Chu Yun took the pill bottle and tucked it into his robe.
Wu Datou was slightly surprised. The scene he had expected, with Chu Yun refusing to accept it, never happened. After thinking it over, he still felt uneasy. Just as he was about to urge Chu Yun to feed the pill to his beast right then and there—
Chu Yun had already spoken. "Come on. This time, fire a volley of water bullets, one burst every ten breaths. Begin."
"Oh." Wu Datou blinked and swallowed the words that had nearly left his mouth. He would have to find another chance.
The training continued until the sun sank toward the horizon and the Three Elders returned.
"Oh? Datou, what brings you here?" Old Red Spear arrived at the martial arts grounds and saw Wu Datou being directed by Chu Yun as his sparring partner. He immediately burst into laughter.
"Datou pays his respects to the three centurions!" Seeing Old Red Spear and the others, Wu Datou's expression turned deferential, and sincere respect welled in his eyes.
Back when he had still been a lowly soldier, he had greatly admired the Three Elders' imposing presence. They had often looked out for him, too. Now he had become a centurion, and the Three Elders had retired, but his reverence and affection for them had not changed.
"What centurions? We're just a bunch of retired old geezers." Old Monkey Qiao waved a hand.
"Mm, you're doing a fine job as a sparring partner, Datou." After learning why Wu Datou had come, Old Fish King patted his shoulder in approval.
Old Red Spear, however, held out his hand to Chu Yun. "Did Lady Shu send over a Foundation Strengthening Pill? Let this old man have a look."
Old ginger was spicier, after all. He sensed something fishy about Lady Shu's sudden change of heart.
Chu Yun handed him the Foundation Strengthening Pill. The Three Elders examined it in turn, but couldn't find anything wrong.
"It's indeed a Foundation Strengthening Pill. Looks like Lady Shu doesn't want the island lord to return and blame her, either. Foundation Strengthening Pills are quite helpful to mutated Demon Beasts. Hurry and feed it to your Fire Fox, you little rascal." Old Red Spear handed the pill back.
Chu Yun took a look. With his experience, he couldn't find anything wrong with it, either. It wasn't a poison pill or a dud. Its medicinal fragrance was pure, and it was plump and perfectly round.
"Mm. I'll feed it to her after she's finished eating the eggshells." Chu Yun slipped it back into his robe. Though he said this, he was actually sneering inwardly.
The things Lady Shu sent over weren't as safe as the Demon Essence Pills and Blood Qi Pills he had seized from pirates. In his previous life, he might have believed in this "kindness." But after being reborn into this life, Chu Yun had long since understood Lady Shu's true nature.
"A woman's heart is as vicious as a snake's"—that saying fit her perfectly!
Besides, the Heavenly Fox wasn't a mutated Demon Beast. Chu Yun wasn't stupid enough to feed it this pill. But the Three Elders and Wu Datou still hadn't seen Lady Shu for what she was.
Chu Yun didn't refuse. He pretended to agree, smoothing things over.
"Datou, come back tomorrow and be my sparring partner again. That's enough for today. You can go." Chu Yun continued.
"Oh." Wu Datou nodded and left the manor, still in a daze. Only after returning to Shu Family City did he suddenly slap his forehead and cry out.
Lady Shu had told him to make sure Chu Yun took the pill on the spot. How could he have forgotten?
"Damn it, what's wrong with my head..." He slapped his forehead in regret, unaware that Chu Yun had led him by the nose from the very beginning, leaving him completely on the back foot. It wasn't that he had forgotten; Chu Yun had kept the initiative in his hands the whole time.
"Forget it. I still have to go be his sparring partner tomorrow. I'll get another chance." With that thought, Wu Datou felt better.
But when he went back to Salt Field Manor the next day, Chu Yun told him he had already taken the Foundation Strengthening Pill.
Wu Datou was dumbfounded.
He stared at Chu Yun for a long time without saying a word. He had plenty of doubts, but he couldn't exactly challenge him outright. Even if he did, what could he do if Chu Yun simply insisted he had taken it?
"What are you standing there for? Datou, you seem a bit distracted." Instead, Chu Yun seized the chance to give him a scolding.
Wu Datou was an honest, straightforward man. Many years later, when he thought back on it, he would find it strange. Why had he obeyed Chu Yun's every word without question?
In the blink of an eye, two more days passed.
Early on the fourth day,
Chu Yun brought the Heavenly Fox to the Earth Altar once more.
The Earth Altar was a white-stone structure covering six mu, more than two zhang tall—roughly the height of three or four grown men stacked on top of each other.
The Earth Altar was circular, plain yet imposing, without excessive carved decoration. Seen from above, it looked like a white jade platter set amid green hills and blue waters.
The first test of the coming-of-age ceremony would take place inside the Spirit Pressure Tunnel beneath the Earth Altar. The second test would be held in the broad plaza atop it.
The morning sea breeze stirred. The sky was clear, and the dawn light spilled across the Earth Altar, bathing it in a solemn, stately glow.
The Earth Altar's Spirit Beast Master stood in the center of the plaza. Before him stood Chu Yun, Shu Da, and Shu Er. Beyond them, the plaza was packed with people.
The second test consisted of a battle of Dao arts. It tested a Spirit Beast Master's ability to train Demon Beasts, and spectators were allowed.
Among the onlookers were Lady Shu, Old Red Spear, and the others. Most of the rest had come from Shu Family City and Salty Salt Fishing Village. But quite a few had traveled all the way from places like Distillery Fishing Village and Vine Arrow Mountain Village, too.
