they were noodles, gulping them down one after another. That alone explained the fire immunity.

"Little sister, open your dog eyes wide and see what a real Blazing Seal looks like!"

Everyone had to pay for their sharp tongue, and Li Xuejiao was no exception. In the moment of her panicked, wide-eyed shock, Li Tianming moved faster and more ferociously than her. He threw out a Blazing Seal directly, and with a sharp crack, it landed on her face!

Ah!

That scream was truly piercing. Li Tianming's slap carried the terrifying power of the Eternal Purgatory Beast Origin, striking her face directly. In that instant, half of Li Xuejiao's face turned charred black, a few teeth flew out, and her entire body spun a full circle in the air before being flung straight into the best wutong tree in the courtyard!

"Triple aerial rotation, perfect pig landing in a tree!" Li Tianming clapped his hands. This battle had directly restored his confidence. His mother was right—he could rise again.

He turned around immediately. When he saw the relieved and reassured smile on his mother's face, he felt a surge of emotion that almost brought tears to his eyes. He had finally returned, and in his mother's gaze, he saw a long-lost peace and contentment, the greatest satisfaction.

What could be more joyful than seeing your child regain hope at a moment like this?

To Wei Jing, that letter of divorce no longer mattered. What mattered was the happiness in her heart at this moment.

"My son, you're amazing!" Just like before, she gave him a thumbs-up. This long-missed gesture made Li Tianming laugh as a single tear fell. He remembered how she used to encourage him like this. That day had finally come.

"That's because you gave birth to me well," Li Tianming said with a smile.

"Then we're even." Wei Jing smiled gently. At this moment, she seemed to stop aging; her smile was so beautiful, as if she were still that city-toppling beauty.

While things were so pleasant on their side, Lady Huang was a different story. She let out a scream, completely dumbfounded. The key point was that Li Xuejiao was still hanging from the tree, and she was the only one among Li Yanfeng's wives and concubines with almost no cultivation. She couldn't even climb the parasol tree, so she could only writhe on the ground, shrieking, "Someone, come!"

"Li Tianming, you're no longer the heir. How dare you hit my daughter? I'll have you torn apart!" Lady Huang wailed and cursed, her mind a blank. She didn't know much about martial arts, but hadn't she heard that Li Tianming was completely crippled? Why was this happening!

Li Tianming couldn't be bothered with her. As she rolled on the ground, it was already good enough that he didn't spit in her face.

The real issue was Li Xuejiao, still hanging up there and screaming. Half her face was utterly ruined; her looks from now on wouldn't be worth mentioning—she might not even be more appealing than a sow.

As for Little Yellow Chick, it opened Li Tianming's eyes wide. He saw a little yellow chick going berserk with brutal methods. The Fire Plume Bird couldn't catch it at all, and in no time, the chick had torn several bloody holes in it instead!

"Pretty lady, stop yelling. You can scream your throat out, but no one's coming to save you." Little Yellow Chick pinned the huge Fire Plume Bird to the ground, a wicked grin on its face, while the bird struggled frantically beneath its feet, to no avail, its body covered in wounds.

"Accepting my favor is your honor." Little Yellow Chick was about to take action and get the Fire Plume Bird pregnant.

Li Tianming was sweating buckets. He really couldn't figure out where that little thing had the equipment to humiliate the Fire Plume Bird!

"Dammit, you're male? Why didn't you say so! And dressing so seductively!" The next moment, Little Yellow Chick broke down. In its fury and embarrassment, it attacked so fiercely that the Fire Plume Bird wailed in pain.

"Bro, that's enough, that's enough." Li Tianming quickly pulled it back, or else this poor Fire Plume Bird would be killed.

"Cross-dressing piece of trash, don't let me, your daddy, run into you again, or I'll finish you off." Little Yellow Chick kept grumbling, looking smug like a petty villain.

Its antics even made Wei Jing laugh. Today had been her hardest day, but right now, it was also her happiest.

"Li Tianming! I didn't expect you to have recovered your cultivation. How dare you humiliate me like this? I'll remember today's grudge. One day, I'll make you pay a hundred times over!" Only then did Li Xuejiao jump down. She quickly applied medicine to her face, gritting her teeth and glaring at Li Tianming as she did.

