The Golden Scale Beast's Owner

The days that followed were exceedingly peaceful. Ye Jingcheng spent his usual days refining spiritual pills for the shop, while devoting most of his time to raising Spirit Beasts.

The Crimson Flame Fox also grew larger and larger. Its fur became ever more brilliantly red, always gleaming with spiritual light, showing signs of an imminent breakthrough. This made Ye Jingcheng pay even closer attention to it.

He fed more Treasure Light into it than usual, and nearly all the spiritual pills were supplied to the Crimson Flame Fox. In contrast, the Jade Ring Rat had been somewhat neglected.

News of his Crimson Flame Fox being extraordinary had long since spread throughout the Ye Family.

Having also visited the Ye Family Ancestral Hall and met the family head, he understood that the Ye Family's foundations went far beyond what appeared on the surface. As such, he had far fewer reservations.

Yet there had been no news from the Golden Scale Beast's owner, nor had he returned.

Ye Jingcheng could only wait for news. Though he desperately wanted this Spirit Beast, it did not belong to the Ye Family after all.

Of course, that was fine too. It gave him time to slowly save up Spirit Stones.

Outside the marketplace, meanwhile, news of Heretical Cultivators grew ever more intense. At first, it had merely been lone Rogue Cultivators disappearing one after another. Later on, even small groups of Rogue Cultivators, and even cultivators from minor families, gradually began to fall victim.

Within the marketplace, the Mo Family had also begun organizing an alliance to hunt down Heretical Cultivators.

Naturally, matters beyond the marketplace held little attraction for Ye Jingcheng at present.

He was refining the pill furnace while the Crimson Flame Fox continuously released flames.

The terrifying heat made the entire pill furnace glow an abnormal fiery red, and the Spirit Patterns upon it seemed to come alive.

Gradually, Ye Jingcheng's heart rose to his throat.

The feedback from the pill furnace this time was something he had never experienced before. If he succeeded this time, it would mean his Alchemy had risen to another level.

A faint, elusive pill fragrance emerged, making Ye Jingcheng even more excited. The Crimson Flame Fox worked even harder to maintain the flames, and even their color became a deeper crimson, like the Blazing Sun at noon.

The next moment, as the pill furnace's lid flew high into the air, the Crimson Flame Fox withdrew its flames at Ye Jingcheng's command.

Inside the pill furnace, a full eight Azure Spirit Pills appeared before Ye Jingcheng's eyes. Every one of them was incomparably plump and brimming with spiritual luster.

An even richer pill fragrance wafted out as well.

"Eight pills. Once I reach nine, I can try refining First-Order Grade-High pills!" Ye Jingcheng was overjoyed.

It had only been a year and a half since he began using the Crimson Flame Fox to refine pills, yet his Alchemy had improved greatly once more.

Even with Azure Spirit Pills, the hardest to refine, he could succeed in four out of five batches.

The number of finished pills had risen from three or four at the start to nearly always six or seven now.

This time, he had refined eight, and the Spirit Fragrance unique to First-Order Grade-Low Spirit Feeding Pills had also appeared.

"Here!" Ye Jingcheng still took out a pill bottle and stored away six of them. As for the remaining two, he followed his usual practice and placed them into the Crimson Flame Fox's mouth.

The latter happily swallowed them in one gulp, its blue pupils narrowing into slits.

After swallowing the pills, the Crimson Flame Fox let out two shrill cries! Its fur turned as red and vivid as if it had caught fire.

The next moment, it leaped onto the stone table and lay down.

It occupied the entire stone table, while spiritual light continuously spilled from its body. Ye Jingcheng did not dare hesitate and hurriedly took out an isolation Array Disk, sealing the Crimson Flame Fox away once more.

"It is finally about to break through!" Ye Jingcheng looked at the Crimson Flame Fox glowing red, his heart bursting with joy.

Once the Crimson Flame Fox broke through to First Rank Late Stage, he could cultivate the Beast Communication Mark. Then, he could use the difference in their spiritual power to charge toward Qi Training Stage 6.

