The Crimson Flame Fox's Strength

In the days that followed, Ye Jingcheng was exceedingly busy.

Every half month, he went to exchange for Antidote Pills and Blood Essence Pills; every month, he went to the Pill Pavilion to practice alchemy once.

After a month, Ye Jingcheng was utterly exhausted in both body and mind.

Even his daily cultivation had been delayed.

Yet the results were immensely gratifying. Within the Ye Family, even without any announcement, quite a few cultivators now knew that his Crimson Flame Fox had not died.

To Ye Jingcheng, that was what mattered most.

And the Crimson Flame Fox's innate talent was itself the best cover.

As for the spirit beast, after a month beneath the treasure book's spiritual radiance, the Crimson Flame Fox's injuries had fully healed.

Its fur was like scarlet fire, its pair of blue eyes brimming with life. Its tail was large and thick-looking.

Its claws were even sharper. Whenever it leaped up and down from the stone table, it left behind several plum-blossom-like prints in the stone, making Ye Jingcheng both angry and delighted.

He stepped forward and patted the Crimson Flame Fox on the head. At once, it let out a string of chirps and even spat a few lively sparks of fire!

"Don't breathe fire in here!"

This sight frightened Ye Jingcheng into quickly picking up the Crimson Flame Fox. Breathing fire was absolutely not something to be done indoors.

In his mind, the Crimson Flame Fox sent over a yearning soul fluctuation.

Clearly, beneath the treasure book, the Crimson Flame Fox had grown even faster.

Ye Jingcheng took the Crimson Flame Fox outside and headed toward an open space on the mountain.

The moment the Crimson Flame Fox leaped from his arms, it transformed into a scarlet spiritual shadow in the clearing.

Its speed was unbelievably fast!

Ye Jingcheng was likewise astonished by the Crimson Flame Fox's speed. He cast a Light Body Technique on himself and gave chase, only to discover that even with the technique's enhancement, he could barely keep up with it!

Seemingly tired from playing, the Crimson Flame Fox chirped twice and darted back in front of Ye Jingcheng.

Its cries were crisp and light, yet carried a trace of spirited excitement.

At that very moment, it turned its head, opened its mouth—

Boom!

A palm-sized fireball shot out and landed in the clearing, blasting a huge pit of blackened earth into the ground.

"It's far more powerful than the Fireball Technique!" Ye Jingcheng was delighted at the sight!

He possessed fire, earth, water, and wood spiritual roots, so naturally he knew the Fireball Technique. However, he could not form the hand seals and cast it as quickly as the Crimson Flame Fox, and its power was far inferior as well. He was already at the fourth level of Qi Refinement.

So the Crimson Flame Fox's current strength was also at the mid-stage of the first rank. Judging by a cultivator's cultivation realm, it was likely equivalent to the fifth level of Qi Refinement.

That truly exceeded his expectations.

Moreover, it looked very much as though the Crimson Flame Fox was showing off its combat strength, as if it knew he would be heading into those dangerous mountains in the next few days.

Its intelligence was extraordinarily high!

There was no need to mention his Jade Ring Rat. It could only squeak now. He had also asked his second brother, Ye Jingyong, and that Flying Cloud Leopard merely had decent speed at present, at most comparable to the third level of Qi Refinement!

After spitting out the fireball, the Crimson Flame Fox landed by Ye Jingcheng's feet, looking somewhat tired. Its chirps had calmed somewhat as well.

Ye Jingcheng took out spirit beast meat and two Spirit Feeding Pills, then began feeding it.

The Crimson Flame Fox ate slowly. Ye Jingcheng gently stroked its fur, feeling its warmth as he pondered.

Just then, a scarlet streak of spiritual light cut across the sky and descended before Ye Jingcheng.

He caught it in one hand. It was a Sound Transmission Talisman.

The talisman swiftly burned away, ultimately turning into a single message: Come at once!

Ye Jingcheng hurriedly patted the Crimson Flame Fox on the head. It raised its head and looked at him, then swiftly swallowed all the spirit beast meat in one gulp without chewing.

Ye Jingcheng then activated his spirit beast pouch and stored the Crimson Flame Fox inside!