"I'm not leaving Lihuo City. If you want revenge, come find me anytime. But I can't guarantee the other half of your face will stay intact," Li Tianming said flatly.

"You're not leaving Lihuo City?" Li Xuejiao squinted. Mother and daughter had been divorced and stripped of status; by all rights, they should leave. Otherwise, every time they showed their faces, they'd be a laughingstock.

"Is there a problem?" For Li Tianming, staying in Lihuo City was for something far more important. He absolutely wouldn't slink away like a beaten dog. He wanted to leave with dignity, to make Li Yanfeng send him off.

He didn't cling to Lihuo City, but he and his mother wanted their pride.

"Do you know why Father chose this moment to depose you and divorce Aunt?" Li Xuejiao said with a sneer.

"Enlighten me." Li Tianming was actually curious too, because this would damage Li Yanfeng's reputation. Wei Jing had been sick for years, and Li Tianming had been crippled for three. There was no reason for Li Yanfeng to pick today to divorce his wife.

"Father wants to marry a woman and make her his legal wife! Of course he has to get rid of your mother," Li Xuejiao said.

Under the laws of the Vermilion Bird Kingdom, aside from the sovereign, no man could take more than three wives and four concubines. Among the three wives, one was the legal wife and two were secondary. Li Yanfeng had already reached the limit. To marry again, he had to divorce someone, especially to take a legal wife.

"At his age, can he handle it? Isn't he afraid of grinding a rod into a needle?" Li Tianming couldn't help but sneer.

"You'll definitely be interested in who he's marrying." Li Xuejiao sounded somewhat gloating.

"Go on."

"The woman's name is Liu Qing. She's in her twenties, not much older than you, a famous beauty. More importantly, she's from the Thunder Lord Manor. With a woman from the Thunder Lord Manor becoming Father's wife, do you think there's any place for you in Lihuo City?" Li Xuejiao said coldly.

"Thunder Lord Manor!" The fire in Li Tianming's heart blazed again. The one who killed Jin Yu and stole the Sacred Beast's legacy, Lin Xiaoting, was a direct descendant of the Thunder Lord Manor.

The Thunder Lord Manor was arguably the top noble house in the Vermilion Bird Kingdom, with countless experts. It was a regional hegemon, controlling the lifeline of nearly half the kingdom!

Everyone knew that Li Tianming had an irreconcilable blood feud with Lin Xiaoting of the Thunder Lord Manor. If Li Yanfeng married someone from the Thunder Lord Manor, he naturally couldn't keep a fly that disgusted them in Lihuo City.

"Father probably wants to climb the Thunder Lord Manor's ladder. He wants to go further, so naturally he has to sacrifice you two. After all, you're worthless to him. So if you stay in Lihuo City, you're opposing him. His grand wedding is in ten days. If you don't leave and the Thunder Lord Manor people see you, you might die," Li Xuejiao said. She wasn't telling him this to protect him, but to make him despair, to make him realize how pathetic he was.

What's more, after being so thoroughly beaten today, she was burning with hatred and rage. If Li Tianming left Lihuo City, she'd lose her chance for revenge. But if she lured him to crash his father's wedding like a moth to a flame, and he suffered another crushing blow, then she could vent today's anger!

"Ten days from now, isn't that the day the Yanhuang Academy Selection results are announced?" Li Tianming frowned. This was actually why he had to stay in Lihuo City—he needed to return to the Yanhuang Academy.

The Yanhuang Academy was where his dreams were shattered, but also the dreamland of every young beast tamer. Those two were still there. To take revenge, he had to return with dignity, bearing the identity of a Yanhuang Academy disciple.

Lihuo City had one spot for the Yanhuang Academy Selection, held once every four years. Four years ago, the one who got that spot and entered the Yanhuang Academy was Li Tianming himself.

This time, he had to take that spot again. That way, he could leave Lihuo City with his head held high, bring his mother to the Yanhuang Academy, and more importantly, make Li Yanfeng send them off instead of slinking away like a beaten dog!