In the customs of the All-Star Archipelago, the coming-of-age ceremony was a lively, one-of-a-kind festival. At its grandest, dozens of youths would compete at once, fighting one another. The matches could continue for days and nights, an unprecedented spectacle. After they ended, the islanders' enthusiasm would linger for another month or two. Whose youth had taken first place, whose had put up such a shameful loss—people loved to gossip about it all.
This year, however, was a little unusual.
Among the thirteen-year-olds, only three had the talent to become Spirit Beast Masters.
But the islanders were more excited than ever. After all, all three were sons of Island Lord Shu Tianhao, and the next island lord would certainly be chosen from among them.
The question of which brother was superior had set the crowd's gossipy hearts ablaze.
"General Wu, how did the matter I entrusted to you go?"
Lady Shu sat on a broad-backed red sandalwood chair, looking somewhat tense. Four Spirit Beast Masters stood around her, each taking up one side. They had shouldered through the jostling crowd on the packed Earth Altar and carved out a spacious area fifty paces in radius.
"Reporting to Madam, everything has been taken care of. I personally instructed Young Master Chu Yun for three days straight. Young Master Chu Yun is clever and strict with himself. He put the Fire Fox through a great deal of training, and it made great progress."
Wu Datou gave his report in full.
Lady Shu gave a quiet snort. Her tension eased considerably. She knew Wu Datou's temperament; by the sound of it, everything had gone according to plan.
"And with the Ascension Essence Pills I've given my sons over these past three days... With them growing stronger and him falling behind, what chance does that little beast Chu Yun have of turning the tables?"
At the thought, a sly smile crept onto Lady Shu's lips. She shifted in her seat and decided that the broad-backed sandalwood chair was quite good indeed. It was comfortable and sturdy.
"First match: Chu Yun versus Shu Da." Just then, the Earth Altar's Spirit Beast Master called out the result of the draw.
The crowd fell silent at once.
In the blink of an eye, only Chu Yun and Shu Da remained in the middle of the plaza.
"Boy, you can still beg for mercy. Better that than having my Sea Burst Crocodile bully the weak and smash that little fox at your feet into minced meat. Ahahaha!" Shu Da folded his arms across his chest. He was tall and burly, bigger than any boy his age ought to be. His gaze was full of condescension, contempt, and disdain.
The Heavenly Fox's senses were exceptionally sharp. It immediately detected Shu Da's hostility, flicked its tail, bared its sharp teeth, and fixed its dark eyes on him.
"Good. Its fighting spirit is blazing." In the crowd, Old Red Spear nodded to himself. The Heavenly Fox's fighting spirit had flared up just like that. It was clearly a born fighter, gifted in battle.
"Strange. Why is that Fire Fox still so lively?" Lady Shu frowned slightly.
Shu Da gave the Fire Fox a disdainful glance, slapped the Immortal Pouch at his waist, and roared, "Come out, Sea Burst Crocodile!"
Roar!
Blue light flashed, and a massive Sea Burst Crocodile appeared on the plaza, jaws gaping in a roar. Its claws and fangs were razor-sharp, its demonic body thick and powerful, and a savage aura immediately rolled off it.
The crowd fell silent, then erupted in an uproar.
"Why is that Sea Burst Crocodile so huge? Compared to it, that Fire Fox looks like a baby!"
"It grew so fast—it's already cultivated for fifteen years. How is that even possible?"
Exclamations of surprise rippled through the crowd. Chu Yun's gaze sharpened, and after studying it for a moment, he chuckled. "No wonder you're so confident. You fed it Ascension Essence Pills."
"Hahaha! You've got a pair of sharp eyes, I'll give you that. That's right—ten whole Ascension Essence Pills! My Sea Burst Crocodile has now survived the Lesser Demon tribulation. It's shed its juvenile form and successfully advanced to a Lesser Demon! You're finished, Chu Yun. This time, I'll defeat you in front of everyone!"
Shu Da roared with laughter, certain of victory and swaggering with arrogance.
The crowd's uproar rose another notch.
"Ascension Essence Pills? Ten of them, did you hear? My heavens, did I hear that right?"
"One Ascension Essence Pill costs a thousand Earth-Fiend Stone Coins. Ten of them cost ten thousand! What deep pockets!"
"They just threw money at the Sea Burst Crocodile until it gained a whole seven years of cultivation. Lady Shu really is from Ning Family Island—she's loaded."
The crowd marveled, but no one thought it was unfair.
Using pills to raise a Demon Beast's cultivation was permitted at the coming-of-age ceremony. The All-Star Archipelago was a place where strength reigned supreme, and wealth was one kind of strength. The islanders saw nothing wrong with it.
They simply marveled at Lady Shu's lavish methods. She had just thrown down ten thousand Earth-Fiend Stone Coins.
"Ten Ascension Essence Pills for her own children, but only one Foundation Strengthening Pill for Young Master Chu Yun. Lady Shu, you... Ah, it seems the rumors really were true!"
Wu Datou glanced at Lady Shu beside him and finally saw her for what she was. He couldn't help sighing inwardly. He had once held out hope that Chu Yun's Fire Fox might win, but now that hope seemed faint.
"Not good! Chu Yun's Fire Fox has only eight years of cultivation and is still a juvenile Demon Beast. Shu Da's Sea Burst Crocodile has fifteen years of cultivation and is already a Lesser Demon! It's an entire rank higher! Damn it!" Old Red Spear cried out.