When Ye Jingcheng returned to the small courtyard, he saw that his second brother Ye Jingyong and fourth brother Ye Jingyu were already waiting at the entrance. Besides them, Ye Jingli was also there. Of those who had gone to select spirit beasts that day, only his seventh sister Ye Jingyu was absent.

"Jingcheng, you were the only one missing. How are your preparations?" Ye Jingyong's voice was booming.

"Second Brother, I've long been prepared!" Ye Jingcheng replied with a smile, then respectfully called out, "Fourth Brother, Sixth Brother!"

"Jingcheng, I heard your Crimson Flame Fox survived?" Ye Jingyu spoke as well. His voice was exceptionally gentle, making one feel as though they were basking in a spring breeze.

"Yes. Perhaps I was lucky—it held on," Ye Jingcheng nodded.

"Raise it well. Its potential is immense!" Ye Jingyu said, seemingly implying something.

Ye Jingcheng's eyes immediately lit up!

He had long suspected that the Ye Family was hiding something.

After all, this cultivation world was known as the Great Yu Cultivation World. Other than the Ye Family, every other clan and sect placed immense importance on spiritual roots, yet the Ye Family was an exception!

Ye Jingcheng did not believe the Ye Family was simply stubbornly charging ahead, thinking only that raising spirit beasts made one formidable in battle.

As the patriarch's son, Ye Jingyu clearly knew something, which was why, during that selection of spirit beasts, no one but Ye Jingcheng had uttered so much as half a word about yielding.

The Ye Family's spirit beasts were definitely far more important than he had imagined.

"Enough. Let's go first, or delays may breed trouble!" Ye Jingyu said, unwilling to continue the topic.

Then he took out a palm-sized little boat and tossed it into the sky. With a surge of spiritual energy, it met the wind and, in the next instant, transformed into an azure wooden vessel no smaller than a tiled house.

"Get on!" Ye Jingyu stood at the very front, controlling a spirit disk resembling a wooden rudder.

All three of them showed looks of awe and envy. Ye Jingcheng, for instance, currently possessed only a low-grade first-rank magic sword.

It was an ordinary magic sword meant for fighting. If he used it for flight, his spiritual energy would be drained dry in just a few moments!

Even so, that magic sword had cost him seventy contribution points.

As for this spirit boat, they did not even dare think about its price.

"This trip will take us deep into the outer reaches of the Taihang Mountain Range. When the time comes, take turns operating the magic disk. Jingcheng, your cultivation is the weakest, so you will take one quarter-hour. The rest of you will each take two quarter-hours at a time. The direction is marked on this spirit map!" Ye Jingyu took out a spirit map, then inscribed the basic method for controlling the spirit boat onto a jade slip for the other three to consult.

"Jingcheng, you can release your Jade Ring Rat first. It is highly sensitive to powerful demon beasts. As for the Flying Cloud Leopard and Azure-Scaled Snake, release them only after we reach our destination, otherwise they will increase our spiritual energy consumption!" Ye Jingyu instructed them one by one.

Yet, strangely enough, he left out Ye Jingcheng's Crimson Flame Fox. Clearly, in his view, even if the Crimson Flame Fox had recovered, it probably would not possess any fighting strength.

Ye Jingcheng did not say much either. He took out the Jade Ring Rat, and the moment it appeared, it surprised the other three.

The Jade Ring Rat got its name from its emerald-green ears, shaped like large rings. Its hearing was astounding and its sense of smell exceptionally sharp. Among the Ye Family's various spirit beasts, it was considered quite a sought-after one.

Yet Ye Jingcheng's Jade Ring Rat had only been with him for a month, and it already seemed to have grown even better than their Flying Cloud Leopards!

Its fur gleamed brightly and gave off a faint spiritual radiance. Its ears twitched back and forth, making it exceptionally endearing.

"Jingcheng, your alchemy skills have improved again, haven't they?" A gleam lit Ye Jingyu's eyes. Ye Jingcheng nodded. His fourth brother truly did think faster than many others!

In truth, he too had been a little stunned just now, because he had not expected the Jade Ring Rat to grow so quickly. After all, the Jade Ring Rat had merely basked in a little of the Crimson Flame Fox's treasured book radiance.

But his fourth brother had already thought up an explanation for him!