"Indeed, the wedding and the Yanhuang Academy Selection coincide. Father intends to let the Selection add to the wedding festivities. After all, the one who gets the Yanhuang Academy spot this time will, barring accidents, be his son too." Li Xuejiao's words carried a hint of resentment.

The son she referred to wasn't Li Tianming, but the son of Li Yanfeng's second wife—Li Tianming's second younger brother, named Li Zifeng.

He was three years younger than Li Tianming and had missed the last Yanhuang Academy competition. In the three years since Li Tianming was crippled, Li Zifeng had risen rapidly. His current age and strength were almost identical to Li Tianming's when he got the Yanhuang Academy spot.

Li Zifeng's rise made the people of Lihuo City forget Li Tianming. Li Tianming had brought shame to Lihuo City, but in these three years, Li Zifeng had brought new hope!

After all, as a remote city, the people of Lihuo City still hoped their genius could go to the Yanhuang Academy and challenge the proud sons of heaven from the core lands of the Vermilion Bird Kingdom!

"Brother understands." Li Tianming took it all in.

That meant he had even more reason to attend the wedding in ten days.

Some dignity had to be reclaimed with his own hands.

Including the woman from the Thunder Lord Manor, including his heartless father.

Everything he had lost, he had to walk that path again, fight bravely, and take back what was his!

There was one more crucial point.

Before he turned sixteen, Li Tianming had asked Wei Jing if there was a way to cure her strange illness. At the time, she had mentioned one place: the "Heavenly Court" of the Yanhuang Academy!

To this day, his mother had never explained why she knew the Heavenly Court could cure her illness, and Li Tianming didn't need to care. He only knew that he had to not only enter the Yanhuang Academy to train, but also strive to enter its core, the Heavenly Court. Once he did, his mother would give him the answer.

Three years ago, he had talent close to entering the Heavenly Court. After obtaining the Sacred Beast's legacy, he was certain to enter it, cure his mother, and extend her life. But Lin Xiaoting and Mu Qingqing had destroyed that hope.

Now he was twenty, and Wei Jing had little time left. This Yanhuang Academy Selection was his only chance. If he missed it, he could only watch his mother die.

Whether it was her life or Li Tianming's, if it ended like this, he would never accept it!

"Let it begin with the decisive selection at Yanhuang Academy, let it begin with his wedding!"

Divorcing his mother was all to marry this woman from the Thunder Lord Manor, so that Li Yanfeng could climb higher.

As for his own son being crippled by the Thunder Lord Manor, that no longer mattered to Li Yanfeng, because his eldest legitimate son was no longer the Li Tianming who had once carried his hopes.

"So many prominent figures in Lihuo City—if I embarrass him at his wedding, will he kill me?"

Li Tianming was curious. He already yearned desperately for that day to come.

After all, three years of silence—who wouldn't want to return to their own battlefield and let everyone see that he had not been defeated!

"Ming'er, let's go." Wei Jing had no intention of packing anything.

"Alright, Mother." Li Tianming helped her up. He walked with absolute resolve, for he had not a trace of attachment to this City Lord's Mansion.

"Pick up those jades." After a few steps, Wei Jing suddenly said.

Li Tianming felt some resistance. He was reluctant to accept this final charity from Li Yanfeng; it felt like nothing but humiliation.

"Child, a true man can bend and stretch. You should naturally take the benefits before you. After all, what truly matters is the moment you reclaim your dignity, not the fear of losing more of it," Wei Jing said gently.

Li Tianming understood.

Wei Jing had shown him the way.

In short, if there was a bargain to be had, why not take it!

The 6th chapter, updated at 20:00 tonight, carries a "prize question." The answer is hidden within these 6 chapters, random. The [4 people] who answer correctly fastest in the book review section will each receive [500]. Post your Alipay account directly in your winning comment. Fair competition for all—if there's any rigging, may heaven strike me down. The next event is Monday the 22nd. This will run for five weeks total, distributing 10,000 yuan. Just for fun, I ask for your blessings~ Also, remember to [add to bookshelf] so you can find this book faster later.