Once he reached Qi Training Stage 6, his chances of refining First-Order Grade-High spiritual pills would be even greater!

After calming himself, Ye Jingcheng finally left his room after a long time. As usual, he went to the Inner Courtyard to inspect the Ye Family's Spirit Beasts. By now, he had developed the habit of checking on the Ye Family's Spirit Beasts from time to time.

Whenever he found injured Spirit Beasts, he would feed them a little Treasure Light.

After all, the Ye Family's Spirit Beasts were all young beasts captured from the Mount Taihang Mountain Range. Injuries were simply too common.

This had also caused the Ye Family's business to improve more and more lately.

At last, Ye Jingcheng walked toward the Golden Scale Beast. Over the past half year, the Golden Scale Beast had grown somewhat larger.

It had also become quite close to Ye Jingcheng. Whenever Ye Jingcheng came over, it would press its forepaws to the ground and occasionally nod its head toward him.

By now, Ye Jingcheng understood what the Golden Scale Beast meant. He placed his hand atop its head, scratched its hard scales a few times, and only then fed it a little Treasure Light.

The Golden Scale Beast's body softened even more, and it completely sprawled upon the ground.

Ye Jingcheng was extremely satisfied at the sight.

Though this Golden Scale Beast was not yet his Monster Beast, among the entire Ye Family Shop, it was closest to him.

Just then, the gates to the outer courtyard opened, and his Thirteenth Aunt entered with a beautiful female cultivator.

The beautiful female cultivator looked sixteen or seventeen. She wore a green dress and still appeared somewhat youthful. Upon seeing the Golden Scale Beast, she hurried forward, intending to touch its head.

The Golden Scale Beast immediately stood up. It bared its fangs and let out two low growls, retreating toward its cage! Now, anyone who pressed on its head without giving it that Treasure Light was absolutely unacceptable. It rejected everyone other than Ye Jingcheng.

It hated being freeloaded off! "Daoist Ye, this is my father's Golden Scale Beast!"

"Please, Daoist Ye, save my father. As long as you can save him, this Golden Scale Beast will be given to your Ye Family!" Tears welled in the Green Skirt Female Cultivator's eyes.

"Lady Xiuchun, please do not worry. The Ye Family's head shopkeeper is currently away," Ye Xinghong consoled her.

From these words, Ye Jingcheng also understood that this Golden Scale Beast was a Spirit Beast Xu Xiuqing's father had captured. He had intended to give it to Xu Xiuqing so she could sell it and gather enough Spirit Stones to join a sect.

However, Old Xu had vanished without a trace while contacting buyers.

Now, he had been spotted by other Rogue Cultivators and identified as a Heretical Cultivator who preyed upon lone Rogue Cultivators.

Naturally, this left Xu Xiuqing weeping like pear blossoms in the rain.

Yet Ye Xinghong could not agree to it, and Ye Jingcheng naturally could not agree either.

Though he wanted the Golden Scale Beast, he could not drag his family into unrighteousness.

Moreover, that Heretical Cultivator was not someone he could handle.

Even if his Crimson Flame Fox broke through, or even if he had already reached Qi Training Stage 6, he still possessed that much self-awareness.

All he could do was tell the Golden Scale Beast that it was a pity.

"Your Ye Family is a Beast Taming Family renowned far and wide. You must have a way. If you are willing to do everything you can to save my father, I am willing to tell the Ye Family the location of a Spirit Mine!"

Perhaps Xu Xiuqing had been driven to desperation. At last, she gritted her teeth, her chest heaving violently as she took out two unpolished Spirit Stones.

Though Spirit Stones were excavated from natural Spirit Mines, they were not born as neatly shaped pieces. They had to be polished and cut by cultivators.

Yet the Spirit Stones in Xu Xiuqing's hands were clearly unpolished.

At that moment, Ye Xinghe also emerged from the Inner Courtyard.

Tomorrow's chapter is especially important. I hope everyone will definitely come back tomorrow for follow-up reading. Thank you all. There will be another chapter tonight as well. Thank you.